There’s exciting stuff going on with my Vitamin Water.

Allow me to set the scene: Seattle’s annual Capitol Hill Block Party showcases over 60 indie bands. It’s a summer weekend that turns a downtown neighborhood into a huge party with 3 stages of music, big crowds, and lots of sun.

Vitamin Water went to the CHBP, but they didn’t pass out free samples from the back of a van as expected.  Instead they rented a hip loft space and set up fans, bean bag chairs and a dance floor. A DJ spun tunes as cute bartenders served Vitamin Water cocktails. And of course…refrigerators were filled with as much free Vitamin Water as one could handle.

My friends and I had such a good time, we spent over 2 hours dancing, meeting people and taking glam shots in their photo booth—that’s us above cocktails in hand.  I appreciate that they created a distinct experience for us music fans by making sure everyone had a good time as a good party host should.

This is social branding at its best.  This company went to where their customers hang out and contributed what’s important to them. And this kind of understanding is the magic that creates a special camaraderie and drives more meaningful relationships with people.

Needless to say, we all went home with purses full of Vitamin Water excited for their next dance party.

- Bianca Abate

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I found this particularly interesting because during the early morning workshop I conducted, that had concluded not 15 minutes prior to Mr. Van Cleave’s speech, I covered the social nature of modern brands and the opportunity to enlist employees in the service of this new reality to build one’s brand and to increase employee engagement. I suppose it’s possible that Mr. Van Cleave plucked the quote from my presentation, but what’s more likely, given the lively conversation during my session, is that there seems to be a trend.

Social media is forcing a conversation between communications, HR and leadership about the role of employees in the definition and cultivation of their brand promise. In some organizations, this presents the opportunity to differentiate and to create stronger connections with employees and customers alike. And in others, it’s creating stricter policies around the use of online media and the dissemination of company information in the hope that social media is a passing fad.

If successful brands today are those that function as a community, where fans engage, share and personalize, how can you deliver on this expectation without promoting the use of social media?

Regardless of where you’ve come down on this issue, I’d love to hear about how you got there and what you learned about your organization in the process.

–Briana

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Several years ago, I worked as a reporter for a public radio station in the Midwest. One day, while reporting a story about an emerging hi-tech company, I had a revelation about how companies think about themselves. While visiting the company to conduct interviews, I was struck first by the building itself.  The facility was big and spacious with high ceilings and lots of natural light.  There was a slide you could take from the second floor to the first, if you were feeling too whimsical to use the stairs.  There were wonderful paintings and sculptures throughout the facility. They had a restaurant (with a trained chef) on site, as well as a massage therapist and a hair dresser.  A dry cleaner stopped by daily to pick up and drop off laundry, and I was told that a nurse regularly visited the business in case anyone was feeling ill.

The skeptic in me thought, “Yeah… they have to provide all those services because they expect their employees to slave away 20 hours a day. They’re probably miserable.”

Once I started to conduct interviews, I was stunned by the positive attitude shared by employees and owners alike.   From the receptionist who greeted me to the CEO, everyone referred to the same basic ideas about what made their company successful and what they enjoyed about working there.  They all talked about the open culture, the mutual respect coworkers had for each other’s abilities, and the oddly plucky nature of how the company planned to grow. It was a disconcerting experience for me and at the time I wasn’t quite sure why.

Flash forward several years. I am no longer a reporter, although I haven’t lost my journalistic curiosity.  The question of how an organization creates and conveys its culture to all its stakeholders has continued to be a fascinating subject. So, it was a pleasant surprise to find myself doing some work for Parker LePla where they have made an art form out of coaxing the companies into identifying and implementing on what I now know is called Brand.

When the players at Parker LePla first described how they help companies identify and build their brands, the skeptic in me thought, “Yeah, right. How can outsiders tell insiders what their company is all about?”

Yesterday, I got a glimpse of how they do it.  I watched as five members of Parker LePla’s (now referred to PLP-ites) firm discussed their collective understanding of what they learned about a client through a series of interviews and surveys.  The group was quickly able to agree on five core themes that everyone within the organization expressed.  The PLP-ites then worked together to write a statement that not only expresses those themes but also contextualized them in terms of the client’s larger business environment.

I don’t recall any Kool-Aid being served at yesterday’s meeting, but I must have had a sip of something good.  It was amazing to hear how the PLP-ites riffed off of each other’s ideas as they worked toward the common goal of finding the appropriate expression of the client’s brand.

Now, I have no idea how the client will feel about the result of the work I witnessed, and I’m not just saying this because I’m hoping that my work with PLP continues, but it was really exciting to realize that an organization’s culture – any organization – can be discovered, analyzed and verbalized with the right set of objective minds working on discovering it.  For the firm that that thoroughly knows its brand, the benefits are tremendous – both internally and externally.  That is what I witnessed years ago when I interviewed people at that Midwestern hi-tech firm.  The company still exists, by the way. And continues to grow and develop and maintain its plucky culture.

