Author Archive

What’s your Story?

Thursday, April 29th, 2010 by Deb DeFreeuw

I just finished an amazing book.  It really made me think. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life, by Donald Miller. It was about the author working with two men, Ben and Steve, who wanted
to make a movie of Miller’s life.  It was during the discussions of his “real life” he discovered their desire to edit it into what makes a good story. They wanted his life to have punch and meaning. As Don worked with Ben and Steve he came to realize his life was boring. In the course of creating the fictional Don for the movie, he was creating the person he wanted to be, someone worth telling a story about.

Don ended up biking across the US, hiking the Inca trail and searching for and finding the father he had never met. Don made a conscious decision to create a better story from the life he was living. The basic structure for a good story has a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it. He took a look at what he wanted and then went for it!

This book made me think of my own life. While I have some pretty cool chapters in my story — travel, learning how to sail, driving a race car, going 139 mph in a jet boat, owning a business and being with my grandfather when he died. I
look at my life now. What am I NOT doing? What scares me? How have I let obligations and expectations neglect my story? It’s not about making things up to talk about, or doing things because they “sound” good, heck you
don’t have to hike the Inca trail unless you want to… but we should always strive to consciously live an enriched, authentic life.

I think it works the same way with business. The CEO needs to be mindful of the story that is being told about their company. That story changes over time, so being aware of your story, or brand, and what it is saying about your business is critical. There is a great line in the book, “…a story is based on what people think is important, so when we live a story, we are telling people what we think is important.” Your brand tells the story of what your company thinks is important. Is that service, innovation, philanthropy?  Take a look at your brand story, is it reflecting who you are? Have you lost sight of what’s important, what makes your company distinct?

We can help. With two Certified Brand Strategists on staff, we can help your company look inward and review your story. Maybe the brand story that’s being told should change, to reflect the direction the company is taking… Give us a call-and let us help tell your story.

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The Bean Brand

Thursday, March 11th, 2010 by Deb DeFreeuw

L.L. Bean is taking a leap into new territory! They are creating a brand extension called L.L. Bean Signature. The new line is a collection for men and women with updated styles and cuts. One of their new offerings is called the “Plain Weave Signature Suit,” and sells for just over $200.00. I have looked at the video preview on their website and I can’t wait to see the whole line when it rolls out on March 15th! The clothes are still “outdoorsy” in a way, they still utilize plaid, denim and twill, but they look closer in design to Ralph Lauren than the traditional, more conservative L.L. Bean.

I went to the L.L. Bean website to look around and compare the new line to their current line. I also found a video on YouTube with the story of how L.L. Bean started, with the Bean Boot. Employees were featured and talked about how much they love working at L.L. Bean and how they are committed to quality. When they see a box in a store with a number on it that they recognize from shipping, they take pride in knowing they packed that box. L.L. Bean is doing everything right; they are living their brand from the inside out. Their employees believe in the product they manufacture and sell, they are brand ambassadors.

Because L.L. Bean has such strong core brand equity, the new L.L. Bean Signature line will be expected to live up to that standard offering high quality clothes at a reasonable price and great customer service. I am certain that is exactly what they will offer!

L.L. Bean has already proved they have brand “extendibility.” Everything from backpacks, furniture for indoors and out, canoes and even branded a line of Subaru cars has sported the L.L. Bean name. Obviously consumers have a strong association to the brand name and trust that it will offer what it claims.

The heart and soul of L.L. Bean lives on, that is brand. Here at Force 5 we specialize in helping companies reconnect or discover their “soul” and then bring everything into alignment with what makes them distinct. That message of distinction is then conveyed both internally and externally. If you are ready to discover your soul, let us know – we’re ready to put on our Bean boots and dig in!!

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Buying Friends on Facebook

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 by Deb DeFreeuw

-Deb DeFreeuw, Certified Brand Strategist, Force 5

The title of this article seems to have mutually exclusive terms – “Buying” and “Friends”

An article in Advertising Age September 4, 2009 reported on a company offering to sell you friends for your  Facebook and Twitter Account.  Amazing!

The Brisbane-based firm, USocial, offered this week to sell Facebook users 1,000 friends for 177 dollars and 5,000 friends — the limit imposed by Facebook on a standard profile account — for 654 dollars.

Facebook “fan” pages have no limits and USocial said it could supply 1,000 Facebook fans for 177 dollars and 10,000 fans for 1,167 dollars.

On its website, USocial said “the simple fact is that with a large following on Facebook, you have an instant and targeted group of people you can contact and promote whatever it is you want to promote.”

USocial chief executive Leon Hill, in a statement promoting his service, said “Facebook is an extremely effective marketing tool as anyone with a large number of targeted friends or fans can attest to.

Supposedly, these are “targeted” lists—having the demographic, income, interests, etc. that your are looking for.  USocial says each fan can generate at least $1 of sales per month.  USocial is clearly labeling Facebook and Twitter as another marketing and advertising channel.

The first thing that pops into my head is “Ok, so you have purchased these followers, do they really care about you? Heck, they don’t even know you!”

Kind of getting away from the “social” aspect don’t you think?  Can social media sites be marketing and advertising sites? To be sure.  Many bands and other organizations use facebook to promote, but……

The purpose of social media is to develop relationships. Authenticity is key here. Tactics like buying fans these dilute that authenticity. To me it is the same as paying a blogger to give you a great review. Social media for business is part of your brand.  At Force 5 , we encourage our clients to participate in social media, but do it authentically and for the right reasons.

“Buying” friends and followers might look good as far as pure numbers, but does it add value? No. Your pseudo followers will likely not take notice and listen to what you have to say. It is like paying the most popular kid in high school to be your friend—their heart is just not in it.

The same company that has friends and followers for sale also sells votes on Digg and Yahoo Buzz. This ruins the intention of the sites. Votes affect page placement, they should be earned, not bought!  Social media is about the collective attitude or opinion, start throwing money into it for people to “have” a specific opinion, you lose the value.

Be careful out there.  Social media is important, can help you connect, and hear from your customers.  But don’t make it another e-commerce channel—or the benefit will be lost.

My advice, make a plan, build your list of friends and followers, listen, stay in touch, be authentic. Social media will pay off.  Buying friends—I don’t think so.

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