NECINA Branding & Messaging Meetup

Brand Marketing & Messaging

@JamiePappas

Director, Global Brand Communications & Social Media @Akamai Technologies

NECINA Marketing Workshop, January 2014

@NECINAOrg | @JamiePappas

©2014 Jamie J. Pappas. All rights reserved.

I have been focused on marke2ng for 15 years, digital marke2ng for >10 years and social media, e2.0 and enterprise communi2es for >8 years, with hands-‐on experience in: •  Brand defini2on, management, , advocacy, evangelism •  Integrated marke2ng campaigns •  Website strategy, development and management •  Search engine marke2ng •  Digital communica2ons •  Social media marke2ng •  Brand advocacy programs •  Employment branding

A liLle about me before we get started…



“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers

tell each other.”

Sco$ Cook, Co-‐Founder, Intuit



Tangible Brand Elements:

•  Name

•  Logo, tagline, other crea2ve elements

•  Boilerplate

•  Brand colors, fonts, etc.

•  Solu2ons & Products

•  Trademarks

•  Elevator pitch

Your brand is more than your logo. It’s the sum of all the tangible parts, along with with the intangible and

includes…

What is a Brand?

Intangible Brand Elements:

•  Company story, history, philosophy

•  Brand promise

•  Unique differen2ators

•  Corporate themes

•  Tone of voice

•  Customer and market perspec2ve

•  Company culture



“Authen2c brands don't emerge from marke2ng cubicles or adver2sing agencies. They emanate from

everything the company does...”

Howard Schultz, Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time



What makes a brand memorable?

Think about some of the best known brands… What do they have in common?



“Marke2ng is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the

stories you tell.”

Seth Godin



•  Tell stories

•  Stand for something

•  Make complex things simple

•  Convince you that you need something before you’ve decided you need it

•  Have innova2on at their core

•  Challenge the status quo

What is a Brand?

•  Are authen2c and relatable

•  Connect and build rela2onships

•  Imagine “the art of the possible”

•  Enable employees and others to be ambassadors

•  An2cipate needs before they are needs

•  Embrace the voice of the customer

Good brands…



“Focus on the core problem your business solves and put out lots of content and enthusiasm and ideas about how to solve that problem.”

Laura Fi$on, Inbound MarkeGng Evangelist,

Hubspot



•  Their reason for being

•  Has a vision for the future

•  Gaps in the marketplace and how they fill them

•  Their differen2ators

•  How to tell a story

•  The profile of their target customer

•  What their target customers want or need

Crea2ng a good brand

•  Messages and content that resonate with their target customer

•  Where and how their target customers prefer to receive messages

•  How to tell a story that engages

•  How to build trust

•  How to ac2vate their employees, customers and partners as brand champions

A successful brand knows…



Brand Communica2ons & Promo2ons

Every brand communicaFon channel should reflect your brand!

Internal Elements:

•  Company and product messaging

•  Employee onboarding and training

•  Intranet

•  Employee Communica2ons

•  Mission/Vision

•  Company culture

External Elements:

•  Company and product messaging

•  Website/Extranet

•  Adver2sing

•  Customer & Partner Communica2ons

•  Social media, PR, AR, IR

•  Employment brand

Image Source: http://deniseleeyohn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DLYohn-Brand-Wheel.jpg



Grow revenue opportunities with fast, personalized web experiences and manage complexity from peak demand, mobile devices and data collection.

A Case Study



Brand Driver’s Manual & Brand Resources aloha.akamai.com/brand



SAY IT WITH ME:

AH kuh my



VISION: To deliver on the promise of a hyperconnected world, where entertainment, business, and life are enabled to

reach unimagined poten2al.

MISSION: To provide the technology that op2mizes and secures the delivery of all online content and business applica2ons.



WHAT WE DO:

Akamai makes the Internet fast, reliable and secure.



Brand Communica2on Strategy:

Lead with Why it MaLers

and Tell a Story



STORY Segng

Big Idea

Conflict

Story Climax

Resolu2on

Moral

BRAND MESSAGING Market Opportunity

Inspiring Mission, Vision, Tagline

Business Problem

Brand Promise

Differen2ator

Get Akamaized

The Akamai Brand Story



The Segng:

Hyperconnected World







This is the hyperconnected world!




“You’re Behind.” Faster Forward

The Big Idea:



The Conflict:

In a hyperconnected world, there is tremendous opportunity and massive risk

Cloud Mobile Media Security



The Story Climax:

Any Experience. Any Device. Anywhere. The ul2mate in high-‐quality video at scale

Instant Web performance for

any device

Security that accelerates performance

Fast access to data and apps in the

workplace



The Resolu2on:

The Akamai Intelligent Plajorm™ is the leading cloud plajorm for delivering secure, high-‐performing user experiences to any

device, anywhere. •  Iden2fies, absorbs, and blocks threats

•  Real-‐2me experience op2miza2on based on situa2onal requirements

•  Decisions based on comprehensive knowledge of network condi2ons

•  Unprecedented business and technical insights



The Moral:

Get Akamaized… …and

move your business faster forward.



Akamai makes the Internet business-‐ready -‐ fast, reliable and secure.



Social Media @Akamai aloha.akamai.com/social

You are our best brand advocates!

•  Akamaize your personal accounts •  Follow Akamai channels •  Amplify Akamai posts •  Contribute your own content

•  Write a blog post •  Share photos and videos

•  Leverage 2ps and tools on Aloha



Thank you!

Linkedin.com/in/JamiePappas