Independent Thinking » branding

Bigotry is Not a Business Strategy

Daria Steigman — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:08:07 +0000

You’ve probably heard that Lowe’s pulled its advertising from reality TV show All-American Muslim. The home improvement company says it made a business decision based on its assertion that the show is a ”lightning rod” for “strong political and societal views.”

The show isn’t the problem.

Lowe’s made a reactive decision based on a fringe Florida group’s disapproval of the company’s initial decision to advertise on the TV show. Now, somehow, Lowe’s is surprised by the backlash.

Like most business owners, I choose to work with people and companies I like. And I’m conscious of my brand. And my reputation. I also “own” my choices and my decisions.

So far, Lowe’s has done neither.

Bigotry is not a business strategy. Unless, that is, your strategy is negative PR, a firestorm of media attention, and a lot of customers who won’t be back anytime soon.

Photo by Niloy (Flickr).

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4 Lessons From the Shakespeare Theatre About Valuing Customers

Daria Steigman — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:04:16 +0000

I’ve talked before about how brand loyalty isn’t eroding (we’re just saving our loyalty for where we feel valued). Today I’m doing to share four lessons from an organization that just doesn’t get it: The Shakespeare Theatre.

Lesson #1: People are more likely to donate if they feel connected to you.

In 20 years, the Shakespeare Theatre only called me to ask for money. No one called just to find out how I liked my subscription, whether I had any concerns, or even just to say “thank you.” They never held a subscriber-only Q&A with cast members (at least they never invited me), or sent t-shirts, mugs, or even bookmarks to mark milestones (e.g., 10-year subscriber!), or any of the little things that say “we appreciate your business.”

Lesson #2: People are more likely to donate if they feel their donation matters.

The organizations that get donations from me year after year are the ones where I understand where my money’s going and that it’s getting good bang for the buck. Feeding America, for example, states upfront that “your gift makes a big impact–every dollar you donate helps provide 8 meals to families struggling with hunger.” The Shakespeare Theatre’s individual contributions page lists as a reason, “The incomparable Michael Kahn.” Huh? That would be like me setting up a foundation and listing “Daria Steigman’s running it!” as a reason to give.

Lesson #3: You need a CRM system that codes for quirkiness.

This year, I transferred my tickets to the friends who have been using most of the tickets over the last 2-3 years. (They’re good seats. We wanted to keep them “in house.”) I’ll probably go to one play, maybe two. But since the account is no longer in my name, the Shakespeare Theatre called me three times in rapid succession to ask about renewing. The first time I explained that I’d transferred the tickets. The second time I explained it again. The third time I told them to stop calling. “This season?” they asked. “No. Forever.”

Lesson #4: There’s a difference between subscribers and people who subscribe.

The first one is about numbers and dollars. The other is about, well, people. Savvy organizations know that the best way to guarantee the first is to truly value the second.

Photo by Mark Hillary (Flickr).

The End of Brand Loyalty

Daria Steigman — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:04:09 +0000

Is brand loyalty dead?

One of the interesting findings in the IBM survey of CMOs ( here is is my take on the overall report) is that companies are unprepared to deal with “decreasing brand loyalty.”

They’re asking the wrong question.

Were travelers loyal to Wells Fargo?
Were households loyal to Ma Bell?
Were airline passengers loyal to Pan Am?

Customers don’t have less brand loyalty today. We have more choices.

People are fiercely loyal to companies that don’t suck. Apple isn’t the only computer maker, phone maker, or music maker. Zappos isn’t the cheapest place to buy shoes. And Disney isn’t really the happiest place on earth.

What are you doing to earn customer loyalty?

Photo by MoneyBlogNewz (Flickr).

The Rich (Marketers) Aren’t So Different After All

Daria Steigman — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:04:48 +0000

F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that “the rich are different from you and me.” (And Ernest Hemingway, unblinded by bling, is said to have replied, “Yes, they have more money.)

