Branding Microseconds
What comes to mind when you think of the iPhone? Sleek, hi-tech, expensive, security blanket, camera, friends, access…? Whatever it is, that’s what you associate with Apple. People go through the same mental process with your company’s brand too. It’s called brand association. And it’s either making you money or costing you some each and every day.

I am intrigued by movies set in the 1800’s that always seem to have the obligatory Magic Tonic salesman drawing a crowd while he exclaims the many benefits of his potion. No matter the movie, the character is always enthusiastic and selling their product as the key to your future happiness.  In other words, they make a big deal out of it. And in the movies, like real life, people buy it.

Whether you’re seeing a steep, sudden decline in results or a gradual dip over time, even the most hard-working marketing plans flatline over time.
It could mean you’re in need of a complete overhaul of your current practices, or maybe it's a matter of simply adjusting a piece of creative. While I can’t diagnose the problem in 500 words, here are a few tips to help you get your marketing back on track:

Your business likely gets approached by dozens – if not hundreds – of media outlets, community organizations and nonprofits every year.

More and more, brands are moving away from the traditional avenues of communicating with potential customers and more toward unorthodox, less-tested methods of communication.

At VI, we’ve been reading The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. The science behind how habits form and neurologically what takes place in your brain is fascinating. This has real implications for understanding (and persuading) consumer behavior.

Not all audiences want to be sold to, and not all clients have a budget large enough to reach everyone. In these instances, adding an influencer marketing campaign can be a great way to solve these problems.

Fake news has been around forever. We know this because Mark Twain was talking about fake news when he said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

I’ve been involved in a lot of strategic planning sessions lately, and we inevitably discuss brand vision at some point in time. That is, what does the organization want the brand to ultimately be? Something lofty, even noble. As we discuss this, some clients will talk about a vision that is well articulated and congruent with how they are currently operating. Others want their brand to be something that is far different than what it is today (fair enough) and they operate in a manner that isn’t going to get them there (impossible).

Do you encourage customer feedback? Do you make it easy by ensuring you have a clear system in place that allows your customers to effortlessly leave comments? Let’s hope the answer to both of these questions is a resounding "yes."

I used to think a lot about becoming a rock star. But after years of not doing anything rock stars do to become rock stars, hence I am not one.