branding survey results

8/2/2019 Branding Survey Results

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/branding-survey-results 1/10



by Kellie Glueck

Te Importance o Branding Do your proposals refect your organization’s

brand? I so, what are the benets o a consistent brand message? I not, how is the absence o thebrand hurting the proposal and its chances o win-ning business? A new survey study co-sponsored byGeneral Branding Corporation (GBC) and the As- sociation o Proposal Management Proessionals(APMP) asked these questions and yielded some

surprising results.

Strong Branding in Proposals

Increases Success:The Results of a General Binding Corporation/Association of Proposal ManagementProfessionals Survey


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/branding-survey-results 3/10 APMP Fall/Winter 2007

or example, nearly a quarter o all re-spondents said their organizationalbrand message does not consistently appear in proposals. More importantly,

proposals without a strong brand messageare less than hal as likely to be successul asthose that do incorporate it.

Experts agree that branding is central to thesuccess o every organization. In act, somebelieve the brand represents 30 percent ormore o the company’s value. But in order orbranding to work, it must be carried throughevery internal and external activity o the or-ganization—and this includes proposals.

strong Branding in

proposals inCreases

suCCess

GBC and APMP joined orces to discoverthe dierences between companies thatspeak with one “branding” voice andcompanies that experience disconnectsbetween proposal developers and marketing.GBC, an ACCO Brands Corporation, is oneo the world’s largest suppliers o brandedofce products with 2006 revenues o $1.96

F billion and market products in more than100 countries. ACCO Brands Corporation isa world leader in select categories o brandedofce products, with annual revenues o nearly $2 billion. Its industry-leading brandsinclude Day-imer®, Swingline®, Kensington®,Quartet®, GBC®, Rexel®, NOBO®, and Wilson

Jones®, among others. Under the GBCbrand, the company is also a leader in theproessional print nishing market.

Te survey was designed to discover therelationship between strong brand commu-nication in proposals and the success o pro-posals. In the process, the survey disclosed:

• Causes o branding inconsistency be-tween marketing activities and proposals

• Ways to incorporate branding more e-ectively in proposals

• Te importance o communicatingbrands in proposals

• Te consequences o ailing to commu-nicate brands in proposals.

Tere were a total o 312 respondentscomprised o 52 APMP conerence attendeeswho completed the survey at a kiosk and 260people, mostly APMP members, who com-pleted the survey online.

APMP Fall/Winter 2007


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/branding-survey-results 4/10 ProposalManagement

Respondents held a wide variety o titles.Proposal-related titles were the most re-quently mentioned (55 percent). Respon-dents were employed primarily in bid, busi-ness development, marketing, proposal, orsales departments within their sectors, whichincluded aerospace/deense/ederal contrac-

tors; business/industry/commercial compa-nies; academia; government; internationalcompanies; and consultants.

Branding isMore than

Just the logo According to the Harvard Business Re-

view, “Branding is oten conused with logosor trademarks. A trade-mark is a distinguishingname, sign, symbol, or

design or some combina-tion o them, that identi-es the goods or serviceso one seller. A brand isa distinctive identity thatdierentiates a relevant,enduring, and crediblepromise o value asso-ciated with a product,service, or organizationand indicates the source o that promise. O course, the promise o value must be relevant

to the people or businesses a company wantsto have as its customers” (Ward et al, 1999).

In other words, an organization’s brandgoes ar beyond the logo, and the survey developers agreed.

Te term "brand," or purposes o thissurvey, means both the visual expression o a company, such as logo, colors, ont, type-ace, and the company’s substance o char-

acter—inherent value, unique services, key messages, and customer experience with thecompany. Brand encompasses everythingthat comes to customers’ minds when they hear the company name mentioned.

Most organizations

realize the iMportanCe oF

Branding in

proposals

Survey results show that 93 percent o re-spondents believe acompany’s brand iseither extremely orsomewhat importantin getting a proposal tothe nal bid stage.

Most (77 percent)say their organization

is sending a consistent branding messageacross marketing activities and proposals, yet

23 percent recognize that is not the case.Powerul brands make promises that are

veriable and persistent. Some companies

Experts agree that

branding is central tothe success of every

organization. In fact,

some believe the brand

represents 30 percent or

more of the company’s

value.

Percent o proposalsthat result in winning business.



Case study :

partnering with

Branding Consultants

A national commercial real estate giantwith 150 ofces was studying how

to create standardized presentation

solutions that further strong brand

recognition, are easily available to many

locations, and keep costs down.

The company saw the inconsistency

in its presentation materials and was

justiably concerned about the impact

that was having on its corporate image.

