Management is making sure things run smoothly.  Leading, on the other hand, is lifting up your head, looking around, and doing something about what you see.  Many companies are run by managers, versus leaders.  Which is great if nothing changes.

But we’re in a time of great change, with the rate of change growing ever faster.  Leaders are what’s needed now, no matter what size company or type of industry you’re in.   Mobile, cloud, outsourcing/insourcing, self-serve, social media, disintermediation, user generated content…unless you run a hot dog stand, there’s practically no industry left unscarred by the vast of amount of change in the last 15 years. Even if you do run a hot dog stand, you’ll need to keep up with trends in localvore habits, mobile food truck regulations, the use of social media to drive new customers, supply chain traceability, changes in health concerns…

Lead and they will follow.  But just manage, and you will quickly be swept aside by the waves of change.

- Lynn Parker

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I was catching up with some industry blogs and found one on user experience design for the entire customer experience–not just the ones that happen on a website or on the phone, but all experiences a customer WANTS to have with you no matter what form they take. This caught my eye because this is something we’ve been talking about for years–the concept of integrated branding. The only difference is, today we are dealing with more devices and more ways for people to experience an organization (their people, their products, their stores, etc).

By looking at customers’ experiences through the lens of a device-less world that is technology agnostic, then, and only then, will we see the world through our customers’ eyes. People don’t shop at Target because they have a mobile app, they shop at Target because they want something they have and will use whatever device or mode is most convenient for them at the time to get it. We, as brands, just need to make sure we allow them to get it they way they want to.

This requires you dive into your customers’ shoes and figure out all the ways you can help them achieve their goals (which first assumes you know your customers and their goals). So, rather than first jumping on a specific device or platform’s bandwagon (iPad, iPhone, Facebook, Twitter…), start by asking yourself, “what is my customer trying to achieve and what are all the ways I can help them achieve it?”. It is both an eye opening and liberating exercise that helps you get beyond the technology of the moment to the technology solutions yet to come.

–Jen Travis

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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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An epiphany is a sudden insight into reality—something you might have known all along, but simply didn’t see. It’s the big “aha!” moment clients have as a result of our work. One of our recent clients described it as, “Wow. It’s the first time I’m hearing it, but it’s like I’ve lived this all my life.”

How does the branding process uncover epiphanies?

Companies get entrenched in their thinking. They lose outsider perspective as cultural norms and groupthink take hold.

Branding, when you start with external research, brings in a new perspective about your organization’s value. There are all sorts of barriers keeping your brand from being its best: an organization’s bureaucracy, negative cultural norms, lack of focus. There’s something very elegant in how we help organizations make simple shifts to set them free.

That’s my favorite part about this job. Lifting the veil and delivering the epiphany to help organizations say, “Wow! That makes sense. A lot of sense.”

- Bianca Abate

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The brand that’s made me the happiest this year is Wolfgang’s Vault. I go there on a regular basis, often on Friday afternoons when I’m finishing up administrative tasks and need some ear candy. The more I listen, the more often I return. I’ve heard concerts by artists I wish I’d gone to and concerts from the same tours I saw “back in the day” by artists that hadn’t made it big yet. I started going to the site a couple of years ago to relive some great musical moments in my life—but now I’m getting much more.

I love that the Vault has branched out to newer artists and more recent concerts. Their A to Z list of performers is huge and inclusive, so I can experiment. There are artist interviews as well as concerts. There are lots of free downloads as well as ones you have to pay for. Plus concert listings in my area.

The website has improved steadily. It’s become increasingly easy to use and what Wolfgang’s Vault is adding, I’m enjoying. I must be in their target demographic—they’re hitting me in my soft spot and I love it!

What’s the brand lesson? Do one thing really well and build from there. Innovate around what you know and give your customers and fans an easy path to follow as you lead the way. If the substance is there and you demonstrate that you’re listening, you’ll keep your die-hards and win new ones.

Have a great 2010!

Beth Woolley

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A recent client of ours has almost twenty loosely related sub-brands, making their website difficult to navigate and leading to confusion in the marketplace.  The company was pushing the master brand, but consumers were left clueless as to what the master brand actually did and how it all fit together.

Purchasing decisions are complicated enough without making it hard for people to understand who you are and why you do it. If you can zero in on the specific role you play, you make the decision making process one step easier.  A defined brand strategy and brand architecture can enhance focus and clarity. As an added bonus, you can internally focus your budgets and energy more strategically.

So, how to get focused?

1. Ask yourself the fundamental questions of brand architecture:  is the right strategy to create a strong corporate brand or is it to create a portfolio of strong sub-brands—or a combo of both?  Always look at your brand architecture from the point of view of the customer, not how you are internally organized.
2. Clarify (for both employees and consumers) the roles that the various brands play and how they interplay.
3. Lastly, use your website’s navigation as a visual guide to communicate this road map.

-Bianca Abate

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Here are a couple of questions posed by takers of the online brand survey:

Would having an online forum at this stage of our development (early-stage startup) provide any value add for users visiting our website?

We are just starting to push our new solution. What should we be talking about to start building a community?

The sooner you engage customers, the better. If you can engage prospects—even more better. Value add will occur if you referee an honest dialog about your product/solution—which includes incorporating feedback into product development and customer service, and calling that out via online communications. When customers experience that their opinions and needs result in actions, they experience you as a full participant in their community. This tends to make them stick with you—and tell others about you in their online and offline travels.

That said, how do you start building that community? Community-building online is as much about where as it is about what. Here’s a good, high-level article on the subject: http://mashable.com/2009/08/25/whole-foods/. It doesn’t matter how big or small your organization is, the key is to focus in on where your audience hangs out and add value to those conversations (whether it’s commenting on someone else’s blog or starting a Facebook page for your business). You can’t control a brand community but you can help shape it by delivering something of value to its members.

Anyone out there have some additional suggestions? Please comment.

And, we’re closing the survey at noon Wednesday, 9/2—so if you want to get your two cents in and have a chance to win that Flip video camera, take a few minutes to complete the quiz (scroll down a couple of entries and you’ll see the whole thing).

Beth Woolley

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