Listen to your Brand Audience

Have you ever wondered what other people are saying or have said about your product or service? Not what YOU said, but what they've said.
This is where companies and the American bravado get into trouble. We spend so much time talking about who we are and what we do. We spend very little time talking about what we're not. I think bravado and the state of modern-day advertising and marketing go hand in hand. Bravado doesn't make the company, it actually kills the company. Look at all the big timers that are hurting right now; Dell Computers, General Motors, MCI...oh I forgot, THEY GOT KILLED! Gone are the days where you as a brand get to toot your own horn. Gone are the days we as marketers get a good client and beat their chest for them. That's too many fists and a big headache. So what if you made a lot of money. The reality is that you just did, Mr. Big Time Marketer and Advertiser, what we all hate; you were unoriginal and plain. We get enough of that everyday as it is. The last thing your audience needs is a positioning strategy or product that gloats that "we are better than you!" What is this, recess all over again?
Branding is about presenting what's already there. You, Mr. Company, are a living, breathing organism. You're not a product or service. So if you have something you want to promote, promote it geared around the culture of your corporation. If that doesn't work (it usually doesn't because companies are too old and bloated-that's another story), try embracing the community you want to sell to and hear what they have to say. You might get something useful out of the deal. Look, the last thing anyone wants in a relationship is "stuffy". So all you big guns out there boring us to death with your boring brands and gorilla chest beating, save it because the public has spoken. You should try to listen to what they're saying sometime.

Thanks Apple and Nike. You embraced the community and the community responded with love. You actually listened.