Blog Layout

Brand Positioning With The Urgency Of Jack Bauer

Dan Gershenson • Mar 07, 2014

The program for people who want to take a sledgehammer to inaction.

Sufferers from Marketing Meeting Fatigue can’t always spot the warning signs right away. That’s because MMF sets in after the 15th meeting about the position of the market you feel you can truly own better than anybody. You may have disagreements on your best attributes, your best audience to hear about those attributes and what you want to say when you’re actually in front of them offline or online. You debate over and over about what you believe clients believe about you, which then diverts into unfocused thinking, thanks to the new hipster intern who thinks you should be on Pinterest rather than addressing the real business problem at hand first.

I’ve seen it happen. I’ve experienced it. And it doesn’t have to be this hard or painful.

True, finding a brand’s positioning typically calls for a carefully crafted process over several weeks and meetings to transform insight into a crystal-clear path. Those options come in the form of my Brand Catapults and are a great option for a lot of companies. A deep dive over a 6-8 week period isn’t a big deal for them because they can’t imagine getting to a lot of clarity otherwise on their brand positioning, precise target audience, messaging, media recommendations and more. Whenever possible, I strongly recommend this as an option.

Yet, perhaps your headache in this area isn’t a tingling sensation but a full-on migraine. And that calls for something a lot more fast-acting and maximum strength.

No more meetings.
No more BS.
No more chasing trends because everyone else is.

That brings me to my “selly sell,” as Chris Brogan would call it.

In such unique cases, companies need a plan even sooner, attacking brand strategy with the full urgency of a Jack Bauer and delivering a direction for their brand now. And by now, I mean yesterday. And by yesterday, I mean three months ago.

I get it. And now I’ve developed the answer. It’s called a  Sledgehammer Session, supremely aggressive version of our robust process that dives into brand development for your company.

A Session That’s Full Speed Ahead.
In a customized session, my colleagues and I will meet with all the key players of your company to get a total understanding of your specific business goals and targets in relation to your branding, marketing, sales and social media efforts. Besides doing a fair amount of listening, I’ll also ask a variety of questions – some of them tougher than others – about your audience, your competitors, what you feel are your strengths, what you need to do better as a company, your budget and more.

Back In One Week.
In which we’ll return with a brand positioning and strategic recommendations based on what you want to achieve to improve your programs, audience and budget.

Sessions are four hours and you can purchase another block of four hours if needed.

Change doesn’t happen because of luck or some karma in the universe. It comes from taking a Sledgehammer to endless talking about a plan and getting the clarity you need on the right steps of your brand strategy right now.

Schedule your Sledgehammer Session with Caliber today at 773.677.6043 or dan@chicagobrander.com.

Dan's Chicago CMO Blog

By Dan Gershenson 22 Jul, 2022
Do a search for your name, your company name, your product or service names. Whatever you find on page one in the Google SERPs amounts to a significant collage of how your brand is seen in the wild today. See, it doesn’t matter if your best client tells their best friend you are the most […] The post Page One on Google Is Your New Business Card appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.
By Dan Gershenson 15 Jul, 2022
For local businesses, ranking your business in Google My Business (the Google maps 3-pack) can be the difference between thriving and merely surviving. All Google products evolve as they find ways to make search better and, let’s face it, make more money from that fact. There are a handful of factors that Google uses to […] The post Google My Business: The Key to Ranking Your Local Business appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.
By Dan Gershenson 08 Jul, 2022
Look, if you’re a local business, meaning most or all of your business comes from customers living in your community, you must get very serious about local SEO. Don’t worry, ranking locally for the kinds of things your prospects are looking for isn’t rocket science, but it does take a serious commitment to a handful […] The post The Local SEO Playbook – Your Guide to Local Rankings appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.
By Dan Gershenson 02 Jul, 2022
The conversation was going well. We felt like we were connecting at the same level. The prospect had gotten to know me and appeared to feel great about my understanding of his process, goals, etc. Then came the question. I’ve received it many times before. “Do you have any experience in our industry?” Years ago, […] The post “Do You Have Experience In Our Industry? No? Cool.” appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.
By Dan Gershenson 24 Jun, 2022
“The Client Is Always Right,” they say proudly. Nah. If the client is a soul-sucking, verbally abusive monster who makes you feel less than dirt, they’re not right. They’re Energy Vampires and you need to kill them. Not literally, of course. I mean fire them. Tell them to exit, stage left, out of your life […] The post Defeating The Energy Vampires appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.
By Dan Gershenson 17 Jun, 2022
First, watch this short video on “How To Hire A Marketing Consultant,” from John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing. We think it’ll share a great point of view on ten things you should be looking for in a marketing consultant so you can start your search off right.  To John’s points, we’d like to expand on […] The post Ready To Hire A Marketing Consultant? Here’s 10 Things To Look For. appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.
By Dan Gershenson 10 Jun, 2022
I recently came across a firm that claims supreme expertise in brand strategy, content, graphic design, web development, SEO, advertising, public relations, video and business operations. Oh really. Is that all? Some web development firms say they are also experts in SEO. Fair enough. But oh, by the way, they also do content and graphic […] The post Agencies Offering Too Many Side Dishes With The Meal appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.
By Dan Gershenson 03 Jun, 2022
Big or small, traditionally focused or digitally focused, only one kind of agency will be left standing in the future: The nimble one. There is a grim future for agencies that have a process that looks like so: Writer and designer team get Creative Brief. Writer and designer concept, concept, concept, concept, concept… Eureka! They […] The post The Future Favors The Nimble Agency appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.
By Dan Gershenson 27 May, 2022
There’s a popular excuse that many agencies make for themselves when it comes to developing their own brand that has to do with “the cobbler’s shoes” and basically how we’re all like a shoemaker who makes shoes for every customer except his own children. I should know. I used to make this excuse myself. But […] The post You’re Ignoring This Client The Most. appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.
By Dan Gershenson 30 May, 2017
There’s a Facebook community I was recently excited to join, led by one of of the people in our industry I truly respect. Within two weeks, I found I had to leave it. It wasn’t largely the group leader’s fault. It was the people who killed it from within. Why? The entire mission of the […] The post Carnival Barking and Rapid Fire Posting Chaos: Improving Online Communities From Within appeared first on Caliber Brand Strategy + Content Marketing.
More Posts
Share by: