The Symmetrical Strategy

They used to say you can fool a few for a long time or a lot for a short time. In Digital era this has changed. Now you can try to fool a few, but even if this works it will only be for a short time. This is why Branding is not only about building an image but it has to be also consistent with the Product. Marketing is a promise that you give to the Customer and the Experience you offer them is the fulfilment of this promise or not. Now Branding is the Association of this Experience or Projected Experience to your Company. Everything that gets out in public for you it is Branding, even if it is not conscious or not even controlled from you. So if you do not manage it and you do not manage it well it can and will backfire. Paraphrasing a popular quote I will say that if someone thinks that spending on Branding Communication is Expensive, they should have to think how much it costs not Investing on that.

Still a successful Branding Strategy can get you up to a point but this is not a viable pillar to keep you going. It becomes more and more clear that Growth can only be achieved through Customer Retention. Good Marketing was never enough to build Sustainable Growth. Without a solid Customer Retention, Investing in Marketing is like trying to fill with water a bucket full of holes. Marketing is great at getting you Attention now what you do with the attention you get is all about your Product, Service and all the User Experience you offer.

These, they have to be consistent to the Message that initially got them there. Obviously Overselling your product is going to work well for Conversion, but then you will see most of the Customers turning their back and the worse is not that you will lose them, but also their Circle of Influence, that in the Digital Era has significantly expanded. Afterall who would be happy to watch a movie on Robin when it has Batman on the Title.

Now if you think Overselling is you only concern that you need to worry when you build a Branding Strategy, then think again. Remember when you were a kid and you had a list of presents that you wanted for Christmas? Now imagine that the time has come to tear up the wrap and get to know if you got what you had asked for. Lets say that you were extra good this year, or your parents got a really nice Bonus and they felt generous, so not only you get the items that toped your list but also something that you could not even dream of having. Great feeling. Still too bad for you your customers are not like that. Actually, even kids are not like that anymore. If you give them more than what they were wishing it is very probable that they will not appreciate the surprise. Overwhelm is a real Risk to any Product or Service that we sell, specially when it is on-line that people act as if they are Bank Robbers. Fast in, Fast out, Get the Value and Run to the next tab.

Again your underselling Nightmare has not finished. You see the risk just mentioned is on the case that you do get people to Convert, even if you have a poor message. Now imagine the Opportunity Cost of all the Happy Customers that never got it what you had to offer them and even more they never got the chance to be your eager promoters. If I had to put in a phrase my advise on that is the following: “If you make the best Hamburger in Town, do not advertise your Salad Bar”.

Being honest with your Customers all that needs is good intentions, now the thing is to have the skills to make your message clear and reach the proper audience in the right time. If you leave this in luck it is like playing Bingo. You just waste your time and your pension.

Empathy is another skill you need to practice for building a successful Branding Strategy. Do not assume the world shares your view. In any form of Communication it is not what we say that matters, it is what people hear. So if you want the message to reach the Audience intact you have to tailor it to the ears that listen, not the mouth that spreads it.

For last I kept the hardest part of all. Being honest with yourself. Sell the product and service you have to offer, not the one you would like to offer. If you do fall in this trap and let your vision and passion shape Branding Strategy is a mistake. If you are not there yet, be honest and get them to join your Journey, you can share the vision but do not skip the part of the journey. Not everyone would be happy booking a ticket for a plane and then being onboarded in a 3 weeks Cruise with a stop to the Destination he was heading to.

As mentioned Branding is happening even if you are not the one doing it. Specially now that there is such an easy way to share opinion and information, if you do not do Branding then you let others do that for you every time they share their opinion for your products online. This most of the times can not go well as from my experience, unhappy customers are much more vocal than the happy ones.

Not having a well planned Branding Strategy is like letting people know you from other people’s opinion rather than having the opportunity to introduce yourself. This again might be bringing you up but let’s be honest, a good gossip is always the one that has some dirt in it so do not count on random gossip to build your good reputation. You have to do it yourself.

But again the fact that you do have a Branding Strategy it does not mean that it is doing you any good if there is no Symmetry with who you really are and what you offer. A good Branding Strategy is Consistent with your internal Values and Products you deliver and provides Continuity to your Business Strategy.