BOOK SUMMARY 192 Fix: Break the Addiction that’s Killing Brands
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Summary written by: Ryan Long
"Cult brand leaders…refuse to settle for good enough
and, more importantly, their biggest professional desire isn’t to get people to
buy, but to buy into their cause."
- Fix, page 127
Do you
ever feel like you keep reading the same old stuff about branding, the death of
advertising, the new marketing, cult brands, and creating consumer loyalty?
Fret not! Fix: Break the Addiction that’s Killing Brands is
not just another book about branding. Sure, the authors address those things
but they do it in a fresh and concise manner. They cover a variety of ways that
brands can create loyal followings. And they aren’t just preaching. They cite a
variety of mini-case studies. Plus, they are living it through their company
called Cult Collective, which is what they call a marketing engagement firm,
rather than a traditional advertising firm. They want the reader to consider
this book an intervention to “fix” your brand. So get to reading!
The Golden Egg
Six elements of a cult brand
"Consumers
are in the driver’s seat and no longer dependent upon ads to tell them what, or
when, or from whom to buy."- Fix, page 138
It’s
not news that consumers no longer believe traditional advertising. However, for
some reason the quote above really resonated with me. There was a time when
advertisers “controlled” consumers. Now, consumers are in total control. They
have more information and exposure than ever before. Marketing departments can
certainly influence consumers but it’s no longer about “tricking” customers
into buying. Consumers want to know who your brand really is at its core and
believe in the brand, the product or service, and the people behind it. Fix does
a great job of telling us what consumers look for in order to latch onto a
brand and become a cult follower. And let’s face it. We ALL want cult
followers.
Fix identifies six key elements (plus some bonus items) that
cult brands possess. Here’s a quick rundown. Brands should be remarkable;
they should be so fantastic that they spark conversation. They should
have purpose. Brands should stand for something. Brands
should inspire from the inside out by empowering their
employees as their biggest fans and followers. They should be relatable.
Brands should be able to display human attributes and emotions so that they
feel approachable. Brands should involve their fans. They
should listen, celebrate their fans, and give their fans ownership of the
brand. And brands should be pervasive. They should be everywhere
consumers want them and do more than their competitors.
Gem #1
Be relatable
"At
the end of the day, all business is personal (and can be very
emotional)."- Fix, page 79
I’ve
read many books and articles that recommend that brands be more human so that
consumers can feel a connection to the brand. In Fix the
concept finally really seemed to stick with me. The authors say that people
look for brands that make it easy to interact with them, which helps to make
them more human. We sometimes think of literally making the act of reaching out
to us easier but Fixoffers a few more ideas. Think of ways that you
can help customers or fans more comfortable reaching out to the people that
represent the brand, like wearing name tags and answering the phone in an
energetic and personable manner. These are easy fixes, but there are larger
ideas in the book to consider as well.
Fix encourages brands to “show off their human side.”
My company recruits tens of thousands of sales reps each year. The recruiting
process can easily feel like our applicants are being herded through the early
part of the process. One idea that I would love to implement is including in
the interview confirmation email a headshot of the manager that our applicants
will meet with for their interview. Our managers are very personable once we
get applicants in front of them, but some applicants self-select out before
they get a handshake and face-to-face human point of contact in the office.
Maybe if they can “see” who they will be meeting with via email, the recruiting
process becomes more human and more real much earlier in the process.
Part
of my daily routine is responding to comments and messages on Facebook. We want
to be concise in the way that we answer questions. No one wants to read a
really long monologue from the company. Nor do they want to read the language
that the legal team approves. In my experience, legal speak lacks a human
element. However, I have recently fallen into the habit of very concise but
dry, generic responses. After reading this chapter, I’ve begun to inject a
little more of my personal experience and personality into my responses. After
all, I started in the sales rep position! I can speak first hand to answer many
of their questions and I have no need for generic responses. I AM the human on
the other end of the keyboard!
Gem #2
Inspire from the inside out
"Cult
followings don’t randomly materialize. No, companies aspiring to have an
engaged fan base must first turn their attention inwards."- Fix, page 67
One of
the best ways to create a cult brand is to inspire your existing team to
continue inspiring others on the team and outside the team. You have to
multiply your following. Panera Bread has a strong culture of giving back to
the communities where its stores are. They have created a culture of employees
that go the extra mile. Fix tells the story of a Panera
employee that delivered soup that wasn’t on the menu to a terminally ill
customer, simply because it was the right thing to do.
I
oversee our social media (among other things). Last week I had a manager reach
out for help about creating a social media contest for a local conference using
a hashtag. We offered suggestions and guidance for his contest and event, along
with our reasoning to teach him how we think about social media strategy. We
also offered him free product to give away in addition to the prize in his
budget. I encouraged him to tell his peers that he got free product for helping
to support the mission of our department and create positive stories for the
overall brand. His team is creating positive (social) media and chatter about
the company. PLUS, the manager will tell his peers that we rewarded him for the
hashtag contest, which promotes working with our department and putting on
similar contests locally in other parts of North America. He said I made his
day by sending him the email about free product! I know that I can talk until
I’m blue in the face about what managers can do to help us improve the online
brand and positively impact recruiting. But if our managers are promoting it to
each other, the culture grows exponentially faster.
As
always, I can’t fit all my great “ah ha moments” into one summary. Fix is
a quick read and easy to navigate so it will be easy to go back to for
inspiration. What thoughts will you use to “fix” or improve your brand? One?
Some? All?
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