Positioning and branding one’s company is something that many companies don’t bother to do. It takes some time up front to develop a strategy and a plan, and too often companies want to get going with implementation. Positioning involves targeting your customer and market segment, developing a compelling value proposition and differentiating your company against the competition. To begin executing on tactics before having a positioning strategy seems like folly, but countless companies do this every day.

Even fewer companies spend time thinking through how to deliver a brand experience that will create an emotional bond between the customer and you, leading to brand loyalty. But, look at the following list of benefits, and I think you’ll agree that taking the time to position and brand your company to your advantage pays big dividends, including:

1) Market’s understanding and preference for your brand
2) Lower cost of sales
3) Customer loyalty
4) Ability to charge higher premiums for products
5) Attracting the best partners and employees
6) Abundant publicity as a brand leader
7) Higher company valuation
8) Lower cost of capital
9) Positive halo effect that helps future products
10) Goodwill of the market

This is a no-brainer investment of time and money. It’s never too late to begin, so what are you waiting for?

Over the years, I have worked with a number of professional services clients—from systems integration companies to management consulting firms. The question that these clients always have is: how do you position a service?

The underlying assumption is that a service is less tangible than a product—that is, messaging around a service is less clear cut. At the outset that may be true. But, I like to do the same thing with services organizations as I do with product companies. Here are a few tips:

1. Like any product company, you need to identify your target customers. Who really needs your services? What is their environment, what are their business and work-related issues and how can you solve their problem or enable them to realize an opportunity. For some services firms, the target may be identified by title, size of company and industry, but, often further identification by behavior and personality is required. For instance, services companies that enable significant changes through implementation of a new strategy may have more luck identifying visionary clients who are willing to take calclulated risks for potential gains.

2. What is your category? For instance, marketing consulting is a broad category. In my case, I specialize in a subset of marketing consulting: positioning and brand strategies (with a further specialization in high technology companies).

3. What is your service? Understand that you may have to alter your service offerings to map a compelling solution to your target customer’s point of pain. Your service offering should not be a laundry list of services. You will need to have a higher level message of the overall service offering that is concise and compelling. Under this larger umbrella, you can then fit smaller “buckets” of services that are logically organized according to solutions or needs.

4. Can you “producticize” your service and/or methodology? For example, with a systems integration client, we identified, named and branded its methodology. This helped to differentiate the client from competitors as well as to underscore the value of a proven and relatively risk-free way to get quick results. Productizing intellectual property is very important to services companies, as is quantifying the talents and experience of your staff. It requires more creativity than a straightforward product, but can definitely be achieved.

5. What is your true differentiation from competitors? This can’t be from your point of view. It must be differentiation that is meaningful to your target customer. Go back to the problem statement and ensure that you can solve the problem better than your competitor. Or perhaps your differentiation is less around your service and more in the company you keep (e.g., services partners, blue chip clients, etc.). Whatever it is, ensure that it will make a difference to your customer.

6. Do you have a plan for word-of-mouth marketing? In professional services, references are key. Think about having to choose a doctor, dentist or accountant. You always ask your network who is the best in these specialties. It’s no different with professional services in high tech markets. Figure out who are the key influences in the market segment you have chosen, and ensure that they know who you are and why you should be a preferred services provider.

As you can see, positioning a service is not that different from positioning a product. Just remember that the service becomes the product.

All companies have multiple audiences. Each audience may have a different value proposition from the company. But, does that mean that we need to promote a different position with each audience?

The short answer is No.

Your corporate positioning goal should be the same for every audience. At a higher level, the positioning message needs to be consistent. But, the value proposition and benefit messages can be tailored by audience. Here are some examples for a made-up company called Wizzy Widgets.

Example of a corporate positioning goal

Wizzy Widgets is the leader in open widgets for trolls who want a wizzy experience on the Web.

Example of tailored value messaging for trolls in IT

Wizzy Widgets provides an open widget platform, allowing easy integration with corporate applications and greater vendor choice. The benefits of using Wizzy Widgets are reduced integration costs, lower risk and more satisfied users.

Example of tailored value messaging for investors

Wizzy Widgets, the only open widget play, is well positioned to become the industry standard in the $600 billion troll market.

