Integrated Brand » 2009

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Lynn speaking at the Out for Business Conference in May
April 22nd, 2009

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Lynn Parker will be speaking at the Out for Business Conference in Seattle on Friday, May 29th from 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM. She wll be speaking on the topics of communications and brand care.

For more information, check out the conference website here.

Your Facebrand Page
April 17th, 2009

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Social media will hijack your brand (if it hasn’t yet already). The masses will talk about your organization as kindly or ruthlessly as they wish and you can either partake in that conversation or slink off to the dark ages. Whatever you do, don’t underestimate the power of social media. By participating in the conversation, you have the power to engage your customers on their terms and on a deeper level. Plus, you get to learn from your audience in real-time and for free.

The number of social media avenues can overwhelm, so my recommendation is to start with the most popular, most trafficked site out there—Facebook. Checking Facebook has now become routine habit akin to checking e-mail, with people spending hours at a time on it and checking it multiple times per day. The question is no longer why you should use Facebook, it’s how to best use Facebook.

Facebook empowers your brand by offering it another “home” to thrive and grow, aka your Facebrand page. Today’s consumer wants to interact with your brand, so by fostering this page and proactively engaging them, you can begin to manage your brand’s greater online presence. And if you don’t think this is important, ask yourself what’s the first thing people do when they want to find out about something—they Google it. Your online presence is the megaphone to your brand. If done right, your brand online can better communicate what your brand offline promises.

So here are a few helpful hints to help you create and take full advantage of your brand’s Facebook page:

· Do a little research to get to know your audiences. This will help you determine what content will be the most valuable to them.

· As you start communicating, be authentic and use your brand as a filter. Before posting or tagging anything, weigh its content and make sure it aligns with the brand you’ve created offline.

· Let people come to you. Facebook, as a social tool isn’t a place to advertise. So don’t crowd your page with too much marketing fluff –it’s sure to turn them off.

· Keep in mind that people “fan” your page because it reflects something about them. If they relate to your brand enough to become a fan, they are in essence announcing their loyalty and championing your brand to the rest of their network. That’s a big deal.

· Be engaging. Back in the day, people wrote fan mail; today, people write on your wall. Pique their interests with polls, discussions, and notes. Delivering fresh content is key in bringing them back. Updating your status message is one way to stay on people’s radar, but avoid clogging up their news feed with too many updates—once per day is more than enough.

· Think outside the box. Betty Crocker’s page offers recipes, a “what kind of cupcake are you?” quiz, coupons for fans, quick baking tips via its status update and an online cooking class with cooking experts. Your job is to find ways to deliver more of your unique value in a creative and compelling way.

-Bianca Abate

Announcing two new discounts for the Advanced Learning Institute’s Internal Branding Conference
April 17th, 2009

A screaming deal on a leading internal branding conference that Lynn Parker is speaking at.

********************
INTERNAL BRANDING:
How To Use Branding And Communications To Drive Employee
Engagement And Improve Your Organization’s Bottom Line
*********************

May 11-14, 2009 – Washington, DC
Details: http://www.aliconferences.com/conf/internal_branding0509/index.htm

• Early Bird Rates have been extended until May 1st!

• ALSO – mention “LYNN PARKER” and receive 50% off the current registration fees!

Benchmark best practices, learn how to create brand champions, and drive bottom-line results from:

1. NASA
2. ServiceMaster
3. Kaiser Permanente
4. Dean Foods Company
5. George Brown College

And many more…

To register or for more conference details:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CALL: (773) 695-9400, x1 -or- Toll-Free within the U.S. (888) 362-7400, x1
ONLINE: http://www.aliconferences.com/conf/internal_branding0509/register.htm

— Mention “LYNN PARKER” and receive 50% off the registration fees!

http://www.aliconferences.com/

What’s the big deal with social media anyway?
April 10th, 2009

While reading our blog series this month you might be tempted to ask—what’s the big deal with social media anyway? Isn’t it just another portal? After you’ve read this online testimonial from Group Health patient Bill you might able to more easily answer this question. Bill had what can only be described as an excellent experience as a first time patient of Group Health, and he took the time yesterday to blog about it.

