An overview of branding from a storytelling perspective.

1. This presentation is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID). The contents of this presentation are the sole responsibility of Rick
Rasmussen and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
Branding
and
Public Relations

2. What is your Brand?
• Storytelling
– one of the oldest human ways of sharing
experiences,
– creating emotional connections, and
– transferring important information.
• The art of creating and then telling a
great story is deceptively simple

3. Storytelling
• Imagine all the times you have tried to command
the floor in a large group and regal everyone with
some great tale.
– Make people relate to, and emotionally invest
in, something that may not have happened to
them.
– You have to create a demand to consume the
content you are creating
– Acohesive narrative
– Captivate

4. Effective Brand Story

5. Brand vs. Logo
• Brand is your story
• Logo is only a
mark
• Brand and Logo
are separate but
should reinforce
each other

6. Brand Rule #1: Stand for something
• Anchor your story in core values
– The “north stars” of your company.
– Thesevaluesimpacteverything:
• customerrelations
• socialmediastrategy
• organizationalcultureetc.
– Integrate into the way you treat your employees,your customersand anyone elsewith
whom your companycomesintocontact.

7. Brand Rule # 2. Find history and context
• Create a history and a context for your company/product.
• Use data and facts to tell give the history of the problem you are solving to make
the company seem relevant
• Help create a feeling of permanence through the use of a rich narrative that
speaks to the already existing moving parts.

8. Brand Rule # 3. Get everyone involved
• Engage your communityand employees to
help you grow your brand story with you.
• Encouragethem to contributecontent as
they use your product, connect with your
brand, and help you grow.
• Don’tjust tell the story, livethe story and
capture it as you go.
– Makeyourvaluesthemoraltothison-going
narrativeaboutwhatyoudo,whereyouaregoing
andwhatyoubelievein.
– Makesureeveryonethatworksforyouknows
howtosayitinawaythemakesthemmore
effectiveattheirjobs.
– Encourageandchallengeyourcommunitytohelp
youevolveandgrow.

9. Getting the message out… Public Relations
• Public Relations (PR): managing the flow of information
between an organization and the public
• Persuade the public, investors, partners, employees, etc.
to maintain a certain point of view about:
– the company
– its leadership
– products and services
– political decisions
• Proactively shaping opinions (spin)

10. PR Delivery Pipeline
Message
Messenger
Media
Audience

11. Fields of Public Relations…
• Product – gaining publicity for a particular product or service
• Corporate – promoting company and company messaging
• Financial – communicating financial results and business strategy
• Crisis communication – responding in a crisis
• Internal communications – communicating within the company itself
• Government relations – engaging government departments to
influence public policy
Often these roles are combined under one person or organization

12. PR: Tools to spread the message
Active engagement
• Publicity events
• News conferences
• Speaking opportunities
• Press interviews
Passive engagement
• Press releases
• Social media
• Newsletters
• Blogs
• Media kits
• B roll (stock video clips)

13. PR Resources
• PR Firms
– Small and large agencies
– Assist in messaging
– Have strong relations with media
– Global footprint
• Individual PR consultants
– Former members of PR firms
– Lower cost with lesser reach
• In-house PR
– Can be lowest cost
– Combine with social media and other
delivery mechanisms

14. Brand legal protection vehicles
Trademarks
Trade Secrets
Patents
Copyrights