I don’t drop into #brandchat nearly as often as I’d like, but when I do, I always walk away with fresh perspectives on branding.  The discussions force me to examine what I believe about marketing, branding, and positioning.  Today, after talking about BP’s woes and brand damage control with the gulf oil spill, I walked away thinking about how in branding, perception is reality.  No matter what the circumstance is, no matter what the truth may be, what consumers believe often trumps what is actual.  A brand’s position is based on their placement in the consumer’s mind. It doesn’t mater what your brand does, what matters is what customers think your brand does.

I participated in a lively and interesting #brandchat session on Twitter today. Today’s discussion was especially engaging because we looked at case studies of brands that “do it right” and brands that are struggling. We also discussed keys to saving a brand that’s in a “downward spiral”.

Toyota (unsurprisingly) cropped up throughout the discussion and for many reasons. What was surprising is that instead of a bashing of Toyota’s falling brand, there was more talk of expectations of Toyota bouncing back.

Experts, across the board, will agree that developing a solid strategy for your brands social media efforts is the most important driver of success.  Your strategy should be built around your long-term goals, your capabilities and resources, and your audience/customers.  While the framework for your social media strategy can be developed at the corporate level, it’s easy to overlook how you’ll integrate your dealer network.

For OEM’s a holistic social media strategy is one that functions at both the corporate and retail levels.  When developing your strategy, don’t forget that every department, every employee, and every one of your dealers represents your brand – and every one of them has access to social media.  How your dealers utilize social media will directly affect your brand.

Retail sales are at the core of corporate success. OEMs that fail to provide their distribution networks with tools & resources to help them sell make a critical error. Aiding your distributing network in sales works to ensure growth and help your bottom line.

The oldest tactic in marketing and branding sounds so simple. Offer customers something they don’t even know they want. Okay, great – but how do you gain insight to what your customers don’t even know?

When it comes to your distribution network, your “front lines”, are you doing enough to aid success?

It’s surprising to see how many manufacturers take a laissez-faire approach to managing their front lines when it’s the success at the retail level that drives corporate profits. At the end of the day, your distribution network’s ability to champion your brand and sell your product has the biggest impact on your bottom line. It’s important to be involved.

Marketing at the dealer/retail level is tricky. The options customers have grow everyday, and the Internet the best friend of any shopper looking for alternatives. Manufacturers and their dealers/retailers know that marketing is important. They know that customer service is important. They spend invest money in both of these areas – but money isn’t enough when you’re out of touch. How dealers communicate and engage with customers will drive customer loyalty and word of mouth.