Building A Brand
February 5, 2008 at 10:08 am
I’ve just finished reading “The New Marketing Manifesto: The 12 Rules for Building Successful Brands in the 21st Century”. An inspiring read. I know that because I kept talking about it!
The central thesis is that our society has moved from the traditional (where the rules were laid down by the society) to the external (where it was all about flashy exterior consumption… think 1980′s rest of the world, 2000′s Ireland)… to the Internal which is now. Brands no longer reflect social trends because social trends are all over the place. Anything goes. Instead brands act as the social trends, shining a light on a possible future.
John Grant wrote this book in 1999, almost 10 years ago. And the rules he lays down are the rules we live by today as internet marketers. Encourage participation. Build communities of interest. Get up close and personal with your customers. Continuous Innovation. I’m seeing them all around me.
Another brand-based inspiration, this time from Seth Godin. He wrote an excellent post the other day on Fear, Hope, & Love as the main marketing levers.
If you deliver hope for a long time, you can graduate to love. And brands that are loved usually start by loving their customers in advance.
The easiest way to sell a brand is through fear. The best way may be to deliver on hope while aiming for love.
Once again I have to say, isn’t it great that we can use words like love and hope in business today (and not get laughed at)? “Nirvana” is a word that I use in certain proposals. No I”m not overselling! I’m simply stating that when you get your customers marketing your product on your behalf, it’s akin to Marketing Nirvana! Back in the traditional or external society this simply wouldn’t have been acceptable. So, while the interior society and the constant change accompanying it can be testing at times, it does have its upsides!
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