In a time when Social Media 2.0 is growing and the need for brand advocates is becoming more of a necessity in order to achieve “brand success,” it should be understood that being a leader in your field is not a right, but an earned privilege.

These days, consumers and potential clients are not limiting themselves to a company that can offer them products or services. Rather, they are looking to deal with businesses that come across as genuine and relatable.  In Credibility: How Leaders Gain it and Lose it, Why People Demand It, authors James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner note that  people are energized by values and visions that give their lives meaning and purpose.  These can be experienced in a single contact or conversation. 

I think of my grandmother, Mable Landis, and her loyalty to Sears, which dates back some 30 years now.  She always relates it to the fact that they show they care because “they always have the best sales going on and their employees are always so friendly no matter how you act towards them!”  She spreads the word as if it is the gospel because she lives by one simple rule: “Be nice no matter what and God will handle the rest.”

This is an example of a brand advocate.  She shops at Sears before looking anywhere else. She has no bad words to say about the company, and will defend the brand as if it were part of her bloodline.  It is this kind of earned credibility that drives one of the most powerful forms of marketing there is: word of mouth.

There are three qualities Kouzes and Posner say that you can find in every leader: Integrity, Competence and Leadership. 

For a brand leader, integrity does not stop at just being trustworthy; you must also display strength of character and conviction.  This may mean owning mistakes made due to a fault in your system during the return process and fixing them, or acknowledging that you did not offer the best products or services to a disgruntled customer and offering solutions to make it right. 

Those brand leaders that have been labeled “wise” – like Apple, for example - not only know themselves but have great competence in understanding their competition and surrounding environment. Typically, these “wise” companies are well aligned – both internally and externally. The employees know the company well, trust its decision-making and direction, and, therefore, have the credibility of believing what they say when speaking about the company’s product or services to others.  Brand leaders tend to inspire their followers, promote action, develop advocates, and provide direction to an improved lifestyle.

Achieving this status is simple.

BE CREDIBLE. 

Be consistent in all you do, believe in what you say, and know what you are saying is right for the one listening.  Get people to believe in you, and watch how effortlessly they will work with you to help grow your brand. 

That's why this time of year is so special. Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or all three, it's a time to reflect on meaning and faith. Our team at Mythology, like the rest of our society, shares many common beliefs, and diverge on a few others. But we focus on the unifying beliefs of our team and our world so that we can make a difference. 

C.S. Lewis talks of "myth become fact." The stories we share, the stories we believe, lead to the good that changes our world. Myth becomes fact every day, if we let it. Beliefs matter. 

And since businesses and "work" are where we invest the majority of our days, shouldn't we make the most meaning there? 

We wish you the most amazing holiday season ever. And we look forward to working with you to build belief in all those things that matter. 

Have a belief-building holiday season and a truly mythical 2012! 

As a marketing management consulting firm, we believe that for your company to flourish there must be proper internal alignment. Many companies tank when they reach a point where alignment is lost. This often happens when a company or division grows faster than its capacity to build internal processes or infrastructure to keep up.

James L. Garlow’s book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership - Tested by Time, puts businesses in two simple categories: “There were those who followed…and those who didn’t.”  While most entrepreneurs know their purpose and plan for their company, they do not know how to keep it consistently communicated among their employees at every level. 

First, it starts with selection: you need people who are bought into your brand values and company purpose and who are ready to work towards those goals.

Secondly, consecration (the “the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service “) is a necessity:  clearly state your expectations and stick to them. A good on-boarding process in partnership with HR can go a long way towards building this commitment from the beginning.

The next step is impartation and demonstration: it is critical to lead by example. Show your employees your successful habits so that they are “fully charged” and ready to do what is appointed to them.  This is also where the leader shows by “doing” or on-the-job training. A well-defined internal mentorship program can do wonders in this area.

Finally, delegation and supervision.  This is the time to trust your staff and empower them to work on their own.  While everything will not be perfect, this is where your staff will mature and grow the most.  Once your employees have finished their allotted tasks the manager will step in and “clean-up” or approve the work in ways to keep it aligned with your company’s mission and brand values.

