Brand and the Birth of Christ

Today my family and I celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. As I wish you the best of all things Christmas, I also want to share some thoughts drawn from my experience as a brand analyst and from my experience as a student follower of Christ.

For the past while in brand activity, I have been interested in learning why, as we embrace social and smart technology, our communication lacks authenticity in the eyes and ears of those we seek to influence most. I wondered if analyzing the 'Christmas' brand could help understand authenticity in a brand strategy.

Three CBC radio presentations contributed to my thinking about the 'Christmas' brand: Last evening, as they have for 35 years, the program 'As it Happens' presented Al Maitland reading Frederick Forsyth's story, 'The Shepherd'; This morning CBC presented Handel's Messiah from the Basilica Notre-Dame in Montreal; and, a little later The Queen's Christmas message provided thoughts on truce and reconciliation.

'The Shepherd' is a story about a fighter pilot who is lost over the North Sea on Christmas Eve. He is rescued in a most remarkable way. A revelation for me was the pilot's openness to believe a rescue was possible in the context of the fears and challenges he faced. In brand building we seek to be discovered by those who are willing to accept what we have to offer. 

Today, one must search widely to find Christ in the 'Christmas' brand. However, when Christ was born, there was an openness to expect, to believe and to accept this little baby as the promised Messiah. The narrative of the birth of Jesus features angels, kings, wisemen, scholars, shepherds, onlookers and parents, all who experienced this birth within the context of their own knowledge, hopes and fears. From each point of view we see various responses to this little boy.

Handel's Messiah takes the listener on a journey featuring promise and prophecy as well as the life, death and resurrection of the Messiah. Handel sets to music a narrative we can understand as a fabulous construction (inventive manipulation of fact) or we can accept the narrative as it portends to be - the birth of God's son to redeem mankind, his rejection by those he came to redeem and his eventual triumph over evil and death. The degree of authenticity as this story unfolds comes from those who tell the tale from their own personal experience. In branding today we would call this kind of commendation 'word of mouth'. It has far more influence than all the 'likes' and 'Google pluses (+)' of social media applications. In the Messiah narrative, those who were healed or fed or who had witnessed Jesus in action passed along personal experiences that are unassailable by those around them.

In her message to the Commonwealth this morning, the Queen expressed her wishes for reconciliation and peace within the context of her own faith in Christ. In her message, she highlights the experience of those who accept the hope Christmas offers. 

Over the past year I have witnessed the comfort and peace Christ can bring to those who accept his love as they faced many challenges. The measure of a brand is the influence it can assert. The 'Christmas' brand continues to empower and bring hope to those who accept the simple message. As you enjoy Christmas 2014, I encourage you to analyse what has powered the 'Christmas' brand through the challenges of time and history. There are many lessons to be learned.

May the Joy and Hope of Christmas 2014 cause you to be a blessing to those around you! May comfort and peace abound in your life during 2015!

In an Uncertain Environment, Being Irrelevant is Death!

This morning two things happened that illuminate an important truth - being irrelevant in an uncertain environment is death to a brand.

1. After acknowledging they had lost contact with their client base several weeks ago, Sears, announced they are accelerating store closures in favor of a new focus on Ecommerce. Analysts are dissing Sears as a 'too little, too late' brand manager and there is growing evidence the brand may already be out of business.

2. My personal reading took me to check-in on Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn. An internet search located a presentation to graduates earlier this year. This presentation is really worth the investment of time to view:

http://www.businessinsider.com/career-advice-from-linkedin-founder-reid-hoffman-2014-12#

The highlights for me:

1. His worldview of relentless change and uncertainty and the need to be comfortable in this environment;
2. His extrapolation of feelings to the 'real' questions in life; and,
3. The three things successful people eventually figure out - Competition, Networks and Risk.

LinkedIn began in December 2002. I joined LinkedIn in the fall of 2006 upon the advice of Andrew Seto a colleague and investor at PetLynx Corporation. This network has become the source of great value to me with 11 million professionals around the world. According to industry reports, LinkedIn is now valued at more than 20 Billion dollars. Much of that value accumulated after the first decade in business. 

If you are in a service business, there are lessons to be learned from reviewing the LinkedIn path to success. However, I want you to focus on three things:

• Uncertainty is the common denominator of present experience.
• Irrelevancy is a disease no brand can survive. 
• Maintaining contact with the user/client base of your brand is the essential element to finding certainty and relevance.

Enjoy and Employ this wisdom in your career and in your brand management. 

Branducation:

1. How can you create a competitive advantage from the uncertainties you face?
2. What are you doing to maintain contact with your professional network, your brand users/clients and your personal network of supporters and mentors?
3. What risks are you incorporating into your activities and which risks are you avoiding?

Ben always looked for differences

How we Frame Content is Most Important

Digital media has placed all of us in the situation of texting, blogging, writing responses and online searching in a timely manner. We need to retrain our minds (frontal cortex) because how we frame things can bring very different results. Tom Trifaux recently shared this video with me.

By framing the need with elements of an 'experience', a whole different level of response occurred.

That's why four 'likes' and fifty cents won't buy you a cup of coffee, while a heartfelt 'thanks' can open up a whole new relationship or conversation. Agencies from the 'old economy' struggle to understand new rules and continue to push or spin messages toward clients who just desire one thing - an authentic experience.

TD Canada recently offered a live music campaign focused on 'saying thanks to customers' signing up to their new 'easyweb' service. They could have offered a special interest rate or cash like other banks but this way they contributed value by framing their offer in an experience they know their customers will remember for a lifetime. 

Experiences of a lifetime

We need to move to the other side of the market and begin to think like those we serve. We need to ask ourselves four questions:

What experience do we wish to create?
What message do we wish to convey?
How can we simplify the campaign?
Are we sure this is really what the audience desires?

Branducation:

1. Identify a deliverable experience that would please those you serve.
2. Discuss the experience referencing the questions above.
3. Illuminate how this experience is likely to be remembered.
4. Assess the competitive advantage this experience will provide.
5. Develop metrics and a process that can measure success.
6. Light the fuse