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Branding First, Sales and Profits Second

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Al Ries has an excellent article in Advertising Age on what it takes to sell products and services today. He states that marketing is the wrong word. It's too broad and just doesn't accurately apply to what needs to be done to sell goods and services. The better word is "branding."

We couldn't agree more. Telling your story accurately and convincingly is what gets your product on shelf. It's what gets people searching for your service. It's what people remember and makes a difference in the end. And it has to be first. Mr. Ries offers several real world examples that make this article worth a read.

If you'd like help telling your brand story, contact Jason Jourdan. 

The Story of a Tough Chicken

There's a great story in AdAge today by Mitzi Perdue, Frank Perdue's widow.

In the article Ms. Perdue states that "in the late 1960s, when chicken was viewed as a commodity, Frank decided to do what no chicken farmer had done before. He took a 10-week absence from running his company, went to New York and began a full-time study of the theory and practice of advertising."

The fact that he would take 10 weeks out to make an important decision says a lot about Frank Perdue and his business. Thoroughness pays off. There really isn't a replacement for knowledge and understanding to get the story right. Frank was the story. I don't think that every agency would take the time to fully understand that. In the end it was good decisions by Mr. Perdue and his agency, Scali, McCabe, Sloves.


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A Dog of a Story with Animated GIFs

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Everybody has seen the plethora of animated gifs. Although they've never been especially difficult to create, the combination of smartphones and apps seems have lead to a virtual explosion. Most of them are simple. Some of them are funny. But mostly they are just one-off things done seemingly on a whim. They don't have to be.

Here's what happens when you take it to the next level in storytelling. Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg teamed up with Dogfish Head Ale to create a series of gifs that tells the story of company's new Tweason'ale made with fresh strawberries, sorghum and honey.

Using a series of animated gifs they tell the complete story of making the unique brew. It's an elegant, interesting and engaging approach. By not using video, they stand apart. Yet the gif's still bring action to the story, much more than a standard photo shoot with even great photography. There's a lot to like about this story.

The story is still central, just enhanced by the execution. If you've seen other creative executions of simple stories we'd love to hear about them. If you have a great story that needs a creative execution we'd love to talk.

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The Power of Mini-Stories - from MarketingProfs

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The power of stories can't be over estimated.

Here is a great example of the why and how stories sell from MarketingProfs, How Mini-Stories Can Help Buyers Reject the Status Quo ... and Embrace You.

Interesting though that one of the comments to the article stated that the example given didn't read like a story. Agree or disagree?

Consistent Brand Story vs New Stories

"Stick to the script." You've no doubt heard the phrase over and over. You might have said it yourself. In the first initial conversation, it's true. You want to be consistent with your story to hit the right brand points that resonate. But what happens in the second contact?

Every body knows somebody that only has one story that they tell over and over. Every time the conversation turns toward the subject of their story, you know. Here it comes. It probably is a great story. It's just not interesting the tenth time you hear it. Sadly, this is often that persons only or last experience on the subject.

The same is true for your brand - you need to keep making new stories. That doesn't mean that you forget about your brand. On the contrary, you expand your brand and give it life by continuing to tell your story in new yet consistent ways that are true to your brand.

The video below is a perfect example of this in practice. The new lobby in the Cosmopolitan Hotel pushes what the experience should be. It is consistent and yet new at the same time.


Letting Readers Build Their (Your) Story vs. Puking on the Page

When it comes to communicating large amounts of information with customers there are two schools of thought. One is attractive. And the other is not. You can organize your information or products in a logical fashion for your customers. You can study patterns and lead customers to an objective that meets their needs and your goals. Think Target. It's very obvious that the store layout and product placement has been carefully considered. Things are where you expect to find them. Along the way are things that also might be of interest to you. Those aren't random acts. You're deciding your path, but Target is helping you along. Amazon has done the same thing and set the bar on the web.

Or you can just puke it all out and let the customer figure it out. When described this way, it seems that no one would knowingly do this. You rarely see any retail stores follow this path ... with a few exceptions. It's like a bad yard sale. But when it comes to websites it happens all of the time.

If you see a bad website (or have a bad website) pass it along. I'd love to see it and take a stab a restructuring it, hypothetically or for real.
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Revealing your Personality Tells your Story

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A recent BtoB article

Conveying Personality states that "A company's advertising is the best opportunity it has to reflect the corporate personality..." I agree and disagree. Advertising might be great opportunity to create a personality for your brand. But there is a risk. If the crafted personality doesn't match your actual brand story, doesn't match what your customers and the public actually experience, they you've more than failed. You've created distrust. Much like the stainless steel DeLorean "sports car," you've over promised and under delivered. That's not what you want for your brand story.

Instead work to create and tell your brand story at every opportunity. Not just in your ads. It should be in how you answer the phone. How your office looks. Certainly your website. In fact, it could be argued that there are hundreds of touch points that have more impact than any ad. That's where you convey your personality.

You have more control than you think. Make sure your story is ready.

Where do you think is the most impact-full place to tell your brand story and reveal your brand personality?

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Your Twitter Story

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Can you tell a story with twitter?

Can you tell a story about your brand with twitter?

Absolutely. And of course it's already been done.

If you haven't started your twitter story, here are three tips from the HubSpot Inbound University before your do:

1. Look professional

2. Listen first, then respond

3. Contribute relevant, useful material

One of the best things about twitter is that you can enable your customers to tell the story for you. By listening then responding with useful content, your story will create itself as you continue the conversation.

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Who is the Enemy?

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Do you know who your customer's enemy is? As importantly, do you state who they are out loud? Your marketing story is lacking if you don't.

We'll assume you know your protagonist, the customer, fairly well. Your marketing story needs to help them identify their enemy. Often our customers know they have problems, they just don't know who the enemy is. When that's the case, they don't know who or how to fight. Help them identify their antagonist and give them the tools to vanquish their enemy. People can't resist the epic battles between good and evil. Notice I didn't see the adventures of the good. It's not much of an adventure - or a very good story - without overcoming adversity or evil.

HubSpot is a great example of this idea in practice. In this recent blog post 8 Lessons.

Point 4 reveals how identifying an enemy was critical to their success.

"You Need An Enemy."

"For some reason, humans can’t resist the cops & robbers theme. When you create your marketing strategy, even if you are creating a new category, you need to polarize. In our case, we picked “outbound marketing” as the enemy. I remember my co-founder showing a slide of a kitten one time and stating something like “every time you buy a list and spam it, a kitten dies.”

Read the complete article on HubSpot blog post.

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Stick to the Story Jack

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Jack LaLanne passed on January 23. He was 96. "I can't die, it would ruin my image," was one of his most famous quotes. His image was one that he cultivated from the beginning. He found what worked for him, and he stuck with it. He didn't chase new fads, or create Jack LaLanne 2.0. He just told his story, in a very intentional and consistent way. That was enough. He was Jack LaLanne after all.

Seth Godin outlines 8 parts of Jack's story that made him what he was.

Image from www.jacklalanne.com