Brand Makeovers: “5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With Peter Heise of Correct Digital
Rebranding is necessary when a brand sees their sales decline because it hasn’t aged well, recently been associated with something negative, or when a brand simply has poor reviews and needs to start fresh. Rebranding is a powerful tool for businesses and can take the form of a redesigned website, new product line, redesigned logo, and even the method with which a company markets itself (for example, switching from television advertising centric to online marketing centric). Often, a mixture of these things will go into rebranding a company.
As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure to interview Peter Heise. Peter Heise is the president of Correct Digital, Inc based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His small business provides professional marketing services to brands who serve consumers in many industries. Some serving consumers around the world like Interactive Media Technologies, an umbrella corporation which owns companies like GlobalTel and Bionaze, some domestic/national brands like DonorCure, and several local businesses across the United States. His company helps brands take full advantage of the many marketing channels available by offering a professional/expert approach only large businesses could normally afford. Correct Digital, Inc has helped over twenty businesses (both established and startups) make or remake their brands so as to appeal to more consumers or energize existing ones.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Thank you for having me. I started out learning marketing when I was a teenager and the singer for a rock band called ‘You Set Aside’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aQ38c93MMM). We weren’t very good so I had to work hard to get people to come to our shows and like our Facebook page. These were my first experiences with online advertising and graphic design. When I began college at FAU I quickly got a job at an SEO company called SEOMavericks.com who first taught me how to professionally market companies online. It was after getting this valuable experience that I was able to create my own marketing company called Baza Marketing, Inc a few years later; this company has morphed into Correct Digital, Inc, which is a team of four people based in the United States and the Philippines.
Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake I made must have been the time I promoted a picture of an exceptionally adorable kitten as the advertising graphic for a pet store. This happened almost 10 years ago when I was just starting to learn the basics of online marketing. This picture of a kitten was so cute people were going crazy over it on Facebook. We were getting clicks and shares for less than $0.01 each because of organic/viral engagement. It ultimately got us tens of thousands of clicks and hundreds of shares. Everything was going well until we got an email notifying us that the image was copyrighted. This became a disaster very quickly and we ended up losing this client a few months later. I learned explicitly about copyright laws for images and videos on the internet. This is an important lesson for everyone who works online, use copyright free material!
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?
I began to see success happen for me after I worked for a company called Debt.com. This was in between Baza Marketing, Inc and Correct Digital, Inc and after I received my college degree from Florida Atlantic University. This company had some very professional and talented people doing SEO, email marketing, paid advertising and more. They taught me some very advanced marketing techniques that I’ve been able to use for my own clients. When I began to bring success to my clients using this experience I also began getting word of mouth referrals from them. This has been the main driver of success for my business so far.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Currently, we are building six new websites. Four of them are brand new companies who hope to market their products online exclusively at first. Two of them are companies that have been in business for decades, we are actively remaking their brands so they will appeal to online consumers. By creating a more user-friendly experience, modern look, and with a streamlined marketing strategy we hope to achieve success. Companies like these, combined with my teams efforts, will help people find niche products they need online, our work helps put front and center products that are otherwise hard to find online or in someones local geographic area.
What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?
My advice would be to keep learning. Take full advantage of the free educational material from the many marketing blogs on the internet. When you learn new things you get excited about trying them out, this process will help you deliver great results for your clients and keep the work interesting.
Another bit of advice I could offer regarding burnout is to take your days off seriously. Really focus on decompressing, and if you work at the same computer in the same room every day then try switching up your surroundings occasionally. Working from a laptop in a coffee shop is very refreshing every now and then.
Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?
The difference between brand marketing and product marketing is clear when the brand sells a variety of products. However the opposite is true when the brand only sells one product or service. Often, a small business brand will only sell one product or service and the opposite would be true for a large business. It would be pointless to market the brand of a company that only sells one product, whereas it’s more profitable to market a brand rather than a specific product when the brand sells many products. You hope the consumer buys many of your products when you are brand marketing whereas you hope the consumer buys the specific product when you are product marketing.
