Winning In the Age of Disruption

How do you maintain and grow sales in this age of massive disruption? Covid, world politics, rising costs and interest rates, staff shortages and general anxiety are smashing many businesses, affecting sales and profitability. How should we respond?

The game has changed. If we keep on doing the same thing and expect a different result, we delude ourselves. Is it time to make some active changes, investing time and attention in smart marketing?

Are you a Gatherer or a Hunter?

In the world of marketing, there are two types of business leaders: Gatherers and Hunters.

Gatherers grow their businesses by word-of-mouth referrals. They pick up customers more by accident rather than intentional marketing activity. They tend to get the low-hanging fruit of easy sales. I call this Passive Marketing and it is surprising how many businesses operate this way. Unfortunately, this is not working for many businesses anymore. Some of these passive marketing businesses are seeing a drop off in sales and are wondering how they are going to survive this next season.

In the age of disruption, the low-hanging fruit is being snapped up by the Hunters. Hunters don’t wait for customers to come through the door. They go and target new customers where they are doing life, and build a relationship with them. They spend time finding out what their customer’s pain points are. They use this information to create attractive solutions to their customer’s pain. Hunters are agile and prepared to adjust their products and services to solve customer problems, rather than trying to push their own agenda.

Once they know their products are good they develop engaging messages that connect with customers. They gain trust by answering questions that customers are asking. They provide value before they ask for a sale and they speak in a way that customers understand. They show their customers how their life will be so much better if they choose their solution.

Hunters know that they can’t win by relying on their direct sales alone. They seek to amplify their efforts through digital platforms that their customers are using. They go hunting on places like Facebook, Linkedin, TikTok, Youtube and Google. They know how to use email, digital advertising, and video to get attention and build a relationship to the point where they can ask for a sale.

Hunters are not happy with their website not coming up on the first page of Google. They are not happy if their website is failing to deliver leads or convert to sales. They are not happy when they invest in ads and have no way of measuring how effective they are. They expect to see results and take action when advertising and marketing fail to deliver results.

Courage is the main characteristic of the hunter. They are happy to put themselves out there, learn some new skills and give it a go. They are prepared to take some risk and invest in Marketing. If they can’t do this themselves they reach out for professional help to assist with this.

So what will it be? Passive or Active? Gatherer or Hunter?Hopefully, it will be happy hunting.

“Creativity is the variable that multiplies”

The headline above is a favourite quote from Gary Vaynerchuk (marketing legend) about the power of creativity to make a huge difference in your marketing comms. Here are a few more thoughts that I find helpful when it comes to creativity and marketing.

Rely on your uncertainty.

I’m not sure who said it, but my favourite quote that describes the creative process is:

“Build your bridge as you walk over it”.

Keep your options open to start with. Prepare for the feeling of uncertainty and going into the unknown. Believe that you will get to the other side with an idea that works.

Ideas don’t often come in a flash of blinding light. They start as a murky impression of unformed creative sludge. Ideas need to be nurtured and refined, pulled apart and knocked into shape. Then they need to be added to and built upon before they see the light of day and shown to others. In these early stages, there is a great deal of vulnerability and uncertainty but that is ok. When you are in the business of coming up with creative ideas for a living it is better to move from uncertainty to certainty, keeping your options open. If you start in certainty, you will often end up in uncertainty because you have not been open to all your options at the beginning.

Relevance is better than Originality.

When it comes to creative communication, trying to be original can be one of the biggest hindrances to creativity. It’s better to be relevant and connect effectively with your audience rather than trying to be original because most of us will never be truly original. Pablo Picasso is often quoted as saying:

“Good artists copy, great artists steal.”

I don’t think he was promoting stealing ideas. That can get you into all sorts of trouble. He was exaggerating to make a point. We all rely on influences and inspiration from others to come up with our ideas. Our job is to add our own twists and inflections to make the ideas relevant to the audience we are talking to.

Being curious and open to new ideas is important to keep your creativity fresh. Make a regular habit of looking for new ideas. Keep up to date with what is at the forefront of your industry. I am interested in a variety of magazines and websites across a few industries not just in my category. I am constantly grazing for fresh ideas or something I can include in my world to make my ideas the best they can be.

The more you create the more creative you get.

Creativity without action is a waste of brainpower. Someone once said that ‘Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration’. I still think that is true. When it comes to creativity ‘Use it or lose it’. That is why I love this quote from John Steinbeck:

“Creativity doesn’t come out of thin air. It comes from practice. The more you do something, the better you get at doing it. If you sit around wishing you could paint or play music, you’ll never make much progress.”

There are no shortcuts when it comes to creativity. Be prepared to do the hard work to bring your inspiration to life.

To finish, here is one of my favourite quotes from Bob Dylan:

“Life isn’t about finding yourself or finding anything. Life is about creating yourself and creating things.”

So just do it!

How owning an idea in your customers mind is one of the most valuable results of successful branding.

Companies spend trillions every year trying to get their share of it. New Zealand’s most successful businesses invested billions last year to claim their piece. What is this highly desired resource? Forget about Auckland housing, this sought-after resource is the real estate of the mind. It is this ‘share of brain’ that companies are spending fortunes to secure, and every Kiwi business owner needs to know how to claim theirs to be successful.

Every great piece of good advertising is an attempt to plant an idea in your mind. But more importantly that idea needs to stay and grow into a permanent resident. One that becomes an old friend. One that you turn to whenever you need their help to solve a problem. Think about Google. Before they started in 1998 none of us knew what a Google was. One day you heard about them. The idea was planted. Now you turn to Google most days like an old friend, to solve any problem. They own that piece of your mind that needs to know answers.