How Do You Implement Tailored Messages for Different Audiences?

Too often companies try to be all things to all people. This is often reflected on their website home page, which typically will have multiple messages and images that confuse visitors. Companies have to make a decision—not all your “children” are equal. Therefore, certain products and messages get top billing, while others become secondary or supporting.

In terms of hierarchy, companies should make sure that their corporate positioning is clear on the home page. Visitors to the Wizzy Widgets site should know that the company is all about “open widgets”. If Wizzy Widgets had both business visitors and consumer visitors, the message about being “open widgets for a wizzy web experience” would still be the Home Page message. However, the website could then direct business users and consumers to different areas with tailored messaging for each audience.

Customizing messages for different audiences is not difficult to do. But, companies need to have a broad enough corporate positioning umbrella to make all these messages fit logically. The key to consistent positioning is to ensure that the high-level messages remain constant. Then customization of messages for different audiences will not be confusing.

Can countries or regions have a brand?  You bet.

Anything or anyone can have a brand—even places.  Take Italy.  The mere mention of Tuscany evokes an image of the good life—sipping wine in a hilltop villa surrounded by cypress trees and lush vineyards.  Naples, on the other hand, brings to mind purse thieves in a noisy, Vespa-populated city with the Camorra (local mafia) casting its shadow over all.

Under the Tuscan Shadow

Tuscany has a great brand that has been carefully cultivated and helped along by such popular books as Under The Tuscan Sun.  Whereas Naples has done little to position its city in a positive and inviting way.

Having visited Naples four times last year and again a few weeks ago, I have been completely charmed by the city—from attending Don Giovanni at one of the world’s grand opera houses,  to eating the world’s best pizza at an outdoor café in a music-filled piazza, to walking along the beautiful marina adorned with ancient castles and a large Mt. Vesuvius on the horizon.

Yet, when I mention Naples as a travel destination to acquaintances, they look at me askance because they associate the Naples brand with being dirty, gritty, wallet-snatching and filled with dangerous mafioso-types.  Yes, you can find all of the above in Naples—especially in bad areas that tourists should avoid..

Guiding the Market

But , positioning is about guiding how the market thinks about your brand in comparison to other alternatives.  There is not another place in the world like Naples.  For those who have “been there and done that” in Tuscany, exploring an exciting and different milieu with the incomparable Neapolitan love of life, music and women could be just the ticket.  Throw in the beautiful bay, great castles, heavenly pizza, to-die-for Pompeii exhibits at the archeological museum (not to mention being a springboard to the Amalfi Coast), and you have yourself a winner.

For companies who are not in the travel business, the take-away from this brief example should be that you can always reposition yourself in a compelling manner despite negative perceptions.  When I was involved in an Italian travel business, we sent many tourists to Naples and the surrounding area by repositioning the destination in a positive and attractive light.  However, it would have made it a lot easier if the Naples government played a more active role in positioning, and tied their positioning strategy to their execution and delivery of their brand.  Believe it or not, the Camorra and Naples tourism do not have to be mutually exclusive.

Although I was a judge for the first-ever Silicon Valley Brand Impact Awards, I had to miss the associated Liquid Brand Summit 2007 due to a conflict.  The Liquid Agency (the founder and host of the Summit), however, has done a great job documenting the May 15 event.   Check out the Liquid website to get a PDF copy of the Brand Impact Award 2007 Winners and the Best Practices Report.  If images are your thing, there’s a complete photo gallery from the summit and the awards dinner.

My hat’s off to the Liquid Agency—from a branding point of view, they seemed to nail both form and function with the Brand Summit.  The event had top marketing and brand professionals, relevant content and good ideas, and was consistently wrapped in Liquid’s clean and stylish graphics and visuals.  Hopefully, I’ll be free to participate in next year’s Summit.

Branding non-profit organizations can be a difficult task for some marketers because there is rarely a large advertising budget and the marketing sophistication of the staff is often limited. Girls for a Change (GFC) is a non-profit organization based in Silicon Valley and Phoenix that has built a strong brand despite having no advertising budget. How they have done this is branding the old-fashioned way: developing a compelling product or service, creating word-of-mouth and loyal partnerships, and delivering on the brand.

