The second CIM Marketing Club webinar of the academic year was held on Thursday 25 February. It started with a brief introduction by Philip Preston, Volunteer Partnerships Manager of CIM. Philip talked about the CIM Graduate Gateway programme and the newsletter that students can sign up for, in order to receive the latest knowledge in the marketing world. You can sign up to receive your copy here.
Bruce M McKinnon began his webinar ‘Every brand needs a point’ by highlighting the importance of an organisation developing a brand strategy, that encompasses their values and continuously questioning whether this is still relevant over time. This practical example based on Canadian Fairtrade coffee company ‘Just Us!’ illustrated how the owners captured what is at the heart of their company and clearly demonstrated how a brand encapsulating the meaning of their organisation can enhance success. Using his own framework, ‘The Brand Arrow’ McKinnon explored the concept of brands and brand strategy further, emphasising the importance of developing an effective brand strategy, firstly by ensuring a brand identifies their specific point. McKinnon explained how a brand needs to identify a set of characteristics that will resonate with customers and differentiate the organisation from their competitors, this brand will then be driven by a brand strategy. McKinnon adopted a step-by-step approach to demonstrate the necessity for organisations to ensure their brand positioning is clearly communicated to the team and subsequently the brand proposition conveys the essence of the organisation and engages the intended audience. McKinnon also discussed the significance of organisations ensuring their brand values and name, key messages and logo are all aligned and are distinct to ensure customers recognise the brand.
Overall, the ‘Every brand needs a point’ webinar was an enjoyable learning experience, McKinnon made the content relatable by using several practical examples from his extensive branding experience. He clearly demonstrated how implementing an effective brand strategy can lead to success through organisational cohesion and being recognisable to customers.
A recording of this webinar is now available on the CIM YouTube channel here. The next Graduate Gateway webinar will take place on Thursday 18th March at 6.30pm, entitled ‘Developing customer insight to drive marketing strategy’ and will be hosted by Abigail Dixon, please visit the CIM website to find out more and register.
By Alex Lewis