If You Build It...
3. Learn from Big Corporations (But Don't Try to Be Them)
For a smaller company, the temptation might be to look at big corporations and try to emulate their brand-building strategies. This isn't a bad idea—so long as smaller businesses keep expectations realistic. "Major corporations have the opportunity to create some really great, large-scale brand-building campaigns and companies of all sizes can take marketing cues from the likes of Coca-Cola, AT&T, Geico and Ford [...]," Deutsch explained. "But usually with major brand-power comes marketing budgets to match. What small businesses can learn from those types of companies is their ability to build strong brand affinity," he continued. "Any business can mirror campaigns in a smaller-scale, boot-strapped way—making sure the emotion your campaigns instill are consistent across all avenues."