What happens when logic “takes over” your marketing?

September 10th, 2011

Have you ever had an overly logical “moment” (or perhaps overly logical client)?

Two left brains?

I recently had a client who I swore had two left brains. This incredibly smart client was very good at “brain twisters”. His team would go into “brain jam” sessions to untangle and resolve complex issues. Logic was their natural habitat.

 

And while logical thinking served them well in their consulting engagements, it was detracting from their marketing message and their brand image.
I knew this client would need to understand the logic about what I was going to recommend to them (which was more emotional engagement). So I turned to Parick Renvoise and Christophe Morin, who do an excellent job of explaining the latest consumer brain science in their easy-to-read book, “Neuromarketing, Understanding the ‘Buy Buttons’ in Your Customer’s Brain.”

I routinely recommend this book to my left-brain-dominate clients because it gives them the logic behind employing emotionally engaging approaches to their brand identity and marketing communications. Once they get the logic, it’s easier for them to make changes in their marketing.

The book is based on the fundamental principle that the oldest part of the human brain, the primal or “reptile” brain, has the ultimate “veto” power in buying decisions and therefore it should be the marketer’s PRIORITY audience.

Morin and Renvoise outline six key things our primal brains respond best to:
1. Self-centeredness | The primal brain is wired for self-preservation so it’s always on the lookout for “what’s in it for me?” So, your marketing needs to be buyer-centered, not seller-centered.
2. Contrast is your friend| Speaking in high contrast terms, not shades of grey, is more readily understood by the primal brain. So high contrast words and ideas are important, like slow vs. fast, broken vs. fixed, before vs. after).
3. Speaking in Tangibles | The primal brain doesn’t easily process abstract concepts. So being more concrete in your ideas helps your message to be understood more quickly.
4. Focusing on beginnings and the endings | The primal brain will have a tendency to pay more attention to the beginning and the end of communications, thus forgetting whatever falls in the middle. So, your opening and closing statements are really the most critical, one engages the other is often a call to action.
5. Being visual | The primal brain is wired to make decisions based on visual input since the optic nerve is directly connected to it. So visuals, or visual words, are very helpful in communicating ideas.
6. Getting emotional | The primal brain has been shown to have electrochemical responses to emotions (i.e. hormones flood our brains) and as a result we actually remember events better when we have experienced them with a strong emotion. Think about those vivid memories or song lyrics that “move” you. So putting emotional triggers in our marketing helps cement our messages in our audiences’ memory.

If you know anyone who is trying to be a steward of more right brain approaches to their marketing, order this gem through Amazon, it’s a bargain at under $15!


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What is a brand promise?

June 10th, 2011

A brand promise is an expectation you create for employees. It’s what your brand promises to do every day for every customer. Sometimes that brand is a product brand, sometimes it’s the organization’s overall corporate brand.

I like how my fellow brand consulting friend Judy Leidy puts it, “A brand promise is communicated internally but experienced externally.”

It’s important to note that a brand promise is an internal statement and usually the tagline is based on the brand promise.

A key challenge when writing a brand promise is making it lofty yet believable and achievable. How much “stretch” do we put in here? Can we really be all that? Can this apply to ALL of our customers? These are common concerns.

Some of my favorite brand promises are from Coke, Google, Patagonia and the Ritz Carlton and they’re only 6-9 words each.

Coke, “To inspire moments of optimism and uplift.”
Google, “Provide access to the world’s information in one click.”
Patagonia, “We provide for environmentally responsible adventure.”
Ritz Carlton, “Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.”

Those 6-9 little words are some of the hardest words you’ll ever write in marketing. Why? One word: commitment.

Some clients have a real fear of committing to something higher and more permanent than advertising or a blog post. But when they do, a lot of things suddenly come into much sharper focus. And marketing the brand becomes easier.

Four things a brand promise must be:

• Compelling to your buyers. The brand promise has to be something that paying customers actually care about.

• Clear with no room for misinterpretation. It has to be so crystal clear that anyone hearing or reading it will “get” it without explanation. This includes the newbie employee who may know little about the brand, to the organization’s most seasoned veteran.

• Concise in language. In order for employees to remember a brand promise, brevity is critical. I worked for a cruise company almost 20 years ago and I STILL can recall their brand promise, “A spirit cruise is a different way to have a good time.” This brand promise was translated into their marketing tagline, “Something Different. Something Fun.”

