HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM LOUD! CREATIVE
Tags: Branding, Brian Tracy, Business, Dale Carnegie, Harry Beckwith, Jerry Porras, Jim Collins, Keith Ferrazzi, LOUD! Creative, Malcom Gladwell, Marketing, Matthew Kelly, Michael Gerber, Patrick Lencioni, sales, Seth Godin, Zig Ziglar
First, I want to wish each and every client and reader a Happy New Year. I sincerely hope that 2008 proves to be the best and most prosperous year ever for you, your families and your businesses. I am grateful for your friendships.
For me, 2007 has been a journey filled with growing and learning. As you may already know… my intention for this blog is for it to be a
no-cost, value-add resource for you, and your business or organization. It’s here that I share from my experiences, my client’s experiences, and the various resources from which I study and read.
As you endeavor to grow and develop in 2008, I thought it seemed a thoughtful gesture to share with you some of the books I’ve discovered and studied personally… and from which I post to this blog quite frequently. I hope this is helpful. I recommend all of them.
Please feel free to leave your comments. Don’t be inhibited to call me at my office should there be anything I can do for you. Again, Happy New Year !!! Congratulations on all your successes, and may you have so many more.
Brian
BRIAN WEBB’S RECOMMENDED READING LIST
(not necessarily in this order)
ALL MARKETERS ARE LIARS Author: Seth Godin
SELLING THE INVISIBLE – A FIELD GUIDE TO MODERN MARKETING Author: Harry Beckwith
THE FOUR OBSESSIONS OF AN EXTRAORDINARY EXECUTIVE
Author: Patrick Lencioni
THE DREAM MANAGER Author: Matthew Kelly
THE DIP Author: Seth Godin
THE TIPPING POINT Author: Malcom Gladwell
E-MYTH REVISITED Author: Michael E. Gerber
E-MYTH MASTERY Author: Michael E. Gerber
DEATH BY MEETING Author: Patrick Lencioni
SECRETS OF CLOSING THE SALE Author: Zig Ziglar
THE INVISIBLE TOUCH, THE FOUR KEYS TO MODERN MARKETING Author: Harry Beckwith
WHAT CLIENTS LOVE, A FIELD GUIDE TO GROWING YOUR BUSINESS Author: Harry Beckwith
GETTING REAL Author: 37 Signals
HOW TO WIN FRIENDS & INFLUENCE PEOPLE Author: Dale Carnegie
ADVANCED SELLING STRATEGIES Author: Brian Tracy
THE FIVE TEMPTATIONS OF A CEO Author: Patrick Lencioni
NEVER EAT ALONE Author: Keith Ferrazzi
GOOD TO GREAT Author: Jim Collins
BUILT TO LAST Author: Jim Collins & Jerry Porras
YEAH… BUT I LIKE IT
Tags: American Express, Branding, Harry Beckwith, Marketing, Visa
Why do people buy what they buy? Many marketers assume that buying decisions are made fairly logically. A prospect for a service adds up the cost, and benefits of one service, compares it to another’s, and chooses the service with the better score… right?
But seemingly sophisticated prospects for even sophisticated services do not behave this way, as the strange case of Visa versus
American Express clearly suggests. Consider the evidence.
Visa cards are accepted in almost 3 times more locations than American Express cards. You can pay back Visa immediately, or over time. You must pay on an American Express card at the end of each month or suffer substantial penalties. You pay $20 for a basic Visa card, and $55 for one from American Express.
Now… what “truly rational” people want from a credit card is utility relative to price. “Truly rational” people want to pay as little as possible for credit card benefits. A “truly rational” person; in other words, chooses a Visa card. Perhaps all of Earth’s rational people do choose Visa… but that leaves 25 million Americans who use American Express cards. Why?
Because of prestige, apparently. This is to say… American Express emphasizes that “Membership has it’s rewards.”
“What’s the point,” you might ask?
Appeal only to a prospect’s reason, and you may have no appeal at all.
This is an excerpt from one of my favorite books, Selling The Invisible, by Harry Beckwith. I highly, highly, highly recommend that you buy it, read it, re-read it, then read it again.
APPLE VERSUS MICROSOFT: 3 CRITICAL QUALITIES OF A SUCCESSFUL BRAND
Tags: Apple, Army, Branding, Coca-Cola, Harry Beckwith, McDonalds, Microsoft
Every successful brand exhibits 3 critial qualities… direction, breadth and depth.
DIRECTION
Consumers tend to jump on bandwagons of successful brands heading up, and tend to leap off of failing brands heading down. What direction is your brand headed?
BREADTH
Coke Cola is the world’s “broadest” product brand, and McDonald’s and the United States Army are the two broadest service brands. Branding expert; Harry Beckwith, submits that the breadth of a brand is an enormous asset. It implies the service’s wide-spread acceptance and continuous satisfactory performance over the test of time.
DEPTH | APPLE & MICROSOFT
Harry shares the following illustration in his book, The Invisible Touch. On an airplane in route to Microsoft headquarters… a researcher surveyed the fellow passengers by asking the following question… “What do you think of when you think of Microsoft?” Almost everyone answered with the same associated response…
“1. Big, 2. Rich fellow (Bill Gates), and 3. Techies.”
These consistent definitions illustrated the weaknesses in Microsoft’s marketing arsenal. Their brand has no more than a neutral meaning. It has no depth.
On the other hand… the same passengers were asked the same question about Apple. Their answers were…
“1. Creative, 2. Fun, 3. User-friendly and 4. Pretty cool.”
Apple’s brand has exceptional depth, and a meaning that others aspire to. Apple might lack the “breadth” of Microsoft, but clearly has more “depth.”
IN DEVELOPING YOUR BRAND, ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS
1. What do you want your brand to represent?
2. What attractive and desirable qualities should your brand embody?
Once you’ve determined what your brand is to to represent to your clients and prospects… embed that meaning into everything your company or organization does… from the sign over the door, to your website, to your email and print marketing, to the person answering the phones, to the service and support your company offers.