To understand the enormous potential of branding we must first, try to define branding. It is still a work in progress for most. As much as it is a consumer tangible, it's equally important to note that it's an internal structure that keeps everyone focused on the reason to rally behind the company's products, goals & culture. It's a mechanism for efficiencies. It's crafting an effective go-to-market strategy that has meaning. Not empty promises. It's investing in your employees to release their potential. It's communicating effectively to the entire organization about the reasons to believe. It's accelerating customer commitment. It's understanding the customer like no other. It's investing in innovative customer solutions.

Second, make sure to keep the customer at the heart of everything you do. No reason not to reexamine internal processes that have taken a priority over customer needs. No reason why we should be tampering with cheapening ingredients that have made our products a success in the marketplace.

Building a brand is a long term endeavor where significant resources must be supporting the end goal. Hint: Sales! It doesn't stop every time the market sees a downturn. As a matter of fact, this is where the winners will come from. They know that when things start to "zig", you've got to "zag".

So buckle up you brand marketers, sales growth will happen when you get busy and dig in to understand the customer, their needs and shape your organization to meet those needs. That's "Brand Aid" to the rescue.

Excerpts from Linkedin.com discussion:

Nic Stover - Chief Marketing Officer and Partner at PrimeTYME Media, LLC

Is Branding Dead? Should it be?

The economy has altered everything. What, in your opinion, has it done to the great branding tsunami?

Personally, I am leery of trends to the extent of being downright argumentative--I know, hard to believe, eh--and the brand band wagon was no different. Not that it's principals weren't sound--they were and still are today. What got me worked up on the brand discussions was that it seemed to be so hard for so many people to understand. Hundreds--nay, thousands--of books and articles were written on the subject. Conference after conference were dedicated to this one very important subject. Everyone was chatting it up, but very few people seemed to understand it, much less make it work. We even talked about those who "got it," and those who didn't.

But ever since the recession/depression hammer dropped and the world changed, I haven't heard much more about branding than the few reminiscent echoes.

So, back to my question. Is branding dead? Should it be, or should it be transformed?

Dave Wohlner • I could write volumes on this subject. So instead, let's get to the heart of the question. Is branding dead? No! To understand the enormous potential of branding we must first, try to define branding. It is still a work in progress for most. As much as it is a consumer tangible, it's equally important to note that it's an internal structure that keeps everyone focused on the reason to rally behind the company's products, goals & culture. It's a mechanism for efficiencies. It's crafting an effective go-to-market strategy that has meaning. Not empty promises. It's investing in your employees to release their potential. It's communicating effectively to the entire organization about the reasons to believe. It's accelerating customer commitment. It's understanding the customer like no other. It's investing in innovative customer solutions.

Second, make sure to keep the customer at the heart of everything you do. No reason not to reexamine internal processes that have taken a priority over customer needs. No reason why we should be tampering with cheapening ingredients that have made our products a success in the marketplace.

Building a brand is a long term endeavor where significant resources must be supporting the end goal. Hint: Sales! It doesn't stop every time the market sees a downturn. As a matter of fact, this is where the winners will come from. They know that when things start to "zig", you've got to "zag".

So buckle up you brand marketers, sales growth will happen when you get busy and dig in to understand the customer, their needs and shape your organization to meet those needs. That's "Brand Aid" to the rescue.

Wine or alcoholic beverages have unique state by state legal requirements. Many alcohol (Wine, Spirits, Beer) companies with national distribution will promote a partner brand for the main reason of offering a consumer promotion, usually in the form of a cents off coupon in states that prohibit promotional savings on their own (alcohol) brand.

Learn more about how to develop tie-ins for alcohol products.

What's a Tie-In?
Tie-Ins come in all shapes and sizes. In general you are looking to team up with a partner or partners to increase sales of all partner products. You are usually looking to promote this Tie-In to the trade to increase orders. Tie-Ins are beneficial to the trade for a variety of reasons.
1. Partners share expenses
2. Retailers see cross category lift
3. Consumer benefit from promotional offer

Direct & effective. Impact buyer behavior at the point-of-decision.

In today's cluttered, competitive world, it's harder than ever to influence consumers to purchase and persuade the trade to carry your products. With a proven track record in Below The Line activities, Linear SC will help you close the sale.

A Defined Plan

Linear SC provides the visibility you need to surround shoppers in-store, in-home or out-of-home. Our Below The Line expertise maximizes the success of new products and builds market share for well-established brands.

A Great Opportunity

Our Below The Line expertise maximizes the success of new products and builds market share for well-established brands.

Do So Effectively and Marketing Opportunities Will Follow

You can do your part to stimulate the economic recovery and help build your brand. Here's how.

First, recognize that buyers holding tightly to their purchase orders must not only be encouraged, but also inspired to do business with you. Moving from persuasion to inspiration requires an investment of time and, yes, dollars -- though not always a huge amount. Success is more likely to hinge on marketing savvy and a brand strategy executed with precision.

GS1, the global not-profit organisation, that designs and implements barcode standards, has announced a global adoption date of 1 January 2010 for a new bar code with Reduced Space Symbology (RSS), which can store more data in half the amount of space and offers a temporary alternative to radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology.

The receipt of permission-based email from a consumer packaged goods company positively influences consumers' offline purchasing decisions, enhances the company's reputation and generates loyalty to its brands, according to the latest research from Dallas-based marketing services firm Epsilon.

"Consumer packaged goods companies face a challenge when incorporating e-mail communications into their multichannel marketing mix," said Kevin Mabley, SVP, Epsilon Strategic Services. "They need to engage consumers and find a way to allow them to interact with brands and products both online and offline. The research shows that the benefits of e-mail marketing campaigns for consumer packaged goods companies extend far beyond the Internet and into stores and homes."

Young & Rubicam, looking to snag more revenue in one of the few ad sectors still growing despite the recession, is forming an alliance with Mars Advertising, a specialist in pitching products to consumers while they're busy shopping.

Audience fragmentation and the waning power of TV ads have forced many companies to peddle their products inside stores, where potential buyers are closer to a purchase. Their tools can include jazzy video displays, colorful promotions in the aisles or in-store video screens that serve up ads.

Every brand makes a promise to the customer; but a truly strong brand makes a highly relevant and distinctive promise, then delivers it consistently across the board. This is no small task, and one that requires everyone within an organization to know and understand the brand promise and how each and every activity of the company connects with delivering that promise.