The Brand Called You

From: Issue 10 | August 1997 | Page 83 | By: Tom Peters

Big companies understand the importance of brands. Today, in the Age of the Individual, you have to be your own brand. Here's what it takes to be the CEO of Me Inc.
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It's a new brand world.

That cross-trainer you're wearing -- one look at the distinctive swoosh on the side tells everyone who's got you branded. That coffee travel mug you're carrying -- ah, you're a Starbucks woman! Your T-shirt with the distinctive Champion "C" on the sleeve, the blue jeans with the prominent Levi's rivets, the watch with the hey-this-certifies-I-made-it icon on the face, your fountain pen with the maker's symbol crafted into the end ...

You're branded, branded, branded, branded.

It's time for me -- and you -- to take a lesson from the big brands, a lesson that's true for anyone who's interested in what it takes to stand out and prosper in the new world of work.

Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.
It's that simple -- and that hard. And that inescapable.

Behemoth companies may take turns buying each other or acquiring every hot startup that catches their eye -- mergers in 1996 set records. Hollywood may be interested in only blockbusters and book publishers may want to put out only guaranteed best-sellers. But don't be fooled by all the frenzy at the humongous end of the size spectrum.

The real action is at the other end: the main chance is becoming a free agent in an economy of free agents, looking to have the best season you can imagine in your field, looking to do your best work and chalk up a remarkable track record, and looking to establish your own micro equivalent of the Nike swoosh. Because if you do, you'll not only reach out toward every opportunity within arm's (or laptop's) length, you'll not only make a noteworthy contribution to your team's success -- you'll also put yourself in a great bargaining position for next season's free-agency market.

The good news -- and it is largely good news -- is that everyone has a chance to stand out. Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills. Everyone has a chance to be a brand worthy of remark.

Click here to read the full 8-page article.

The Brand Called You

Jump Start Innovation by Following a Few Ground Rules

Most real estate associations realize the value of innovation, but some find it hard to achieve. Association leadership, especially in small and mid-size associations often lacks the time, the tools, and the creative process to nurture exciting new ideas. I recently brought together a few small and medium sized associations to innovate their communications process.  As our “Partners in Innovation” process gets started, we’ve discovered ways to jump-start innovation.

1.  Set side the time to get creative. The participants all said the biggest creativity boost was simply allocating the time to looking for new ideas. Taylor Oldroyd, CEO of the Utah County Association of REALTORS®, said, “We all get into ruts. Setting aside time specifically for this project allows me to focus for a minute, to ignore the staff members that are poking their head in, and instead actually take the time required to do some creative thinking.” 

2.  Bring together diverse participants. All of the associations in the project have strategic plans and are constantly discussing how to communicate, but have had trouble coming up with new ideas. What’s different in this project, according to Diane Streichert, CEO of the Burlington Camden County (New Jersey) Association of REALTORS®, “is the integration of people from different sized associations and interaction with people from all parts of the country. It’s lead to more innovative ideas.” Her Communications Director Liz Peters agrees. ”You toss around ideas daily in your office, but its even better to hear ideas from other people that we would never have thought of,” she said.

3.  Designate a facilitator to keep the creativity flowing. My role in this process is to guide the conversation and push the participants to keep digging deeper. The participants all agree having one person whose focus it is to facilitate makes a huge difference. “It gives me a purpose, a reason to stop and think and engage,” said Rob Hulse, Executive Officer of the Lawrence (Kansas) Association of REALTORS®.

4.  Give yourself license to think crazy thoughts. After their initial meeting, the group was given an usual homework assignment. Before our second phone call, I asked them to come up with the craziest idea for improving their communications they could imagine.  “It was helpful to have that direction, that push to come up with something that isn’t traditional,” Hulse said. And it lead to some very useful ideas we can refine as we move ahead.

We are determined to show that process like this can lead to positive change that your members will see right away. Please stay tuned, I will share the fruits of their labor as we progress!

Jump Start Innovation by Following a Few Ground Rules

Strategic Planning Tips

For those of you who have, or will conduct strategic planning sessions on an ongoing basis with your leadership teams, this entry is for you. I made an installment in my own continuing education yesterday by attending a seminar on strategic planning. I wanted to hone my own skills and learn a new promising approach to an old concept.

ASAE never disappoints its members. The presentation gave me an entirely new approach to consider. Including:

1) The strategic radar screen - where to place strategic issues that come out of scanning the industry for issues that either effect your members' profession (or the industry). 

2) Asking for insight (not feedback) from members-at-large along the way, as to not plan in a vacuum. Insight asks for answers to questions like "Why is there a lack of readership to our communications?" or "Why are members not interested in our legislative activities?" Ask these  questions before and during the process. Feedback, on the other hand, asks member to evaluate something you have already decided to do.

3) The importance of putting staff and elected leaders at the same table (and place them strategically next to each other) with placards and assigned seating.

4) Always ask a committee chair to make presentations along with their staff counterpart.

5) Measure everything - even if the measurement is "excitement and momentum", or better-yet, as specific as "the # of large brokers and brokerage companies who have re engaged in the association". Same goes for any other industry!

6) Top way to build consensus with members and the Board? Communicate, communicate, communicate! Isn't that the key to any successful initiative?

Jim Dalton puts it this way: "Members don't join the association so that they can solve the association's problems. Members join the association expecting that the association will help solve THEIR problems."

Good luck, good planning, and then great execution!

Strategic Planning Tips

Why You Need a Marketing Plan

I know what you are thinking. "Why do I need a marketing plan? My people know just what they need to do to get things done. My board (and I) come up with new ideas all the time, and having a plan would be pointless."

Does this ring a bell with you? It does with a lot of business owners and CEOs. A plan reminds you of the key themes you will always talk about to members so they will hear a consistent messages. And the new projects you decide to undertake. And changes you decide to make in the way you do business.

