Think About It

Lake Lanier, Georgia — Thanksgiving 2007

We live in a short-attention-span world.

We face a barrage of information unlike any previous generation has known. As the newest facts and stories fight their way into our consciousness, they push out the ideas that held our focus yesterday.

This spring we were gripped by the worst shooting in U.S. history, on the campus of Virginia Tech. But by summer, those murdered students slipped out of our minds as we became occupied with the story of one former Virginia Tech star, Michael Vick.

This phenomenon also happens in the world of marketing. The day our spectacularly designed, perfectly targeted communications piece lands on someone’s desk, it may win them over. They may be completely sold on our product or service.

But before they get around to taking action, something happens. Maybe they have a crisis with their biggest client, or their computer system crashes, or their kid gets the flu. Or, your competitor’s communication shows up.

Stuff happens. And when it happens, things that were important yesterday are pushed out of their consciousness. And once those bits of information slip out, they tend to stay out.

That’s why we have to keep communicating. We can’t have one marketing blitzkrieg and then sit idle. Yes, there are times when we need a flurry of activity, like when we’re opening a new business or introducing a new product. But even then, it’s crucial to keep following up with more communication, to fight the inevitable loss of mindshare.

How can you keep a brand alive in their brains? Here are a few ideas:

1. Build an ongoing relationship using online tools such as blogs, e-mail newsletters or podcasts
2. Extend new offers via direct mail
3. Run ads in local media
4. Conduct search engine optimization, so when they get back to looking for what you offer, they’ll see your familiar name
5. Send a survey about your product or service
6. For business-to-business companies, write and promote a case study that demonstrates the value you deliver

Tactics like these should be built into a comprehensive communications plan, which will help ensure that you stay in touch with your audience at the right time and frequency, but not too frequent -- over-saturation yields diminishing returns on your marketing dollars and is just plain annoying, sullying your brand’s relationship with the audience.

If you keep communication rolling and consistently use brand-centered messages, you can win, despite the unrelenting competition for your audience’s brainwaves.

We know. It’s how we helped Bocktown Beer and Grill become the talk of the town during their grand opening and keep the buzz going long after. Read more about our work for Bocktown in this case study.

 

 

To the victor go the spoils.

So it is that AT&T decided to give the Cingular brand the heave-ho, a move we can’t help but question.

Cingular was a healthy, well-recognized brand with a successful marketing strategy. Now in its place is the AT&T brand, too often perceived as an impersonal behemoth.

The recent debut of the iPhone was unfortunate proof that the newly reassembled AT&T is carrying on its longstanding tradition of customer disservice. Even though the launch of the iPhone was one of the most anticipated product debuts in history, those who purchased the device during the first couple of days faced excruciating delays in activiation due to AT&T's inability to process the volume of requests during the period. And many switching carriers found themselves without any service for days as delays rendered both old and new accounts lifeless.

AT&T is associated with old technology and an old way of doing business. In contrast, Cingular had built a brand as a fresh, vibrant company. The way we see it, AT&T is throwing away a strong brand and replacing it with a broken brand.

Of course, there are two sides to every story. Forbes.com sees AT&T’s move as a shrewd one, for two reasons: 1) Brand appeal to older Americans, who are buying more wireless services and who associate AT&T with reliability and longevity; and 2) Better positioning for marketing bundled services.

Even so, had AT&T been our client, we would have advised them to keep the Cingular brand, which we believe is a better fit for the fast-moving wireless market.

Tell us what you think. Did AT&T discard too much precious brand equity by tossing aside the Cingular brand, or are we just too progressive to appreciate AT&T’s age-old brand value?

Mel Gibson. Michael Richards. Don Imus.

Three celebrities, one common denominator: Each one shattered his reputation with careless communication. In a matter of minutes, each ruined the good name he had spent years building.

Could the same thing happen to your brand?

We’re not talking about your CEO going on a deranged tirade and destroying your brand reputation in one night. But somewhere in your company, there may be someone whose reckless communication is undermining your brand-building efforts.

First are the obvious cases: negative communication, where a frontline employee makes an offhand remark when speaking with a customer. “This new pricing system is crazy,” they might say, or, “I don’t know why they got rid of an item that people like so much,” or, “Our IT department is a little disorganized right now.”

Employees say these things innocently enough, either as small talk or as a way of showing empathy (or perhaps passing the buck) with a customer who’s having a problem. But these casual comments can have a serious impact on how people perceive you.

Then there are the more common, more subtle cases: careless communication, where someone falls short in supporting their organization’s brand message.

Here’s an example: Our client was entering a crowded service industry. They wanted to earn high-end fees for high-end service. They wisely established a brand position of “value,” meaning they charged more money but did better work. If a prospect balked at their pricing, an appropriate, brand-centered response would be, “We know that some companies charge less, but we give you a better value because our service is of higher quality.” An inappropriate response would be, “We’re not for everybody; we only serve the most discriminating clientele.” The second response might well be true, but it’s not in line with the intended brand message. Yet people make such almost-but-not-quite-right statements all the time. And each one is a missed opportunity to strengthen the brand.

Some people think that communicating the brand is a job only for C-level executives and the marketing department. It’s not. Communicating the brand is the job of every single person in an organization, because every impression matters.

To protect his personal brand, Michael Richards needed to watch his mouth during his obscure Laugh Factory act every bit as carefully as he would have in an appearance on the Tonight Show. Likewise, what’s being said during a company’s day-to-day conversations has to be taken every bit as seriously as what’s said on its web site or in its annual report.

The good news is, careless communication isn’t inevitable – if people at all levels of an organization are prepared to faithfully represent the brand in their everyday encounters. This advance work is crucial to building a credible, effective brand.