What Kills Great Personal Brands ?
Just
how do brands lose the trust of consumers? In some cases brands may lose the
trust in a single instance while in other cases it takes a series of events
before consumers finally abandon your brand. Why do we still buy Sony Bravia
yet the company is almost going under, in debt amounting to billions? or how
does Apple manage to sell its millions of units of its products even before
launch? Closer home why do you always shave at the same Kinyozi? Why do we
drink in a squeezed bar yet the joint next door is empty? Or just what makes us
complain about Safaricom all the time yet we don't abandon the brand? In some
cases we were all told 'Ni Kuhama' and we did try but we later came back to
Safaricom. Coca-Cola is in no way different to Pepsi in terms of the product but
the world over the years has been inclined on “Opening Happiness” every time we
need Ice Cold refreshment. It’s got to do with one thing…We trust these brands!
They do mess up at times and we still forgive them because they move in quickly
to re-assure us that they are ‘doing something’ about their mistakes and we
stick there waiting for the next big thing from them, waiting for them to
correct their mistakes! Such trust is also demonstrated when dating, in
business and in life generally. People buy YOU. You are the brand; not so much
the company you represent, not so in the product you are selling but ultimately
people buy the person first; if they easy with dealing with you (Trust) then you can get business from
them.
You may
be asking probably why is trust such a great issue in your personal. You are
the CEO of the brand YOU, as a person your brand has values and stands for
something. This definitely affects how people interact with you and perceive
you. As a person you definitely do something for a living; from the mama mboga
to the big shots in the corporate; your personal brand matters in the success
of what you do.
On the
scale of brand liking at the most basic level people just LIKE your brand, at this level consumers or key target clients are
switchers, indifferent and show no loyalty. That means if you are selling
something people are not obliged to buying from you. Could be as simple as
being a mechanic, if your customers just like you they have no obligation to
come back next time they need something fixed.
The
next level is when guys get to RESPECT
your brand- At this level you become recognized among your peers & industry;
either because you have achieved a certain level of success in your career or
field. We all marvel at how Moi managed to rule us for 24 years or just how
Tabitha Karanja managed to face EABL head on in the beer market. At this level
if you are a consultant, lawyer or marketer by having people respect your brand
doesn’t mean much. Although at this level you may get a few business referrals
from past clients or friends it still isn’t the ultimate level in the scale.
At the
third level people fall in love with your brand and consider it a FRIEND. At this level your brand has
stood the test of time and has been consistent. You already have a good number
of happy customers who have become your brand ambassadors. At this level you
have already established yourself as the Go to Person in your area of
expertise. It’s an important milestone in personal branding because people want
to be associated with you, your opinion counts and business is booming however
if you mess up at this point your career dies!
At the
final level we have TRUST- When
people trust your brand then your customers aren’t sensitive to price increases
in terms of how much you charge, you’ll also spend lesser budgets in marketing
what you do. Your past happy customers turned brand ambassadors help you in
attracting new customers and increase your brand awareness. At this level you
are at the peak of the game and this too acts as a reassurance to new customers
that if they deal with you they are dealing with the BEST! If you are a trusted
brand in your industry then clients Like, Respect and consider the brand as
their Friend and this definitely gives you an edge over your competitors, gives
you time to respond to the fierce competition in the market.
After
working so hard and gaining the trust of the market just how do brands then
lose the trust again?
1. Greed- Where you are a dominant
player in the market or a household name in your industry there's always a
tendency to charge premium prices on your services or products. Well that's
cool however if you charge too much consumers start drifting to cheaper
alternatives which offer the same value for their money. Most of the times you
experience post purchase dissonance when you buy lunch at a famous outlet and
you didn’t enjoy the meal; it’s even worse because you paid so much for it!
When this happens the brand loses a customer because the consumer certainly
didn’t get the value for his money. As a person if you price your services so
high and clients realize you aren’t worth the hype & clout you attract then
they don’t come back to you! Greed is also demonstrated in times when
brokers/agents get nice business deals and decide to outsource the service by
paying the service provider peanuts. Well most small companies and consultants
have gone through this as they rise but what happens to the brokers? They never
get to grow because of this greed!
