What is Max Branded about?
After graduating magna-cum-laude in a formal education in business, tying the concentration GPA of the valedictorian in marketing, having been VP of marketing for the American Marketing Association, having some great mentors, attending many seminars, reading many books, and over 30 years of experience working with value-added product brands, bringing business agreements to win/win fruition, including marketing consulting for major corporations and participating in one way or another in a number of startups. I feel compelled to share some of the bigger pieces I have learned, to help younger generations of entrepreneurs. If you want to start your own business, here are the nuts and bolts...
There are three main areas to focus on:
- Product: Consistent supply of something that fills a need in the market.
- Marketing: Good, 2-way-engaged communication with the market.
- Support: Competent and flexible organization and compliance.
They are in descending order of importance… The first is the purpose of the business. The second is the market relevance of that purpose. And the third is about optimizing performance and mitigating risk. Having excellence in all three areas can make a business extremely powerful.
Product
In this context, product is meant as the total value offering of a business, whether that product is a combination of physical items, digital data, professional time, insightful information, and / or some other service. A great product is very important. A product’s potential is a function of the target market (people who have the need the product fills). Understanding the potential, requires insight into that group, with knowledge about many things, like: How many potential customers are in it? How well does the product fill their need? How much are they willing to pay? How much product can they consume? Among many others. More specifically, the prowess of a product results from 4 things:
- Capability: Able to fill an important need of a large target audience in a unique way.
- Profitability: Affordable to the target market at a price that is competitive and profitable.
- Availability: Ample supply for the estimated demand and to scale up from there.
These product aspects, more simply put: If a product cannot satisfy a need, it is literally worthless. Money is the lifeblood of a business, and therefore, if a product cannot be sold profitably, a business will not be sustainable on the sales of the product. And a product that is not available, cannot be sold.
Marketing
Powerful marketing, in outbound communication, is about effectively delivering a compelling message to the target market that is easy to understand, and encourages an initial consumption of the product, while leaving a memorable impression for repeat business (people know from who/where to purchase more of the product). Inbound, it is about gaining accurate knowledge of the market and industry (who does what, how, and why).
Support
Support is about letting the product people focus on products, letting the marketing people focus on the market, and keeping everything together, running smoothly, with minimized liabilities regarding potential trade, civil, and legal disputes.
Strategy is an amplifier. A good strategy will produce results that multiply efforts. A poor strategy will dampen even the greatest efforts. If a business, even with a good strategy, is great in only one category out of the remaining three (product, marketing, and support), it is certain to fail. Here is what is likely to happen when a business starts up with two out of the remaining three:
- Great marketing and support (poor product) – Poor reputation, intense service and competitive issues.
- Great product and support (poor marketing) – Very slow growth rate and a fraction of its potential at maturity.
- Great product and marketing (poor support) – Fast, chaotic growth, that is fragile and can fall apart.
Which brings us to Max Branded
The next logical question would be: So Max Branded is a business that helps entrepreneurs brand their offering… how does that fit into the four core components of a startup?
And the answer is that branding unifies and directs all four…
The brand is synonymous with the purpose of an organization, as it is the promise the customer expects to recieve. And as such, it is the reason of existence of a company. The mission statement of a company should be to support and deliver on the brand promise. It is the brand that directs the strategy.
A good product is rich in unique brand-promise-supporting features that are accepted by the target market. All aspects of product quality are relevant to the brand. The suitability to the task, functional operation, additional features, convenience, finish quality, durability, reliability, and aesthetics… They are all part of what a brand promises to deliver the customer. It is the brand that gives the product focus.
A good marketing message emphasizes the unique features of the product and how they translate into real benefits for the customer as the brand promise. These benefits are the backbone of the compelling message. And marketing relies on colors, iconography, mascots, jingles, and other techniques to make the message more attractive, engaging, and memorable, to increase brand recognition, resulting in both a greater brand following and recurring sales. It is the brand that gives marketing its focus.
