1. Cognitive (Think):
IT WORKED FOR THEM, LET’S DO IT.
Cues (Signal): YOU ARE NOT THEM.
In the land of branding, marketing and social media - it’s easy to watch what
others are doing and to think, “IF they did it, we can do it.’ The only
problem with this thinking is that ‘YOU ARE NOT THEM.’ That’s a huge
issue and one that is often ignored.
In my years of being in business, I can’t even count how many times I’ve
heard, “Let’s do what they’re doing” and months later, VP’s and Sales
managers are scratching their heads with pink slips and low to no bonus -
not understanding ‘What went wrong.’ It’s fairly simple. YOU ARE NOT
THEM.
YOU need to do what is right for YOU. Not be a copycat. You need to
consider your operations, geography, functional issues, budgets, profit
model and do what is right for YOU. That means YOU must think. And, if
you don’thave the time or the staff to think internally, hire those thinkers
externally.
Now you might think - but we have no money, no budget. So let’s do what
they are doing. This isn’t the right thinking because in the end - the mistakes
will costand these mistakes might be difficult to fix. It’s always better to be
YOU vs. THEM. Take pride in who you are - find your unique market
position - and stand apart from the crowd. And, remember - IF you try to be
like THEM - they are in controland as they change - you will always be the
follower, never the leader. I guess if you only want to follow, if you only
want to play second fiddle - the ‘IT WORKED FOR THEM, LET’S DO IT’
strategy is OK, but I would never take that approach. Not ever. I would want
to own my own destiny and be in control of my brand. The choice is yours.
Make it a good one because marketing change is a difficult and a costly
thing to do under the best circumstances.

2. Find me on Twitter @milguy23