Brand Association And Brand Connection
Companies often link themselves with other brands to reinforce or augment their own brand attributes. When two powerful brands - each respected in a specific area - connect their offerings, they deliver a much more powerful statement to their consumers. The travel industry is famous for building this type of brand affiliation. Let's say a hotel is committed to building a brand all about style - everything they do has to consistently deliver this message to their consumers from their reception areas and lobby lounges to their elevators and all the products they provide as well. They are seeking consistency of their guests' experiences.
You don't have to be a Fortune 100 company to benefit from brand affiliations. At AlphaTrade, we are already well-known as a leading global provider of financial stock quote services. We are focused on expanding that expertise to include related services such as PR advertising and networking services. We are a technology company with a strong sense of business. We know many of our customers need to upgrade their websites and more importantly, they need to improve their online presence with the right audience. Our brand association program strategically places companies in an environment that allows them to cultivate consumer trust and attention.
Dancing with Giants!
Brand connections can instantly take companies from obscurity to success. What do you think happens to companies when they sign their first deal with a Walmart or Ford Motor Company? All of a sudden their stature in the industry has been catapulted into the stratosphere. In a nutshell, you have greater market influence when you are associating with other brands - at the very least, your market acceptance is accelerated. The products, services and people you connect with all say something about your company. That works both ways - we see so many companies hire an investor relations "EXPERT" that works out of his home using his cell phone and has zero credibility in the industry.
YOU ARE WHO YOU HANG AROUND WITH ...
We cannot stress this enough!!!!! Imagine this scenario - you get a call on your cell phone from someone you don't know and he gives you a "hot stock" tip. Or better yet, you get an email where the subject line says "Buy now - stock will triple in less than 14 seconds - act now!" How often would you be tempted to immediately call your broker to buy that stock? Let's face facts - you won't do it in fact, you will probably hang up the phone and delete the email without reading it. But we see companies all the time thinking this type of program will "kick things" off for them.
That scenario will land you talking to the companies that have 3 letters in their name - not a fun time for anyone.
You need to associate yourself with other like-minded companies - you need to adopt a well thought out strategic and tactical marketing plan that builds credibility and loyalty over time. Taking the time to build and maintain strong consumer relations builds trust and generates interest. Consumers and investors need to experience a sense of your longevity. By associating with other brands in our PR Advertising programs, customers will be able to assess your company on the basis of:
- The calibre of your company in relation to other companies
- The ability of your company to execute on its business plan
- The strength of management and how they grow the business
BEAR IN MIND ......
An Online PR strategy is an integral part of a company's marketing program. Brand associations are clearly the easiest way to fast-track your online presence and garner attention from your target audience. Our PR programs utilize brand affiliations and associations to maximize the impact for all of our clients. Our innovative programs work because they cultivate interest and promote interaction on the customers' terms. A comprehensive program of PR marketing that includes brand associations works because:
- Many people just delete emails - no connection can be established if that is all you are going to do
- Most people fast forward TV ads and throw direct mail pieces in the garbage - it is fast becoming an expensive way to waste money
- Each online marketing piece we create is specifically tailored to best capture the attention of online visitors
- The visual attention rate is high
- These ads generate online buzz with the right crowd
- It is easier to drive word of mouth and viral marketing
- You get instant access to global customers
- These programs foster interaction between companies and customers thereby building loyalty and interest
- Builds greater marketing awareness and marketing influence
Do you want to be known as an upcoming SuperStar or do you want to remain as an underdog?
Your Brand Connection Strategy - Are you hanging with the
"cool" companies?
Think back to high school and how important it was to be connected with the cool people - instantly you were accepted, admired and included in all the fun stuff just by associating with them. No matter what your age or what you are selling, EVERYONE wants to be seen to be "cool". Products that are cool seem to market themselves like the iPOD for instance. That is the biggest reason to be always thinking brand associations.
