Branding is the topic of a great column by Guy Kawasaki in the September issue of Entrepreneur magazine (pg. 40). Guy says that there are 8 rules to follow for effective branding:
- Seize the high ground - Base your brand on positive claims such as “making the world a better place” and not negative ones, certainly not in opposition to your competition.
- Create one message - You can’t have more than one brand message for your company, even it it’s a big one. Keep it short and simple. One message for all.
- Speak English - Avoid jargon. Use language that your grandmother can understand.
- Apply the “opposite test” – If your brand claim is something like, “Our software is scalable, fast and easy to use” then that’s the same thing a competitor could say. If there is no “opposite” claim, don’t bother with pablum.
- Cascade the message - Relay it up and down the organization so everyone knows it, believes it and repeats it.
- Focus on PR, not advertising - Advertising lacks the credibility of articles in the news media, plus it is very expensive. Use PR for maximum advantage (something we believe in and practice at Charlotte marketing firm Lawrimore Inc.) to build your brand with many audiences believably.
- Strive for humanness - Speak to your customers as individuals, not part of a market. Be personal and in time you may be rewarded with “my iPod” or “my Harley.”
- Flow with the go - Ultimately it’s your customers and their perceptions that determines what your brand really means in the marketplace. Don’t go against that flow – capitalize on it and strengthen your brand with the real-world perceptions of customers.
Read more Guy Kawasaki great ideas at his website, Alltop.com.
McCain seems to be gaining on Obama because McCain is so definite and Obama sees both sides of issues. Although I am a Democrat I am concerned that McCain is calling the shots in this campaign and Obama is more reactive.
Saturday night (8/17) at Saddleback Church McCain came out strongly pro-life while Obama is pro-choice, although he certainly sees abortion as a very important issue.
The fact that McCain is 71 doesn’t bother most people. I think many Americans want a president who is definite to give them confidence in the future directions of the country. It will be very interesting to see who the vice presidential choices are.
I have been working for years on the idea that we all have the choice of viewing reality at different levels, with different consequences. Years ago I heard a Nobel prize-winning biologist deliver a lecture in which he said, “The purpose of life is the procreation of the germ plasm.” The germ plasm is the living stuff that carries genes, and yes, this man was a geneticist. Since then I have noticed other people who describe the purpose or meaning of life in terms of what they do for a living.
In the past few years I have interacted with a wide range of consultants worldwide who specialize in the emerging field of Complexity science, or Complexity for short. Many of them view life or reality as complex systems, which are systems composed of other systems such as human organizations or ecosystems. I have been struck by how each person has clung to his own worldview and defended his beliefs or claims based on that worldview. No one has been willing to change his worldview based on anyone else’s claims or statements.
So that led me to a simplified precept, IADOYPOV. This stands for “It All Depends On Your Point Of View.” Each of us perceives reality from a particular point of view that we often hold to in order to avoid anxiety and simply deal with the challenges of life and being.
Continue reading Multiple Levels Of Reality
