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Communication Strategy Group Editorial Director Mark Kindley sent me a link to a NYT article that really got me thinking about how Brandtelling can help reshape perceptions. In the article, NY Times Op-Ed Columnist Nicholas Kristof describes the work of conservationist Greg Rasmussen to develop a campaign to save the African wild dog. It’s a worthy cause and I applaud Rasmussen’s efforts.

But what I really admire is his branding savvy.

It’s tough to get people to notice a brand. It’s tougher still when the actual name of the brand – wild dogs – is misleading. Apparently African wild dogs are not exactly dogs. And while they live in the wild, they don’t prey on humans or their livestock. So Rasmussen made a branding call to help his cause.
He renamed the brand and called the African wild dog a “Painted Dog”.

The new name works on many levels. First, these dogs physically appear to be painted, similar to Painted Horses. Second, the name suggests consciousness, not randomness, in nature. And third, the name suggests beauty and gentleness – two attributes that are likely to stop hunters from killing them or at least encourage more outrage over their poaching.

Now, your brand may not be in danger of hunting and poaching parties (although you never know), but we can all benefit from Rasmussen’s branding lesson. Consider the implications of your brand name, what it evokes in your prospects and customers – and others. Consider the new stories you could tell if your brand name were different, not misleading, but differently leading.

What brand stories could you tell?

ps. Click here to learn more about Rasmussen’s Painted dog Conservation campaign.

While preparing to be a panelist for a discussion on marketing, I’ve been pondering two questions the organizer asked us to consider:

What are examples of the best brands?

What are examples of the worst brands?

While these may appear to be opposites, I don’t think they are.

See, best and worst appear to be opposite categories like highest and lowest, or fastest and slowest. Think about the “best dressed” and the “worst dressed” lists following award ceremonies. Or the “best performance” and the “worst performance” during an Olympic trial. These are opposites, right?

Maybe not. In both of these examples, the subject being defined is known to you and me. One celebrity may be labeled the “worst dressed” — but she’s been seen on the Red Carpet. One athlete may have turned in the “worst performance” but he did it 1/100th of a second behind the “best performance” in the world. And he earned a multi-million dollar sponsorship to boot.

No, I think that “best” and “worst” are actually relative terms, often within a very narrow category. What has been bothering me about the questions regarding brands is that we begin thinking about which brands are category leaders and which brands are category laggards. But we’re still able to name and consider the brands.

So, I think the real question should be:

What’s the opposite of the “best” brand?

And the answer is: an unknown brand.

When inspiration calls, you pick up the phone and give it directions to your house.

Pretty good advice for any business, I’d say.

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A case study is an opportunity to tell your story – in your customer’s voice. It’s not a sales letter or a data sheet – it’s much more. Avoid “salesy” language and your internal terminology. Industry jargon is fine, but spell out first references.

Remember to be as specific as possible. Whenever possible, use actual numbers, including cost savings, revenue gains, sales growth, return on investment ROI) and total cost of ownership (TCO) or life value.

Don’t be afraid to include a strong customer quotes throughout your case study. You want to hear the pain in his/her voice as they remember the challenge they faced and the joy as your company helped them overcome obstacles.

41 Questions to Ask Your Customer and Build a Great Customer Case Study

Case Study Question Checklist

Customer Description

Who is the customer?
What do they do?
Who/what industry do they serve?
What is their unique value proposition?
What are they famous/recognized for in the industry?
Is there something that makes this customer instantly recognizable?

The Challenge

What situation did the customer need to change or improve?
What need/awareness precipitated the action – problems they were having, systems affected?
How widespread was the problem? Local, regional, global?
Were there special issues or challenges they faced? Industry guidelines? Government regulations? Compliance requirements?

Get this as a downloadable PDF!

Your Relationship

What was your relationship with the customer? New customer? Existing customer? What else have you done with them?
How did the customer find out about you/your solution?
What other products or services did the customer investigate/compare to yours? Why didn’t these work out?
Who was involved from your company?

The Solution

What steps did you take to solve the problem? How was the solution developed?
What were the customer’s expectations?
How was your product or service implemented/executed/deployed?
What was the scope of work? Did it change during implementation?
Was there any downtime, service disruption, or special issue during the implementation? If so, how did you help the customer work around it?
What were the specific technologies/products/services involved? (This can often be handled as a boxed “Tools” section.)
Were there any special skills required to implement the solution?
Were there any project management issues? Surprises – good or bad? Stories from the deployment?
How long was it before your product/service/solution was up and running at 100%?

The Results

How well did your product/service/solution solve your customer’s problem?
What can customer do now that it couldn’t before?
How did your company distinguish itself?
What’s next?
What does the customer think about your company now?

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Today’s post is contributed by Jeff “the demand generation guru” Ogden, president of Find New Customers. Jeff is a friend and collaborator (we worked together to co-author “Prospect-Driven Marketing“) who truly understands where the rubber hits the road for sales. – Arthur Germain

I’m please to share this information on lead nurturing with the readers of Brandtelling in this guest post. In this economic downturn, companies look for fresh ideas, so I hope you find this helpful.

CSO Insights, after 17 years of studies, describes how sales needs to become more of a science rather than an art.

One of the ways companies can turn sales into a science is to learn and document how prospects actually buy — and align your sales process accordingly.

The best way to learn how companies buy is to go talk to your existing customers.  Ask them a series of questions, such as these?

1. What was your internal process for buying?
2. How did the process start?
3. Where did you go for information?
4. What problem were you trying to solve?
5. Can you create a flow chart of your process?
6. How was the funding allocated and approved?

Another way is to take the path blazed by other vendors.  Let’s say your sales rep is talking to a company that uses Oracle for ERP.  Chances are that the company will use the same buying process with you that they did with Oracle. Ask them how they acquired Oracle.

The better you document this process, the more effective your marketing will become. This also becomes your roadmap for marketing content development.

All the best,

Jeff Ogden, President (The Fearless Competitor)
Find New Customers
Lead generation made simple

Author, How to Find New Customers
(516) 284-4930 office; (516) 456-8218 mobile

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