• Credible coming from you. If your brand promise is so “out there” that no one will take you seriously, there’s no point in making the promise. Vet your brand promise candidates by determining if there are at least 3 key reasons (based in facts) to believe that promise.

My challenge to you is to consider, what is YOUR brand promise? Look at your mission and vision statements as starting points; these often have the essence of the promise already in them.

 

About Pecanne Eby, MBA

Pecanne (yes, that’s her real name!) founded Brand Mentoring so she could teach clients how to build buzzworthy brands and STOP looking and sounding like everyone else. Her motto is, “Great marketing always begins with a great brand.” Her favorite subjects include brand positioning, brand promise, brand essence, value propositions, brand archetypes, brand families and graphic brand identity! Pecanne is always open to conversations with potential new clients and speaking to groups about brand building. Her latest talk is, “How to escape the marketing commodity trap” Call 303-482-2753 or email Pecanne@brandmentoring.com for more information.


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The Law of Clarity: A process not an event

March 31st, 2011

Recently I had a conversation with a prospect with whom I had talked to a year earlier. Since we had last talked, he had been in fiery debate with his board of directors about hiring a consultant to help them expand into a new market.

He was frustrated that had “wasted a year just talking” about it. Then he enthusiastically refreshed my memory on his expansion plans, but this time in more vivid detail.

It occurred to me that something HAD happened during that year— he had gotten much clearer about his vision, the potential pitfalls and what he really needed from a consultant.

Now, I’m not justifying procrastination; I’m confident if he had hired me a year earlier he would be doing business in his new market right now. But it did illustrate the point that getting clearer about anything is a process, not an event.

I call it, “The Law of Clarity.”

How the law of clarity works
When we get clearer about any subject, it bolsters our confidence and fuels our actions. From a marketing perspective, The Law of Clarity accelerates our success because we get clear about our endgame. We get clear on what success will look like and how we’ll measure it. We get clear on what we’ll say, to whom and how.

I’ve seen it many times, when clients experience The Law of Clarity, they enthusiastically re-engage, they feel inspired and they press forward knowing that success is inevitable. You stop “just talking” and you start doing.

 

 

About Pecanne Eby, MBA

Pecanne (yes, that’s her real name!) founded Brand Mentoring because she got tired of seeing SMART people doing lousy marketing. She helps her clients build buzzworthy brands so they can stop looking and sounding like everyone else.

Her motto is, “Great marketing always begins with a great brand.”

Her favorite subjects include brand positioning, value propositions, brand DNA, brand archetypes, brand families and graphic brand identity!

Pecanne is always seeking new clients and speaking engagements. Her latest talk is, “How to escape the marketing commodity trap” Call 303-482-2753 or email Pecanne@brandmentoring.com for more information.


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Are you getting “weeded out”?

February 28th, 2011

Let’s face it, our clients and prospects are all time starved. They’re “weeding out” the extraneous in their lives. If they don’t immediately “get” you, then you’re deemed a commodity and promptly forgotten.

But take heart, some will not be “weeded out” and that may as well be YOU. I’ll warn you though, it takes more than stellar marketing and sales skills.

It starts with your brand (not your marketing). Your brand is actually the foundation to everything and its either being enhanced or it’s being under minded by your choices (or lack thereof).

Choice #1. Choosing to LEAD in something.

For my brand, I aim to lead in being an ultra, clear brand teacher. This idea drove my business mission and company name, Brand Mentoring. It reflects my innate gift for teaching. It’s something that I still feel passionate about, even after 20 years in marketing. And it acts as my “north star” when I work with clients and workshop participants. I just love to teach, so it’s key to my brand.

So now, think about whatever it is you are trying to brand (i.e. yourself, a service, product, company, cause). Where can your brand LEAD? When does your brand SHINE its brightest?

To get your mind moving, download my brand-leadership-idea-starters below. Pick 2-3 and mind map each one separately to explore how the concept actually relates (or doesn’t relate) to your brand. You might be surprised where mind mapping takes you. And if you’re feeling stuck, come to a workshop or give me a call to talk more.

Choose to lead so that your brand is not the one “weeded out.”

