brand building
Want to Play Brand Detective?
December 20, 2011
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Best known for her individualistic expertise when it comes to coaxing out the real emotional power in brands to spike the bottom line, Mary van de Wiel [alias: Van] is CEO and Brand Anthropologist of Zing Your Brand & Co., a New York-based creative brand consultancy, laboratory and workspace. Dubbed Master Provocateur by clients and media alike, Van brings a highly-eclectic perspective to branding whether as weekly host of NY Brand Lab Radio, leading the quarterly NY Brand Lab Workshops, speaking, consulting, blogging or producing the Brand Reinvention Summit. For 15 years, Van ran her own global branding shop with offices in New York and Sydney with Fortune 500 clients across four continents. She’s written for Entrepreneur.com, Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog, and has been featured in Investor’s Business Daily, Reuters, VOGUE and Entrepreneur Magazine. She is the author of soon-to-be-published Dead Brand Walking. Follow Van on Twitter @maryvandewiel or download her free audio, 7 Creative Secrets to a Wickedly Bolder Brand as well as two free ebooks, How to Score your Business Brand and Raise the Pulse of your Brand.
When’s the last time you had a hunch something wasn’t quite right with your brand (or any other brand, for that matter?) Consumers now—and your audience—crave genuine brands so let’s go look at a couple of clues that are getting brands into trouble.
Start with wearing the hat of Brand Detective.
If you need a dose of inspiration, there’s a crafty duo on FOX. They’re eclectic and highly idiosyncratic. (What’s more, the frisson between them is killing me.) I’m talking about Tim Roth (Dr. Cal Lightman) and Kelli Williams (Dr. Gillian Foster) who star in Lie To Me. In any case, they know a lot about deceit. After all, it’s their business to play detective. Always on the look out for clues, they have a formalized system of tapping into behavior, expression, language, gesture—all complex signals and codes—which leads them, of course, to solving the nasty problem on their hands.
Lightman and Foster work with humans. We get to work with brands. Let’s start sniffing:
Clue 1: Lack of Congruence (Look for mixed messages.)
Never underestimate the power of congruence in any kind of communication. If a brand is not congruent, it’s sending out mixed messages. (It’s a sure sign of a brand you don’t want to trust.)
FYI, the word congruent describes the quality of all parts being in alignment, agreement and in harmony—with each part communicating the same consistent message. By the way, when people are not congruent in their own behavior or personality, their brands are usually not congruent either. There’s a lack of clarity in the person behind the brand, and you can bet their brand’s message is going to be off kilter or murky.
Notice the congruence between the name of a brand and the nature of what’s being offered. If there’s a lack of connection or synergy between the two, you’ll have that gut feeling that something doesn’t measure up, and people will walk away scratching their heads. (A confused mind never buys.)
Apple is a good example of the quintessential congruent brand. Its name, product design, messaging, store design, merchandising, people and entire energy—right down to the color palette—are in total alignment. No confused minds here. Good energy. Pure acceptance. Astonishing congruence.
Clue 2: Lack of attention. (Look for bad behavior.)
Brands will act out if no one behind the scenes is paying attention. Brands misbehave, too. (This is another sign of a brand you don’t want to trust.) At least once a week, amazingly enough, I have a business owner confiding that they’re so preoccupied with working on their business, they’ve totally ignored their brand. Some haven’t touched their site in months. I call that an abandoned brand. You can tell when:
• The lights are out, so to speak. No one’s home. (So what I am sticking around for?)
• Listed offers, events or classes are all out of date. (No sign of being up to date. Good example of Dead Brand Walking.)
• Photos or images online are all standard stock photos. The ones you see on other bland brand sites. (No indication of any individuality or desire to set this brand apart from the pack. Wow.)
• No pics of founders, team, people, dogs—nada. (FYI Avatars don’t have a pulse.)
• Style of writing feels like a robot at work. The kind of entity that doesn’t have any blood pumping through its veins. Plus, you’re being kept at arm’s length. (What’s to trust?)
Want visitors to stick around your site, lean closer to hear your message, get the feeling that you are who you say you are, get that you have blood running through your veins, and that you’re congruent and hugely energized? Be your own Brand Detective—and make sure the complex signs and signals are sending the right message. (The message you want to send.)
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φιλοξενια ι
from φιλοξενια & on Mon, 2012-01-23 05:11I cannot thank you enough for the blog.Really thank you! Much obliged.
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from Enzo Vickers on Wed, 2012-01-18 21:54I loved your blog article.Thanks Again. Keep writing.
Maleah Nowakowski
from Maleah Nowakowski on Tue, 2011-12-27 18:52Thanks so much for the blog article.Much thanks again. Cool.
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from Dustin Grasso on Tue, 2011-12-27 11:06Enjoyed every bit of your blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Fantastic.
