I hope those of you who read thealphamarketer all the time have become convinced that branding is here to stay. People are endlessly attempting to announce it as dead, and yet it continues to be a very real and important part of business.
The announcement by Oprah Winfrey today that she is partnering with Discovery Holdings (DISCA) to create "The Oprah Winfrey Network" is a case in point.
In case you think Oprah is unique in the sense of being a brand, a recent posting shows that it came happen on a much smaller, but still effective basis as well.
What is important to online marketers, is to understand the power of having a brand. If you have a branded company, person or product connected to you, you can almost take it anywhere you want to go, as long as it stays within the parameters of the values the company represents.
When you have a branded product or person, the marketing around that person or thing should be the focus of your marketing. The value of a brand is so powerful that you can put it beside almost anything and people will purchase it.
Again, don't only think of this on the scale of Oprah, as her scale is unique to her. But even if you serve a relatively small market, it's amazing what you can do when you think outside the box you've created.
A brand can't be considered a box, but an extension into any product or service you may want to launch. It also offer great opportunies for joint ventures and partnerships where your brand can be used in licensing deals, or whatever types of agreements you want to put together.
If you have a brand in any way, shape or form, assume you're not using it to its full potential, because more than likely you're not.
Don't undervalue or underuse the power of a brand. The options for marketing and putting products or services alongside them are endless. Just be careful when partnering or doing joint ventures that values of those you're doing business with line up with yours, and they have a high level of integrity.
Using your brand with someone else can backfire if their name or reputation can drag you down. Make sure you check that aspect of things out before you even think of doing a deal.
Other than that, go for it. A brand, on whatever level it exists, is an extraordinary tool that can be used to market against in a variety of product or service categories. Don't underestimate its power!
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