Brian Sooy, Aespire Marketing and Branding president, to release new book July 1

Brian Sooy, president of Aespire Marketing and Branding, 5061 Abbe Road No. 2 in Sheffield Village, who also is a certified brand specialist, will release his new book, “Trade Secrets: Four Core Strategies to Maximize Value for Service Companies,” on July 1.

The book marks one of four of Sooy’s published works related to marketing and branding, and focuses on brand alignment for small companies with 1,000 employees or less.

Sooy said he understands how important it is for brand strategy, by creating a long-term competitive advantage, to be mixed with business strategy and a plan for how to achieve long-term goals.

“All the people in your company, if they’re sharing a message about who you are, why you matter and what you do, they all have to be singing out of the same song book,” he said. “And that’s what brand alignment is really all about, is integrating those two things together so you have a stronger business that can sustain the ups and downs of turbulent economy.”

Sooy has worked with businesses of many sizes in different industries, including major companies like Johnson & Johnson.

Many of the principles in his new book are the same ones applied to clients.

Not only is Sooy providing advice for quality business frameworks, the information can be relayed in a step-by-step process to be completed over time in more simplified terms.

Ultimately, the take away is not only understanding the relationship with customers, but it comes down to clarity about who you are as business and its relevance in the marketplace, he said.

“That’s how I’ve defined this brand framework, which is different than a lot of other branding frameworks,” Sooy said. “But, I think it’s approachable, it’s accessible.”

Over the course of his career, Sooy said he discovered he had a love for writing about his professional advice on a larger scale to help more business owners, and has hopes that readers understand that his secrets and share his knowledge.

“They’re definitely universal practices,” he said. “I want people to be able to see while the customers are always the hero.

“There’s great value in being proud of the company you create, the vision you have for it, the people who work for you.”

According to Sooy, the book can benefit readers who own smaller businesses and are struggling to align their brand with their business for more effective marketing, while helping them think “bigger and “broader” about how to move forward.

He also shares his ideas through other means, including presentations and through his daily work with Aespire, where he helps business owners who feel the pressure from bigger corporations and competitors.

Aespire works with companies locally and nationally, including Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio, Vita-Mix Corporation and Gorjanc Home Services, in creating plans, websites and campaigns to better market their companies.

“We want them to be familiar, we want them to be memorable,” Sooy said.

“Trade Secrets: Four Core Strategies to Maximize Value for Service Companies” will be available on amazon.com.