"And now, the end is near,
And so I face the final curtain.
My friends, I'll say it clear;
I'll state my case of which I'm certain..."
And so I face the final curtain.
My friends, I'll say it clear;
I'll state my case of which I'm certain..."
Yes, it's Part Five - the last of the five part series (inspired by this article) about the need for marketers to take a look at how they support and boost their brands at all times. Clearly, I've enjoyed it and I hope you have too. The feedback's been great but please do leave comments on the bottom in addition to the emails!
Be Interesting
We've all heard that idle hands are the devil's workshop. In this instance, an idle brand is likely to meet a similar fate.
Our brands should be interesting. No disagreement. I would even say a bit self explanatory but... are we as brand marketers keeping our brand interesting? Are we freshening it up as often as we should? Do we do enough to make our customers want to come back for more? If not, we need to start dusting off the resumes and networking because not caring for our brand means trouble.
A bit melodramatic? Yes. The point being made here is to not rest on our laurels, become complacent and assume that just because our brand means something today that it will mean something tomorrow.
That said, let's think about some practical examples of brands that are interesting and examples of brands that are complacent.
Interesting: Apple. I know I've brought this up in an earlier post but it doesn't stop it from being a good example. Every customer touchpoint and product lives up to Apple's spoken and unspoken brand promise(s). Some would also offer Lego as an example and it's a good one. There are adult fans of Lego forums all over the place. If you're still playing with Legos as an adult, you are one engaged brand loyalist. Come to think of it, the same brand loyalty can be found in Trekkies. It's true!
Complacent (and Suffering): Sears. It breaks my heart that Sears doesn't have the same halo that it used to have. The highlight of our family trips to Sears stores was a visit to the candy section so we could get a bag of gummy fish to take home. Sears was where you went when you needed ANYTHING including a Craftsman house that you could get via mail order. It meant reliability, value for money, customer satisfaction and security. Sometime in the last twenty years or so, Sears became the proverbial Emperor with no clothes because it no longer wished to remain interesting and meaningful to its customers. Sears had it the other way around and thought that its customers were to remain interesting to the mother ship. Fatal error.
I've enjoyed covering these topics with you and I appreciate your thoughts and feedback. I've got some great new items coming your way over the next couple of days so please stay tuned!
Best,
Parissa Behnia
parissa321@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/behnia
We've all heard that idle hands are the devil's workshop. In this instance, an idle brand is likely to meet a similar fate.
Our brands should be interesting. No disagreement. I would even say a bit self explanatory but... are we as brand marketers keeping our brand interesting? Are we freshening it up as often as we should? Do we do enough to make our customers want to come back for more? If not, we need to start dusting off the resumes and networking because not caring for our brand means trouble.
A bit melodramatic? Yes. The point being made here is to not rest on our laurels, become complacent and assume that just because our brand means something today that it will mean something tomorrow.
That said, let's think about some practical examples of brands that are interesting and examples of brands that are complacent.
Interesting: Apple. I know I've brought this up in an earlier post but it doesn't stop it from being a good example. Every customer touchpoint and product lives up to Apple's spoken and unspoken brand promise(s). Some would also offer Lego as an example and it's a good one. There are adult fans of Lego forums all over the place. If you're still playing with Legos as an adult, you are one engaged brand loyalist. Come to think of it, the same brand loyalty can be found in Trekkies. It's true!
Complacent (and Suffering): Sears. It breaks my heart that Sears doesn't have the same halo that it used to have. The highlight of our family trips to Sears stores was a visit to the candy section so we could get a bag of gummy fish to take home. Sears was where you went when you needed ANYTHING including a Craftsman house that you could get via mail order. It meant reliability, value for money, customer satisfaction and security. Sometime in the last twenty years or so, Sears became the proverbial Emperor with no clothes because it no longer wished to remain interesting and meaningful to its customers. Sears had it the other way around and thought that its customers were to remain interesting to the mother ship. Fatal error.
I've enjoyed covering these topics with you and I appreciate your thoughts and feedback. I've got some great new items coming your way over the next couple of days so please stay tuned!
Best,
Parissa Behnia
parissa321@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/behnia
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