Wednesday, June 16, 2004

To buy: Re-imagine

"We consider branding as the provenance of giant corporations. Instead we must understand that the branding idea applies as much to the one-person accountancy, or six-person training department, or six-person project team as to Coke or Pepsi. We persist in seeing 'brand' as the 'external image' of a company, or of a product or service. Instead, we must learn that branding goes straight to the heart (and comes straight from the heart) of an enterprise.
Branding is not about marketing tricks. It is about answering a few simple (and yet impossible) questions:
—Who are you?
—Why are you here?
—How are you unique?
—How can you make a dramatic difference?
—And... most important... Who cares? (Do you care?)"
So will branding help you?
Yes! Because we'd rather buy a product that we hate to buy from someone we like. Be likeable. Work on your personal branding. Tell your story. If you've been selling insurance for more than seven years, then you must have a story (or stories) to tell. Peters writes about Scott Bedbury who played a leading role in the branding of both Nike and Starbucks. Bedbury shares in his book, "A New Brand World: 'A Great Brand taps into emotions. Emotions drive most, if not all, of our decisions. A brand reaches out with a powerful connecting experience. It's an emotional connection point that transcends the product. .A great brand is a story that's never completely told. Stories create the emotional context people need to locate themselves in a larger experience."
—Quotation from Tom Peters: Re-imagine

No comments:

Post a Comment