Branding

Sourcing1 will review the products our clients’ offers, pinpoint the space in the market where our clients’ product occupies; research the rational needs and concerns of where our clients’ customers. Our clients’ brand character should promote their business, connect with their customer base and differentiate the client in the market place.

Every client is an individual(s) whose character is made up of beliefs, values and purposes that define who they are and who they connect with. Our clients’ personalities as a company and management team determine how they behave in different situations, how they dress and what they say. For our clients it can be intuitive, therefore Sourcing1 makes sure our clients consider what their own character is. Then we can more easily assist and direct our clients in building their brand. It is vital to have our clients understand this.

What does a client believe in? What is its purpose and who are the clients’ brand heroes? These things can help establish a client’s emotive brand positioning and inform the identity and character for brand communications.

Sourcing1 works with our clients to not dress-up their brand that raises expectations that then result in broken promises. The key is to create trust with honest branding — be clear who our client is and be true to the values that drive it every day.

It will help reinforce the clients’ character and clarify its offering so their customers are aware exactly what to expect from the product or service.

Alternatively, Sourcing1 aims to make certain our clients’ key messages work together to build a coherent identity.

Sourcing1 provides our clients the tools to carve out their own distinctive identity. Current consumer trend is towards independent establishments, and several chains are in fact trying to mimic an independent feel to capture some of that market share back. Sourcing1 shows our clients how to leverage their status in attracting customers who are looking for something more original and authentic that aligns with how our clients’ customers feel about themselves.

Big brands are encumbered by large layers of bureaucracy, preventing them from being flexible and reacting to the ever-changing needs of their customers. Those layers of decision-makers can make it hard for them to be daring with their branding. Sourcing1 works very hard in demonstrating and teaching our clients how to not fall into the big brand bureaucracy. Clients that stay true to their brand, identities, and goals are always the most successful.

Sourcing1 works closely to ensure our clients maintain their pride and do not dilute their brand positioning with indiscriminate discounting. Sourcing1 firmly believes that a client should offer more products, rather than slashing prices. Sourcing1 believes and demonstrates to our clients that promotions are an opportunity to reinforce our clients’ brand, not sell products at a reduced price. Louis Vuitton never discounts a single item; that is the philosophy that Sourcing1 brings to our clients.

The future of branding is fluid and engaging, this is why we work with our clients year around. We demonstrate to our clients how to respect their customers' intelligence by not giving everything away up front. Sourcing1 shows our clients how to generate some intrigue and allow their customers to unearth more about their brand for themselves. This is the way to foster ambassadors who revel in telling other people what they have discovered.

A target audience is the first topic to define. In order to establish the brand the client needs to identify their clients – Buyers Persona.

Knowing each of our individual client’s buyer’s personas is a crucial step in the branding process that, if skipped, runs the risk of complete failure. Sourcing1 develops profiles of our clients’ buyer’s persona in terms of:

1. Demographics
2. The buyer’s value in money, reach and return business to our client.
3. The buyer’s preferred method of contact – phone, email, website, mobile, social?
4. The buyer’s problems that our client can solve.

Sourcing1 creates a picture of the person to who our clients are marketing their products or service. Developing personas helps our clients keep the customer “types” in mind as Sourcing1 works on brand building.

Content is so much more than just marketing copy. Content today, especially when talking about content marketing, is how Sourcing1 builds a client’s brand online and through physical marketing channels.

Content consists of:

1. Web and mobile content
2. Video and audio
3. White papers, eBooks
4. Webinars and podcasts
5. Info graphics - presentations
6. Print materials

Additionally, Sourcing1 considers our clients’ buyer’s personas, Sourcing1 maps out a content strategy relating to each client’s specific needs. When implemented, this strategy establishes the level of confidence in each client’s brand which is required to achieve specific goals.

Sourcing1 establishes content as a tool for building trust in our clients’ company, products, and services. There is unique content created for each client that informs, educates, and inspires a desired action. Sourcing1 creates this unique content to build our clients’ brand:

1. Content builds awareness
2. Content builds trust through its usefulness to our clients’ audience
3. Content creates fans (brand advocates)
4. Content is the fuel for our clients’ marketing efforts

Customers do business with companies they trust. Today, customers trust companies they see on the Internet who are experts based on the opinions of others – not on what companies say about themselves. Content facilitates this.

Content must be consumed or it is useless. Content needs to be distributed, promoted, and shared. Sourcing1 ensures the content is distributed through all appropriate marketing channels. Today there are more channels than we know what to do with.

To build a brand, Sourcing1 believes our clients’ need to have a presence in the channels where their target audience spends their time. Sourcing1 has started some semblance of this in various channels for each client.

Sourcing1 starts with an evaluation of our client’s reputation or at least the perceived reputation. Where is our client currently? How our clients doing in there?

Consider the presence on these channels:

1. Social
2. Mobile
3. Website
4. Print
5. In Person

We evaluate how consistent the client is currently. Are clients solving problems in these channels or simply promoting their company? Sourcing1 is focused on instructing our clients that effective branding requires consistency and builds confidence.

Sourcing1’s evaluation includes learning what channels our client is currently using. Sourcing1 focuses on when a potential ccustomer is actively seeking our client - how is our client found? Or not found?

1. Search engines
2. Social channels
3. Referrals
4. Printed materials
5. Signs
6. Mobile

Sourcing1 will ensure our clients contribute, monitor, respond and build trust on these channels.

Sourcing also introduces - Utility Marketing to our clients. Sourcing1 explains the value in content and information within a client’s marketing materials that is directed to their target audience and that can be utilized throughout all marketing tools but especially on mobile devices. Below are the items that a target audience needs:

1. Blog posts
2. Video or audio
3. Webinars
4. eBooks

A marketing philosophy that Sourcing1 adheres to: If clients are not solving problems, they are merely creating noise. A noisy, disruptive brand is no longer effective.

After the branding process is implemented, it must be measured with real results or lack thereof. Sourcng1 measures success through the following results:

1. More leads?
2. More fans and followers?
3. More subscribers?

Sourcing1 demonstrates to clients how to map out their desired outcomes, otherwise a client has no way of knowing if the branding efforts are working.

There are those tangibles measurement tools:

1. Increased site traffic and leads
2. Increased fans/followers on social channels
3. Increased subscribers to email newsletters

These and more are hard numbers you can track. Sourcing1 assist our clients in setting goals, one example - 1,000 new unique website visitors per month. Sourcing1 trains our clients on how to see what activities increase traffic and which do not through Google Analytics.