Brand Leadership Idea Starters

 

About Pecanne Eby, MBA

Pecanne (yes, that’s her real name!) founded Brand Mentoring because she got tired of seeing SMART people doing lousy marketing.

By consulting with clients FIRST on their brand strategy, she helps them clarify, simplify and unify their marketing efforts. Her motto is, “Great marketing always begins with a great brand.”

Her favorite subjects include brand positioning, value proposition statements, brand archetypes and graphic brand identity!

Pecanne is always seeking new clients and speaking engagements. Her latest talk is, “How to escape the marketing commodity trap: Being remembered.” Call 303-482-2753 or email Pecanne@brandmentoring.com for more information.


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Brands are the Heartbeat of your Marketing

September 3rd, 2010

After many years of consulting I’ve come to realize a simple truth…the most fruitful starting point for planning your marketing is to first define your brand strategy. Getting clear on your brand strategy will minimize the emotional roller coaster ride that usually comes along with planning and paying for your marketing.

Think about it, the secrets to really successful brands are really very simple:

a) The product, service, cause they represent is sound, good, relevant, in other words NOT fatally flawed and

b) The brand is defined and executed to a very high level of specificity.

Michael Eisner, former CEO for Disney, said it best, “A brand is a living entity— and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures.”

When you think about your brand as a living entity, let’s say like a person, your brand really needs:
1. Core values to guide it and live by,
2. A personality to create rapport and endear itself,
3. A promise (purpose) to deliver on,
4. A core message to convey what it can do,
5. Target audiences to engage with,
6. Market positioning to show how it’s different and
7. A role within its brand “family” (ex. parent, child, sibling, cousin)

If you’ve not defined the above, it’s time. I see it with clients all the time, the longer they “hang out” in limbo on these decisions, the more frustrated and confused they become. Gaining clarity will free you from reinventing the wheel about how you talk about your business, where you market it and how you design your touch points.

I have two workshops coming up that deal with these topics in great specificity:
• September 9, 2010, we’re hosting “How to Build a Brand that Sells”
• October 16, 2010, we’re hosting “Brandtopia: The Secrets to aligning Your Personal and Business Brands” (note: this one is exclusively for women business owners).

Until we meet, all the best to you in life and in brand building!

About Pecanne Eby, MBA

Pecanne is speaker and an independent Marketing Consultant in Denver, CO. With 20 years of marketing practitioner experience (many of those years in the fast-paced advertising agency world), she helps clients clarify, simplify and unify their brand strategy so that their marketing “sticks” in their audiences’ long term memory banks. Pecanne regularly speaks and facilitates a variety of marketing workshops including: Brands that Sell and Brandtopia.


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Is your business brand image Fuzzy Wuzzy, “Me too” or Uniquely YOU?

August 18th, 2010

After many years of consulting I’ve come to realize a simple marketing truth…the most fruitful starting point for planning your marketing is to first define your brand.

Many business owners start defining their brands when developing their logo…but before the ink is dry on the business cards, they often move onto other things and their brand strategy remains partially defined, in a “fuzzy wuzzy” state.

Failure to deep dive on the brand strategy usually results in a lot of tail chasing for years to come. In contrast, a PRECISELY defined brand will act like your compass, it will keep you (and your marketing) pointing in the right direction.

Most brands live in one of three stages:
Stage 1: Fuzzy wuzzy
Stage 2: “Me too”
Stage 3: Uniquely you!

Stage 1
The “fuzzy wuzzy” brand is still uncommitted to deciding who it really is. It’s still in contemplation mode but usually is already marketing itself. This is a fruitless stage since you are asking the marketplace to interpret and clarify for themselves what your brand should mean to them. Consumers are simply too busy for this, they need you to figure out who your brand is and then telegraph this message back to them via their preferred communication channels.

Often clients stuck in fuzzy wuzzy land are afraid of declaring any “specifics” for fear of “leaving out” large portions of the marketplace. The first thing every client has to admit to themselves is that they are not a fit for everyone, accepting this is extremely liberating.

Stage 2
Unlike the fuzzy wuzzy brand, the “me too” brand has decided something! Unfortunately those who find themselves in this stage have decided (consciously or not) to be on par with their competition— making the same claims and similar promises. In other words being a “me too” brand is just playing it safe but not doing anything extraordinary in its marketing message, marketing tactics, product design or customer experience. As consumers, we see “me too” brands daily and we’re adept at tuning it all out. But “me too” is a step in the right direction as it’s at least giving some definition and shape to the brand.

