Lately NPAworldwide members have expressed a growing expectation around the promotion of the NPAworldwide brand. Specifically members have been asking for marketing focused on making the employer audience aware of NPAworldwide. Members want employers to be familiar with the NPAworldwide recruitment network before the member has contact with the employer client or prospect.
NPAworldwide would like to be in the position to make this a reality. If you have done any marketing or branding you are aware that it takes time, money and repetition to deliver results. Even with the best plan the message is not always received as quickly or effectively as intended. As and example, for those in the US or Japan you may know of Aflac. This insurance company has been in existence since 1955 but it was not until 1994 when they “adopted” the Aflac duck and spend billions on advertising that their marketing and brand soared to prominence. Time, money and repetition. Aflac has an large contingent of agents and representatives that deliver and refine the message to an audience that can actually purchase their services. Those agents are the ones that close the gap between positioning and results.
To see a few famous marketing failures that will make you laugh: 15 Marketing Failures
So it will be with NPAworldwide. We have entered a marketing and branding marathon. We have inched up to the starting line and moved across the line but there is still much more “race course” in front of us that behind us. We have some new tools that will help us build some brand awareness and new ideas are coming to us during the race to add energy to our efforts, like a power bar does for a marathon runner. In the end the final few steps across the finish line will need to involve our members. It is not NPAworldwide that sits with clients or make employer sales or development calls, it is our NPAworldwide member. To cross the line and deliver results we will need member support and effort. Members are the actual point of contact with a prospect or client. You will make the sale, NPAworldwide will not.
Here are 5 things you can do this week to support the promotion of the NPAworldwide brand if you believe there is value in that strategy:
1. Add an NPAworldwide tag line to all your emails.
2. Begin using the proper NPAworldwide logo on business cards.
3. Point out to your staff and fellow NPAworldwide members when they fail to use proper branding.
4. Look at www.npaworldwideworks.com and send the link to a client and ask to set up and appointment to discuss how your membership can be an advantage for them as an employer.
5. View all the NPAworldwide marketing and branding materials available to you on NPA Central Publications/Marketing .
This week some new items will be added on this last link. See the new items intended for you to customize and use as leave behinds or flyers to attach to an email regarding your membership in NPAworldwide.