Mass marketers embarking on a big campaign start with television and then move on to social media.  YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are no longer merely afterthoughts, but they are not typically the centerpiece for the effort except for smaller brands targeting younger people.  And, while we have a lot of brands that are and always were Internet-focused (Amazon, E-Trade and Facebook itself come to mind), we don’t yet have m-brands, but we will.

One of my recent posts was about the virtues of not targeting because we don’t do it particularly well and actionably enough.  I am content with that perspective – for brands that are built and budgeted to sell millions of units each year.

But, what about smaller brands?

Leadership often is a matter of fact – a championship team or an elected official is, by definition, a leader.  A CEO or department head is a bit less clear.  While they are in a leadership position and have managerial and operational responsibilities, they may not be seen as a leader in fact.  They have people who work for and report to them, but they may not have the qualities that make people want to follow or emulate them in some way.

Corporate brands often run into trouble, or into a strong new competitor, or simply run out of steam.  Companies then put significant effort into rebranding or developing a new corporate brand positioning, sometimes with a new corporate brand name, often with a new visual identity.  Too often, once these efforts are complete, they move immediately into telling the world what the brand (now) means.