The customer experience, both physical and digital, begins the moment someone is exposed to your brand and can extend through their entire lifetime depending on the memories you have created from their experience – both as an employee and customer. Satisfying and exceeding both the functional and emotional needs, values and aspirations of your customers and employees cultivates brand love, advocacy and loyalty. Brands must know their customers better than the customers know themselves.
I think success will no longer defined by giving customers what they want, when they want it. Instead, brands must anticipate what customers need before they need it, and offer it at the best price and deliver it quickly. The new success criteria will be measured by how well retailers can personalise, customise, digitalise and socialise. As consumers, we should support the brands that are not just talking about the important humanitarian issues of our day, but are also contributing to bettering the lives of those affected.
From storytelling to story selling
Last weekend I had a long discussion with a friend about importance of storytelling. I felt obliged to tell her about my experience with luxury and high-end designer consumer goods. And she switched me on to the term “story-selling”, and the importance of story selling for luxury brands if they want to communicate with a younger audience. This morning I watched an “old” video from Burberry - “The Tale of Thomas Burberry” - well in the fashion world what happened in 2016 is old 😊. This is luxury storytelling at its best! The video combines drama with heritage and at the same time depicts the brand founders life story in 3.5 minutes.
Your story is your core
The story creates the context that you build your business around, your story is your rocket fuel and your story is also about you. A great storyteller can guide a listener to their truth and the vision for the next step they need to take. When you have this story at the core of what you are doing, it starts solidifying and making everything easier in your business. Your story is going to influence your copywriting, web design, emails and social media posts. You need the right story to be able to attract the right customers therefore, you need to start by looking at who your story is for and why it is interesting for them.
A great storyteller can guide a listener to their truth and the vision for the next step they need to take. By asking good open ended questions and listening to your client, you can guide them to their own truth and this is what creates lasting results. You want to get to a point where you know your key audience so well that you coach them when you’re speaking about your own story and teaching them what you have to teach. A good coach is one that asks great questions and my process as a coach starts long before the person has signed on. Contact me via e-mail to arrange a meeting or workshop about how to include your customers in your storytelling.
The devil is in the details
As an astute executives we strive to develop a sound brand stories. A set of facts that describes how the brand differentiates, resonates with customers and inspires employees. We also recognise that to communicate and gain buy-in to those facts, we would have to create a set of intriguing, authentic signature stories, involving narratives with a strategic message. For example, a signature story perhaps about a founder, employee or customer that illustrates and provides credibility to the brand story.
Would you like to create a brand story that gains attention and diverts people from counter-arguing? Regardless of the industry, I think that brands should not compete on price, you should only compete on storytelling. Contact me via e-mail to arrange a confidential meeting when you are ready to create a clear, interesting and believable brand story.
Gone are the days of one size fits all
I think that all the stories we tell ourselves about others are only partially true. What do you think? We use negative stories about others to justify self-serving behaviours and people judge you by the stories they tell themselves about your motives and actions. Remember, people may hate you for being different and not living by society's standards, but deep down, they wish they had the courage to do the same.
Generosity is scarce and generosity scales! Generous does not mean that you gave it away for free, it means that you showed up with emotional labour to make things better. Everyone wants is to feel seen, they want products and brands to serve their needs, and they choose brands and products with transparency. The purpose of marketing is to serve people and help them solve their problems. Contact me via e-mail for a deeper dive.
Throwback Thursday
Today, everyone knows that plant based fibres have a much smaller ecological footprint than cotton. The Swiss brand, FREITAG made a sustainable, functional clothing range from a durable fabric mix of flax, hemp and modal. The raw materials were sourced in France, the fabric was weaved in Italy and the garments were manufacturing in Poland. “Made in Europe” and completely biodegradable, what’s not to like? This short video from 2014 can be seen here and I think FREITAG’s storytelling is amazing.
Time for change
When you need information that you don’t have, you are usually not aware that you need it. If you only have partial information, you will make the best story possible with the information you have - and your confidence will be determined by the coherence of that story.
Marketing is what we do when we want things to be different, for example, to change the culture or to change the behaviour of our target audience. When you are comparing brands with each other, you may have generated external preferences by association or memory, not only because of what you see in the given moment. What you see in the moment may make you think of the other brand, therefore, you be aware that the influence of context is really powerful and extremely easy to exaggerate.
