Opportunity Houston Nears Branding Budget

It’s easy to build a brand position when what you’re marketing only has one or two prominent points of differentiation. It’s much harder to brand something with dozens and dozens of disparate differentiators. Houston, for example.

But the fine folks at the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP) are making real progress in trying to do just that. For those of you who’ve been following the GHP’s Opportunity Houston^SM initiative, it seems as though the effort is in the home stretch. The initiative, which comprises a five-year marketing program to support the GHP’s strategic plan, will help build a stronger Houston brand to help retain and expand business, improve communications and leverage technology and information.

And it will cost big bucks. The campaign’s goal, which as established back in 2006, was set at $40 million. As of July, the campaign had reached the $31.9 million mark. What will the effort entail? Learn more at www.opportunityhouston.org. Maybe you could help push them over the mark.

Or maybe you could just check out the upcoming Opportunity Houston Fourth Annual Marketing Excellence Luncheon, SPEAK LOUD: small budget (I’m sure many of us can relate).

Events / by admin

What can you learn about brand personality?

Rohit Bhargava, Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy & Marketing at Ogilvy Public Relations will be the AMA Houston speaker at the November 12th Luncheon. In this interview earlier this year, Rohit explains that “Many companies are focusing too much on branding/messaging and too little on personality. There is a difference. Personality is what brings a brand to life.”

What makes for a good brand personality and why is this important? I was reminded of several points from this short interview:

• I confess, one of the reasons I faithfully watch Lost is because of the backstories (but at least now I know why that’s so compelling)
• That, all else being equal, I really would rather deal with a humanistic organization than a faceless corporation for my hard-earned money
• Social media is important in developing connections, but does not entirely replace real conversations
• And, you can’t neglect the details in a brand experience – it’s often the little things that are remembered (good or bad)

The more I read, the more excited I am about hearing Rohit speak in person. Oh, and did I mention that he’s doing a book signing the night before at Capone’s?

To attend the luncheon ”Why Personality Matters …The Untold Secret Of Marketing In The Social Media Era”, read more on our events page, or register online now at http://www.regonline.com/ogilvy.

More reading about Rohit is here:
Blog: www.influentialmarketingblog.com
Book: www.personalitynotincluded.com 

Events / by Robin Tooms

September Event Photos

AMA Houston didn’t let Hurricane Ike get us down. Check out these photos from two great events in September:

• The luncheon with Jamey Rootes, President of the Houston Texans. Cheerleaders and all, Jamey came in style and pumped us up with his words of wisdom. We all left excited to see what the Texans would do next, but had to wait until after Hurricane Ike!
• The monthly social – this month was hosted by the Multicultural Marketing SIG and held at Americas Restaurant. It was packed! Socializing with your friends was much more fun than sitting in post-Hurricane traffic.

Events / by Robin Tooms