Entrepreneur Magazine has a great interview with John Osher - noted inventor and start-up guru.  He has come up with a list of “17 Mistakes Start-Ups Make”.  You can view the article and the list here or here (this one is easier to read).

We wanted to highlight #16 and #17 …

Mistake 14: Lacking simplicity in your vision. “Many entrepreneurs go in too many directions at once and do not execute anything well. Rather than focusing on doing everything right to sell to their biggest markets, they divide the attention of their people and their time, trying to do too many things at [one time]. Then their main product isn’t done properly because they’re doing so many different things. They have an idea and say they’re going to sell it to Wal-Mart. Then they say they’re going to sell to [the] Home Shopping Network. And then the gift market looks good. And so on.”

Mistake 15: Lacking clarity of your long-term aim and business purpose. “You should have an idea of what your long-term aim is. It doesn’t mean that won’t change, but when you aim an arrow, you have to be aiming at a target. This [concept will] often come up when people ask ‘How do I pick a product?’ The answer depends on what you’re trying to do. If you’re trying to [create] a billion-dollar company with this product, it may not have a chance. But if you’re trying to make a $5 million company, it can work. Or if you’re trying to create a company [in which] family members can be employed, it can work. Clarity of your business purpose is very important [but] is often not really part of the thought process.”

Clarity, focus, purpose and other words are too often viewed as some sort of abstract navel-gazing exercise.  However, we believe that most business mistakes arise from these areas - as articulated by Mr. Osher above.

In short, purpose inspires action.  If you don’t know what your purpose is and you don’t have simplicity in your vision, then EVERY step you take is a potential mistake.

A tip of the hat to ValleyWag for the heads-up.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fascinating organization to study.  Despite having no formal infrastructure, a main office, etc. it has become an amazing success story. 

According to Ori Braffman and Rod Beckstrom, the authors of the “Starfish and the Spider”, the “secret” to AA’s success has been a core ideology shared by others - and strong spiritual leaders.  The authors opined that this is also true with any successful organization. 

Using some of the 12 Steps first defined by AA, there are lessons to learn related to marketing and branding:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

   This is understanding the reality of your brand - you are what people perceive you as.  This doesn’t mean changing how you are perceived (like many companies try to do with advertising), but truly changing your core.
   

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

   No sacrilege intended, but the “Higher Power” in branding is the customer.  Today’s customer has the power to grow or kill your brand.
   

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

   This is simply turning your business over to your customers whenever possible; surveys, product feedback, R & D, marketing, et al. 
   

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

   This means have a strong commitment to corporate integrity; being transparent and open.  This includes your customers, employees, vendors, and other stakeholders. 
   

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs (also applies to 6, 7, and 8).

   If you screw up, admit it.  Don’t hide behind a safely worded press release or some other form of corporate spin.

    9.   Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Through technology, we have the opportunity to have 1:1 relationships with 1000s of people - i.e. our customers.  This means if we make a mistake or just want feedback, we have the tools to communicate directly.

    12.   Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

            This is my favorite one.  This means find your brand core and be true to it in every situation.  It also means promoting not just your products or services, but the Simple Idea behind your organization.

These concepts dove-tail nicely with our premise that the key to a 1000 Year Brand starts with a strong vision and a sense of legacy.  In fact, one of the foundation questions we ask when helping someone find their brand core is “If you/your business was a church, what is the ONE thing you must believe to be a member?”  In addition, AA’s principles match our “3Rs” of branding: reality, reputation, and recognition.

Again, this analogy is not intended to trivialize alcoholism or the process of recovery.  It is to learn from the simple brilliance of Bill W’s original idea - how it changed lives, grew with no direct over-sight … and above all things, stayed relevant. 

Is there a huge life-sucking noise when you enter into your workplace?

What makes some workplaces suck? We discuss this, and some steps you can take to improve the workplace you create.

What do you think? What are some of the factors that go into a sucky workplace?

A basic rule of marketing is to select your key demographic.  This is typically used for targeted media buys, messaging, etc.  While still a useful process, demographics are becoming less about “target audience” and more about data points.  

A more advanced method is to determine a psychographic profile of your ideal customer.  This is the personality of your customer; the persona.  The primary value is to better understand your audience so that you can make a stronger connection with them.

