BRIAN WEBB BLOG

Every successful brand exhibits 3 critial qualities… direction, breadth and depth.

DIRECTION
Consumers tend to jump on bandwagons of successful brands heading up, and tend to leap off of failing brands heading down. What direction is your brand headed?

BREADTH
Coke Cola is the world’s “broadest” product brand, and McDonald’s and the United States Army are the two broadest service brands. Branding expert; Harry Beckwith, submits that the breadth of a brand is an enormous asset. It implies the service’s wide-spread acceptance and continuous satisfactory performance over the test of time.

DEPTH | APPLE & MICROSOFT
Harry shares the following illustration in his book, The Invisible Touch. On an airplane in route to Microsoft headquarters… a researcher surveyed the fellow passengers by asking the following question… “What do you think of when you think of Microsoft?” Almost everyone answered with the same associated response…

“1. Big, 2. Rich fellow (Bill Gates), and 3. Techies.”

These consistent definitions illustrated the weaknesses in Microsoft’s marketing arsenal. Their brand has no more than a neutral meaning. It has no depth.

On the other hand… the same passengers were asked the same question about Apple. Their answers were…

“1. Creative, 2. Fun, 3. User-friendly and 4. Pretty cool.”

Apple’s brand has exceptional depth, and a meaning that others aspire to. Apple might lack the “breadth” of Microsoft, but clearly has more “depth.”

IN DEVELOPING YOUR BRAND, ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

1. What do you want your brand to represent?

2. What attractive and desirable qualities should your brand embody?

Once you’ve determined what your brand is to to represent to your clients and prospects… embed that meaning into everything your company or organization does… from the sign over the door, to your website, to your email and print marketing, to the person answering the phones, to the service and support your company offers.

Please feel free to share your comments. I’d be thrilled to hear from you.

David Ogilvy; who turned his genius for advertising into the famous Ogilvy and Mather Agency, once stated that marketers were wrong to emphasize superiority. Ogilvy argued that you could accomplish just as much by convincing a prospect that your service was… “positively good.”

I experienced this truth on a personal level. I was recently meeting with a LOUD! Creative prospect that owns a very successful engineering firm in Houston, Texas. He shared with me; in a relaxed and comfortable tone, that he really wasn’t launching an exhaustive search to find the “best” web marketing firm… he just wanted one that was compatible as his new marketing partner, and capable of sufficiently meeting his needs.

Think about it…

1. How often are you really looking the very best babysitter, or the best lawn care service, the best dry cleaning service, auto mechanic, seafood restaurant… or accounting service? Not often.

2. How often do you even know the best when you find it? Not often.

3. How long are you ready to look for the very best, when someone very good is readily available? Not long.

4. How much are you willing to pay for the very best, especially if very good is good enough? Not much.

5. How good does anything have to be to satisfy you? Only very good. Anything extra is a bonus.

Additionally, how do you respond when a service tells you that it’s the very best? Skeptically. It sounds like bragging and puffing.

Let your prospects know that you are simply… positively good.

Please feel free to share your comments. I’d be thrilled to hear from you.

Mark Twain once said… “He who hasn’t read great books has no advantage over those that can’t read” I am going through a great book at the moment that’s really caught me off guard. I am only half way through this book, so this post isn’t meant to be a highlight summary of the book per se.

The Dream Manager is a book I picked up because the preface; and title of course, caught my attention. It spoke to the escalating epidemic and corporate confusion over how to discover; and even more critically, retain talented, quality driven staff leadership.

Well, while this book certainly speaks to this exigent need… it shouted to me something far greater.

It stealthily directed me to recognize that I had stopped dreaming. I mean… it’s not that I have no dreams… it’s rather that I had unwittingly allowed my dreams to take the infamous back seat to my day-to-day urgencies. I had lost sight of my dreams.

