"The consumer is not a moron.” –David Ogilvy
Stand for Something
Find that one thing the makes you’re offering unique. Make sure it can’t easily be duplicated by competitors. Make it as big as you can. Take the highest ground and the highest positioning possible. Over time your customers may help you hone a better, more targeted positioning, but always stand for something unique.
Own Something
Financial services companies can “own” investment advice. It is not a disconnect for consumers as they expect these companies to have an inside track on investment research. Pharmaceutical companies can own information on health and wellness. Top retailers on fashion trends. American Express can own travel information. Whatever you can “own” brand this information to your business. This is stuff you already know but to your customers it is hot, inside information. Consumers love inside information. It is a high value ad.
Know What Your Customers Want and Value
Collect as much data as possible to really understand your customers. Then position your brand around what your customers think is the most important. Try to mirror their values. If you do this right they will become advocates for your brand and will find other people for you who are just like them.
Communicate in a relevant way
Your customers are not dumb slugs that you can talk down to. They are your friends, your neighbors, and your spouse. Respect them. Speak to their highest values. Be sure that the way you communicate reinforces your brand. That means you need to time your offers based on customer needs not marketing goals (heresy I know.) And you must speak in a tone and manner that communicates you know something about the habits and values of your customer. The great advertising executive Fairfax Cone, a founder of Foote Cone Belding, used to question his creative teams: “Would you say this to someone you know?”
Protect Your Brand
People have feelings about brands. Brands thrive when their management protects them. Brands fail when the people in charge care less about the brand than the people who use it. Eventually customers will feel uncared for or unnoticed and they will take their business elsewhere. Management has to understand and appreciate their customers’ feelings for the brand.
Create Ideas to Support Your Brand
A great creative selling idea can enforce your current positioning or give you a new, more powerful one. Membership Miles from American Express was such an idea. It tied a valued benefit to one of the things that American Express owns – travel. It created a tangible incentive for cardmembers to use their card more frequently. A great creative selling idea can help grow your business, make your customers happy and differentiate your brand.
Act Like a Small Business
Small businesses know their customers, usually by their first name. If a customer stops doing business with them they find out why and how they can fix it. They talk to their customers on a regular basis. New technology and social media can allow you to act more like a small business. For starters you can have two-way conversations. You can also reward and recognize your customers and make them active participants in your brand. And you can give them inside information. As mentioned before it is very powerful.
And One More Step for Good Luck -- Who is Your Brand?
To your customers the people who answer the phone, answer the e-mails, trouble shoot on social media and talk to them face to face are your brand. Be sure the people responsible for customer service are brand advocates. Reward them whenever possible. Help them in every way you can.
