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Informing or Evangelizing: Turn Down the Volume.

We often talk about brand, products, and services evangelizers and tout evangelizing  as a great way to build brand. But can it backfire on us? Can evangelizing equate to false prophets in the minds of those touched by evangelizers?

I ask these questions because many of us consultants work daily to put in place processes that result in evangelizing our client's brand, products, services and value propositions. We might need to take a step back and ask ourselves if we sometimes do more harm than good.

Recently, I was asked to conduct a workshop called "Old Media vs. New Media." The immediate feedback from attendees was that we achieved success. However, the workshop surveys showed a somewhat different general response. One person struck a high chord. He equated what was being said as social media evangelizing, not as a forum for information, which was the workshop's purpose. And for him, and several others, evangelizing leads to skepticism. Having never thought about that previously, I now have cause to wonder if evangelizing leads us where we want to go.

Now, let it be said, I was passionate in the workshop. Any speaker should be, no matter the subject matter. However, I also made it very clear that social media needed to be approached with caution by businesses and that social media does not represent anything more than new tools that allow some different approaches to engaging customers. To at least a few, that message was lost. Not surprising. Our experiences result in our perceptions of what we hear, read and watch.

Knowing that, we must be careful in evangelizing and in creating brand evangelists. In fact, I believe evangelizing is not what we should be seeking. All of us know that the word itself carries baggage, as many people see evangelists as blinded to reality by their beliefs. The last thing we should want for our clients are company and consumer spokespersons who create that perception, which results in three groups of people carrying three perceptions of our clients:

1. Those who believe our clients are great.
2. Those who are unmoved by our clients and the evangelists.
3. And those who are pushed to lash back at our clients because of the evangelism.

To some extent, groups 1 and 3 cancel each other out. Not a good business result.

To avoid that, we marketers and brand consultants should first rid our vocabulary of the words evangelizing and evangelists, and replace them with an older phrase: word of mouth marketing. Then, instead of producing strategies and tactics to create brand evangelists, the strategies and tactics should be lowered in volume with the goal to create realistic and believable company and consumer spokespersons who see the good and the bad in what we and our clients do.

The results: Instead of evangelists, we will have loyal customers, who when asked or offered an opportunity to comment on a brand, product or service will appear as a trustworthy and credible admirer of the business we represent or of our business. In other words, let's inform, not evangelize. Let's turn down the volume just a notch.

Be A Star: Get Noticed or Get Lost!

  You are your brand. No ifs, ands or buts. Unless you work for another, then you are their brand. Why? Because brand isn't a logo, or letterhead, or an ad or a viral video. Brand is human. And Brand image is what others think of that human. In your case, your brand is what others think of you. It's their perception of you. So if you are one of those who claim they don't care what others think, be prepared to live with a brand that sucks and doesn't get noticed. But if you recognize the value of you, then read on and learn how to be a brand star.

Here are starter points for entrepreneurs and business people who want to build a brand that gets  noticed:

• Be confident
• Be special
• Be passionate
• Know what you sell
• Be yourself and play the role as if you are the star of your own movie
• Live that role every moment of every day

Be Confident

Customers smell confidence, or a lack thereof, like dogs smell friend or foe. If you don't believe in yourself, in your business, in your products and services, how can you expect others to believe in those things. So be confident, not arrogant, and share that confidence openly with everyone you meet. They will become believers.

Be Special

If you are like everybody else, then you blend into the forest like a pine among evergreens. Who will notice you if you're just another pine. So what makes you stand out in a forest? Your personality? Your attire? Your 30-second elevator speech? Something that you offer that your competitors don't? If you can't find that one special thing about you that makes you different, you won't be seen as special and your phone won't ring. Remember, you are your brand, not your products and services. Stand out in a crowd, and potential customers or clients will approach you.

Be Passionate

Here is where your Baptist training comes in. But if you are like me, from another denomination, attend a Baptist service and take in the passion. Baptists sell God and Jesus and religion like no other. The passion is thicker than a mud slide full of fervor. Be passionate. Be a fanatic about who you are and what you do. Others will attach themselves to your religion and sell it for you.

