Attention for better or worse ■ The relationship between attention and brands ■ How to use this book ■ What you want to be when you grow up. I realized that most of us just don't know how to be ourselves.
Part ONE
Believe in the Brand
Everyone Needs a Little Attention, Brands Need a Lot
Don't be discouraged if, after defining your true stories and values, you can't immediately translate them into your brand image. You are the only one who has experienced your life and can share the values you have formed.
Brand-Building Belief I
In the 2002 blockbuster film Men In Black II, his memory is erased by Special Agent K (played by Tommy Lee Jones). To explain and comfort his friend, he says, "Hey, K, you are who you are, even if you sometimes forget."
Brand Builders
True Confession
Good for the Soul, Great for the Brand
We are not relieved because we are "here". We are relieved because we now have the means to begin our journey, stay on course and accomplish our mission. McDonald's jingle in 2003 was "We love to see you smile." It was selling smiles and the idea that it cared about our happiness.
Brand Building Belief II
Brand-Stand: Your Platform for Success
Now, you may not believe that your brand is “nice” and you are not interested in being liked. How many times have you heard people explain someone else's success by saying, "Well, it's easy for him to get a sale or close a deal, everyone loves him." How many times do we teach others: "It's all about relationships". No matter what your true stories are, they don't stop being true when you step out of your home and into your office.
At the end of the film, these solemn, moving words are spoken by the young emperor, who rules his empire with the aim of becoming more like the Western world: 'We have Western weapons and Western clothes, but we must never forget who we are. are and where we come from.” It is the desire for support and understanding of what we are going through that leads us to attend seminars and leadership conferences. When we remember what we've been through and say to others, "If I did it, you can do it," then we give support.
We wait through the commercial to hear Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story". Virtually every business meeting I have begins with someone asking me, "What's your story. A return on your investment in branding - we want more The branding cycle, personal or corporate, is about either wanting more or wanting to be part of something more.
Brand Building Belief III
Bring On the Brand
I once asked him why he was such a patient listener and he said, "That's one of the things I value most in life - to be listened to." When we figure this out, we approach the root of the brand—our own brand. That's what's for dinner." The American Cotton Association does this with the ads that say, "Cotton, the fabric of your life."
Character comes from the true stories and authentic experiences in one's life, whether it is the life of an individual or within the life of a corporation. These are the true stories of founders and why they started companies that we listen to and remember. Marcus says, "We all felt so good about it, it became part of the culture of Home Depot." Today there are more than 1,500 stores and $58.2 billion in sales.
Why don't we promote and talk more about the brands that build and improve lives. It's the "rest of the story" that people long to hear—how we overcome obstacles and go after success—that keeps them firmly in us and loyal to us.
Brand Building Belief IV
Part TWO
Build the Brand
Making a Brand Impression
I say, "I really want to impress you," and whenever I can say it, I always mean it. Behavioral expert and motivational guru Tony Robbins says that all of our fears can be summed up in these two questions: "What if I'm not good enough?" and "What if they don't like me?"2. Remember, - he said, - the truth will always come out by itself. In other words, just be you.
When people know you're telling your true story, they'll come to you and come back to you because they believe you've gone where they want to go and back again. When others hear your personal stories, it will change the way they think about themselves - and vice versa. In 2003, award-winning country music superstar Tim McGraw had a new number one hit called "She's My Kind of Rain." The particular lyric that caught my attention is this line: "I confess as a child."4 I was reminded of how children share themselves so easily and honestly with anyone and everyone.
The message is not the only thing that counts; What matters is the passion with which they have been infected and which they pass on to their listeners. These are the people who are your personal and professional brand's first and last line of defense.
Brand Building Belief V
Brand Relativity
He told one of the top ten contestants with a fantastic voice: “I feel like I don't really know who you are. Part of the meaning of a brand comes from the company or individual, but ultimately it is about what the world wants to project on it. Having a former president of the United States establish a library in his name is a sign of status and prestige.
If you have a product that requires packaging, realize that it is one of the most significant vehicles of your brand. Imagine her success with the added power of the brand—not to mention the fact that any additional, intangible value would increase the value of her business far beyond what she billed her client. I was one of the women who planned her Monday night show around the Ally McBealtelevision show in the late 1990s.
When you hear the beginning of the song, do you understand what emotions the song is evoking? Many stores now also sell CDs of music selections that you listen to while shopping.
Basic Brand Belief VI
I challenged them to examine their true story, subsequent values, and the best way to translate those values to relate to their audience. They wanted the brand they were building to relate to those who shared those values. The story they had to tell was all about growth and life and financial success.
The fact is that we send a million silent signals with our brand by the way it is made visible through advertising, publicity or just its presence. We all carry a bunch of thoughts and when we see something, we immediately attach a positive or negative opinion to it without knowing anything more than our first impression. You need to understand what will move the response in favor of the action you want for your brand.
If your success doesn't happen on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but doesn't feel right in your heart, it isn't success at all.
Planning for Your Brand
We now know that the first step in building your brand is remembering your stories. Your brand message will make or break you - and you're in control of it. If you haven't developed a successful brand yet, you need to admit that your branding efforts aren't working.
Your brand needs to be able to stretch beyond the plan to meet everyone where they are. If your brand is to evolve, it must be based on true experiences and not on goals that have not yet been achieved. If you believe in these qualities associated with your brand, they would disappear if your brand dissolved.
If you can't answer "better" to the last question, your brand is in trouble. The improvement of your brand reflects the improvements in your life and the telling of it.
Brand Building Belief VII
But Phil's brand story is a great and successful example of building a brand to connect to earlier times in your life in such a way that it perpetuates your beliefs and plans for your successful future—no matter how you does not define success. If you were to make a list of all the things your brand makes you believe, you might find words like powerful, important, and fascinating on your list. However, when envisioning your future, you need to ask what your brand helps your audience believe about themselves.
If you had 24 hours left, what would you want your brand to communicate to those who matter to you? If your brand is a reflection of your true experiences, what images do you see?
Getting Results from Your Brand
If you think of yourself as a kind of map marker for other people or companies, then you will understand that we must be what others are looking for or looking for. It seems that many people born in the United States want to be defined as some type of American. It's quite another to be told that your alignment with your country and everything it represents is wrong.
Sometimes business organizations want to be seen as entrepreneurs to hide their true identity. There is a well-known expression, however erroneous, that "the clothes make the man." If clothing affects how you shop, it affects your brand image. A friend of mine, Pete Fisher, has one of the coolest jobs: He's the general manager of the Grand Ole Opry.
He uses a key ingredient—truth—to enrich his personal brand and the Opry brand. Imagine being able to create and transform your brand into anything you want.
Brand Building Belief VIII
