Brand Against the Machine

How to Build Your Brand, Cut Through the Marketing Noise, and Stand Out from the Competition

John Michael Morgan

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781118160336
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Marketing
• Index: Business

Ditch traditional corporate branding to create a powerful, recognizable brand

Brand Against the Machine offers proven and actionable steps for companies and entrepreneurs to increase their brand visibility and credibility, and to create an indispensable brand that consumers can relate to, thus becoming life-long customers. Discover the aspirational currency that makes your brand one that people want to be or want to be friends with. Learn how to be real with your audience and make strategic associations to establish credibility. Brand Against the Machine will help you stand out, get noticed, and be remembered.

Brand Against the Machine is the blueprint for how to market your brand to attract better clients and stand out from the clutter that is traditional corporate branding and marketing.

• Instant Positioning Method: How to instantly stand out from the crowd and position yourself as a resource, not just another service provider
• The 20/60/20 Rule: Why it's important to take a stand and why it's okay to have haters—because it creates a stronger bond with those who love you

Ditch your traditional corporate branding and marketing, and exchange it for something memorable. Your customers will thank you for it.

1

The Machine

IT WAS JANUARY 20, 1759, when English author Samuel Johnson said in his magazine The Idler, “Advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused, and it is therefore become necessary to gain attention by magnificence of promises, and by eloquence sometimes sublime and sometimes pathetic.”

That was 252 years ago. Nothing has changed.

Every day we are hammered with thousands of messages that are pushed on us by brands regardless of whether or not we want them. Interrupting people over and over with your marketing message is the craziest way to do business I know. Yet every day, it's like a machine is producing message after message and shoving them down people's throats, hoping they will buy. This is the machine you and I are setting out to destroy.

People are bored to death about the way brands market themselves. The machine is producing sales pitch after sales pitch at an exhausting rate. People's attention spans are getting shorter by the day. Marketing isn't getting any easier.

It's time for change. The old ways of branding are ineffective. Are you ready to make a shift and stand out against the machine that pumps out crap day in and day out?

The future of branding is marketing with people and not at them.

Today's marketplace is overcrowded and noisy. There's no shortage of competition. The good news is that despite an overcrowded marketplace, it's easier than ever to be unique. The Internet has provided us with so many tools and resources that allow us to build real relationships with our target audience. The relationship you have with your audience is critical to your brand's success.

Branding has hundreds of definitions. Your brand is simply the emotional connect people have with you or your business. Branding is about relationships, perception, positioning, and I could go on. Your brand lets people know who you are. It answers these questions: Who are you? What do you do? Who do you do it for?

Branding isn't about market share, it's about mindshare.

Your goal is to position your brand in the mind of the consumer as one of, if not the, top authority in your industry, to be seen as a valued resource rather than another service provider. Advertising legend David Ogilvy once said, “Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith, and perseverance to create a brand.”

You have to know how to promote your brand and position it as something different than the competition. That's what this book is all about. I'm giving you the strategies you need to get your brand noticed and to build a community of raving fans.

You can become a highly successful personal brand in any field or industry. The sky is the limit. Personal brands are increasing the value of businesses dramatically. Think of a few of the world's most successful personal brands such as Oprah, Richard Branson, Martha Stewart, or Steve Jobs, and you can see the impact their brand has on their business.

It's often the case that people don't believe they can be a brand. The reality is you already have a personal brand because people already have a perception of you. Everyone who has ever met you has an opinion about you. Imagine if Charlie Sheen quit show business to start a babysitting business. Would you let him keep your kid? I hope not. You have a perception of him. In branding, as with many things, perception is reality.

You have to be prepared and equipped to harness the power of personal branding or prepare to become obsolete. Even if you are an employee (not an entrepreneur or business owner), you have tons of competition. The world is full of talented people ready to take your job or promotion. Your personal brand can be used for job promotions, and it should be used to help promote the company you work for.

You're about to discover many insights and strategies that are easy to implement and will increase your brand's presence and attract the right customers. This book is your guide on what to do and how to do it when it comes to increasing your presence and dominating your niche.

To brand against the machine is to create a reputation as a leading authority who provides value to people rather than being another “me too” business that blasts marketing messages at those who do not want them.

This isn't a book full of fluff or filler. It's to the point and rapid-fire. It's full of useful ideas, tips on executing those ideas, and the occasional example thrown in for good measure. This isn't a book about laws and rules. I hate rules. It's a book about what works. Do you have to do everything? Nope. But take what you can implement today and put it into action. You can always come back later and implement the rest.

This book isn't about using the newest thingamajig or tactic. It's about implementing strategies to build a sustainable brand and a business that serves you. It will give you a lot to think about. But I don't want it to stop there. It is full of things to do. My advice is to do them.

