The message is determined by analyzing the brand being marketed, and doingso with clear vision and self-knowledge. Too many marketing executives relyon their own concept of the brand's identity, and never bother to discover whatattributes the public has assigned to a product. Just because you've decidedthat you want to project a certain image doesn't mean that's the image you'reprojecting. Extremely high-profile marketing campaigns have failed becausenot enough market research and communication with the consuming publicwere done.

For example:

When AT&T Wireless decided to consolidate its wireless phone, pager, andInternet technology into something called mlife, it gave the public examples ofwhat the company meant. Unfortunately, the public still doesn't understand,and has no idea what the m stands for (it is messaging).

United Airlines has long invited the public to "fly the friendly skies of United."The public has noticed that the experience on the plane is not terribly friendly,and is now distrustful of all airlines' claims.

The criteria for effective public relations messages should be: (1) is it true? (2)Is it unusual? (3) Is it interesting?

On the other hand, if a company already exists in the marketplace, a newmessage will have to be identified. For retail companies, the addition of a newproduct category or a price reduction are always effective messages.

Sales promotions, particularly very public or extremely unusual ones, makegood messages. Anything out of the ordinary being done by the company inthe name of public service or community aid is a legitimate message.

In order for the message to be even rudimentarily effective, it absolutely mustbe true. Remember, the message is being disseminated by the legitimate newsmedia; a false message will be discovered and exposed, and win immediatelybrand the company negatively. It will do more damage than having no messageat all, and such situations must be avoided at all costs.

Unique messages are going to be more noticeable and more attractive to thegatekeepers who determine which stories are told and which are not. So anunusual message--something a company is doing that no one else hasconsidered or been creative enough to conceive-will be considerably moresuccessful than one that seems tired or old simply because it has been seenbefore.

It goes without saying that the message must be interesting. If it is unique,unusual, and true, but without any interest to the general public, the messagebeing delivered will most likely never find the light of day. If it does, it willundoubtedly be ignored, or worse, ridiculed. Many companies make themistake of assuming that if a message seems unusual and interesting to them,it will be those things for the general consuming public. People in businesstend to find their business fascinating; it is the thing they spend most of theirtime thinking about, so they are more knowledgeable about and concernedwith their business than any casual observer or consumer would be. That isonly natural and proper. But it is far too easy to make the miscalculation that amessage that might be fascinating to an industry insider-for example, "Ours isthe only paper bag made with 100 percent maple fibers"-will also be of interestto a casual user of the product. In almost every case, that assumption will beproven untrue.

So, commununication with the consuming public is an essential component toany successful Branding venture. Discovering from the public what its truefeelings are about the brand identity being contemplated, as well as anychanges being discussed concerning an existing brand identity, can help a wisemarketer avoid miscalculations that can prove disastrously costly and possiblyfatal to the brand, the product, or the company.

This is not to imply that the public must be allowed to dictate all Brandingdecisions, however. What's more important is for anyone involved in Brandingto have a clear-eyed view of their brand identity. Wal-Mart remains a wildlysuccessful brand by not trying to be Tiffany's. McDonald's, although it hasslipped precipitously as a trusted brand in recent years, still has the goodsense not to hire Wolfgang Puck to rethink its hamburger recipe.

When a Branding professional loses sight of the original mission-that is, thebrand identity-and tries to be all things to all people, the results are almostalways calamitous. The archetypal example of New Coke works as a warningabout so many different Branding errors that it seems clichéd to mention it, butconsider: The fundamental miscalculation being made was the level of loyaltythe average Coca-Cola drinker had for what was, and remains, unquestionablythe most well-known, best-loved brand identity on this planet. To think it wasa good idea to remove this beloved product-in favor of a formula thatemulated the competition and was bound to alienate Coca-Cola loyalists whohad stuck with the brand, in some cases, for decades-is astonishing.

A FEW BASIC PROMISES

Public relations can operate effectively only when a clear, realistic brandidentity has been conceived. Certainly, PR, professionals can be part of theteam that establishes that identity, but it must be, above all else, a trueidentity. That means it must have specific attributes, specific philosophicaltenets, and, most important, a few basic promises made to the consumer thatwill never, ever be broken.

These promises, which should be written down in the simplest languagepossible and distributed on a regular basis to every employee of the company,are a covenant made with the public. They define the brand identity; theyprovide reasons to patronize the brand; and they offer, at the most basic level,differentiation from all competing brands. They are never to be taken lightly byany employee, and under no circumstances are they ever to be broken for anyreason.

If your business is a store that sells items that cost $1 apiece, you must nevercharge $1.05 for anything. If your restaurant prides itself on cleanliness, therest rooms have to be absolutely spotless anytime anyone walks in. If yourpromise is that every customer will be served within 30 seconds of entering,you'd better have a stopwatch on every employee's wrist and be sure it'soperating accurately.

