Breakthrough Branding: Positioning Your Library to Survive and Thrive shows how to mesh your library’s brand deeply and seamlessly within your internal culture, to leverage and better position your brand for the audiences you serve, and develop and implement promotional strategies and tactics consistent with your objectives.

List of Illustrations xiii

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xxi

SECTION I: BRANDING

Chapter 1 What Is a Brand? 3

      Knowing a Brand Means Experiencing a Brand 4

      What Good Brands Have in Common 5

      The Concept of Brands and Branding Is Evolving 5

      Branding—An Idea Whose Time Has Come 6

      Branding Inspires Action 6

      It Begins with the Basics 7

      The Readily Observable Elements of a Brand 7

      The Tangible Elements of a Brand 8

      Experiential Elements of a Brand 8

      The Origin of Intentional Elements of a Brand 9

      Advanced Branding and the World of Libraries 9

      The Three Dimensions of Branding 10

      Application to Libraries 10

      Summary 15

      References 15

Chapter 2 Assessing Your Library Brand 17

      Start with Your Own Intuition 18

      Power of the Brand Story 18 Revisit the Bubble Room 19

      Ask Customers, Colleagues, and Community Leaders 20

      The Nexus—Forging a Purpose and Focusing Your Library 20

      Taking Stock of Your Library Brand 21

      Start with Mission and Values—Why You Are Here 22

      Consider Your Vision—Where You Are Going 23

      Assessing Your Situation with SWOT 23

      Internal Strengths and Weaknesses 24

      External Opportunities and Threats 26

      Team Involvement 26

      Using Market Research 27

      What Constitutes Market Research? 28

      Understanding the Competitive Market 32

      Assessing Market Share and Mind Share 33

      Assessing Brand Equity 34

      Implications for Planning and the Formulation of Strategy 35

      Summary 35

      References 36

Chapter 3 Developing Your Library Brand 39

      Your Brand Is a Living Thing 40

      A Path to Follow 40

      Who Should Be Involved in the Process? 41

      Use of Outside Experts 41

      Relating the Branding Process to Planning 42

      People, Protocol, and Process 43

      A Disciplined Approach 45

      Step 1—Brand Assessment 45

      Step 2—Brand Discovery 45

      Step 3—Brand Creative 46

      Step 4—Brand Plan 47

      Step 5—Brand Implementation 48

      Internalizing Your Brand 49

      Brand Management 51

      Building Brand Equity 52

      Summary 52

      References 53

SECTION II: POSITIONING

Chapter 4 Defining a Positioning Strategy Why Is It Important to Your Library? 57

      What Is Positioning? What Is a Positioning Strategy? 58

      Secrets of Positioning: Identifying Target Markets and the Competition 58

      Using Positioning to Differentiate Your Library in the Marketplace 59

      Positioning Differentiates Your Products and Services 60

      Examples of Positioning within the Commercial Marketplace 61

      Your Library Has a Position in the Marketplace 62

      Conducting Market Research to Understand Your Position within the Community 63

      Market Research Methodology 63

      The Integration of Branding and Positioning 64

      Brand Loyalty 64

      Brands Evoke Feelings and Emotional Attachment 65

      Positioning and Branding 65

      Is the Branding Process Necessary to Position the Library? 67

      Strategic Planning and Strategic Positioning 67

      Summary 69

      References 69

Chapter 5 Understanding Segmentation Selecting Your Target Markets 71

      Using Market Research to Understand Target Markets 72

      Getting the Market Research Assistance You Need 73

      Using Professional Market Research Teams 74

      Using Primacy and Secondary Resources 74

      Understanding Qualitative and Quantitative Research 75

      Understanding Segmentation Analysis and Targeting Your Audience 78

      Cluster Systems: PRIZM and VALS 81

      Selecting Your Target Markets 82

      Criteria for Evaluating Your Target Market 82

      Selecting Your Target Markets (Market Segmentation) 84

      Choosing the Approach for Your Library 86

      Successful Market Segmentation Research—Columbus Metropolitan Library 86

      Summary 90

      References 91

Chapter 6 Crafting a Desired Positioning Strategy Achieving a Distinctive Difference 93

      Understanding Positioning as It Relates to the Brand 95

      Behavior-Focused Positioning 95

      Barrier-Focused Positioning 95

      Benefit-Focused Positioning 95

      Competition-Focused Positioning 96

      Focus on Repositioning 96

      Determining How to Position Your Brand 97

      The Positioning Statement 97

      Positioning Drives the Creative Process 97

      Crafting a Positioning Statement 98

      Value Propositions 99

      Value Propositions and Taglines 99

      Where to Begin 100

      Relationship of the Positioning Statement and the Unique Value Proposition 101

      Developing Goals and Objectives for Target Audiences 104

      Summary 104

      References 106

SECTION III: PROMOTION

Chapter 7 Positioning and Marketing Strategies Introduction to Positioning and the Marketing Mix 109

