The Engaging Brand

Does your customer have a brand?

The more I see social media changing the relationship between companies and customers, I see that the companies who understand how the wall has broken down, the more their customers are establishing their own brand...a brand that promises

• If you listen I will help you grow
• If you provide value I will pay a premium
• If I stay important to you, I will act as a great salesperson for you
• If you give me things to talk about, I will!
• If you value my loyalty, I will give you my loyalty
• If you are open and honest, I will allow the occasional mistake

Maybe, the art of brand building in the modern world is seeing the company role as agent to

• Creating a culture in which employees are loyal and engaged with the company - the internal brand
• Creating a culture in which customers sell the brand for them - the external brand

In that way businesses are moving from creators to facilitators....

Show 246 - Lessons From Fast Company Founder

Show 246 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and don't forget to try GoToMeeting for your 30 day free trial.

An interview with Alan Webber the founder of Fast Company and who has just written a fabulous new business book called Rules of Thumb. You can contribute your own thoughts on business at the Rule of Thumb site. Alan describes the book as

"the world's first business hybrid book - the same way Fast Company was the world's first business hybrid magazine. Rules of Thumb is in part a memoir: In writing it I drew from more than 30 years of work and life experiences....The other part of the book is a how-to set of instructions or suggestions for people who seek to learn something from the rules I've recorded"

On this podcast we talk about

• How Alan Webber saw the Fast Company experience
• How there are teachers everywhere in the world
• Learn to see the world through the eyes of the consumer
• What business can learn from the film industry
• Creating a company of friends
• How you need to reframe the picture for the consumer
• The importance of relational thinking

Don't forget to subcribe to the show in iTunes or on the Blubrry site.

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or join me on twitter.

How you can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here to hear the latest marketing podcast and it will take you to the latest podcast. Then press the play button!

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

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Do you warm up your customers?

This weekend I was lucky enough to be a guest at a concert held by Guido's Orchestra - a hugely talented violinist from Holland. I watched as several thousand people went from being a seated, passive crowd to one that was dancing, singing and having a great time. It made me think....

• How much time do you spend on building the excitement?
• How much time do brands spend "warming up" their customers?
• How much time do you spend balancing the audio with the visual? (The talk with the words)
• What is your brands warm up act?

Artists would never send a brochure and expect people to arrive in a state of excitement....they invite, then take the responsibility to gradually build the excitement, to create that emotional connection, to deliver a playlist that gradually builds to that "engagement crescendo".

What is your brand playlist and does it build towards that engagement crescendo?

How Blogging Has Changed Me

Air is something that we take for granted and yet is essential for life. I feel that way about ideas and words. Ideas are business. Words are our tools for communication. Yet, we can often pay lip service to both. If we needed air we would find it...the world needs ideas and communication and it is a pity we don't spend more time developing our supply line.

Blogging has helped my own development. It has given me an appreciation for both ideas and words. Blogging makes me think about life, business, brands, social media, leadership in a way that I didn't do before....When I blog I explore my thoughts, I explore to share - actually I blog to give!

Blogging has made me not just have ideas but to extend them in a way that I didn't do before...not because I didn't want to but somehow I didn't find the time. Blogging is great for many business reasons, many "googlejuice" reasons...but most of all blogging has created a better business person in me.

What has blogging done for your personal brand development?

The Wimbledon Brand - Game, Set and Match

Wimbledon is one of the summer institutions here in Britain. I also love the Wimbledon brand..why?

• The way they own green and purple. They own their colours, they use the colours to express their brand.
• The love of tradition. They feed the brand by retaining their history. When you visit Wimbledon the brand ouzes its history. The history creates the brand story.
• As much as tradition is part of the brand, they keep the brand relevant to the modern world. Who would have thought years ago, a roof on the centre court?
• They don't compromise on the brand values. As much as people may look and think it needs to be more "funky" - they stay true to their brand story and values. It is the only tournament which will not allow colourful outfits...when you watch the tennis, you know that it is Wimbledon.
• I also love the way they build the Wimbledon experience. You associate the day with strawberries and cream...with maybe the odd glass of Pimms. They create the experience for their customers.

Of course there are people who want the brand to modernise even more...but for me, it is great to see an evolution of a brand rather than a revolution.

(Photo from Wimbledon.org)

Learning whilst living....

Learning can happen in all walks of life and I am sad when people go through life without ever thinking about how they can learn from the general pain and happiness of life.

Last weekend I went over and helped Mum by thinning out her trees on her driveway. It was really hard work - as my bad back now testifies! I wasn't sure that the trees needed cutting back but when we had finished you could see the benefit. Many of the branches were dead because they were restricted from light, many had been struggling to survive. It made me think that business so many times avoid the pain of cutting through the 'deadwood'

• When was the last time you took a hard look at which brand extensions or products are struggling? Which ones could be pruned to allow others to thrive?
• When was the last time you filtered your thoughts so that you are concentrating on the things that matter?
• When was the last time you dealt with those individuals who are draining the energy of others in your team?
• When was the last time you pruned back the number of projects in your business - so that you can dedicate more time and resources to those that matter?
• When was the last time you looked at your diary and ensured that your time was concentrated on the things that will drive value in your company, or in your life?

I had wanted to put off the work, but then even just a week on I saw the new shoots thriving in the space created.....it may have been hard work but the benefits are great.

Show #245 - How to make work optional

Show 245 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and don't forget to try GoToMeeting for your 30 day free trial.

An interview with Frank Armstrong of Investor Solutions who has written about the retiremenet challenge and talks us through how to gain financial independence. His site Sink Swim is a wealth of tools to help you plan for your future. In this interview we talk about

• What is the retirement challenge?
• How to calculate what you need to make work optional
• Why people don't think about retirement
• The need for companies to educate their employees
• How engagement comes from financial independence
• How to plan for retirement
• How do you pick a retirement expert to trust
• How do you define risk
• Has the global rescession affected our risk

Don't forget to subcribe to the show in iTunes or on the Blubrry site.

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or join me on twitter.

How you can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here to hear the latest marketing podcast and it will take you to the latest podcast. Then press the play button!

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

Message from Sponsor
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A Father's Leadership Footprint

The Engaging Brand blog and podcast was my way of continuing my Dad's legacy after we lost him from our lives - as many of you know. So on Father's Day I thought I would share some more leadership quotes from Dad

• "Air gives your body life. Words bring your ideas to life. You should value words as much as you value life."
• "It is not enough to do a good job Anna, you must do it in a way that shows great values and humility"
• "Businesses take care to get the right value on the balance sheet for their assets when they are useless without ideas and people. Ideas and people are the air that let your tangible assets breath."
• "Leaders search for problems as they are opportunities"
• "Never limit your learning to business books. If you want to present well, watch a great actor...if you want to learn about nurturing talent - learn from a gardener. The test is whether you can relate what you learn to your environment"

Miss you Dad, but in my trusty notebook of our talks about life...you remain guiding me each day xx

Your Customers are Bored!

We live in a world with a decreasing attention span, a world that in many ways is childlike - it needs to be entertained. That is why social media is such a great marketing opportunity.

• We can surprise them by constantly raising expectations.
• We can stand out from the crowd by putting them first, by giving them the attention they crave from brands.
• We can speak like a person with engaging childlike qualities rather than a company with products to sell.
• We can provide entertainment.
• We can provide development and enhance their lives.
• We can support them and help them make their lives even better.
• We can replace mediocrity with excellence, boring with surprising, jargon with plain speech and one way selling with two way relationships.

Your customer needs you!

Bored means that there is a premium to be earned if you can excite...