The promises your business makes are the central core of that business. Ifyou've promised to provide the longest hot dogs in town, and you providethem, no reasonable person is going to complain that you don't have the bestcrêpes suzettes as well-unless you've promised that too.

It's extremely important that the promises you make flow from your brandidentity. Understand what you are to the public and what is expected of you,and you can make bold but realistic promises. Try to provide every solution toevery problem, and you win end up providing nothing that is the least biteffective.

Consider, for example, the Disney brand. Here is a company whose name andlogo are recognized in every country on the planet, whose message is receivedand understood everywhere from Beverly Hills to Beirut. It was once estimatedthat Mickey Mouse was the most recognized figure anywhere on Earth, morethan the president of the United States, more than Tom Cruise, actually morethan Santa Claus (who is famous in only about one-third of the world'scountries).

On the surface, Disney might appear to offer all things to all people. Besidesits movies and television programs under the Walt Disney name, it alsoproduces entertainment under the Touchstone and Hollywood Picturesbanners. Disney has a network television show on a network it owns (ABC), andalso provides programming on cable TV via the Disney Channel and ABCFamily. The company owns theme parks in California, Florida, Japan, andFrance. It also owns ESPN, publishing companies, video distribution companies,real estate, and retail stores. Disney logos appear on merchandise rangingfrom souvenir Mickey Mouse ears to fashions created by respected designers,electronics, calendars, furniture, musical instruments, sound recordings, andtimepieces. Disney produces Broadway shows. It even owns a town in Florida.

But no matter how widely it casts its net, Disney always promises itscustomers the same things: high quality, fanatical customer service, and adedication to the family. It might produce some R-rated movies under itsTouchstone, Miramax, or Hollywood Pictures umbrella, but never with theDisney name. It will provide scary thrill rides in its theme parks, but you'dbetter believe the streets in that park will be clean and the "cast members" whowork there will find a way to solve virtually any problem a guest might haveduring the stay. Guests at Walt Disney World are never told, "We can't do that";they are always given at least an alternative solution. Maybe the ABC networkwill broadcast NYPD Blue, which offers controversial language and partialnudity, but the Disney Channel won't ever consider such a thing. If Disneyproduces a show on Broadway, you can rest assured that children will beadmitted and the content will not offend their parents.

Disney has become the tremendous conglomerate it is today by makingpromises to its consumers and keeping them consistently since the company'sinception. Anything that bears the Disney name has a special trust, a covenantwith the consumer, and Disney lives up to that covenant every single time.

It's easy to ridicule the seemingly fanatical insistence Disney has on referringto its employees as cast members, in considering the consequences of everyword spoken on every program its networks air, in not allowing its maleemployees to grow beards, or in its sanitized image that seems unrealistic inmodern society. But it would be foolish to attack the surface of the Disneybrand and overlook the unprecedented success it has enjoyed for a number ofdecades. The company continues to grow, but never for a moment does it takeits covenant,the promises it makes to its audience for granted.

Go to the Disney Web site at www.disney.com and you'll see the company'sdedication to its core philosophy at work with every click. Want to discuss avacation at Walt Disney World in Florida? You can book your vacation, includingairfare, car rental, hotel, and theme park tickets, through Disney online. If youneed personal assistance, phone numbers are always available. News aboutupcoming movies from the Disney studios can be found, including comingattractions trailers. Games are available for children and adults. Want to buysome Disney merchandise? The Disney Store has an online catalog. There isalways the option of speaking to a Disney representative with any question orconcern you might have. And the Disney Web site is careful not to provide linksto ABC, Touchstone, or Miramax, because those companies deal in materialthat, although affiliated with the parent company, does not conform to theDisney brand. They are separate brands and are treated separately. They havetheir own Web sites.

While the philosophy is not directly presented to the consumer in words, it isnot in the least difficult to discern or understand. Disney will provide you withhigh-quality, attentive customer service and a dedication to family. It's thereon the Web site, in the theme parks, and in the entertainment provided by thecompany under its own name. Under no circumstances does the DisneyCompany ever renege on those promises, and it holds firm to them in everyaspect of its branded business.

On those occasions when there is even the suggestion of a break with thecovenant, Disney works swiftly to correct the situation. When some videocopies of its animated film The Little Mermaid were rumored to have an off- color visual joke in three frames (1/8 of a second), the company made sure therumors were dispelled, and the offending three frames, although they reallydidn't contain what the rumors said they did, were cut from subsequent copies.Disney takes its covenant very seriously.

BRANDING IS ESSENTIAL

Everything impacts on Branding--the smell of the bathroom, the signs in thewindow, the product being sold in the store, the things people say. One of themost powerful things that impacts all people's perceptions is what they read,see, or hear about in the media, because it carries with it the imprimatur of themedia outlet.

