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I am so excited to share this final episode on your brand branding and brand strategy. In this episode. I'm continuing my conversation with Peter Wilkin, Sharon, the five components of your brand blueprint. The difference between a tagline and brand positioning. The three reasons brands fail and how to own a territory in your customer's mind as well. How to determine your promise and your benefit to others. And that that could be personal or business. Or both.

Michel Shah 0:39

Welcome to upSkill Talks brought to you by McGraw Hill. I'm your host, Michel Shah lead UpSkiller at UpSkill Community. UpSkill Talks is a podcast for leaders, leaders who are actively seeking innovative and creative ways to interact lead themselves and others. In every episode, through real life stories and enlightening conversations, we will explore the challenge. And opportunities real leaders face in today's everchanging workplace. We will present you with real strategies for you to leverage your soft skills and produce transformative results. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Let us begin.

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I'm speaking with Peter Wilkin, the brand to guru. The dolphin And Peter, let us begin where we ended the last episode. In the last episode you started this conversation about our brand DNA. You used the metaphor of a lighthouse. Our listeners found it very interesting and started asking questions about it. Can you share a bit more about the idea of the lighthouse and its relationship to branding before we jump in. You are brand DNA I use the metaphor of a lighthouse because it's such a great metaphor for strong brands and for strong brand DNAs, lighthouses. Purposeful structures that are built to last centuries in many instances, they're, they're built on solid foundations of rock. They withstand storms. They command a significant territory. But they also cast a communicative, forward reaching beacon out into the dark. And they say, This is what we stand for. This is what we believe in. This is our message. If you believe in what we believe in, come to us. Come to us. And so it attracts the right type of what I call brightly colored mo to your table pierces through the mist and allows you to locate positions and lighthouses, like brands are completely unique. Every beam or beacon is different for every lighthouse. They have a unique rotating pattern, flash or color. That was crystal clear, Peter. Thank you very much. I hope all of you got the clarity you're looking for after listening to the previous episode. And another question. I was asked Peter is what makes great brands. Great. How would you answer that? So, great brands, have relevant, compelling promises that they keep, They differentiate on emotional platforms. They own territories in the mind, and they have ideas that really resonate with their core group. That makes'em distinctive. They tend to be singular. They're consistent. They define or they redefine a category and then they own that category. They own a word, they own a key time or an occasion, and they have evocative attributes and icons, strong personalities. But this is the key point I really want to make everybody realize, own a territory in the mind. Now, if you, are an incredibly large, powerful brand, you. Territory you can own can be larger than if you're a small, weak starter. And the rules apply even for the greatest, strongest brands with all the budgets in the world, define your territory in the mind that you wanna own, then own it. Peter. Thanks very much for sharing that very, very well said. I need to ask our listeners. Could you share with us at upscale community? What territory in the mind we actually own? This is incredible. I'd really like to learn from you. What do we own in your mind? And. As Peter has suggested. I hope that you will go and ask. Your customers. Your. Clients ask around what territory in their mind do you own? Is it a word? Is it an image? Is it a feeling? What is it that you own in their mind? Peter. I really liked this idea. So Peter, one of the things that came out of our discussions. At upscale communities, Thursday night live sessions was a bit of confusion around the difference between a tagline and positioning. Can you help us understand the difference between a tagline and positioning? A tagline may be a bur, that short term, it creates an image of the whole, of a perception of your brand. But it's not something that you own in people's hearts and minds. It's fleeting. So even though we spent millions and millions of dollars on this, it didn't register. It wasn't owned. Because this is the difference between a tagline and a positioning. A territory in the mind. Thank you, Peter. I have another question because I've got a long list of them here. Why do brands fail? there's only three reasons why brands fail, It's, not a complicated business. When you boil it down, they either break their promises, which is a recipe for disaster. Eventually, even the biggest companies who break their promises will be eroded and collapse, or they make a relevant promises, or their promises become irrelevant over time. Or they're inconsistent in their promise. So they deliver well at sometimes or in some places, but not across the board. And therefore, you know, they're not, reinforcing their consistent, values, and benefits to their stakeholders. you Always have to be mindful of not overstating something or creating a promise that you under deliver against. But again, my point on this