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ALAN OAKES publisher ajoakes@aol.com

Who are you?

If you are thinking about overnight deliveries, you think Fedex. If you think about soda, you think Coca-Cola or Pepsi. If you think about sport shoes, you think Nike. If you think about coffee, you think Starbucks. What do your customers think about when your company name comes up?

A year ago for our May issue we put together a directory of alternative decking product manufacturers. At the time, we were quite shocked when we came up with about 80 companies. As we learned later, there were several others we missed. It does not matter which industry you choose, it will be a similar situation. In almost every sector, in every industry, the picture of a very crowded competitive market is the same.

So how do you differentiate your company and its products from one or many other competitors? What happens when a well-known competitor moves into your town? What if your products and/or services are similar in features, benefits and price to a competitor? If you want to expand the geography of your company's marketplace, and potential customers do not know who you are, what do you do? Do your employees or branches work completely differently from one another, and have no consistent way of dealing with the customer? If your company is struggling with any of

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Serving California and Arizona these questions, then maybe your company needs to consider branding or re-brandins.

Now, many of you might answer that you are too small to brand, that branding is only for the big guys. I would argue that would be a big mistake. Too many companies dismiss branding as being about solely an identity or placing an ad in a magazine or newspaper. But it is far more. It is really about a well-orchestrated coordination of every single way that your company interacts with customers and potential customers, in order for them to want to do business with you. It is about aligning your strategic business plan and marketing plan and insuring that every part of the marketing mix is consistent and focused on adding value for the customer.

In the end. it is about getting customers to choose you over someone else. And why would do they do that? Because, you have found a way to differentiate your brand and position yourself in a better way, over perhaps dozens of others selling exactly the same thing, at the same or even a better price.

Intriguingly, how many times do you see a perceived inferior product sell better than a less expensive product? The reason is better branding.

Everyone faces competitors who when they cannot make it in the marketplace will resort to heavy discounting. But, experience has taught me that when a company stands for something, when it stands tall, gets itself out of the gutter and clutter, it has a much better chance to grow revenue and profits than those that sell solely on price. How often do we buy at the lowest price and live to regret it?

If you are the only game in town, it is probably not an issue, but I guarantee that will not be the story forever. The time to start worrying about your market status is when you are ahead of the curve. not behind it. There are many who never could have imagined a big box store up the road, but now there may be one if not two, or even three within easy driving distance.

Now, as they sit trying to develop that brand, many companies have a dream of what they would like to be. The reality is often far different. The safest way to find out who you are is to starl with your customers. They are your best market research, and perhaps have a view of you that is completely different than how you view vourself. Go on. I dare vou to find outl