Fly the Plane.

If we could offer one piece of advice to busy C-level execs in corporations these days, it would be this: remember to look up from the controls to see where you're flying the plane. Yes, attention needs to be paid to making sales next quarter. Heck, attention needs to be paid to making sales THIS quarter. But putting all your attention on logistics and not enough on vision can be, well, deadly.

There are a few tell-tale signs of a company that is off-course and doesn't know it. For example, if the positioning strategy of your company is to "sell x and y," your vision to "be a leader", your mission to "meet and exceed the needs of our customer" and your values to "be great" at what you do — you're not only off-course, you're flying almost blind. The critical brand building blocks of positioning and reassurance statement, unique selling proposition, value proposition, mission and the ever-important tagline have to be highly differentiated, specific and strategic sales statements that help you, your staff, and your customers understand who you are, what you offer, and why it's relevant to the consumer of your product or service.

Articulating a brand.

Common mistake #1: Branding language should not be an attempt to magnify what you do — to try to make it sound like more than it is. Branding language should pinpoint your message, not expand it.

                             — by Chris Quinn

Common mistake #2: Articulating branding language should not be an "afterthought marketing strategy." It should be real language that expresses true things about your company and its products or services. Even if the claims you make are not true now, make them and then work to infuse them into the operations of your company until they are true. That's how companies evolve. They realize what they could be doing better, set out to change it, declare it changed, and then work to live up to it. As long as the customer experiences the benefit, it's a win-win.

Common mistake #3: Thinking that change can be eased into. It just can't. Change has to be embarked on with bravery and a bit of drama. Making small, safe changes are like changing a plane's altitude — no one other than the pilot even notices the change. What's the point?

Marketing a brand.

Once you've articulated your branding language effectively, and you've re-posed your business proposition or product benefits more precisely and less broadly (no covering all bases, no hedging), commit to it in your website and marketing materials. Declare your territory bravely. If you've done it right, sales will become easier to get. Customers will make decisions faster. Existing business will lead naturally to future business. Isn't that the whole idea?
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