The Engaging Brand

Life lesson from Nicole Kidman

I watched an interview with Nicole Kidman this morning and a sentence she said made me think hard about how we live our lives and also lead people at work. She said in response to a question about her acting

"You need to feel the role. It is about working from the inside and letting that emotion express itself"

Whether you are talking about branding, leadership or even plain old living isn't that so true?

When we feel passionately about something, we live it. Our values drive us in our life. I wonder sometimes whether as leaders we fear people feeling too much.....as feelings are complex and can be...well emotional!

However, when we feel the emotion doesn't it become so much easier to portray? Doesn't hiding the emotion make the delivery more complex?

 

Life is a series of Memories

I am sat here tonight writing what I am going to say at Nana's funeral. Whilst I am making notes I was reminded of how she answered my question years ago..." What is life?" She said

"Life is a series of memories, good or bad is down to you"

It struck me when you come to business this phrase still holds true

"Branding is a series of memories, good or bad is down to you"

"Leadership is a series of memories, good or bad is down to you"

Brands are just like life

I have just written about What is Life? on my other blog Widows Quest.

It made me think about brands and how they are like life.

I say that life is a series of memories and brands are like that too, though we often call them experiences. Those memories are created through processes. The difficulty is that processes are mechanical but memories are emotional.

Brands win when they create positive memories. But how often do you come across a department head called Director of Memories!

Brands also win when they look at all the do from packaging to customer service, from website design to ordering, from chasing payment to customer complaints. These are more than touch points they are potential "touching" points to create those memories.

Brand New Findings

Brands struggle to keep away from the 'tell in order to sell' strategy. Whilst sitting by Nana's bedside it has come home to me how emotion sells, how communication is so much more than 'telling'

1. Nana can't tell as she can't speak...a true statement if you think of her voice. However, we know when she is in pain, when she wants us to hold her, when she is scared all through the eyes. Communication is wider than one tool, it is using all the tools available to you.
2. Communication is not just about audio and words...it is not mouth to ear, it is heart to heart.
3. It is never what in said in this room which is important, it is the emotional aspect which creates the engagement
4. When you feel lost it is not because you don't know the inevitable outcome, it is because you cannot control in any way the outcome. Brands who see control as a two way contract with their customers will communicate much more effectively.

Highly emotional events are painful however they can also be huge personal development moments. Often we can hide away from pain, rather than learn from it. Emotions are emotional! As I always say business is emotional because business is part of life....when we learn to embrace emotions then we can win hearts as well as minds...

Who are you...you are a diamond?

Talking business with Dad was always....infuriating and exciting...both at the same time :) 

I remember talking about "Work Anna" and "Home Anna" and wondering how much the two should overlap. We had a discussion about how core values have to apply to all parts of your world but then he said something which I think is as relevant to brands as it is to people....and very relevant in a world of social media. He said

"You are a diamond"

Clearly I started to smile and look very proud of myself because Dad then said

"You are obviously a gem to me however that is not what I mean here., I mean  that as people we are multi dimensional like a diamond. When we understand that beauty comes from the different aspects and the different lights which reflect across the surfaces...then we become that rare commodity in the business world...the diamond which is sparkling, beautiful, valuable and yet robust at the same time.

When we understand that we cannot deny the multi-dimensional element and instead thrive on bringing the dimensions together to create beauty...then we have found our true value to share with the world."

Emotion is better than beauty!

Isabella Rossellini was interviewed this week on television - remember that box that used to sit in your lounge! - anyway, I was hit by something she said

She basically said it doesn't matter how beautiful you are as a model or actress if you can't express emotion you will not succeed...the beauty gets you the testing but the expression of emotion gets you the role.

Yet, how much time do people spend on the prettiness, the beauty compared to the emotional connection? It is the emotional connection that sells you, the brand, the message....in leadership, life, social media a great test is to see how much of your day is spent on emotion.

Know a 18-24 yr old entrepreneur wanting £5,000?

I am a true believer in talent and a supporter of young talent. Part of the reason I do The Engaging Brand podcast is to provide a learning resource to up and coming talent. So I was really pleased to see two local successful entrepreneurs offering a wonderful prize. 

Debbie and Andrew Keeble (who produce the best sausages in the world - trust me I am quite the connoisseur on sausages!!!) are running a competition for 18-24 year olds who have

"a strong idea for a food or drink product or have developed a product in the last 12 months and need help and support to take it to market."

If you know of someone, a relative or someone in your area and they might want the chance to win a prize of £5,000 plus a year of mentoring and support from Debbie and Andrew then here is a link to the Dragons Pen entry form.

In a recessionary time isn't it wonderful to see a brand and its leaders still finding the funding to encourage new talent...well done.

Context is the Defining Factor for Brands

Brands need to stand for (or against) something...we understand this principle. However, that is not the end of the brand story, it is the start of the brand journey.

It is how what the brand stands for, relates to the world of the consumer. The world revolves around connections....and brands revolve around connections.

Brands which can stand for - or against - something and ensure that they can relate that to the context of the consumer's world succeed....for as long as they deliver that brand value and for as long as they stay relevant to the consumers world.

More and more in the work I do, I find there is one word that constantly springs to mind......CONTEXT.

I used to think content is king in social media and sure it remains a necessary

component of social media but in some ways that is now a given  - much like quality is in the retail world.

Now I think "context is the defining factor once you have reached the expected minimum of quality content".....

Why everything matters....

One phrase that annoys me is "That doesn't matter". Why? Because if I am asking then it matters to me...!

I think we should always remember that everything matters to someone. You can see this by the growth in niche subjects in the blogosphere. It may not matter to you, but it matters to someone.

I think if we use our gray matter to realise that if a customer or an employee asks us about something then we should take a few moments to answer their query. People have choice, people can choose you or something else...but there is one thing that money can't buy...and that is time.

Time is the valuable resource that we can give which shows that everything matters. Now I don't mean that we should get bogged down in all the details, but what I do mean is understanding that brand engagement often comes in the smallest detail

The thank you, the smile, the answer, the option, the listening....

My World Branded?

I grew up in a time when choice grew exponentially. When I compare the choices I had to my parents...wow, well it doesn't compare at all. Yet both generations grew up in the same small village.

I remember being excited by choice, I remember being excited by brands persuading me why I should choose them....However, seemingly when human beings get what they want, then that becomes boring. Now choice is a given to me, it doesn't excite me.

Now simplifying, or filtering that choice is more important to me. Or even making that choice one of personalization rather than the generic brand.

I wonder what will be the next evolution

...will it be 'My brand'. Will I just have tools to create my own needs? Will I be able to produce my own branded goods? Will companies be the outsourcing part of my world?

I wonder....