Writer Sunday: Branding & Perception
Welcome to my second installment of Writer Sunday. The purpose of this weekly post is to share information with other writers that pertains to the marketing or craft of fiction. If you read last week's Writer Sunday post, you know that I've spent ten years in corporate marketing. I also interned at Ogilvy & Mather, the international advertising agency. So now you understand why I'm so interested in marketing. 
During my internship at O&M, I first encountered the topic of branding. The American Marketing Association defines brand as "a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." Brand can pertain to a single product or service or a family of products and/or services. Another way to think of brand is as a personality. Essentially, brand managers seek to create certain perceptions of their product or service that the target audience identifies with.
Increasingly, companies seek to create emotional connections with their brands. This is known as experiential marketing. I have, in fact, conducted experiential market research, which seeks to understand the perceptions of end-users with a particular product. Those perceptions can have a marked effect on the success or failure of a product. Ideally, the company will use tools to position their products in such a way that they positively influence the perceptions of their target market. So what is positioning? Positioning defines the way in which a product will compete with similar products. More important, positioning differentiates your novel from all the others in the category. In the case of romance, the categories would include historical romance, paranormal romance, romantic suspense, contemporary, etc. If you position your novel or a series as having qualities unique among the crowd, you're more likely to get a positive response when submitting to agents and/or editors.
Brand management in a corporation revolves around a consistent, core idea that reflects the image of the company as a whole. Not all major corporations successfully manage their brands. I'm a pc girl, but I'd be remiss if I didn't point to Apple as a company that truly gets branding. While most F500 corporations support causes and community involvement, Apple connects with people on an emotional level. Have you ever noticed how consumers who own Apple products are super loyal? They feel they are a part of that brand. In a sense, Apple has created a tribe that acts as a positive voice for the company. Wouldn't you like to have that kind of endorsement from readers? Well, this does happens with certain authors who deliver compelling, emotional stories again and again to their fans. Who are are few authors who manage their brands well?
How do those authors create these Mega Brands? To some degree, their ability to produce manuscripts quickly and consistently make them available to readers helps increase their awareness (this is particularly helpful in the early part of their careers). However, the most important aspect that differentiates these stars is their ability to create that emotional connection in the same way that Apple creates connections with its consumers. We're talking about a lot of hard work and yes, talent.
Let's say like me, you're a new author or relatively new. What can you do to start off on the right branding foot? First, identify the emotional connection you wish to make with readers. You communicate that through your novel, but you can also use slogans and even logos to help create and/or increase awareness of your brand.
The following are some famous slogans. Do you remember any of these?
Got Milk? (1993, California Milk Processor Board)
Don't leave home without it (1975 American Express)
Where's the beef? (1984 Wendy's)
You're in good hands with Allstate (1956 Allstate Insurance)
Dude, you're getting a Dell (Dell Computer, 2003)
Just Do It! (Nike, 1988)
We try harder (Avis, 1962)
Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. (1954, M&M Candies)
Takes a licking and keeps on ticking. (1956, Timex)
When creating your slogan, choose words that reflect that emotional connection you wish to have with readers. In my case, I wanted readers to know that my books are sexy and have a humorous tone. I also wanted the slogan to be memorable. To be honest, I was a bit dubious that anyone would notice my slogan: Wickedly Witty Historical Romance. I certainly didn't have the resources to test that slogan, but something happened with the publication of my second book HOW TO SEDUCE A SCOUNDREL. Reviewers used the "wickedly witty" part of my slogan in their descriptions of my novel. In other words, the slogan positively reflects the emotional experience I wish readers to have when reading my books.
If you think a logo is a strange idea for a novel, look at the top of this page. I commissioned an artist to paint and create an image of that waltzing couple for my website. I use that same image on my e-newsletter, stationary, and my Romance Trading cards as a visual branding tool.
Finally, I create marketing copy at the request of my publisher that reflects the witty and fun experience I aim for in my novels. These are blogs and articles that appear in online fan magazines and other relevant places. So what are some of the activities you've undertaken to create and/or strengthen your brand?
The following is a commercial that cracked me up in 2008, even though I was working for the competition at the time. What do you think Dell was trying to achieve with their brand in these commercials?