Many of you can relate to this all too well. I would encourage you to passionately reengage your dreams and shift them to the forefront of your focus and intention. Don’t let the urgent rob you of the important! Aggressively and intentionally place in front of you people, images, systems, books, accountibilities, space, time… anything… anything at all that perpetuates the relentless pursuit of your dreams.

I’ll leave you with some inspiring wisdom.

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”
Patrick Henry

“A skillful man reads his dreams for self-knowledge, yet not the details but the quality.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.”
T.E. Lawrence

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

“To unpathed waters, undreamed shores.”
William Shakepeare

Please feel free to share your views and comments. I’d be thrilled to hear from you.

I can’t even remember how many instances in which a prospect shared with me, that the reason they called us… or selected our company to call from a list of our competitors… was sheerly because of our name. They just had to find out more about LOUD! Creative Group.

“I saw your company listed in the Houston Business Journal, and I had to find out more about the company with a name like LOUD! Creative Group.” said a recent prospect.

Why do Fortune 500 companies pay over $35,000 for a name? Because names make a company’s first impression. First impressions are crucial, and convey much of the little information about you that the prospects have.

Think about it for a moment… It’s not a gear shift… it’s a “Magnesium Paddle Shifter.” It’s not just water… it’s “Propel Fitness Water.” It’s not just a family diner… it’s “The Cheesecake Factory.” It’s not just an electric razor… it’s the “Braun Contour.” It’s not just hand soap… it’s “Tranquil Mint Aromatherapy.” It’s not just a personal computer… it’s a “Quad-Core Mac Pro.” Clearly I could go on and on, but I think you’re getting the point. Whether you’re naming your company, your organization, your service or your product… names matter.

In his book; “Selling The Invisible,” Harry Beckwith articulates this very well. He suggests that you put your name to the “Information Per Inch” test. How much valuable information per inch does your name imply?

A wonderfully named San Francisco based company perfectly illustrates the “Information Per Inch” principal. “NameLab”, a company that specializes in naming products. With lighting speed, NameLab’s name suggests the company takes a near scientific, analytical approach to developing names… something distinct in its industry.

Beyond that… the freshness and slight whimzy of the name also suggests the companys capacity for creative, right brain thinking. “NameLab” conveys a powerful double meaning to its prospects… with an excellent information per inch ratio…

Ask yourself… If you needed a name… Whom would you call first… Names Inc., The Name Company, or NameLab?

A week later… which comany’s name would you remember? Give every name you consider… the “Information Per Inch” test.

Please feel free to share your comments. I’d be thrilled to hear from you.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
- Andre Gide

It’s not secret that I am an enormous fan of Michael Gerber and his literary resources on how to successfully build a business. While Michael Gerber has written numerous best-selling books on building a world-class business, it’s my belief that E-Myth Revisited, and E-Myth Mastery should both be legally mandated prerequisites for anybody applying for a DBA, S-Corp or LLC. I believe the resources in these 2 books are just that crucial to the success of any business.

Listed below, Michael Gerber summarizes the differences between the entrepreneur, the manager and the technician. He highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each, while pointing out the danger that erupts anytime the wrong person is at the helm of a business.
You can read this “CEO Report” article in its entirety by simply clicking here. I hope you enjoy, and share this with your colleagues.

THE ENTREPRENEUR
The entrepreneurial personality turns the most trivial condition into an exceptional opportunity. The Entrepreneur is the visionary in us. The dreamer. He lives in the future, never in the past, rarely in the present. He’s happiest when left free to construct images of “what if” and “if when“. He is our own creative personality; always at its best dealing with the unknown, prodding the future, creating probabilities out of possibilities. Every strong entrepreneurial personality has an extraordinary need for control. Living as he does in the world to concentrate on his dreams. Given his need for change, he creates a great deal of havoc around himself, which is predictably unsettling for those he enlists in his many projects. This then becomes his world-view: a world made up of both an over-abundance of opportunities and dragging feet.

