Stop Advertising.

It's time to stop advertising.

You’re not hearing that a lot today. Most communications firms are telling you to increase your market spend. More ads. More direct mail. Take advantage of your competition. Take advantage of a “down” economy.

Stop.

Instead, take a breath. Take stock, and then take a serious look at how you’re spending those “precious” marketing dollars.

Now, start again. Clear away confusion. Combine efforts for efficiencies. Eliminate the waste. Coordinate the messaging. Re-evaluate your target markets. Find the essence of your brand, draw upon its strengths, refine your differentiation and build the value.

It's really all about brand anyway. Build that value and your growth will come. So stop to start.

Hear It. Believe It. Be It.

That's the brand promise I'm talking about. Your employees not only have to 'hear it and see it' from you, but they have to 'believe it' and then 'be it' for you to be successful. It's inconceivable to me how many companies and organizations do one thing and say another. I'm not talking about the brand. I'm addressing the very real fact that companies make brand promises and then don't deliver them.

The "I'm a MAC, and I'm a PC" campaign is a perfect example. Think that's building the brand? No way. That's creating interest, awareness and a bit of trouble for Microsoft's 'iffy' new Vista. But building the brand doesn't happen with commercials or sales events or direct mail.

It happens the moment someone, driven by the above tactics, connects with Apple. When the Apple customer service ethic kicks in...when the efficient, polite, organized, well-trained, empowered Apple associates deliver the brand promise. Visit an Apple store. You'll see it, feel it and believe it (in person).

As a Brand Establishment member and a Certified Brand Strategist I remind companies of this every day. Your advertising doesn't build the brand, it's your people - your true brand ambassadors who do. Neglect them, train them improperly or fail to communicate to them the proper information and incentives they need and your brand will falter.

Don't stop advertising but don't start with that either. Start with your people. A brand is built from the inside out. People deliver your brand promise, everyday.

The definition of a brand is, simply, a unique claim of distinction. But with a twist - it has to be delivered and supported, consistently and constantly, by the evidence of your performance. (And, guess who delivers that?)

"What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it."
- David Ogilvy

I couldn’t agree more. Sort of. Here’s the deal. Consumers ain’t dumb…in fact, they’re smarter than ever as a result of today’s information-centric world. When they shop, they arrive armed…for the most part…with information, comparative pricing, consumer reviews, etc.

So yes, Mr. Ogilvy, what you say in advertising is more important than how you say it.
But you can’t stop there. Or even start there.

You see, advertising doesn’t build brands. Heresy? Not at all. It plays a critically important part of the communications stream…whether it’s a web site or an outdoor campaign. Advertising informs, alerts, inspires, reacts, communicates, announces, excites, pleases, annoys and lots of other things – but it does not build the brand.

And that’s where most companies fall flat on their faces.

And that’s where brand development comes in. As a Certified Brand Strategist and a managing partner of the world’s largest brand development organization, The Brand Establishment, we teach and train our clients to build the brand from the inside out. That’s where the brand’s unique, deliverable aspects live anyway, so we work from this vantage point first. Internalize, then externalize.

It’s called Turning The Telescope™ and it works.