In a business environment where employees are not allowed the opportunity to grow or contribute, the company itself suffers and cannot grow.  But when a company aligns its people with its goals, the business maximizes its opportunity to flourish.  The main principle of leadership, according to James L. Garlow, is “being able to multiply yourself.” 

Do you know who your best friends are (from a business perspective)? Who are the pockets of customers who are most influential and valuable to you, and how should you engage them?

Bain & Co. defines customer segmentation as “the subdivision of a market into discrete customer groups that share similar characteristics.” Pretty straightforward, right?

Segmenting your customer and prospect base by logical, actionable criteria can turn marketing mayhem into a meaningful marketing. Rather than diluting yourself with a generic message and engagement approach, you can focus and magnify your impact.

This year was a big year for customer segmentation projects here at Mythology. We helped non-profits such as the National Boy Scouts of America identify priority segments for launching the Summit Bechtel Reserve and International Justice Mission prioritize key pockets of avid advocates to grow in their fight against human trafficking.

Corporations weren’t far behind. A major insurance firm needed to improve their emotional connection with their customers, so we helped map the right audience triggers. A gaming company needed to transition from good old coin-operated bar games to the fast-growing iPad consumer market, so we helped develop influencer audiences to target.

Unfortunately, there are many ways to segment and it can get pretty confusing. You could potentially target a group of similar customers by any number of criteria:

• Demographic – Stuff you can easily find out about people such as age or income.
• Geographic – It’s pretty easy to figure out who’s in your market region, if you’re limited to that.
• Psychographic – Lifestyle preferences and core beliefs can be reliable predictors of response.
• Behavioral – Identifying who and when the best targets are open to your value proposition based on recent or consistent things they do, such as visiting a web site or moving from one community to another.

So which do you pick, or which combinations do you concoct? The simplistic but true answer is, whichever helps you engage most effectively and generate the most return on investment (ROI).

In a world where people can gather around random topics instantly via social media, this can require some trial and error. But often you can eliminate more of the error by utilizing test campaigns, simple surveys or social media interaction to capture a relatively good idea of what will generate response and conversion.

We like to look at targeting in terms of emotional archetypes. What role do you play in filling an emotional need for your customers? The answer to that can go a long way in helping you target more people with that need.

At Mythology, we discovered that our best segmentation wasn’t necessarily by industry, or region, or even size of company. We found that the best predictor of whether a client was a “fit” or not was how ambitious they were and how much they recognized building an effective marketing system was key to their growth. Those types of clients value what Mythology brings to the table with our comprehensive approach to growing marketing ROI.

Everyone can’t be your best friend. But those special friendship connections can often last a lifetime.  

So say some bloggers regarding Frito Lay's content-driven Asylum 626 and Hotel 626 campaigns targeting teens. (NOTE: The sites are only "open" from 6pm to 6am, because, says the agency behind the campaign, "We wanted people to visit the site at night, after hours, when guards are down and they are the most immersed in what could happen.")

Here's a snippet of what Frito Lay has produced: 

This is another great example of how brands, in order to customize and control the context in which they sell their products, have begun to create their own content and gaming experiences. It is a tricky thing to pull off, especially for the teen audience Frito Lay is shooting for, because brand-produced content has an automatic barrier of lack of authenticity. Kids are smart. They know when you're trying to push your products. 

However, some brands are pulling it off by letting the content speak for itself vs. becoming a direct shill for the product. Frito Lay has done a good job of that here. 

The digital age is creating many situations where the lines of content vs. sponsorship advertising are blurred. The traditional :30 or :60 spot continues to struggle to break through, especially for younger audiences, so more and more companies are looking to produce their own content where brand themes are woven into the storyline. 

A valid question to ask is, does scaring teenagers help sell Doritos? Like any marketing investment, the proof will be in the measurement. But for a low-consideration consumer goods purchase scenario that relies on brand awareness, affinity and (to a certain extent) emotional loyalty to drive sales, the answer is "probably." 

