Branding For Dummies®

Chapter 9. Countdown to Takeoff: Planning Your Brand Launch

In This Chapter

• Aligning your organization before taking your brand public

• Gaining internal buy‐in

• Writing your brand launch marketing plan

• Propelling your brand into the public arena

If your new brand were to consist simply of a new name, a new logo, and maybe a new tagline, it would be ready to launch as soon as the ink was dry on your new stationery, ads, and supporting marketing materials. But, guess what? Branding isn't that superficial.

Brands aren't skin‐deep applications that you apply over your organization to give it a new, improved, and more compelling identity. Brands go all the way to the core of your business. They're reflected not just by your logo, ads, and sales communications but, even more importantly, by every contact with your business — whether before, during, or after the purchase.

That's why this chapter helps you launch your brand from the inside out, bringing every aspect of your business into alignment with your brand promise, personality, and character before you raise the curtain and introduce your brand in your marketplace.

This chapter leads you through the phases of your brand launch: preparing for your brand debut, writing your brand launch marketing plan, launching your brand internally, and moving your brand into the public eye.

Committing to Internal and External Brand Launches — In That Order

When it comes to brand launches, we've seen extreme successes and real flops, and the difference, almost ...