Brand

The Inevitable Scarcity Effect

Garth Beyer

If you think the scarcity effect doesn’t play a role with your product or service, you’re wrong.

If there are two cookies left in the break room, we’re unconsciously motivated to desire one even if we didn’t want a cookie to begin with. Have you ever heard someone say “I had a sweat today and I’m not even sweet-tooth kind of person.” Scarcity played them.

If only five people in your organization could try a new product out – one you wouldn’t normally use – you would still sign up to try it out.

There is a shortage of grapefruit La Croix in the office today and all the sudden it’s my favorite flavor La Croix. Damn scarcity effect.

People don’t have a choice but to be victim to the scarcity effect. Are you leveraging it?

 

Stay Positive & Make Your Product/Service Scarce In Small Ways

Your Success Story

Your Success Story

Garth Beyer

Storytelling Your Success Story

It doesn’t need to be how you starved for years before people bought some of your art.

It doesn’t need to be how you read thousands and thousands of books as a child before you realized you were a writer.

It doesn’t need to be who your family is connected to.

You know these stories because of their popularity. They were once rare, which made them famous stories at the time. Now a starving artist is expected, writers are expected to read a lot, and if you have a lot of money, people first wonder who you’re related to, not how you did it.

These don’t make for good stories anymore, so why try replicating them?

By all means, learn from the already-accomplished, have idols, imitate morning habits if you want to, but make your success story your own.

 

Stay Positive & Tell A Story No One Has Told Before

Photo credit

To Know What You Stand For

Garth Beyer

I shouldn’t have to search through your website to find your big idea, your brand essence, your mainstay. Creating a linchpin brand comes from saying no to enough little ideas so all anyone can see is the big idea. Zappos gave up a lot to stand up for service. Apple let a lot of things go so they could focus on design.

 

Stay Positive & What Do You Let Go Of?

Will They Know

Garth Beyer

If you never spend a dime on native advertising, will they know what you offer?

If you never spend a dime on designing the perfect newsletter, Facebook advertising or any other marketing strategy, will people know about you and what your brand stands up for.

Perfect marketing is about the essentials, and the essentials is not to have an account on every social media platform, but to be uplifting, to do at least one thing for one person a day (free of charge), to be remarkable – that is, to be doing things that people can’t help but talk about.

The essentials don’t require a pocket full of dimes, they only require that you care.

 

Stay Positive & If You Care, They Will Know

The Brand Formula

Garth Beyer

Seth Godin said a brand is the product of two things: prediction of what to expect times the emotional power of that expectation.

Where does the emotional power come from? That too is the product of two things: the relief in getting what you expect times the joy of getting more than you expected.

Earning trust isn’t about meeting expectations. More importantly, it’s not about lowering expectations so you can exceed them upon delivery. No. The good stuff, the brand, the trust; all of that comes from setting high expectations to begin with, but always finding a new way to surpass them.

Johnny Cupcakes, yet again, is my go-to. You get everything you expect (high quality content and packing), and inside the box I find something I didn’t expect, something goofy and special, something that brings me joy.

Relief and joy, two seemingly opposites actually make a perfect duo.

 

Stay Positive & Branding Is Making Bold Promises, But Always Over Delivering

What’s The Character’s Name

Garth Beyer

I wrote a 50,000 word novel for National Novel Writing Month. I didn’t think of a name for the main character when I was writing it. Oddly enough, I did name every other character in the book. Any time my main character’s name was supposed to come up while writing, I typed “[insert name here].”

I did it because I didn’t know what to name my character. Halfway through my novel, I laughed at the idea that the way I’ve been writing “[insert name here]” implies that the reader of the novel is the main character.

All said and 50,000 words done, I had to insert a name. I went with Alexander Preston. There’s no definitive reason behind it. Summed up, “Alexander Preston” is something common and something uncommon. Want to know how much time I spent picking out the name? 2 seconds.

I thought of one stupid name and then I thought of Alexander Preston. I can’t believe how many hours some writers spend thinking of a name. Better yet, I can’t believe how many days businesses spend thinking of one.

Here’s what most miss:

The name of the main character doesn’t make the book. The name of the business doesn’t make the business. Branding isn’t about throwing out A and then B, C and D happen.

It’s about making B, C and D happen in a way that people attribute it to A.

To all the writers and folks determined to create one startup after another that read my blog. Don’t waste time like others have. You can come up with a great name in an hour.

And if you don’t know how, I’ll be writing about it tomorrow (or tonight if I have time).

 

Stay Positive & [Seriously, Just Insert A Name Already]

Why The Digital Age Is Creating A Stronger Sense Of Community

Garth Beyer

Getting things for free feels so good. Getting things for free when you know you shouldn’t – that feels even better.

268419143_4a818d378a_z

Everything that this digital age is producing – whether it be ads, shifts in cultural norms, or tangible products – the result is the same: a stronger sense of community.

(unrelated to digital age) You go to your favorite local coffee shop and since you bought one Turtle Mocha, you get a second one to go for free. Compare this to going to a local coffee shop and buying one Turtle Mocha, but when you pick it up, the barista gives you a second one to go “on the house.”

(related to the digital age) You get one month of Netflix free, after that one month you have to pay. Compare this to getting one month of Netflix free, and after that one month, you get the username and password of your girlfriends’ parents account.

In the coffee shop scenario, getting something free when you shouldn’t have established a connection between you and the barista (effectively the coffee shop too). In the Netflix scenario, you’ve reaffirmed the connection between you and your girlfriends’ parents (obviously a win-win).

This effect is one of the single most important reasons why I love advertising in the digital age. No matter the success or failure of ads, they always leave a stronger sense of community.

Either you buy into the brand and become part of that brands community (coffee deal drinkers or addicted Netflix supporters) or you find a way to get something free when normally you shouldn’t – be it through pre-existing connections (step-brother, in-laws, etc,) or through making new connections (class mates, coworkers, etc,).

The end result is the same: stronger sense of community.

 

Stay Positive & There’s A Reason It’s Called The Connection Economy

Garth E. Beyer

Photo credit

Here’s a bonus read. Enjoy.