Both methods are intended to bring focus to the marketing process.  In terms of positioning, the point is to narrow your focus so that you broaden your appeal.  In addition, we all know the common maxim “If you try to mean everything to everyone, you will mean nothing to no one.” 

Despite all of this, most entrepreneurs and CEOs will claim that their product is for “everyone”.  Why is this?  Maybe it is because they are instinctively talking about the “idea” behind their business.  They may have a point, because what are the demographics and psychographics of Ideas?  Most ideas have a broad, even universal, appeal.  They certainly cross all demographics - and most pyschographic elements. 

We marketers still must help our clients create focus in their marketing efforts.  But just because the marketing needs to be focused, it doesn’t mean the idea has to be.

Here is a simple question …

Do your employees match your brand?

I have written at length about how the customer experience is the #1 factor in branding. Other than eCommerce, the customer experience is delivered by humans - your employees.  They are in contact with a customer at their most formidable time - where first impressions are created, comparisons to other brands are made, preconceived notions are validated or changed.

As such, your employees have a HUGE impact on your brand - and it usually is the details.  Some examples:

• The way they answer the phone.
• General tone and attitude
• Their appearance and dress.
• Do they smile?
• Do they genuinely like working for you?

All of these areas must match your Brand Core or you create gaps; gaps that customers fall in to and never come out.

So how do you solve this?  Jim Collins said it best in “Good to Great” - first who, then what.  In other words, it is not just about investing in customer service training, implementing a process, or using some sort of CRM.  It simply boils down creating the culture, then hiring the RIGHT people.  No process or system is flawless, but your culture can be - because in the right culture you can still make mistakes and your customers will still love you.

Finally, this is not about creating a bunch of “Stepford Wives” as employees - but it is about having people who match their personal brand with your company brand.

If you have an employee that doesn’t match your brand (and it will be pretty obvious), don’t agonize over it.  Just take care of it.  You both will be better off.

Here is a good article from Harvard Business on marketing during a recession.  I especially like point #8. 

How to Market in a Recession - Harvard Business Online’s John Quelch

tags: harvard, marketing, recession

I believe that one of the leading indicators of a potential 1000 Year Brand is employee turn-over.  Or maybe it is better to say that companies that have high turn-over are very likely NOT 1000 Year Brands.  The obvious negative is high turn-over at the management level, but the real affect is felt at the rank-and-file level.  This is especially true if there is turn-over of the people that deal with customers.  I believe a lot of this comes from the wear-and-tear on one’s soul from dealing with angry customers.  While some business models (like McDonald’s) have inherently transitional jobs, most business that have high turn-over simply have something wrong.

In most cases, this is a core issue - internal strife, ethical issues, greed - all of the things that kill a company.  Except in this day and age of accelerated word-of-mouth, unhappy employees can hurt a brand just as much as any negative press coverage.

This is closely related to a common theme amongst 1000 Year Brands; the desire to make a difference.  This often starts with creating a cultural of empowerment with employees.  This is reflected in giving authority to employees to control the customer experience, but also includes education programs, promotions, etc.

Covey probably said it best … “treat your employees like your best customers”.  Or another way to say it … if your employees don’t like you, your customers probably don’t either.

Promises are still powerful.  So powerful, in fact, that when a promise is actually delivered it is unexpected; a surprise.  On the flip-side, the disappointment generated by a broken promise may be even more powerful.  When a promise is delivered, it reinforces your Brand Core.  When a promise is broken, it creates a gap that no amount of advertising can fix.  In either scenario, the consumer is empowered (if they so choose) to talk to 1000s.

This is why the details matter so much; why your “brand” really boils down to the interaction between your marketing promises and your actual customer experience.

Valeria Maltoni has an excellent post on her “Conversation Agent” blog called “Leading Brands Lead”. She breaks down 3 areas that truly make “brand leaders”. I’ll add my two cents to what in means to be a brand leader:

• Listen - not just analyze data.
• Start on the inside - a common trait of almost every brand leader is happy, excited employees.
• Be transparent - this is rapidly becoming a cliche, but it still is important to have a culture of openness.

Bottom line: leadership is a characteristic of greatness - including great brands.

One of the worst things a brand executive/marketer can do is to create advertising or marketing that is a distraction from the Brand Core.   This distraction comes in many forms - cheap tag lines, discount offerings, reward gimmicks, shock/entertainment - all things that are unnecessary if you have properly communicated the original simple idea that is your Brand Core.    In short, sell what you are.