Secret #1 is to Be yourself. Secret #2 is to be different than your competitors. Here’s Secret #3:

Be yourself both inside and out.

Walking the talk is just as important as talking the talk. You can’t solve a company problem with a marketing solution (except in the short term). So figure out how to align your organization with your primary promise and make sure you’re keeping it all the way through, from how you hire and train, to how you bill, to how you answer the phone. If you’re the friendliest company, make sure you have a friendly atmosphere inside; if you’re all about speed, then your website better load quickly. You get the point.

There once was a bank that did an ad campaign around helping use credit wisely. But brand managers were compensated based upon loan volume. Talk about setting up cognitive dissonance!

-Lynn Parker