1. Focus on the Customer
2. Monitor the Competition
3. Own the Brand.
4. Find & Direct Outside Vendors.
5. Create New Ideas.
6. Communicate Internally.
7. Manage a Budget.
8. Understand the ROI.
9. Set the Strategy, Plan the Attack, and Execute.

As per the 3rd point in the list Rob is saying:

The perceptions and feelings formed about an organization, its products / services, and its performance is what is known as its “brand.” The Marketing Department is responsible for creating meaningful messages through words, ideas, images, and names that deliver upon the promises / benefits an organization wishes to make with its customers. Furthermore, the Marketing Department is responsible for ensuring that messages and images are delivered consistently, by every member of the organization.

I cannot agree more with the this, with only one point to add. While it’s true that the marketing department is usually the one that gets the praise or blame for a good/bad branding I believe that both the ownership and message delivery of the branding message / image are the responsibility of the entire organization.

Read detailed list here.

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1. Establish a strong brand position

Defining a market position is the most critical step in developing a brand. You must know who you are before you can get to where you want to be. Brand positioning characterizes the way a company wants its target audience to think about its brand. It is the core message you want to deliver in every medium, and it creates clarity, consistency and continuity in the way the organization speaks to the market. Essential to an effective positioning statement is the concept of narrowing rather than broadening a company’s focus. The secret to a good brand-positioning strategy is a clear message that talks about your strengths and explains to customers why your product is the best in your category or industry.

2. Use market research to create a strategic plan

When most of us think of market research, we think of statistics, focus groups and expensive surveys. In most cases, that is overkill. Market research needs to answer only a few key questions — the simpler, the better. Big businesses take feedback and apply it to a strategic plan. They evaluate sales and segment performance, predict sales growth, compile market trends and consumer insights, identify key drivers from the previous year’s successes and failures, set firm marketing objectives for the coming year, estimate costs and craft tactical programs and marketing initiatives to achieve those objectives. Good planning allows companies to continuously measure, refine and optimize their marketing mix. You should demand that all programs have financial benefits and amplify sales. Spend wisely, and know your cost per generated lead.

3. Everything you do communicates, so be consistent

The perception of your company and brand is defined by the interactions people have with your company. Your message must be consistent and compelling at all points of contact with customers.
Take a look at any coupon, print ad, television commercial or Web site for IBM Corp. Every message is marked by a vivid blue color, graphic elements influenced by the geometric shape of the logo, a single-minded tagline, uniform font type in headlines and the same tone across all printed material.

4. Being unique is crucial, even if you’re coming in second

Companies that grab market share first often grab the glory, but they aren’t always the last one standing. At one time, The Procter & Gamble Co. was second to Union Carbide Corp. in marketing disposable diapers. Dell Inc. unseated Compaq Computer Corp. by marketing to the upcoming college generation. The secret to second-mover advantage: You can’t propose just a me-too idea; you need a unique angle to spin. Me-too businesses rarely survive. They usually end up in price wars because they don’t have anything unique that establishes value in the minds of their prospects. They are left with only one competitive weapon: price. Unless you have a significant cost advantage over your competitors, you will lose.

5. Speak to the consumer and create value

Does your marketing material directly address the value of doing business with your company? Can it answer any consumer’s basic question, “What’s in it for me?” Some companies forget communication is about getting consumers to see brand benefits for themselves. To get that across, a brand must speak from the consumer’s point of view, not the marketing department’s. Remove all those meaningless benefits from your Web site and other communications materials. Replace them with the added value customers are after.

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Real differentiation is possible, however, for companies willing to invest creatively in ongoing programs to build and promote a compelling story. Specifically, there are five investment areas that separate today’s brand leaders from the rest of the pack:

Build a 360-degree view of existing perceptions

You can’t improve your position if you don’t really know where you stand now. Maintaining an ongoing pulse on how customers, prospects, employees, partners, investors, and industry influencers perceive your organization, your competitors, and the market as a whole is an essential foundation for strengthening the brand. Understanding in particular the attributes that customers care about most deeply is a powerful guide to the sources of potential differentiation.

Manage the customer experience

Ensuring the serviec delivery of real business value is the greatest contribution that marketing can make to build the brand-with each customer and, as important, with each additional prospect and influencer your customers touch.

Get your story straight internally

Employees are the essential carriers of the brand, and the increasing transparency of all company operations means that the folks outside the marketing department can have as much or more influence on the brand than marketers themselves. Internal education about the brand vision, promise, and proof points is obviously a critical component of building a consistent companywide brand, but this priority is far better known than done.

Influence the Influencers

Broadcasting the brand has less and less impact in a world of information overload. Buyers and others just say no. But every prospective buyer looks to friends, colleagues, industry analysts, media, and other “influencers” to seek new ideas, evaluate alternatives, and support decisions. The new twist on this old story is that the influence environment has changed dramatically in recent years. Online communities, bloggers, peer networks, and other grassroots information sources have exploded and more are emerging all the time. Marketers need to look systematically at the most important influencers in this new environment and build more systematic programs to engage and persuade them of their company’s unique position.

Narrowcast

Developing focused programs to enhance competitive position directly with key clients and prospects is the next wave for brand management. Pioneers in account-based positioning point to three reasons why this matters: declining loyalty among top accounts, diverse perceptions within those accounts, and the increasing strategic importance of those accounts for growth, references, and collaboration on new solutions.

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