I remember in the mid-’90s while working for two Philly regional sports & movie channels when I had to decide whether we would promote our new website addresses by including “http://” or leave it off and start with “www.”
That was the beginning of a fantastic journey that has allowed me to work in many different industries in a large variety of tech-centric roles.
The common theme to all of the roles I’ve held is to build a connection between customer needs and meaningful business outcomes. Early in my career, when I worked as a content producer for AOL Digital City after the sports networks, that’s what I was doing.
At the time, I had no idea.
It just came naturally that if we were to engage members to keep using AOL, we needed to create “sticky” content that encouraged them to repeatedly connect with each other through the platform.
I’ve been doing a bit of thinking about what I’ve seen throughout my career and the way The Rocket Factory can fulfill our new brand promise to “simplify what matters.”
I have seen companies constantly challenged to maintain the tight connection between customer expectations and what their selling.
In January, I wrote why ‘Brand’ is so much more than a marketing term.
The more I apply this concept looking back on my career, the more I am convinced.
The more I test the concept on new problems, the more it holds up.
I don’t like the word “Transformation” when it’s applied to business. I get that it’s a widely accepted term.
I struggle with saying a company or industry needs to “transform.” That would imply that they have not kept up and therefore need to change.
That very well may be the case, but that word carries a lot of anxiety and missed entry points.
For the last part of this post, I offer a little more explanation to what’s on our new strategic consulting page to those looking for the map of the journey to remain relevant – or find their way back to relevance.
If your go-to-market plans are sub-optimal or are not working, it’s not just Sales and Marketing’s problem.
Getting to the point.
Your Brand (capital B) is your promise to the market you serve. Think of it as your guidebook from which all decisions are made.
To deliver on that promise, you have to have the right people, processes, data, and technology completely in lock-step with your promise.
I call these the “4 Crucial Connections.”
This can be very hard to do.
But it’s not a choice.
You don’t get to pick.
You have to be good at all four.
And all four are interdependent to deliver your promise. So that would mean either at a sector level (if we’re talking industries) or the firm level (if we’re talking companies), there shouldn’t be too many, or any, organizational silos standing in the way of delivering on your promise.
That’s the only way to go to market in the most effective way possible.
Your Brand and the 4 Crucial Connections have to drive business results.
These results should come in the form of the following “4 Significant Outcomes:”
Revenue & Profitability
Socioeconomic Sustainability
Customer Experience
Operational Efficiency
