Branding Yourself: Part 2

I recently attended a conference where the keynote speaker knew a thing or two about marketing and advertising. One of his clients was MasterCard, and he came up with the winning word we've all heard: Priceless. Okay, he didn't coin the word, he just gave it one hell of an overhaul.

Stewart Emery knows branding. He differentiates great products from simply "objects" by referring to them as "ideas" or better still, "experiences." In this economy, Emery said, you must provide the ultimate experience. Your brand lives in your customer's gut. I love that.

Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu, says that "brand" is what people say about you when you're not in the room. Again, brilliant. Because if you can get people speaking positively about you when you're somewhere else, you've truly arrived. And Emery agrees. When you matter to your customers, they talk about you and they want you to win.

So you need to be more than a URL, more than a set of features, and more than a common promise. You have to be an experience your customers want and prefer over competing experiences. Actually, if you can rise to the status of "Positive Experience," you've already beat out most or all of your competition that remains content being a quality product or service."

Think of the phenomenon known as iPhone. This device has transcended mere phonehood to be a truly positive experience. The iPhone represents iTunes and fancy accessories and slick commercials with the phrase "There's an app for that." People have a lot of choices when it comes to phones, but look how many are flocking to one of the most expensive devices on the planet.

What can you learn from the iPhone experience? How can you provide a truly ultimate lifestyle for your clients? Start with the little things: get back to your clients right away, use the phone more than that impersonal e-mail, and smile when you speak. Whatever it is you do for a living, be a good one, and always seek improvement. Leave the self-improvement door open or take it off its hinges completely.

Are you content to be just another product, or are you willing to be an experience?