Turns out, when it comes to marketing, money doesn’t seem to yield a big advantage. According to From Stretched to Strengthened, chief marketing officers (CMOs) are struggling with many of the same challenges that keep small businesses up at night.

Under-prepared for Big Data, Market Fragmentation

It seems no one is ready. As the chart shows, CMOs report feeling unprepared to manage the impact of everything from social media to decreasing privacy and the erosion of brand loyalty. “CMOs are stretched,” write the authors. “Even those who work for the most successful organizations are struggling.” They add:

“One of the most surprising findings… is the degree of consensus among the respondents. No matter where they work, their industry, or how large or successful their organizations are, CMOs are facing many of the same challenges and most feel unprepared to manage them.”

One of the most interesting findings from the report is that many CMOs are still trying to understand markets (not individuals):

At one level, looking just at the challenges of harnessing the data, this makes perfect sense:

Relatively few CMOs … are exploiting the full power of the digital grapevine. Although nearly three-quarters use customer analytics to mine data, only 26 percent are tracking blogs, only 42 percent are tracking third-party reviews, and only 48 percent are tracking consumer reviews. This is largely because the tools, processes, and metrics they use are not designed to capture and evaluate the unstructured data produced by social platforms.

And, yet, the downside of looking only at aggregate data is that they are forced to make a lot of assumptions about individual behaviors.

Is There An Opportunity for Small Business?

Small businesses can have a competitive edge. Sure, we struggle with the same challenges. But we’re closer to all our stakeholders (especially clients/customers, and prospects), so it should be easier for smaller organizations to understand what makes our customers tick.

From Stretched to Strengthened, which reports the findings from one-on-one conversations with over 1,700 CMOs in 19 industries and 64 countries, also looks at the skills CMOs will need to be successful moving forward (including cross-collaboration, creative thinking, and an aptitude for analytics). There’s a lot of good data in the report, so it’s worth taking a look.

Do you think small businesses have an edge? What are you doing in your business to be prepared to meet the challenges ahead?

5 Reasons to Think Thought Leadership

Daria Steigman — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:04:16 +0000

There was an interesting conversation about thought leadership on #profschat the other day around what it is, what it means, where it fits into an organization’s priorities, who “owns” it, and how to execute a successful thought leadership strategy. And it got me thinking anew about a strategy that’s increasingly important in today’s fragmented marketplace.

Here are five things to consider:

1. You can’t anoint yourself a thought leader. Doing so is akin to saying you’re a guru or begging people to “like” you. No matter how many times you put “renowned expert” in your bio or on a profile somewhere, it doesn’t make it so. It’s up to other people to judge your content valuable, interesting, and useful to them.

2. Thought leadership is an investment. It’s not an insta-solution. Before you can be brilliant, you have to know what you’re talking about. That means understanding your business goals, your competitive differentiators, and your customer’s and prospect’s pain points across both the product/service lifecycle and your company’s operations. And that’s all before you develop a content strategy to educate people, problem solve, and be a go-to resource.

3. One-size-fits-all fits no one. If you understand your business and are targeting the right audience, what works for another person or company won’t work for you. Don’t imitate. The best voice—whether in words or in pictures—is your voice.

4. It’s okay to focus on today and look ahead. During the Twitter chat, Bruce Hallas expressed frustration at the difficulty of positioning himself as a thought leader when he’s interested in what happens 3, 5, or 10 years from now but his clients are focused on the “now.” Why can’t you do both? The “now” responds to people’s current needs. The “thinking” piece is an opportunity to educate us on the things we don’t know we don’t know (or don’t yet recognize as needs). I’d create special, perhaps-gated, content (e.g., white paper, e-book) to showcase your forward-thinking smarts. You can always re-purpose some of that content into bite-sized nuggets to tease your everyday audience.

