{"id":31337,"date":"2009-12-28T06:34:05","date_gmt":"2009-12-28T06:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/blog\/?p=31337"},"modified":"2009-12-28T01:50:51","modified_gmt":"2009-12-28T01:50:51","slug":"2010-branding-challenge-dont-let-them-say-so-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/2010-branding-challenge-dont-let-them-say-so-what\/","title":{"rendered":"2010 Branding Challenge &#8211; Don&#8217;t Let Them Say &#8216;So What&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first decade of the 21st century is coming to a close, so I thought it would be a good time to think about, I mean really think about, your brand message, image, promise and positioning as we begin 2010.\u00a0 To do so, consider the brand kiss of death.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s the brand kiss of death?\u00a0 Simple &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><em>When a brand name is mentioned, the common consumer reaction is to think, &#8220;so what?&#8221;\u00a0 And asking &#8220;so what?&#8221; about your brand, is the brand kiss of death.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In other words, you never want anyone to think, &#8220;so what&#8221; after they hear your brand name or any kind of messaging related to your brand.\u00a0 Your goal for 2010 should be this: make sure that your brand image, message, promise and position is <em>so<\/em> clear<em> <\/em>that no one ever has to ask &#8220;so what?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s take a step back and consider <em>why<\/em> people ask &#8220;so what&#8221; after hearing about a brand, product, etc.\u00a0 It&#8217;s actually very simple.\u00a0 People want to know &#8220;What&#8217;s In It For Me?&#8221; (WIIFM) if they take out their hard-earned money and choose your brand, product, etc.<\/p>\n<p>I talk about the WIIFM concept a lot in my book about copywriting, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Kick-ass-Copywriting-Easy-Steps-Entrepreneur\/dp\/159918253X\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1261964546&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 In short, the concept tells us that no one cares about you.\u00a0 They care about what your brand, product, service, etc. can do for them.\u00a0 They want to know how it make their lives easier or help them.\u00a0 If they don&#8217;t know what&#8217;s in it for them if they choose your brand or product, then they&#8217;ll ask &#8220;so what?&#8221; when they hear about it.<\/p>\n<p>And that&#8217;s what you <em>don&#8217;t<\/em> want to happen.<\/p>\n<p>So I challenge you in 2010 to create a strategic goal in 2010 to ensure no one asks &#8220;so what&#8221; about your brand before the year is out.\u00a0 Do you think you can do it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first decade of the 21st century is coming to a close, so I thought it would be a good time to think about, I mean really think about, your brand message, image, promise and positioning as we begin 2010.\u00a0 To do so, consider the brand kiss of death. What&#8217;s the brand kiss of death?\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[6086,6101,103,104,191,105,100,96,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-31337","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-brand","7":"tag-2010-branding","8":"tag-brand-challenge","9":"tag-brand-image","10":"tag-brand-message","11":"tag-brand-position","12":"tag-brand-promise","13":"tag-brand-strategy","14":"tag-branding","15":"tag-corporate-branding","16":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2010 Branding Challenge - Don&#039;t Let Them Say &#039;So What&#039;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"you never want anyone to think, &quot;so what&quot; after they hear your brand name\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/2010-branding-challenge-dont-let-them-say-so-what\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2010 Branding Challenge - Don&#039;t Let Them Say &#039;So What&#039;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"you never want anyone to think, &quot;so what&quot; after they hear your brand name\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/2010-branding-challenge-dont-let-them-say-so-what\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Corporate Eye\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/susangunelius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-28T06:34:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/blog\/images\/logo.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Susan Gunelius\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@susangunelius\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lucynixon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Susan Gunelius\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/2010-branding-challenge-dont-let-them-say-so-what\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/2010-branding-challenge-dont-let-them-say-so-what\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Susan Gunelius\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/a46ee0d1e91b41488959551cef624759\"},\"headline\":\"2010 Branding Challenge &#8211; 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