Casino Enterprise Management

Branding, re-branding or a brand refresh are never easy tasks. In the world of advertising, marketing and design culture it is perhaps the most difficult task a single individual or group of individuals can embark upon. It is a journey that requires leaving everyone’s ego at the door. A journey that requires executives, marketing departments and operations to understand they are not designers. They are advertising professionals. They are people persons. They are specialists within the hospitality industry who should focus on what they do best. Although their input is important in building and understanding where a brand should go and what it should be, branding should be left to those who really understand advertising, marketing and good design.

I can recall sitting in many meetings with various hotels, resorts and casinos throughout my career where rogue managers infiltrated valuable and brand changing conversations with ego and lack of pure experience. The end result was tension, frustration and a poor brand product. I always tell clients, “It’s OK you don’t get it, that’s why I’m here.” There are a lot of things I don’t understand in business, namely accounting and finance to be blunt. But when I struggle with something I don’t know or don’t understand, I reach out to my network and people I trust to help me with those questions, projects or headaches.

Yes, branding is everyone’s responsibility. Yes, I should have mastered accounting and finance, not to mention have a better grasp on it. But when we are faced with branding, marketing and advertising challenges or any challenge for that matter, collaboration is key. Yes, collaboration can solve any problem in business. The year is 2010, and collaboration and collaborative thinking environmdnts have allowed for us to create better products, services and even advertising and branding. Everyone wins. Collaboration opens the door for those inexperienced in specific areas to learn new skills and contribute to a company’s future success.

Back to branding. Branding is important. Branding is who you are, how people perceive you and how customers connect visually, emotionally and individually. Your brand is much more than a logo, and your logo is much more than a name. Here are a few things to think about when talking about your brand, refreshing your brand, or re-branding in general.

First, organizations need to understand the business problem(s) they are trying to solve. Each department has their own, and those are good to identify. However, what are the major enterprise-level problems that need to be solved? How will branding, brand awareness and brand perception solve these issues?

Next we should understand how people currently perceive the brand. How and why do people feel the way they do about the current brand? Was it service, is it a competitor who is influencing the way they feel and identify with your brand. Where does your brand come into play with your customers? Is it via billboard on a highway, newspaper, magazine, radio, TV or online. How do these other marketing and advertising efforts influence the way people look at you and your organization. What are they saying about your brand? Is it good or bad? Are you engaged in the conversation? If not, you should be.

What is your customer profiles and segmentation? How are certain guests classified? What is their age? How do they consume media and where? It is really important to understand that the right branding and right media are being leveraged for respective consumer bases. How much influence can you have on these targets with your brand and through the strategic utilization of media?

What messages and communication goals do you have for your audience. What calls to action and feelings should they walk away with every time and everywhere they see your logo. Most important, how are you going to measure success as a result of communicating your brand to your customers? Are you going to take note of successes and failures? There is always going to be something new to learn as it relates to branding, marketing and advertising. Every campaign can teach every organization something new.

Lastly, how can we plan for the future? Let’s not think of gimmicky, overly watered-down humorous ‘one-off’ campaigns. How do we want to work hard today in building a foundation for the future? What does the future look like for our organization? Branding is all about sustainability and future growth. Plan and think about the future today in all brand executions and marketing efforts.

Although highly abridged, this process should shed some light on the importance and enormity of the branding process. Collaboration between all departments and creating a culture that understands and believes its importance is key. Commitment is required from the top down. All employees play a crucial and integral role in the branding and brand development process. In addition, many organizations rely on agencies and individuals who specialize in branding to help bring their visions to fruition. Be sure to find a group of professionals who understand your business as well as the industry in general. Please feel free to let me know how I can help or answer any additional questions, comments or juggle some ideas in the future! Please e-mail me at: pyesawichjr@gmail.com or call (303)-408-1818.

 
Peter Yesawich Jr.
Creative Director & Digital Strategist
Twitter @pyesawichjr