When I drive down the country lane near my home, I can’t help but notice that more and more bootleg directional signs are beginning to take the place of the usual expanses of green pastures, cedar fences and newly mowed fields. Perhaps, like most people in growing suburban areas, I am struck by the sense that the authors of these sign campaigns are desperate to capture, lure and shout their way into my subconscious. I’m not listening but they’re sure telling. I am, after this short drive, overwhelmed by their monologue of desperation that screams, “look at us!” I’m always hoping to see if any of the messages offer something that’s about me. I think I’m going to be driving for a long time.
Remember the line in the Pixar Movie, The Incredibles “When everyone is super then no one is.” It kinda of makes you stop and realize that one good idea, copied a million times is suddenly a bad idea. If you can’t be different you can’t be noticed. Saying it by adding more and more signs each week is not a solution, it’s just more signs.
Here’s a new idea. Think about the whole process of finding a community, then find the solution to the problem that everyone ignores. Let’s say you couldn't use a sign at all. All you could use is your website. The thought process you might employ would certainly include a plan for success, based on the “brand” you wanted to be known for. Say, “The builder who doesn’t clutter the landscape but still gets everyone to their sites with efficiency”.
At C and Company we have helped countless companies use their websites, and their inventiveness to this advantage, helping establish systems and processes that give them a heightened awareness in the marketplace. In this scenario, helping a customer locate and easily drive to a new community without signs, as well offering a more friendly experience from happy, motivated staff implementing a unique initiative is news that travels fast. We can help you discover new solutions to replace what used be a “super” idea and just isn't working any more.
Bold, yes. Get rid of signs? Innovative thought. More than 90% of prospective home buyers visit a website before venturing out in their cars. We challenge you to look for innovative, brand based answers and start creating a new kind of brand buzz!
(c) 2008 Signs, Buzz and Building your Brand
Camine Pappas
C and Company
Showing posts with label Homebuilder advice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homebuilder advice. Show all posts
Monday, July 21, 2008
Why is Emotional Selling Pivotal to Brand Success?
Whenever I sit down with a new customer and prepare them for their ‘brand creation’ journey, the first thing I assess is whether or not they have ever considered how pivotal creative processes are to their organizational success and not just their marketing success.
I find that even the mention of “right-brained thinking” conjures up visions of couches and graying men with beards who ask about your childhood. While I have them with their jaws gaping I also ask them if they realize that every member of their team will need to embrace a collective, emotional idea in order to deliver on the brand promise.
Most often I meet with resistance. “Just design a great logo and collateral. Sales can handle the rest. We don’t need to worry about that side of our business.” Here’s why that answer spells disaster.
Our phobias toward intuitive strategies in a world where an emotional, impulsive and informed consumer rules, need to be dealt with. Understanding why people buy requires an aptitude geared toward the emotions that link marketing to the actual act of buying. It requires that company owners agree on and create a consistent language. Owners must instill a common vision so that each person feels personally connected to the emotional value the buying experience gives to the consumer. And to really succeed with brand marketing, you need to have the courage to be innovative and not follow the pack.
Don’t panic yet. Even if your company is more ‘engineer’ and than 'imagineer’, you can still create solid branding solutions. First, think simple. We tend to over complicate what should be a very natural relationship between buyer and seller by either using or creating strategies that separate us emotionally from our buyer. Strategies that cut off the very blood supply that will make sales happen.
What are those bad habits? Things like making our customers stand behind the counter, take a number, or telling them, “We can’t open up that section because our waitress is overloaded”, “Returns not allowed after 7 days without a receipt”, “Park only in designated spaces”, and my personal favorite, “That’s just our policy”. Real grease for the wheel, eh? Oh, and by the way, will you please fill out this little card and tell us all about yourself? You know the answer to that one.
Are you beginning to see why learning how to sell with emotion can offer hope instead of hype? In short, people have to believe that you will meet their expectations. If you’re doing it right you’ll be more aware of your customer’s needs and remove barriers to your success. In fact, when these things begin to happen in sync you’ll begin to save money on advertising, become more efficient when developing new product lines, and you may even discover you’re creating a trend instead of following one. Approaching marketing with this angle will also make it easier to attract and retain talent because everyone has an emotional stake in your success.
Now, don’t stop reading early, here’s when the real fun starts. When your customer becomes the vehicle in which the message you tell is carried to other potential customers, you have the ultimate brand success. She tells others about you, and she says it with a believability that you could never achieve even if you had Proctor and Gamble’s marketing budget. Right brains are on the right track after all.
(c) 2008 Brand Creation by Camine Pappas
Camine Pappas
C and Company, Marketing Strategy and Branding Experts
Charlotte, NC
I find that even the mention of “right-brained thinking” conjures up visions of couches and graying men with beards who ask about your childhood. While I have them with their jaws gaping I also ask them if they realize that every member of their team will need to embrace a collective, emotional idea in order to deliver on the brand promise.
Most often I meet with resistance. “Just design a great logo and collateral. Sales can handle the rest. We don’t need to worry about that side of our business.” Here’s why that answer spells disaster.