I think marketing is the work of telling a story that is true to someone specific. And this story will help them to see the world differently and/or take a different action. This is because the only purpose of marketing is to make a change. Nowadays marketing should be a generous act of leading people towards the change you want to make. Contact me via e-mail for specific guidance on:-
a) Who’s it for?
b) What are the changes you seek to make?
Do you actually stand for something?
I think that all organisations today should have a manifesto which contains a manual for how they connect to their customers in a deep and meaningful way. Not just how to sell their customers more “stuff”. What I have found is that the successful organisations are those who are connecting their customers to each other, for example, Apple and Microsoft. Both Apple and Microsoft have proved beyond reasonable doubt that you can make money from this if you are enriching your customers lives and connecting them to each other.
If you are going to build a tribe then you have to ask yourselves whether to make it easy to join, trivial or exclusive. It’s really not a hard decision, the most important factor is the tribe should not be trivial as nobody wants to join a tribe that is average. People will only join tribes that they identify with and/ or believe in. Building a tribe means creating a following of people respect you, believe in you, support you, know what you are talking about and want you to succeed. Historically, there were only 3 tribes: work, community and the church.
When we join a tribe we are making a statement about ourselves. Are you interested in knowing how to inspire loyalty and a feeling of belonging? Please send me an e-mail when you ready to build or grow your tribe.
Finding the North Star
The definition of digital marketing has not fundamentally changed, what has changed is the relevance and the essential role of digital. Especially the relationship between the consumer and brand, and vice versa. Building a bridge between where the companies were to where they are today - in mindset, in understanding of the power of digital and in understanding how the platform is being transformed.
I think the key ingredient is that brands must ensure they keep their core values and positioning intact. The digital transformation story for your brand begins with a real need to understand your digital engagement. We can look at what is digital, from both the platform and a social standpoint. I can guide your brand through the process of moving forward from simply understanding what they need to do, to actually implementing those changes throughout you organisation. Contact me via e-mail (confidentiality is assured).
It's you, uniquely you
Nowadays, small brands cannot afford to participate in traditional media buys, so social media is the only place where they talk about their brand. This morning, I realised that it’s been almost 2 months since I activated my Clubhouse account, and I still haven’t joined a conversation room. For those of you who are not aware, Clubhouse is an invitation-only social audio app. Apparently, Clubhouse is the home for people who are disillusioned with social media censorship and unequivocally condemn all other forms of racism and hate speech.
This new storytelling approach which is not visual will take a little while to catch on. As the Clubhouse rooms disappear after they are over, and as recording a room is against the rules - “going viral,” in the traditional sense, isn’t really possible. I think the Clubhouse app could help brands to attract new clients, as it’s an ideal platform to consistently define, express and communicate who you are, who you serve and why you are currently dedicating your life to serving your target market.
A breath of fresh air
The most common mistake I have seen marketeers make is when each of us walks around with a world view that we are 100% sure is true. Our beliefs about money, our beliefs about strangers, our beliefs about places, etc., etc. We really believe that this is true! In my experience people do not always see the world the same way as we do, they don’t believe what we believe and don’t fear what we fear. I’m sorry! As a marketeer you have to be comfortable with this, and if you are not then you cannot market to them.
To put things in perspective, please oblige me in a thought exercise - Think of every product you’ve purchased over the past two weeks. This might include food, clothing, a car wash, house plants, insurance, medicine, office supplies, toys, books … anything at all. Now, consider this list and determine: How many of these purchases were directly or indirectly influenced by a piece of company content? If you are like me, the answer is zero.
Branded content has no impact on 99.999% of consumer purchasing decisions. We don’t see this company content, and if we see it, we probably don’t believe it - let alone subscribe to any of it.
Change your story, change your life
There is a voice in your head and it is always telling you what you are good and bad at. The voice tends to focus on your weaknesses and you are subsequently thinking hard about how to let people know all about your strengths. And this tends to lead to “me, me” storytelling, where you mistake the question: “How are you?” as an actual enquiry as to how you really are. What they are really asking is, “How am I?” and that is what they want the answer to.
Have some guts and tell a story! Are you fed up of telling a cleaned up version of someone else’s story? Everyone is walking around telling themselves a story based on their pain points and emotions of what is happening around them. Can you write a story in first person about exactly what the client feels? Written in a language that your client speaks and within this story, explain exactly what they can do better. Detailing exactly what your client get out of the interacting with your brand. Contact me via e-mail if you would like to learn how to tell your own story.
