Geoff Rosenbaum of the Principle Group on Branding

Time for part three from a series of posts from Geoff Rosenbaum, Executive Vice President of Principle Group, an international branding company headquartered in the United Kingdom that recently opened a new U.S. office in Tennessee. You can follow the link to read Part 1 of Geoff’s branding series and to read Part 2 of Geoff’s branding series.

The moment you roll out a brand, you start losing control. An infinite number of factors impact the public’s perception of your organization’s identity, many of them to a large extent out of your influence.

But the power and pleasure of rolling out a new brand is in setting a trajectory that gives the brand the best possible opportunity to thrive and flourish. On a global scale, this challenge can be both rewarding and supremely daunting.

As we have discussed in past posts, a worldwide implementation program can be a big, complex and terrifying endeavor. We have provided tips in planning and preparing your resources. Now we will cover strategies that will allow you to maximize the power of your launch.

Many of our clients initially assume a brand rollout should be as limited and decentralized as possible. The overwhelming level of detail and complexity of coordination naturally incline many marketing and operations teams to limit exposure. However, if you want the most bang for your buck, and you want to set your brand on the strongest trajectory for continued success, we recommend that our clients follow Rule Number Two: Do It Now, Do It Everywhere.

The three key points related to this rule are Speed, Coverage, and Problem-Solving:

Speed
You don’t have much time to capitalize on the launch of a new brand. Your ad campaigns are scheduled or running already, and your facilities need to be on point. An organization sending one message in advertising and a different facility image is weakening its own brand rollout.

To solve the problem, and provide a foundation for a sustained, positive rollout, we recommend a Day One launch event at several facilities around the world, to create a buzz and momentum in each region for the overall project. There are many ways to publicize the launch – a conversion of multiple facilities’ branding overnight, banners or bags covering the new branding so executives from each region can flip a switch to reveal the new facility image, etc.

By creating this initial buzz, you give yourself the opportunity to sustain and build on that buzz with a rollout of the image to the balance of the facilities in an orderly and efficient manner.

Coverage
No region of the world in which you plan on operating effectively or communicating your brand can be compromised. You need to work with a partner who is capable of addressing not only the launch, but also the rollout of the image in all regions of the world.

Specialist companies exist in every region or country who are capable of addressing all aspects of the brand. Exterior image, interior environments, facility repairs, painting and fleet graphics are all aspects of the facility messaging that should be considered. What you need is to find a way to access those companies, and to plan your rollout through them to generate optimum buzz and maintain brand momentum throughout the rollout. The easiest way to do this, obviously, is to choose a partner who has access to those specialist companies.

Problem Solving
In any global implementation, you will be faced with no end of practical problems. From submitting for local planning, to working with building owners, to making adjustments for electrical requirements within a region, the challenges are real and overwhelming.

When these problems arise, experience is worth its weight in gold, but the ability to proactively avoid these challenges is even more valuable. Use standard products, with specifications developed to allow you to avoid permitting restrictions as often as possible. Electrical component requirements can be designed so that all regions of the world are addressed. Materials should be chosen to address availability in all areas of the globe.

All of that said, issues will arise along the way and knowing that your partner has the ability to address these issues in the most appropriate way to protect your brand is the best insurance you can have.

Now you’ve laid the groundwork for your global brand implementation program. The next critical step is to address costs and funding for the project. We will cover these topics in our next post, Cut the Costs Dramatically.

Thank you as always for reading! If you have any questions at all regarding these posts, please feel free to email us at geoff.rosenbaum@principle-group.us.com.

Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc. and Founder & Editor in Chief of an award-winning blog, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored 10 books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.