Know What You Sell

What do you sell? Coffee, widgets, clothes, consulting.... No, no and no. If what you sell is stuff, your potential for greatness is akin to swimming across the English channel with your hands cuffed behind your back and your ankles bound. Everybody sells stuff. But what do they sell that makes them different from all the other stuff sellers. Here are a few examples: Starbucks doesn't sell coffee, it sells the Third Place Experience. Harley doesn't sell motorcycles, it sells adventure and freedom. Apple doesn't sell computers, it sells cool. And Nike doesn't sell shoes, it sells speed.

Be Yourself and Play the Role as if You are the Star of Your Own Movie

It might sound contradictory, but you must be yourself. You must be authentic. And you must play the role of the authentic you like a star in your own movie. If you act like a member of the crew, an extra or a co-star, you will be seen as just another entrepreneur or business person. Be either the Star or the Director of your movie. Then you will shine or lead like no other.

Live That Role Every Moment of Every Day

Ever been to a movie where the star does something out of character? Of course you have. And what was your reaction. Mine begins with surprise but quickly degenerates into unbelievability, and then the star loses his or her credibility. Not a good thing for a movie and definitely not a good thing for your business. Brand depends upon people perceiving you as trustworthy and credible. If for even a second, you step out of your role as the authentic and passionate you, your brand is screwed, as that moment's audience loses faith and interest in you. Play the role as it is written and never step out of character. Why should you? The character is the authentic you. Don't stumble into someone else's role and step on their lines.

There you have it. You are the brand. Play the star, get noticed or get lost!

One Minute Branding Primer

Branding often is seen as something mysterious and complex. And in the long-term creating a great brand does take time, patience, persistence and planning. However, success is neither mysterious not complex. What is most important to remember is that our brand is not our's at all: It belongs to those who through their perception of us create our brand image.

To a degree, much of what makes a great brand comes from the learnings most of us receive growing up. Here in one minute are the minimum requirements for a great brand.

• Authenticity--always be yourself and always develop a business culture that represents your core values.
• Integrity--honesty is a virtue that can not be overlooked, even in the tiniest ways.
• Values--your business is founded on core values that could never be changed without doing so changing your business.
• Value--your products are services deliver value at a fair price.
• Happiness--your goal number 1 is to spread joy and happiness among everyone you touch.
• Experience--you don't sell products and services, you sell a great people experience.
• People--people come before all else, including profits and revenues.

Instill these qualities into your business, walk the talk, and watch your brand image thrive. Have a beautiful week!

Business Birthday Bash

On Sunday my wife Kay celebrates her birthday, and I will cook her dinner with wine and all the birthday  accoutrements. It will be great fun, Kay will be appreciative and we will learn things about each other that we didn't know. That's what happens at celebrations.

So I wonder why most businesses don't hold a party every year on their birthday. A party is a wonderful way to honor and celebrate the business, to share food and drink with employees, to bond and to learn things about each other that cannot be learned in the day-to-day business environment.

If Brand is built from the inside/out, and I think most experts agree it is, then in addition to having fun and building bonds, an annual birthday party is a way to get everyone excited about the business and to build pride in working in that business. So why aren't we celebrating more and complaining less?

Red Sox Beat Angels

  How do I know this, as the opening pitch is yet to be thrown? Am I psychic? An eternal optimist? A dreamer? Or maybe just a good marketer? To find out, visit Becky Carroll's Customers Rock!, where today I guest post. Click Here.

P.S. Oh, yeah. Go Sox!

What are You Doing to Get Noticed This Week?

