Who’s translating your brand’s story?

How front line associates hold the key to a more authentic brand

Many companies work hard to craft a brand story that’s designed to bring in new customers. They invest millions in sales, marketing and other means of telling their story to get people in the door. But, if they don’t keep all of their associates in the loop, the experience inside those doors can be quite different.

How much time and energy do you spend making sure your front line associates understand and can talk about your brand in a way that’s consistent with the story you use to attract new customers?

In many cases, after-the-sale staff like customer service reps are the hardest working people you have. But, if they don’t know what brand story you’re telling, how in the world can they be consistent with it?

There are great examples on both sides of this common situation.

Brands who do this well — think Zappos, Chipotle — are great at communicating their story to all front line people, whether they are working in customer service or taking orders at the counter.

Zappos does a great job of pushing information out from the brand, through associates and eventually to customers. And, in many cases, it has nothing to do with shoes. The Zappos Family Library is how the company shares preferred readings, free of charge, to associates to help them learn and grow.

It’s a great way to instill the culture and show associates — rather than just telling them — the company is committed to learning and development, a core value for the brand. The library has been so popular that the company is now offering it to customers, too.

At Chipotle, they’ve learned that the best associates are home grown, just like the food they serve. Over time and through some growing pains, the brand figured out that promoting from within helps to keep the culture consistent from location to location and also helps associates stay motivated (and with the company longer).

If you’ve done business with either of these companies recently, you know the experience is very consistent, regardless of whether you’re online, on the phone or in a restaurant anywhere across the country.

Unfortunately, there are brands that aren’t as consistent with their brand story, and many of them are no longer around. No surprise. For example, Circuit City struggled to define its brand among a sea of electronics retailers and was never big enough to compete solely on price. Perhaps its biggest mistake was a double whammy.

Rather than investing in its experienced workforce, they chose to fire a large portion of the company’s long-tenured staff, replacing them with cheaper, less experienced hourly workers who were compensated whether they sold something or not. That’s whammy #1. And where do they think those experienced salespeople went? Yep, to the competition. Whammy # 2.

Another brand that’s no longer with us, Radio Shack, made a different kind of miscalculation. The Shack never really decided who their target consumer would be. Could it be the DIY electronics guy? The home PC buyer? The young mobile phone buyer? The gamer? The online catalog shopper?

Unfortunately, the answer for all of these was a resounding no. Without a target persona, the company didn’t know what problem to solve and lost focus. And, quite naturally, Radio Shack’s associates could never find a rhythm, not knowing who the folks at corporate were trying to pull through the doors this month. Ironically, as associates would ask prospects if they could help them, they must have been wondering the same thing themselves.

Of course, each brand must find its own way. I’m not suggesting every brand do things exactly like Zappos or Chipotle, but any brand that wants to be as successful should look for ways to include its front line associates if they want to continue to deliver an authentic brand experience to customers.

Customer retention is critical and can’t be solved by pouring more money into sales and marketing. Your associates are the way the brand gets delivered everyday. Make sure they know what you stand for and empower them to deliver on that experience.

I would argue it’s the best investment you can make in your brand.

Change management and marketing: aren’t they really the same thing?

I’ve recently taken a new view of marketing – thanks to a new job outside of it.

Last March, I took a new role at my current employer focused on helping our associates manage change, mainly using a change management process called ADKAR.

If you’re not familiar, ADKAR was developed by Jeff Hiatt in 2003 to help manage the people side of change. It’s actually an acronym that stands for the phases a person goes through as they deal with change.

First, people must be Aware of the need for change. Then, they need to have a Desire to change. Next, they must have the Knowledge needed to make the change and the Ability to implement these new skills and behaviors. Finally, there needs to be Reinforcement to sustain the change.

The ADKAR methodology can be used to help people through a change like adapting a new system or process, and many organizations use ADKAR for this today.

But I also see a link to the behavior changes brands are trying to create with customers and prospects. Think about it – isn’t this what you would like your future customers to do:

Awareness:               People know why they need to change (and choose you)

Desire:                       They have a desire to choose you

Knowledge:               They understand why they should choose you

Ability:                       They have the ability to choose you

Reinforcement:         They can choose to stay with you (or continue to choose you)

So, yeah, change management is marketing, in a way. Not in every way, of course, but there are helpful similarities. So, what can you do with this information? Plenty:

1.     Take a look at your marketing today. Are you helping customers and prospects become aware of the need for choosing you? Perhaps a deeper, more important question: do consumers feel a need to choose you? This can be at the category level (here’s why you need a car) or at the brand level (here’s why you need a Buick). Your brand’s maturity will dictate this.

