Image, Branding, Positioning, Vision

What does the community think about the library?

Image

What do your users think of when they hear the word library? Is it a positive image? Marketing research identifies user perceptions as well as specific needs for services. Library users' perceptions and feelings about libraries affect everything we do to market services. Market plans outline promotion strategies that are devised to target the correct market audience for specific products, but it is also necessary to communicate the broad context of the organizational identity of the library and to promote a positive image of the library. Branding is one method.

Branding

Branding is a combination of elements: the library name, the name of a library service or product (e.g. Ask a Librarian), symbols, logos, consistent design of publications, etc. Logos or symbols, e.g. the public library symbol or a graphic of an open book, are easily recognizable. These elements give a product or service its own personality and establish an association in the mind of the user. Another example is the American Library Association’s marketing campaign that uses a branding element -- the "@YourLibrary" slogan.

Slogans or mottos

How many advertising slogans can you name off the top of your head? Probably more than you really wanted to know. For instance, do you recognize the phrases "just do it," "it's the real thing," or "like a rock"? How many more can you recall - even when you don't want to remember! A slogan should be easy to remember, express your mission, and identify you strongly with concepts and ideas of value to your users. A slogan should be something everyone can easily understand. There are exceptions, though -- E Pluribus Unum still works pretty well! Does your library have a slogan or motto?

Positioning

Branding, slogans, and promoting an image are ways to establish the library's position within the community. What is the library's "position" -- how are you seen? Is the library considered an active and necessary part of community life? How is the library viewed in comparison to other agencies or institutions?

Public relations departments work on positioning libraries in the community. They use the information gathered during the marketing process -- the possibilities and the challenges or barriers that were identified. If you ARE the public relations department (as well as every other department!), becoming involved in the community can help. Go beyond the usual presentation of "Libraries in the 21st Century" at local meetings. Don't be the entertainment, be a real player. Offer your professional expertise and knowledge of the information world. Share the library's vision.

Visioning

What is the library's vision for the future? Has this been addressed in library planning and in the marketing plan? Communicate your vision of the library to the community, providing an image of the library as a changing organization that is part of an evolution in information access.

Prioritize

Are you traumatized by the thought of being everything to everybody? What's your reality? Libraries don't have unlimited budgets or staff with free time. That means you will need to decide just how much marketing, research, promoting, and positioning you can do -- and still get the day to day work accomplished. Attitudes can't be changed in a hurry. But keep in mind that promoting just one service, in the right way to the right people, can also increase awareness and improve perceptions about the library as a whole.

Maintaining a positive image is critical for the library and for marketing library products. Branding and positioning are two effective methods. Branding is an association of ideas, associating the library with a name, logo, or slogan, for example. Positioning involves establishing the image of the library as it functions within the community.

Try something fun! Ask other staff members or friendly patrons how many slogans they can remember.

• Which slogan is mentioned the most often?

• What's the worst slogan, the best, the most meaningless, the most outdated -- think of your own categories.

Look at library web sites from the Directory of Web Accessible Ohio Public Libraries.

• Find at least five examples of slogans or mottos that are attached to a symbol or logo.

• Do you think they are effective?

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Press releases