BRANDING AND SOCIAL MEDIA

“Simple rule: Your brand is more than just your logo or website. It’s the core, the essence, the soul of your company and it’s the main story you want to tell to the world.” This brilliantly concise definition of brand comes from Peter Shankman, who runs a website/email alert system called HARO, which stands for Help A Reporter Out. 

Shankman goes on to say, “You have to know what that brand story is so that you can communicate it to the world with your logo, your website, your business card, your store décor - EVERYTHING. Branding does not have to be a months-long engagement that costs tens of thousands of dollars. If people think about brand the right way and stay true to that story across everything, their marketing investments will yield great, targeted results.” And he’s right.

Shankman exemplifies the type of person who thrives in what we once called “new media” and what is very rapidly becoming simply THE media.  He contributes useful content and makes connections among people who can benefit from knowing one another and perhaps working together.  In return he gets notoriety among active individuals within a defined audience, and—here’s the clincher—he trusts that his reputation (er...brand) will draw business back to him.

His emails are intended to connect journalists with reliable sources, and he charges nothing for this service.  Journalists let him know what topics they are seeking sources for and Shankman collects these queries and emails them several times a day to a large and growing list of people like me—media advocacy and PR pros who are seeking good visibility and public recognition for their clients.  In return for using his service, Shankman expects us PR types to use common sense and play fair.  That means we only contact a journalist if we have a spokesperson who is really and truly a suitable source for the story in question.  Break this cardinal rule and Shankman bans you Make Waves: Impact Marketing for Nonprofitswww.makewavesnotnoise.com

from his service.  I noticed he did this to one person recently, and it wasn’t anyone from the PR side either.  It was someone claiming to be a reporter who had spammed people on Shankman’s list.  This also is what brand is about:  Making sure that you walk your talk.  If you say you will do something, be sure to follow through or risk eroding your brand’s reputation.

Those of you who follow my posts know that I am critical of nonprofits that spend big bucks on what they call branding, yet often fail to walk their brand talk.  These groups seem to think that branding is merely an ad campaign with a snappy slogan and a flashy logo.  Perhaps once, but no more.  The very flatness of the social media playing field has seen to that.

Bonnie McEwanPresidentMAKE WAVES: Impact Marketing for NonprofitsJuly 2009

Make Waves: Impact Marketing for Nonprofitswww.makewavesnotnoise.com