This is a great example of what happens when an organization delivers on its brand promise—the customer is likely to share that experience. In the case of Bill, he shared it with more than one friend over lunch, he broadcasted it in the most public way one consumer can, through his blog. While we don’t know what Bill’s daily readership is, we can assume that as people search for information about Group Health this will be one of the pieces of information available. And it doesn’t get much better than that.

Kudos to our client Group Health for asking “what’s next for our customers’ health?” and then making it happen.

–Briana

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Online Thought Leadership
April 10th, 2009

Thought leadership—where you use your intellectual approach to a problem or a challenge as the way to get people to pay attention to your company—is a great strategy for marketing—but it requires two things:

1) the discipline not to pitch your products/services while you’re thought leading, and
2) actual thought leadership .

If you meet those two requirements, then it’s time to bring it to the web. Online thought leadership is necessary today, because that’s where people get their information. These days, online means much more than a blog. Your brand promise now extends to how you show up in Twitter, email, Facebook, ebooks, Linked In, website, blog, podcasts, webinars, vlogs, wikis and wherever your target audiences are.

Overwhelming, right?

So start with an online strategy. Map out where your audience gets its information. Figure out where your brand will suffer if you don’t do it—and which social media or online distribution channels can best convey your message. And start with your own website—looking at how your thought leadership is represented there and how you can beef it up.

Once you have your strategy, create content once and repurpose it. Then, refresh it regularly. Think deeply and lead wisely.

-Lynn Parker

Parker LePla presentation at WA St Non-Profit Conference

Parker LePla presentation from WA St Nonprofit Conference
April 9th, 2009

View more presentations from Parker Lepla.

Personal brand becoming a national brand?
April 3rd, 2009

Described by President Obama as, “the right man for this job,” Gary Locke is now the US Secretary of Commerce. It’s a big job for Washington’s former governor as our nation is roiled in a deep recession. The Department of Commerce is huge and is responsible for critical elements of our economic strategies—the 2010 census, regulation of our fisheries and ocean policy, as well as more direct trade and business concerns.

Why is Mr. Locke right for the job?

Before I took a closer look at the latest news articles, I took stock of my personal impressions of the man:

Even-keeled

Well connected across the Pacific Rim because of hard work and an apparent strategy of building relationships

The type of leader that works behind the scenes more than he revels in the public eye (I confess that I was swayed by the former governor’s appearance at Secret Harbor’s “Celebrating Success” fundraiser a couple of years ago. My favorite nonprofit, Secret Harbor provides kids in danger—in their own homes or because their lives are out of control—with safe places to succeed. This might seem like a digression, but it isn’t. No PR value at this small but important event—just a man trying to help.)

Trustworthy, quiet and maybe even a bit old-fashioned

First Chinese-American governor ever

Recent news articles about Mr. Locke refer to his clean record; according to the Seattle Times (Locke Cabinet Nomination Rolls Along, 3/19/09), Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison referred to his FBI background check and financial statements as “boring.”

What does any of this have to do with personal brand? Gary Locke’s brand seems to be in alignment with President Obama’s (steady leader, trustworthy, strategy of relationship-building). And he’s taking a huge pay cut to lead what has to be a daunting effort.

Anyone else find it fascinating that a quiet man from a quiet state (so lacking in political controversy of the scandalous kind) is going to lead a mission-critical part of our government?

Let’s watch and see whether Mr. Locke’s brand changes the Commerce Department or the other way around. The answer, I believe, is as important as it gets.

1. Does your company have any individuals with personal brands that either:

b. Are aligned with the company brand so well that they are able to represent you flawlessly, every time?

c. Or, are in conflict with your company’s brand?

2. How do you manage/harness strong personal brands?

-Beth Woolley

Parker LePla is now a certified Women-Owned Business!
April 2nd, 2009

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We just achieved our certification as a Washington State Women-Owned Business! Woohoo!

Leading through Crisis – RIF Best Practices
March 19th, 2009

Lynn Parker will be speaking next month at the Lake Washington Human Resources Association seminar on how to lead your employees during the economic downturn.

For more information on the event, click here.