14 steps to Building the Better Brand

Last week I mentioned that I was reading Get Big Fast and Do More Good - Start Your Business, Make It Huge, and Change the World. I finished the book today, but there is one chapter of the book that I'd like to get back to and share with you guys here.

The chapter is called "Building the Better Brand". Quite on-topic I know ??

It lists fourteen steps. The length of their explanations in the book spans a few pages, but for your time convenience, I will summarise them below.

Here we go!

Step One: Pick a really great name.

"It's more important to create something that is succinct and memorable but that can at the same time convey the emotion that your brand stands for".

Step Two: Be a little delusional.

"Being a little blind to all the reasons why your business can't possibly succeed is necessary when you're starting out; otherwise, you'd never leave the house, would you?"

Step Three: Be a little bit jealous.

"My team learns to hate me before we go to a trade show. I become obsessed. Are we going to have the best booth? Are our competitors going to make a bigger splash than we do? What are they doing? How do we measure up? Are our rivals launching new products that are going to blow me (and our accounts) away? Will there be a new brand that is just brilliant?"

Step Four: Hold off on advertising till you really understand your product and your customer.

"Hold off on a media campaign until you know exactly what you want to say and how you need to say it. You need to be crystal clear on who you are, who your customers are, what you are selling them, and how you will make them care."

Step Five: Don't outspend, outmaneuver.

"Rather than try and outspend our competitors' campaigns, we would do Buy One Get One Free promotions and give the customer better value. By doing this we were able to level the playing field and piggyback on our competitors' ability to get a consumer interested in our product category. Look at ways that you can level the playing field by looking better and making yourself a better buy."

Step Six: Realize that good ideas can come from unexpected places.

"I started to notice that my wife was using facial wipes all the time. By ALL THE TIME, I mean she was going through a pack of crappy wipes every week. Now, this was an interesting observation considering that I was the co-owner of a natural-beauty brand! If she was willing to pay almost ten dollars a week for rubbish wipes, then how would she and other women feel about natural, highly effective wipes at the same price point?"

Step Seven: Personify your brand.

"Ido is famous for many things, but one of them is his wholehearted commitment to the color orange. He has orange shirts, orange shoes, and orange computer bags. You name it, he's probably worn it... Yes To's original image was built around the idea of carrots, so orange it is... There is a huge amount of competition in this industry, and you have to figure out a way to stand out in a way that works for you."

Step Eight: Evaluate your relationship with your competitors.

"I want to be friends with my competitors because you never know what will happen. One day they may be the people most likely to buy you out, or they might want to partner with you or even want to work for you."

Step Nine: Find a category that has room to improve.

"The best way to build a better business is to find a category that is succeeding in spite of itself. The other brands in our category were succeeding with products that were almost twenty years old; they weren't bad, but they weren't reaching their full potential either."

Step Ten: Look for your niche within that category.

"The more useful tactic is to find a business where you can launch with a small percentage of a big market. Being a small, differentiated player in a big market can be an amazing position."

Step Eleven: Know when patience is needed and when patience is bullshit.

"Patience is a great spiritual practice, but if it stops you from acting, then it is stopping you from succeeding... The flip side to this is that you've got to be somewhat patient for the process... Don't fool yourself that you're being patient if what you are really doing is procrastinating or giving in to your unconscious fears about success."

Step Twelve: Be the most interesting person your accounts deal with.

"... it makes other people want to know who you are and be around you, if only because you're the most interesting person in the room."

Step Thirteen: Start a conversation with your best customers.

"Every three months Ido has a conference call with the VICs. VIC stands for Very Important Customers; and none of them have much in common besides the fact that they use and love our products... The most powerful marketing tool in the world is word of mouth."

Step Fourteen: Find the ten people you need to know to get your brand to the next stage.

"At the end of the day it will be people, not institutions or groups or companies, that determine your success... Over the years in business we've figured out that to succeed, most endeavors need the support of ten individuals. Find those ten people and convince them that whatever you are doing is better or bigger or stronger."

Some food for thought for the week for all of us ??

Thanks for reading and catch you next week!

If you enjoy this newsletter,?forward it to a friend.

If you were sent this,?click here ?to subscribe.

To read past editions,?click here .

JS.