By Alex Parkinson, Senior Researcher, Corporate Philanthropy, The Conference Board Companies are being called on regularly by employees, customers and other stakeholders to provide relief support for communities affected by recent tragedies. It’s not always clear what the best way to contribute to relief efforts is, so benchmarking among peers is important. In a July […]

By Alex Parkinson, Associate Director, Society for New Communications Research of The Conference Board The Society for New Communications Research of The Conference Board (SNCR) is excited to launch a new online publication series, which addresses emerging topics in new and emerging communications tools and technologies, including digital, social media, and mobile, and their effect […]

In this webinar, get a summary of the K2 Intelligence report on media rebates and incentives and reviewed the top ten questions advertisers need to consider in reviewing contracts with media buying agencies.

This report takes a deep dive into the new age of addressable TV, closely examining how addressable technology makes television advertising more effective than ever.

The post A September 11th Story: How one man’s life and career were transformed appeared first on The Good For You Network.

Alice Korngold, Co-Editor, Giving Thoughts, and Author, A Better World, Inc.: How Companies Profit by Solving Global Problems…Where Governments Cannot Company executives who are responsible for CSR, foundations, and branding, must often choose among various nonprofits to serve as partners. In some cases, they will even be recommending a role for the company CEO to […]

In the research I did for my latest Harvard Business Review column, The Best Salespeople Do What the Best Brands Do, I came across a lot of terrific sources on how to achieve sales leadership.  I was only able to include a few in the piece, so here’s a round-up of some more clarifying insights on sales leadership and how they tie to the brand-building principles that great salespeople execute:

In 10 Ways to Be Seen as a Sales Leader by Your Customers, Mark Hunter writes, “It’s not what you sell; it’s how you help the customer that makes the difference.”  Among his list of “list of 10 things every salesperson needs to be doing if they want to be seen as a sales leader” is: “Ask the customer questions both you and the customer can’t answer as a way to spur critical thinking.”

• This is a great example of how “Great salespeople don’t imitate, they innovate,” which is based on the brand-building principle, “Great brands ignore trends.”  In my HBR column, I explained that “Great brands don’t follow what everyone else is doing, nor do they wait to take their lead from customers.  In the same way, great salespeople offer their customers unique perspectives and often seek to push their thinking.  They present a differentiated sales experience by challenging customers’ status quo and teaching them something new and valuable.“

More on not following everyone else comes from a post, Why “Solution-Selling” (Problem-Solving) Is the WRONG Conversation to Have with CXO Buyers, on the CustomerThink blog by Jack Dean of Fast Partners.  He writes, “Don’t follow the Solution-Selling herd.  Break away.  March to a different, more sophisticated, drum beat.  Shift your mindset and change your customer conversation.  Focus on one theme: impacting the customer’s business priorities and outcomes, not solving problems with your solution.  Listen with the intent to understand, not the intent to respond.  Stay alert and maintain high-levels of personal curiosity.  Stop following your agenda and start following the customer’s agenda.”

Deb Calvert has an excellent infographic on her topic of Stop Selling & Start Leading.  Deb’s research suggests that sellers are more successful when they replace “stereotypical sales behaviors” with leadership behaviors. One of her points labelled “What Sellers Can Do” is:  “Differentiate yourself from other sellers by stepping into your role as a leader.  Inspire buyers to come to you.”

• This resonated with me on the idea that “Great salespeople attract the best customers for their company” (and “Great brands don’t chase customers.”)  “Just as great brands know they’re not for everybody,” I wrote, “and so they seek to attract loyal and profitable customers through shared values and common interests, great salespeople are selective when engaging prospects.”

In The Customer Doesn’t Care About Your Number!, David Brock covers the stress that many salespeople face about making their sales quotas.  But he reminds us, “It’s not the customer’s job to help you make your numbers!”  He goes on to say, “Strategies we develop to accelerate the sale to meet our needs detract from the value we create with our customers.”  And he offers a different perspective:  “If we can’t help the customer understand the compelling reasons to make a decision now, in terms meaningful to them, we will never get them to accelerate their decision making process.”

• This speaks to the principle, “Great salespeople create real value for their customers,” which is inspired by the brand-building principle, “Great brands never have to ‘give back.’”  If you’re struggling to compel people to buy, then you’re probably not creating real value for them.  In my HBR piece, I observed, “Great salespeople don’t engage with customers simply to make a sale — they look for ways to make their clients more successful.“

Finally, Jeb Blount addresses the final point in my piece about how the best salespeople are brand evangelists.  In Do You Need to Love or Be Passionate About What You Sell to be Good at Selling It?, he explains how you can be a brand evangelist for products that are mundane or boring, or those that you just don’t love.  “Not loving what I am selling is not the same as not believing in what I am selling,” he says.  “There is a difference. I’ve always believed that what I was selling could help my prospect.”

That’s why brand evangelism — and sales leadership — is all about.  The last line of my HBR article reads,

Brand evangelism is about engaging customers in a way that produces stronger and more valuable brands and sustaining long-term business success for their companies and their clients.

related:

• the best salespeople do what the best brands do
• the sales associate of tomorrow
• the lost art of selling

The post how to achieve sales leadership appeared first on Denise Lee Yohn.