When it comes to pest control at my house, Gunter Exterminators sends me a postcard. When it's time to rake the leaves, the piles make themselves bigger in the yard, and the weather changes to ring the alarm. When prescriptions run out, that's an indicator it's time to re-order. As April 15th approaches, I know my taxes are due.

When it comes to connecting with members, and sticking to the priorities, and being clear and concise with your audience, there's nothing to remind you if not for a plan.

A plan requires you to sit down and scribble or type what you already know.  Along with deadlines and measurements. How many members opened the mail?  Attended the event? Answered the call to action? When done right, the plan begins with your association's immediate goals. What do you want to accomplish in the coming year? The marketing plan outlines how you will "sell" the ideas and programs and tools, in order to reach your goals. Each and every one of your goals that effects your members.

Marketing is everything you have to do to come up with your products and services, making members aware of it, getting them to want it, and then selling it to them.

So next time you think you don't need a plan, think about how for-profit business runs business. It's just like you. Plan, organize, implement and measure. Then recycle as needed.

Why You Need a Marketing Plan

Never Mistake Motion for Action

I had a conversation with an Association Executive last week at the AE Institute. After a one-hour session about Being Relevant, she came up to me and said "It's hard to create more relevance when we don't sell a product or a service. I'm a small association and I don't have staff, or new tools. I feel like I am spinning my wheels trying to show value for the dues my members pay."

In a for-profit business, improving shareholder value happens by increasing revenues - either selling more, or spending less. In a not-for-profit buisness like yours, members are your shareholders, and your value comes from helping them do their job better, so they can be more successful. And what it takes to be successful changes with market conditions, with changing laws and regulations, and based on the tenure and knowledge of your members. Step into their shoes and understand what they need, and you will begin to turn relevance into member value.

You will improve relevance (and build value) when you keep up with change. Every association can find areas for change, no matter the size of your membership. AE Institute and other conferences offer tens of hundreds of possible ideas to make change in a mere four-day meeting. Back at home, you can make small change in the professional image of your members by contributing positive stories to the media (social and traditional media). Instead of reporting the news, change the way you communicate by learning to translating the benefit of national industry news to what it means to your member locally.

Create value by keeping pace with change - and your member will begin to see, and then understand your value. The art of being a successful leader is to chose the right areas to change. If you are not careful, you could spin your wheels with too many ideas of how to make the most effective change. As Ernest Hemmingway said "Never mistake motion for action".

Never Mistake Motion for Action

What My Dentist Taught Me About Being Relevant

Lynne, my dentist, is also my client. I have spent the past six months helping position and promote Lynne and Abbie’s practice to their patients. The goal for their marketing is more referrals. They so some of the common things that all dentists do. But they do it much differently than any dentist I have ever seen.

While helping Lynne and Abbie express the promise of their practice I began to think about how I feel about my current dentist’s office - and the differences. There are three things that differentiate Lynne:

1.  Schutte & McKnight’s promise is a personal and satisfying dental experience. They communicate how the health of your teeth is connected with your overall health. They explain how health problems show up in your mouth, and how something wrong with your teeth can affect other parts of the body. What an attention-grabbing concept I had never thought about. This made dental health relevant to my life.

2.  First impressions matter. My appointment began in the dentist’s personal office with she and my new hygienist (Stacey), just talking for 15 minutes. We talked about why I decided to come to the office, what I expected, and  if there was anything about a dental office that bothers me so she could make sure to avoid that concern. Unique. Really thoughtful and engaging.

3.  When your level of service is authentic and very consistent, it’s easy to live your brand. What Lynne showed me had heart, and expertise. She tactfully showed me, at 50 years old how to properly brush my teeth. She taught me something.

Needless to say they deliver on the other little things too: Lynne’s handwritten thank-you note, the iPod that distracted me from the drill, and the late afternoon phone call “just because”.

Lynne and Abbie did not start off thinking I would be their patient, and neither did I. Like any other service business, you can gain great advantage “…doing common things in an uncommon way.” (George Washington Carver. That, to me is the best definition of relevance.

If you can say “wow” about a dentist, I just did.

To learn more about Drs. Schutte & McKnight's practice, please visit www.schutteandmcknightdds.com.

What My Dentist Taught Me About Being Relevant

Be a Good Listener to Find Out What Members Need

Go ahead, ask your members why they belong to the your association? Ask open-ended questions, and I’ll bet your members will free flow with ideas.

If you ask them, members will probably answer with many of the same reasons associations were formed as early as the 1830’s: education, networking and referrals, information (in the form of research and statistics), forums to discuss common problems, and standards (or codes of ethics) to keep the industry strong. How about this: a sense of community.

In a challenging economy, the answers will be more specific and tactical.
                  
From surveys from associations across the country, I find that members really want three things:

1. Teach me something I can use to keep me relevant with my customers,

2. Communicate with me about the market, new trends, and what you to advocate on behalf of the industry and my business, and

3. Help me make more money.

Let’s just suppose for a minute that every member wants some or all of these three things. Are these needs specific enough that you can answer them with your services, products, and programs? YOU BET YOU CAN. If you deliver on your members’ biggest needs, will you become more valuable to your members? YOU BET YOU WILL. Are these three member needs universal across industries? YOU BET THEY ARE.

If you haven’t recently asked these kind of questions, now is the time to start. Here are three tips to make your survey worthwhile:

1. Ask filtering questions so you can look at the responses by category (new members, or age groups, or full time v. part time members)

2. Be specific in the questions you ask so that you get specific, actionable input and ideas

3. Do something with the results!

Is it smart to trust (what you think your members think) but verify that it’s still true? Is today a good time to survey your members? YOU BET.

Be a Good Listener to Find Out What Members Need