Stephen Melanson

Verbal branding is redefining the foundation of brands for improved performance. Not only does verbal branding create better differentiation in the marketplace, but it can also immediately improve sales revenue, unify sales and marketing efforts, drive brand density through all communications, and improve internal cultural confidence.

Without verbal branding, an organization’s branding strategy is often incomplete. Traditional branding strategies rarely account for spoken dynamics and therefore lose communications density and a front line, brand-oriented selling strategy.

Stephen Melanson is President of a Massachusetts-based branding consultancy, founded in 2004. He provides thought leadership for new branding structures, and is a professional speaker, consultant, and verbal branding expert. His topics, literally unique in the entire marketplace, both fill the gap of a verbal application to brand positioning and reorient the modeling of brand development and internal application.

He is the originator of a new branding application, and has redefined “verbal branding” to mean a spoken application for brand positioning rather than content development in written form.

The goals for Verbal Branding are simple: avoid under-performing brand initiatives and dominate the selling landscape.

The speaker has over twenty-five years experience in sales, marketing, management, and business ownership. Clients reside in the following sectors:

software, IT consulting, educational solutions, architecture, chemical, telecommunications, legal, banking, healthcare, staffing, electrical supply, manufacturing, and financial services.
In all, he has run three companies: a branding consulting company – his current business – a business strategy company and another full service brand and consulting services company, as the VP of Development and Marketing Operations.

Some of his most recent workshops and speaking engagements were for these select organizations: Cisco, NEC, Sovereign Bank, Citizens Bank, mindSHIFT Technologies, the British Consulate, Principal Financial, Mass Society of CPA’s, the American Marketing Association, NY Xpo for Business, multiple law firms, universities, and associations, among others.

Audiences learn how to replace the elevator pitch mindset forever; begin and end branding projects on a more productive basis; manage any kind or length spoken interaction relative to their best marketplace positioning; and, have employees and the public more easily gravitate to the brand.

While providers in the branding arena have used the phrase “verbal branding” to mean content development – such as for web sites or tag lines – audiences learn to redefine the category based on needed practicality and total revenue generation.

Is It Time To Rethink Branding?

The notion that brand development needs adjusting and is in desperate need of a verbal component might seem a bit overstated, but the marketplace evidence suggests otherwise. Organizations that deploy a verbal branding platform, however, will avoid the underperformance of marketing initiatives, and reap benefit from a new application and strategy while the competition struggles with outdated approaches. It is time for the next set of ideas in the branding world. Verbal branding redefines priorities and drives the kind of comprehensive results firms should expect from such important strategic planning and execution.

Testimonials:

Myles Bristowe: President, American Marketing Association, Boston “As President of the Boston Chapter of the American Marketing Association, it is my sincere privilege to recommend Stephen to any organization looking for a terrific speaker as well as to any corporation looking for a wealth of knowledge and experience in making a breakthrough [in branding].
Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts: Author of over 20 business books – Principal Sheryl Lindsell- Roberts & Associates “Stephen has the rare ability to help companies "nail" their brand to set themselves apart from their competition. In this time of economic slow-down, Stephen can help brand YOU for success.”
Glen Zimmerman: Director Public Relations, Netezza Corporation “[Stephen’s presentation] was a wakeup call…we are all abuzz here about how it went, and how useful it was to our daily work – especially in selling situations”
Wendy Pease, from Rapport International, a fellow panel member on the "10 Steps To Growing Int'l Sales", told me after my presentation: "That was the best branding presentation on branding I've ever seen [and I've seen a lot]."