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\bu're
great
at
developingbrands
for
your clients.
But
howeffective
is
your
own?
A
business expert
shares
the
questionsand
criteria
you'll
need
to
hone
youridealpositioning.
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You're
standing
in
the
elevator
u'ith
a prospective
client
n.ho
turns toyou
and
sa,vs,
"l'r,eheard
of
,vouglrys.'I'e11
me
about
your
agenc\r" Here's
vour
chance to
describervhat
mahes
vour
firm
interesting,compelling
anddifferenr.
Instead,u,hat comes
from
your
lips
is
something
1ike,
"\A1e'rea
full-sen'ice
integrated mar-
keting communications
lirm
sen'ing
a
u'ide varietv
of clients."
.\lrs.
1ou'r
e
just
missed
rn
opportunitl.
It's
been
said
that the
secret
to
being
elected
president
isto
be able
toanswer
the
question,
"\A/hy
do
,vou
\vant
to
be president?"
It's
sulplising
hon
many presidential
nominees
can't provide
a
succinct,
memorable
alns\\'er to
that simplc
question. Political consultants
say
candidates necd a good
ansrver
to that
question
in
a
30-second
sound
bite,
a
flve-minute
stump
speech
and
a
30-minutedinner
address.
The principal of
a creative-seruices
firm
shouldbeable
to
do
the
same
u'hen
it
comes
to
ansrvering
the question,"Why
should
rve
consider rvorking
rvithvourIlrm?"
Unless vou'r'emade
the
effort
to
define
your
agency's
position
in
the
mar-
ket
and
to
describe
it
in
interesting,
engaging language,)'ou'relikel.v
to
miss
one
opportunityafter
another.Here'sanother$'av
to look
at
it:
Can
1's1
describe
vour
agencv
positioning
ina sentence,
in
a
paragraph and
in
a
page?
You'll need
a
version
in
each
length
touse
in
applications
like
your
r.r'ebsite,
your online brochure and vour
Jistings
in
agenclr
directories.
&{{;tr3;\tQ Wi'i&r Y*Li'Re
'{,S?
{any creative-agency professlonals
believe
everlthing
ir-r
the
universe
can
be
branded
e\cept
one
thing:
their
ou
n
age
ncies.
Ther
preach .lilferentia-tion
but
behave
like
commodities. They're
so eager
to
convince
clients
thev're
"fu11-service"
that
the.v
try to
stand
for
everything.
But
standing
fbr
evervthingis
the
same
as
standing
for
nothing.
Its
easy
to
define
rvhat
vou
are.
The
hard part
is
defining
r,vhat
vou
are
not.That's because agencies
\vant to be universally
liked
and
appealing
to
everyone.
But the
nature
of
positioning
is
sacrifice.
The
goal
of
defininga strong
agenc.v
brand isn't to
appeal
to
a
larger
numberof clients, but
fe'"i,er.
Imagine
the
credibilityproblem
of
a
restaurant
claiming
to
specialize in
French and
N'lexican
and.Brazllian
food.
Ad
agencies
are
no
different.
An
agencv
that puts
everything on
its menu might
as
rvell
have
no
menu
at all.
.
DECEMBER
2OO8
q*l
$i*
sxY*x n
Aw&Rss,
€$$
]ust
bccause others
have
heard
of vour
llrm
doesn't
nean
youhavc
a
brand.
Namc
alr,areness
and
brand
equitv are onlyindirectly
related.
A
lot
of
us
have
heard
of
agencv names
but
r.r'e
har.e
no
idea rvhothev
are, r'r'hat the.v
dooru,hat
they
standfor. These
agen-
cies
hare
name.r\\areneqs
hut
nn
brandequilr.Branding puts
meat
onthe
bones
of
simple
arvare-
ness.
Once
a
prospective
clientknons
the ansner
to
the question,"Who
are
those
guvs?"
the
next
question
he has is,
"What
are
those
gu,vs
all
about?"
Just
like
an,v
otherproduct category clients
like
tobuy
brands,
not
oeneric rrrnr]rrctsb--'-_'- r'----_""
13;$f*Vf
Rtr*Q YEUR
$Rt?tr'lt)
You
don't
de{lne
yourbrand
as
much
as
vou
discover
it.
It's alreadvrhere,
deep
insidethe company's soul,in
the
formof
natural
strengths
and
core competencies.As
a
starting
point,
consider
n'hat
has
made
vourfirm
successful up to
this point. Consider
these questions:
o
What hind
of
clients
have
vou been most
success-
ful in
attracting?
o
\\jhat
tl'pes
of
assignments
har.e
you
completedover
the
Vears?
r
In
n'hat
areas
do
vou
have
superiorknonledge
orerpertise?
.
\\'hat
dol
ou
do
palticularlvn'ell,
perhaps
betterthan
most
agencies?
r
What
do
voumost
enjo,v
doing?
What
do
you
hate?
r
\Vhat
target audiences
harre
,vou
come
to
knorvandunderstand?
I
As
a result
of
,vour
erperience
rrith
the
clients
vou'r.eserved,rvhat
distribution
channels dovouknorv
best?
.
\A/hatmethods, approachesor
philosophies
is the
firm
knolr'n
for?
Y?
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A*www.HowDEstqN.coN4
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