Branding and Marketing

I've been having a little think about branding and marketing. It's probably more to do with the promoters but will still be a good thing to understand and know a bit about. Especially in preparation for opening my bridal shop. I was watching a music channel the other day and Lady Gaga's Telephone song came on.




Talk about product placement! This video shows 10 separate brands, including Virgin Mobile, Diet Coke, Polaroid and Wonder Bread...

I found this amazing free e-book called T-shirts and Suits by David Parrish well worth a look if you want to know a bit more businesses. In this book the key points for marketing are:

1. Marketing is not just a posh word for selling. It’s much more radical than that. 
2. Sort out your strategic marketing (part of your business formula) before planning your operational marketing. 
3. Target specific market segments or specific customers. Draw up a target list of clients to win. 
4. Marketing is a dialogue, not a monologue. It includes listening to customers as well as talking to them. 
5. Not all customers are good customers. Decide which are good and bad for your enterprise. 
6. Are you truly customer­focused or still product­focused? 
7. Build your business around customers’ changing needs. Be prepared to change as customers’ needs do.
8. How much do you know about your current customers, lost customers and target customers? What would you like to know? Devise a way of finding out what you need to know, through various means including direct and indirect market research. 
9. Help and encourage existing customers to recommend you to new customers – so long as they are the right kind. 
10. Define the ideal customer then find one. Then another one, and so on.