1-800-HURT-®com

when you're HURT in an accident dial 911, then dial 1-800-HURT-911 K

Distribution Rights

A brand is a memorable symbol or name that leaves an indelible image in the consumer's mind.  Where a symbol is used, it is usually in combination with a color that needs to be carefully selected (a chapter can be written on selecting a color).  If a word is used, the brand should never be a word that is generic to your product or service.  For instance, if you have a mortgage company, you wouldn't want to call your company The Mortgage Company or First National Mortgage Company.  These names can not be branded because they blend in with the industry and can not stand out in the consumer's mind.  You can use a generic word for branding where it is not synonymous with your industry.  For instance, 1-800-KINGDOM Mortgage can easily be branded for a mortgage company in a TV commercial which shows a mortgage applicant sitting in a house that needs renovation as he turns into a king and his house turns into a kingdom when he calls 1-800-KINGDOM.  Your brand should have what advertising agencies call USP or a Unique Selling Proposition.  In other words, does it tell a story?  Slogans can also be used to enhance a brand and tell a story.  For instance, for a personal injury lawyer, "When you're HURT in an accident, dial 911, then dial 1-800-HURT-911^®".

The strength and success of a brand is its continuing ability to influence the thoughts and actions of consumers.  Your brand should differentiate your company from others in its market in a way that influences customers and prospects to trust and buy your products or services, rather your competitor's.  In the consumer's mind, a strong brand increases the positive feeling toward a specific product or service, and therefore influences buying behavior.  A brand becomes stronger as the consumer becomes more aware of the brand due to the 1) Frequency of advertising; 2) Distinctiveness; 3) "Memorability"; and 4) "Likeability" of the brand.  For instance, people easily remember FedEx which is heavily advertised, distinctive, memorable and people like to say FedEx, rather than Federal Express. 

If your business is manufacturing cars, your brand name is important in the traditional sense that you may think of.  The consumer should have good feelings about your brand and want your brand when buying a car.  However, if your business is selling a service, chances are that your ads will be direct response.  Direct response advertising is where the advertisement is requesting the consumer to call right now.  Advertising can be true (100%) branding or true direct response or somewhere in between, a hybrid.  Branding in direct response advertising can be accomplished by either using the company's brand or by branding a 1-800 vanity telephone number or both.  Thus, branding in direct response advertising is more complicated because of the competing issues between the company brand and the telephone number used in the advertisement.  When using media of short duration, such as TV, radio and billboards, a 1-800 vanity number is critical for increasing call results, decreasing average call cost and being competitive.  Don't use a vanity number and you may not be able to compete.  Use a really good 1-800 vanity number and you will realize even greater results.  What makes a 1-800 vanity number a really good one?  1-800 vanity numbers 1) must be 1-800 (not 1-888, 1-877, 1-866, or 1-xxx); 2) must have no more than 7 letters (90% of cell phones can not be connected if an extra digit is dialed.  The reasons for this are mentioned at www.HURT911.org/getclient.php) and;  3) must adhere to the laws of branding.  Because 1-800 vanity numbers are so valuable, hard to get and rarely are good numbers when matching the company brand, it is usually a better idea to look for a number and brand the business around the vanity number.  For instance, Ameriquest Mortgage Company uses 1-800-Ameriquest, but it has too many letters and is difficult to spell.  A better idea is to get a good 1-800 vanity number and brand the company around the number such as 1-800-KINGDOM Mortgage.