-Shula Neuman

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The art of plain talk is critical for anyone who has a message that needs to be understood by someone else. Whether you’re a marketer, a teacher or even someone who emails a lot at work, your writing can either win someone over or just create confusion.

Google the topic and you’ll find a ton of rules like avoid euphemisms, bullet your points, make it short, only use words with 3 consonants or less, etc.

I simply say:  Picture an actual person from your target audience in front of you. If you wouldn’t say it out loud, don’t put it in writing.

The better you understand your target audience, the stronger your writing will be.  You might need to channel your inner 6^th grader to simplify the message or use the latest slang to build rapport—whatever techniques help you clarify it for them, do it.

- Bianca Abate

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What sparks your curiosity or motivates you to take action? Interests obviously vary from person to person, but there’s one consistent factor that significantly impacts our ability to draw others in: simplicity.

People gravitate toward concepts that are easy to understand in a few words yet still poke at the imagination.  The goal of a message should be: when people hear about it, they ask questions.

Spanx is a great example. If I told you that Spanx are “body shapers” would you be interested in finding out more? How would your impression change if I called them Power Panties? A girdle?

Body shaper is a gender-neutral description that’s easy to understand—it’s obviously slimming. And their sub-brand Power Panties works really well in targeting women while fighting the stigma of control-top undergarments.  Most importantly, upon hearing it you probably have questions. What do they look like? How do they work? Who wears them? And so on. It’s clear yet thought provoking.

Capturing that special element to compel people to action is less about wordsmithing and more about figuring out the key concepts you want to focus on. And those drilled-down concepts form your brand’s foundation. Examples:

1. Home Depot- Home improvement center for the do-it-yourselfer
2. The Simpsons- Dysfunctional family cartoon sitcom
3. Staples- Office supply ordering made easy
4. Levi’s- Classic American jeans

Ultimately, it’s this over-arching concept that helps you answer the fundamental “why?” question for your customers. Leverage your first impression by giving an easy-to-digest tidbit that hints at that “why,” and their curiosity will bring them to you with an appetite for more.

- Bianca Abate

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In a hyper-connected, over-communicative world, the simplest ideas are often the most compelling, which GoTime.Com discovered with a website that began as an online event, club and restaurant directory.

The happy hour tab, initially a minor aspect of the site, quickly became the most popular section—no surprise given the economic climate at the time.  And the creators quickly saw and acted on that trend in the right way by taking happy hours to the nth degree and making it the site’s focus.

Thus, an ingenious happy hour directory was born (accessible via the web or iPhone/Android app) that puts the city’s drinking deals at your fingertips.  Check it out and you’ll find all the happy hours within your geographic radius with detailed info regarding prices, times, reviews, and additional features like “water view” or “cute staff.”  And, it’s just been launched nationwide in 35 cities and counting.

But the best part? Their brand’s key strength lies in how they’ve thought critically about deepening their user relationship well beyond their level of technological prowess. “Some people ask us why we don’t charge for our app, but that feels like an oxymoron.  It’s our mission to save people money and it just doesn’t feel right to charge $2 for an app when people are on a budget. We’d rather you take that money and put it toward buying another round,” says co-founder Jeff Khadavi.

It’s clear these guys are serious about putting the “happy” in happy hour, but how do they go about delivering on that goal?

1. By looking at what’s happening in the market and responding to it in their unique way.
2. Getting focused.  Like GoTime.com learned, it’s better to excel at the one thing people care most about, versus being mediocre at a lot of things that aren’t relevant.
3. Making it simple. If it’s not simple, it won’t stick.
4. Being flexible.  As Jeff Khadavi puts it, “Early stage companies have to adapt to navigate the waters and make something out of whatever arises.”

- Bianca Abate

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For my hometown Red Sox, 86 years of Wait-Till-Next-Year ended in 2004 with the team’s first championship since 1918.  However, the Red Sox brand renaissance started long before three-plus million jammed the streets of Boston for that celebratory Rolling Rally.  In fact, Fenway Park hasn’t had an open seat since May 2003, a record streak currently standing at 551 consecutive sellouts. 

While a hundred years of brand history can’t be dismissed, much of the credit can be given to the fresh blood that bought the team from a family trust in 2002.  With a renewed focus on the customer (and organizational success on the field), the Red Sox have marketed themselves into a place in baseball – and business – history. 

Here are five lessons from Brand Red Sox you can use to hit your own branding home run:

LESSON 1:  Develop your brand around something you can control.

After 2004, experts were predicting the end of the Red Sox brand.  How could the ‘lovable losers’ ever overcome their greatest success?  How could the team replace the shared purpose that 86 years of losing had lent the fan base?

Simple – they built their brand around things they could control: history and tradition.  Some traditions are old (such as Friendly Fenway) and some are new (“Sweet Caroline” during the 8^th inning).  Today’s uniforms have been largely the same since 1933; ditto for Fenway’s unique shade of green.  These elements carry the weight of brand continuity regardless of who is playing (and whether or not they win).  The brand does not strive for relevancy; instead, it has defined what is relevant and what is not.

