According to Interbrand, brand valuations are based on three criteria: the financial performance of the brand, the role the brand plays in purchase decisions, and the brand’s competitive strength. The right brand strategy has a direct impact on attracting top talent, driving sales and market share, selling franchise locations, and attracting potential investors.

Conversely, a weak brand position is a serious marketing problem that must be addressed in order to maximize your company’s true potential. See how Rosetta Stone used 919’s branding and strategic planning methodologies to clarify their market priorities and branding platform.

Does your company have a great story to tell that isn’t being told on a national scale? Are your competitors grabbing the spotlight that you deserve?

It’s harder than ever to get your brand noticed in today’s world. Emerging brands depend on national third-party validation from unpaid media coverage to get noticed and thrive. Larger brands are moving away from traditional paid media approaches and use media coverage to extend their marketing budget and impact the loyal audiences of media outlets to keep the brand relevant and topical.

Download the “7 Secrets PR Companies Don’t Want You To Know”

Until now, marketers have made critical social media and digital content decisions based on basic analytics platforms or at worst based on top-down directives or gut feeling. With the 919 Insights platform, guessing is a thing of the past.

You can make decisions based on knowing what content drives SEO rankings and prospects to your website and social media channels. Now you can boost content that you know is being read and eliminate wasted content that’s not being read. We have found that the content that drives conversions/leads is usually different than the content that brings people to your website. With 919 Insights, you will know what content is driving the actions you desire. When you know what topics are driving results on competitive websites and social channels, you can generate your own content on those topics to steal their thunder.

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We see companies falling prey to, and in many cases even insisting on, deploying copycat, “me too” sales and marketing approaches. Competitors literally look at each other’s websites and assume they can “borrow” to win over customers. The reality is that an “imitation is the biggest form of flattery” strategy translates into mediocre results at best.

The herd mentality also has a major impact on another dangerous sales and marketing trend. Your company is merely renting, versus owning, access to your potential customers. You don’t actually own the content you use to drive leads on social media channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You spend money to “rent” access to your prospects via SEO and digital advertising on Google and other search engines.

What if you created your own lead channel where you own exclusive access to the audience, you control the timing, and eliminate sharing access with other brands? Watch a short pre-recorded webinar to see how brands like Red Bull are using video content, database marketing, content marketing analytics, and fresh ideas to create their own lower-cost, higher-return sales channel to the consumer.

Read Our CEO’s “How Franchisors Can Build Their Own Lead Development Channel” Article

Markets change, and companies evolve. What’s your game plan?

Today’s business reality — businesses fail to grow because they fail to plan. Without a clear and explicit marketing plan, fully endorsed by senior management, most sales and marketing teams struggle to create synergy and a shared vision of what success looks like.

919’s proprietary LINK® Planning Process drives the development of a market-tested action plan that details the milestones, programs, and resources required to meet revenue and market share goals. LINK enables you to focus resources on the market segments and target audiences with the greatest return.

See how Rosetta Stone used 919’s strategic planning process to clarify their market priorities and set measurable sales and marketing goals.

CEOs often view thought leadership or personal branding as unnecessary ego stroking. However, when they are asked to name companies they admire, CEOs regularly name Apple, Amazon, and Tesla. It’s no mistake that all three have highly visible CEOs.

Chief executives set and represent the company’s vision. Their personal and professional stories and vision for the company help shape the opinions of those who ultimately control the success of the brand — shareholders, employees, and customers.

Does your CEO have a strong personal brand? We have helped a roster of senior executives become more visible on a national scale via speaking engagements, thought leadership articles, contributed columns to national media outlets (including FORBES, Entrepreneur, etc.), and media placements about the wins, challenges, and opportunities that are facing their company and industry.

Read our CEO’s “10 Step Process” to become an industry thought leader article.