Marketing Problem? It's What You're Saying and Not Saying.

The vast majority of brands and the people who run them, have a big problems these days. Their marketing efforts aren't having the impact needed to grow the business.

Their audiences are increasingly difficult to find and it doesn't seem like people are paying attention when an ad actually sneaks through and finds them.

There are two things brands must change immediately if they expect to attract engage and inspire the right audiences to act.

# 1 - What You're Saying and How You're Saying It.

You're trying to deliver features and benefits to consumers through advertising, traditional and/or digital and it just doesn't carry the load anymore. You believe smart people make purely logical purchase decisions and that they can't wait to watch your next ad. They do not and they are not.

Today, people care as much about what a company stands for as they do about what it sells. People, including your employees, want to know your company has a soul. They want to understand and align with your brand purpose, your strengths, values and beliefs. When they do, they will be far more likely to take a chance on you and stick with you even if you make a mistake or two. Share this more emotional information with them and watch customers turn loyal and even become brand evangelists.

Do fewer ads. Spend less on media and convert that budget to develop narratives that tell your real story. People clearly don't want ads - How many ads did you fast-forward through last night? - but they will always lean in to hear every world of a well-told story.

One last bit of advice; find creative talent capable of engaging and inspiring audiences to action. We offer a global creative network of talent with deep category experience and a wide range of skills. They are capable of building and growing audiences, not just interrupting them.

#2 - Change What You're Not Saying

Stop focusing on a number, thinking it will inspire people and start effectively driving the emotional bond people want and need. Your audiences, both internal and external, want to understand what you stand for before they will ever give you their loyalty.

Commit your organization to helping your audiences find their personal successes. If you do it well, your financial success will surpass any target you might set.

Dig deep and figure our why your company exists and why the right audiences should care today and why they will still care 10, 20 and 50-years from now. Then find relevant, interesting and useful stories to share that brand purpose with them.

Start with your employees.

Commit, from now on, to hiring only people who buy in to your brand purpose and share your values and beliefs. You may have to train them on their jobs a bit, but they will live your brand with passion and stay with long term. Over time, weed out those who don't.

Challenge your leadership to replace any internal competition - department vs department in battles over budget, influence, praise and rewards - with a spirit of cooperation in pursuit of company goals. Competition creates friction that drags you down and, frankly, allowing it is jnot "good management," it's ust being lazy.

Change is Simple; not Easy

I've spoken to many CEOs over the years and no matter how much evidence mounts, they remain convinced that defining who they are, why their companies exist and who, specifically, should care, will actually cost them business.

These are the "grinders,"

They believe their success will only come from hitting the phones harder every day, getting face-to-face with more prospects and "making sales happen." They stand proudly and firmly on the belief they can do it all and some sale should happen with every meeting.

Nar8iv is not for these guys.

Ask yourself a simple question: Who is more likely to go with you and stay with you; employees and customers alike, people who believe in our purpose and align with our strengths, values and beliefs? Or people who do not.

Once they know you exist and understand why, the right group will search you out, be easier to sell and even overlook the occasional hiccup; sticking with you for the long term.

Now ask yourself the business impact of having a strong and growing base of like-minded employees and customers who willingly evangelize your brand every day. All while you're aggressively living your passion.

You Can Get There

Aligning employees and all important external audiences with your brand purpose is easier than you think but changing aspects of how you operate and take some effort. It may not happen overnight but with some planning and dedication, it will happen.

The questions are:

Can you realize your full potential without having every employee on the same page, working together towards a shared goal?

Will you have greater success converting your best prospects if they seek you out and would love to work with you rather than any competitor?

Will people watch and listen to your brand narratives if they find real value in them; see them as relevant, interesting and useful in helping them find the right products/services, for them?

Last Thought

Using some new bit of technology to deliver an old advertising solution is a losing proposition. There is no tech-driven "silver bullet" that will deliver the desired result over time.

A better idea is to take a hard look at what you're doing and decide how much of your full potential you can achieve doing this this way. Then we eliminate what's holding you back and start telling the right story to the right people and watch out!