It’s Not About You or Your Competitive Advantage

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Last week I went for dinner with a great friend. Her name is Rachael. Our time always leads to memorable discussions and near the end of our evening I learned why. My young, old-sole friend understands the true essence of the Internet.

On Rachael’s Twitter she follows not just the hobbies and what she is involved with – photography, our town’s history, her local network – but also people, organizations and topics of which she has nothing to do with. She reads stories from parents who have adopted a baby from Asia, the riddle and rhyme mobile and web developers sling back and forth, and the ongoing ‘drama’ of a woman who runs an animal shelter no where near here.

That’s the beauty of the Internet – sharing information, understanding perspectives, reading points of view. My friend really has the world in her palm (through her Iphone 4S) noting complete stranger’s 140 characters, hearts poured over multiple blog entries or snapshots posted to remember someone’s moment that they never want to forget.

I challenge you to elevate your education by simply reading, researching or following a group that you have no relation…Oil painting, car racing, tap dancing, the government of some far off country… the list goes on and on.. just like the Internet.

I applaud my Rachael for not thinking that Four Square or Instagram is her ‘competitive advantage.’ She is quenching her thirst for understanding what is going on, on this crazy planet. Her handle is rcpope on Twitter. She is brillant!

The Shht about Shht People Say

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The ‘flavour of the week’ online has been “Sh*t people say”, a meme poking fun of a variety of subcultures and customers. It stems from the Web’s, Sh*t Girls Say – a video, which was begun by a few of comics in Toronto.

In only hours, Whistler produced its own video, Sh*t Skiers Say followed by LuLu Lemon’s Sh*t Yogies Say. While there is a fine line to getting it right, or to getting it completely wrong, comments under any of these videos may have some feeling offended or laughing out loud.

These memes are to poke fun and speak sarcasm. When Toyota lightly mocked their customers last year in TV commercials, Bob Zeinstra, US manager of Toyota’s advertising and strategic planning, quoted in the Globe and Mail yesterday said, “It did great things… , show[s] we’re a contemporary, energetic, progressive company. We’re not afraid to have some fun.”

What I love is the speeeed to which these companies moved. Look at how quick they were to hop on this bandwagon. While these memes will likely be old next week, customers or customers-to-be are able to recognize that Whistler and LuLu Lemon lead, not follow. My favourite is, Sh*t Nobody Says.

For those companies still unsure what local event sponsorship will do, questioning the ROI on Facebook or thinking that your blog is new and newsworthy, a reminder that social media is the NOW media. Ya better be quick and to only follow your clientele on Twitter.

Branding 101

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Epic, fusion, new economy, I [noun]’…  The past decade have throw around buzz words including “branding.”  We hear all this talk about personal branding, branding, build your brand, be a transparent brand. Doing a Google search brought back “About 16,900,000 results (0.21 seconds).”  What?

Many resources on this topic suggest in building your brand by being different – have an edge, think differently, be visible. One brand strategist suggest to “Extract, Express, Exude; 1-2-3- Success!” The lengthy paragraph that followed I was still unclear of what this was about. Another site suggests to follow [some of these] steps to brand yourself:
Differentiate yourself from others in similar fields Position yourself clearly in the minds of others Focus your message and your missionProject credibility

Mumbo jumbo. It boils down to what others think, it’s their perception that builds your brand. Do as you say, follow through, call people back, say thank you, be yourself.  Building a brand takes time.  Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon said it best, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”