What Brand Are You?

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine


Some years ago in a writing magazine, I noticed an advertisement for Kleenex®.  But they weren't hawking facial tissue.  This was a fairly official-looking admonishment to all writers advising them that Kleenex® is a registered trademark, and that whenever the word Kleenex® is used, it should be capitalized with the copyright symbol ® added to it.

Presumably this even mattered because people tend to call any brand of tissue a Kleenex®, for example, "Could you pass me a Kleenex®?"  You can already see how distracting it would be for writers to include the symbol in a novel.  Almost as distracting as the heavy-handed alternative, "Could you pass me a facial tissue?"  (People don't talk like that.)

My gut reaction was that Kleenex® should just be happy to be such a front runner that they would become the go-to word for not just their product but all others like it.  However, many products—from Ex-Lax® to Preparation H®—are equally, um, zealous about protecting their brand name.

It does have to be a little frustrating when you're Coca-Cola® and a large portion of the population refers to any kola nut-flavored carbonated drink as a "coke".  But it feels a little over the top when a catchy TV jingle like "I am stuck on Band-Aids, 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me" is changed to the clumsy "I am stuck on Band-Aid brand, 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me". Cramming "brand" in the middle of an established slogan suddenly sounded a little desperate.

You may be old enough to remember Funny Face Drink Mix (similar to Kool-Aid, with the kid-friendly flavors Goofy Grape, Injun Orange, Freckle Face Strawberry, Chinese Cherry, Loud Mouth Lime, and Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry).  In a short time, someone decided that two of the flavors were potentially offensive, so Injun Orange became Jolly Olly Orange, and Chinese Cherry became Choo Choo Cherry.  (I'm surprised Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry wasn't picketed for being insensitive to cowboys.)

In more recent years, perhaps you noticed when the jingle "Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man" became "Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks."  (That one I do get, since a friend of mine's sister works at a hardware store.)

Clearly, companies go to a lot of trouble to protect their brand.  If you're a writer, you have a brand that should be just as important to you.  While it may seem foreign to think of yourself as a product, consider Hollywood stars with established images, like Brad Pitt and Melissa McCarthy.  It's hard to picture Pitt in a slapstick role, or McCarthy playing Anne Frank.  Then there are chameleons like Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, who can do both comedy and drama, but that very flexibility has become part of their brand.

The cover of a Stephen King book is distinctively Stephen King, evoking the bad vibes that lie inside.  His Maine radio station WKIT is also fit for a King, with songs like "Black Magic Woman" and other ditties that would be right at home in a soundtrack to Christine.  You know what you're gonna get when you buy a Stephen King book because of the consistency throughout his work and throughout his platform.

When readers see your name, what should come to mind?  What image will help promote your books?  Just what is it that you want to say to the world through your writing?   These are good questions to ponder as you tweak your website and before you post things on Facebook.  In defiance of the old saying, not all publicity is good publicity if it goes against the image you want to project.

As you develop your brand, follow in the attentive, consistent footsteps of proven marketing successes like Kleenex®. Becoming a brand people know and love is nothing to sneeze at.

Actively Work to Show your Presence on the Web

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief for Southern Writers Magazine

One of the avenues some authors overlook is a website.  If you are wondering why authors need a website think of it in these terms.

People live in houses, and in those houses are rooms. Each of these rooms has a function. We need each of these rooms. You wouldn’t build a house and leave out a kitchen any more than you would build a house and leave out the bathroom or a bedroom. However, the house is the base where these rooms are placed. Right? In other words, you don’t build separate rooms apart from the house on the lot.

Hence, your house is your website. On that website are rooms, one of the rooms is a blog. One room is your event room; one room is your book room, and so on. You can add as many rooms to your house as you want. 

Let me tell you a secret–the more rooms you have the longer someone stays in your house because they want to see what is in each room.

As with building any house, you can have an inexpensive house, average house or a mansion. That is up to you. You can build it or you can hire someone to build it or take advantage of sites that offer you a house. The nice thing about houses is you can add-on anytime; you can redecorate, whatever you choose whenever you choose.

You want your website (house) to deliver results. It can’t if people have no house to visit and linger in. You know, to get to know you–your style.

You sure want your website (house) to look professional but when your visitors come inside you can decorate a room or two kind of cute and whimsical. However, you need other rooms decorated with professional looking and with good functionality. You want to acquire new fans/readers of your books so make sure each room has the ability to inspire them to become a fan of you and your books.

Check out other websites and see what they have built. What seems to be working for them? Do their sites make you want to stay around awhile and check it out?

If you have your Web-house, email the site address so others can visit.

Have fun building and decorating your Web-house.