Whether or not you run a multi-national company, a mid-sized manufacturing business, a small business  or a sole proprietorship, everyday is a day to do something to get your business noticed. For me, that means doing one or more of the following:

• Updating blog content
• Writing a piece for another blog or for a publication
• Commenting on other's blogs
• Attending a chamber event to network
• Sending out direct mail
• Distributing a white paper to my distribution list
• Meeting a peer or a potential customer for coffee or lunch
• Sending out birthday greetings to peers and/or clients and potential clients
• Relating to others at my Social Media sites

We do other things, as well, but you get the idea. We believe that without marketing, there is no business. And we practice what we preach. You might think that because we are a marketing firm, this is easy for us. You would be wrong. Marketing is never easy, especially when we do it for ourselves. That is because we are so deep within our own forest, we often have trouble seeing the marketing trees.

Nevertheless, we do all we can to market every day and to do it in the most meaningful, purposeful and successful ways. And when we do it for clients, we pay close attention to their wants and needs, because one size doesn't fit all. And that means that what we do has been carefully considered, planned for and measured. We encourage you to do only those things that meet your wants and needs and that at the end of the day work for you. Throwing darts at a board is not good marketing.

Questions for you to consider. Please share your answers in a comment.

• If you aren't marketing everyday, why not?
• What are you doing to get your business noticed?
• What works best? What never works?

Don't Be Cool, Be Great

This is the story of a small high-tech services company in North America whose Marketing Department is challenged to create a "cool" image around its B2B services. Those services include: network maintenance, monitoring of critical systems, IT fixes, new user set-ups, procurement of hardware and software, and consulting work. They also offer a green service that is used to cut down on energy use and waste.

The company faces two major challenges: 1) potential customers don't see the value of IT services and 2) the company's pricing point is perceived as too expensive and not worth the value. The Marketing Department wants its audience to understand the value of outsourcing IT and to change its perception of the return on investment.

As always, I like to keep solutions as simple as possible to understand, and that may be part of this company's problem. Instead of trying to convince an audience we are cool and we offer value, we need to show the audience that partnering with us will save them money in the long-term and that we will provide them and their clients and customers with a great experience by maintaining their online presence and making that online presence not only reliable but a great experience for everyone to use, especially their clients and customers.

How do we get that message out? At the end of the day, we want to create a loyal customer base rather than one looking for a bargain. I would analyze our price points but I don't believe that is a long-term solution. Instead, I would focus on building solid relationships with my ideal customers. Here's a few ways to get that strategy moving forward:

• Identify the ideal client: Before we can communicate with our best clients, we have to know what they look like, both the business profile and the decision-maker's profiles. Who do they serve? What do their customers want and need? How would we rate their current IT services? What are their wants and needs? How do we meet their wants and needs? Can we save them money in the long-term? Are they interested in a green solution and how can we help them get noticed for their green efforts?
• Word of Mouth Marketing: This is key and should be the first step of any business trying to grow its customer base. I recommend that we get as many of our leaders out of the office as possible, as often as possible. Where should they go? They should go wherever their ideal customers are and begin building relationships with those customers to learn what they want and need. Networking is not about sales. It is about building a relationship around trust and credibility. It is about creating a brand image based on human touchpoints, not marketing materials. It is about being there for the potential client when they recognize that they need our services.
• Direct Mail Campaign: Direct mail continues to rank as one of our best vehicles for return on investment, when done correctly. Direct mail is not a post card, it is not a sales letter. It is a series of pieces communicated to the right person, at the right business, using a variety of tools, from our web site, to e-mail, to snail mail and telemarketing. The messages must be about the client, not about our business. It must be a message that resonates, inspires and motivates. And it is wise to be a message with an offer and an action point to take advantage of the offer that is clear and easy to use. When we create direct mail campaigns the goals, strategies and tactics are detailed and can take several pages, so I can't describe it here. However, I will repeat that to succeed, everything we say and do in this campaign must be about our customers, not about us. It is always about them, not us.

Obviously, there is much more to be done to get us where we need to be. Building brand and growing a business are a marathon, not a sprint. These two strategies are where I would begin.

