Ad expert focuses on branding, the Internet

Bob Killian is an ad guy who's more than willing to share his thoughts, especially when the topics involve branding and the Internet.

How much his thoughts matter depends on your willingness to blend Killian's opinions into your marketing planning process - and, perhaps, on U.S. Waterproofing's experience as a Killian & Co. client for six years.

"Bob forced us to move," says Howard Shachter, soon-to-retire vice president and a second generation owner of U.S. Waterproofing & Construction Co., which in September moved to new headquarters in Rolling Meadows.

The move was prompted by a need for additional space, a need Shachter credits in great part to Killian's branding efforts for the business. In particular, Shachter says, Killian focused the company's message on seepage - more specifically on controlling basement seepage - and freshened the firm's flag logo.

My conversation with Killian started with branding, but quickly moved to related topics.

"Branding is the total cumulative perception of your product, or service, by your prospects," says Killian, who opened his Chicago agency 20 years ago. Branding, he continues, "is how your business is perceived outside the four walls of your business."

Twenty years back, image was the buzz word. Today it's branding. Terminology aside, the core issue is the same: How outsiders - especially prospective customers - see your business is important.

So is advertising, but advertising today doesn't always involve the traditional approaches many of us think of first. "There's been a sea change," Killian says. "Traditional media don't work like they used to. People have TiVo, voice mail, call screening. Younger people listen to iPods. We're teaching them to screen you out."

Traditional media remain part of most business' tools, as a look at any TV show or newspaper will tell you. But there is a change. "The Internet has become extremely important," Killian says. "It's a big part of the answer."

You need a web site. "Your web site is your lobby, your $1,000 suit," explains Killian. "It's a huge lever" to new business - as in Killian's fictitious example of a widget manufacturer that once sold only in Chicago but now, thanks to the Internet, sells to "customers in Burma (or Myanmar) and Saskatchewan."

Even if you're not yet interested in Saskatchewan or other distant markets, the opportunity to extend sales from your place in Lindenhurst to buyers in Rockford, Milwaukee and Indianapolis is there on the web.

Of course, you'll have to make certain potential buyers find your site. Killian notes that "81 percent of the eyeballs (on a Google search) fall on the paid (ad) at the top of the page," which makes pay-per-click advertising one way to help customers find you. Search engine optimization helps as well.

"Know what people are searching for and optimize your site so people can find you," Killian says. Once potential customers land on your home page, your site should be organized "so people can find what they're looking for."

© 2007, 121 Marketing Resources Inc.