4 Secrets To Building An Engaging
Brand Experience
When you think of creating a new brand, it's easy to think about advertising managers sitting around a conference room
tossing around ideas with caffeine-fueled creativity. However, oftentimes, the
most powerful branding comes from adding a little fun to your brand experience.
Driven by the Burger King mentality, today's customers want to do business their way on their time. They want to make their
own choices. As business people, it's our job to make sure then when customers
are ready to make their choice, our product or service is their top choice.
Below are five secrets to put some spark and
imagination into your brand and create an unforgettable brand experience.
Secret #1: Tell Your Companys Unique BrandStory
Television shows have long been a part of our
culture. When viewers watch television shows, they see stories about characters
that they relate to. Remember the Brady Bunch theme song? It tells the story of a
lovely lady… well, you know how it goes.
Now imagine harnessing the power of
storytelling for your business! By sharing your brand story, you create a
powerful connection to your customers. They feel as though they know you. This
brand story paints a colorful vignette of who you are, what vision you hold,
and what experiences made you the company you are today. While your brand story
might not be as catchy as the Brady Bunch tune, raving fans love to share
stories of their favorite brands with others.
PartyLite is a direct sales company that has
done a phenomenal job of weaving its brand story into its marketing
message. Listen to the story of how this company got started.
Mabel K. Baker, a young housewife, provided
holiday candles for her friends. She hand-dipped candles from the wax of
bayberry plants, which were plentiful on Cape Cod. From these humble
beginnings, the Colonial Candle of Cape Cod was established. In 1973, PartyLite was
established to satisfy the desire people have for home beautification, along with
the ever-increasing need for additional family income.
Now, can’t you just imagine Mabel sitting
outside and turning her gaze over to the bayberry plants in her backyard!
Surely a light bulb went off in her head as she picked berries off the bush and
harvested the wax to make gift candles for her dearest friends. A story like
this makes you feel like when you get a PartyLite candle, you are getting
more than a factory-made product. Rather, you are getting a lovely crafted
handmade candle. Great story and great marketing!
What’s your brand story? Do you have awonderful story to tell about how your business was started? Was there a
turning point in your company that shaped you into the organization you are
today?
Secret #2: Make Your Brand a Household Name by
Coining the Term
Why define your brand experience in terms we
already use? Kleenex, Xerox, and Fed X are companies whose brand names have set
the standards for their industry by becoming the coined terms to describe a
tissue, making a copy, and overnight deliveries.
So how do you go about making your brand a
household name?
Marla Cilley, aka The FLY Lady, is anorganizing superhero for moms across the county. She has turned her passion
for tidiness into a nationally known brand.
How did she do it? By adding an ounce of fun
with her own unique terms and philosophies. For example, The FLY Lady stands
for Finally Loving Yourself.
Fans of the FLY Lady know that she lives by
three rules.
If you visit her website at FlyLady.net, you'll notice that her brand is even reflected in some of the names of the navigation
links: Why FLY, FLYing Lessons, FLY Zone, Time FLYs when, FLY FAQ, FLY Library,
Join FlyLady Now, Ask FlyLady, and The FlyShop.
Secret #3: Add Your Unique Brand of Humor
Humor has the power to transform an ordinary
product into a fun experience for the whole audience. Recently I saw a
commercial for Red Stripe The Great Jamaican Beer that delivers an
unforgettable quirky message.
The Jamaican spokesperson is dressed in a
black tuxedo and says, Red Stripe – the beer in the short stubby ugly bottle.
If ugly people stand next to a Red Stripe they look beautiful.
He speaks to a man who is sitting next to him,
You sir, would you say that you are ugly?
(Pause) You are VERY ugly!
The man who is sitting down replies a little
confused, Well I don’t know…
The spokesperson hands him a beer and says,
Here hold this Red Stripe.
The spokesperson says, Look, you are
beautiful! (Obviously implying that just by holding this beer this formerly
ugly man is transformed into being beautiful.)
A spokesperson says enthusiastically, Red
Stripe, it’s beer. Hooraaaayy Beer!
The man cheers, “Hooray Beer.”
The spokesperson adds at the end, “says the
beautiful man.”
The point is, that although you may have never
heard of Red Stripe beer before, this funny commercial really sticks in your
mind. Even though we are not beer drinkers, this commercial is surely creating
living room conversations in homes across the country.
That's how a funny campaign can instantly turn
a new or unknown product into a national phenomenon.
Secret #4: Create your own Catch Phrases and
Own Quotes
If you type the words inspirational quotes
into Google, you will see that there are 1,130,000 listings. Quotes are hot! So
why not tap into the power of quotes and catchphrases for your business?
Go back in your mind to the Wheres the Beef
commercials from Wendys. That was a fun series of engaging commercials that had
the whole country asking themselves, Where the Beef?.
And think about Donald Trumps Your Fired! I'm is sure that he had no idea that his show, The Apprentice would take off the way
it did and become the in thing.
When you create a hot catchphrase or quote,
you'll find your words popping up on websites, in blogs, talked about in
elevators, written on bathroom walls, and in the most unexpected places.
Take a moment to step back and really look at
your company's brand. With a little imagination, you can transform buying your
product or service into a fun, one-of-a-kind brand experience that your
customers will never forget.
"Discover
A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Personal Brand"
The Personal Branding
Blueprint takes you through the process of creating a brand right from the
beginning and is full of hot tips and things to keep in mind.
Some
of the things that this book will teach you to include:
✓What exactly a personal
brand is and why it is so important
✓How to understand yourself
to better create a brand ✓Information on what to look
for when defining your target audience
✓Deciding what you have to
offer your audience
✓Methods to help your audience
trust you
✓Why do you need to be
authentic
✓The keys to consistent
branding
✓Information on the benefits
of different platforms
✓The top secrets to deciding
which media will be right for you
✓The kinds of content strategies you should aim for
✓How to get your audience to
believe you are an authoritative voice and expert in your industry
✓The smallest details that
often get overlooked will make you seem unprofessional
✓Helpful reminders to ensure
that you are reaching your target audience
✓Ideas to create a network
✓The most important analytics
to look out for
✓How to use analytics to grow
your brand
✓The biggest overlooked tip:
building a community
✓Top tricks to carry your
digital brand in your offline life
✓Ways to incorporate your
brand into your everyday life to improve credibility
✓Reminders that you should be
monitoring your progress
✓Successful brand examples
✓Gentle prompts that will
help you become a better brand, once you invest the time in defining it
✓And so much more!
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