5. Thought leadership pays off. Look at IBM. After years as a products company, IBM has reinvented itself as an ideas business. But you don’t have to clone IBM to be successful. In fact, a thought leadership strategy is perhaps even more important for small companies who don’t have the deep pockets to supplement their content marketing initiatives with mass market brand advertising It’s all about differentiating yourself and giving people a reason to pay attention.

Photo by visualpanic (Flickr).

You’re Always Auditioning

Daria Steigman — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:05:51 +0000

I stopped into an Irish Pub the other day for a quick pint of Guinness. A guy sidled up to the bar and ordered “two PBRs and a Coors Light.”

This post is about impressions–and your brand.

Are you wearing flip flops at work?
Do I have to call you more than once because your phone line is busy?
Do you have voice mail or an answering machine?
Is your business card printed on the cheap?
Is your Web site in Flash?
Are you obsessed with Guinness?

This isn’t about right and wrong. But it is about how you’re perceived and who’s doing the calculations. If I get a busy signal, chances are I’ll call someone else. If I see flip flops on Day 1 of a conference, I’m less likely to take you seriously. Someone else might be turned off by my taste in beer, footwear, blogs, or baseball teams.

What matters is that you understand the image you (and your business) are projecting. Because you’re always auditioning.

Photo by J. Mussuto (Flickr).

Can a Personal Brand Coexist Within a Corporate Ecosystem?

Daria Steigman — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:04:49 +0000

Love it, hate it, or deny it exists, personal branding is a hot topic. And it’s going to be THE topic today for #sm122, a weekly tweet chat around the business of social media.

Join me at 12 noon EST as I host a conversation around personal branding. We’ll explore:

1. Personal branding — good idea or bad idea?

2. Can a personal brand coexist within a corporate ecosystem? Can your stars be stars and keep your brand intact?

3. Is it okay for companies to ban their employees from blogging?

4. Should companies have a succession plan around star employees?

Before diving in, I recommend reading Jonny Bentwood’s excellent post on Forrester’s decision last year to ban its staff from having personal blogs.

Looking forward to the conversation. And, as always, feel free to leave your two cents in the comments below.

UPDATE: The transcript of the tweet chat is posted here.

Photo by J.D. Hancock (Flickr).

How To Build a Thriving Corporate Culture

Daria Steigman — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:59:44 +0000

Zappos has nothing on the Corner Parking Lot in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Just watch The Parking Lot Movie, a funny, fascinating documentary that debuted at SXSW 2010. It has everything: class-ism, culture, hiring people you trust, empowering your employees, “corporate” culture, and building your tribe.

Seriously: Find it. Watch it. It’s an instructive look at a lot of workplace concepts we talk about a lot but don’t see much in action.

Photo Credit: Attendant Corey Gross with Parking Gates, by Jon-Philip Sheridan and Alexandra Miller.

Are You For Sale?

Daria Steigman — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 17:11:39 +0000

Assessing value can be one of the toughest challenges facing any business. Bring small business folks together for a conversation, and the topics of rates and handling negotiations routinely come up. Pricing is often in the eye of the buyer—budget, need, demand, and perceived value all come into play. And that’s before you, your credentials, and your “value-add” even walk in the door.

My latest Independent Thinking column is out, and it explores rates, scope, referrals, and the importance of choosing wisely:

For any business, the perception that you are for sale can be deadly. After endless holiday sales, retailers have trained us to wait for the “real” (discount) price to kick in. Is this the message you want to send to your clients and prospects?

While I’ve talked about some of this before, the column goes into a little more depth–including some good food for thought from Kristie Aylett and others on the topic of referrals. Read the column here.

Photo by antwerpenR (Flickr).

Going Fireworks

Daria Steigman — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:21:49 +0000

Some people go fishing–I’m going fireworks.

I’m off for a few days of much-needed downtime. I’ll be back with new posts right after the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Meanwhile, in celebration of three years of blogging (The Independent Thinking Blog turned 3 this month), here are three posts from the early archives you might want to check out:

See you back here on Tuesday.

Photo by therealbrute (Flickr).