Iota Marketing 5.5 Selling the Iota Brand Getting Results

O bjective Enhance the capacity of participating chapters/brothers to effectively market the Fraternity

Brand Name: Iota Who are we? What do we do? What do we want? What difference do we make? How do we sell the Fraternity? What is our Niche?

What can a niche do for us? Position the Fraternity Establish Brand Loyalty Create an identity Educate and stimulate the consumer Help people see us, even when we are not there...

What Niche can you fill? What is not being done? What are the needs of your campus or your community? What common interests bring your target market together?

Everything is Marketing What we do! Who we know! Who we are bringing into the fraternity! Who we serve! Where we go! How we act! What we say! How we say it! And the beat goes on!  ServiceLifeMIP

The Iota Niche and Brand “It takes a man” We have neither time nor inclination to play children’s games Every man has the right to be his own person, without compromise Non-conformists, who choose to conform to an organization that reflects a new black man Building a Tradition, not Resting Upon One It only takes a few weeks to pledge Iota; it takes a lifetime to be a brother The development and perpetuation of Scholarship, Leadership, Citizenship, Fidelity and Brotherhood among men! “A fraternity with the capacity to restrain the over-aggressive, encourage the faint hearted, sustain the timid, refute the disagreeable. We teach the ignorant, goad the lazy, aid the less fortunate and fight for the oppressed...” – Founder John Slade. Summer Conference, 2004.

Again, it is marketing stupid! Product Placement Promotion Price Iota Principles Time to work it all OWT!

Product MIP – When managed correctly, the MIP can serve as an excellent marketing tool for chapters. Showcasing the work and product line of a MIP class can inspire interest among prospective members. It takes a MAN: –M eaningful – Service – Do work that has meaning and makes an impact –A ctive – In campus and community organizations –N ecessary – Without your involvement, the program or function loses credibility.

Product Marketing who we are (showcasing the Iota Brand/Niche) involves sharing with the community the fraternal “concept” and connecting it (in its various forms) to the interests and needs of people/community The Iota Brand sells itself when brothers choose to remain loyal to the “most significant factor in the philosophy of the Iota Phi Theta Brotherhood.” – No Children’s Games One more thing... Stepping is not a product; it is a form of expression that markets our product... Everything has its Place(ment)

Placement Organizations Print/Audio/Television Programs Barbershops Student/Local Government Church Libraries People listen to what they see... Be seen to be heard... And make sure that you are saying something!

Promotion is more than Pub! What statement does ER want to make to the fraternity? Promotion is what you do... Publicity is what they say about what you do.

Iota Service Programs Scrapbooks Flyers Fellowship Meetings “P” Uniformity Media Networking Stepping Chants Song

Price Your don’t always get what you pay for, but you pay for everything you get. Change your paradigm: –Avoid poverty mentality –Possessions are responsibility, not a right –Sell who we are, not what people get –Lifetime commitment

Principles Our strength is who we are Live the answer –The best sermon is a living example –It takes one to make one

The End Game Plan your work, work your plan If you do what you have always done... Evaluate your results Shoot for the stars, land in the clouds