Kilian Jornet is the greatest athlete you’ve never heard of. He competes in niche sports that require enormous effort and endurance: ski mountaineering, sky running, and ultramarathons. When I say “competes in”, I mean he acquires championships the way you and I acquire gas bills: so regularly and with such certainty that they become almost […]
I am so pleased to be included among the “brand ambassadors” helping to launch Gini Dietrich’s new book, Spin Sucks. Especially so because I think you will find the book extremely valuable. As a brand ambassador, I received a free galley copy of the book, pre-publication, in order to help with the launch. But in…...
Corporate philanthropy has been around for hundreds of years. From the town groceries running a line of credit for local families to the local merchants who sponsor Little League to the corporate giants who established the Lilly and Rockefeller and Carnegie and Gates Foundations as well as many others, companies find ways to align…...
You probably know a few business people in your community who “everybody knows.” They’re so visible, so involved, so active in doing good things that others are drawn to them. Not everyone is their client or customer, but they make a friend of everyone they meet. And they meet a lot of people. For […]
What kind of return on investment can you promise to your customers? If they buy your products and services, how is that going to impact their bottom line, increasing revenues and/or decreasing costs? And how fast can they realize that return? If you have that kind of offer to the market, you might consider building […]
Some years ago UPS introduced a campaign “I love logistics.” They had a jingle, visuals, and actually defined and claimed “logistics” as their own. They kept it going for a long time, with fresh new ad episodes. Not everyone loved it–some people found the song maddening and had a lot to say about that. BUT […]
No, I am not rushing the holiday season. I am talking about products and how they can represent your brand, in the continuing series on branding that started with this post on crafting your brand promise. It’s a series of 31 various ways of building your brand, finding authentic, unique ways to associate your company […]
Too many small companies try to be all things to all people. Well, we can do this, and that, and the other thing too! Why not offer all of our things to all of our people? The problem is this: if you do all kinds of things, no one will think of you when […]
Your customers want to know why you are able to do what you do, how or where your learned to do it, how have your industry and your peers recognized your accomplishments, and other measures of fitness we call “credentials.” Credentials come in a wide variety of forms. There are the basic ones like […]
In my continuing series on brand differentiation, today’s post focuses on the value of case studies in building your brand. Prospective customers really like to read compelling case studies about how your customers have engaged with you and achieved certain desirable outcomes–more money, less hassle, greater efficiency, higher profit margins, higher quality, etc. But case […]
Does your company have a unique capability? Something that only you can do or that few competitors do? If so, perhaps that is a unique differentiator for your brand. Let me give you some examples: A Call Center has the capability to specialize in the healthcare industry (which has very strict regulations about collecting payments) […]
If you have what Strategic Coach Dan Sullivan calls a “Unique Process,” you are way ahead of your competition in differentiation. Your brand promise IS that you will deliver the outcomes that your process inevitably produces. The illustration to your left is a replica of The Whale Hunters Process™. It consists of three stages–Scout, Hunt, and […]