Posted by Rahna on February 28, 2008 under Personal Branding | 
I heard a talk on Wednesday where the speaker was suggesting that people don’t play to their strengths enough and that they should do more of that.   There is a book that I read that I thought was terrific by Marcus Buckingham called Now Discover Your Strengths. He also wrote another book after that on what to do once you know what your strengths are called Go Put Your Strengths To Work.  Â
You must understand what your strengths are. I think that that is something that is very important for personal branding—in fact critical to developing your personal brand.  Â
There are certainly efforts that can be undertaken to evolve your personal brand to include those things that you don’t think you are strong enough, but always build your brand from the standpoint of your strengths. When I recently gave a talk on personal branding, at one point, someone said, “How can I gain the confidence to do something that I know is not a strength for me?†My response was that they should start with something that they are strong at and step a little bit out of their comfort zone. Gain some confidence in the new skill built and then step a little bit out from that, then a little bit out from that, then a little bit out from that. You don’t go from learning addition to calculus. There is a whole series of steps we take to learn and grow–addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, algebra, geometry. These are all the steps we take to lead up to calculus and beyond.
It’s the same when you are learning new skills. Play to your strengths. Use your strengths to provide a solid foundation to build new skills and expand your personal brand.
Posted by Rahna on February 25, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Sometimes the juxtaposition of two brands can result in some delightful new ideas, expanding both brands so that they will be seen in a new way. This is why licensing works so well. There are licensed toys for television shows. You can buy your daughter a Dora doll. Sometimes, the resulting juxtaposition is humorous and delightful.Â
The other night, my children wanted to go to McDonalds because their teachers were working in the McDonalds serving meals in order to raise money for the PTO. The proceeds from the evening went to the school’s activity fund, and the kids had a great time. Just seeing their fourth grade teachers, third grade teachers, the second grade teachers standing behind the counter taking their order delighted the kids. The teachers had a very good attitude about the whole thing, and the parents, of course, were happy to buy the kids a McDonalds meal from their teachers to support the school. In this particular case, everyone wins. McDonalds wins because the place was packed. Teachers win because money is raised for the programs they want to run. The children are delighted because the idea of the teachers, normally so scholarly, serving at a McDonalds was so different that it becomes hysterically funny for them. Â
In your business, there may be brands that don’t necessarily make sense at first but think for a moment of the potential impact of the two brands. You may find a new way to delight your consumers. It may be just the thing to pack your retail establishment or will bring them in droves to your website or buy your products in record numbers.Â
Step outside your normal sphere of influence for a minute and try to see if there are brands that you could partner with that would bring your offering to a whole new level.
Posted by Rahna on February 18, 2008 under Uncategorized |
My 10-year-old had a basketball game this weekend. Right after a free-throw, he rebounded the ball and immediately put it back up on the boards to make 2 points. Unfortunately, it was 2 points for the other team. He forgot that it was the other team doing the free-throwing. Â
Not to worry though. On the next play, when his team in-bounded the ball, he took the ball down the court and was able to score 2 points for his own team, immediately redeeming himself (to the relief of his team, his coaches, the ref, as well as all the parents in the stands). Thankfully, he did not let it ruin the rest of the game. He moved on….but I bet he won’t make that mistake again any time soon.Â
Have you ever had days like that where you just feel like you are doing more to help your competitors than to help your own company? I always think about what the marketing lesson of everything is (because I am always thinking about marketing).   And here’s what it reminded me of: it’s never too late to make a change. It may be embarrassing, painful, or expensive, but you can always make it right. Remember New Coke? They bit the bullet, admitted they had gotten tied up with innovation and had forgotten about the consumer. When they went back to listening to the consumer, they were able to increase sales from 9 billion cases to 15 billion. Â
So here is the marketing lesson for today: when you believe that you’ve had a really bad day, or a really bad streak, or somehow “scored two points†for your competition, just re-double your efforts, re-focus on your goal and “score 2 points†for your own team. Don’t let it ruin your day/week/year. Think of my son and remember, it is never too late to recover.
Posted by Rahna on February 14, 2008 under Uncategorized |
What marketing lessons can we learn from today?Â
Here are some thoughts:Â
Delivering the right message to the right audience is critical to success.Â
You must be intimately familiar with your consumers to know what is going to push their hot buttons, just as you must be sensitive to your Valentine’s deepest desires. If you give a new mother sexy lingerie for Valentine’s Day, you are likely to get punched in the face. However, a certificate good for one “middle-of-the-night-feeding-so-she can-keep-sleeping†will earn you “Husband of the Year†status. So too with your customers: what can you give them that will make them love you forever?Â
Failing to deliver on expectations can be devastating to your ability to close the sale.Â
No cards, no flowers, no chocolate, no benefits? No sale.Â
Sometimes, the littlest gesture can make a loyal customer for life.Â
If you sent a email to your sweetheart today that simply said, “I love you,† it probably made a huge impact.Â
Customize your offer as much as possible.Â
Handmade valentines, made with construction paper, doilies, glitter and (usually) too much glue have a way bigger impact than one hurredly purchased at the grocery store as an afterthought.Â
If you want to get “lucky,†find out what turns your customers on!
