In late 2008, started my first company, a brand consultancy.
That was six weeks after Lehman collapsed. I know, brilliant timing.
Here are ten things I've learned about brand-led growth through both obsessive reading and practical application since then:
1. Differentiation isn't the game. Relevance is.
Being different gets you noticed. Being relevant gets you chosen.
2. If people don't know why to choose you, they won't.
A mediocre proposition is expensive to amplify. Most companies still can't answer "why us?" in one sentence. An LLM won't fix that for them.
3. Opinions start debates. Evidence ends them.
Experience doesn't win the argument in the boardroom. Everyone has biases, and worldviews collide. Evidence cuts through.
4. Reach scales choice. It doesn't create it.
Marketing is obsessed with reach and awareness, a bigger lake to fish in. Fixing the bait is job one. Otherwise you just get more fish swimming past you with a smirk.
5. Customers know before your dashboard does.
Most trackers and KPIs are lagging indicators. Leading indicators measure why people choose you, or don't.
6. Compete on what your product does, and you'll end up competing on price. There are many levels of value. Functional outcomes are just one of them, and represents mostly red ocean territory.
7. A growth target is not a strategy.
Don't even get me started. Strategy is about the specific choices you makeabout how you'll win with specific customers. Wanting to sell the most widgets in your category is not strategy.
8. Relevance leaks in the gap between what you build and what you promise.
Product says one thing, marketing another, and the customer hears neither. That's where money quietly walks out.
9. Nobody chooses rationally. Plan accordingly.
Psycho-logically, yes. Rationally, no. Over a decade ago I watched dentists drool over the "Rolls-Royce of dental imaging equipment."
9b. Never underestimate the power of "mine is bigger than yours." Relates to the last point, maybe should have made it a separate point.
10. Strategy is deciding what you refuse to be.
You can't be the most relevant choice while fishing the whole lake. Find the best customers and become their indisputable choice.
What are your best lessons learned?
P.S After all those years running a brand consultancy, and loving both the strategic and the creative (I always felt I have my feet planted in both camps - to me they are one anyway), I've since geeked out completely on building intelligence and diagnosis tools. Not because its sexy (it's not), but because they help bring the much-needed evidence, proof, and rigor to the board room.
If you want help building your case, finding the gaps and the direction for your brand (as CMO, CEO, agency owner, or independent consultant), our system provides them. Never in my wildest imagination as a strategist would I have dreamt of having the tools available that we now have. They are good for reading the market, however, I believe human judgement is still 100% needed. That's why we let the machines do the heavy lifting, and experienced analysts and strategists do the judgement.
hello[at]originalminds.co
Written by