In addition to the valuable exposure, you are connected to a large variety of other companies that together reinforce the feeling of being "favored". Each time one of our customers enjoys success, they have just reinforced that image onto your company. That's the effect of brand connections - the communication is subtle, confident and relaxed. Gone are the days of the pushy, "try harder" sales approach - all you have to do is be patient and hang out with right companies.
And just when you thought you knew it all ...
Markets are increasingly interactive - there is no getting around it - your marketing program needs to be totally engaging and interactive. Fostering a brand association strategy will keep you at the forefront of the industry and you will be able to more effectively manage the diverse needs and expectations of investors, shareholders and consumers.
People don't want to be bored.
- they want you to talk to them informally
- they want you to entertain, surprise and keep them excited
- they want to feel connected to interesting people and companies
We live in an over stimulated society - that's nothing new - every day people are bombarded with offers to buy the newest, the latest, the cheapest - our brains are continually on sensory overload - HOW DO YOU GET NOTICED?
People expect to be entertained or informed - and they need to multi-task - what makes you think a prospect can be pitched for your company when he can find hundreds of others that are similar to yours? Attention spans are short - Prospects are used to jumping around from website to website - from one TV channel to another without a moment's hesitation. The problem is - on your website - YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE - on our website - you get lots of chances for them to see your ad.
Doesn't it make sense to harness this kind of power for your marketing campaigns?
Brand Affiliations - it's time to turn the tables and pull out all the stops - start working with the "good guys"
We place a high value on contributing to the continued growth and vitalization of our clients' businesses. Renowned for our progressive business culture and management philosophy, we consider developing innovative and unique marketing programs as crucial for executing our growth agenda. AlphaTrade has a proven rack record of reacting to economic and market changes. As a result, our brand association programs exemplify a reputation synonymous with market leadership.
To achieve our vision we are committed to consistently delivering extraordinary value to our customers and stakeholders through the creation of innovative and effective programs.
For starters, affiliations are not co-branding which is just sharing a product or service with two brand names. Rather, it is connecting your brand to other brand s to bolster your differentiation, expand your brand attributes or increase your visibility. A business has a greater chance for success if you have a recognizable brand. A recognizable brand also makes a business more attractive to potential investors and shareholders.
Now just wait a minute - Recognizable doesn't necessarily mean universally known. It means that a business's brand will increase its chance to compete successfully for attention and market share in the appropriate space - if it is recognizable. So you need to have a program to create some recognition for your brand.
It doesn't take an expensive global advertising campaign to brand your business. Branding can be accomplished through associations, connections, partnerships, direct marketing, a robust Web site, and a modicum of good public relations. Fundamentally, branding online is pretty similar to branding offline. The palette is different because the medium is reduced to a screen instead of a billboard or a print advertisement, but the opportunity for messaging is the same.
You don't have to twist my arm to convince me ......
We are giving you the opportunity to do less, get more attention and have happier shareholders - Hard to beat. So with that being said - once you sign up for our strategic brand association programs, you get to start having some fun and you will be a lot more enthusiastic about marketing your company.
Sound far-fetched to you - keep reading - Now that you can make changes in real-time, you no longer need to think through the best way to advertise; instead, you can try all sorts of marketing ideas to find out which ones work the best. Fine-tuning a campaign could include a number of different possible combinations - and we can change them on the fly.
Some people want to know - "How do we know what campaign is best? The same way that the caterpillar evolves: we don't know and we don't care ( at least we don't care upfront because we know we can make changes ). Instead, we let our consumers dictate who wins and who loses - Which just goes to show - there is no free lunch for anyone - keep up, be exciting and be part of the "in" crowd - SIGN UP now for your PR marketing campaign.
Click here to receive more information about Brand Associations! You'll get these bonus materials - ABSOLUTELY FREE!
- Marketing Awareness Buying Guide - Our popular brochure, a must-read for anyone looking for corporate advertising programs.
- Marketing Awareness Media Kit - including our competitive pricing, traffic data and more.
You could save TENS of THOUSANDS of DOLLARS and DAYS of RESEARCH!
