In today’s business and cultural climate, it’s probably the #1 brand mistake that everyone is overlooking.
Don’t self-sabotage your brilliant brand with a strategy like this
You may want your brand to be loved. You may hope for your brand to not be hated.
But brands today have leaned toward a middle-ground of vanilla-hell that’s left them irrelevant, easy-to-ignore, and blander than week-old pound cake.
And THAT is the topic of this week’s One Minute Wednesday episode. (If by some stroke of bad karma, you’re not subscribed to the YouTube channel, here’s your chance to redeem yourself and watch the full series.)
This is that horrible brand mistake (and I want to show you why and how to fix it)
People react. (That’s the good news.)
People can be bored to death, or worse, not even have you on their radar because you’re being very safe, very “middle-of-the-road” and, in short, refusing to do or say anything that may be polarizing.
That’s the bad news and the kiss of death.
So some companies adopt a “let’s play it safe” strategy and nothing could be more lethal to a brand’s survival and growth. (Here’s a great example of not playing it safe.)
Why? It ends up with the result of customers, followers, and fans whose response is this kiss of death: indifference.
Realize a reaction is at least something.
And if you authentically believe in what you’re capable of bringing to the table, you need to be declarative and certain in what you say.
Let’s say someone asked you if they can count on you in a time of emergency when they needed you.
One person could answer, “Yes, I have the ability to that.”
Another person answered, “Yes, you need me, I’m there.”
Who would you pick?
Tools or Rules? 3 tips for creating a brand that’s instantly more meaningful (and very hard to ignore)
People tell me every week about my book, Brand Intervention, and how it restores their confidence and ability to know what to do (and why you do it) with branding.
Part of the power of the book is I don’t make this debilitating brand mistake we’re talking about: I am not tentative in what I say and I use these 3 tools to define what I say and do (the book is an amazing example of these 3 points in action):
This triple threat to “middle-of-the-road” easy-to-ignore branding and communication is:
- Design
- Language
- Attitude.
Design is how you present what you’re presenting using color, typography, shape, and imagery.
Language is how you say what you say. Are you tentative? Certain? Confident? Overly safe? Or are simply not believable? Or do you have a bad case of “cliche-itis”?
Attitude is what you emanate. We’ve all seen that one person who enters the room and instantly, without saying a word, commands a certain instant respect.
Or that person who you know couldn’t be trusted, so you check (and doublecheck) everything they say or do.
Or that person who you simply wish to ignore because they offer no real value or insight.
This applies to all aspects of branding, not just people.
In this 9th episode of One Minute Wednesday, hear what I have to say, all in about 60 seconds.
Want more? Check out the whole series.
Or better yet, but my book, Brand Intervention. There’s a reason entrepreneurs, brands, and CEOs are calling it “the branding bible.”
