The Credibility Branding Blog

GM and Credibility Branding

This is a great example of credibility branding in action for a huge company. This is also a cautionary tale. With social media the fake programs are discovered faster than you can say hip hop. Here is the article: 

A star-studded celebrity car and fashion show earlier this month garnered reams of media attention and landed General Motor's models in national publications such as US Weekly. The automaker has infiltrated YouTube and put pop star Gwen Stefani in an SUV. It let rapper Jay-Z create a paint color and got a bunch of college students to live for a week inside a compact car.

It's all part of a campaign dreamed up by the marketing minds at GM to create an aura of cool around the vehicle lineup they're working to reinvent. "Everybody wants to be youthful and feel good and live vicariously through these celebrities," says Dino Bernacchi, GM manager of branding and entertainment.

GM knows that its products must back the buzz, and it is doing its best to mount a turnaround with an aggressive new vehicle line that focuses on more dramatic designs, improved performance and quality interiors. Read the whole story here

The Marketers Press Release for Editors and Customers (Not Your Boss)

If you work in an engineering or sales driven culture (see blog posting about Focus in marketing http://credibilitybranding.typepad.com/blog/2007/01/focus_the_missi_1.html) then you have often been pushed to create a press release that matches that culture. There are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of press releases that are serving internal constituents and not the editorial communities, or even customers. Most of us know that a press release is just another marketing tactic that contributes to expanding brand awareness through messaging. A press release is one big messaging document and a key ingredient to messaging are benefit statements. Most releases miss this point.

I have literally seen thousands of releases that are a big ball of jargon especially technology releases… but this can happen in any industry. Here is a rule of thumb if a friend or relative who is not in your industry can get the general gist of the release and understand what the news is, who it will benefit and how, then it is a good release.

Following is an example of an extremely well written release but it has zero benefit statements and for anyone but an engineer it is incomprehensible. Remember even though an editor at an engineering focused publication may understand a lot of technology, he can’t understand it all. The purpose of the release to ensure that these editors can glance through it and understand the news of the release, have a handle on how your product is benefiting customers and know the main messaging of the company.

NO BENEFITS JARGON FILLED RELEASE EXAMPLE:

New Converged Wireless Voice/Data Solution Results From Technology Partnership Combining COMPANY  NAME2 With COMPANY  NAME1's PRODUCT NAME1

COMPANY  NAME1, Inc. (COMPANY  NAME1), developers of the award-winning PRODUCT NAME1 solution for wireless terminal environments, today announced a new technology partnership with COMPANY  NAME2. The partnership is a result of the two companies recently successfully testing and validating the flawless interoperability of COMPANY  NAME1's PRODUCT NAME1 thin-client wireless terminal emulation software and COMPANY  NAME2's new VoIP push-to-talk software -- running together at the same time, on the same device, using the same RF/wireless network connection. HERE IS THE FIRST CHANCE TO OFFER A BENEFIT STATEMENT. WHY IS OFFERING IT ON THE SAME DEVICE AT THE SAME TIME IMPORTANT? WHAT DOES IT DO FOR THE END-USER? WHO IS THE END-USER AUDIENCE?

"The ability for a user to have a flawless experience with voice and terminal emulation running on the same device makes the COMPANY  NAME2 and PRODUCT NAME1 combination unique and a must-have next-generation solution stack for enterprises deploying Windows Mobile RF/wireless terminal devices," said xxxxx. "Most handheld wireless devices sold by MANUFACTURER  NAME and other manufacturers are still being used as terminals for accessing host-based applications, so this technology partnership and resulting validated solution stack is a strategic win for both our companies and the markets we serve."

COMPANY  NAME2, like PRODUCT NAME1, is a MANUFACTURER  NAME +PLUS Validated software solution that is reliable, affordable and user-friendly, allowing workers to instantly talk with others using MANUFACTURER  NAME mobile computers. Users need only click on the name of the person they want to speak to, and they are instantly connected together in either hands-free, full- or half-duplex voice modes. The software is cross-compatible with various operating systems, including Windows CE.NET 4.2, Pocket PC 2003, Windows Mobile 5.0 and CE 5.0.

PRODUCT NAME1 -- the market leader in host-based, thin-client wireless terminal emulation -- provides centralized, secure, high-performance wireless access to 5250/3270, VT100/220 and SSHv2 host-based screen applications, with support for a wide range of wireless terminal devices that, in addition to MANUFACTURER  NAME, also includes those from Intermec, AML, PSC, HHP, LXE, and Psion-Teklogix. With PRODUCT NAME1, all terminal emulation and client device/session control runs natively on the same host system as the Telnet or SSH server, with only a thin-client software component loaded on each device being used.

Unlike legacy, device-side Telnet/SSH terminal emulation that uses TCP/IP, PRODUCT NAME1 thin-client terminal emulation features a unique UDP/IP-based host-communication scheme that is proving to be inherently compatible with VoIP applications, according to XXXXX.

"We anticipate that a solution stack comprising two MANUFACTURER  NAME +PLUS Validated software solutions, authored by two innovative MANUFACTURER  NAME ISV partners, that offers this type of compelling added-value for MANUFACTURER  NAME mobile computers will be extremely well-received by our channel of solution-oriented PRODUCT NAME1 Certified Partner wireless technology resellers and their customers," said xxxx.

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This release while well written has no benefit statements, just technology statements. It is a typical engineering driven release that is frustrating to editors and customers alike. I usually apply the “who cares” test; who would care about the news or content of this release… I suspect just the engineer that wrote it.

