Print Solutions July 2006
Cover Story
The Principles of Rebranding
An industry expert weighs in: When do printers know its time to change their brand?
In Brief
A consultant provides six clues for printers to look for when it’s time to change their branding. |
 "If you’re trying to position yourself to be more than just a printer, you have to ask
yourself if your visual identity conveys that."
Pat Veverica, principal What’s Your Plan Chicago |
Pat Veverica (pat@whatsyourplan.biz) is principal of What’s Your Plan, a business strategy, planning and execution firm. Veverica recently spoke to manufacturers about print channel development at DMIA ’s 2006 Manufacturers and Suppliers Print Conference. |
Though Pat Veverica of What’s Your Plan, Chicago, consults for start-ups and technology firms, her specialty
is providing advice to printers. That advice includes when a company should
change its brand
— an issue that is particularly relevant in the printing industry where companies
are constantly evolving and seeking new customers. Veverica says that Colin
Bates, a brand management specialist, makes some excellent points about when a
company knows its brand is
“aging” in the book How to Build Your Total Brand. “Some of his points are on my list with my interpretations that make this advice
more relevant to printers,” Veverica says. Those warning signs that tell a company that its brand is
getting stale are listed as follows:
1) When your visual identity is out of date.
“This refers to the logo and tagline,” Veverica says. “If you’re trying to position yourself to be more than just a printer, you have to ask
yourself if your visual identity conveys that.” Companies should take a good, hard look at their brand and ask themselves: Does
my tagline contain the word
“print” or “printing”? Am I still using a CMYK color scheme for my logo? Is the font style that I’m using out of date? “You change your visual identity because you don’t want people to pigeon-hole you,” Veverica says.
2) When you want to attract new channels.
“Any time you are trying to re-position yourself by going after new channels—a new vertical market, a new type of distributor, marketing direct to customers
via the internet
— you should re-examine your brand and the message it conveys,” Veverica says.“Does it resonate with your new audience?”
3) When you want to attract new customers.
Veverica says those in the printing industry should be cognizant of what types
of customers they want to attract when selecting their brand.
“I know a lot of people in the printing industry are looking for customers who
want 1-to-1 marketing and high-end VDP applications,” she says. With these types of prospects “you don’t want a visual identity that screams printer. They will just send you to
purchasing.
”Instead convey to those prospects that “I can help you do your business better. I can improve your cross-sell and help
you to reduce churn,” she says.
4) When your positioning is losing relevance.
Seek a visual identity that does not put you on parity with your competitors but
gives you distinction. Veverica says that
“when a company’s tagline is, ‘Best quality and service for a fair price,’ remember that quality, service, price—those are things everyone expects.” Instead, a better tagline that would attract customers like direct marketers
would be
“Helping you to develop the right message for the right audience at the right
time.”
5) When you’re being commoditized.
Are you not getting access to the right people within a company when you’re trying to make a sale? Are customers trying to unbundle your offerings and
focus your pricing on print alone rather than ancillary services?
“Everyone knows what it feels like to be commoditized and it’s very painful,” she says.
6) When your touch points are not aligned with the market.
One of your touch points can be your web site. “The web site is the expression of your brand,” Veverica says. “People want to know what you do without meeting you face-to-face.” Is your web site personalized? Does it contain customer testimonials and case
studies? Or do you simply have a list of the products you offer?
“Instead of aligning by what customers want to buy, focus on how they want to
buy.” For instance, does your site offer web-to-print? “I recently visited a manufacturer’s web site and the first thing you see is an equipment list,” Veverica says. “But that doesn’t tell me anything. If I’m a direct marketer, I buy based on what you can do for me, not what equipment
you have.”