2. Corruption- While a certain level of corruption goes on
in every country, corruption in Kenya is a particularly large problem. The
average urban Kenyan has to pay 16 bribes a month to get his regular affairs
arranged. In the 1990s, he was part of the Goldenberg scandal, where smuggled
gold was exported out of Kenya in exchange for high government subsidies. It's
one of the largest corruption scandals to date in Kenya, which involved nearly
the entire Moi government. Many officials from the Central Bank, and more than
20 senior judges have also been implicated some of whom have been axed in the
ongoing judges vetting. CMC has also hit the deadlines recently and such cases
ruin the corporate identities of the people involved and the companies they
represent. So for you to keep the trust please don't engage in these
activities. Could be anything from the small kickbacks (Lunch) you ask for to
push something in the office.
3. Laziness- Once in a while when we
experience great success and money comes in we tend to relax and enjoy the
mullah first. It happens to artistes especially and hustlers who win huge
tenders or have big breaks in life. The reason why there are rags to riches to
rags again stories is because of laziness once the success comes! When you are
at the peak kindly keep working harder! Too much clubbing & golfing has
also killed careers especially to for people in mid thirties!
4. Low
quality & Poor delivery- At
the peak of your success business is doing well, if you are in the corporate
world your career is at its best. At this point most people then relax and
pride sets in! It begins with simple things like getting to the office late and
leaving early. Frequent leave requests for leisure and rest. What may seem
harmless at the beginning then makes one deliver projects late at work or
delegate work which shall be poorly done and submitted to clients. With time
people lose trust with you and if you are in business clients start migrating,
if you are working retrenchment may find you or the axe may fall on you during
that dreaded downsizing!
5. Lack of
consistency The best
brands are consistent with their brand promise and that shouldn’t be different
with your personal brand. If at any one point people don’t see consistency in
how you behave, deliver and how you handle projects then with time people lose
trust in your brand. Finally package yourself well (The clothes you wear) to
engage your market. This silently influences your audience because if people
notice a great change in the way you dress then you may lose a few
clients!!(Don’t get too flashy, be modest) Finally if you cannot stick to your
core values then your clients or colleagues will notice the changes! This has
killed many small businesses especially when their owners can’t handle the new
found success!
6. Brand
Affiliations & Associations- Great
brands always place themselves in platforms where other great brands go. Could
be sponsorships in form of events, conferences, shows and such. As a person
people can tell who you are from the places you hang out, people you hang out
with and what you do! Great brands have lost trust simply because they were
mentioned in a certain drug scandal, corruption allegations and such ills. In
as much as people rush to court to sue for defamation or clear their names from
such allegations remember the bad publicity is never taken away in the courts!
7. Time- Time is such an important
resource, most will say time is money but time is actually more valuable than
money. You can make more money but no one can create more time. We all have 24
hours in a day, what matters is what you do in these 24 hours a day that sets
you apart. Makes a few people so rich and others poorer. Well how does this affect your brand? If you
promise to handle something in a day and respond, do it. If you promise a
client to fix something in a week, do it in that time frame. If you have a 10
am appointment with someone please be there 5 minutes earlier, if you foresee
you will be late kindly communicate in advance. If you promise to pay your
creditors next week kindly do so however if you think you can’t honour the agreement
kindly let the other party know. If you can’t keep time you tend to look disorganized,
bogus and unprofessional so kindly manage this resource well.
In what other ways have great personal brands
lost trust? Please share that with me on twitter @Kenyanmarketer
This is a good analysis. Keep up the good work. You have serious potential!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Ian for the nice & kind words. Am hoping we'll cross paths soon.I appreciate your time on my blog. May God bless you.
Deletecomprehensive article Ian,people don't actually buy your product,they buy you thus its important to Brand the YOU effectively. thank for that article
ReplyDelete