According to Advertel (News - Alert), the buzz word in marketing today is “branding:” Coordinating the look and feel of an organization across all forms of media.

We’d humbly suggest that it’s more than a buzz word, that it’s a pretty good overall concept. It’s certainly been around for a long time. From printed page, to Internet and video, “it’s important to present your company correctly and consistently across all marketing channels,” Advertel officials say, and we’d concur wholeheartedly with that.

What about the telephone? “As the phone is still the preferred form of customer contact -- and most universally accessible media in the world -- Advertel’s TeleBranding process assures complete brand consistency across this core media channel,” company officials say.

From the auto-attendant that answers and routes calls, Advertel officials say, to toll-free 24/7 information hotlines or phone system hold buttons, brand image over the phone is just as critical as with all other forms of media, if not more. So be careful what kind of music you play to those on hold, among other considerations.

Telephone media, in the estimation of Advertel officials, is America's largest listening audience. Larger than radio, television, print, outdoor and the Internet, telephones provide “the largest, most perfectly targeted listening audience. Callers are primed to do business, right at that very moment, and they're literally under your nose,” company officials say in a rather graphic visual image.

Advertel says its products are intended to apply its marketing expertise to improve the way clients present themselves over the telephone, “redesigning and refitting the pre-recorded portions of business telephone calls with broadcast quality, caller-friendly greetings: “Businesses can sound just as good on the telephone as they look over the Internet.”