To prevent brand erosion caused by

the many different ways each ofcepackaged and presented its materials,

the company needed a plan.

Because each satellite ofce

purchased materials independently

using multiple local vendors,

printed communications were both

inconsistent and time-consuming.

The company was also missing the

signicant savings of national contracts

and volume discounts.

Working one-on-one with a GBC brand

image consultant, the company chose

to customize a number of stylish, high-

quality presentation solutions, including

proposal covers, index tabs, pocket

folders, and packaging. The consultant

took an extra step by delivering

samples of each product to every

satellite ofce.

By committing to a unied look and feel,

the company eliminated unnecessarysuppliers and, at the same time, reaped

the benets of a national pricing

contract. This allowed them to unify and

upgrade their materials while lowering

costs. More importantly, the quality and

uniformity of proposal materials now

convey the condence and service level

that are a signature of the company’s

brand.

ask too much o their brand—burdening itwith too many promises and/or promisesthat are difcult or the products and servicesto ulll. As world-leading companies know,making a promise and having the ability tokeep it consistently is a signicant competi-tive advantage in itsel.

I the brand is well controlled and uni-ed, it is one o the most valuable assets any company can own. In act, experts believe abrand can represent more than one-third o the value o a company.

Conveying a brand strongly and consis-tently also tells others that the company takesull responsibility or the quality and peror-mance o its products and services. ScottWard writes in the Harvard Business Review,“Companies in many industries use numeroussources or their product components. How-

ever, the brand name indicates where the buckstops…. [Customers] want reassurance romsomebody. Tat somebody is the creator andowner o the brand” (Ward et al, 1999).

w hen Bad Branding

happens to good

proposalsAccording to the survey, respondents who

said there was a disconnect between market-

ing and proposal development had a successrate average o only 24 percent. O those whosaid there was a connection between market-ing and proposal development, an average o 55 percent o their proposals were success-ul. Tis indicates that proposals carrying astrong branding message are more than twiceas likely to win business as those that do not.

Respondents stated proposals without astrong branding message had the ollowingcharacteristics:

• Slightly more than hal are in the busi-

ness/industry/commercial sector• Slightly less than hal submit proposals

into the international or consultancy sectors

• Fewer o them are likely to use businessdevelopment managers or graphic artsspecialists in the proposal developmentprocess



• Fewer o them are likely to believe thata company’s brand is extremely impor-tant or getting a proposal to the nal

bid stage• Only 11 percent consistently incorpo-

rate the brand into the proposal con-tent, and 68 percent incorporate thebrand on occasion.

Branding expert Wally Olins warns againsttaking brand development and compliancetoo lightly, “Many organizations seem to havedifculty in understanding what a brand isand where it begins and ends, let alone tryingto work out how to create it, how to positionit, how to promote it, how to control it, how tomonitor its perormance, how to grow it, how to sustain its personality and character and– above all – how to make money out o it,” hesaid. “It’s tough enough with product brandswhere a considerable body o knowledgehas been built up over more than a century,but with service brands, where corporateexperience is ar smaller and organizationalstructures are requently so ineective, it’seven harder. Te reason why so many brandsail is because creating and sustaining a brand

demands skill, courage, money, determination,originality, creativity and an innite capacity to take pains, and that is a rare combination”(Olins, 2003).

When brand compliance does not occuruniormly, customers do not perceive thecompany the way the marketing departmentwants it to be perceived. As the gap widensand the brand becomes more diuse, cus-tomers become more conused.

Tis can happen when a company is un-dertaking a re-branding eort, but launchesit incrementally—introducing advertising,

public relations, marketing materials, andstationery redesign in dierent stages. Orit can happen when presentation materialshave a branding message that is either absentor inconsistent with the company’s brand.

When the initial presentation package isdeveloped well, it makes a complete state-ment about the company and sends a mes-sage o proessionalism and stability. It notonly reassures the potential client regardingthe caliber o the rm, but it can help setexpectations regarding the quality o com-munication that will be conducted through-out the business relationship, particularly insupporting documentation and ollow-upreports.

Other mistakes include trying to buildbrand awareness without establishing aclear brand position and having a clearbrand position that is not unique among thecompany’s competitors or that customers donot care about.

“Maintaining a strong brand means strik-

ing the right balance between continuity inmarketing activities and the kind o changeneeded to stay relevant….the brand’s imagedoesn’t get muddled or lost in a cacophony o marketing eorts that conuse customers by sending conicting messages” (Keller, 2000).

How oten brand is in-corporated throughout

proposal content.



the hallMarks oF a

w ell-Finished

proposal

No one ever gets a second chanceto make a rst impression—trite but

true. And the same goes for proposals.

