EMcomm Branding Panel

On April 5, EMcomm held a branding-insights panel. Three professionals, Kaitlin Maud from Small Army, Lance Jensen from Hill Holliday, and Sharon Chrichton from Jack Morton, shared their knowledge and advise with students. In case you missed it, here are the takeaways:

• Advertising has changed. It is not as visually focused or dominated by the professionals. It is in
  the hands of the consumers who create user generated content and spread it with social media.
  Companies cannot control the brand image and must follow consumer feedback to know how
  the product is viewed and portrayed.
  
• To create a brand, focus on the values of the company and communicate them to people who
  share those values. Brands should stand for a compelling story. Therefore, advertisers must
  understand the soul and purpose of a brand.
  
• Base the purpose and brand around what consumers want that the product uniquely offers. Do
  so by researching consumers. Use both primary and secondary research. Be up-to-date and use
  all resources. Use primary quotes and findings to find inquiry points for further research.
  
• Be a team worker. It is a team industry.
  
• There is no set strategy for responding to social media. It varies depending on how often
  consumers follow and on whether responses should be public. Define what the company
  is trying to achieve. Parameters need to be set because keeping track of all social media is
  expensive. Use all channels, offline and online. Letting people touch the product increases sale
  rates.

The panel also shared what each company looks for when hiring.

• Small Army: self starters, go getters, hard workers, people who are passionate about something
  other than advertising.
  
• Jack Norton: people who understand brands, know about Hill Holiday, and are: excited, self-
  starters, hard-working, strategic planners, and up-to-date with news.
  
• Hill Holiday: people who know how to be creative and think critically to plan campaigns, know
  what they want to do, and have a favorite brand that inspires them
  
• They said resumes should be well-rounded and interests other than marketing, clean, short,
  personality-revealing, and free of typos.
  
• Before interviews, figure out who you and the interviewer know in common by using LinkedIn.
  Prepare a portfolio of creative and strategic work

Top Five Points From Joan Schneider:

• Immerse audiences with advertisements.  Use 6 or more mediums.
• Consider what type of product is being marketed: revolutionary product, evolutionary product, or line extension.
• Launch: creation and implementation of a powerful, multidisciplinary process that successfully propels a new product into the market and sustains it
• People believe other people, so create word-of-mouth.  This can start with employees and spread from there.
• Launching a product may require: a "better mousetrap," (better product than those in the market), crossing the chasm (selling to innovators and the mainstream market), and working through supply shocks (government regulations, supply disruptions, new competitors, new technology, disasters).