How to Know if Your Business is Flirting
Desire, that inner urge, a kind of universal language, that tantalises us into some of
the most obscure behaviours. It’s human, the driving need to achieve or to obtain. So
what then does this carrot flaunt over the whip?
Aesop’s ‘The Sun and the Wind’ comes to mind:
The Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger. Suddenly they saw a
traveller coming down the road, and the Sun said: “I see a way to decide our
dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveller to take off his cloak shall be
regarded as the stronger you begin.”
So the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could
upon the traveller. But the harder he blew the more closely did the traveller wrap
his cloak round him, till at last the Wind had to give up in despair. Then the Sun
came out and shone in all his glory upon the traveller, who soon found it too hot to
walk with his cloak on.
Your business and it’s marketing efforts work very much the same. Consumers have
had relations with these things we call ‘legal entities’, ‘companies’, or ‘enterprises’ for
decades and will not budge by simply gusting onto them a barrage of messaging.
Consumers are blasted with advertising messages from over 5000 sources a day and
there is no one way to coerce an unwilling subject into a purchase. In fact, much like
The Wind, consumers are hardwired to block out the ‘noise’ of the world. We apply
cognitive biases, selective perception at best or complete omission at worst, onto
those things that come fast and frequently.
In my previous post, How Third-wave Brands Build Better Business , we explored the
evolution of brand practice as a sustained interaction between business and client
which has inevitably lead us into an era where firms and consumers are in
relationships we call brands.
Your brand is your business’s personality, a living person that actualises their unique
talents and skills through your value proposition. Think about that. Would you want
to kiss your brand? If not, then it may be that your brand is that creepy guy in the bar
that just doesn’t understand a sweet-scented cologne and a genuinely interesting
conversation goes much further than a slurred, half-thought pickup line.
The biggest desire of all is to feel appreciated.
Here are some steps you can take to prep your business for a Titanic-styled smooch:
Brand Purpose and Value Proposition
1. Define your special talent, your differentiating value proposition that makes
you stand out from all the other schmucks in the room. Then figure out why -
your higher purpose.
Audience Segmentation and Profiling
2. What kind of partner would be looking for someone of your skill or purpose?
Define your consumer and, most importantly, not what they can do for you
but what it is that you can do for them - your benefits sought.
Brand Tone of Voice and Identity
3. How does your partner prefer being spoken to? Is it someone slightly more
mature with the desire for a sophisticated language or is it someone a little
younger, looking for some wit and wildfire?
Contact Point Planning
4. Where would they like to go on a date? Think of how you can best integrate
your services into their lifestyles before you ask them out.
Step five would be to dress your well-crafted brand strategy in a tailored garment to
ensure that the length and width fit your business exactly right - first impressions
count. If you’re unsure of the measurements or materials, we’re able to visualise your
brand at every contact point to guarantee business-consumer flirtation is as
memorable as love at first sight.
The appropriate creative execution is important. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
So, whether you’re looking for a dapper, witty, or humble impression, your consumer
will remember you for how they felt during your interaction and, thereafter, visual
cues like your dapper tie, witty joke, or humble smile become delightful reminders of
that brand experience.
Let me tell you, sometimes they’ll even daydream about you.
Hopefully, we’ve left you feeling a little red at the thought of your business being
more adventurous. You’d be surprised at the loyalty you can create from the kind of
consumer connection that leaves them feeling appreciated.
Remember; your gentle-mannered persuasion will always beat The Wind in trying to
get the cloak off. It cannot be blown away but can be voluntarily, seductively slipped
off.