THE MANAGER
The managerial personality is pragmatic. Without The Manager there would be no planning, no order, no predictability. He lives in the past. He craves order. He compulsively clings to the status quo. He sees problems. He creates neat, orderly rows. Without The Manager, there would be no business.

THE TECHNICIAN
The Technician is the doer. “If you want it done right, do it yourself” is the Technician’s credo. He loves to tinker. Things aren’t supposed to be dreamed about, they’re supposed to be done. He lives in the present. He loves the feel of things and the fact that things can get done. He’s happy when he’s working. To him thinking is unproductive unless it’s thinking about work that needs to be done. He’s not interested in ideas; he’s interested in how-to-doit. All ideas need to be reduced to the methodology if they are to be of any value.

PUT ANOTHER WAY
The Entrepreneur dreams, The Manager frets, and The Technician ruminates. To The Manager, then, The Technician becomes a problem to be managed. To The Technician, The Manager becomes a meddler to be avoided. To both of them, The Entrepreneur is the one who got them into trouble in the first place.

SUMMARY
The fact of the matter is that we all have an Entrepreneur, Manager, and Technician inside us. And if they were equally balanced, we’d be describing an incredibly competent individual. The Entrepreneur would be free to forge ahead into new areas of interest; The Manager would be solidifying the base of the operations; The Technician would be doing the technical work. Unfortunately, the typical small business owner is only 10% Entrepreneur, 20% Manager and 70% Technician.

The Entrepreneur wakes up with a vision. The Manager screams “Oh, no!” And while the two are battling it out, The Technician seizes the opportunity to go into business for himself! To The technician it’s a dream come true. But to the business it’s a disaster, because the wrong person is at the helm.

Please feel free to share your comments. I’d be thrilled to hear from you.

In many services, the product of the service has become the measurement of it’s value. “What will the market bear?” is the question so commonly uttered by venture capitalists and business analysts.

What is talent and thought-leadership worth? And why is some worth more than others?

A woman was strolling along a street in Paris, when she saw Pablo Picasso sketching near a cafe. She asked Picasso to sketch her, and to charge her accordingly. Picasso, in just minutes… sketched the woman beautifully. There she was. An original Picasso.

“So what do I owe you?” the woman asked. “5000 francs” replied Picasso. “But it only took you 3 minutes” she politely reminded him. “No” Picasso replied… “it took me all my life.”

Don’t charge by the hour, charge by the years.

It’s so easy for your business or organization to end up in a stall because you’re helplessly paralyzed by your desire for perfection. In his national best selling book; “The Five Temptations Of A CEO,” Patrick Lencioni warns about the temptation to always choose certainty over clarity. Many times the best tactical move… is simply to move. Do something. Avoid the detrimental trap of constantly waiting for more and more and more information before making decisions to move forward. I call this trap the “Ready-Aim-Aim Syndrome.”

So where does this temptation come from? Fear. Fear that executing the plan or moving forward, without volumes of documentation guaranteeing imminent success, will somehow show your superiors, colleagues, direct reports and the world that your plan was not perfect. So rather than risk judgment, a bruised ego, or being labeled a fraud… you do nothing. You wait, and your business or organization suffers.

Many outstanding big picture thinkers are always looking for… and burdened by the search for perfection. But too often, the path to perfection leads to procrastination, which leads to stagnancy… and ultimately, failure.

Ask yourself these 5 identifier questions…

1. Do you pride yourself on being intellectually precise?
2. Do you prefer to wait for more information rather than making a decision without all of the facts?
3. Do your direct reports seem chronically irritable because you schedule too many meetings and demand too many case studies?
4. Do you enjoy debating details with your direct reports during staff meetings?
5. Do you find yourself repelling action-oriented people?

Don’t let the perfect ruin the good. Ready, Aim, FIRE!

Have you ever been to the luxurious Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas? If not… you’re really missing a treat. The Bellagio upholds its lagacy of beauty, elegance and luxury by exceeding guest’s expectations with unparalleled excellence and amenities.