Get more high-voltage ideas at BrandingWire.com. This month's marketing and branding experts on BrandingWire are:

Lewis Green

Martin Jelsema

Kevin Dugan

Valeria Maltoni

Steve Woodruff

Drew McLellan

Patrick Schaber

Gavin Heaton

Becky Carroll

Olivier Blanchard

Guest Experts this Month are:

Matt Dickman

Chris Brown

Cam Beck

How Do You Feel About Wal-Mart?

This is the second is a series of articles that ask you how you feel about certain companies. Today, we  look at Wal-Mart.

Brand is not what a company says or even does, it is how you and I perceive what a company says and does and how they meet our expectations. Nothing else matters but your perception. Whatever you believe about a business is their brand image to you. And you matter because businesses depend upon your purchasing power and your loyalty for profitability.

In each installment of this series, I will share with you how a business wants to see themselves and how they want you to perceive them. What we need from you is your honest observations and feelings about how you perceive that company. The only way to have your voice heard is to express your opinions, whether or not you want change or want a business to be the way it used to be or want a business to stay just as it is or want a business just to go away. I assure you the businesses I feature will hear you loud and clear.

Following is how Wal-Mart sees itself, taken word-for-word from their Global Ethics Site and their Corporate Affairs web pages. How do you see the brand?

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has always been a values-based, ethically led company. The values guiding our decisions and leadership are the 3 basic beliefs established by our founder, Sam Walton, in 1962:

• Respect for the Individual
• Service to the Customer
• Strive for Excellence

Vision Statement
The vision of the Global Ethics Office is to promote ownership of Wal-Mart's ethical culture to all stakeholders globally. The Global Ethics Office was established on June 1, 2004. On June 4, 2004 Wal-Mart released a revised Global Statement of Ethics to communicate our ethical standards to all Wal-Mart facilities and stakeholders. The Global Ethics Office provides guidance in making ethical decisions based on the Global Statement of Ethics and a process for anonymous reporting of suspected ethics violation by calling the Global Ethics Helpline.

Global Ethical Principles
Wal-Mart's Guiding Ethical Principles were added to the revised Global Statement of Ethics on June 4, 2004. These principles are designed to assist our Associates and Suppliers with making the right decision and doing the right thing.

• Follow the law at all times
• Be honest and fair
• Never manipulate, misrepresent, abuse or conceal information
• Avoid conflicts of interest between work and personal affairs
• Never discriminate against anyone
• Never act unethically – even if someone else instructs you to do so
• Never ask someone to act unethically
• Seek assistance if you have questions about the Statement of Ethics or if you face an ethical dilemma
• Cooperate with any investigation of a possible ethics violation
• Report ethics violations or suspected violations

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Corporate Affairs Message Brief

Wal-Mart is good for America’s working families. We create thousands of jobs every year -- many of them in neighborhoods that need them the most. We offer our associates job opportunity and affordable healthcare, including health plans that cost as little as $23 per month in some areas and include $3 co-pays and no lifetime max.

Working families shop at Wal-Mart because they like the service our associates provide, and they can buy the products they need at affordable prices in one convenient place. Our union-funded critics in Washington, D.C. should stop attacking Wal-Mart and let working families decide where to work and shop.

Economic Opportunity
We create thousands of jobs every year -- many of them in neighborhoods that need them the most. At one store near Chicago, we had 25,000 applications for just 325 jobs. Many of our associates are seniors who need supplemental income or students who want work experience. More than three-fourths of store management started at Wal-Mart in hourly positions. We save working families money -- an independently-certified study found that Wal-Mart saves the average household more than $2,300 per year.

Health Care Benefits
Like every business in America, Wal-Mart is struggling to deal with the soaring cost of health care. But we’ve made improvements to our health benefits and are working with government to be part of the solution. We offer plans that cost as little as $23 per month in some areas, co-pays on some common drugs for $3 per prescription, and every child of a Wal-Mart associate is eligible for healthcare as soon as the parent is eligible. We offer our part time associates health care benefits, which is not common in retail.