What content makes sense for your company to produce? Entertainment, educational or both? Mythology has some strategy workshops available to help you find out the answer to that and other key questions. 

Perhaps we can make your marketing ROI a little less scary in 2012. 

At Mythology, we like to be students of belief-based movements, both social and commercial. While being criticized by some as not having a clear message, the idea behind OWS is powerful and simple. From a web site that seems to serve as a rallying hub:  

Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.

This #OWS movement empowers real people to create real change from the bottom up. We want to see a general assembly in every backyard, on every street corner because we don't need Wall Street and we don't need politicians to build a better society.

Of course, it's also fully exploiting the power of instant media and social media platforms: 

And it has already spawned its own parodies: 

For the most part, organizations with formal brands still have not embraced the full power of the "sticky" elements of true movement-building: surprise, unexpectedness, emotion. There is a hesitancy that comes from clinging to structure and control that many formal institutions will never quite embrace. And no true movement can be completely developed top-down; by definition it must be participatory and free-flowing (within certain boundaries). 

Still, it's interesting to think of things to learn from these grass roots movements, fueled by rebellious, often unscripted energy (although, as the movement matures, we're seeing signs of scripts and real strategies). 

What can your brand or public institution learn from the success of the OWS movement? 

Michael Porter introduced the concept of “Value Chain” back in 1985 to identify, measure and optimize how each touch point along the chain can (or should) add value. The main point being, that at every step, is the value is undefined or poorly executed, you have a kink in your chain that will impact the bottom line through late deliveries, poorly-made products, inferior service, etc.

In my experience, most marketers have lagged in their understanding of the marketing value chain. Marketing disciplines can seem like a hodgepodge of independent efforts, poorly connected and therefore not delivering as much marketing value – or return on marketing investment – as they should.

• How many market research studies have gathered dust with no action taken to embed their insights into the next campaign?
• How many strategic marketing plans are sitting on the shelf while short-term marketing campaigns get developed in a vacuum?
• How many sales kickoffs have been launched without a clear service-level agreement with marketing on the exact type of leads that sales expects to receive to make their number?
• How many new employees have been hired without HR integrating the company’s brand values into the selection criteria?

It’s this very problem that inspired me to develop the “Ten Pillars of Meaningful Marketing.” Each pillar is an opportunity to shine a light on a stage of the marketing value chain for assessment, brainstorming, planning and measurement.

We have a series of workshops designed to shine a light on your marketing value chain. It’s a low-risk, high-reward opportunity to work out those kinks.

It dawned on me that my OPS might be a key factor in my values and priorities when I started the Franklin Covey system. The Franklin Covey system requires you to prioritize your schedule based on your Core Values.  Like many planning or success systems, Franklin Covey teaches (and sometimes preaches) that in order to achieve our goals we must be very clear about our Core Values.  

This message triggered many thoughts and some concerns for me.  Gradually, I realized that clarifying my values would obviously make my life flow well, not just my work schedule. More importantly, it would give everything in my life - and I mean everything - a stronger foundation. I am the mother of three children, active in my community, a marketing professional, a writer/poet, a daughter and sister, etc.  My list of to do’s can range from writing a poem, washing the car, speaking at an event, creating PowerPoint slides and scheduling haircuts.

As I became familiar with Franklin Covey, one point jumped out at me: planning.

Planning is without a doubt the key to success. In fact, my firm, Mythology, is actually a planning tool for business marketing. I know the value of planning for clients, and with the Franklin Covey system I am determined to organize my life with my values, priorities and goals instead of OPS values.

While thinking about my “other people’s syndrome” I wondered: Do other people have “other people’s syndrome” too?  I instantly thought of the “rapid testing” tool we use at Mythology. It’s a marketing tag line testing tactic we use to quickly gather information for and about a client. Over the years we’ve learned that what businesses generally think of themselves is not what others perceive them to be. I think the same can be said for many people. So I decided to do my own “rapid testing” about core values.

