Branding Your Business – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

By Hector Cisneros

Courtesy of The Blue Diamond Gallery

What is a Brand? Typically, when we talk about a brand, we are speaking about two different things. First, it’s a brand mark of ownership (aka registered logo). Like in the cowboy days when they branded a steer with a mark to prove the cattle was theirs. Second, and more importantly, it has to do with the reputation of the owner, the business entity and business practices. In other words, large companies with longstanding and well-entrenched reputations, have “National or International Brands.” Small, new or unestablished companies only have logos and need to establish a positive reputation.  In other words, they have yet to establish a brand.  In this instance, their logo or registered brand mark comes to represent the owner or business over time. In the beginning, their registered logo only represents ownership of a business, product or service. It’s that businesses operational practices which will build a positive or negative brand over time. In this episode of Working the Web to Win, we will explore in the ins and outs of branding. We will answer how to positively brand your business, how to get customers to spread your brand, what effect does changing your logos have, when should you make a logo change and other important questions that surround branding in general.

Understanding the Difference Between Branding, Marketing and Advertising

Courtesy of pixgood.com

By Hector Cisneros

I often hear marketing professionals bantering the terms “branding,” “marketing” and “advertising.” The same is true of the terms “campaign,” “strategic,” and “tactical.” In many cases, seasoned professional use the first three terms interchangeably as if they all mean the exact same thing. In fact, these six terms are often misused, confused ― or worse, they’re associated with unscrupulous means of conning people out of their money. In this article, we’ll explore the meaning and use of these six often misused terms. We’ll see if and when they overlap, and I’ll provide concrete examples to create a clear distinction between the six terms wherever possible. So get ready to eliminate the myths and misunderstanding these terms often carry.