Branding

February 12, 2009

Dateless and desperate: Why companies fail to attract customers

Leili-mckinley-photo-2-150x150 This is a guest post by Leili McKinley, an Internet branding architect and social media marketing strategist who enjoys the enviable benefit of living in one of the most beautiful places God ever created, Maui. 

I came across Leili through a comment she left in response to one of my posts, started reading her blog and was immediately impacted by her knowledge, expert opinion and writing style. A few sentences into this post and you'll know why I felt that way.
It is my privilege to introduce her to you.


Imagine stepping into an elegant restaurant. You’re prepped and ready for a night out. Dressed in your best, you have primped and preened for the affair. You even know some of the things you want to say. Actually, you realize, you have an agenda. You secretly cross your fingers. You want everything to go right.

It’s a blind date. 

Doing business as a first time customer is a bit like being on a blind date. We have trepidation. We have made ourselves vulnerable in a universe of uncontrollable variables. We have unspoken expectations coupled with high hopes. It takes courage. But we pursue the event because we need to. Whatever the outcome, we have decided now is the right time “to buy.”

The outcome, of course, is decided by one thing and one thing only. Are we attracted to who is across the table? Not just physically, but do we believe? Do we believe they will know and understand us the same, as we believe we know ourselves? Do they have our values? Do they carry the same ambitions? In other words, can I trust you because you are like me?

We are attracted to what we know and value. Does this mean we are all a bit narcissistic?

Possibly...But, at it’s core attraction is based on our aligned beliefs. I will buy what you say, what you do, and who you are as a person, company or brand based on aligned beliefs. That alignment makes or breaks trust.

No trust, no sale.

So how does a company win customers? How do you increase sales?

Be true to your core values. Show you care about those values. Demonstrate them on a daily basis. Lip service won’t work. Trumped up PR events to make you look good won’t work either. You actually have to demonstrate a bit of self-sacrifice for it to mean something. Yes, give of yourself, as a person, a company, and a brand.

That’s magnetic.

Demonstrating the willingness to sacrifice for one’s core values is esteemed beyond measure. Look at any martyr for social proof. And what do martyrs have? Believers. They are followers who have aligned themselves to the cause. Evangelists, if you will.

If you want to attract the same, then understand what would motivate such loyalty. Speak to your market about it.

Pull people in.

January 13, 2009

Leili McKinley, a blogger you should be reading

Leili_mckinley If you are at all interested in social media marketing, especially as it relates to branding, there is a blogger you should be reading, Leili McKinley.

I found out about Leili via a comment she left in response to my post, Does social media have to be either marketing or pr? I had not heard of her previously, but the import of her comment caused me to investigate her further. And what I found literally floored me. 

Here is a blogger who is obviously well-acquainted with her subject matter and who has the unique ability to convey a lot of information in relatively few words. In fact, none of her posts exceed more than a few paragraphs.  

A famous quote attributed to Blaise Paschal says, "I have made this letter longer than usual, because I lack the time to make it short." Leili has that unique ability to concentrate her thoughts and communicate them succinctly and clearly. Not many people I know are blessed with that gift.

I used to think that, if someone could write reams about a given subject, that must mean they're truly knowledgeable. Now, I think the opposite is more in keeping with the truth... that is if Leili McKinley is any example. 
 
You know I don't often rave about bloggers, but Leili is one I've added to my list of must reads. You should as well. 

PS: Leili is managing partner of  business consulting firm Soaring Phoenix.

December 23, 2008

Social media marketing predictions for 2009

If you've yet to read Joe Pulizzi's you should because it contains some eye-opening predictions from leading marketing professionals.

While, as you might expect, there is a wide range and divergence of opinion, some themes emerge.

  1. Advertising will gradually be replaced by information.
  2. Content and conversational marketing strategies will converge.
  3. Social media marketing will continue to gain acceptance

Let's take these one at a time.

Continue reading "Social media marketing predictions for 2009" »

August 18, 2008

Personality Marketing

personality marketing - many faces of an actor

I've been doing a lot of reading lately about personal branding as it relates to its use in building awareness for the corporate brand. (Blogged about it too, here and here.)

A term I've been tempted to use as a label, but refrained from until reading Todd Defren's post, Got Some Personal Branding I Could Borrow?, is Personality Marketing.

We've always had celebrity spokespersons or pitch men/women (animals too, for that matter). Whether it's Robert Wagner touting reverse mortgages, Michael Jordan wearing his Hanes tagless T's or Reese Witherspoon speaking on behalf of the Avon Foundation, celebrity spokespersons have been a staple in our culture for years and years. (See list of Tweets below for more.)

Along comes social media and its own set of rock stars. Why shouldn't corporate brands latch hold of them and leverage some of that personality for themselves.

Microsoft did it with Scoble (or, rather, Scoble did it with Microsoft, then Podtech and now Fast Company), Chris Brogan is doing it with CrossTech, Doug Haslam with SHIFT, the many analysts of Forrester...and the list goes on and on.  The use of personalities has always been a marketing/advertising tactic.

Continue reading "Personality Marketing" »

August 15, 2008

Personal branding, company branding: What some thought leaders have to say

There seems to be a meme going around regarding the idea of personal brand building that leads to corporate brand building. It's of personal interest to me as that's what I'm attempting to do at Bizzuka.

Here's what some thought leaders have to say:

There are a number of questions being asked in these and other posts: Can you use personal branding as a marketing tactic to build the corporate brand? Can personal brand equity be transferred to the company? Or, is personal branding purely narcissistic? Further, what happens to the corporate brand when the person leaves? (i.e. Scoble/Microsoft, Charlene Li/Forrester)

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to opine.

January 08, 2008

How to change negative brand perception, part II: Thoughts from LinkedIn respondents

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In 2007, controversy erupted over the social network Spoke, with allegations being made that the site was collecting and selling personal information.

Following my post about the issue where I suggested that Spoke had a word-of-mouth problem, the question was raised about how companies can overcome negative brand perceptions. I went to LinkedIn and : "When you do a search on the Web for your business name or brand and negative results show up, how do you go about changing perceptions and protecting your reputation?"

Quite a number of people responded and what follows is a digest of what several of the most knowledgeable had to say.  (I purposely left off names and other personally identifiable information. You can see that info at LinkedIn, however.) Please feel free to submit your own.

Continue reading "How to change negative brand perception, part II: Thoughts from LinkedIn respondents" »

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