Brand Bloodlines | Be The Best

<p> </p> <p> </p> Podcast: Brand Bloodlines | Be The Best <p>"A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn a reputation by trying to do hard things well."</p> <p>                                                                                                     Jeff Bezos</p> <p>Perception becomes a reality, but this reality must be carefully crafted, honed, and managed each day as a true, authentic brand. Challenging, yes, but this is why there are so few premium brands in our world.</p> <p>By design, to be a brand, you must BE a brand. Being a brand means living a lifestyle representative of what you want your Brand to stand for in the real world. I often quote Ralph Lauren, but his statement is true; "We are NOT selling a product; we ARE selling a Lifestyle." What an enlightening quote that should be shared by all who hope to become a brand at one point.</p> <p>So these Bloodlines that are the makeup, the DNA of premium brands go well beyond product and must be injected into all aspects of the Brand. You can not be a great, premium brand with a superior product but horrible customer service. The result is an awful experience for your loyal customer and is a clear disconnect to becoming a premium brand. The Bloodlines of an excellent brand stretch into all aspects of your company; operations, finance, customer service, marketing, product, and sales.</p> <p>A great analogy is Lamborghini, the ultimate car brand that has finely crafted its premium positioning, and everyone knows it, even those who have not purchased their machines. However, as powerful and beautiful as they are, they do not realize the ultimate performance their cars can produce if they are not finely tuned. The experience does not match the messaging, which would be an apparent disconnect.</p> <p>Be the Best! Good, better, or best, your choice, but if your goal is to be premium, you must commit to being the Best in everything you do. Not just product, but everything! This is a challenge most companies are not committed t