Buffalo, Bunnies And Branding -- An Entrepreneur's Guide To Getting Noticed In A Noisy Marketplace!

3 am last night, a herd of buffalo had a party on my backyard deck. You shoulda heard ‘em, banging around, having a grand ol’ time. Well, I can’t swear it was buffalo. Coulda been cats. Probably that menacing monster feline I’ve seen stalking the neighborhood recently, him and 75 of his closest junk yard friends. Or maybe they were raccoons. Our outdoor light was busted so the identity of our trespassers remains a mystery.

Today, I’m out with my friend, Ruthie, as she puts 10,000 steps on her new pedometer. I’m telling her about the escapades of the mysterious revelers, when all of a sudden, I interrupt myself and squawk “Ew! Gross!” indicating a freshly deceased member of the mouse family. Road Kill. Or more accurately Sidewalk Squish. “Poor little mousey,” says Ruthie.

“Poor little mousey?” That’s when it hit me. It’s all about branding.

The biggest thrill of my day up here in suburbia, land of minivans and maxi mortgages, is catching a glimpse of a cotton tailed bunny rabbit hopping across the lawn. Frolicking you might say. Once I even saw two of ‘em. I was ready to invite them in for tea and carrots. They were cute as—well—bunnies. And that’s the whole point. Bunnies have a great brand. Nobody shrieks and jumps onto a chair at the sight of a bunny. Peter Cottontail, The Easter Bunny, Bugs, The Velveteen Rabbit, Thumper… always the good guy, right?

One of these guys has been chowing down on the beautiful flower garden my kid planted for my birthday. I’ve even got witnesses. But it’s hard to stay mad at a bunny. The only rabbit I’ve ever had the urge to take a sledgehammer to is that damn Energizer Bunny, but everybody knows he’s not 100% genuine rabbit.

Weasels, raccoons, rats—they suck at PR. But even they’ve got a strong brand. Maybe not as consumer friendly (me, I’d have pest control in there before you could say “I’m voting you off the island”), but a brand nonetheless. In business, it may be better to be a bunny than a rat but let me tell you, you’re better off being a rat or a weasel than having no brand at all. In fact, sometimes the rats and weasels have bigger fan-bases. (Shock jock radio anyone?)

Your brand is your audience’s perception of you. Most entrepreneurs have no brand at all. They’re invisible, lost in a sea of similar businesses, indistinct in a cluttered marketplace. Their prospects don’t have any perception about them, not positive, not negative—‘cause they don’t even know they exist.

How can you become visible in an overcrowded marketplace?

Here are 5 Tips, straight from the rabbit’s mouth:

1.Create Characters in Your Business. I’m talkin’ Colonel Sanders, Ronald MacDonald, Orville Redenbacher, the Maytag Repairman, The Man from Glad, The Donald... four legged ones work well too, just ask the phone companies. Best if you can give ‘em a name, a look, a personality.

2.Have An Ideology, a philosophy for your business. Harley Davidson’s got “Owning a Harley-Davidson motorcycle isn't about having, it's about doing… experiencing the world with every sense.” Dove’s got “The Campaign for Real Beauty”. What’s yours? Find it.

3.Express Your Ideology in a short catchy tagline. Mine? “I bring color to business.”

4.Find Your Story and connect it to what you’re selling. Mine? “Litigation Lawyer Leaves Law for Limelight. Coaches Entrepreneurs to Follow Their Dreams.” Dig for your story. Why did you start your business? Who doesn’t love the story of Ray Kroc finding the McDonald boys when he was selling milkshake machines? Or Colonel Sanders starting his business with his social security check?

5.Promote and Publicize your story—get out there and tell it well.

Is it worth going to the trouble of telling the story of your business? It’s worth it. Just ask The Body Shop. Saturn. Ben & Jerry’s. Or better yet, ask the bunny. After all, he’s the guy that usually ends up with all the green stuff!

©Tsufit 2007

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