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from Fatima Byerly on Mon, 2011-12-26 17:52I cannot thank you enough for the blog.Really thank you! Much obliged.
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Cheyanne Twomey
from Cheyanne Twomey on Sun, 2011-12-25 22:16Appreciate you sharing, great blog post. Much obliged.
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How to Build a Potent Brand (Six Clues)
October 27, 2011
by
Best known for her individualistic expertise when it comes to coaxing out the real emotional power in brands to spike the bottom line, Mary van de Wiel [alias: Van] is CEO and Brand Anthropologist of Zing Your Brand & Co., a New York-based creative brand consultancy, laboratory and workspace. Dubbed Master Provocateur by clients and media alike, Van brings a highly-eclectic perspective to branding whether as weekly host of NY Brand Lab Radio, leading the quarterly NY Brand Lab Workshops, speaking, consulting, blogging or producing the Brand Reinvention Summit. For 15 years, Van ran her own global branding shop with offices in New York and Sydney, Australia with Fortune 500 clients across four continents. She’s written for Entrepreneur.com, Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog,and been featured in Investor’s Business Daily, Reuters, VOGUE and Entrepreneur Magazine. She is the author of soon-to-be-published Dead Brand Walking. Follow Van on Twitter @maryvandewiel or download her free audio, 7 Creative Secrets to a Wickedly Bolder Brand as well as two free ebooks (How to Score your Business Brand and Raise the Pulse of your Brand) www.zingyourbrand.com.
It’s just not enough to be brilliant. People must know and remember that you are. Let’s face it, walking around feeling complacent and entitled because you know you’re brilliant is not a viable strategy, right? So if you want to be known, remembered and recognized, it’s critical you build a brand that not only positions you as brilliant – but as irresistible and indispensable, too. How do you do that? You create a potent brand.
Potency defined OK. Let’s start with a definition of potency here just to get us all on the same page. The word ‘potent’ means (i) power; authority, (ii) efficacy; effectiveness; strength; and (iii) the capacity to be, become, or develop one’s potentiality; and (iv) a person or thing exerting power or influence.
In other words, the more potent your brand, the more powerful, authoritative, effective, strong and influential you are. The best part? A potent brand makes it easier for your world to find you, get to know you and then, want to engage with you (work with you, employ you, salute you, etc.) You get the idea.
So how do you start building a potent brand? The world is moving at a staggeringly fast pace. It’s never been more important to get a grip on your brand’s core values, what it stands for and why it’s meaningful.
It starts with asking questions. Take a look at the six clues below plus questions. See how willing you are to give your brand a leg up, as they say. It’s likely to turbo charge your thinking. It’ll then, hopefully, get you moving forward—and building a brand with potency.
1. Be Chief Influential Officer of Your Brand
• Are you poised to become the Go-To-Resource within your area of expertise Y/N?
• How willing are you when it comes to getting out of your comfort zone Y/N?
• Are you ready to stake out your territory in a more authoritative way Y/N?
• Is your Brand Pulse showing strong, pumping and vital signs? (the last time you checked?) Y/N?
• Would you describe your brand as robust and hardy Y/N?
• Is the world around you noticing you’re becoming a center of influence Y/N?
2. Set the Right Tone for Your Brand
• Are you clear about the intention behind your brand Y/N?
• Are you really communicating you are who you say you are Y/N?
• Is your brand’s voice clear, authentic and aligned Y/N?
• Are you regularly minding your brand’s behavior Y/N?
• Is your brand’s attitude welcoming, empathetic and transparent Y/N?
3. Start Seeing your Brand as Your Platform
• How committed are you to showing up in your brand Y/N?
• Would you give yourself a high score when it comes to inspiring your world Y/N?
• Do you actually think about changing the world Y/N?
• Are you at ease speaking confidently from your brand platform Y/N?
4. Pay Close Attention to Your Brand’s Emotional IQ
• Would you say your brand lands a high score when it comes to empathy Y/N?
• Are you aware the world around you has feelings about you and your brand Y/N?
• Do you think you might be keeping your world at arm’s length Y/N?
• Do you focus on actually creating strong emotional connections in your communication Y/N?
5. Focus on Being 120% Authentic
• Are you spending much effort on creating a consistent brand Y/N?
• Do you know exactly what a congruent brand looks like (let alone feels like?) Y/N?
• Would the world around you give you a high score as an authentic brand builder Y/N?
• Do you know that feeling when your brand is out of alignment Y/N? (You always know when the wheels of your car are out of alignment, right?)
6. Face Facts: The Money’s in the Brand
Note: Potent brands are profitable. The definition of business, after all, is about profit, purchases, commerce and volume of trade.
• So are you paying enough attention to what your world really needs the most Y/N?
