What makes you pay attention? Which advertisements resonate with you? If you interacted more with a brand, would it feel more like YOURS?
NPR’s OnPoint with Tom Ashbrook spoke with Robert Greenberg, the man who, among other things, brought you the ability to change the colors and designs on a 20-story tall shoe in Times Square by sending it a text message, and shoe stores that offered personal fitness trainers while sneaking in some accessorizing.
Microsoft recently successfully played the hype game with their new Origami project, while oddly, Apple kind of botched it with their recent lackluster announcement about a goofy white boombox and the not-so-feature-rich Intel Mac Mini. It’s getting harder and harder to know what will work with people and what won’t.
Banner ads don’t work. Text ads *seem* to work. TV commercials don’t work often, except when we sit there explicitly to watch them (Superbowl in the US). Product placement is frowned upon, and yet, we are living product placement.
I think what grabs MY attention or makes ME happy is when I can make an experience mine. I like when I stumble across something that I like, interact with it, and then share with others what I liked about it. Word of mouth advertising is still the best game in town. You want to get me gabbing about your thing? IMMERSE me in it. Give it to me. Let me do something with it and decide.
When someone announces to you or your company that you’re a fan, do you just smile politely? Do you acknowledge it and go back to your day job?
Not if you’re smart.
If you’re smart, even if you’re not in the marketing department, you’d be best served to EMPOWER that appreciation. Do something to enhance it. Send the person some stickers, or give them a free something branded. Whatever. Post them prominently on your website’s page for a day. Who cares? Just give that fan a full blown EXPERIENCE with your brand.
**EDIT: Seth Godin’s thinking about it, too. Funny timing.
I promise you that it will launch more value into the buzz around your product or company than any dollars spent on Flash animation or celebrity endorsements.
Do the opposite? Plenty of people can tell you about what happens then.

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Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media has a great post at his site entitled Brands as Standing Waves. In it, he talks about the fact that copyright might not be nearly as important in the coming years as Trademark. If you read his post, you’ll get the full effect of that statement, but here’s my precis:
Your brand name (your company, YOU) is the conduit through which content flows. Some of your content lives on its own, but it is also largely leveraged against your brand. Thus, you get the countless, “If you like Stephen King, you’ll love _____” type comparisons out there.
The Brands You Trust
First, think about the brands that you trust and love. Are there any? I have a few, in no particular order.
Apple. Firefly (Joss Whedon’s Series). Amazon. Saturn. Seth Godin. Tom Peters. Wacom. Olympus Cameras. Old Navy clothes. Berol markers. Moleskine books.
See how I’m naming brands and not their products. Sure, I love the iPod, but I also have an iMac, and plan to buy a Mac Mini by fall. That’s the gist of this.
YOUR Brand As-Is
If your company were going to look at the sum of you, what would they be saying about your brand. Are you the boss? Are they saying, “I know when ___’s on the job, our missions will be reached.” Are you part of a team? What message is being conveyed by your brand.
Brand Consistency
Are there “product lines” in your brand that are confusing people? Do you do X-Y-Z good thing, and then 1-2-3 other things that people just keep wondering why you’re doing it? (I’m probably guilty of this for mixing my digital illustrations with my self-improvement stuff. I certainly lost my original readership of fitness friends when I stopped writing daily about running and exercising).
People hate change. I can tell you that. Look at EVERY food product redesign and you’ll see: “New Look. Same Great Taste!” Every single one. Know why? Because people want you to stay a one-trick pony. Oh, but they also want you to stay fresh, change it up, and move with the times. Easy. Right?
Sell The Experience, Not The Product
What can you add to the mix that will stay consistent with what you’re trying to tell the world about you? How can you go beyond creating “products” and help others use what you do/make/say/are to improve THEIR experience? Because here’s the secret of all the brands I mentioned above:
It’s all about me.
Why do I love Apple? Because I like what I do with it. Why do I watch Firefly? Because it makes me happy. It’s all about memememememe.
Look at yourself, at the “brand” you’re providing to the people around you (at work, at home, at your organization of choice). What can you do to make it about THEM. (Your turn comes later).
Branding Bullets