You are the one we are looking for
c/o MTV
Are you a result-driven person with solid experience in marketing and a passion for brand building and luxury brands? Are you curious, positive and willing to run that extra mile to get the job done? If so, send me your CV and I will scan it for key words before I can see whether you are suitable the position.
Simon Sinek said, “Value is not determined by the people who set the price, it is determined by those who choose to pay the price." The same statistic can be presented in very different ways to create very different reactions. And our choices reflect and determine who we are and I think individual awards come as a result of the teams success.
Our perception is our reality
Far too often we look at a group or team of people that are not succeeding and conclude that they are not capable of success. Saying the problems they face are too powerful, too irate and too ingrained to do anything about. We can make a profound difference in how well people turn out if we choose to pay attention to the constraints imposed by poverty, stupidity and attitude.
If our perception is much worse than the reality, why are we trying to change the reality? What we need to do is improve our storytelling and tell people about the reality. Sometimes our perception is faulty and we cannot really tell the difference between the quality and the environmental reasoning. I think that when we change our frame of reference and perceived value, the actual value will be completely transformed.
Why me
I have been a director, senior leader and commercial executive with experience of running teams, and I have a proven track record of exceeding results in highly demanding environments from start-ups to corporates. Through my varied professional experience, I have gained a deep understanding how effective relationships impact the bottom line.
Over the past few years I have used my coaching, active listening and mentoring skills to help organisations to get better feedback from their customers and subsequently improving business results by changing how they deal with customers. As part of this focus, I examine strategy, culture, interaction design, customer service, branding and leadership practices.
I am passionate about spotting emerging best practices and helping companies master them and I also speak about these topics in keynotes and lecturing engagements. Contact me via e-mail and let’s arrange a non-binary virtual meeting to discuss collaboration opportunities.
Seasonal Greetings
Detroit vs. Pepsi
Detroit in the State of Michigan came into my periphery as it was the home of Motown. Detroit is also known as the motor city - back in the days the Big Three car manufacturers (Chrysler, Ford and General Motors) had their headquarters there. Nowadays, it is the second poorest city in America and famous for D12 and Eminem. Well done to Pepsi for recognising the talent in the city.
Purpose before profits
I recently bought my son a winter jacket and even after looking at Arc’teryx (my second favourite brand) and North Face, our unanimous choice was Patagonia. Patagonia is an heritage brand, famous for their outdoor climbing equipment.
Patagonia have a clear brand identity and knows exactly what they stand for - global sustainability - and they lead from the front. Action speaks louder than words and I always remembered that Yvon Chouinard (founder) said, “Every time we do the right thing, our profits go up.”
Tips on Thursday
Why do you use Facebook?
Facebook’s brilliant business model is to give you this audience and then charge you if you want to reach them. I think Facebook has become a ”pay to play” platform! I doubt that you will get any form of organic interaction from your Facebook business page nowadays as it’s non-existent.
It makes more sense to take one piece of content and ”slice and dice” it across the various SoMe platforms. Observe how your end-users are consuming that content and then look for opportunities to repeat, as the playing field is continuously changing and we have to be ready for that.
Contact me via e-mail when you are ready to build a community on social media.
I am at your service
What do I do?
I have built up a rather unique combination of skills, knowledge and experience. I have been an owner, director, senior leader and commercial executive, with experience of running teams and have a proven track record of exceeding results in highly demanding environments from start-ups to corporates.
Why do I do it?
I have been fortunate to have worked with some outstanding professionals which has enabled me to understand organisational dynamics through people, process and technology. These skills have been proven to be invaluable as I engage stakeholders, explore ideas and opportunities in line with your business priorities. If you want to experience significance and success, I am now in the position to share this valuable knowledge of how to become extraordinary in what you do.
How do I do it?
I currently help organisations, teams, leaders, and front-line employees identify and remove barriers to success. I specialise in addressing issues involving people, processes, and technology - especially where consumers are affected. As part of this focus I examine strategy, culture, interaction design, customer service, branding and leadership practices. I am passionate about spotting emerging best practices and guiding companies to master them. I also speak about these topics in keynotes and lecturing engagements.