2.     This is where it can get fun, but also challenging. Do people want to choose you? Give them a reason! People always have other choices for what you do/provide, so how do you stand out and convince people to choose you? This is what us old-time ad guys used to call a USP or unique selling proposition. Today, we usually call this your reason for being or your differentiator. Call it what you want, but make sure your target audience knows it.

3.     Have you given people the information they need to be able to choose you? You may have the best smelling, longest burning candle in the world but, if people don’t know why it’s good for them, it just doesn’t matter. Don’t just get the word out, tell your story.

4.     Can people choose you if they want to? This includes important marketing elements like distribution (Can I find you? Are you where I expect you to be?) and pricing (Can I afford you or justify your cost for the value you provide?)

5.     How can you make sure people continue to choose you? This includes after-the-sale service and other retention efforts that don’t always get the same attention that acquisition efforts do. They should.

The next time you’re asked for a marketing strategy that delivers, consider thinking about your challenge as a change management strategy and use the structure and power of ADKAR.

It’s not advertising or content; advertising IS content (and other musings)

Photo credit: Thinglink.com

It always happens.

Something new and different comes along and two groups quickly form.

There are the bandwagoners, who were just looking for something new to get behind. And the don’t-move-my-cheesers, who don’t know why people have to mess with things when they’re working just fine.

In the advertising/marketing space, there’s been a lot of talk lately about content marketing. So much talk, in fact, that people can’t decide what content marketing is and what it isn’t. People also have to decide which group they are in.

And, in the ad world specifically, this comes at a bad time. People are tuning out all of those TV commercials agencies and brands spend so much time and money creating. The world is changing and people have more control over what they see — and it turns out they don’t want to see commercials.

So the ad agencies and their clients are understandably on edge, when along comes this new and different thing called content marketing.

The bandwagoners, of course, were all over it. This is going to be great, they think. We’ll create our own content and push it out to the world through our own (almost free) channels and win the day! We don’t need to pay to create or distribute ads anymore. Ha, they say.

But…if everyone does that at once, it might not be as effective (and not everyone is good at it).

On the other side, the don’t-move-my-cheesers have seen this all before. Didn’t we all get into a tizzy a few years ago about social media? Wasn’t that going to save the day? Yeah, well, brands still need to promote themselves and, anyway, we’ve been doing this storytelling thing for more than 100 years — really well. Don’t worry about us, they say, we’ll be fine.

So who’s right? Well, they both are.

The bandwagoners are right that this is different and technology is somewhat responsible/to blame. It’s true that brands can now create and distribute their own content, but that doesn’t mean they will all do it well. And when they all do it at the same time, things get really noisy (and consumers tune out).

The don’t-move-my-cheesers are right that storytelling is one of the most important pieces here, and many agencies do that really well. But not all of them. And agencies need to open their eyes to the fact that people’s preferences are more sophisticated; the old campaign model is broken and funding research that says TV is still the most effective medium is not only wasteful, but a little desperate.

So, where do we go from here? As usual, the truth lies somewhere in between. Here are a few bottom-line outcomes to keep in mind from someone with a foot in each camp:

• Advertising is still useful, especially if you’re trying to build awareness for a brand
• Advertising isn’t a cure-all, nor is it the only solution

• Content Marketing is a philosophical change in the way messages are created
• Content Marketing isn’t just digital, nor is it the Holy Grail (or new, for that matter)

• Progressive brands employ a variety of strategies to grow their audience
• Not-as-progressive brands are just trying to sell products and services the same old way

• It turns out, people don’t want to buy stuff, they want to experience things
• Sometimes, that may mean buying stuff

• Consumers don’t want a TV show, they want to be told a story
• Sometimes, the story is a TV show, but it’s not limited to the big TV networks anymore (see: Walking Dead, Orange is the New Black, Making a Murderer, etc.)
• And, sometimes, it’s not TV at all (see: The Lego Movie, Share a Coke)

Successful brands know their audience; they understand their wants and needs and know their preferences. They don’t just jump on any old bandwagon, yet they are willing to try new things as long as it allows them to serve their audience.

