One of the best quotes I've heard in a while is the following (which I've already talked a little bit about before)“A great brand is a story that is never completely told.”
Absolutely true. 100%. The question though is this: how is your brand's story being told? If, like me, you believe markets are conversations, then your story is being told by the people you're selling to. This inevitably requires products and services worth talking about.
I'm seeing a lot of companies touting themselves as creators of brand strategies for their clients; this is short-term thinking at its best. Brand strategy is pointless (and by pointless I mean it does not create lasting value, those of you creating value simply for your numbers this quarter can exit stage left, you're not needed) if you do not have anything valuable to offer.
Maybe if we as marketers got a little more brave and told our clients when they didn't have a product worth marketing, it might raise the bar of the goods we were brought. Better yet, I want to get inside people's businesses and help them create products and services worth talking about.
Do that and you can dole out the marketing budget into the product team's Christmas bonuses. Smiles all around then.