Before they open it, people will judge

the quality of the content by looking at

the quality of the proposal materials. So

what makes a good rst impression?

• An attractive cover that captures the

reader’s attention and is relevant to

the content

• A functional binding that makes the

proposal easy to read• Organizational features, such as index

tabs

• A consistent look that meshes with the

other elements of the presentation and

the company’s brand.

rooting out the Cause oF

Bad BrandingTe survey shows that developing and

presenting proposals is a team eort, mostoten involving the proposal manager, busi-ness development manager, technical sta,

project managers, sales directors, and othermanagers. But the marketing director, mar-keting communications manager, and mar-keting coordinator are requently absent inthese proposal eorts. With low or absentparticipation by the marketing department,respondents say the ollowing brand discon-nects occur in proposals:

• Te brand message in the proposal is notthe same as the brand message withinthe organization (45 percent)

• Tere is no one responsible or brandenorcement working on the proposalteam (38 percent)

• Te brand is not competitively dier-entiated within the organization (35percent)

• Te look o the brand (logo and othergraphics) in the proposal is not the sameas the look o the brand within the orga-nization (24 percent)

• Te organization lacks an overall brandstrategy (13 percent).

While the respondents recognize the ex-isting brand disconnects, respondents re-port that these disconnects are not equally important. According to respondents, theproblems most in need o remediation are:

• Te brand message in the proposal is notthe same as the brand message withinthe organization (21 percent)

• Te organization lacks an overall brandstrategy (21 percent)

• Tere is no one responsible or brand

enorcement working on the proposalteam (18 percent)

• Te brand is not competitively dier-entiated within the organization (18percent).



reMediation FroM the

ground upGBC, through its work with a variety o

Fortune 500 rms acing brand compliancechallenges, has developed a our-tiered ap-proach to building brand compliance.

It all starts with Conducting a Brand Au-dit. All o the printed materials rom dier-ent departments, ofces, locations, and ran-chisees should be collected and comparedagainst the brand standards manual. Tey should all conorm not only to the prescribedcolor, size, and logo treatment specied inthe manual, but also the key messages and value proposition. Comparing materials thisway gives companies theability to quickly assesswhere the brand mightbe straying rom the in-tended look and eel. Tecompany can also sendout a questionnaire to key sta throughout the com-pany to assess how they use the brand. Tis survey can also reveal otherissues employees may have about the brand thatthe planning stages did not uncover.

Te second tier is Appointing a BrandChampion. Tis person should be a key sta member who is accessible by all departmentsand who will encourage proper use o thecompany brand. I this person is properly trained and empowered, he or she will workcontinually with other departments to ensurethat they are complying with the brand stan-dards manual and are consistently getting thekey messages to the audiences. In addition,the champion can investigate how the imageand brand are being used in ront o custom-

ers via reports, olders, and presentations.Making Brand Materials Easily Acces-

sible is the third tier. In conjunction withestablishing a brand standards manual, ex-amine how the branded materials and tem-plates are being accessed by your customers.o increase your success in terms o globalbrand compliance, it is important that bothcommonly used presentation tools and writ-ten content containing key messages, value

propositions, and corporate signos areavailable through a central repository. For in-stance, document templates can be placed onan intranet where they can be easily updatedand accessed regardless o subsidiary or re-gional ofce location. Corporate-approved,branded presentation tools can be ware-

housed in one location and ordered onlinethrough a custom Website.

Finally, Ensuring Consistency is crucial.Look at what policies and procedures existor using the brand in various contexts andensure that all employees have access to com-pany brand policies. Convey to all employeesthat the continual and consistent use o thebrand is critical to the company’s success.

Use the brand the sameway across all mediato ensure that custom-

ers and employees per-ceive the company in away that aligns with thebranding message (Mc-Manus, 2006).

In the GBC/APMPsurvey, respondentshad an opportunity to oer solutions tobranding disconnects

they encountered. Teir suggestions in-

cluded:• Developing a brand strategy that isaligned with the company’s vision, mis-sion, and strategic goals

• Constructing a clear communicationchannel among sales, business devel-opment, and proposal development toensure consistency

• Appointing a single person dedicated toreviewing all company proposals whomakes recommendations to all depart-ments

• Improving communication o the ben-ets o proper and consistent branding

• Implementing consistent brandingacross geographic locales (i.e., eld salesofces)

• Helping marketing understand the im-portance o proposals

• Instructing new employees on the im-portance o branding.

To increase your success

in terms of global brandcompliance, it is important

that... key messages,

value propositions, and

corporate signoffs are

available through a central

repository.



Survey results demonstrate that organi-zations have successully addressed recentbranding challenges in a number o ways, in-cluding developing a brand standards man-ual.

