Re: Branding - NOT for small BIZ

From: Joe Bartling <joe.bartling_at_spiderware.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999 22:00:05 -0600 (CST)

RAMON RAY WROTE:
> I can't think of one small biz that is a brand name - except
> for a dog company that American Express highlights in it's
> Inc. Mag ads and other exceptions like this.
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How about COLD-EEZE, the zinc based cough drop? I think
they have successfully branded their product but they did it
without advertising. People felt better sooner when they
used the cough drops and word spread and some studies were
done and, bingo they were branded... Now every drug store
has copy-cat type products trying to capitalize on the
success of Cold-Eeze. Granted they are a $100 million
dollar/ year company, but that's miniscule compared to the
pharmaceutical and health and beauty giants they compete
with. I didn't know the company who makes Cold-Eeze. Its
the Quigley Corporation (http://www.quigleyco.com). You may
wonder why they didn't have http://www.cold-eeze.com or
http://www.coldeeze.com. Well, those domain names are owned
by squatters. So as the manufacturers spend gobs of money
of branding Cold-Eeze (I've heard it recently on the Rush
Limbaugh radio show), they can't cross-connect their brand
with their web presence. That's too bad. They could
probably do a land office mail order business on the web as
cold season approaches.


RAMON RAY WROTE:
> The only
> brand's I know of (IBM, Microsoft, AT&T, Clorox/Tide, etc -
> the mother load of brands) have invested billions in
> developing their BRANDS over the years - a small biz can
> never, ever do that. Of course, someone like Amazon is the
> darling of the media and their name gets in print all the
> time.
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Amazon developed their brand long before they invested a
dime in "advertising their brand", just like Cold-Eeze did.


RAMON RAY WROTE:
> So unless someone can convince me otherwise - online
> branding is NOT for Small Businesses. We want a fast ROI, immediate
> results, etc.
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think small businesses remain small because many do want
fast ROI and immediate results. Small businesses can react
faster, watch their online branding investments more closely
than "the big guys", yet most want a "get rich quick" method
of online success. I think a small business can get great
branding on the internet, look at Goto.com. They are up
against GIANTS like Yahoo, Infoseek, and Altavista, yet they
have been successful in branding in a very unique way,
solely on the web. Many firms are using our network, ADSDAQ
- The Banners That Pay! (http://www.adsdaq.com) as an
effective, low cost way of developing a "brand", and get
thousands of site visits while they are branding. We
address branding using ADSDAQ on our website at
http://www.adsdaq.com/branding.htm.

RAMON RAY WROTE:
> HotJobs is another great example. These guys are not a brand name -
> however, they sure as heck did get a lot of extra traffic to their site.
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


A $2 million dollar ad during the Super Bowl does not a
brand make... $2 million dollars would buy 700 million
banners ad impressions on ADSDAQ, resulting in about 6-7
million visits. I'm sure Hotjobs didn't get 7 million
VISITS from the Super Bowl ad. But then again, what "small
business" has $2 million to spend on "branding"?


Joe Bartling - 703-293-7339 mailto::joe.bartling_at_spiderware.com
ADSDAQ - The Banners That Pay! (http://www.adsdaq.com) - Advertise
effectively and inexpensively in bulk volumes (1mm+/month) on over 1,600
English-speaking sites with your rich media or traditional "animated GIF"
creatives.


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Received on Mon Mar 08 1999 - 22:54:38 CST