      What Is the Marketing Mix? 110

      Marketing Mix, Branding, and Positioning 111

      Selecting the Right Marketing Mix for Your Library 111

      Product/Service-The First "P" 111

      The Core Product 112

      The Actual Product 113

      The Augmented Product 113

      The Potential Product 113

      The Product Life Cycle 114

      Place Strategies 115

      Distribution Channels as Place Strategies 117

      Objectives for Place Strategies 118

      Price Strategies 119

      Pricing Strategies and Value 119

      How Organizations Decide on Pricing Strategies 120

      Libraries and the Common Positioning Premise—"Free" for All 121

      Enhancing the Brand through Pricing 122

      Monetary and Nonmonetary Costs 123

      Competitive Behavior and Pricing 123

      Pricing Strategies Built on the Brand and Positioning Statement 124

      Pricing Strategy Based on Product or Service 124

      People Strategies—The Fifth "P" for Consideration 125

      The Customer Life Cycle 126

      Summary 127

      References 129

Chapter 8 Promoting Your Brand 131

      Concept of Promotion 131

      Brand Architecture and Promotion 132

      Developing Your Brand Architecture 133

      Applications to New and Existing Brands 134

      Revisiting Brand Architecture to Bring Clarity and Focus to the Brand 135

      Investing in Brand Identity 135

      Brand Architecture in Summary 143

      Developing Your Promotional Plan 144

      Developing a Creative Brief 145

      Messages and Messengers 145

      Creative Strategy 146

      Selecting Communication Channels 146

      Varieties of Communication Channels and Media Vehicles 146

      The Website 150

      Facilities and Physical Environments as Communication Tools 150

      Public Relations 151

      Public Relations Tools 151

      Public Relations and Libraries 153

      Nontraditional and New Media Channels 154

      Social Media 154

      Evaluation—You Get What You Measure 155

      Building Brand Champions 157

      Using Internal and External Design Teams 158

      Developing Brand Standards and Guidebooks 158

      Managing Consistency and Integrity of the Brand 158

      Summary 159

      References 161

Chapter 9 Advocating for Libraries 163

      OCLC Study From Awareness to Funding 165

      Columbus Metropolitan Library 166

      Queens Library: Positioning through Advocacy 168

      Anythink Libraries and Advocacy 169

      Wyoming State Library: Forging Strong Community Grassroots Advocacy Programs 169

      Turning Adversity into Advantage 170

      Using Adversity to Reposition Your Library 171

      The Rebirth of the Grand County Library District 172

      Positioning the Library within the Brand of a University 174

      A Final Word about Leadership 175

Summary 179

References 180

About the Authors 183

Index 185

Suzanne Walters was the director of marketing and development for the Den-ver Public Library during the successful bond election and capital campaign to build the new central library building as well as to remodel and build branches through-out the city of Denver. She previously served as the director of marketing for the Regional Transportation District of Denver, responsible for the implementation of the 16th Street Mall. Suzanne also developed nationwide programs of aluminum recycling for Adolph Coors Golden Recycling Corporation and was a statewide coor-dinator of volunteers and events for the PBS station KRMA. Currently, she is the president of Walters & Associates Consultants and conducts marketing workshops and seminars for libraries both nationally and internationally. She also serves on the graduate faculty of Regis University, facilitating courses in social marketing. Her BA in biology comes from Wichita State University, while her MBA comes from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. PA\Kent Jackson, PhD, CPCU, owner of Jackson Research, Strategy, Solution, LLC, provides consulting services for a variety of for-profit and nonprofit enterprises, induding education, professional associations, medical and human service provid-ers, homebuilders and developers, insurers, and professional service firms. In asso-ciation with other qualified firms and individuals specializing in graphic and web design, copywriting, advertising, public relations, and market research, Jackson has developed refined methodologies and services that enable clients to better research, strategically position, and sell through their distinctive value advantage. Jackson's more than forty-year career uniquely qualifies him to address custom market research, branding strategy, and solution challenges for business-to-business and business-to-consumer enterprises and initiatives. For nearly a decade, he was a principal and director of research for a graphic design and branding company. He currently serves on Regis University's graduate faculty, teaching social marketing and organizational leadership, and as a resource consultant to DiscoveryOnstage, a Los Angeles—based theatrical education and performance company. Jackson earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Northern Colorado and a PhD from Oregon State University. He is recognized for his work on behalf of busi-ness and community organizations and is a frequent speaker and author/coauthor of articles in his areas of expertise.

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