Devoted to branding and building and protecting brands

I blogged the other day on a topic that makes me crazy: go-to-market planning, or lack thereof, on the part of some otherwise very smart, disciplined entrepreneurs.   The mortality rate of new products, and incipient ventures, as any venture capitalist worth his (or her) Blackberry will tell you, is ridiculously high.  Some will even tell you why.  It’s not necessarily the fault of the product.  It’s often because the go-to-market strategy and execution sucked.  The due diligence was not done.  There was no clue as to who would write the first check to actually buy the new product, where that person was located, what would motivate him to part with his money in the first place and why the “big deal” assumptions on the part of the product’s conceivers was so misguided.  And misinformed.  My old Apple colleague Guy Kawasaki of garage.com has written a couple books (several times) on this topic.  My compatriots at The Chasm Group charge premium fees to preach to about it. 

 Many entrepreneurs have come to into this shop with brilliant product ideas and a good understanding of the problem their product solves.  Going to market, however, is a daunting task that calls for investment of time and other resources in highly targeted, innovative and efficient marketing initiatives. You can't get there any other way.

Step one:  Creation of your brand – your promise.  Hint: it 's not about the logo, it’s about what your product is going to do for those people who you want to raise their hands and shout, “I gotta have it!”   So, what’s in it for them?  What is it about these customers, and your product, that will combine to inspire the raised hands?  How much difference does your new thing represent compared to what the customer’s old thing is doing for him?  Think of your brand as what your new thing is promising.  Then think of it as the collection of promises you'll need to make and then consistently keep. Those promises are the things your customers will need to remember, especially if larger competitors get into the market once they see the traction you’re getting.  Count on it, they’ll come after you. So, “branding” doesn’t just suggest that you see everything through the eyes of your target, it demands that you see through the target’s eyes, stand in his loafers, and know precisely how he describes and feels the problem you profess to solve for him.  Now that you’re in the customer’s world, the “buying” environment, what are the messages the customer needs to get to inspire a trial?  What motivates this guy?  What is it about your new thing that is “motivational”?

Your go-to-market portion of your marketing plan but one chapter of the “commercial” portion of your overall business plan. It should distill — and serve as the blueprint for — what you need to do to get customers to buy your new thing now and from now on.  Remember that your competitive environment won’t be “lonely” very long if you’re successful.