By Joe Bogardus, Acting Director of Client Service

We are all familiar with the phrase: “The only sure things are death and taxes.”  This old saying obviously was stated before the advent of brand management.

In this age of new media, experiential marketing and social networking – like death and taxes – it still is all about selling the brand. Communicators continue to be charged with creating awareness, fostering understanding, convincing customers about the benefits of a brand and driving people to buy the branded product or specifying the service over and over again.

This continuum has not changed, but the tools and channels for clients to achieve this success by telling audiences about their brand have expanded dramatically in recent years. And, this expansion is for the better, because it offers clients many more opportunities to establish a brand relationship with their current or prospective customers.

The challenge for communicators, as client counselors, is to offer thoughtful advice on which of these new non-traditional vehicles might be appropriate to meet their clients’ business objectives and help create long-standing brand relationships.

Traditional modes of communication still have immense value, especially in driving awareness and brand comprehension. The newer elements of the communications mix – Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and blogs, etc. – offer speedier avenues to nurture brand relationships with interested groups of customers. The ideal situation is implementing a program of these old and new media forms to move customers through the brand consideration and selection process as quickly as possible.

But, in the end, it still is about selling the brand.