Environmentally-Friendly
Wal-Mart is becoming more environmentally friendly by selling organic products, minimizing waste and conserving energy. For example, some of our fresh food now comes wrapped in corn-based packaging. This initial change of more than 100 million produce containers will save 800,000 gallons of gasoline and prevent more than 11 million pounds of greenhouse gases from polluting our environment. We’re also selling and aggressively promoting high-efficiency light bulbs, which use two-thirds less electricity and prevent 500 pounds of coal from being burned over the life of the bulb.

Community Support
We make the majority of our charitable donations at the local level, where we can have the most impact on improving people’s lives. Wal-Mart has been named the largest corporate cash donor in America. We gave away over $245 million in 2005. Our Wal-Mart jobs and opportunity zones help give small businesses the tools they need to grow

How Do You Feel About Starbucks?

Today I launch of a new series on businesses and their brand image called How Do You Feel About...?. The first installment asks that question about Starbucks.

Brand is not what a company says or even does, it is how you and I perceive what a company says and does and how they meet our expectations. Nothing else matters but your perception. Whatever you believe about a business is their brand image to you. And you matter because businesses depend upon your purchasing power and your loyalty for profitability.

In each installment of this series, I will share with you how a business wants to see themselves and how they want you to perceive them. What we need from you is your honest observations and feelings about how you perceive that company. The only way to have your voice heard is to express your opinions, whether or not you want change or want a business to be the way it used to be or want a business to stay just as it is or want a business just to go away. I assure you the businesses I feature will hear you loud and clear.

Let's begin. Here is what Starbucks wants to be. In the comments, tell us what you believe they are.

Starbucks Marketing Policy

Starbucks is a gathering place for the entire community. We care about giving our customers a personal and enjoyable experience in an environment where they can relax with a good cup of coffee, share a treat with friends, find a gift for a family member or discover new music.

As we grow, our customer base has expanded and diversified to include parents, children and teenagers. Our goal is to offer a variety of high quality products that appeal and are appropriate for all of our customers.

All of our marketing practices, from advertising to event sponsorships, undergo careful scrutiny to ensure that they are appropriate for the community and our customers. Starbucks is currently reviewing our marketing and product purchasing policies relating to children to ensure that we meet the expectations of the communities that we serve.

Starbucks Mission Statement Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.

The following six guiding principles will help us measure the appropriateness of our decisions:

1. Provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity.
2. Embrace diversity as an essential component in the way we do business.
3. Apply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting and fresh delivery of our coffee.
4. Develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time.
5. Contribute positively to our communities and our environment.
6. Recognize that profitability is essential to our future success.

Starbucks Environmental Mission Statement
Starbucks is committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our business.

We fulfill this mission by a commitment to:

1. Understanding of environmental issues and sharing information with our partners.
2. Developing innovative and flexible solutions to bring about change.
3. Striving to buy, sell and use environmentally friendly products.
4. Recognizing that fiscal responsibility is essential to our environmental future.
5. Instilling environmental responsibility as a corporate value.
6. Measuring and monitoring our progress for each project.
7. Encouraging all partners to share in our mission.

P.S. Normally, I engage you in conversation. However, although I will continue to respond to each of you with an e-mail, I will resist commenting throughout this series, except in rare instances. This forum is for you.

A New Series Launches Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Thursday, July 12, I launch a new series about brand image and your perception of that brand. The first installment is called: How Do You Feel About Starbucks?

The point of the series is to acknowledge that brand is not what a business says and does, it is what customers perceive about what the company says and does and how that company meets your expectations. This is an interactive series, where I simply lay out the facts and encourage your voice to be heard through comments. I assure you that businesses will not change or become better or even stay the way we like it unless we speak out.

So if you like the business just as it is, say so and why. If you preferred it the way it was, tell us. If you don't care one way or the other about the company, that is important to share as well. And if you want the business to act differently, here is your chance to tell them.

I guarantee your voice will be heard by leadership at each company. The mere fact that I run their logo and their name is enough in and of itself to get each post noticed. I also will forward your comments anonymously to the marketing department and/or the CEO or COO of each company.