The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

This special episode is generously brought to you by TEKSystems. Every organization has a not-so-secret weapon: data. It’s incredibly valuable information generated from every aspect of the enterprise, including research and development, sales and marketing, supply chain and customer service. Every activity in every facet of the business provides data. And it goes well beyond the organization’s four walls. For organizations planning to stick around, harnessing the power of data is a business imperative because of the opportunity it holds: competitive differentiation. Unfortunately, many struggle to use data to their advantage. In this episode of The Agile World, we discuss how organizations can set themselves up for success with data. Join Jennifer Kling and Ram Palaniappan of TEKsystems for this special episode. Thanks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Having discussed what agile is and means, let’s talk more specifically about the current state of branding, and what I’ve defined as the Agile Brand. Agility is built on principles of sprints and optimization discussed in the previous chapter, and on the fundamentals of branding. There are five key things agile brands do which sets them apart: 1. Have an open dialogue with customers. 2. Tell stories that are genuine. 3. Use data to drive deeper insights and greater growth. 4. Think holistically about the customer experience. 5. Stay nimble by always listening. 6. Let go in order to have deeper relationships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Building on the last episode that discussed agile methodology, this episode explores agile marketing in greater depth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Although this topic could take up an entire podcast on its own, this episode briefly discusses what agile methodology is, and how it applies to marketing and branding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fourth and current stage of the evolution of brands. As more and more brands have adopted the experience approach, it has become clearer that a one-off moment in time is not enough to cement brand loyalty. This takes us to the current stage in the evolution of brands: brand as relationship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The third stage in the evolution of brands. With increased competition, and consumer preference for more tailored products and services, brands were forced to differentiate themselves beyond occupying an idea. They needed to insert themselves into key life moments and become part of our experience. Apple’s brand experience extends all the way from the initial sale (either in one of its branded stores or its online presence), through the packaging you open to first use your product, through the ease of setup, through usage of the product every day. And if you have problems, you can go to the Apple Store to ask questions. In more recent times, brands have used experience to cut through the clutter of marketing and advertising, which creates deeper engagement with customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second stage in the evolution of brands. With increasing competition from mass production, mass advertising, and mass media in general, the need for brands to be more than an object came along. At this point, it wasn’t enough to simply have a logo that was recognizable and a product that was available in stores. Brands now needed to compete for mindshare. As consumers and marketers have grown more sophisticated, it is not enough to simply be known. Companies and products must stake out a claim on an area of the popular imagination and exist as an “idea.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first stage in the evolution of brands. Our use of logos to represent companies, organizations, or individuals is based on a long history that originates with the very beginning of written communication. The moment we used a drawing, an image, a symbol to represent something else, we’ve been essentially branding things. From cave paintings to hieroglyphics, to the first logo representing a company, we’ve been using graphic representations to give meaning to ideas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I discuss how I first fell in love with the concept of branding, at a rather young age, and through my appreciation for cars. Auto branding taught me hierarchy, positioning, and many more things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In order for a brand to be strong, it must remain relevant or find a way to be culturally relevant in the moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This special episode is generously brought to you by TEKSystems. After decades of struggling to fully understand consumers, they now hold the key to complete enlightenment: customer data. Armed with smartphones, tablets and laptops, many consumers relinquish their personal data so that brands can provide them with unique, personalized experiences. Many brands have already figured out the digital customer experience. They brilliantly convert consumer insight into content and stylized offers that fit customers’ needs, in real time. But their success didn’t come after waving a magic wand. They first figured out how to make sense of all their customer data by aligning their processes with technology. This foundational work included putting the right people in charge, forming customer personas, creating relevant KPIs and figuring out which content management system and other technologies best integrate with all of that. Join TEKsystems Managing Director of Digital Solutions Burk Buechler for this special episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Our audience is everyone.” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that sentence after asking a marketer or executive, I’d be a very rich man. Instead, in order for a brand to be successful, it must focus its efforts on defining its ideal audiences, even if it ultimately wants to appeal to a broad set of potential customers. I use Apple as an example of this. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For a brand to be strong and have lasting success, it must have substance. We can describe substance in two ways: 1) an ideology which is clearly articulated in the way an organization conducts business and communicates with its audiences, and 2) a genuine experience for the brand’s audiences that builds a memorable and meaningful relationship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When branding is done well, it differentiates your organization in a way that targets the right audiences and drives the right customers to your brand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A good brand allows potential customers, employees, and other audiences to understand what they should expect before they make a purchase. When done well, this combination of messaging and visuals helps create a better customer experience by setting the right expectations from the start. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Successful brands can create their own intrinsic value to an organization. In this episode, we discuss how the value created by a brand creates many internal and external opportunities beyond marketing benefits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While it may seem obvious, setting your brand apart from the competition is often easier said than done. Successful brands think beyond purely aesthetic or surface differentiation and find ways to meaningfully occupy an idea in their consumer's minds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone are the days of "set it and forget it" with your brand. Instead, you need to embrace a continually evolving landscape where your customers, employees and competitors are continually in motion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Successful brands understand that customers have unlimited choices, and a two-way relationship keeps you top of mind with consumers. This is not far-fetched or unrealistic when brands approach it by solving real challenges that their clients have, and positioning themselves in a way to solve those challenges better than their competitors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Jeff Bezos famously said, "your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room." While much effort is spent on logos, brand guidelines, and messaging structures, if your brand doesn't resonate with your audiences, they will write their own version for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you create a vocabulary that people inside and outside your organization will want to adopt and use to talk about you? If you create it well, it will be something that employees are able to easily use, and something that is meaningful to your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices