Another great brand move is acknowledging your customers and advocates at Christmas. Ending the year on a high note is very motivating while you’re moving into a new period. Looking back over the year appreciating those who saw fit to trust you and bring you business. Every year I put together something I think will resonate with this supporting cast of players. For the last several years, I put out a quality calendar of my water-colour paintings ( a serious interest of mine ). They were well received as most never had any idea that I painted.

This year I took my motivating slogan “Lead don’t follow.” and put it on black mugs and sweatshirts. I will wrap this package up and present them. I didn’t want to just put on my logo which would be more or less an ad for me, and instead put a motto that my supporters could definitely live by. Having gone through my process, they ‘get’ that statement in a big way.

It is not so important what you give, it is the appreciation you show for their support that counts. It makes your brand shine that much more in their eyes. It’s all part of the big package. If you’re in retail, you can offer customers back a percentage of their yearly purchases. This has the added benefit of drawing them back into your location as a premium customer.

The reaction this effort produces will immediately resonate with you. Nothing feels better than giving back.

Generating leads is all about who knows you. Not only knowing who you are but what their perception of you is? That perception is reality on the street or online. The challenge in nurturing your personal brand is consistency. Online, the other person doesn’t have the opportunity to know you face-to-face. I’ll use myself as an example. Look at my website and study my brand image. ( I’ll wait here and give you a few minutes. )

Alright then. You may have noticed that my brand palette is black, mustard yellow and gray. I have some free information available on the surface of my site and deeper into it. The language is straight forward and direct. I’m hoping that you as the reader find it engaging, no B.S. and friendly.

All of my marketing materials from my business card, brochures, display materials, different presentations for speaking engagements, my twitter page, blog and everything and anything maintain those same attributes. If you were to run into me at an off-line networking event, (or any other business activity) I’m the character all dressed in black with my logo and slogan embroidered above my breast pocket. My sleeves are rolled up and I try to reach out to whom ever i come into contact with, I try to break down any barriers and offer as much free advice as i can for that moment. I never hand out a business card unless asked for one. (Even if there’s a flurry of card passers in my midst).

When I give presentations, every slide has my company logo so that my audience never forgets who is in front of them. My podcasts have a audio cue and an opening and closing stating my brand name. EVERY touchpoint is important in creating and maintaining my overall brand. You cannot afford to have any loose ends.

It’s your brand, it’s up to you to define it. Taking it lightly, will cost you a fortune later trying to clean it up. The great thing is it doesn’t feel like work – I enjoy my brand image and positioning.

It’s time your brand got out from behind that inspiring advertising slogan and actually stand for something. A large part (and I would argue) the most important part of your brand is your positioning. Where can your brand take the high ground? What is your brand leading in? Are you the only something? Positioning is absolutely based on differentiation. I hear countless companies state things that don’t really make them different, but actually make them blend in. For instance, “our people make the difference.” Sure, you and a thousand other companies.
Or how about “we excel in service.” If your competitors are still around, perhaps they do as well.

Taking a position based on differentiation takes moxy. Not only does it take guts to take the high ground, it takes commitment to own it. By owning it, I mean that you have to live the brand promise in the position you take. If you say you will deliver that pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free, then you had better do exactly that. Your customers have no appetite for false claims. They will eat your brand for breakfast if you don’t deliver. Deliver and they will love you and reward you.

For your brand position to work it has to resonate with your customers. It has to speak to them. One of my customers, Suntrition, whose brand positioning is: “Leaders in small-batch, oral-dose manufacturing,” speaks directly to their target audience. Small suppliers in the nutraceutical products industry. While all of their competitors are seeking the large contracts and giving short -shrift to the little guys, Suntrition has chosen to specialize in small batch production. They are laying claim to this high ground. It’s working. At recent industry B2B trade shows, small batch suppliers flocked to their booth refreshed that someone actually values their business and is actively seeking it. They not only came home with hot leads, they are setting sales records.

The difference between a slogan and a positioning statement is that the slogan inspires and the position resonates and sells. It’s no reason that sales staff and management are rejuvenated when they actually develop their differentiator and take their branding more seriously. Now marketing truly has a story to tell.

The passing of Steve Jobs this week got me thinking of another iconic American CEO who was also loved by consumers the world over.

Before I reveal his identity, I have to say that Steve Jobs has been compared (this week) to Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, in their contributions to our modern lifestyle.

Steve Jobs I believe, surpasses these gentlemen because of a personal connection he had with his audience – the consumer. How many deceased CEO’s can you name that have had the general public laying wreaths at their doors? Not only do their customers not mourn their passing, they really aren’t aware they even passed. When the day comes that Bill Gates meets his maker, will he see the same outpouring of love? I wonder. For all that critics say about consumerism, you have to admit, even they were silenced this week. This is the epitome of a super brand, where both the corporate brand and the personal brand of the visionary are perfectly aligned with their buying audience.

