When you think of creating a new brand, it’s easy to think about advertising managers sitting around a conference room tossing around ideas with caffeine-fuelled creativity. However, oftentimes, the most powerful branding comes from adding a little “fun” to your brand experience
Driven by the Burger King mentality, today’s customers want to do business their way on their time. They want to make their own choices. As business people, it’s our job to make sure that when customers are ready to make their choice, our product or service is their top choice.
Below are secrets to put some spark and imagination into your brand and create an unforgettable brand experience.
Tell Your Company’s Unique Brand Story
Television shows have long been a part of our culture. When viewers watch television shows, they see stories about characters that we relate to.
Now imagine harnessing the power of storytelling for your business! By sharing your brand story, you create a powerful connection to your customers. They feel as though they know you. This brand story paints a colorful vignette of who you are, what vision you hold, and what experiences made you the company you are today. While your brand story might not be as catchy as the Brady Bunch tune, raving fans love to share stories of their favorite brands with others.
PartyLite is a direct sales company that has done a phenomenal job of weaving their brand story into their marketing message. Listen to the story of how this company got started.
“Mabel K. Baker, a young housewife, provided holiday candles for her friends. She hand-dipped candles from the wax of bayberry plants, which were plentiful on Cape Cod. From these humble beginnings, Colonial Candle of Cape Cod was established. In 1973, PartyLite was established to satisfy the desire people have for home beautification, along with the ever-increasing need for additional family income.”
Now, can’t you just imagine Mabel sitting outside and turning her gaze over to the bayberry plants in her backyard! Surely a light bulb went off in her head as she picked berries off the bush and harvested the wax to make gift candles for her dearest friends. A story like this makes you feel like when you get a PartyLite candle, that you are getting more than a factory-made product. Rather, you are getting a lovely crafted handmade candle. Great story and great marketing!
What’s your brand story? Do you have a wonderful story to tell about how your business was started? Was there a turning point in your company that shaped you into the organization you are today?
Make Your Brand a Household Name by Coining the Term
Why define your brand experience in terms we already use? Kleenex, Xerox, and FedEx are companies whose brand names have set the standards for their industry by becoming the coined terms to describe a tissue, making a copy, and overnight deliveries.
So how do you go about making your brand a household name?
Marla Cilley, aka “The FLY Lady” is an organizing superhero for moms across the county. She has turned her passion for tidiness into a nationally known brand.
How did she do it? By adding an ounce of fun with her own unique terms and philosophies. For example, The FLY Lady stands for Finally Loving Yourself.
Fans of the FLY Lady know that she lives by three rules.
1)Don’t sweat the small stuff
2) Laugh every day. Even if it is at yourself.
3) Love like there is no tomorrow.
If you visit her website at FlyLady.net, you’ll notice that her brand is even reflected in some of the names of the navigation links: Why FLY, FLYing Lessons, FLY Zone, Time FLYs when, FLY FAQ, FLY Library, Join FlyLady Now, Ask FlyLady, and The FlyShop.
Add Your Unique Brand of Humor
Humor has the power to transform an ordinary product into a fun experience for the whole audience. Recently I saw a commercial for Red Stripe “The Great Jamaican Beer” that delivers an unforgettable quirky message.
The Jamaican spokesperson is dressed in a black tuxedo and says, “Red Stripe – the beer in the short stubby ugly bottle. If ugly people stand next to a Red Stripe they look beautiful.”
He speaks to a man who is sitting next to him, “You sir, would you say that you are ugly?
(Pause) You are VERY ugly!”
The man who is sitting down replies a little confused, “Well I don’t know…”
The spokesperson hands him a beer and says, “Here hold this Red Stripe.”
The man says, “Okay.”
The spokesperson says, “Look, you are beautiful!” (Obviously implying that just by holding this beer this formerly “ugly” man is transformed into being beautiful.)
Spokesperson says enthusiastically, “Red Stripe, it’s beer. Hooraaaayy Beer!”
The man cheers, “Hooray Beer.”
The spokesperson adds at the end, “…says the beautiful man.”
The point is, that although you may have never heard of Red Stripe beer before, this funny commercial really sticks in your mind. Even though we are not beer drinkers, this commercial is surely creating living room conversations in homes across the country.
That’s how a funny campaign can instantly turn a new or unknown product into a national phenomenon.
Create your own Catch Phrases and Own Quotes
If you type the words “inspirational quotes” into Google, you will see that there are 1,130,000 listings. The quotes are hot! So why not tap into the power of quotes and catchphrases for your business?
Go back in your mind to the “Where’s the Beef” commercials from Wendy’s. That was a fun series of engaging commercials that had the whole country asking themselves, “Where’s the Beef?”.
And think about Donald Trump’s “Your Fired!” I’m sure that he had no idea that his show, “The Apprentice” would take off the way it did and become the “in thing.”
When you create a hot catchphrase or quote, you’ll find your words popping up on websites, in blogs, talked about in elevators, written on bathroom walls, and in the most unexpected placed.
Take a moment to step back and really look at your company’s brand. With a little imagination, you can transform buying your product or service into a fun, one-of-a-kind brand experience that your customers will never forget.
Use these powerful yet simple tips from the national best-seller, “Secrets of Power Marketing: Promote Brand You” – the first guide to personal marketing for non-marketers.
Create and grant an annual award.
Send handwritten congratulations and thank you notes.
Send greeting cards for some occasions other than Christmas.
Send postcards when you travel and even when you are at home.
Give a good book to special clients. Always sign it with a positive message.
Build relationships with the media before you need them.
Associate with winners – attend awards functions.
Build and maintain a database of clients, prospects, and key influencers.
Earn certifications and win awards from your associations – and tell everyone.
Ask happy customers to write testimonial letters for you.
Recruit your suppliers as marketing agents. They work for free.
Join and be active in your chamber of commerce.
Write tips sheets for your customers.
Write and send articles to magazines and newspapers.
Send a news release to the media every three months.
Do something crazy and newsworthy at least once a year.
Send photocopies of your news coverage to your clients.
Build and maintain an informative and interesting web site
Sponsor a cause, event, charity or community group.
Volunteer for your association, charity or community group.
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