In brand marketing, you’ll often see the logo flashed on the screen along with a promotion of their quality, sale, or some other marketable feature. In product marketing, you’ll often see the product itself explained to the potential customer outlining it’s benefits and perhaps also promoting some sort of sale. The difference is nuanced but significant.
Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?
Building a brand is very important. This is especially true for businesses that offer seemingly identical services or products as their competitors. A good brand can help customers remember you, differentiate you, and ultimately give you and your clients a competitive advantage.
Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?
Rebranding is necessary when a brand sees their sales decline because it hasn’t aged well, recently been associated with something negative, or when a brand simply has poor reviews and needs to start fresh. Rebranding is a powerful tool for businesses and can take the form of a redesigned website, new product line, redesigned logo, and even the method with which a company markets itself (for example, switching from television advertising centric to online marketing centric). Often, a mixture of these things will go into rebranding a company.
Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?
There are many downsides to rebranding if you already have a good established brand. Companies should carefully consider the effects of rebranding before deciding definitively. Focus groups and test advertising can accomplish some concrete data that could aid a brand in this decision process. Once you change your brand then any past investments or media exposure resulting in brand recognition are lost. Deciding if this is a desirable outcome is the real question.
Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image”? Please tell us a story or an example for each.
5 strategies a company could do to upgrade and re-energize their brand, that I would recommend, include the following:
- Website and logo redesign — Upgrading a website from a 2000’s look to a more modern look can do wonders for an established brand. I once helped redesign a website for a company that originally built their site in the 90’s. The result was a 15% increase in their conversion rate.
- Creating and testing a new marketing strategy — I say testing in addition to creating because there is a lot of trial and error when trying to develop a new winning marketing formula. Companies that take advantage of marketing channels they previously ignored often find additional sources of leads and revenue to some degree. The channel a customer uses to find your brand can affect your brand image dramatically as well.
- Releasing a new line of products of services — Smaller companies who are established in one industry may want to consider expanding their line of products or services as a growth strategy. Selling complementary goods allows companies to utilize their existing assets thereby increasing their revenue while minimizing costs.
- Creating a gimmick — This strategy allows a company the opportunity to gain attention to an otherwise uninteresting offering. For example, promising to donate a portion of your profits to aid victims of a recent natural disaster or world problem looks great on a PR campaign.
- Embracing your own brand — Lastly, I feel it’s important to mention that sometimes, all you need to re energize your brand is to embrace what your brand has become. What was once a rather unknown brand that worked humbly for years under the radar; may find the most benefit in marketing their brand itself (rather than their offering) as a trustworthy and ethical one that has stood the test of time.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
One company that I think did a great job at this is Apple. When they finally overtook Microsoft they discovered an opportunity to recreate themselves. They went from being the hip underdog to the luxury brand of the future. As the years go by and your company and your competition change “brand makeovers” become necessary to stay relevant. If someone wanted to replicate what Apple did in recreating themselves, a company would have to stop comparing themselves to their competitors in advertising and start marketing their products as one of a kind.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I know this will sound cliché, but if I could inspire a movement, it would be one where people place less value on material things and more value on things that money cannot buy. To value faith, love, and hope over cars, phones, and houses.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite quote is by Muhammad Ali, my childhood idol, who said this in an interview in 1972:
Frost asked Ali: “What would you like people to think of you when you’re gone?”
In response, Ali said: “I’d like for them to say he took a few cups of love. He took one tablespoon of patience, one teaspoon of generosity, one pint of kindness; he took one quart of laughter, one pinch of concern. And then, he mixed willingness with happiness, he added lots of faith and he stirred it up well. Then he spread it over a span of a lifetime and he served it to each and every deserving person he met.”
(credit: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/muhammad-ali-dead-interview-recipe-for-life-dies-aged-74-a7065416.html)
How can our readers follow you online?
Reader who would like to connect with me can check out the regular blog posts published on my website. I manage this blog myself and readers can find contact information there as well.
For more frequent updates, readers can follow me on social media, links to my profiles are also on my website.
Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.
Thank you! I wish the same for you!
Brand Makeovers: “5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image” With… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
