The mention of brand names stirs images of glossy advertisements and big-dollar endorsement contracts. But David Vazdauskas, president and owner of Victory Branding in Newcastle, argues that even the smallest shop can benefit from attention to brand identity. His current clients include L.L. Bean, the Abbey Museum in Bar Harbor, and Southern Maine Community College, as well as some much smaller businesses.

Originally from Sutton, Mass., Vazdauskas graduated with an economics degree from Bowdoin College in 1982. A half-decade in the Manhattan advertising ring, an MBA from Harvard, years as management consultant and with advertising powerhouse Dancer, Fitzgerald & Sample taught him that business questions generally boiled down to matters of brand. He is scheduled to share his expertise Saturday at the Washington County Business Conference and Marketplace in Calais.

Elliott: Let’s start at square one: What is branding?

Vazdauskas: I’m going on almost 20 years in marketing of one form or another and I’ve probably heard hundreds of definitions. For me, branding is about telling a story. Stories have villains, characters, plots that take you from point A to point B, and I think the best brands do the same thing. Coke, for example, needs Pepsi – every brand needs a villain or another brand to say, “Here’s why we’re better or stronger.”

Elliott: OK, so when I hear “IBM,” what’s the story I hear?

Vazdauskas: Before Lou Gerstner became CEO [in 1993], the IBM brand was disintegrated. It had probably had 100 different sub-brands, each competing with each other. When Gerstner took over, he said, “There is just one brand – it’s called IBM and we are all about providing solutions to our customers’ toughest problems.” I think that really saved the brand and the company.

It’s an example of someone saying, “We are not about the individual products we make or the individual services; we’re about meeting a need.”

Elliott: I think most of us generally associate the idea of branding with larger companies, bigger products. Does it take on different connotations in the realm of very small businesses?

Vazdauskas: The issues for a small company are almost exactly the same. And the concept of focusing is even more important. There are so many small businesses that think, to grow, they have to spend more money on marketing, on branding. I always say you don’t have to spend more, you just need to spend what you do in a more focused way.

When you own a small business, your temptation is to say, “I can’t afford to focus, I have to market to everyone.” And that’s not true. Finding the customer segment that really wants what you have is so much more efficient than trying to market to everyone.

Elliott: Where do business owners tend to stumble in their approach to branding?

Vazdauskas: It’s so tempting for an entrepreneur to say, “I’ve got a great idea for a product. I think I could make it really well. Look at all the things it can do. Look at the technology.” They spend thousands of dollars developing it, then go out and try to find someone who wants to buy it.

I always encourage the opposite. Forget about the product, forget about the technology. Look out into the horizon and say, ‘What do people really need? What need do they have that isn’t being met very well? How can I create a product or offer a service that meets that need?’ I think it is much tougher to find a profitable customer segment than it is to develop a product.

Elliott: Are there any common branding hurdles for companies in Maine?

Vazdauskas: A lot of companies right now are trying to figure out, “What does it mean to be made in Maine?” A lot of folks have a gut feeling there is some value in that. But I think we all need to better understand what that Maine brand means to customers in the rest of the country or the world.

Branding is all about getting the value and keeping that value for your brand. A Maine farmer or Maine fisherman may sell whatever it is they grow or catch for $3 a pound. After going through several sets of hands, it ends up being sold in a New York City restaurant or gourmet store for $60 a pound. One of the reasons is when it is sold in Maine, sometimes it’s seen as a commodity. When it’s sold in a restaurant, it’s seen as a brand. How do we capture more of that here and not give away the value of that Maine brand? That is a growing issue and I think the right issue for people to be thinking about, whether you are talking about economic development or an individual business.

Elliott: Nonprofits represent about half of your clients. Are you seeing an increase in the number of nonprofits looking for branding help?

Vazdauskas: The interest in branding is exploding among nonprofits. In Maine, there is such a large universe of nonprofits competing – not in a cutthroat way, but just to make sure their voice is out there and their brand is telling their story. A nonprofit’s marketing resources are so precious that I think a lot of them realize the need to focus on a specific audience is more important than ever.

Elliott: You are getting set to give a workshop at the Washington County conference. Do you see any unique challenges in developing a brand identity for a Down East-based business?

Vazdauskas: In some ways it’s not unlike branding anywhere in Maine or anywhere else in the country. But I think there is a desire among entrepreneurs in Washington County to say, “I really need to figure out who my best customers are, where to find more of them, what they need and what role I can play in doing that.” I think there are a lot of stories in Washington County that might be well-kept secrets, but not intentionally.

Elliott: This is probably the most common question you are asked, but how do you describe your brand identity?

Vazdauskas: My own personal brand in what I do is to really, really listen to a client and help them either solve a problem or seize an opportunity. My proposals are very specific. Every proposal I’ve written here in Maine says, “If you want to accomplish this, here’s how I can help and here is specifically what you will see at the end of each step.”

Elliott: Can a small business afford you?

Vazdauskas: Yes. I have to practice what I preach, and by that I mean I have to listen to what a potential client needs and what their potential budget is. I’m responsive to what they need and what I can provide. That being said, I don’t give my services away. I have some sense of who I compete with and what my strengths might be versus my competition.