An organization that has a well-known brand has many support benefits. Employees are less likely to leave because they believe in the brand and are proud of it, recruiting as well is easier for the same reason. Within the culture of a company, the brand is a symbol that unifies the workforce, improving cooperation and morale. The brand also provides strong protection against competitors that would encroach the market by imitating the offering. The brand protects the integrity of the team.
Max Branded advice
When an entrepreneur has a product to offer, and wants to start a business, the best thing to do, is to create a compelling vision of the brand that will become the spirit of that product in the minds and hearts of the target market, as we have done for the brands presented in this site. That is when the support for the forward motion of the company engages. Investors see and believe, employees, potential vendors, and other stake holders realize the business is serious and has a strong opportunity as a contender in the market. Excitement sets in. The brand vision will be the flag that unites the efforts in product, marketing, and support into a single, focused, cohesive unit capable of delivering its maximum power into the market.
That is what Max Branded is all about: Helping entrepreneurs... not just to get a great name, but to bring their brand to life, so they can claim and solidify a position in the market.
My sincere best wishes for your success.
Greg Sanchez
Founder & CEO of Max Branded Marketing, LLC
About Max Branded Brand Bundles
Our domains are exclusive. They are not listed on any other site. Each of the domain names we offer was selected and has been evaluated through a rigorous process using a number of different metrics (evolving algorithm), with the intent to deliver domains with the ability to develop a strong brand. They are then adapted with an original, custom, professional logo and other visual elements that are intended to portray a personality that stands out in the crowd, and could embody a viable brand promise for a target audience, and then bundled with some essential marketing resources that can help streamline the process of taking the brand to market. Each Brand Bundle, is actually a seed of a business brand that in our professional experience, may have merit in the market, not just a domain name with some artwork.
The feel of these seeds is our subjective, best guess, and we do not know all things. It is ultimately up to the entrepreneur to know their particular product offering, target market, and industry best. These brands must be in line with that deeper knowledge and ring true to the entrepreneur. If they do not, they are unlikely to work well when implemented. All ideas that Max Branded presents must be validated by the entrepreneur using them through their own means, before they are employed. It is the responsibility of the buyer to make sure the brand can be legally implemented for their particular intended purpose. The artwork provided is intended as a starting point to deliver an impression, but can be refined (simplify, modify colors, font style, slogan, etc) to better suit your needs.
A common practice in marketing is to exaggerate the benefit a product provides. It generates interest and attracts new potential customers to the products. It is our hope that most often, we are not over promising with our Brand Bundles. We expect our customers to have great success, and sincerely hope that our customers become our friends, and we can enjoy a long-term relationship and see their brands develop to the next level.
The Max Branded Mission:
We help businesses succeed in a noisy and complicated world, by providing powerful branded products and services, designed to help them stand out of the pack, gain focus as an organization, stimulate interest in the market, engage prospects, and develop a loyal following for their offerings.
Our values
Knowledge – We believe in the importance of good information, not just for making a decision, but also to improve our pocesses and capabilities. Knowledge allows us to gain new relevant skills, identify new opportunities, and adjust the strategies we work with. Knowledge allows us to stand on the shoulders of our forefathers, because we know what has, and has not worked in the past.
Integrity – What we communicate is what we believe, and yes, we want the business, but we will not lie to get it. We actually go far beyond attempting to avoid the possibility that something could be perceived as a misrepresentation. We strive to live up to our commitments and provide constructive ideas with honesty, transparency, and an ethical approach to business.
Excellence – Everything we do, is to a very high standard. Whether it is a brand asset we are designing, or an ad, or even our tone and medium of interaction. We are seeking to outperform ourselves in our last attempts and exceed our customers expectations. We seek to learn from our experiences and those of others, find and explore new solutions, and live in a state of excitment about possibilities.
Contribution – Our focus is not on what we get, but on what we deliver. We remind ourselves constantly, to focus on the things that will create the most significant positive impact for our customers and teammates.