Use Your Culture To Brand Your Company/Department/Team
by Miki SaxonI have four great lessons for you today.
- arrogance doesn’t burnish your image;
- don’t hesitate to tell a client they’re wrong when you know they are;
- don’t just focus on what you’re doing for customers now, but what you’ll do for them in the future; and
- culture sells.
They’re all wrapped up in a story about Intel’s new advertising plan and Venables Bell & Partners, the agency that’s doing it.
Lesson 1: In a nutshell, Intel’s concept of the branding effort was “we’re so important to your everyday life. Imagine a world without Intel. Your lights would go out. The world would stop revolving.” That’s arrogance.
Lesson 2: In a second nutshell, “Venables Bell said, ‘You got that wrong.’” Telling an account the size of Intel they’re on the wrong track takes guts.
In Silicon Valley Intel is a cultural icon renowned for its technical brilliance, innovative R&D and decidedly quirky culture.
Lesson 3 & 4: VB did an in-depth study of the company and hung out with its engineers; you’ll be seeing the results starting next week. The campaign’s tagline is “Sponsors of Tomorrow,” and the ads highlight achievements of Intel engineers in a humorous way.”
Share the ideas with your team; then work together and tweak them to sell your company, department or team to those for whom you perform, whether your customers are external or internal.
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May 8th, 2009 at 8:10 am
This is a really good post. Being honest with the client is all important. Accurate, objective feedback is what they want. It’s not as if all our clients are Sam Goldwin. Rgds Vince
May 8th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Hi Vince, thanks for the kind words. Honesty is best, but it still takes guts to tell a client they are wrong when it could cost you the account.
Of course, following a client down the wrong path because you didn’t say anything will cost far more in the long run.
May 8th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
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