This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Application to You
Brand loyalty is the ultimate goal of marketing. For a product, this means that customers would buy the product again, recommend its usage, and in some cases, put their interest into the brand itself. What is your brand loyalty and how can you increase it? Let’s start with your homework assignment about your personal brand. I’d like you to think through a few simple questions.
Emphasis: I am known for (two to four things) today. By this time next year, I want to be known for (two to four more things).
Excitement: My public visibility program includes: x, y, and z.
Extensions: My current project is leveraging my skills, but is challenging me in the following ways: 1, 2, 3, and 4.
First, list two to four things that your personal brand is known for today. What do you want your brand to be known for tomorrow? Please take into account the concept of change. For example, by this time next year, I want to have published this book and to demonstrate not only my marketing skills, but my broader business skills as well. Then turn that future dream into your brand promise.
Think through the ways that you deliver upon this promise today, and what else you need to do, including relationships you need to build or strengthen. Always ask, “Is what I am doing right now with my brand consistent with building the brand that I want?” One of my favorite brands is L.L. Bean. I think L.L. Bean is a brand that you can trust. In fact, I am enthralled with its Wicked Good moccasins. They’re great moccasins, and L.L. Bean’s promise to me is a 100% guarantee of satisfaction. Given my experience with them over the years, this has embedded an element of trust. Do you have a 100% guarantee of complete satisfaction in the job that you do?
On your personal brand, what is your emphasis? Ask the questions: What is it that I am known for? What is my brand promise? What will be those one or two things next year that people think about when they think about me? What is it that they think about me right now? How do I recover from mistakes? You know, sometimes I’ll be in a meeting and I’ll say something or do something and it will keep me awake all night long because I didn’t say or do something different or do something more eloquently. However, then I remember the branding of my products and the idea that if I recover the mistake appropriately, my brand value could actually increase more than it was decreased by a single mistake that I made.