My Smashable Branding Checklist

“My smashable branding checklist” ripped from Martin Lindstrom – lessons learned at The Progress Conference – 16 May 2013

Ingrid Ashwin | 18 May 2013

Revelation! I got to spend 12 hours on a winter’s day with the world’s leading branding and consumer authority last week. Courtesy: Business Results Group. I felt compelled to find a way to “light your branding fire” with this generous wisdom for the benefit of SA professionals who want to achieve progress. So here it comes – R 400 000.00 worth of free “hot to trot” winter advice from the consultant to the BIGGEST brands in the world – for you!

• Take your logo off everything – can you still see your brand?
• Can you smell your brand? Martin Lindstrom reminds us, “Consumers are unwittingly seduced by Touch, Smell and Sound.”
• Does your brand have its’ own sound? Apple’s does and so does Coca Cola.
• Follow the Martin Lindstrom recommended brand conversations pattern for success. Case in point.
  • Declare your revelation
    • We brought Martin Lindstrom to South Africa to offer his latest insights to SA marketers and retailers at the 7th Progress Conference.
  • Create an “aha” moment – something that makes people want to talk about your brand.
    • Delegates were spellbound throughout the day. His subliminal messaging throughout the day ensured that they were 100% engaged from start to finish.
  • Next is the tipping point
    • Did you know that Martin Lindstrom visited Pick n Pay on William Nicol on the evening of 16 May to check out how they get people to buy more? He loves their food studio – a cooking school for everyone…. and was intrigued if people would buy the fresh oysters in the oyster ice box – a first for him. More importantly it was so cool that the world’s leading retailing consultant was willing to learn from our good old R of SA.
    • I got to do a walk through the store and learn from this legendary thinker. He is busy designing a food store in the US that grows their vegetables on their rooftop and makes sure that the veg is as fresh as” just picked”.
  • Then it is time to show off.
    • The feedback from the delegates that day was unanimous – He was amazing. Another great Progress Conference brought to you by Business Results Group.
• Who is your “aspirational audience”? Nike designs for professional athletes but sell to regular people who like to keep fit. Is your brand directed to your aspirational audience?
• Are you “bloody boring”? If you are – change it up!
• How can you use the stickiness of free stuff to build your brand?
• Does your brand show you care?
  • Remember the toy store with the big door for big people and the small door for small people. They show they really care about the small people.
• Can you communicate rosy memories?
• Stock images lack authenticity and are not memorable – Do you use stock images?
• What is your audience’s real inner age? Even 80 year olds still feel 18.
• Are you being honest?
  • If it makes you fat – say it makes you fat!… but add that it is really delicious.
• Can you come up with a way for people to touch your product or service? A big bank packaged their home loan in a box :-)
• Does gaming play a role in your brand strategy?
• Have you spent time in your target audience’s homes?
• Is your message relevant now – right now. Right Message – Right Time – Right Person.
  • Picture this. Sicily. 2013. You are visiting a strange town – you get a message from Starbucks. They have identified you have a friend in the same town. They SMS invite you to meet that friend at a nearby store. You go to the store, meet up with the friend and they give you a free cup of coffee. Memorable – check? Relevant –check? Right message – right time? Check. Would you talk about it? BIG check.
• Have you considered how you can use the weather to make people buy more? Using the seasons to create relevant offerings can help people to buy more.
• Are you adding something to your brand that doesn’t belong? “the beds and handbags” story – 2nd case in point.
• If you have a dual track audience – parents and children – communicate your brand with both – Lego gets this.
• 77% of people buy stuff offline – what is your word of mouth strategy? If it’s not interesting people will not talk about it. Give them a WOM reason. Did you know people talk about brands 80% of the time between 19h00 and 20h00 each day?
• Are you monitoring your brand? Yes? Are you monitoring it 24/7?
• Every time a disaster occurs – figure out how you can use this to build your brand or sell more. Walmart gets this:
  • Think Hurricane Katrina. This is the reason Walmart were the only store to not run out of emergency essentials at that time.
• Men need to feel safe when they buy. They Love rankings! Can you position your brand by ranking?
• Are you only giving 2 – max 3 choices? The science of buying shows that the fewer choices we have the more we buy. Is your homepage crammed?
• What does your website look like in print?
• Is your campaign about your brand – or is it about your consumer? Run every campaign for your consumer.
• Does your brand put a smile on people’s faces? :-)
• What is your “ME” selling proposition? We have moved from consumerism to “me-erism”.
• Brand Ethics check points:
  • Treat children like you would your own
  • Treat your customers like you would your family and friends.
  • Are you 100% transparent?
  • Are your testimonials real?
  • Don’t hide your downsides.
  • Don’t hide the expiration date.
  • Don’t hide the legal stuff.
• And again – just in case we did not get it the first time. Have you spent time in your customers’ homes?
• What is your brand vision?
  • L’Oreal’s is – We are selling hope.

The Progress Conference vision, is about bringing the best possible thinking and skills to forward thinking people in business in SA to achieve real measurable progress. So from greatest thinkers to future thinkers – enjoy and achieve progress! Thank you for letting me share my rosy memories with you.
This list is by no means exhaustive but should be a pretty damned good start to get your brand house in order. All that said, Martin Lindstrom’s final word of advice “Done is better than perfect!”