I know this from personal experience having been a volunteer coach for one of GFC’s Girl Action Teams in East Palo Alto this year. GFC’s mission is to help disadvantaged girls to become social change agents in their communities, and in the process nurture confidence, self-worth and leadership in each girl.

A Unique Personality and Brand Consistency

Starting with a contemporary lime green logo, the Girls for a Change brand personality is of a cool, fun but meaningful organization that understands the needs of at-risk girls and their potential. These brand attributes are underscored in the opening and closing gatherings that feature hip hop bands and dancers, young poets and rappers, and the girls themselves taking leadership at the events in emcee capacity and skits. Almost all GFC meetings have time for sharing and fun connection games as well as planning and execution of a social change project that the girls do with only guidance from the adult coaches.

The girls are supported with warmth and understanding from their coaches, and the coaches are supported with monthly coach training, GFC toolkit and consultants, staff and other coaches. The network is powerful. And that’s only the inside network.

Outside of GFC is an incredible network of donors—both corporate and individual, supportive local and state government officials, and partnering schools that encourage their girls to join Girls for a Change.

A Lesson for For-Profits

Silicon Valley companies that are so impatient for brand success could take a lesson from this “not well capitalized start-up” in how building your influencer and constituent ecosystem, and delivering on your product and brand promise can go a long way toward building a strong brand.

In February 2007, I wrote a newsletter/blog entitled “Full to Empty: The Jet Blue Brand” on the airline’s fall from grace, but I predicted that strong brand loyalty and excellent crisis response would buy them a second chance. Not only did Jet Blue get another chance, but the brand recovered more quickly than one could imagine.

On June 19, 2007, J.D. Powers and Associates announced that Jet Blue earned the highest marks for carrier performance for all domestic airlines, and had the highest rating in customer satisfaction among low-cost carriers.

A blogger on Topix posted this comment on the same day as the announcement: “This is no surprise to me. Loyal passengers have short memories when it comes to having a negative experience, (even a major one) with an airline they really like. People simply love to fly this airline, including me.”

Having taken four Jet Blue flights to the East Coast and back to San Jose in April and May, you can also count me as a “True Blue” flyer.

Thought leadership positioning (or vision leadership positioning) can be a powerful marketing tool for both start-ups and established companies.

Differentiate on a New Dimension

Many marketers can’t see the forest for the trees. Specifically, marketing teams often don’t see an opportunity to position their company in a thought leadership category. They are too busy focusing on market segmentation and differentiating on product features and benefits. Eventually all technology becomes commoditized, so the sooner companies learn to differentiate on other dimensions, the better.

Thought Leadership = Visioning Umbrella

Thought leadership, however, should not be pursued randomly. The best thought leadership programs are those that help your product offering by providing a provocative vision for 1) averting disaster or 2) enabling opportunities. Typically the vision should include where the industry is headed, the challenges that must be addressed and the solutions that can help. Companies can then unveil products or services under this visioning umbrella.

Accelerate Acceptance and Break Away from the Competition

Although implementing a thought leadership program can be time-consuming, the benefits are great, including:

• Creating a favorable context for your products
• Accelerating market acceptance
• Competitive differentiation through something intangible and not easily countered
• Media opportunities that come to recognized visionaries

So, what are you waiting for? Create a compelling vision of the forest so your trees can grow.

Think of brand equity as the water level in a glass. Some brands are full, some are half-full and some are empty. Some brands have negative equity—these are the brands that have broken their brand promise to their customers. When you break the trust, you break the water glass, and you are no longer at ground zero, you are actually in the negative and need to climb to reach neutral ground.

Jet Blue Brand Tumble

The Jet Blue brand was close to a full water glass before an ice storm and an inadequate Jet Blue infrastructure led to 1,000 flights canceled over 6 days in February including trapping passengers on planes for up to 10 hours without food, water or sanitary toilets. Now their brand equity glass stands empty or shattered.

