Sunday, February 21st, 2010
Sales and marketing are not about telling stories. Sales and marketing are about helping your customer create a story, in his mind, in which you figure as a prominent, clear, vibrant character. If your customer tells himself a meaningful, motivating story that includes you, he will be much more likely to get more involved with you, and take actions that improve your business results.
Stop telling stories about yourself. Instead, figure out how to make yourself part of your customer’s story.
Posted in Customer Encounters, Marketing | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
In today’s newsletter, I focus on Question 3 of the 6 questions I use when I begin to evaluate a company’s marketing efforts.
Question 3 asks, “Are you clear about the rich story you want your customers to understand?“ Many companies look at their brands in a very cursory way, while their customers are willing to create rich brand stories in their minds. One step to great marketing: Create a rich brand story that encourages customers to think, “I get it, I want it and I can’t get it anywhere else.”
Posted in Brand Harmony, Marketing | No Comments »
Friday, August 7th, 2009
I hear these statements all of the time, and they are rarely ever true:
“Our customers buy from us because of trust.”
“Our customers give us business because we have high integrity.”
“Our customers are loyal to us because we are a stable company.”
Yes, it’s important that you are trustworthy, stable and have high integrity. But these are not enough to differentiate you, because many of your competitors are also trustworthy, stable, and have high integrity. There is a difference between an important brand parameter and a differentiating brand parameter.
Imagine a chili cook-off, where every chef uses ground beef and tomatoes in his or her recipe. You could say that, in this contest, ground beef and tomatoes are essential elements, just like trust, integrity and stability may be essential in your industry. But nobody ever won a chili cook-off because of their ground beef and tomatoes. They are basic ingredients. The winners win on the details – the herbs and spices they use, the texture they create, the way the flavors blend in a unique way.
Your brand story appeals to customers in the same way. The basics are just that – basics. Without them you lose, but you don’t win because of them. The interesting details – the herbs and spices – are what help you stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
Today’s newsletter, sent this morning to those of you who subscribe, focuses on recalibrating your brand story.
Here’s the idea, in a nutshell: Everything about your customers is different than before – what they care about, what they think about, how they make decisions, how much money they have to spend, even who they are.
If your customers are so different, isn’t it time to recalibrate your brand story to make sure they care about it?
Please comment below! And, if you’d like to subscribe to my bi-weekly newsletter, or to this blog, look to the right.
(Here’s my post today on tompeters.com, also on recalibrating your brand story.)
Posted in Brand Harmony, Recalibration | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Don’t just talk about the tough economy. Be ready for it!
Today’s newsletter, The 2009 Readiness Test, outlines the most important questions you should address to ensure that you don’t just survive, but thrive, in 2009.
Just about every one of my consulting clients, prospects and audience members is asking me questions that revolve around the economic situation. Virtually every answer and every conversation I’ve had with them involves one or more of the topics covered in the newsletter.
Here are the six questions outlined in the newsletter:
- Do you know where the latent profit is in your business?
- Which of your current customers can help you unleash that latent profit?
- How does the economic situation help you focus your new customer acquisition efforts?
- Is your brand strategy right for the times?
- Are you communicating effectively at all customer touchpoints?
- How clear and compelling is your internal brand?
Please have a look at the newsletter and share your comments below!
Posted in Invent Your Future | 2 Comments »
Monday, November 10th, 2008
One week later, the Big Branding Story from the election is so obvious its not worth much more ink. Even more than the branding disparity between Clinton and Bush in 1992 (”It’s the economy stupid” vs. a mish-mash of who-knows-what), McCain’s pathetic use of Brand Harmony gave the hyper-clear Obama story lots of room to take root. (For more, see the New York Times Magazine story on October 26, “The Making (and Remaking) of McCain)
So, let’s not waste more time on the obvious. Instead, let’s focus on what we can learn from it. I see hundreds of executives every year in workshops, where I ask them to evaluate their brand stories. I can’t tell you how underwhelmed I usually am. Is there a more important question for a business than, “What do you want your customers to believe about you?” Well, my empirical evidence shows that most brand stories are as loose as that of 2008 McCain or 1992 G.H.W. Bush.
So, no matter who you voted for (i.e., does this situation make you gloat or vomit), I encourage you to see the power of a clear, compelling story, communicated with a fully-integrated sense of Brand Harmony. Your customers’ lives are so busy and crowded, and your customers are so savvy and discerning, that you can’t not create powerful relationships with them without a solid brand story.
To paraphrase the Clinton campaign in 1992: “It’s the story, stupid!”
So, what kind of shape is your brand story in?
Posted in Brand Harmony | 2 Comments »
Read