Stage 3
The “uniquely you” brand is where you want to land as this is the place where you know what makes your brand so brilliant.
And you get there by PRECISELY defining WHO your brand really is.

I say “who” because brands are a lot like people, they have names, values, personalities, aspirations and “friends”.

You know your brand is on its way to being “uniquely you” when you can honestly answer the following:
1. What is my organization passionate about (aka my brand’s core values )?
2. Who do I best serve (aka my target audiences)?
3. What can all my customers consistently expect from us (aka my brand’s promise)?
4. How do I boil down our promise to 2-3 words so my employees and partners never forget why we’re in business (aka my
brand essence)?
5. How do I tell my story so it separates me from my competition (aka my market positioning strategy)?
6. How do my employees and I “show up” as our brand when interacting with our customers (aka my brand experience)?

A “Uniquely You” Case
One brand that has really broken out of “me too” and into “uniquely you” is Ally Bank, the 24/7 online bank. This is a masterful example of branding since Ally Financial is part of the former General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) dating back to 1919!

In 2009 Ally Bank began running humorous television commercials featuring kids as bank customers and the discrepancy in how some bank customers are treated better than others. You’ve likely seen the 30 second TV spot featuring a little girl who is asked by a man in a pinstriped suit, “Would you like a pony?” And when she nods, she’s given a toy pony. Then her little friend is asked the same question, she nods and voila she’s given a REAL pony.

When the first girl protests, “You didn’t say I could have a real one,” the pinstriped fellow says, “Well you didn’t ask.” Morale of the story, Ally Bank is not like every other bank, they don’t hide behind the fine print…they’re straight talkers who do right by their customers and strive to be obviously better than competing banks.
Ally Bank Pony TV Spot

Ally is a vivid example as the antithesis of “me too” brands. And they did it by first defining who they really want to be in the marketplace (the straightforward bank people). You can read about their brand story on their website

Remember, the STARTING POINT to all great marketing is defining your brand strategy FIRST. The world is already full of fuzzy wuzzy and “me too” brands, dare to be uniquely you!

About Pecanne Eby, MBA

Pecanne is speaker and an independent Marketing Consultant in Denver, CO. With 20 years of marketing practitioner experience (many of those years in the fast-paced advertising agency world), she helps clients clarify, simplify and unify their brand strategy so that their marketing “sticks” in their audiences’ long term memory banks. Pecanne regularly facilitates a variety of marketing workshops including: Brands that Sell; Building a Buzzworthy Brand and Brandtopia.


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7 secrets of brands that sell

July 1st, 2010

Ever wonder why some brands just sell more easily than others? Why some brands are just more memorable than others? Why we like some brands more than others?

Consider the following seven secrets of successful brands, does this sound like your brand?

1. Compelling Story: Your buyers attach meaning to your brand because they truly understand your brand’s platform (i.e. the essence, promise, differentiators and proof points).

2. Reputation: You don’t settle for “me too”. Instead your brand is positioned on a reputation idea that reflects where your organization excels, how you’re different, special and relevant (i.e. innovation leader, fun leader, knowledge leader, are a few examples).

3. Core Values: Your brand is based on 3-5 core values which your organization unequivocally defends (even when it costs you more money).

4. Humanized: You don’t settle for a “vanilla” brand personality. Instead you’ve developed a unique personality for your brand which may be based a universally recognized brand archetype (ex. hero, rebel, powerbroker, creator, siren and others).

5. Owning Color: You’ve developed a color palette for your brand’s identity and consistently use 1 or 2 colors primarily (ex. Susan G. Komen’s pink, UPS’ brown, IBM’s blue).

6. Strong Stewardship: Your brand has clear brand standards (ex. Do’s and don’ts regarding your logo, colors and typography). And you’ve made your brand assets accessible to those who use them. Brand assets include digital files of logo, photos and graphics.

7. Living the Brand: Because a customer’s experience with a brand will cement their perceptions, you deliberately work to align employee’s attitudes, knowledge and behavior with the desired brand experience. You leverage, in this order, people, programs and “propaganda” (aka internal communications) to help everyone “live” the brand each day.


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