The lesson? Establish who you are as a brand and make that your own.  Just make sure that your associations are valued by your customers, are able to be owned over time and in the competitive marketplace, and are things you do well as a business.

LESSON 2:  Sell a customer experience.

Baseball is an emotional sell.  ‘America’s pastime’ has strong associations with a shared national history.  Consumers of baseball are not just looking for a winning team, they are looking for a story, a connection – and an experience.  Red Sox Nation (a team-sponsored fan club) was launched in 2004 and offers a selection of benefits including a ‘citizenship card’ and a variety of behind-the-scenes benefits.  But most importantly, it gives fans a deeper experience and a ‘card carrying’ identification with the brand.

Even if you sell emotionless widgets, you are still in the end dealing with customers who buy (or balk) on emotion and justify with their brain.  Examine your customer touchpoints for ways you can add and improve emotional experiences.  If, like the Red Sox, you have a subcontractor (their concessionaire is Aramark) remember that your customers don’t see that distinction.  If the beer’s warm, or the service’s rude, you’re still to blame.

LESSON 3:  “Yankees Suck!”

Other than the obvious lesson here, remember that competitive differentiation is important in every industry and that a little rivalry rarely hurts.

LESSON 4:  Make a commitment to yourselves and your customers.

Your brand is your promise to your customers.  What exactly is the level of service you provide?  Is your organization aligned and incented towards achieving these goals?

The Red Sox management team has succeeded in clearly identifying what they provide.  GM Theo Epstein has openly committed to building a team to win 95 games each year.  Similarly, new ownership quelled Bostonians’ fears shortly after taking over the team by committing to renovating Fenway Park rather than a tear-down-and-rebuild scheme that had been on the table.  Eight years later, Fenway is larger, cleaner, more accessible, and every bit as characteristic as it ever was (and is still the centerpiece of the brand).

LESSON 5: Have fun.

Beyond giving you a reason to get out of bed in the morning, bringing fun into your business will come through in your brand.  There are times to be serious, of course, but the more often you can say ‘Play Ball!’ with yourself, your customers, and your employees, the stronger and more resilient your business can become.  Be your brand – but be yourself as well.

–Dan Liska

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The Best Business Show will interview Lynn Parker about our naming process this Sunday (4/4) at 7pm PST. Just go to www.kvor.com and click the “listen live” icon on the top right-hand corner.

And to read about our naming process, check out Lynn’s article on WomenEntrepreneur.com, “Accomplish the Impossible: Choose a Name.”

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Life as a Facebook fan page master can be tough. Learning the functionality and navigating many application choices requires a great deal of patience and gumption because there’s no right or wrong way to manage your page.

There are tons of helpful blogs out there that list helpful apps and tips, but this is not one of them. Instead, I offer help in answering a tougher question that we face:

“If I’m the voice of my organization, what the heck do I post and say?”

The answer lies in:

1. Understanding your audience
2. Using your brand as a filter

Understanding your audience means you know what they like, don’t like and how to add value to them. What makes social media enticing is that it requires people to run it—it can’t be automated. Understanding their needs informs your interactions and builds a human connection behind the corporate entity. How to start? Just listen. Tap into the areas online where your customers and prospects are already hanging out and look for mentions of your org with free tools such as Google Alerts and Addict-o-matic. By listening, you can learn about relevant topics and turn what’s hot into ways people can connect with you.

Using your brand as a filter means that before posting or tagging anything, you weigh its content to make sure it aligns with the brand you’ve created offline. In an ideal world, you already know the whats, hows and whys behind your brand—this is your playbook. Capturing the spirit of your org consistently over time demonstrates your authenticity and builds relationships. An easy way to do this is to think of your org as a person. Does the tone or content match something she would post?

Good luck to all the Facebook fan page masters out there and if you need any help, leave a comment. And for an example, check out www.Facebook.com/ParkerLePla.

- Bianca Abate

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Of course, the first step in social marketing (or really any pursuit) is knowledge:  know your company and how it interacts, and know your customers and how they buy.  If you sell hardware in a residential neighborhood, your networking strategies will be very different from an owner who sells vintage clothing near the university.  Both brick-and-mortars are seeking to drive sales and awareness but their customer demographics, technographics, and buying patterns are widely different.  Consider also that a vintage clothes enthusiast might be more likely than a hammer buyer to see their purchase as making them a part of the store’s community and thus be more inclined to include the business as a part of their online network.

Given that you know who you are and who you serve, the challenge is then to tailor your online presence to build and strengthen your customer relationships not only by providing an integrated brand experience to reiterate your key differentiators but also by creating and delivering greater value for the customer:

In the end, remember that today’s consumers demand authenticity.  Social networking adds an additional level of challenge to that requirement because, online, customers interact directly with your business as if it were one of their Friends.  They are not simply looking for a product or service but instead an experience – and only those businesses that provide such will succeed as social marketers.

– Dan Liska

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