Comments on: Libraries – protect that brand

By: RP

RP — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:20:32 +0000

Brian – BTW, I couldn’t agree more on the need for targeted marketing. I’m working on a post right now about it … with specific ideas on how to target, what to promote and how to measure the effectiveness of the effort. As always, hope it helps

By: RP

RP — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:20:09 +0000

Hi Brian – the ALA posters look real nice, for sure, though I wonder how effective they might be.
1) They’re posters, so where would you hang ‘em except at the library … which speaks to your point about marketing to folks who are already in the door.
2) At first blush, I thought these were posters from publishers to promote celebrity books … the phrase “@ your library” is sort of lost in there so I had to look hard to ascertain that the material had something to do with libraries.
3) The posters are exclusively about books, which sort of goes against the message that libraries are about more than books…
4) Also, how do these materials tie with GeektheLibrary, ILoveLibraries, local campaigns, etc that each have their own branding and messaging? I find the various library campaigns just blow past me whereas something like “two-all-beef-patties-special-sauce-lettuce-cheese-pickles-onions-on-a-sesame-seed-bun” is still embedded in my brain decades after I first heard it.

The cool thing about marketing libraries is that everybody already knows what they are and most have a favorable impression of them – so it’s not like they’re starting from ground zero. Libraries’ image just needs a refresh … sort of how John Travolta came back into the public consciousness after 10-15 years of simply doing good steady work “under the radar”…

I don’t mean to sound super critical, it’s just that it is so important for public libraries to market themselves differently and better – to help raise awareness among non-users about the wonderful resources available today … and to keep libraries viable into the future.

By: Brian Kopetsky

Brian Kopetsky — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:22:59 +0000

While I agree with the major points of your post I guess I would take it a step further. In the library I work at I think we do a fairly good job of internal marketing. Obviously this only helps once you have gotten the people through the door, sort of like preaching to the choir.

We spend a lot of time telling each other (other library workers) what it is we do, how hard we works and how important we are to our communities. We don’t do that nearly as well to the community at large. We already know what we do, its the people who haven’t been through the doors that we need to reach out to. So the point being – we don’t just need brand management we need targeted marketing efforts for our brand.

I do have to disagree on your take on library promotions though. Yes, there is no shortage of cheesiness but there are some impressive campaigns as well. Again they need to be brought out where everyone can see them. Take a look at http://www.alastore.ala.org/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=160

You’ll recognize the feel. It pretty much takes the “Got Milk” model and puts a library stamp on it.