Why brands fail?
Brands fail often.
I’m saying branding used to be the king of marketing.
And now the king is dead.
I’m not making the absolute statement to be, you know, click-bait.
And I’m not being coy with my language. I’m not saying your logo, style or messaging is not your brand. We know that already.
Let me explain…
Branding used to be the king of marketing.
And now the king is dead.
Remnants of the old king’s rule and reign doesn’t prove he’s alive, it only proves he left a legacy.
Brand, that old king of marketing, gave us cut-through messages tailored to the times we lived in.
But the king’s reign has come under attack.
In recent decades we have seen the rise of personal brands and corporate brands, but increasingly these two market segments have faced the same challenge.
Consumers, armed with easily accessible information, are assassins of fake narratives and false claims. We’ve become masters at researching ‘brands’. If we don’t like the answers we find, we take our money elsewhere.
Behind the curtain
Cast your mind back to the Wizard of Oz. When Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow all find the Wizard, they hear a loud voice booming all around them, telling them to come back another time. It almost sounds as if the Wizard of Oz is some kind of god, sending his message down from the clouds.
But then Toto, Dorothy's dog, discovers that the Wizard is no god. In fact, he's just a guy operating a bunch of controls behind a green curtain. When Toto rips the curtain to the side, the Wizard of Oz realizes he's been found out, and tries to cover it up by shouting over his loudspeaker, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"
This is our current business world. We can see behind the curtain and it’s all being exposed and we want the truth!
Just like the Wizard of Oz, the thin curtain is easily pulled back to reveal the truth. If a company claims environmentalism as a core value but provides no proof, or its production chain is opaque, then consumers will walk away.
Sometimes consumers judge businesses unfairly, but we do it nonetheless. You will never get a chance to explain yourself to most customers because most will use online research to make a decision before you ever have the chance to meet them.
The term “stalker” used to be a bad word, but now the word is used differently. In the same way we scan social media to find out about a person before meeting them for dinner, or scour the internet for details about a counsellor before signing up for our first session, we also “stalk” the businesses we may buy from or the professionals we might engage. We want to pull back the curtain.
So what does this mean for us, as business owners?
It’s no longer enough to be “good at what we do”. We need to communicate our expertise long before a potential customer decides to use our services and we can use our brand to do this!
You need to be the “go-to expert” to cut through the noise and be the Google-able result the world is looking for. We don’t become a go-to expert by chance, or without a strategy and laser-focused work.
I don’t work with startups or newbies, I work with established experts who are ready to get off the merry-go-round and connect the dots between story, expertise and audience to become an Authority Brand.
When you become the expert:
Your audience will see your expertise as the solution they MUST have.
Potential clients will find it easy to say YES to working with you.
You’ll have a brand that resonates in your heart and matches your client’s DNA.
How:
Translate expertise from thesis to binge-worthy snacks.
Productise your service for an easy client YES.
Align your story, skills, audience into a world-class brand.
Get you a pipeline of better clients.
Want help standing out?
In our Designing Authority workshops, we’ve refined how we quickly tap into what you stand for and how you increase your presence. Want to find out if you fit our Designing Authority workshop?
Grow from ‘meh’ to MAGNETIC
Align your expertise with your customer’s needs to become a world-class brand
Become your industry’s go-to expert. Join the expert consultants who have repositioned their brand, clarified their message and attracted high-value clients with an irresistible offer and a magnetic brand all within a month. HOW? Ask Jason Knight or schedule a 15 minute call to talk through any questions.