 Do you know what your key benefits are?  I am teaching a seminar in March and April about “How to Make Yourself Irresistible to Your Customers.â€Â Come find out how….Â
Posted by Rahna on February 11, 2008 under Strategy |
I’m an art history major, so process has never really been big in my world. I’m much more of a ‘creative’ thinker. However, even within the creative process, there are two aspects of that phrase – “creative†and “processâ€â€”the implication being that there is a logical process to creativity. Some people may argue that this is not the case, but I have enough experience with creativity to know that this is true. Â
One of the things I have been looking at recently is, how does the creative process really work? If you break it down into steps, can you “map†it, or is it just “free-flow†thinking? I believe the answer is, “Yes.â€Â It’s both. Â
There is a software package that I have been playing with called, “MindManager,†which is available at www.mindjet.com Great for thinking through strategies, it allows you to easily sort through thoughts, establish processes, develop hierarchies, see patterns, prioritize workload and make your life more organized. I certainly haven’t mastered it yet, but even for this art history major, this seems like a good thing. Check it out and tell me what you think.
Posted by Rahna on February 7, 2008 under Consumer Engagement, Strategy |
Oftentimes we forget about looking at what customers really want. We get so caught up in the features and benefits that our products and services provide that we forget to stop and ask ourselves, “Is this a feature or benefit that my customer cares about?”
I am currently working with a client developing some creative to communicate the key benefits that their service provides and we had an interesting discussion. They are excited because they see some competitive advantage, some things that their competitors don’t do that they do. The question becomes, “Yes, but does anybody care about that?” Oftentimes, we get caught up in cool technology or features that provide a competitive advantage that nobody cares about.
In my consulting work and in my marketing seminars, I teach marketers how to identify the rational and emotional needs of their consumers, and then, how to turn those needs into meaningful benefits that become the focus of their communications.  The key word there is meaningful—something that is going to move people.  So when you are developing your communication pieces, make sure that you are touching on the needs that your customers care about.
If you want to find out more about how to communicate meaningful benefits, sign up for my half-day seminar “How to Make Yourself Irresistible to Your Customers.â€Â Click here for details: http://www.beacon-marketing.com/programs.php
Posted by Rahna on February 4, 2008 under Uncategorized |
For football fans and marketers alike, the Super Bowl is one of the high holy days of the year. 100 million people watched one of the most thrilling nail-biter games in SuperBowl history, but during the commercial breaks, there was absolutely nothin’ to see! The heart of the Giants won the day on the field, but on-screen, there just wasn’t much to talk about.Â
I was embarrassed for my industry. How have we come to this? I try to put myself in the advertiser’s target’s shoes, but this year, I just found I still couldn’t find the good in this year’s sad batch of commercials. I’m certain that these companies will survive (and even thrive), but what a waste of nearly $3MM (each!) Here are my questions:
When Charlie Brown ends up with the Coke, are we supposed to take from that commercial that luvable losers drink Coke?
Is there really no redeeming benefit to be portrayed for Bud Lite? How can you get up every morning and sell a product that would spend millions to say nothing?  Is the fact that “you can’t breathe fire†and “it doesn’t make you fly†really all they have to say?
Who actually approved the Panda spot for salesleads.com (or was it salesgenie.com)?
Why is it that I (a female) am still, after all these years, not considered a viable target for GoDaddy.com? (I know that I am not the target because, if I were, they would never run the offensive commercials that get approved and aired every year…and in the case of this year’s spot, wasn’t even clean enough to air on TV! If you can’t get something to clear Standards & Practices due to sexual content, you shouldn’t even be thinking of airing the spot to begin with.)
Who at CareerBuilder.com thought that a disgusting pumping heart would empower Americans to follow their dreams of doing meaningful work? It’s my understanding that CareerBuilder fired their agency last year for failing to make it in to USA Today’s Top 10 Admeter list…..Perhaps  they ought to be looking in the mirror to find the fault….you know what they say, garbage in, garbage out……
Well, which ones did you like, Rahna? The Clydesdale in training was noteworthy, and the E-trade spots were memorable. The Hyundai ad was straightforward, clear and interesting, although not worthy of Monday-morning water-cooler conversation. Overall, a big disappointment! For anyone who’s interested, here is the link to the admeter scores from this year’s Big Game.: www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/admeter/2008admeter.htm?csp=34
