Danny Brown

podcaster - author - creator

branding

Who You Are Versus Who You Think You Are

Look in the mirror. What reflection do you see? What?s the answer that you get when you ask, ?Who am I??.

It doesn?t matter if it?s a personal mirror or one with a business face ? they?re one and the same at the end of the day.

How you view yourself has a lot to do with how you?re viewed by others.

Do you see yourself as the no-nonsense type that doesn?t stand for any bull? Or the caring type that listens to everyone?s questions and concerns and tries to help wherever possible?

Maybe the answer is somewhere in-between, or nowhere near either.

Your view, and that of other people, is what shapes your brand, personal and professional.

  • If you want to come across as narcissistic, you will.
  • If you want to be known as the person that never listens to others and does exactly what you want, you will.
  • If you want to be known as the hard-assed boss, you will.

But you know what people buy from? The brand.

Sure, the product is important, but generally it plays second fiddle to the service. Your brand gets known for its service and is the currency on which your fortune (or lack of) will be built.

I?m a consumer. If I hear about two companies that have exactly the same product and price point, but one listens to its customers more than the other, I know where my money?s going.

If I hear that Jim has built his hugely successful business by being a dick to his staff for no reason, I?d rather shop at Joe?s less successful business.

Why? Because I?ve heard he knows all his employees? likes and dislikes and when their birthdays are.

He also listens to feedback from staff and customers alike and acts on it to make his service better.

We all know who and what we want to be.?Yet we don?t always make the right decisions to get there.

Ours isn?t the only opinion that counts ? not if we want to be truly successful. We know who we are, but others know who we could be. This is what makes a successful brand.

Your brand is your voice but don?t be afraid to let others shape it.

Sunday Shorts – Businesses Doing It Right Edition

Businesses doing things right

Anyone that reads this blog regularly, or knows me on Twitter/Facebook, would probably say I do my fair share of questioning (or criticizing, depending on your take).

It’s probably a fair statement – because we all should question and criticize when something seems off. Otherwise, we’ll live in a world of unicorns and pixie dust where no-one is held accountable. Meh to that!

Anyhoo… As much as there are people and companies doing things “wrong” (subjective to your thoughts), there are also companies, people and businesses doing things right.

Here are just three.

Whyte & Mackay

In my last post, I shared a great video on how Scottish whisky maker Whyte & Mackay are connecting with their customers through the power of empathy, storytelling and humour.

Following that, both Whyte & Mackay and Richard Paterson were on Twitter and showed why they’re winning over so many people online.

whyte and mackay tweetwhyte and mackay tweetRichard Paterson tweets

By reading the post itself, they knew that it was Phil Baumann that instigated it and made sure to thank him too, and not just the referring source.

By doing so, they immediately raised the “fan” level of both Phil and myself, along with a lot of others we’ve shared the story with.

Takeaway? The bigger picture isn’t always in front of you. Recognizing the various arms of a conversation makes you a far smarter business.

Canadian Pet Connection

I love the guys at Canadian Pet Connection in Oakville, Ontario (disclaimer – we’re friends). This is a successful father and son team who’ve built a great reputation in the area as a business doing things right.

When you visit their store, they’ll take the time to chat with you as a person and not just a customer. They’ll offer expert advice on how to look after your beloved pet, as well as recommend products that might mean you going to a competitor, because they love animals so much.

They take that offline experience online, where their blog shares advice on healthy pets, safety concerns and more.

Canadian Pet Connection blog

On Twitter, the son Brandon often looks for conversations of pet owners talking about their pet’s birthday, and offer to ship them a surprise birthday pack. Cool, right?

Takeaway: If your customer has an awesome experience with you offline, transfer that online and expand it to a wider audience. The results will speak for themselves.

Seth Godin

Earlier this week, marketer and author Seth Godin sent out an email to promote the release of Steve Pressfield’s new book, Turning Pro. All well and good – except when the pitch was used in reference to the death of Ray Bradbury.

At best, the tie-in was misplaced (citing the similar thinking of Pressfield and Bradbury) – at worst, it could have been seen as using someone’s name to shill a book.

Clearly others felt that way too.

Jim Connolly Seth GodinOlivier Blanchard Seth Godin

There were other updates across Facebook and Google+ that followed the line of thinking that the pitch was horribly misplaced. Something Seth clearly heard.

Seth Godin Ray Bradbury

Takeaway: We all make errors in judgement – that’s human. How we deal with these errors defines the perception people have of us. Seth showed that taking responsibility, not making any crap excuses and apologizing is the smarter thing to do.

These are just three examples of businesses and people doing things right – there are many more. The important thing is, we recognize them and the reasons why they’re the right and smart approach, and how that benefits the person or company in the long run.

Something we can all learn from, no?

Related articles

Connecting Your Brand to Your Customers the Whyte & Mackay Way

Connect to your customers

In social media, we often talk about the need to connect to our customers more. Yes, we speak about that outside social media too, but the medium allows us the opportunity to do this better and on a larger scale.

However, saying something and actually doing it are two very different things. It’s all well and good saying, “Let’s connect!”, but implementing isn’t always easy.

Except, it can be.

Every business is a customer – if you’re not thinking like that, you’re already behind. We’re not just providers – we’re recipients of knowledge. The feedback our customers give us should be viewed higher than any financial transaction they give, because that helps us improve, and grow, and understand how we connect better.

Whyte & Mackay understand this. Instead of just buying blanket ads and dead space to fill, they speak of what their customer loves – the experience of being a whisky drinker.

They talk of the smell; the warmth; the delivery. Their words help the customer experience their product to the fullest, and when you enjoy something the way it’s meant to be enjoyed, you want to experience that feeling again. And again. And again.

This video by Whyte & Mackay Master Blender Richard Paterson is the perfect example of how to sell your product while truly connecting with your customer.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjrkd_RZFFY[/youtube]

It’s fun; informative; no buzz words; and takes pot shots at some industry practices while educating on the reasons why they’re wrong.

Now, while not every brand can deliver a video in this way, it’s a great primer on what works – being yourself and being your customer.

Works for me. You?

Hat-tip Phil Baumann for sending me the video.

Related articles

Poster Child

Businesses spend small fortunes on making their brands presentable.?

They polish their message; media train the CEO; and give their website a shiny new look and feel.

Everything’s very nice; very safe; very presentable. Ready to be the poster child for Industry X.

And then they open their mouths.

Polishing is great; training is great; shiny is great. But culture is where the real beauty lies.

How beautiful is yours?

?

Case Study

Don’t wait to read case studies in your industry – be the case study instead.

?