This just in from Seth Godin…
“If you tell me about service and quality and customer focus, you haven’t answered my question, because a hundred other brands stand for that. If you are what others are, then there’s nothing here to own or protect or build upon. Compared to what? Compared to all those that you compete with for attention, for commerce, for donations and for employees, what do you stand for? Are you one of a kind or even one in a million? Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton… they don’t actually stand for anything, do they? They can’t, because they stand for precisely the same thing. Puma vs. Adidas vs. Nike… They all want to stand for winning. How substantial are the differences? Make a list of the differences and the extremes and start with that. A brand that stands for what all brands stand for stands for nothing much.”
Invest some time and energy this week answering the question, “What do we (the Company) really stand for?”
Once you are satisfied with your answer, formulate a plan to build or recreate your brand. Make it unique. Have the courage, determination and guts to stand out or stand above your completion. Then go shout it from every direction possible.
Don’t hike to the top of someone else’s mountain; hike to the top of the mountain you’ve built and then, enjoy the view!