By Anita Whitehead, Managing Director, and Tim Stiles, Partner, KPMG LLP Restrictions on civil society and foundations have become increasingly widespread. In the last year alone, civil society organizations (CSOs) in over 100 countries experienced serious threats to one or more civic freedoms. A variety of complex factors have driven this trend, impacting how CSOs […]

This Insight Brief discusses the challenge of recruiting top-tier talent into the advertising industry; includes interviews with marketers, professors, and students; and explores new research from the ANA and AEF.

My blog series on “How to Scale-Up Your Brand” continues today with instructions on how to plot your brand positioning.  A clear competitive brand positioning is essential to brand-building because it defines who you are selling to, what your business scope is, and how you create unique value for your customers.  In this post, you’ll learn how to identify the optimal position for your brand.

What Is Brand Positioning?

Your brand positioning is one part of the strategic platform of your brand.  It describes how you compare and compete with other brands.  The other part of your strategic brand platform is your brand identity, which articulates what you stand for and believe in.  In a previous post in this series, I introduced some brand tools to help you identify and clarify the key elements of your brand identity.  And you can learn more about the integration of brand identity and brand positioning in this post on strategic brand platforms..

A brand positioning statement uses this framework:

For [core customer], we are the [competitive frame of reference] who does [unique value], because [reasons to believe].

This post explains this brand positioning framework and I outline a brand tool, customer collage, for identifying your core customer here.

Today I address how to define your competitive frame of reference, or category of choice, and how to identify your unique value, or unique customer benefit.

• Your competitive frame of reference is the mental file folder you want your customers to put you in. Usually this is your industry category, but keep in mind that people don’t necessarily think of products in terms of specific categories and in some cases you might be creating a new category so there is no obvious frame of reference.  Plus, many purchase decisions involve “indirect competition” in which consumers ask themselves: Juice or soda?  Dinner or movie?  Vacation or new car?   So your competitive frame of reference requires careful consideration.
• The unique value of your brand is what you do for people that either no one in your competitive frame of reference does as well as you, or no one does at all. You should think about and articulate this in terms of a customer benefit, what’s in it for them.  Look at what you do from your customers’ — not your own — point of view.  Your unique value will differ depending on your competitive frame of reference so here’s how you develop these two elements simultaneously.

Five Steps to Plot Your Brand Positioning

Follow these steps to define your competitive frame of reference and identify your unique value:

1. Start by thinking differently about what business you’re really in. Consider what you do for people instead of the product/service you produce.  You may be a mobile carrier, but are you really in the productivity business?  You might be selling running shoes, but are you really in the inspiration business?  You might be an insurance provider, but are you really in the freedom business?  Create a list of the possible businesses you might be in and identify the leading brands in each.  The one that most directly reflects how your core customers think about what you do is probably your most effective competitive frame of reference.

2. Consider what lifestage your brand or product is in. If you are just starting out, you should define your competitive frame of reference more narrowly since your primary challenge is simply getting people to choose you over other existing options.  Later in the lifestage of your product or brand, you should define your frame more broadly since you’ll probably want to consider avenues for new growth through adjacent markets, categories, capabilities.

Your answers to #1 and #2 should lead you to an understanding of the best definition and scope for your competitive frame of reference.

3. The next step is to list key competitors in your competitive frame of reference and the unique benefit each delivers. Use industry research, analyst reports, audits of competitors’ experiences and communications, and social media listening to help you understand each brand’s points of strength and differentiation.  Synthesize your findings into a succinct description of each competitor’s unique benefit.

4. Use competitive landscape maps to identify the competitive white space for your brand. Begin by drawing several charts, each with an x and y axis.  For the first chart, start with axes that are standard for your category — for a snack food, for example, your axes might be low price vs. premium, sweet vs. salty, or for kids vs. for adults.  Plot on the chart the relative positions of brands in your competitive frame of reference.

Move onto the next chart, using different axes and placing the competitors on each.  Consider axes that represent different attributes for your category (for snack foods, you might think about single serve vs. multiple servings or indulgent vs. healthy).  Continue to create new charts, experimenting with different axes, especially those that speak to customer emotions (energizing vs. relaxing) or different usage occasions (meal replacement vs. treat).  Also use axes that reflect the drivers in your answers to #1 above.

5. Finally identify the unique value of your brand by evaluating the opportunities in the landscapes. In each chart, pinpoint where the competitive white space is and place your brand in that white space.  Then for each chart examine the positions and unique benefits of competitive brands and identify the unique value of your brand relative to theirs in the context of that white space.  Once you’ve examined several charts, the one that reveals the most compelling value for your brand should become clear.  It’s the one with the most significant white space and the most differentiating benefit.

This process involves both art and science — and it takes some practice to do it well.  Try it out with your brand and then let me know if you’d like help or feedback.  Leave your comments below or contact me here.

Up Next:  Brand Differentiators

My next post in this “How to Scale-Up Your Brand” series covers the last element of your brand positioning, the reasons to believe, your key brand differentiators.  I will show you how to identify and prioritize the ones that give your brand the most power and competitive advantage.  Look for it here in a couple of weeks.

previous posts in the “How to Scale-Up Your Brand” series:

• How to Conduct a Brand Diagnostic
• Assess Your Brand Power
• Set Your Brand Purpose, Values, and Attributes
• Identify Your Core Customer Target

The post scale-up your brand — plot your brand positioning appeared first on Denise Lee Yohn.