We are seeing the breaking down of the barriers between internal and external customers, the decision makers and people behind the products and their customers. In my personal experience, having the CEO of a company I am considering purchasing from personally contacting me, really has a big influence on my confidence in the product and my loyalty towards the brand.

The most interesting example came to me today when I found an bug on Guy Kawasaki’s site Alltop. I thought it was rather weird so tweeted it and in less than 5 minutes I got a response from Guy.

Now for those that don’t know, Guy is a famous author and a marketing superstar that was an integral part of the Macintosh marketing team at Apple in 1980s and written many best sellers on marketing and entrepreneurship. He is one of the more prominent (and infamous) users on twitter and follows and is followed by over 119,000 people.

Quite recently he was criticised by many for disclosing that he did not manage the twitter account himself and bloggers across the world criticised him for losing the ‘personal touch’.

With this in mind, without directing it towards him I sent out a message and I was surprised with his response

There is something special about company and a brand that prioritises listening to his customers to the extent of addressing the concerns of a single customer.

I have had great experiences from several senior execs that are clearly passionate and proactive in representing their brand. Marcel LeBrun from Radian6, Mike McDerment from Freshbooks and Mark Ruddock from Viigo, have gone out of their way to cater to the customers behind the product and as a result have earned both a loyal customer and a brand advocate (I frequently have people asking if I work for Radian6 or Freshbooks).

The key thing to learn here is that the value in social media is often not in the ability to push but rather to listen.

Yes we can push information to thousands but the greatest value is found in the ability to identify individual voices. Not only to find them but to engage, converse and build a relationships on a one-to-one basis no matter how large or tall the organisational tree is.

People that win at at social media leverage one-to-one relationship building on a larger scale. Technology enables the CEO to speak to his customers as if he is the guy at the counter of your local hardware store and find that irate customer and turn them around.

In a world where technology can make your organisation as nimble as the family owned corner store, how human is your brand?

Successful brands don’t sell products – they sell solutions.

A strong product does not equate a strong brand nor a sustainable business.

Icons such as Apple, Virgin and 3M have built their brand not with a single product but in building a brand experience that resonates louder that the specifications of any particular product..

How does the Virgin shift from music to mobile to airlines, three completely different industries, and still thrive?

Do we buy an iPod or iPhone because they are a superior mp3 player or a phone, or because it is an Apple?

If we look at the products they offer, on paper, many if not most, of their competitors offer a very similar if not technically superior product.

Apple started off selling Macintosh computers and Virgin started off as a mail order record company. How on earth did they manage to grow those very same brands into powerhouse products in both the airline, personal media player and smart phone industries?

The answer is that from the onset these brands were founded not on product but on the brand,culture of the customer experience, customer service and dedication to provide value to each and every client.

When building sustainable brands or corporate culture, the nuances and specifications of the product are secondary to the value and ethos of the brand that is invested in each product.

People buy Apple products whether it be a Macbook, iPod, iPhone because they know that it will be well designed, intuitive, innovative and all aspects of the customer service and user experience strikes out and attempts to be different.

Often when you buy an iPod or Macbook you will often pay more for a piece of equipment with the same if not lower specifications. What you are buying is the brand, in expectation of the passion through design that you have come to expect from the Apple brand and any product they approach.

So what does this mean for us, where few of us have storied brands such as Apple and all we have is a product?

Forget the product!
…and consider what is the solution that you provide to customers.

If you are selling shoes or clothes: do you clothe people with sizes that fit or do you help them look beautiful and bring out their individual flair.

If you are a barber, do you cut peoples hair or do you help people express themselves through your creative skill.

If you are a newspaper do you sell advertising or do you spread knowledge and truth to the people.

If you are a marketing agency, do you buy advertising or do you come up with solutions to help brands connect with people who need their product.

If the only facet of your brand is the product you stand the risk of becoming obsolete when the technology changes, you will be cornered into a specific product category or market segment or you will be nickeled and dimed against your competitors when it comes down to closing the deal.

If you are a building a brand – whether it be personal or a startup, don’t only focus on positioning yourself as the most technically superior or even the cheapest – simply provide solutions that deliver the best solutions and results for all of your customers.

Trends, demands and needs constantly shift and change but consistently delivering value to your clients is the only sustainable marketing strategy.

kazamatsuri