By employing the best practices of content marketing, you can avoid being either a bandwagoner or a don’t-move-my-cheeser by simply telling your audience a great story that solves a problem in their lives.

And, if you’re patient enough, they just might invite you in.

I still don't like events, but...

I'm an introvert.

That means I'm quite comfortable here behind my keyboard, thank you very much, but not as comfortable in other places where you might find, say, people. Like the real world. But, at least once a year, I try to leave the comfort of my keyboard and venture to Content Marketing World in Cleveland. That's where I am today.

And, as is typically the case, I have already learned some things and received some value from attending. The funny part? Yeah, the show hasn't started yet.

While the sessions are always well done, given by very smart and well-respected people in their given fields and well attended, the most value I get from #CMWorld, as it's called, is from the time before, after and between sessions.

This is the time you get to meet people you've 'talked' with online for a year or more. But you actually get to look at them, and they at you. You get to see the body language, the head nods, the smiles. And it makes all the difference in the world.

So, while I would typically rather lose a toe (the small one, if you please) rather than willingly sign up to attend a 'trade show', Content Marketing World is different. Is it because I feel more comfortable? Probably. And that's because of the people.

From the Content Marketing Institute folks who host the show (who, btw, are fabulous) to the speakers and moderators and presenters who are genuinely interested in helping people learn, I think this show has a little something different going on.

I can't tell you what that something different is, but it's there, just the same.

For you, it may be a different show in a different town covering a different topic that's near and dear to you. And that's great. I would encourage you -- especially those of you in club introvert, like me -- to find your CMWorld. Find the people you call your people and you will learn from them, and they you.

I've found mine.

Magazines: a time tested example of customizing content for an audience

Image courtesy of hrjmedia.com

Let’s take this act like a publisher thing for another spin, shall we?

Everyone talks about how brands should act like publishers (especially since technology makes most of them publishers now anyway), but what does that actually mean?

Brands are struggling with managing all the different ways they can publish content today. Especially on social media.

Whether it’s Facebook or Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram, brands often struggle with how these channels — and the content they share on them — should be different. In reality, the perfect example for how to solve this problem was created more than 300 years ago.

It’s magazines.

As far back as the 17^th century, magazine publishers were developing different publications to suit their different audiences. Ladies Home Journal served a very different audience than the American Law Journal or National Geographic.

Of course, times have changed and digital technology has caused some magazines to fall on hard times or disappear completely. Sadly, Ladies Home Journal was shuttered in 2014 after a 131 year run.

But the example of customizing messages for a specific audience has never gone out of style.

It’s very much the same with social media platforms today. The folks who choose to engage with you on LinkedIn are likely very different people from those following you on Instagram, who are also different from those engaging with you on Facebook.

Yet brands don’t seem to get it.

By picking up a story (video, infographic, etc.) they create for one channel and plopping it down on another, brands continue to show their audiences that they just don’t see them as different or special. As the consumer might be muttering to herself as she sees the same generic messages pushed out across different channels, “They just don’t get me.”

“But,” the brands argue, “we can’t keep up! How can we create messages for the dozens of social media channels our customers are on today…we just don’t have the resources?”

I think I see the problem.

Let’s go back to the publisher model. If Meredith Corporation, publisher of Ladies Home Journal, didn’t have the revenue or subscription level to support a given title, they would have to shut it down, as they did in 2014. Actually, this happened a lot during the economic downturn of 2008-2009 as digital technology and ad revenues passed quietly in the night.

The good news for brands is that no one has to lose their job if a brand chooses to not participate in every single social channel available. The social team can simply dedicate more time (perhaps the time that’s been necessary all along) to create content that helps the audience feel a special connection with the brand.

And that’s exactly what needs to happen.

So, while the ‘act like a publisher’ mantra has many lessons for brands who are the publishers of today — including thinking about their audience rather than their product — it also provides a valuable lesson about focus.

We all know intrinsically that trying to be all things to all people is a recipe for disaster in marketing.

Can we please take that lesson to heart when it comes to social media, as well?

The Content Marketing Review (TCMR): Share a Coke

Brand

Coca Cola

Creator

Ogilvy Australia (agency)

Title

Share a Coke

CM Score (out of 100): 90 (quite successful)

Scale: 0-50 (unsuccessful); 51-70 (moderately successful); 71-90 (quite successful); 91-100 (superior).