Is it all over for the Jet Blue brand whose promise was to “bring humanity back to air travel?” I don’t think so. Jet Blue is doing a lot of the right things to turn a PR disaster into an opportunity for redemption and rebirth. JetBlue CEO David Neeleman not only has apologized on the Late Show with David Letterman, but set the right tone in an e-mail to customers that begins, “We are sorry and embarrassed. But most of all, we are deeply sorry.” Its new Customer bill of Rights is unique among carriers and provides a service guarantee backed up by vouchers or refunds.

Giving Jet Blue a Second Chance

Jet Blue has built up equity among a loyal following and won the Reader’s Choice Award of Conde Nast Traveler for the last five years. What this buys Jet Blue is a second chance. Customers won’t flee just yet, but they will be watching.

I’m a case in point. I’ve been very impressed with Jet Blue on cross-country trips to Boston—loved the low prices, the extra leg room, the friendly service, the individual monitors with Direct TV programming, the Bliss Spa overnight goody bag and the Terra Blue chips. I flew Jet Blue for a quick trip to San Diego last weekend, and, because of all their publicized troubles, was watching them like a hawk. The trip went smoothly: the self-serve kiosk got me my boarding pass efficiently, the flight attendant put my carry-on bag in the overhead bin for me, and the snacks were a cut above standard fare on airplanes. The only glitch was a dirty pull-down tray which, when I told an attendant, was cleaned quickly with a smile.

Never Let it Happen Again

The market is willing to give a company with a strong brand the benefit of the doubt, but you don’t get too many second chances before the brand is irreparably harmed. Remember that the full glass can go empty in an instant if the brand promise is broken. If that happens, you need to apologize sincerely, show real reform and work like the dickens to never let it happen again.

A good way to decrease business in a hurry is to change the name of your company and not tell your customers.

Niebaum-Coppola Café in Palo Alto had a brand name with a star pedigree. It was founded and owned by Francis Ford Coppola, the great film director who brought us The Godfather and now produces an array of respected California wines. Most nights, the restaurant did a booming business.

Name Change

However, the restaurant has recently changed its name to Rosso & Bianco with “Francis Ford Coppola Presents” above the logo. When I walked past a few weeks ago, I did a double-take. Was there new ownership? Was this just a special promotion? The hostess assured me that Coppola still owned the restaurant.

Last week, I had dinner again at the restaurant. The Coppola memorabilia was still there, as was the warm ambiance of a grand European café with high ceilings, rich wood panelling and wrought iron light fixtures. The authentic Italian food was as I remembered with a menu filled with Southern Italian pasta and meat dishes, as well as Neapolitan-inspired pizzas from a wood-burning oven. The wine, as one would expect in a wine restaurant, was excellent. Why then was the restaurant more than half empty when other popular restaurants up and down the street were filled?

Customer Confusion

My guess is customer confusion. What is Rosso & Bianco? For those that follow the Coppola hiearchy of wines, Rosso and Bianco are the inexpensive red and white table wines reminiscent of the wines that would complement a typical Italian family’s dinner. But, for most, the new signage, just makes one wonder what is up with the restaurant formerly known as Niebaum-Coppola.

Since the Niebaum-Coppola winery has changed names to Rubicon, still owned by Francis Ford Coppola, I understand why he did not want to have the Niebaum-Coppola name on any of his properties. But, couldn’t he have called it ‘Coppola’s Restaurant and Wine Bar” instead? Everyone would then call it “Coppola’s”—not bad. Even with the current name, the brand confusion could have been lessened with some marketing and public relations to prepare the public before the name change. There was a nice article in Food and Wine about the change of the Niebaum-Coppola Winery to Rubicon. But, couldn’t Coppola have done some restaurant name change articles in the local press, an attractive poster on the restaurant door about the name change, a mention on the local online forum, a name change event at the restaurant—before the name change?

Marketing Myopia

Business has been down since the restaurant changed its name. But, why wouldn’t it? Customers don’t like to be confused. The beauty of brand loyalty is that you always know what to expect from the brand. When the brand name changes with no explanation to customers, it’s logical to expect that the brand itself, and what it had always promised, has changed. With the Coppola name, a wonderful ambience and great food, this restaurant should be filled every night. Let’s hope this restaurant can recover from its owner’s marketing myopia.