To illustrate: If a garage band pays to produce its own CD and sends out fliersto every record store in the country saying the album is a breakthroughcollection, it won't carry a fraction of the impact that same CD win have ifsomeone on MTV uses the exact same words, because now the brand of thegarage band has been enhanced with the brand MTV.

The old saying, "There is no such thing as bad publicity" is absolutelyincorrect, however. Having a brand's name mentioned in the media is a verystrong influencer, and it can cut both ways. Should a media outlet saysomething negative about a brand-even if the information is proven to betotally inaccurate-the negative repercussions on the brand identity can bedevastating. It can take a lot of damage control, in the form of advertisement,retractions from media outlets, and strong statements from the brand itself, toundo one misplaced comment from a credible media outlet. Sometimes thedamage can't be controlled or undone.

When public relations is done properly, an item of information is disseminatedto media gatekeepers, who then decide to report the information either directlyor indirectly. Reportage is done, research is accumulated, interviews areperformed. Eventually the information item becomes a media report, and it isat that moment that the public relations professional can no longer control itentirely. Media outlets-particularly the most desirable, most credible ones- operate autonomously, reporting the information they deem necessary orinteresting and excluding all else. Time constraints, space limitations, and therealities of economics play as prominent a role in the decision-making processas the newsworthiness of the information being considered.

If a company is launching a new brand, the temptation will exist to try tosaturate the market with information on that brand. Often, when my companyis contacted about the creation of a new brand or a new product, the requestwill be, "Get us as much exposure as you can." That is absolutely the wrongthing to request at that time, because it is not a strategic position.

Such a company should be requesting a strategic plan that is consistent withtheir short-, middle-, and long-term goals. (Short-term is defined as 6months, mid-term as 18 months, and long-term as 36 months.) It's veryimportant to define those goals before seeking media exposure, because thelack of a goal is the lack of a plan, and that will obliterate any hope of Brandingbefore it ever has the opportunity to begin.

In Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, there is a marvelousmoment in which Alice, trying to find her way through the maze that isWonderland, asks the Cheshire Cat for direction. The cat asks, quite logically,where Alice's destination might be, and she replies that she doesn't care whereshe ends up, but needs to know which road to take. Told that Alice doesn'tcare where she's going, the Cat replies, "Then it doesn't matter which way yougo."

Companies that want to create brands but don't know what their specific goalsare for the next 6, 18, or 36 months can't possibly be expected to define theirbrand identity or the proper kind of media coverage they need to best exploittheir brand's possibilities.

A good percentage of Americans believe that Elvis is still alive; there's noaccounting for what people might think. But the reality is that a Brandingcampaign, fueled by public relations efforts, will fail miserably if it doesn't havespecific, well-defined goals in place for various points in the future before itbegins.

How do the elite Branding experts determine their goals ahead of time andpass that information on to public relations professionals? It helps to be first inyour field. Those companies that came to the marketplace before anyone else - Wal-Mart, Johnson & Johnson, Kleenex, Coca-Cola, Disney, McDonald's-had anadvantage before they generated their first media placement. Nobody wasahead of them, and they knew precisely what they intended to do.

Keep in mind that most of those brands established themselves very early withvery little (in many cases, close to no) advertising budget to work with. Theymanaged to create an impression in the minds of consumers without spendingmillions in magazines and newspapers or on radio or television (in those caseswhen radio and television existed at the brand's inception).

They did it almost exclusively with public relations. These companies had aplan, a course of action, long before they had a brand name or a brandidentity. They projected the possible sales for their products and services andhad realistic goals for the coming six months, the coming year, the comingthree years. In many cases, those goals were far exceeded, due in large part tothe brilliant public relations campaigns that had been launched and executedto establish and support the brand. Without those plans, goals, andprojections, there would have been no road map-and, as the Cheshire Catwould say, there would be no point in choosing one road over another, since itwouldn't matter where you ended up anyway.

It is extremely important, then, to set realistic goals. In order to do that, thesmart Branding practitioner needs to have a clear-eyed view of his or her ownproduct and company. Only with that can a true brand identity be created, onethat will capture the imagination of the targeted consumer and differentiate thenew brand from whatever competition currently exists or will exist in thefuture. Keep in mind that even those who were first ended up dealing withcompetition. Kleenex may be the most famous brand of tissue available today,but it is far from the only one on the market.

Michael Levine is the founder of the prominent public relations firm Levine Communications Office, based in Los Angeles. He is the author of Guerrilla PR, 7 Life Lessons from Noah's Ark: How to Survive a Flood in Your Own Life.

GuerrillaPR.net is a resource for people that want to get famous in the media, without going broke. http://GuerrillaPR.net