BRANDING
“Identity is cause;
brand is effect.”
Larry Ackerman
There are countless ways to define what a "brand" is. At Venture Management and Marketing, we choose to define a brand as the emotion and opinion generated in individuals as a result of their cumulative experiences with a business through advertising, media exposure, community outreach and personal interactions involving a business and/or its products and services.
In short, branding will occur whether a company chooses to be proactive about it or not. It's much more effective to make a conscious effort to develop and promote your desired brand early on rather than having to repair the damage of a poorly established brand later on.
STRATEGY
“However beautiful the
strategy, you should occasionally
look at the results.”
Winston Churchill
As with any effort intended to produce a desired result, a company's marketing efforts need to be built upon a well thought-out strategy. There's no benefit to running aimlessly through the marketplace, hoping customers will choose to do business with you "just because." Regardless of the size of a company's marketing budget, spending a single dollar without having a strategic approach as to "why" and "how" that dollar is spent is, more often than not, a waste of money.
It is important to have a strategy that evaluates results, direction and effectiveness on a regular basis and makes the necessary adjustments to continue to best position one's business in an ever-changing marketplace.