Successful Brands Online: Tips from Author Laurence Minsky

Danielle Kogan

Successful Brands Online: Tips from Author Laurence Minsky

I recently had the please of speaking with award winning Creative Consultant, Larry Minsky, recognized industry wide for his strong background in Promotional Concept Ideation, Copy Development, Brand and Direct Response Advertising, Public Relations, Online and Interactive Media and Product Development. Larry has created marketing and communications strategies for many Fortune 500 Brands and blue chip clients, including AT&T Wireless, Coca-Cola, eHow.com, Frito-Lay, GE Finance, S.C. Johnson & Sons, Kraft, McDonald’s, Motorola, Sears, Unilever, United Airlines. Larry has been interviewed on television and on radio talk shows across the country, and has been quoted by the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, the Harvard Business Review and several other leading media publications. Larry is also Associate Professor (tenured) in the Marketing Communication Department of the School of Media Arts at Columbia College Chicago, and author of the critically acclaimed How to Succeed in Advertising When All You Have is Talent (Second Edition), co-author of 25 Words or Less: How to Write Like a Pro to Find That Special Someone Through Personal Ads, the first edition of How to Succeed in Advertising When All You Have is Talent and he has another book coming out early next year.

What creates a truly successful brand online?

To be a truly successful brand online, you have to create a valuable experience for your customers. To to this, you need identify your customers frustrations and position your company or product as the solution. Your prospects care about their problems, so the best thing you can do as a company is to sell them a solution to the problem at hand.

  • Know your customers needs and exceed their expectations.
  • Recognize that your success depends on your ability to solve your customers problems, and ultimately, their success.

What advice do you have for companies who are struggling to market their brand online?

You need to think carefully about your goals and objectives, because it's not enough to be profitable, companies also need grow. Start by asking yourself the following questions:

  • Who you are as a brand, and what is the problem you are trying to overcome?
  • Does your current strategy connect to customer needs?
  • What competitive advantage or key assets does your company have?

Messages are not one way anymore, they are conversations. You have to listen to what your customers are saying and you have to be able to respond them. As technology advances, your customers can choose the information they want, so you have come up with new ways of getting their attention, and there’s a lot of competition.

Some of the things companies should be doing:

  • Detecting and evaluating new opportunities
  • Recognizing customer requirements and preferences
  • Look for problems
  • Look for trends

With so many companies shifting their efforts toward digital arenas, companies need to focus their marketing efforts on what business objectives they are trying to achieve. You have to figure out who your customers are and what they want, and that will help you understand what motivates them, and how to deliver it. To be a truly successful brand, creating valuable experiences is key no matter what context is being used to deliver your message (YouTube, Pandora, Blogs, Social Networks, etc.).

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