The other American icon that I believe shares the same love that Steve Jobs has, is Walt Disney. He was an independent thinker, and he developed amazing things, ignoring those who thought he was nuts. Walt Disney’s passing was met with the same level of sadness and admiration for his achievements. We need visionaries like Walt and Steve to help us rise about the mediocre.

Take a look at your own brand. If you passed away tonight, would your customers miss you? Could they replace you easily? If so, what do you have to do to build your brand into something iconic with your stakeholders? Does your brand relationship change lives? Your brand doesn’t have to be as massive as Steve, or Walt’s to resonate with stake holders. You only have to make your passion contagious and provide an experience that makes it a pleasure to interact with you.

Maybe the next Steve Jobs or Walt Disney is you!

There is not much point in addressing your corporate brand if there isn’t the will to implement the strategy developed. A worse situation is where the upper management have the desire to implement the brand strategy but there is no buy-in among the employees and other stake holders for that matter. When I facilitate my process, “Brand Navigator,” the very first step is to pick the branding team. This group of individuals are made up of the stake holders of the company from the top down. The head of the company who is the visionary is a must attendee. From there, I request other individuals who are not just from the management level. One very important person or persons is what I like to call the wrench. This person is a leader among the employees. They are looked upon as the spokesperson. They are known as a wrench, because they tend to throw a monkey wrench into initiatives they deem frivolous and put upon. The key is to make them part of the solution, they in turn become advocates for the new brand strategy and willingly push it out to their constituency among the stakeholders. Wrenches can be powerful allies. It is key to understand this dynamic. Wrenches are typically good employees as well and they can be quite passionate about the company. It is very important to get them on-brand.

Some companies take it upon themselves to implement internal branding efforts to help their staff buy-in to the strategy. This is done in a myriad of ways including role-playing, internal communications, brand training, etc. Delivering the brand promise from shop floor up to senior management is crucial to the success of your brand. I’ve been a lot of reading this week on this topic and I believe from the examples i read that getting buy-in from employees will be difficult if the initial strategies were developed by senior management exclusively. Selling it after the fact could possibly lead the wrench, to “go throughout the motions” to please management, with the staff walking in step with them. This effort was described as the bridge from developing the strategy to rolling it out. From my perspective, it’s a bridge on a weak foundation. I believe that in order to effectively roll out the strategy the solution has to come from all stakeholders together. This is the way to develop a strategy that resonates with everyone who’s livelihood depends on the success of the company.

I enjoy delivering positioning strategies that the entire company is excited about. They are excited because as a cohesive unit they took the high ground together. Branding can never be a solo act. Every solution I facilitate as a team effort is very powerful.
It empowers everyone and it absolutely resonates with customers. This is when you know it’s the right move to make. It takes much of the risk out of the strategy, regardless of how bold a statement it may be.

The three musketeers had it right, “all for one, and one for all.”

You hear it all the time, “Do something you’re passionate about.” Or, “they’re successful because they’re passionate about what they do.” While at the surface I agree that it takes passion to soldier on, you have to feed that passion with a strategy to connect. I have passionate entrepreneurs reaching out to me all the time, and I reaching out to them. I firmly believe in the adage that it’s not who you know, but who knows you.

If you are by nature shy, then knowing them will certainly not be enough. BUT on the other hand them knowing you, provides them a conduit to you. That is powerful. And how do you do that?

Branding.

Here at Ken’s blog Small Business Branding, we discuss branding at every level. Branding has the ability to give that passion of yours an identity. It allows people you don’t know the benefit of knowing you. If you take your brand seriously, you will be reaching out on a number of fronts to make that connection. You have to embrace your passion and start reaching out on AND offline. Just because you built it, doesn’t mean they will come. All of us out there recognize that simple truth. It’s a great start, but now it has to stand for something and that is where branding comes in.

You have to translate that passion by taking a leadership position and make your brand known. Step away from the computer and get out into your community. Network, speak to your audience. Volunteer – give of yourself. Allow people to like you and in turn recognize your brand for all that it can benefit them. Here you are reading this article, reach out to me and your fellow readers and give us your opinion by commenting. That one simple move, takes your brand out of the shadows and allows the thousands of readers here to identify with you. Many of those readers are your future customers if you allow it.

Offline, join networking groups that speak to your customers. Help the groups grow and watch your brand soar. Passion IS a great thing to have BUT it’s a better thing to share. Your future customers will then know you by your willingness to share your passion.