Monthly Archives: March 2017

Is Brand Relational or Transactional?

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Funnel DiagramYes
No
Relational
Transactional
All the Above

Yes. If you believe that Brand inevitably comes down to someone taking an action you desire it has components of both.

No. Only if you are not interested in connecting with someone or the connection would prove to be unprofitable or too complicated or won’t allow you to make more than one sale. (For the record, my definition of marketing is “Go where the money is. Sell what they want to buy. Do it again.”

Relational. This is what is commonly being preached in the on-line marketing world. First you build a relationship with a potential client or customer by providing significant information (Content) at no cost and using e-mail to affirm your connection before you ask them to buy from you. This is the Common knowledge approach whether you are engaged in B2C (Business to Consumer) or B2B (Business to Business) marketing.

Transactional. This is for those folks that believe in getting people to act now. And for some situations it is the right approach, particularly when use of your product or service or approach will lead to a relationship afterwards.

All the above. Last week, explaining a sales funnel to a young man I found myself illustrating the difference with this page out of a presentation. (The Capital Funding Alliance Brand story is on BrandBrainTrust.com)

His problem was that he was trying to get his client to sign up for some online/Digital marketing without a visual reference to what his plans would entail. Building a brand is, in every case something that can be charted in this way.

The Capital Funding Alliance situation was first transactional and then relational. You can see from the graphic exactly how it worked. The key, many times, to building an on-line marketing plan is understanding how the potential client does what it is you want to help them do.

In this case the company was partnering with an organization that provided services to credit unions to develop partnerships with individual credit unions across the country to provide loan services the credit union could not.

First the credit unions had to be contacted with a reason to begin the relationship and a way to get the materials that would simplify having their customers work with the new strategic partner. The diagram maps the process and the branding.

How are you connecting with your customers? Can you diagram it like this? Do you know the triggers for a transaction? What decisions can they make? How can you try again? What happens if you repeat your actions? Is it worth it?

A-B Split tests can help you answer these questions. More importantly you can find out if the common knowledge is correct. Here’s a tip: Test Transactional triggers with a personal touch first.

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

 

Positioning Versus Branding

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The return of:

The Marketing lunch bunch

“So I did a search and all these ads for hotshot designers came up, I said. They equate a logotype with a brand. Has the world gone mad?”

Bubba took a sip of his draft and just chortled. “Ol son,” he said with a tiny southern twang, “Hope springs eternal. The good lord set the task of namin’ things to them as was in the garden and we been tryin’ to do right by him ever since. Those youngins just don’t understand that a brand is about reputation as much as anythin’ else.”

Kate looked over her glasses at him, harrumphed and said, “Reputation is only part of it. It starts with a name, one people can remember and with products or services they want to buy…maybe. But if you treat them badly, if your sales people don’t listen and help them you won’t get a chance to have a reputation.”

Chris added, “And it doesn’t make a bit of difference if it is on line or brick and mortar. Every time we run a test the biggest jump in conversions comes from making it easy to get the information they want in the way they want to get it depending on where they are in the sales cycle. In some cases we know they want to talk to somebody that is knowledgeable right then and there. Even if you don’t get the sale, you need to be helpful because they don’t forget.”

Gail kicked me under the table and said, “Fletch, aren’t you going to say anything about positioning?”

“Okay,’” In my view it all starts with knowing everything you can about possible customers and deciding what your mission is going to be with regard to those customers. Your mission is a touchstone for you and the people that work with you to deliver the product or service. The unique way you present that product or service to prospects, and the world for that matter is your position. If you adhere to those two things, especially if they are in sync, you will build trust. See video here

Trust is at the core of what you offer a potential customer. It is wrapped round by the product, the price, the passage or distribution methods you choose and then wrapped in a name. Yes, people remember the name and the logotype for it. They can remember a personality and associate a lifestyle with that name.

But Brand is not something you decide. It is the sum total of what customers, prospects and others come to believe about you. Your brand is what they think not what you would like it to be.”

Bubba, began clapping and said, “You’re mamma raised no dumb children ol’ son. My job for most of my days has been trying to get clients to understand what their brand really is. You just said a mouthful and the most important part is that Trust is at the core. Everything I do in the way of promotion is to build and maintain that trust.

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Jerry FletcherWhy a dialog blog?

  • Because I can
  • Because I want to share
  • Because I like to entertain as I convey knowledge
  • Because the characters are conflations of real experts
  • Because it forces me to look at business development through multiple lenses
  • Because many of my former readers are hectoring me about bringing them back…especially Bubba
  • Because it is fun.
  • Because I prefer conversations to commercials. (Yes it is written in American English and one sort of regional dialect. If you don’t understand, ask me. That is the beauty of being on www.beBee.com Let’s connect there.

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Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

The Skin in the Game is Your Brand

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Success All the e-mail said was, “Being successful developing and commercializing technologies and start-ups is a given or I wouldn’t have contacted you. I appreciate your offer but I don’t do business with people or groups that don’t have skin in the game.”

Skin in the Game according to Investopedia

A term coined by renowned investor Warren Buffett referring to a situation in which high-ranking insiders use their own money to buy stock in the company they are running.

Your Brand is at stake every time.

Every consultant puts skin in the game every time they accept an engagement. If their recommendations fail they will lose Trust with that client and with every one that client tells. The skin they have in the game each time is the lifetime value of their brand. That value is always greater than being allowed to invest in the startup without having legal control.

Value, like Brand, is perceived.

Your value to clients depends on their situation, how much information you can elicit to make a proposal and how strongly you believe in yourself.

Here’s the suggestion that was rejected:

“I’m not a stranger to new products. I stopped counting successful introductions at 207 and that was years ago. I’m willing to invest an hour on Skype to determine how viable I think the product is. But, full disclosure, I’m too busy on paid retainers to take on any additional work without getting paid for it. If I believe your product has the positive value that Digimarc had (I named the company) I will give you the same deal I gave them, a monthly retainer plus a stock bonus. Call or e-mail if you want to take the next step.” 

Skin in the game is a two-way street.

In my experience, the proposition is always essentially the same: Give the start-up the benefit of your time, knowledge and wisdom for a percentage of the company in the future. In other words, we want all your value for as long as it takes but we don’t want to pay for it and, oh yes, you’ll have no say in how the company operates.

Does that sound fair and balanced to you?

Without candor there is no trust

In a conversation with any entrepreneur or start-up if they do not believe in their offering it will show. If they are not cognizant of a marketing problem I may be able to help merely by pointing it out. Should they have been short-sighted about how the company will be run as it moves into the future I may be able to suggest both interim and long term solutions. My initial conversations with start-ups are based on both of us being truthful with each other with the objective of making them successful.

The skin in the game is your brand… and theirs.

Your Brand has established value or they wouldn’t be talking to you. Theirs has little or none. In my view the fees for services is a negotiation.

They need to build a business. You need to be paid.

How you get paid is another matter. If you believe in your brand you should be able to determine the value of your services to the prospect and be paid at that level via any combination of cash, stock or ownership you can agree on.

What say you?

Jerry Fletcher Keynote in ColombiaJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html