Our phobias toward intuitive strategies in a world where an emotional, impulsive and informed consumer rules, need to be dealt with. Understanding why people buy requires an aptitude geared toward the emotions that link marketing to the actual act of buying. It requires that company owners agree on and create a consistent language. Owners must instill a common vision so that each person feels personally connected to the emotional value the buying experience gives to the consumer. And to really succeed with brand marketing, you need to have the courage to be innovative and not follow the pack.
Don’t panic yet. Even if your company is more ‘engineer’ and than 'imagineer’, you can still create solid branding solutions. First, think simple. We tend to over complicate what should be a very natural relationship between buyer and seller by either using or creating strategies that separate us emotionally from our buyer. Strategies that cut off the very blood supply that will make sales happen.
What are those bad habits? Things like making our customers stand behind the counter, take a number, or telling them, “We can’t open up that section because our waitress is overloaded”, “Returns not allowed after 7 days without a receipt”, “Park only in designated spaces”, and my personal favorite, “That’s just our policy”. Real grease for the wheel, eh? Oh, and by the way, will you please fill out this little card and tell us all about yourself? You know the answer to that one.
Are you beginning to see why learning how to sell with emotion can offer hope instead of hype? In short, people have to believe that you will meet their expectations. If you’re doing it right you’ll be more aware of your customer’s needs and remove barriers to your success. In fact, when these things begin to happen in sync you’ll begin to save money on advertising, become more efficient when developing new product lines, and you may even discover you’re creating a trend instead of following one. Approaching marketing with this angle will also make it easier to attract and retain talent because everyone has an emotional stake in your success.
Now, don’t stop reading early, here’s when the real fun starts. When your customer becomes the vehicle in which the message you tell is carried to other potential customers, you have the ultimate brand success. She tells others about you, and she says it with a believability that you could never achieve even if you had Proctor and Gamble’s marketing budget. Right brains are on the right track after all.
(c) 2008 Brand Creation by Camine Pappas
Camine Pappas
C and Company, Marketing Strategy and Branding Experts
Charlotte, NC
*** Like this article? Feel free to link to it. ***
Change Is The Fire That Helps Ideas Emerge
When fires ravaged Yellowstone National Park in 1988, great minds from all over the science and environmental communities were ignited with concern. We had, according to them witness one of the greatest natural disasters in history. An event that had blotted out thousands of years of nature’s most perfect trophies and laid them waste with only an eerie billow of smoke to mark their black graves.
Not long after they dried their tears, these experts began to take notice of the smaller events emerging. Suddenly the real truth began to manifest itself in the ashes. There, beneath the warm, soft layer of charred monoliths they discovered tiny plants pushing eagerly through to the light. What was so amazing about these sprouts is that they came from seeds dormant for eons. In fact, the heat of the fire as well as the opportunity to reach the sun was the reason for their emergence. Finally, these small voices found their solo opportunity in a symphony that had never experienced a pause, until now.
During many of my training seminars and subsequent round table discussion I talk a lot about perceived limitations and old ideas we can’t let go of. We agreed that our belief window limits our sights, no matter how sophisticated our processes. I also find, when confronted with change that FEAR seems to permeate our common sense. We use it as a reason to feel disconnected from the very people we are there to advise. But if we take a lesson from nature we see that when we eliminate the clutter of our old beliefs, (our old trees if you will) that there are new, fresh, strong ideas and events that can bring new life to our business.
An even higher concept is the idea that a brand strategy can be the fire to clear away the clutter. With a clear message to guide you the sun can reach those customers who are looking for the light and a clear path to your door. This is another reason the concepts of connecting, solving, learning, advising and fulfilling are more congruent with the human element you’re hoping to nurture.
So when you feel you don’t want to let go of the old ways, just remember that soon you’ll see your seedlings, that have been dormant, come to life and you will have your moment in the sun.
Camine Pappas on Brand Strategy
C & Company
Not long after they dried their tears, these experts began to take notice of the smaller events emerging. Suddenly the real truth began to manifest itself in the ashes. There, beneath the warm, soft layer of charred monoliths they discovered tiny plants pushing eagerly through to the light. What was so amazing about these sprouts is that they came from seeds dormant for eons. In fact, the heat of the fire as well as the opportunity to reach the sun was the reason for their emergence. Finally, these small voices found their solo opportunity in a symphony that had never experienced a pause, until now.
During many of my training seminars and subsequent round table discussion I talk a lot about perceived limitations and old ideas we can’t let go of. We agreed that our belief window limits our sights, no matter how sophisticated our processes. I also find, when confronted with change that FEAR seems to permeate our common sense. We use it as a reason to feel disconnected from the very people we are there to advise. But if we take a lesson from nature we see that when we eliminate the clutter of our old beliefs, (our old trees if you will) that there are new, fresh, strong ideas and events that can bring new life to our business.
An even higher concept is the idea that a brand strategy can be the fire to clear away the clutter. With a clear message to guide you the sun can reach those customers who are looking for the light and a clear path to your door. This is another reason the concepts of connecting, solving, learning, advising and fulfilling are more congruent with the human element you’re hoping to nurture.
So when you feel you don’t want to let go of the old ways, just remember that soon you’ll see your seedlings, that have been dormant, come to life and you will have your moment in the sun.
Camine Pappas on Brand Strategy
C & Company
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