More than hal (57 percent) o respon-dents who answered that their organizations

had no branding disconnects also said they have aced a branding challenge in the recentpast. Te majority (74 percent) said the chal-lenge was successully addressed by:

• Developing a brand standards manual(55 percent)

• Establishing a branded material resourcecenter (49 percent)

• Appointing a brand champion (34 per-cent)

• Setting up brand standards training (24percent)

• Adopting their parent organization’sprogram (16 percent)

• Implementing a brand compliance audit(15 percent).

“Marketing is what a company is in busi-ness to do,” writes branding expert Al Ries.“Marketing is a company’s ultimate objective.Tat’s why everyone who works in a corpo-ration should be concerned with marketingand specically with the laws o branding. I the entire company is the marketing depart-

ment, then the entire company is the brand-ing department” (Ries et al, 2002).

I the entire company is the branding de-partment, then everyone must be trained andempowered to support the brand. Tere aredierent ways in which survey respondents

have met this challenge. One respondentreported that company executives met andbrought in consultants to develop and imple-ment a branding program. Another said thatbecause his company’s growth is primarily by acquisition, branding is always a challenge—administrators meet the challenge by main-

taining branding resources on the company Website and sending messages when they seebranding violations.

Another respondent said that consistency is paramount. o that end, his company developed templates, trained sta to use them,and distributed awards to personnel whoused these templates. A corporate Websitewith branding guidelines was the solutionor another respondent whose company hadeld/sales ofces that did not adhere to con-sistent branding in their sales communica-

tions to customers. Like many organizations,one respondent reported that visual incon-sistency was the main challenge. Te mar-keting team, under the direction o the VicePresident o Marketing, dened an overalllook and applied specic variations o thatlook to dierent types o documents, suchas magazine articles, seminar materials, andbrochures.

Branding in proposals

is in e veryone’s Best interest

Survey results clearly demonstrate theimportance o clear, consistent brandingmessages in proposals. More important, the

How branding challenge was successullyaddressed.



results show that proposals are signicantly more successul i they are inused with thecompany’s branding message.

Respondents suggested a number o so-lutions or branding inconsistencies thatappear in proposals. Many o the solutionsencourage the development o a central

company clearinghouse or inormation onbrand standards—such as a Website or brandchampion.

Considering the act that branding can ac-count or more than 30 percent o the valueo a company, protecting the brand by send-ing a consistent message in presentation ma-terials is critical.

When prospective clients read proposals,they look or the brand to assure them thatthe company will stand behind the promisesit makes in the proposal and that the quality

o products and services specied are backedby the brand.

As Scott Ward wrote, a strong brand mes-sage tells clients “the buck stops here.”

“Overall, because branding is about cre-ating and sustaining trust, it means deliver-ing on promises,” Olins summarizes. “Tebest and most successul brands are com-pletely coherent. Every aspect o what they are and what they do reinorces everythingelse. Wherever you touch a coherent brand,

as a customer, a supplier, a shareholder, anemployee, it eels the same. Te best brandshave a consistency which is built up and sus-tained by people inside the organization whoare immersed in what the brand stands or”(Olins, 2003).

As revealed by the GBC/APMP survey,many companies still have branding work todo on their proposals.

Kellie Glueck, Director, Global Brand Management or the GBC® brand at ACCO Brands, joined the company in August 2006. She received her MBA in marketing, nance and international business rom the KelloggSchool o Management at Northwestern University in 1993. In 1988, she graduated with a Bachelor o Sciencein Economics and Chinese at Washington University in St. Louis. During her proessional career, she has de-livered hundreds o presentations around the globe and served as a spokesperson or major brands. For morethan 10 years, she has helped companies present the right image and message to their customers.

Whether company has

had to addressa branding challenge in thelast ew years.

57%

Yes

reFerenCes

Keller, Kevin Lane. “Te Brand ReportCard.” Harvard Business Review. January 2000, p. 147.

McManus, Amy. Brand Compliance: Es-sential to Protect Your Company’s EmotionalConnection to Customers. A GBC White Pa-per. Jan. 31, 2006.

Olins, Wally. Wally Olins on Brand . New York: Tames & Hudson, Inc., 2003.

Ries, Al and Laura. Te 22 Immutable Laws o Branding . Harper Business, 2002.

Shubat, John. Developing a Brand Stan-dards Manual . Posted on the American Mar-keting Association’s Website, www.Market-ingPower.com/content. ID= 276793. August15, 2007.

Ward, Scott; Larry Light; and JonathanGoldstine. “What High-ech Managers Needto Know About Brands,” Harvard Business Review. July-August 1999, p. 85.

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