Let’s talk about marketing and advertising! If you are selling marketing solutions for your clients, this is for you! (By the way, if you are not, this is still a great concept for your own company and your marketing.)
No matter what your job title, your ultimate job is to provide marketing solutions for your clients. For decades, we've been trained to be consultants to help our clients solve a challenge through advertising/marketing programs that will generate new customers and revenue for their business. If the goal is to provide a good ROI on their advertising, we better become the marketing pros that we've been telling people that we are for years.
Today, let's talk about branding.
When you speak to marketing people, branding is one of the first things they mention. What's your brand?
And I say, forget branding!
Branding is about manipulating consumers perceptions into the views in which you want the company to be seen. Branding is about crafting clever ads, images, and promotions that will give consumers the impression that a company is ______________. It usually involves Photoshop, buzzwords, and smoke and mirrors.
Branding is what companies did in the 80’s, 90’s and even today when they didn’t truly understand how consumers wanted to be engaged. They didn't understand the power of authenticity.
Authenticity is the currency of the 21st Century.
Authenticity is the key to communicating with customers. It's the way that a business can convert a casual customer into a raving fan. Authenticity is anchored to a company's ability to be transparent with their customers. Authenticity is what consumers get when a business knows who they are at their very core. It's their DNA.
The key to advertising and marketing success today is not about marketing spin, mission statements, or even what a company represents (i.e. brand). It is about knowing who they are, why they do what they do, and what makes their customers love them!
It is their DNA!
It's your job to discover their DNA so that you can create an authentic, transparent advertising program that helps them solve their biggest marketing challenges.