The Bellagio; just like every other hotel in Vegas, is undoubtedly amongst the world’s best when it comes to strategic and effective marketing.

There is inevitably one answer to virtually every question you could ask… “Where do I check-in?” “Where can we find a place to eat?” “Could you point us to the swimming pool?” “Where can I get change for a twenty dollar bill?” “Where are the restrooms?” The answer is intentionally the same…

“Through the casino.” “Through the casino.” “Through the casino.”

The Bellagio and every other successful luxury hotel on the Vegas strip understand that the more they can direct you to and through the casino floors, the more likely you are to spend money. Is it any wonder that the Las Vegas Strip alone grossed over $6.6 billion in revenue in 2006, according to the American Gaming Association?

Where am I going with this? So many businesses and organizations spend significant time and budget resources to engineer their website marketing efforts. But so frequently that is the last chapter of their anti-climactic story. There was a big bang on launch day… and then the show is over.

Your website should be less like a July 4th fireworks presentation… and more like the Las Vegas casinos. You should be constantly updating your website with fresh content, new success stories and recent case studies. Be relentless in creating buzz and providing a prospect with motive to continuously visit your website.

“Where do I signup for an event?” Through the website. “Where can I find out more about your business?” Through the website. “Where can I find pricing, newsletters, stories, accolades, articles, news, affiliations, incentives… “Through the website.”

Every piece of communication you produce should be announcing your website to the world. Your brochures, business cards, letterhead, envelopes, slideshow graphics, billboards, print, radio and television ads, print collateral, proposals and invoices, press releases, your staff’s email signatures… everything. Tell them loudly. Tell them often.

Learn from Las Vegas and The Bellagio Hotel. Be intentional. Your website is the foyer of your business to your world of prospects. Make it count. Get them there. Keep them coming back.

Feel free to add comments to this blog post. I value your discussion.

This post is not for the savvy bloggers and internet gurus of our audience. While RSS has been available since 1999, a significant number of web users still don’t know what it is. This post is to the portion of our audience that isn’t quite comfortable yet with RSS.

In short, RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” RSS is simply a format used to publish frequently updated content; such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a “feed”, “web feed”, or “channel”, contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for you to keep up with your favorite websites in an automated manner that’s easier than checking them manually.

For example… towards the top of the right-hand column of this blog, you’ll notice two buttons with the orange RSS logo. One is titled “Subscribe to Entries RSS” and the other is titled “Subscribe to Comments RSS.” To subscibe to the entries of this blog using RSS, you would click the button titled “Subscribe to Entries RSS” and bookmark that new page in your web browser. To subscribe to the comments portion of this blog, you would click the button titled “Subscribe to Comments RSS” and bookmark that new page in your web browser.

I hope you’ll subscribe to my RSS feeds, and stay up to date with all that’s happening.

Martin Sklar; Vice Chairman and Principal Creative Executive Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) created 6 commandments, or rules for building and space design, but they also apply to your identity and marketing efforts… everything from your lobby to your letterhead and print collateral, from your website(s), to your email marketing.

They are as follows:

COMMANDMENT 1: Wear your guest’s shoes. Never forget the human factor. Keep your marketing and environment personable.

COMMANDMENT 2. Create a weenie… a visual centerpiece that draws people to it.

COMMANDMENT 3. Avoid Overload. K.I.S.S.

COMMANDMENT 4. Tell one story at a time.

COMMANDMENT 5. Avoid visual contradictions. Maintain a consistent identity.

COMMANDMENT 6. Keep it up. No crumbs, no loose threads, nothing.

Your environment and marketing tools are crucial to your client’s experience. Make yours exceptional!

Harry Beckwith cites in his book “What Clients Love…”

“Your space; a key element of your packaging, does more than project how special you are. It reminds your clients of how special they are.”