Description

If you can believe it, back in 2011 the world’s most iconic soda brand was having an awareness problem in Australia. According to the company, fully 50% of teens and young adults hadn’t even tasted a Coke in the month before this effort launched.

In what was truly a bold move at the time, they decided to remove their most valuable asset — the ‘Coke’ name — from the flagship product and replace it with 150 of the most popular names of people in Australia.

They also created kiosks where people could add their own name, just in case Coke had missed someone, and Aussies waited in line for hours just for the privilege. I would imagine they also bought that can of Coke, don’t you think?

Why it works

This idea, which has since been duplicated around the world by other branches of the Coca-Cola family tree (you know what they say about imitation), was big and bold, but it was also simple.

It broke through and connected individually with people and made them feel special by leveraging the power of the Coca-Cola brand. It’s a classic example of showing rather than telling…and Coke was telling Australians: “We want to get to know you personally.”

In just three months, young adult consumption of Coke was up seven percent. It was working.

Why it works as content marketing

This was a big idea that had to be executed on a grand scale in order to be successful. But where there’s risk, there’s reward; and this was clearly more than just advertising. It was an idea that leveraged the power of the brand to make people feel good…something more brands should strive for.

It’s the kind of big thinking that can only be executed with content marketing. Running ads showing cans of Coke with people’s names on them wouldn’t have worked…it would have come off as egotistical. This clearly did not.

What can we learn?

There are many things we can learn here. One of the biggest is that localization is invaluable in strategy and concept development. While the idea has been imported across the globe since, it was designed to solve a specific problem the brand was having in Australia by allowing people to become the hero of the story…that’s why it worked.

Coke also did a nice job of extending the effort seemingly everywhere, creating interactive applications with electronic billboards, digital apps and websites that replicated the excitement online. They also kept the public involved by inviting them to vote for an additional 50 names that would be added, helping to keep the momentum going.

Perhaps the best part of this idea is that it can inspire smaller brands, who may not have millions to spend, to think big even if they can’t spend big.

What’s your brand’s most valuable asset? How can you share it with people to make them feel special? How can you make your audience the hero of the story?

Think big and, like Coke, you will be rewarded.

Beware marketing pollution

Photo credit: Galleryhip.com

Beyond simply not being a wise choice for your brand, I would argue that a lack of focus in your marketing messages (or content) is actually irresponsible.

As marketers we have a responsibility, not only to our brands but to the public, and we’ve been shirking this responsibility for decades.

This isn’t a rant about being deceitful or dishonest, although that certainly happens. This is a rant about simply putting stuff out there — any old stuff — in hopes that it will garner some attention. It doesn’t.

This is quite simply marketing pollution. And it needs to stop.

Now, I certainly understand that this isn’t as big and important an issue as global warming or world hunger…we should keep working on those as best we can. But, as marketers, we have a professional responsibility to stop polluting the airwaves, the Internet, the email boxes of the public, with messages we know aren’t any different from what’s already there.

And I don’t buy the argument that everything has been said or done before and that nothing is new. Tell that to Norman Rockwell. Tell that to Steven Spielberg. Tell it to Dr. Seuss.

If you’re legitimately trying to create new messages, perhaps even something that’s already been done but in a different way, I thank you. But if you’re a marketer who just shrugs his/her shoulders, winces and pushes the publish button when you know what you’ve just created is in no way unique, you’re part of the problem.

Suck it up, marketers. Because if we don’t fix this problem, someone else will.

We can already see the writing on the wall…machine learning, so-called formulas designed to create the best headline. People are waiting in line to create tools designed to replace us. And, if we keep pumping out the same old drivel, we’ll be helping them.

Of course, there is a silver lining here or at least a way out. But we have to be united.

We have to agree to hold each other accountable, because we’ve all done it. We’re all guilty of creating something we know is already out there just to meet a deadline or give a squeaky wheel what it wants. We simply can’t do that anymore.

If we do start holding each other accountable, constructively helping each other avoid what Doug Kessler called Crap, we can once again regain our rightful place doing more than just helping people, but inspiring them. Because that’s our calling.

We are marketers and we should be proud of that. But lately, that label is more a cone of shame. We look down when we say we work in marketing. No one can change that but us.

What can you do? Two things: call BS (constructively) when you see marketers or brands throwing the same old stuff out there; and take a look at your own work. Are you part of the problem? Are you working hard with every message to make it somehow unique and inspiring?

We can do this, marketers. We can.

Actually, we must.