We don't have time to mess around.

If you've already got a brand and would like to strengthen it, you're in the right place. If you have a business but your brand isn't well known yet, you're in the right place.

The world we live in is extremely cluttered and even chaotic. The business world is no exception. People have developed a pattern of effort to ignore all marketing methods. You must work hard to build a brand that stands out and goes against the grain.

Your brand is not a campaign. It's a commitment.

People embrace those who challenge the status quo. Those who win brand themselves against the tiresome mundane noise. They are the new leaders, a new form of brand that unites people and makes a difference.

Let's make a ruckus.

2

Why Branding?

I'M NOT GOING TO LECTURE you on all of the reasons why you should focus on branding. After all, you've already bought the book, so you must know there's some benefit to be had. That is, unless you're reading this in the bookstore, in which case you should immediately run to the register and buy it. Owning this book will instantly make you 27 percent more awesome. You want to be more awesome, don't you?

The terms personal branding and branding have become buzzwords. A lot of people are missing the key benefits of building a strong brand. The number one asset in your business is your brand. It's not your database or your price. It's not your product or your location. It's you.

You are your biggest advantage.

What you do may not be unique, but you are. This is why putting your personality into your brand is so important. You're not in a niche or industry that is without competition. The only difference between you and your competition is your brand. Sure, your price may be lower, but how long will that last? Your product may have a benefit that your competition doesn't offer. How long will that last? At some point your competition will match you. The one element they cannot match is your brand. There are a lot of businesses that make shoes. There is only one Nike.

It's important you realize that you, not your product, create the value.

When my accountant does a good job I say, “Karl did an awesome job.” I don't say, “CPA Services (or whatever his business name is) really did good.” Your customers are the same. You're the one creating and providing the value. Your product or service is the avenue you used to provide that value.

If after reading this book you're thinking, “Wow! I now know how to get my brand to dominate my industry!” then you got the value from me. The book was just the tool used to deliver the message. And if you are thinking that, send me a note. My mom likes to put those on her fridge.

Having a strong brand beats the heck out of selling. Do you think once Oprah's brand was established she had to go around convincing people to be a guest on her show? Brands that are well positioned in the marketplace have less selling to do. They have a relationship with their target audience and a high level of trust with them as well. You begin to attract prospects rather than spending all of your time searching for them.

Brands can make people pay more for one thing than another similar thing. Branding is what makes me drive past a Kmart while going to Target. They sell the same stuff, for the most part. But I have a different perception of each of them. My trust level is different for each of them. Women and some strange dudes buy Coach Purses because of the emotional association with that brand. Could they buy a similar purse much cheaper? Yep, but it wouldn't be a Coach; therefore, in their mind it wouldn't be as good.

Branding is about emotion, and emotion turns prospects into buyers.

People are willing to spend more money on a brand they trust. Do I want to drink a nice cold Kountry Mist or a Mountain Dew? Kountry Mist is a generic brand of Mountain Dew, and I have zero trust in that brand. Just because it's cheaper doesn't mean I'm gonna have a sip. Plus, it's annoying when brands get too cute with the spelling of their name. Spelling country with a K makes me worry about their education. It isn't kool.

People also stick around longer with brands they trust. They are more likely to become customers for life. One of the reasons they stick around longer is that they are more forgiving of your mistakes. Amazon.com is a phenomenal brand; however, like any brand, it isn't perfect. When someone began selling a book on Amazon that was targeted at pedophiles, people were in an uproar, and rightfully so. After getting hit with bad publicity and getting an earful from the social media world, Amazon removed the book. Their brand suffered a black eye, but today no one has an issue purchasing from Amazon. People are forgiving of mistakes, especially when they have a good relationship with the brand.

Another wonderful benefit of branding is that people buy more from you. Tom Hanks is one of the greatest actors of all time. His fans will watch any movie he's in regardless of what the movie is about. They trust him, and they are familiar with him. Heck, I even sat through the movie The Ladykillers just because Tom was in it.

Branding works in any market, big or small. Home Depot and Lowe's are the two big brands in the home improvement space. Although they are large brands doing very well, there are still several small home improvement stores in my town that are also doing well. Their market is small and their brand is small. Yet they have a great reputation and relationship with their audience.

A strong brand gives prospects a comfort level so they actually prequalify themselves. They respect you and know if they are a fit with your brand. For example, you don't just run out and test-drive a Ferrari for the heck of it. You only shop for a Ferrari when you know you are financially able to and, most likely, after you've done a lot of research on the car. You're a fan of Ferrari before you buy it. Because of Ferrari's position in the marketplace, the salespeople aren't dealing w...