Branding the Need May Be Your First Step

As you may know, The Milenthal Group, in addition to continuing its dedication to public initiatives marketing, is also providing marketing services to the new energy industry. And I’ve noticed an interesting trend recently as our company continues working with energy solutions clients. While we are striving to help these clients create brands around their products or services, we are finding it is even more critical to “brand the need” first. These clients need to create the space first – or shift the mindset of the audience - before delving into branding their own company’s solutions.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with this revelation…the new energy industry is very much in its infancy despite the profound and persistent need our nation has rallied around this past year. It’s apparent that energy-related companies need to first show why they are in the game to begin with…what problem, barrier or challenge is in the marketplace that was the original impetus for the innovation. Revealing or defining that problem or challenge, in many cases, is the first strategic step toward building our client’s brand.

Binding the challenge with the company’s brand takes time and strategy. We have recommended to our clients a number of steps toward achieving this goal:

1) You must have intimate insights into your target audience. What drives their decision-making? How are they defining your space? Where are the opportunities to shift the mindset or behavior? What audience perceptions can you point to and say, “this perception is inaccurate...the facts actually point toward a different set of issues and solutions”? Primary research like one-on-one interviews with people from your target audience can help get at these answers.

2) You need a deep understanding of the industry and your competitors from a messaging perspective. If inaccurate perceptions are permeating the industry, you need to reveal where these ideas are being generated. How do others go to market and how they are defining the need? Who is currently controlling the conversation? Where are the inaccuracies? How does your product or solution address the real issues or barriers? Secondary research typically reveals these insights.

3) Take control of the conversation. It's essential to project your point-of-view regarding the market needs or issues. This can be done in a number of ways – through public relations, creating a blog, commenting on other’s blogs that are relevant or counter to your point of view, responding to articles in newspapers and magazines, finding speaking engagements at conventions or events.

4) Deliver a marketing approach that equates the issue to your branded solution – “The problem is X, and Company A has always known that…which is why Company A developed this proven solution to solve X.” Ongoing gauging of your audience or industry influencers via tracking research can help you realize whether your point-of-view is having an impact in shifting perceptions.

I like that our clients have to “brand the need” first. It makes it possible to position our clients as the leaders of that particular industry if they are branding the need first. We can actually make our client’s brand synonymous with the market need. So when a potential customer thinks about the general problem, our client’s brand is directly linked to the solution. It certainly makes it harder for a competitor to poke holes in your solution if you’re the one that defined the problem accurately to begin with.

Jon Milenthal is vice president of The Milenthal Group – a strategic marketing firm focused on helping "game changers" transition from ideation to commercialization, or from public unawareness to mass movement by helping develop their missions, create brands, establish persuasive selling propositions and find a powerful voice in today's new ideology and new economy.