Satow Strategies Brand Marketing

Group Therapy for Your Brand

paula — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:55:12 +0000

If the recession has your Sales & Marketing team struggling for a way to stand out in the crowd, then it’s time to tap into the power of group intelligence. Satow Strategies is offering a series of outstanding Speedbranding Workshops, custom tailored to focus on what you need and when you need it. We help you create better:

Strategic messaging and taglines
Brand strategies
Unique selling propositions
Product names
Marketing plans
Marcom plans
Social networking strategies
Web content

Satow Speedbranding sessions are like Group Therapy for your Brand. Suddenly, your messages are clear…your communications is more effective…heck…you’re feeling better than ever!

Speedbranding in a Flash

paula — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:39:15 +0000

Good things come to those who wait, right? But, let’s face it, sometimes you need a new brand yesterday, right? When you need your positioning, new name ideas and brand strategy at your fingertips now, and not months from now, Satow Strategies has a solution for you. It’s the Satow™ Speedbranding™ Workshop Series and our clients and participants love it. Speedbranding programs come in several flavors customized to meet your organization’s needs:

Creative Naming Workshops: To help you name products and services in a timely way, we begin by working with intact executive, sales and marketing teams to define a sensible strategic naming strategy to meet your market needs. Next, we focus on generating creative name ideas in an exciting, hands-on brainstorming session. Just grab a thesaurus and we’re off and running.

Positioning/Repositioning Workshops: In these sessions, Satow Strategies leads you and your intact team through the positioning process, leveraging strategic mapping tools to “reveal” the best competitive messaging for your products and services. The results can be quite eye-opening.

Brand Assessment Workshops: See your brand from the outside in, applying proven brand management tools to assess and adjust your current brand strategy and plan ways to boost its power and performance more effectively, across audiences and channels, over time.

Personal Positioning and Branding Workshops: Organizations, groups and/or individuals can sign up for these dynamic, hands-on sessions that apply time-tested business branding methods to help individuals discover their unique value proposition and find ways to promote that value to enhance their role at work and their future career endeavors.

When you’re ready to focus on brand strategies in a flash, email us at info@satowstrategies.com or call us at 602-481-1942.

So many posts…so little time.

paula — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:01:30 +0000

Let’s face it. We’re all in a quandry. After all, who doesn’t have trouble keeping up with their blog posts, sending out their eNews on time, staying connected with friends on Facebook and still finding enough time in the day to post a tweet or two — even if the latter only requires 140 characters?

Maybe the mere fact that you’re not alone in your dilemma makes you feel better. But I have three key suggestions for how to stay on top of your company’s social networking tasks that should help take the load off even more:

Set a realistic schedule. Where is it written that your eNews has to hit your customers’ inboxes on the same day every month? I hate to disappoint you but chances are your clients and prospects are too busy to notice that your publication arrived later this month than last. Relax, write when you can and send your work out only when you’re good and ready.
Take it one program at a time. People ask me if they really need to do it all - Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. The answer is a resounding NO. But they do need to determine which Web 2.0 media are right for them at any given time. Twitter is all about hyper-communicating, helping your customer keep in touch with the moment-to-moment ”pulse” of your business. Facebook is great for building a network of “friends’ to keep close to your day-to-day activities and business updates. LinkedIn is a wonderful tool for connecting with people you’ve worked with in the past and those you hope to work with in the future. All you have to do is choose a vehicle and get on the road to Web 2.0.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are many outstanding experts out there who understand the nuances, strengths and weaknesses of social media and how to make them work in your market segment. There are also some great writers and bloggers who can take the writing load off of you and deliver quality writing and instill your materials with a unique perspective and a high level of professionalism.

When you’re ready to tap into the power of Web 2.0, call Satow Strategies at 602-481-1942 or email us at info@satowstrategies.com. It’s as easy as 1-2-3!

Speedbranding Workshop for WITI - July 29

paula — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:33:51 +0000

Women in Technology International is offering a career workshop in conjunction with Satow Strategies and Charles Schwab on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009.
Registration and Networking Opportunity 4:00 - Seminar/Workshop 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., 2423 E. Lincoln Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85016 . Pre-Registration must be received by Monday, July 27th; Fee waived for WITI members / $10.00 for non-members. Please register and pay at: http://www.witi.com/regforms/chapter_meeting_registration_form.php?id=2300

Stepping up to Social Networking

paula — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:28:21 +0000

In theory, it should be as easy to get started on social networking as typing 140 characters on Twitter or posting your latest update on your Facebook wall. But if your goal is to leverage such Internet gathering places to enhance your company’s brand, you’ll need to do more than tweet a link to your favorite music track or post the latest snapshots from your kid’s soccer game. The first rule of thumb is to apply the same good marketing practices when writing for the Web 2.0 world as you did for Web 1.0. Beyond that, while it’s true that there’s a bit of a learning curve, getting started on being a business social butterfly is actually as easy as 1-2-3…

1. Take baby steps.
It’s a good idea to start small by simply creating a profile on one or two select social networking sites to become familiar with the territory. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are great places to start — these sites really seem to resonate as exciting new marketing vehicles for businesses everywhere. In addition, industry-specific sites with chats and blogs can be invaluable as well. Build up your network of personal and professional contacts and then, once you’ve got your feet wet, you can take the plunge try creating a “company page” on Facebook or starting a group on LinkedIn.