Exercise: get your last twenty releases and put them in a pile in front of you. Now pretend you are an editor… these twenty release represent about two hours worth of what an editor would receive in any given day. Your time limit is five minutes, now read through these releases in that five minute time frame. How did you do? Did the lead have a benefit statement that drew you into to read more? Did the first paragraph explain in a nutshell the real news or meat of the release? Now having reviewed these all at once, is there an underlying message that you can succinctly state from this grouping of releases?

If you would like your press release critiqued send me an email.

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Focus – The Missing Marketing Ingredient 2

The discussion of focus also goes to the opportunities that come from success. Sometimes there are things that are in the marketplace that you don't realize are opportunities until you introduce the product. One example is Avon’s skin lotion that was created for dry skin. Users discovered that it actually stops mosquitoes from biting, which is now how it is used. This is a rare case of a new product focus that worked (and Avon was quick enough to capitalize on it). Most of those opportunities however, are not real, they just look like they could be real.

So many companies fall into the trap of going out and losing the initial focus of the current market. It’s that idea of customer acquisition. Every one knows that it’s a lot cheaper to pursue your current customers and increase their spending, but they sometimes forget that it’s also a lot less expensive to go after new customers in the same marketplace rather than pursuing all sorts of new market opportunities. With current target audiences you have good evidence of success; you also have proof of concept that the products benefit users. You have customers that validate how they use your product. While, some of these new market opportunities are definitely important, the majority are not.  I have seen too many companies fail by going after these new, sexier, market opportunities that just take their focus away from their core competency.

Core competency is an important concept as well.  Do you know what you core competency is? If you don’t there is a pretty good chance that customers, industry influencers and shareholders also don’t know. This is not a chastisement. It is easy to lose perspective on what this is. As a company and its products move through the market sales cycle the definition of the core competency inherently changes. And if you are doing your job well as a marketer then you are influencing a change in the marketplace of what your product category is and how the new category benefits users. The messaging around the core competency will need to be adjusted over time but the essential elements will remain the same.

Here a couple of questions that can help you understand what your core competency is:

-- In 10 words or less what does your company do?

-- Who do your products serve and how do these products serve them?

-- Describe your customers, who are they, what is their job description, how has your product impacted them (how have they benefited)?

Once answered you will likely have a better idea of what your core competency is. Now with these answers in hand, review your marketing materials and programs. You may see opportunities for improvements.

Focus – The Missing Marketing Ingredient

I think one of the biggest challenges facing companies at just about any timeframe of its corporate life is focus. The focus I am referring to relates to a number of areas within the company. First is the notion of culture. Does your company have more of a sales-driven culture, (which represents a majority of companies)? Or is your company an engineering driven culture? Or is it a marketing-driven culture? In my experience, a small percentage of companies are based on a marketing-driven culture, more than half are sales-driven, and for technology, they are generally engineering-driven. Not being a marketing-driven company is big challenge to maintaining consistent focus.

What I mean by marketing-driven is looking from the ground up at everything you are doing as a marketing opportunity. So, for example, looking at your sales strategy. Is your sales guy running the show? This is very common. The sales guys come in and they want the sale, no matter the cost. And that cost is what I call a "seat-of-the- pants" approach where there is a frenetic environment and the sales guy turns on a dime depending on his customer. And features and benefits of the products are sometimes even adjusted for that one customer. That is a lack of focus.

What most companies are not doing is starting from scratch, looking at the market opportunity, looking at the market need, looking at what pain their product is going to solve in the marketplace. (That’s actually a key issue: "product myopia" - benefits versus features… this will be covered in a future post).

In an engineering-driven culture, it’s kind of a "if you build it, they will come" type of approach. They focus on "that little knob over there can create this really cool GUI which really is, like, cool". Versus creating a product that is actually going to meet the needs of the customer. Sometimes in an engineering-driven environment, the product marketing person will meet with customers and will clearly see the opportunities for product improvement… that the engineers will resist to their death.

What is needed is a different way of thinking; my credibility branding model helps because it offers a system to walk through the business and marketing strategy process. But in general empowering your marketing executives and departments and using your marketing brand when making business decisions is of the utmost importance. For example if resources are limited and you have the choice of pursuing several different customers but can’t service them all, don’t just go for the money. Go for the one that will meet budget expectations but also add credibility to the company and product. For example a well known brand will add far more credibility and make the sale process easier than a bigger sale to a no names company. An added benefit; the sale to the no named company will go easier when the brand name is on board. This is a process of focus.

There is more to the focus story, in the next post I will outline my perspective of the key points to market focus.

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Market Positioning To Accelerate Sales

Why do you buy something? What is it that attracts you enough that you decide to trust the product and bring it home or invest in it for your business? It is likely credibility. There was something that appealed to your sense of trust and you believed this product credibility factor over another. Imagine picking up a book then seeing one of your favorite authors has endorsed it, or reading an article in a publication about a product you were interested in and someone well known, who you respect, is endorsing the product? This is instant credibility and the speed of credibility speeds the sale---you can sell more faster when a trust third party is vouching for it.

One of the key strategies to increasing credibility is market positioning. Market positioning is a VERY broad topic but to put it in a nutshell, I think it is the combination of ensuring the many points of corporate and product credibility are matched with marketing and communications strategies to drive a brand that is more trustworthy. Points of credibility include;

·        A sound management team

·        A product that clearly solves a problem

·        High profile strategic partners

·        Brand recognized customers

·        Ensuring messaging tracks with current market trends.

When these foundational points of credibility are achieved the market position is easier to identify and, it is certainly easier for key constituents as well as influencers to embrace the product and company.

This is a high level view of an aspect of the credibility branding model. Over the coming weeks and months I will be offering additional concepts related to credibility branding and also supplying some credibility-focused marketing case studies. (I am always looking for more so please send them my way.) Let me know what you think!

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