is the difference between a tagline. Which is passing, and ephemeral and a positioning or a territory in the mind that you genuinely own. What about your brand? What name or what word do you own? And it's not to embarrass you because I would say a good 75% plus of the clients I would work with would struggle to say, that's the word we own. Not what they'd like to own or what they think they own, but actually what their customers or stakeholders say you own. That's the difference. And even going through the exercise of finding out what it is that you really do stand for. And being singular in that is a learning in itself. But again, that's not really for me to say, it's for you to determine whether or not what you are saying is a tagline or a positioning in the mind. It is difficult to kind of grasp and there is sometimes overlap, but it's unmistakable. When you know unequivocally what people tell you, you stand for to them and it's consistent and it's compelling and it's relevant, then you've got a really, really strong brand. So some brands are enormously important and significant to a group of people and completely irrelevant to others, and that is okay. absolutely okay. One of the biggest mistakes brands make out, especially startup brands and smaller brands, is trying to please everybody, when it's not, and also sometimes consciously trying not to alienate others. Well, you don't have to aggressively, insult people. I'm not suggesting that in any way, but you can aggressively distance them because that can sometimes absolutely strengthen your affiliation with your desired group. So Peter, you have shared a lot of really great information about brands, branding and brand strategy with us over the last three episodes. So what I want to ask you now is for those of us who want to move forward and create something. You've suggested. We can start. With our brand blueprint. Can you tell us more about this brand There Share the 5 components to your brand blueprint five key components to your, to your blueprint, the heart of which is your promise, which is the overarching commitment you make to stakeholders that creates an expectation that you will fulfill. The benefit forces you to get into your customers or stakeholder shoes and say, what benefit do they derive from you? Successfully delivering against your promise and the spirit is the way in which you deliver it, your culture. And more often than not, that's what differentiates you from everybody else, particularly in a category where you are. Delivering things that other people do. Clothing and apparel will be differentiated by attitude. It's not necessarily the quality of the cotton that you're printing on. it's the attitude of your slogans and your statement and then look and feel that release will stand you apart. Attributes and assets of things or icons that create an image of the whole that become intrinsic to your brand and they're valuable and they're recognizable. And then the role, ultimately is the biggest thing and the hardest thing to articulate, which is actually why you exist, and the role that you play in stakeholders lives. If you're a personal brand, it's the role that you play to serve others And if you're a corporate brand, It's exactly the same. It's why you exist ultimately to serve others or provide a service for others. It really, this is like building a house of brick. If you're gonna build a house a brick, you need to do your homework. You really do need to understand what the current perceptions of your brand are with your stakeholders and with your desired prospects. Where your key challenges and opportunities are. What value you represent to them, how you might express that in different ways. How your cultural personality comes across. Does it resonate and compliment your overarching promise? What is your promise? Is it relevant? Is it credible? Is it compelling? Interesting people? And is it differentiating you from your competitors? We hope that over the last three episodes we have given you enough information to understand what a brand is, what branding is and how to develop your own brand strategy. This information should get you started or move you further along with your own understanding of who you are as a brand or where your business stands. As a brand. Just before I ask speeder to wrap it up for us, I want to invite you to join our weekly live sessions, where we have these conversations at upscale community 7:00 PM. Eastern standard Add your voice to the conversation we want to learn about you and your brand. Peter. To wrap it up. Could you share with me. Your favorite coat that will help everyone understand what a brand is. There's so many good quotes on brands, but this is probably the best one. Ultimately a brand is the things others say about you when you're not there.

Michel Shah 11:39

Thank you for listening to this episode of UpSkill Talks brought to you by McGraw Hill. We bring you new episodes every Monday. Please take a moment to subscribe, leave a five star rating and a written review at apple podcast. Or follow us on. By Google podcast or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, don't forget to share UpSkill talks with other leaders like yourself. So they too may gain the skills and insights to produce amazing results. Please go to UpSkillCommunity.com to review show notes and learn how you can join a community of leaders from across the globe. Collaborating to lead in a more meaningful and impactful way. I'm your host, Michel Shah. And again, thank you for joining me on this episode of UpSkill Talks.