05 Oct Getting marketing and brand to work together

A well-defined brand is actually going to help you with your marketing.

Topic – Brand YOU

Mentor – Rob Ward

• A brand is what you stand for
• The consistent experience
• Try the McMuffin test

Transcript:

Kevin:   This week, we are talking about brand, building a brand with Rob Ward from Di Jones. Rob, this morning I’d like to talk about marketing and the brand, how they should work together. I’m not wanting to put answers into your mouth, but a well-defined brand is actually going to help you with your marketing. Is that right?

Rob:   Yeah, definitely. I think marketing is how do we actually express our brand and where do we express it, whereas brand is what do we actually stand for. I guess first of all, if you think about your brand and you understand what you stand for and who you’re trying to attract, it very clearly tells you then where you need to be expressing and where you’re actually needing to advertise and how you should be doing it, what the ads should look like, what sort of hook you’re trying to put in there, who you’re actually trying to attract. So, I think understanding your brand, yes, absolutely makes it a lot easier to understand how your marketing should work.

Kevin:   So, what does your marketing say about Di Jones?

Rob:   Well, having just gone through a rebrand, it’s sophisticated, it’s boutique, it’s very clean and fresh and modern. We get a lot of feedback that they love the blue and white. They love how fresh it is. They love how consistent it is and it stands out. That’s been shown that the brand in the last two years has gone into three new marketplaces where it hadn’t been before. Those offices have now come into market-leading positions and attracting clients, and the right clients, too, Kevin. We talked about that yesterday, about attracting the right clients who believe in the same values as you do.

Kevin:   The marketing of the brand could actually open some doors inasmuch as when someone calls in a Di Jones agent, they know exactly what they’re going to get. That’s the value of good branding, isn’t it?

Rob:   Absolutely. We talked about that the other day, the consistent experience. I say again, consistency builds trust. When you get the consistency right, then people are happy to engage with you because they know what they’re going to get. Probably the brand that does this, the best brand in the world at this is McDonald’s. If you went into a McDonald’s, and interesting, we actually ran this exercise last week. We ordered 30 bacon and egg McMuffins for the team. I deliberately ordered 10 without bacon, 10 without egg, and 10 didn’t even have the muffin. I just handed them out and let them eat them and said, “How was that? How did you enjoy your breakfast?”

Rob:   Some of them came back, “Oh, mine didn’t have egg. Mine didn’t have bacon.” Of course, that was the feedback. I said, “Well, this is a lesson in consistency. Your expectation for the McDonald’s brand is that it should be delivered quickly, efficiently, and it should be a consistent experience.” In this case, it wasn’t. It’s like receiving 5 nuggets when you wanted 6. I think as a company, we need to make sure we’re always delivering a consistent experience and realising our brand promise.

Kevin:   It comes back to knowing your product too, doesn’t it? I mean, when you go to have a bacon and egg McMuffin, as an example, you expect it to have bacon and egg, which is what you’re demonstrating here.

Rob:   Absolutely right. I think in the real estate sector, if you go through your open houses, are they all consistent in your team? If you list a house with one vendor and the vendor then goes and visits the other open homes in your area, do they look the same? Is it the same experience? Wouldn’t it be an awful thing if they actually went to visit someone else on the team and they had a better experience than the agent they listed with, and how would that make them feel, whereas if they go and have that consistent experience, it gives them confidence in the brand that they’ve made the right decision and it allows them confidence to refer you to their friends.

Kevin:   Rob, it’s been fantastic talking to you this week. Thank you so much. Congratulations on your work with Di Jones. I can tell that you’re enjoying it from our conversations both in these segments and off air, as well, but congratulations. Thank you for giving me so much of your valuable time this week. We really appreciate it. Thank you.

Rob:   Thanks Kevin. It’s been my absolute pleasure.