It all comes down to one thing. There’s no sense making excuses or blaming others. Here’s his story. Born in the Bronx to Jamaican parents. He did not attend West Point or go to an Ivey League School. He was a man of colour. (aka black) His superiors in the army said they were interested in only one thing. Performance. And boy did he deliver. 35 years in Army – 4 star General – Secretary of State. Performance fuh so!
And that’s what customers ask of brands. They want performance. Sometimes performance is physical like the speed and reliability of Fedex. Sometimes it’s grounded in mystique and image, the kind that leads people to refuse any other scotch that’s not initialed JWB. It really all boils down to performance. Sometime it’s in the style of delivery. Sauce Doubles elevates the server (like a high stage) so that the wrapping process is a performance in itself and this complements their sauce.
In the ad agency business, every agency brand I know is defining performance as speed; because we think that’s what customers want. Our customers don’t want speed, they want campaigns that connect their brands better to their customers.
What do your customers want from your brand’s performance? Speed? Personalized attention? Snob appeal? Rebelliousness? Figure that out and give them like the General did. He didn’t worry about becoming a leader. He just performed.