• Does your brand consistently deliver what your world is craving Y/N?
• Are you willing to let your brand go to work for you Y/N?
OK. How potent is your brand feeling right now? P.S. Don’t ever forget that building your brand is always a work in progress. (That’s the good news Y/N?)
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Becoming an Expert Is Good for Business
February 18, 2011
by Katie Steigman
How to Establish Yourself as an Expert to Grow Your Network and Client Base
Everyone is an expert in something, whether it’s basket weaving, social media marketing, or book editing. Consider this: being known as an expert in your field or area of interest affords you (and your business) all kinds of good stuff: credibility, a wider network, new clients or readers, and chance to cut through the noise. For all types of authors, an expert status can lend itself to getting the word out about a book and grabbing the attention of new readers. Here are three easy steps to get you started:
1. Figure out what you know.
In which fields do you have credentials, a strong knowledge base, or passion? What do people ask you about? What do you just love doing? Answer this question and—voilà—you have your specialty. Next: specify, specify, specify. Don’t be just a branding expert; be an expert on personal branding for LinkedIn. A health guru could work toward becoming a clean-eating coach, and a leadership consultant could specialize in educational or nonprofit leadership. By narrowing your area of focus, you stand out among your competitors and peers and attract the attention of the right people.
2. Do your homework and build your message.
Once you’ve identified your area of expertise, it’s time to do some research. Figure out what leaders in your field are saying about the topic at hand. To continue one of the examples above, how do other experts approach the topic of clean eating? Scour books, industry journals, and the Internet to see what’s already been said so you can position yourself in a unique way. Your message is your value proposition, and it should continue the conversation in your voice, with several clear points. For the health guru, that could look something like this:
“Providing busy families with a clean-eating plan that sticks” or
“Teaching parents how to eliminate processed foods from the kitchen.”
3. Deliver your message.
So now that you know what you’re talking about and have surveyed the landscape, how do you get the message across to your people? There are several ways:
- Write helpful articles and post them to article aggregators and industry publications, or start a blog or newsletter and post your content there. You can also check out other blogs or websites in your field to see if you can write guest posts for them.
- Look for local groups, organizations, conferences, and seminars where you might be able to teach or speak. You could host your own seminars, webinars, or Internet radio shows to educate people on your topic of expertise.
- We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again—write a book! When you hand someone your book, or they see it on bookstore shelves, it’s instant credibility for you. Just make sure you do your research before you get started, as we’ve discussed many times. The book industry can be tricky, especially for newcomers.
These tips are meant to point you in the right direction, but becoming an expert is not something that happens overnight. It take quite a bit of time and hard work to amass the content you need to disseminate your message, so taking it slow and moving one step at a time is key. For more resources, check out Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog or one of these titles: Trust Agents by Chris Brogan, Good in a Room by Stephanie Palmer, or The Brand You 50 by Tom Peters.
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Quiz: Which Publishing Option is Best For You?
July 15, 2010
by Shennandoah Diaz
Publishing is not a one-size fits all endeavor. Which option is best for you depends on your skills, genre, goals, project, and budget. The questionnaire below will help you identify which publishing option to pursue:
Would you rather:
- Not spend your own money and get paid up front
- Pay just to print in exchange for a moderate return
- Make a reasonable up-front investment for a higher return
Would you prefer to:
- Let someone else handle the entire process
- Manage the process yourself
- Retain creative control while working with an experienced team
In terms of marketing and sales, are you more comfortable:
- Handling your marketing, but knowing the publisher’s credibility will carry you through the distribution chain
- Handling all of your marketing and forgoing retail distribution
- Coordinating your marketing efforts with an organized and strategic campaign through retail and specialty distribution channels while having the option to sell directly
In terms of creating content, are you more comfortable:
- Writing it yourself, but working with an editor to finalize it
- Writing and editing it all yourself—I’ll hire an editor if I need one
- Writing it yourself, but using the help of a ghost writer or an editor to organize your thoughts and save time
When it comes to design, would you rather:
- Leave it to the pros
- Do it yourself
- Have creative control, but work with a skilled designer
When it comes to distribution, do you want:
- Access to a traditional distribution chain
- To sell them all yourself
- A combination of traditional distribution and the ability to sell books on your own in return for the full cover price
Answer Key:
Mostly 1’s: Traditional publishing is probably the best option for you.
Mostly 2’s: Vanity, new technology, or self-publishing may be best for you.
Mostly 3’s: An independent/hybrid publisher is likely the best fit.
Regardless of which option you choose to pursue, it is vital that you protect yourself by doing your homework, taking the time to weigh the pros and cons, and analyzing the option’s ability to help you meet your short and long-term goals. Publishing a book is a smart and crucial step toward building your brand. Take the time to do it right.
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