For many B2B marketers, a lot of emphasis is placed on making the company logo a visual extension of the brand. Consistently applying your logo to all your marketing helps to build visual brand identification, but few marketers think about what characteristics of the brand exist beyond the logo. I’m talking about brand personality and personas.

Many marketers understand what brand personality is, but not many take the time to define a set of personas for the organization, or use them when developing marketing communications strategies. Well-known companies have brand personas that stem from inherent attributes of what their brands have been historically, and what they need to be in order to meet the expectations of their customers. For example, Harley Davidson’s persona is free, independent, rugged, American, laid-back and powerful. Jack In The Box’s persona is uncommon, sarcastic and funny.

Defining brand personas can have many practical uses for your marketing program. Here are few ways brand personas can help your next campaign:

• Personas give people a reason to like your brand and products.
• They help define your brand as hip, strong, young, cocky or any characteristic that will help you connect with target audiences.
• Brand personality contributes to the style and tone of your creative.
• Those character attributes can be parlayed into social media marketing by guiding your company’s ‘voice’ on twitter and other social media tools.

What personas exist for your brand? Want some fun tips on how to get started?

Today, I discovered Pro PR Tips, a blog written by CNET’s WebWare writer Rafe Needleman. The blog sparked his book published a few months ago called Pro PR Tips: Public Relations Advice from a Jaded Journalist that I’ll be getting a copy of this week.

Needleman posted 100 tips in 100 days and now updates when events warrant them (translation: when a PR pro does something stupid, Needleman will post about it).

Today’s “Tip #138: If I want trapeze artists, I’ll go to the circus” served as a great reminder and made me chuckle a bit. I mean, who hasn’t been in a planning meeting when something ridiculous that has nothing to do with what the media really want is forced into fruition.

My takeaway: you don’t have to spend a lot of money on fanfare to garner media interest in your announcement. More b2b PR folks need to keep this in mind when you’re planning your next press conference. In today’s economy, your PR budget is better spent somewhere other than the flying circus.

So, I’m hooked on Pro PR Tips. I was sucked into reading about half of the tips Needleman posted. Some of the tips are kind of elementary, if you’ve been in the PR biz for a while, but they’re still worthwhile reminders. If you have a few minutes, an interest in PR and want to laugh, check it out.

Recently, while brainstorming ad concepts for a client in a conservative industry and I came up with an off-the-wall idea. Why not put ninjas in the ad? C’mon people, let’s step out! Since everything ‘has been done’ and we’re looking to make a big impact, why not do something completely crazy and generate attention for our client? After all, we’re looking to show customers that they can ‘cut through the product marketing BS’ and ‘slice their estimating time in half.’ What better way to illustrate that than branded ninjas with samurai swords and throwing stars?

Of course, my idea crashed and burned! However, in a creative environment, I think it always pays off to step out on the edge and throw out some highly unconventional ideas. Our design team leader, Ryan, always says that you have to get all the bad ideas out of the way before the good ideas come. Plus, you never know what an idea that’s way out there will spark. Perhaps it will lead to ‘the big idea.’

So, I felt pretty stupid about my ninja concept, but I still think it’s a good idea to throw out bad ideas. It stretches your creative muscles and, you never know, you may stumble on some good creative in the process.

Do you have an example of a crazy idea that you’ve presented in a brainstorming session? Are you a fan of ninjas? Do you believe in unrestrained creative expression?

Recently, I came across my five-year plan dated December 2005. It listed several personal, professional, philanthropic and financial goals with some success metrics and a specific timeline.

I have one year left and I’m not even close to reaching some of these goals. I began to reflect on whether I should cram hard to reach some of my loftier goals in 2010, or throw in the towel and give up—admitting defeat.

However, I realized that several things have changed, which affect some of the success metrics and variables in my plan. I’ve also accomplished several things that didn’t even occur to me when I developed this document.

My personal plan is a lot like strategic planning for B2B marketing—every plan is a fluid and tentative document because, quite frankly, things change. When running campaigns, we constantly discover new things and learn more about our clients’ ever-changing markets.

And, with all the metrics we can gather, we can turn on a dime when we need to redirect or expand our campaigns. So I say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. But if it is, fix it fast!

After much deliberation, I’ve decided not to abandon my five-year plan, or kill myself trying to accomplish the tasks. I’m going to revise the plan and tack on a few more years because now, I want to achieve even more and in less time.

Have you changed one of your marketing plans as a result of market or industry changes, economic conditions, or other occurrences?