Evan, I like where you are going with this and I think you do a diligent job at laying out the landscape, processes (old and new), and some of the players. It's articles like this that should begin the dialogue of what is valuable, what is happening.

My biggest frustration with all of the jibber-jabber (respect to Mr. T) is that the "2.0" and the "expert" monikers that are following the trend of social networks/Web 2.0 are quickly going to become passe - if arguably they haven't already.

What makes sense is what has never happened: sales and marketing to leverage one another regardless of whether the tools are traditional mediums (what does that mean anymore) or new media (uhhhhmmm, can o' worms, right there!)

The "universal" (meaning that it is reported from many analysts) data that has been touted for a few years now that sales teams use or act on less than 10% of what mar/com resources produce is the heralding cry we should all be looking towards when it comes to seeing what's next.

What's next should be a true Mar/Com/Sales Integration, because the tools are really available and the decades old arguments are no longer relevant.

Monica, well said! As a Creative Director at an agency that does branding work and has clients coming to them to solve this "mystery", I agree that the conversation has become convoluted.

I go farther in suggesting that this "brand conversation" which started more than a decade ago, now, has been perpetuated by the likes of firms like mine to generate an awareness that translates to a need, which translates into business for ourselves.

Branding is not new, it's not a marketing phenomena, it's a socio-anthropological one. Recognizing it and using it to market a business is just good communications strategy. But I am too often embarrassed of my industry in this heralding cry of branding.

Where the rubber meets the road, (pardon the cliche) is where it works and your article on understanding "branding" is evidence that YOU have been able to see what's right and what's wrong in the conversation. I hope more people, like you, in the industry or not, can begin to distinguish this truth – it will ultimately lead to a stronger trust between marketing professionals and clients and when we both can trust, we can actually do work that works.

Carol, I think Ken's point is to not overlook the power of a tactile experience that extends credibility – and that doesn't mean just the thickness of the paper or the cost of producing the design.

All of your points are valid and priorities based on returns should be the cornerstones of any marketing efforts in a business plan, whether you are a start-up or a multi-national organization.

I believe that truly having responsible marketing professionals to guide you through what works, and when, is important – and in some cases: for people who network hard and have a services oriented value proposition, business papers ARE important.

I agree with you in that far too often "designers" advocate for an expense to their client based on ego, or desire to see their designs produced with high production value, or simply because they are coming at it from a narrow perspective: as designers, not a marketing mind. We all know that "design" has a value and designers are taught to herald that call, but at what expense? That is the question. If the designer does not have a marketing/business oriented mind, they give all of us in the ad/marcom/design agency world a bad reputation: that we spend our client's money irresponsibly on testing our crazy ideas without any evidence to back it up.

What I do like about this, Ken's post, is that it brings up this conversation and allows all of us to dig deeper into the nuances of the subject.

Yep! We have designed a few packages, including our own in a way where the design of the letterhead makes for a 3-up notecard on 8.5x11 sheet. So after the quantity of letterhead is printed, we change out the paper to a thicker stock and that quantity gets trimmed down side to side and a little of the "letterheady" info trimmed off the bottom, to create nice notecards that fit in #10 business envelopes.

best, pss.

Ken, these tenets are the core! And nicely put in a way that business people can hear the rationale and not "design-speak", so congrats on a well-written piece of advice.

I have always been a HUGE advocate for the power of the business card and subsequently the impression of the stationary package that supports it. Regardless of subjectivity in design and whether individuals value smart design for a business card, I think it can be stated that your business card WILL leave an impression. To dismiss that power is an unwise decision.

I have also been on board with other recent discussion at BizNik on the power of handwritten notes, so it's always a good idea to encourage the client that a smart design that uses production costs wisely to yield a "notecard" can be a wise investment.

I look forward to hearing yours or others responses on Debbie question about email signatures. It's a tangled subject.

best, ps.

Great! Nicely put and of course this has to extend into the voices of communication: employees, customers, marketing, advertising, PR, etc..

It's rare for a client to grasp the importance of this and the responsibility they have. And it's probably near impossible to always fulfill on, however, when you have an organization, large or small, who understands this philosophy and where it has evolved from socio-culturally to this often misunderstood concept of brand, at least a focus on it can do a lot to move that organization ahead.

For restauranteurs that I know (clients and friends), who may have a similar value proposition or target audience, regardless of their size or business bottom-line, PR is what seems to leverage more than any marketing spend in the Seattle urban market.

Analysts would suggest the same in similar cities, across the globe in fact. And while I am not in the business of PR, I do rely heavily on making sure that when I do marketing for my hospitality clients that PR is part of the mix. Ideal world, working in tandem, in subtle or depending on the program overt ways.

Some PR groups I have worked with actually have metrics they apply to show an ROI based on an equation that compares purchased ad space and initiatives to "unpaid" column inches or broadcast.

I think considering independent, third-party validation, whether helped along by astute public relations professionals or a creative mix to the marketing and PR, is important to achieve the results you mention.

An insightful and hopefully eye opening article for restauranteurs.

Unfortunately, the ROI goes further awry when you actually calculate the cost of "free entree" + the overhead in serving the discount minded clientle + the downside of of the psychological difference in service that your employees/servers bring to the discount minded clientle. Unless all of your negative reviews are food quality oriented you could draw a conclusion that these diners from these marketing sources are speaking of that last part of the equation in their reviews.

However, one shouldn't disregard the difference between results oriented marketing and brand/awareness marketing. Often restaurants try to amortize their marketing dollars by combining the two and this is a recipe for disaster (sorry for the pun) if you are an establishment that is considered fine dining or unique category.

Amen, Joann! This is something I advocate for amongst my team, friends, clients, everyone!

In fact, I strongly encourage my clients to make one of their components in a business paper package – a simple note card that carries their identity forward.

This can be accomplished really easily/affordably a number of ways if the designer can plan for it, so that it doesn't become an added expense.

Simply having tools like notecards, stationary, pens you love nearby make this such a joy to do and can effectively have an impact on a person's business and more altruistically on the recipient's day.

Amen, Tammy! This is something I advocate for amongst my team, friends, clients, everyone!

In fact, I strongly encourage my clients to make one of their components in a business paper package – a simple note card that carries their identity forward.

This can be accomplished really easily/affordably a number of ways if the designer can plan for it, so that it doesn't become an added expense.

Danielle, this is spot on! The biggest challenge is clients jump on tactics before going through this process or continually going through this process. They have expectations based on what they have seen others do and they neglect the true work on the back end.

Furthermore, even successful large corporations with multi-tiered communications programs and strategies can get locked into running their programs and not assess them from time to time through testing or data analysis. It constantly surprises me how many of them know what their measurements are but are not adjusting accordingly.

Do you have any gauges from your experience on what types of schedules/length of programs you should stick to before fully adapting your targeting and modeling of audience(s)? I know it depends on many variables, but I was wondering if you had any examples.

Amy, really concise and helpful. I would just add that the look and feel, the tagline, your logo, and your tone of voice all go towards establishing brand with your audiences.

I advocate strongly to go a step deeper in identifying the tone of voice and how it expresses itself for different audiences. I know there are many existing paradigms for this, we call ours simply: a messaging matrix.

It helps, because one of the most important things you said is that your brand is truly about your customer and most businesses have to reach more than one audience and should have a plan on what that looks and sounds like.