Branding is an art form! If you think of some of the biggest names out there such as McDonalds, Coke, Nike, Disney … just to name a few, they have really invested much time, smarts and money into getting their brand – logos, colours, slogans, products and services, in front of their customers.

Branding takes marketing to a whole new level, and unfortunately, it is one of the areas in marketing that few businesses truly succeed. Branding is more than just delivering a message; it’s about connecting with your customers, reinforcing your company’s credibility, obtaining user loyalty and creating a brand that exceeds expectations, a brand that is so superior, that there really is limited competition.

Think Tourism Queensland and their 2009 marketing campaign “Best Job in the World Competition”.  An extremely smart campaign that effectively promoted the Great Barrier Reef globally. Basically, Tourism Queensland encouraged visitors to their website by offering the “Best Job in the World” – to be caretaker of the Islands in North Queensland for a year. The role offered a decent salary and accommodation for one year. Entrants were required to submit a video of themselves explaining why they thought they should get the job.

The whole campaign was excellently executed: website, promotional material, television commercials, print advertisements and publicity were strategically rolled out, making the campaign a worldwide success.

Tourism Queensland generated over $200 million dollars worth of publicity globally and the Brisbane advertising agency behind the campaign, CumminsNitro won awards for their efforts at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.

Whilst this kind of campaign would be out of many small businesses depths, it does go to show how effective your marketing can be if you have a strategic integrated marketing plan designed to help grow your business. Successful branding requires strategy, planning and consistency.

Many businesses spend a fortune on branding their company through traditional and external marketing channels such as television, radio and print, but neglect to continue the branding process internally – through their telephone lines.

When you place a caller on hold, you are presented with a great opportunity to further inform and educate your customers about your products and services, hence enhance your branding efforts.