Five Ways to Get Your Message Across

There are some tried and true methods of building brand by communicating your corporate or product positioning in a clear, concise way. Here are some tips that work every time:
* Nail down what you want your company name/logo to mean to the public, and especially to your customers and investors.
* Create three messages from the exercise above that are simple, easy to understand and to memorize.
* Distribute these three points, along with a 30-second "elevator" pitch, to anyone who speaks on your behalf - spokespeople, investors, employees, influencers.
* Weave these messages in all of your external and internal written and oral communications.
* Stay consistent and don't waver from your agreed-upon messaging, especially with the media.

Messaging and positioning 101 - Obama

What is one of the elemental reasons we now have a Democrat in the White House? President Obama (http://www.whitehouse.gov) and his creative staff hit the right note from the beginning of his campaign by developing his messaging and positioning first and sticking to it throughout his campaign. If you noticed, he very rarely went off topic, keeping to his themes of change, hope and responsibility...addressed in every speech, every spontaneous meeting, every sound bite. And not only was Obama pitching these themes but so were his spokespeople, aides and volunteers throughout the country. Why was it so effective? Because remembering and speaking three simple messages can magnify and clarify what a company, person or product is all about while building a strong brand through its consistency.

Companies need to review their value proposition and take a note from President Obama's playbook to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Another reason why PR can play a substantive and important role in today's economic condition.