In highly competitive markets, it’s important for marketers to develop their company’s reputation as a provider of truly outstanding services and products.
But in the absence of proprietary revolutionary technology, how can a company come to be known as a standout?
Here’s how:
Encourage sales and service staff to be bold and really go out of their way to find and service clients (E.g., by doing random favors for customers and prospects)
Be irreverent, funny or otherwise charming in your marketing communications (E.g. how about creating an online cartoon or comic strip featuring the major buyers in your industry. That’s sure to get their attention)
Hire insanely smart people: this means Mensa level
Mesmerize and delight with design. For a product company that means designing ultra attractive goods; for service firms, it might mean a website and advertising that look truly beautiful (check out this great example from the Royal Canadian Mint at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x960bJWeXiE); for a retail store it might mean designing exceptionally attractive uniforms and storefronts
All of these strategies give your company something worth talking about. The next step in building a reputation for greatness is to then promote your standout features with equally intense energy. This will build buzz.
For example, seed the Internet with *thousands* of key words like “the most amazing customer service” and “the best XYZ I’ve ever seen” that lead back to descriptions and video of the outstanding things that your company does. You might be surprised how many people often do search for these terms.
So, with few exceptions, don’t be vanilla about how you run and market your company. In an increasingly cluttered marketplace, that can soon be fatal.