The "C" Word That's Killing Your Brand
David Brier
Join the Elite 1% That Rise Above the Noise. ?? Slayer of the Mundane ?? Author of the #1 Amazon bestseller “BRAND INTERVENTION” responsible for $7B in sales
You knock yourself out to close that client or account. They close. You’re pumped.
Yet, once the project ends or that first order is complete, you never hear from them again.
So, you rinse and repeat: Close. Deliver. Sell some more.
Month after month. Year after year. Never gaining the traction or brand recognition you rightfully deserve.
There are various possible scenarios why.
Yet there's one that's the real culprit with the smoking gun in its hand….
Invisible But Deadly
(Killing Small Business Slowly)
One factor is so rampantly widespread, so commonplace, that it’s invisible to nearly every company owner or executive and is factually one of the most destructive and dangerous to any growth whatsoever.
I know I am amongst friends, but I must resort to “the C word”: Committees.
They’re the official sponsors of vanilla-fests and will kill any innovation.
Any change.
Shutting the door on anything that questions the status quo.
It’s the ultimate death match for good ideas, innovation and change. (Talking about change — if you’re rebranding, here are 19 questions you must ask of your company before starting. Or if you have a brand and are wondering what next step to take, here are 3 points every brand should tackle.)
Why are Committees So Destructive?
Their objective and model is three-fold:
- Debate the life and spark out of everything,
- Make the originator sorry for ever uttering a single syllable, and
- Protect the status quo against against any change, even when the current scene is level, or worse — on a rapid-fire dwindling decline or when markets change and you’re rapidly becoming a case study in stupid, mindless stagnancy.
Wow. Let’s look at that again:
- Debate endlessly.
- Argue points the arguer knows little about.
- Mindlessly protect the way things are whether they work or not.
That’s the formula for a committee with this one added bonus: Nobody owns it if it falters or needs fixing. No. That’s just one more thing that gets thrown back into the committee grinder to be debated over, argued about and protected for its inherent rightfulness.
4 Steps to Liberate Your Brand
- Come up with a good idea (e.g., campaign, product concept, name, etc.) all by yourself or possibly with one other “conspirator.” Someone who doesn’t care what others think. (CEO and Shark Tank star Daymond John has mastered this tactic. Read more about Daymond’s views and strategies here.)
- Develop it without a committee
- Test it out amongst the intended audience (an exact skill that committees do not have the ability to do is assume the viewpoint of the audience)
- Refine and perfect as necessary with your observations of what worked, what was off-target, what confused the audience and what pleasantly surprised them.
Then you can tell the committee where to go. (Need more fuel to ignite your flame? Download your own copy of the the free eBook "The Lucky Brand" here)
David Brier's branding insights have been written about in Fast Company, Forbes, INC and numerous other business and design publications. Shark Tank star Daymond John has this say: "David Brier is brilliant with branding."
Yes, and focus groups are even worse. However, it would seem to me that, although potentially destructive and stultifying, committees are a fact of life. They exist and will continue to exist. Otherwise everybody is Louis XV, "L'etat c'est moi". Therefore, it can be regarded as a tool, particularly for a smart middle exec that defines the goal and rules for the committee up front, based on evidence and procedural structure before the fact. If you've been on several hundred committees (I have -half were a waste) you will remember good ones, bad ones and those you've wretched on. The good ones were always those run by a smart, self confident chairperson with a good rule of order who put the charter, its purpose and its rules in place, then held them in and had members back their viewpoint with evidence, etc. In other words, if you're going to have a committee, (alas!) take responsibility for it before it comes back with some inanity. Or you can call it a creative session and then anything goes, everybody gets a chance to sling something at the wall to see if it sticks. And you, the smart guy, walk away with a couple of jewels.
Chief Executive Officer at PETE LOGISTICS SERVICES
10 年Surview Marine and Logistics Services Limited is a freight forwarding company that is willing to offer and establish a concrete business relationship in providing worldwide shipping and logistics services. Contact us today at [email protected]
Founder and Managing Partner, Your Next Orbit | Helping Businesses Market Better & Grow Faster | Brand & Reputation Management Consultant
10 年Very important to not get influenced by people sitting around you when making crucial business decisions..
Leader in Change, Data, Cyber, IT, Risk and Controls. Key sector FS, however with retail and government experience
10 年Seen it so many times - one person comes up with an idea then someone will use all kind of psychological approaches to stop or change the idea to meet their purpose. Businesses are getting smarter though and recognising these characters.