What piece of mental real estate do you want your brand to own? Imagine if every potential customer in your area knew your brand name and the problem you can solve for them. Because once they know this then you are only one Google search away. They wouldn’t need to do a generic search where all your competitors are presented too. They would Google your name and then within seconds be on a direct path to your door. What would that be worth to you? To Google it’s worth trillions.

How do you increase your ‘share of brain’?

For this to be successful you need a marketing vision. Because increasing your ‘share of brain’ doesn’t happen overnight. It takes planning. Step out of your business for a few minutes. Think about the next three years and how much you could increase your share of brain. What if every potential customer in your geographic area knew your name? How many people would that be? What needs to change to reach this bigger group?

What’s your big idea?

Everyone knowing your name is not enough. You need to attach a positive reason to choose you. You need to articulate this positive reason with clarity. What do you want to stand for in the minds of customers? What problem do you solve for your customers? Put it into one sentence or a few words.

Wash and Repeat

How much are you prepared to invest in cementing your name and big idea into the customers’ minds? The number of times that a customer needs to connect with your message before they act has jumped up in recent years. Every industry is different but one thing is for sure, that number is more than once.

This is what branding is all about – owning an idea in someone’s mind. A brand is a brain tattoo. Something that won’t come off in the wash of the digital deluge that we call life. It takes continual energy to own an idea. Lots of others are trying to jump in front of you and push you out of the way. That is why most people find it hard to create content, communication and real connection. We Kiwis are sometimes too polite. But if you want to succeed in the digital world keep connecting, creating and communicating. Make it your goal to increase your ‘share of brain’ and the rewards will follow.

What is a digital marketing strategy and why does your business need one?

The average person spends more than seven hours per day engaged in some form of digital media, over double what they spend on traditional media. With that number rising, having a digital marketing strategy for your business is now more important than ever.

What is a Digital Marketing Strategy?

Your Digital Marketing Strategy is a roadmap to a purposeful and consistent relationship with your audience online. It’s how you coordinate market intelligence to deliver your business goals. It includes a buying journey, from awareness, to consideration, to transaction, to ambassador.

Where do you start?

Your Digital Marketing Strategy is a fundamental part of your overarching marketing and business plan. Be clear on what your business goals are, then:

1. Define your audience and create their buying journey
2. From that, develop your consumer engagement funnel
3. Prepare messaging and assets for each stage of that funnel
4. Define your KPIs and create a schedule of deliverables

But wait, do you know what stage of the buying process your audience is at?

How you communicate with your audience depends on what stage of the buying journey they are at. The last thing you want to do is give the wrong message to the wrong audience.

Brand loyalty is like having a best friend. It’s a relationship that builds over time, and has different stages that build on common interests and respect. Knowing what stage your brand relationship is at is important; you wouldn’t reintroduce yourself to your best friend every time you chat! A strong strategy has responsive messages tailored to each stage of that customer journey.

Having a good Digital Marketing Strategy is fundamental for businesses to be successful online. Want to know more? Talk to us about how we can help you with loveable branding and purposeful marketing.

One brand or multiple brands?

“Should I have one brand or multiple brands for each company division or product?”

Lately, clients have asked several versions of this question.

Many businesses start with one strong brand. If they have a range of products or services they tie these back to the parent brand. Then over time, they may get another business or they may look to develop a new product line that targets a different group of customers. At this point, they develop different brands for these new divisions. Before they know it they have a collection of different business units and a variety of products going in a variety of brand directions.

Then they have a difficult decision. Should they keep all the parts of their business aligned as one brand system or do they split them all off into individual brands with their own unique image and story.

In Brand World managing this complexity is called Brand Architecture and it looks at how all the parts of your brand or brands work together. One of the most helpful metaphors to understand this comes from David Aaker, a US marketing expert. He talks about having a Branded House or a House of Brands.

A Branded House is where you have one brand name and all the products and divisions include the master brand in their name. Eg Virgin has Virgin Records, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Wines, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Money and so on.

At the other end of the spectrum, you have a House of Brands. In this model, the parent company is almost invisible and the divisions or products have their own unique identities and logos. An example of this is Unilever who own many of our supermarket brands. Most people don’t know about Unilever but they do recognise Persil, Lipton, Lux, Jif, Vaseline, Choysa, Continental which are all Unilever brands.

Ups and downs of both models

A Branded House is popular for many businesses and seems the obvious choice. It creates efficiency for the company and ease of communication. The downside is that: It can be more company focussed rather than customer focussed,  it can alienate some customer groups, important products can be undervalued, and customers can be confused if a company sells very different products under the same brand. E.g. Should Ice Cream and Concrete be sold under the same brand?

A House of Brands lets you reach specific customer groups with a clearly defined and differentiated message. It allows you to be an expert in one category. It also can provide a safety buffer between brands in the case of bad press. The downside is that you need to increase marketing budgets to promote more brands, and the parent company takes a back seat.

The Branded House sits on one end of the brand architecture spectrum and the House of Brands is at the other end. In between, there are other configurations such as the Sub Brand and the Endorsed Brand. As you move across the spectrum towards a House of Brands, there is an increasing separation from the primary or master brand.

Sub Brands are still strongly connected to the master brand but all the company to create new associations, appeal to new customers or reach new niches. Sony Play Station is an example of this. 

The Endorsed Brand uses the master brand as a known or trusted name to add value to a new brand. It is like a celebrity endorsement. iPod from Apple is an example of this. 

How do you decide which way to go?

The main question to ask is ‘who is your brand or brands aimed at?’ If they are distinctly different customer profiles then you may need a house of brands. If the brands are aiming at different consumer categories then a House of Brands could be the way to go. Auto Repairs and Engineering fit into two distinct categories in the minds of customers. One would tend to be business to consumer and the other business to business. If your business provides both services you may want to consider developing two distinct brands. If you are focused on one category and customer group then the Branded House is the way to go.