It’s the new year, and you’re staring down this list of things to do: find new opportunities, win new clients, get the signature on the big deal.
The list is one thing, executing is quite another.
We know, we have that same list! And, probably like you, we’re cleaning up some projects that are continuing from last year.
Here’s a fact we’ve found from hard experience: we do more damage making calls, sending emails, writing blogs, etc. without a firm understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish.
So, our first step is uncovering a clear direction.
Last year we ran into 2016 a bit muddied, to be honest with you. An opportunity presented itself that sounded great, looked great, but didn’t make any sense when compared to the work we’ve done over the past 25 years. It had taken three months, countless conversations, a handful of pros and cons lists, and some kick-in-the-gut moments before we changed course.
Throughout that time we were so focused on what was going wrong that we didn’t look for what was going right. Or, better said, what we’ve done right over the years.
So, this year opens with us thinking that the key to all of our successes is to Clarify, Create, Amplify.
Let’s talk for a second about clarifying your brand message.
Head over to the Google machine and type in: “how to clarify your goals.” NOTE: you’ll have to avoid the temptation to click on “how to clarify butter.”
More than a million results! Very easy to get distracted and miss the best opportunity available to clarify your goals by answering this simple question:
What inspired us to launch this company?
A start-up or entrepreneur might have a quick answer for this because the launch is fresh. But, often we’ve seen the business of the business get in the way of that clear raison d’etre and therefore muddy the message used to earn customers or clients.
When that question is answered by an industry titan what we’ve seen is that they forget why people trusted them and bought their product or service in the first place. We’re not so egocentric to think that branding and marketing will reverse a company’s flagging bottom line, but we do believe that digging into the What and Why will help uncover a message that can help a company connect with its customers.
Marketing and communications departments in large enterprises face a slightly different question: What will inspire my clients [buyers in some cases, employees in others] to trust me?
Our goal this year is to help our clients answer that question first. Hard period.
We believe that answer will inspire more dynamic, authentic, convincing, and ultimately successful Creative and Amplification work. And, since we’re being honest with each other here, not taking THAT STEP FIRST is a waste of your money.
So, let’s go. How can we help?
