Mariah Burton Nelson: Article

MARIAH BURTON NELSON
An Athletic Approach to Leadership and Life

Leadership Lessons for Associations: Branding with Clear, Compelling Slogans
2006
© Mariah Burton Nelson

Branding is a hot topic these days, with hundreds of website and books vying for the opportunity to give you advice on the subject.

Basically, branding comes down to three things:

Branding Key #1: Offer superb products and services.
Branding Key #2: Communicate in a clear and compelling manner.
Branding Key #3: Pay attention to your audience's response, and adjust accordingly.

As a communication professional and association leader, I've had the opportunity to help several associations brand themselves. We have concentrated on all three of these key elements: bolstering and expanding our products and services; clarifying our mission and message; and interacting with members, customers, and clients to learn their priorities and preferences, then respond to those, and thus deepen their loyalty.

Today I want to focus on Branding Key #2: How to communicate in a clear and compelling manner. Specifically, I want to focus on words -- though music, art, and other graphic elements also play a role.

You can't make something become true just by saying it is true. But if you've offer superb products and services (Branding Key #1,) a clear, compelling motto or slogan can provide additional cache that enhances an organization's brand.

Here are two favorite examples from the business world.

FedEx has an excellent slogan: "The world on time." It draws attention to the global scope of the company, while also emphasizing "on time" reliability - which FedEx backs up with a tracking system and an amazing success rate (Branding Key #1.)

I also like the United States Postal Service's slogan: "We deliver for you." The double entendre with "deliver" works. And "for you" makes us feel like the service is personalized -- which it certainly is. (At 39 cents for a cross-country delivery of a letter, I still think they offer quite a bargain!)

Here are three examples of effective slogans from my work with associations:

At the National Speakers Association's Washington, D.C. Chapter, we pride ourselves on our expertise. In fact, the National Speakers Association defines itself as by and for "experts who speak for a living." In other words, we're not a bunch of windbags. Even those of us who are motivational speakers aren't "just" motivational - we've got expertise in adult learning, human behavior, and personal and organizational change.

Keeping all this in mind when I was serving on the NSA-DC board of directors, I came up with this slogan: "We know what we're talking about!" It caught on with our members, and with the public (Branding Key #3.) It's bold -- as speakers must be, to stand up and do what we do -- and includes an amusing double entendre with the word "talking."

Usually, when people are said to "know what they're talking about," their expertise itself is being referenced. In our case, we're literally talking. The slogan helped brand the organization as both bold and knowledgeable, which is just what we wanted. Also, members have had fun with it, announcing it from the platform, claiming their authority. (More about NSA-DC)

I also serve on the board of Mosaic Harmony, an interfaith, interracial community choir based in the Washington, D.C. area. We draw on the rich heritage of African-American spiritual music to demonstrate and encourage unity in the midst of diversity. Each year, we raise thousands of dollars for charities such as Habitat for Humanity, the Lakota Nation; organ donors; hospice; palliative caregivers; and HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa. Each year, we give free concerts to such groups as mentally ill adults, homeless women; seniors; disturbed youth; and interfaith conferences.

When I joined the board, we already had a catchy and meaningful mission statement: "Unifying the world, one song at a time." But we sought a slogan that would reflect our commitment to service. When you buy a ticket to our concerts or purchase one of our CD's, you're not just buying an entertaining, inspiring experience that's sure to get you singing and clapping along with us. You're also contributing to our work in the community.

How to express that? As we kept talking about service during a board meeting, this line came to me: "Service Through Song." The board immediately resonated with it - as did other Mosaic Harmony members and our audiences. It's concise, memorable, alliterative - and effective. It brands us as "much more than just a bunch of good singers" and helps audiences understand that they're contributing to a good cause. Now we receive donations from people who can't even attend the concerts - because they comprehend our commitment: "Service Through Song."

One more story about branding and Mosaic Harmony: After our extremely successful series of winter fundraising concerts in 2006, I realized that we needed to frame our spring concert in an original way. These winter and spring concerts raise money we need for our operating expenses -- as opposed to most of our concerts, which raise funds for others or serve disadvantaged populations. So we're personally motivated to sell tickets.

Yet fans who enjoyed a concert in January might not be ready to return in June - especially if our advertising sounds like "more of the same."

First, remembering Branding Key #1, we devised an original program, including three guest soloists and a guest choir. Next, we rehearsed a series of new songs.

Once we knew we were offering something new and wonderful, we turned to the brainstorming process to create a clear and compelling message.

"Maybe we could call it something besides a concert," I suggested. "I'm looking for an term that conveys something bigger, better, more appealing."

Someone suggested "festival." In the spirit of effective brainstorming, no one vetoed that or argued against it; we just kept going.

Someone else suggested "performance."

Finally our director, David K. North, said, "How about Joyous, Jubilant June Jubilee!" Immediately we agreed that that was on the right track.

By consulting a dictionary, I learned that "jubilee" happens to be an interfaith term, denoting not only a season of celebration, but also a Roman Catholic period of repentance and forgiveness and a Jewish year of restoration and restitution. Perfect for our interfaith choir!

Since "joyous" and "jubilant" seemed redundant (and cumbersome,) we shortened it to the June Jubilee. And (after doing several other things to assure high quality, in keeping with Branding Key #1) we began marketing the event. We sold $4000 worth of tickets in the first two months, bringing us to 25 percent of capacity (the hall holds 850 seats) when the event is still three months away.

Did the June Jubilee phrase - along with "Service Through Song" - help us succeed? Absolutely!

Mariah Burton Nelson helps organizations clarify and communicate their core messages in compelling and effective ways. She has served on four association boards, one as president, and has a vast body of experience in written and oral communications, sports, and leadership at the national level.

One of the slogans she has used in her own business:"Think of yourself as an athlete. I guarantee you it will change the way you walk, the way you work, and the decisions you make about leadership, teamwork and success."