What does the name West Virginia stand for in the minds of most people? For those in the business world, this is often referred to as our “brand.” One definition of the term brand from BusinessDictionary.com is:

Unique design, sign, symbol, words, or a combination of these, employed in creating an image that identifies a product and differentiates it from its competitors. Over time, this image becomes associated with a level of credibility, quality, and satisfaction in the consumer’s mind (see positioning). Thus brands help harried consumers in crowded and complex marketplace, by standing for certain benefits and value.

A brand has often been referred to as a container that gets filled with meaning over time.So what does West Virginia stand for in the minds of people across the United States? Outside the U.S.? Within our own borders? This is a critical question whose answer can help shape our future.

We know about the negative images. In fact, we beat them to death in our own minds, probably far more so than anyone outside the state. But what of the positive images? How powerful are they, and can they be developed further to differentiate West Virginia in a competitive economic marketplace?

Marketing professionals give this advice to their clients: the most powerful way to reduce or eliminate a negative image is NOT to keep reacting defensively to that image (thereby giving it even more power), but to build up an alternative positive image that is more powerful than the old, negative one. Over time, the new, positive image overtakes the old if it is “lived out” in a credible way over time by the brand owner.

What does it take to build a successful brand? With the worldwide advertising market projected to top $460 billion in 2008, you can bet this has been studied to death. One article from TheStreet.com lists fifteen elements of a successful brand. Some of them include:

• Common internal language: When you are trying to develop your product into a brand, it is essential that the language used internally to describe a product, service and company be one that everyone in the company knows and understands. This goes from the executive suite to the receptionist.
• Common way of thinking: Everyone in the company has to think and view the product or service the same way, so when people ask them to explain it, they say the same things.
• Understanding what the brand stands for: Marketers and business leaders need to understand what their brand stands for. For example, Disney stands for dreams and magic, Movado for high-end watches and Chanel for making women of all ages feel beautiful. 
• Imagery: The New York Yankees have developed an image of being winners over the last 100 years. Everyone who thinks of JPMorgan Chase(JPM – Cramer’s Take – Stockpickr), the investment bank, thinks of clients with private jets and homes in the Hamptons. The images of JPMorgan Chase and the Yankees are images of success.
• Competitive advantage: Brand managers try to understand and demonstrate their product’s or service’s competitive advantage. Wal-Mart’s(WMT – Cramer’s Take – Stockpickr) competitive advantage is offering products at the lowest prices. Tiffany’s(TIF – Cramer’s Take – Stockpickr) brand is viewed as a high-end provider of jewelry worn by kings, queens and titans of business. Both companies embrace their reputations.
• Consistency of message: Consistency of message means that the pictures, words and actions all reinforce the same message. The Ritz Carlton hotel chain shows pictures of beautiful hotel rooms in their ads, the rooms contain plush towels and warm comfortable robes and the descriptions of the experience a guest will encounter leave readers of articles about the hotel dreaming of enjoying the good life by staying there.

Think about this in terms of West Virginia broadly or your own local community – how could we build a successful brand? Not just in terms of tourism, but in terms of attracting new citizens, new entrepreneurs, new artists (or retaining our current versions of the same). 

Think about the first two elements of a successful brand listed above: common internal language, and common way of thinking. The employees of a company are its most important brand ambassadors. No matter how many ads United Airlines runs, if their employees are not bought into it they will end up contradicting the brand, not building it. 

In other words, our West Virginia begins with us. What we believe about our state and what we share with others defines the brand outside the state. External branding begins with internal branding.