2. Keep it new.
Be sure your personal profile and company information are up-to-date and strive to generate fresh and interesting content on a regular basis. If you’re stumped about things to write about, follow the tried-and-true rules of good marketing and focus on your area of expertise. For instance, if you’re a solar energy start-up, tweet about solar topics and provide links to interesting industry articles and news posts. If you’re a financial advisor, offer your insights on day’s market activity. Don’t worry about overloading your fans and followers because they can always adjust their settings and usage to read your posts at their leisure or not at all.

3. Seek expert advice.
Since social networking is so new, to some degree, we’re all still learning as we go and defining best practices in real time. But there are already some highly knowledgeable experts and consultants around offering everything from free Tips & Tricks to full-court services such as content development, site optimization and website integration. Sign up for free webinars and search Twitter for postings from topic experts. There’s a lot to learn and a lot to be gained in the process.

Satow Strategies is here to help along the way with any of your social networking needs. Contact us at info@satowstrategies.com or (602) 481-1942.

WITI “How to Shine in 2009″ Positioning Workshop

admin — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:27:32 +0000

Women in Technology International is offering a career workshop in conjunction with Satow Strategies on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009.
Registration and Networking Opportunity 11:30 am - Seminar/Workshop 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm at Jobing.com Headquarters, 4747 North 22nd Street – Suite 200, Phoenix, AZ . Pre-Registration must be received by June 2nd; Fee waived for WITI members / $20.00 for non-members. Please register and pay at: http://www.witi.com/phoenix/meeting.php?id=2282

Brand Farewell

paula — Sun, 03 May 2009 06:32:00 +0000

In the current global economic recession, the list of U.S. retailers who are closing many stores and even, in some cases, closing their doors forever is astonishing and continues to grow. Of course, it goes without saying that by far the most tragic result of this situation is that hundreds of thousands of hard-working people have lost their livelihood. But there’s another lamentable dimension to these events that may be easily forgotten. That is, the death of many of these brands. Now, you might think, “So what. After all, they’re only brands, not people or the communities where they live and work.” And you might say, perhaps rightfully so, that “If they were truly strong, solid brands, then wouldn’t the companies that create and leverage them survive and thrive in spite of a downturn in the market, no matter how monumental it may be.” Not a bad argument when you think about a company like GE who was nimble enough and forward-thinking enough to re-invent itself a few dozen times over the course of its unbeatable 113-year history.

But the truth is that even good companies with solid brands falter and die away and I think there is an element of sadness and loss in that fact. Because brands do not just create themselves. They are conceived, built and fostered by a whole lot of very smart and successful people. These savvy staffers defined them, protected them vigilently and invented great sales and marketing programs to grow their value. Circuit City and Linens & Things, to name a few, were once among the leaders in their markets and are now no more. Others, like Sharper Image, are repositioning their brand away from brick and mortar to direct-to-retail.

Thinking about what separates the GEs of the world from rest is important. Understanding how to reinvent an organization and its offerings to shift with the changing times is one of the most significant things a company can focus on. Options include growing from a large U.S. company to an even larger multinational conglomerate like GE did, selling to the highest bidder, shifting the business model or remaining small and nimble.

No matter what strategy is pursued, for better or worse, a brand goes along wherever the business strategy takes it. And if a firm ends up in a corporate graveyard and the only way to buy their logo is to bid on a gently used golf shirt on eBay then, so be it. You’ll find some great brands there, created by some very interesting people trying to make a buck marketing a company and a product line they truly believed in. I know because it happened to me. I worked for RCA when they were gobbled up (yes, by GE) and, to this day, I relish anything with a Nipper logo on it. Fond farewell to all of these great American brands. You’re in very good company.

Positioning Workshops

paula — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:54:20 +0000

A product offering without positioning is like arrow without a tip. You aim and shoot but you never hit the target.

Now imagine trying to sell something when no one understands its value. That’s exactly what happens when a product has no positioning – or the wrong positioning. It’s literally pointless. Successful business owners know that when a product is positioned effectively against the competition, its sales have more potential to take off in the marketplace. If you’re ready to see your sales soar, sign your team up for a Satow Positioning Workshop at info@satowstrategies.com. In this challenging market, our Positioning Workshops are more critical than ever. Try it out — you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Social networking for small business

admin — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:53:48 +0000

Are you ready to Twitter? Is it time for fans to follow you on Facebook?
With a new social networking presence on the web, a small business like yours can have a big presence. Get a boost in building brand loyalty and reaching new prospects and customers through these new vehicles including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace. Contact Satow Strategies to learn more about how our network of experts can help you join the “hyper-communications” revolution and make your business go viral!

Great web design is more than just a pretty picture

paula — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:53:00 +0000

The days of websites as brochures are over. Today, websites have to be dynamic, interactive and optimized for SEO .

In other words, great website design is more than just a pretty picture. I tell this to clients all the time. But recently I had the pleasure to experience it first-hand with the redesign of the Satow Strategies website. Working with Doug Macy at www.macycreative.com was a pleasure and now, thanks to his excellent design skills, I have a website that not only looks great from the outside – but works great inside — optimized for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and tweaked for Twitter (social networking-friendly) so that everyone who needs to find a great brand consultancy can find us!