When we do this rapid testing we are selective about the pool of people we use. I thought I should apply this same selectivity to my core values survey.  I looked for people whose lives seemed to be in synch with their values and priorities.  I thought by doing this I might find some common denominators with my own values.

I asked women whose occupations range  from homemakers to CEO’s, married and divorced, various ages and races –What VALUES do you VALUE most?? Integrity, adventure, spirituality, courage, balance?

They had no common denominator other than they are women, have or had some role in my life as a friend, mentor or business associate, and I deeply respect their opinions. 

Here is what they reported:

Balance

Caring

Civic engagement

Compassion

Consideration

Courage

Courteously

Creativity

Dependability

Dignity

Equity

Excellence

Fairness

Faith

Family

Forbearance

Fortitude

Freedom

Fun

Generosity

Grace

Growth

Honesty

Humanity

Humility

Independence

Integrity

Joy

Kindness

Love

Loyalty

Passion

Professional

Progress

Respect

Sensuality

Spirituality

Understanding

I discovered that I shared many of the same values as the women I surveyed.  I also found a few of my core values missing in the list:  philanthropy, beauty, humor and diversity.

Philanthropy, beauty, humor and diversity are also values that I consistently apply in my work. I am getting closer to a definitive list and taking the next step in the Franklin Covey process, which is a clarifying statement for my values.

Example (taken from the Franklin Covey value/mission worksheet):

Professionalism:

I do excellent work every day.

I am open to ideas of others.

I have a positive attitude.

I am a team player.

Surprisingly the common values I found in my “rapid testing” poll showed me that “other people’s syndrome” isn’t such a bad thing when you’re asking the right people.  That is true in your personal life as well as your business.

Franklin Covey is helping me organize my work/life in the same way Mythology helps your businesses define its core values and ask the right people about your brand so you can build belief in your business. 

So what core values are guiding you? I’d love to read some of your comments.

One reason it's fun? We're giving out Aetna-branded Power Balance Bands, those popular rubber bracelets that have their own mythology that has grown up around them. Australian researcher Richard Saunders: “The claims are that these bands will improve your strength, your balance, and your flexibility. They also suggest it will improve your well-being, give you clarity of thought, improve your stamina and sports performance, that sort of thing.”

Alas, the claims aren't scientifically justified.

At Mythology, we facillitate the development of "sticky stories" like the ones that developed around Power Balance. However, we advocate that these stories are rooted in truth verified by facts and positive customer case studies. Still...Power Balance is another example of how audiences often want to believe in something magical about a product. It may be a placebo, but placebos can be quite powerfull, can't they?

Wrong, at least most of the time. Here's a great article about winning the emotional side of the B2B decision-maker.

Business Decision-Makers can be as emotion-driven as consumers in many cases.However, in addition to appealing to the emotional needs of B2B buyers, a marketer focusing on the business audience can also deliver...well, more interesting information.

As marketers, we tend to fall in love with information about our own products or services. In reality, business audiences are just like consumer audiences: they're overloaded with information and tend to tune out unless there is a compelling hook. This is especially true when marketing communication has not yet established interest.

We recently ran across a very solid print ad from Siemens in Wired magazine called "The Answer Exchange." It caught our eye because the ad didn't pitch Siemens' solutions for smart energy management or manufacturing systems. Instead, it includes the results of an online survey of Wired.com readers about key issues in sustainability, smart grid technology, mobility and manufacturing. In other words, it fed the results of a survey of Wired's very own readers. Interesting.

In the process, of course, it established Siemens' brand and thought leadership on these topics. The ad promoted the http://www.usa.siemens.com/answers web site where additonal insights and case studies could be perused, including a cool Green City Index, a research initiative sponsored by Siemens.

Although the Siemens ad on YouTube doesn't seem integrated into this print campaign, this "here's what you told us" approach is a good example of integrating online and offline messaging. It's also a great example of generating interest among B2B audiences before inundating them with TMI - too much information - about your offering.