The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

This is the third of four episodes related to brands and storytelling. The best way to make your brand’s story memorable is to relate it to your audience. What is challenging in this is that, in a continually changing world, any of the following may be true: ● Your audience’s tastes change over time. ● You are appealing to multiple audiences, often with different values. ● Your company is going through transformation whether through acquisitions or changes in the market. ● Your products or services are evolving over time. With all of the changes, different focus areas, and competing or conflicting tastes, you have your work cut out for you. Fortunately, by focusing on the essence of what makes your brand unique you can cut through the clutter and find a way to relate to your audiences. You may be able to filter your brand’s values through a slightly different lens for each audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the second of four episodes related to brands and storytelling. It’s time to stop thinking in the broadcast mode of marketing. Simply saying something isn’t enough. Claiming to be the best, the fastest, or the friendliest means nothing without proof, and the proof isn’t just statistics, but meaningful interactions that build relationships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the first of four episodes related to brands and storytelling. Think about the last time a friend or colleague told you about a brand or product they like. Chances are, one of the things that stood out was something they learned while reading about the product, reading its history, or maybe even using the product. People like to share something new or unexpected about brands they love with their friends, family and colleagues. Giving them something they can use to teach others motivates them to embrace and remember the information. In the act of teaching someone else, they also build greater affinity for your brand or product. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 5 of how to create an agile brand. To create a holistic customer experience, it’s important to use those channels as a means of two-way communication, rather than to deliver one-way messaging directed at consumers. Instead, engage in a dialogue with your customers, and even if you’re not actively communicating with them, listen to what they have to say. As I’ve often told potential and current clients who were reluctant to fully engage or participate in social media, people are talking about you whether you are present on the platform or not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 4 of how to create an agile brand. We need to stop thinking only in terms of the individual channels we reach customers through. Instead, we have to think of our customers in terms of their overall experience with our brand. As noted, customers are becoming more and more “device agnostic” and you could even say they are “channel agnostic” as well. Whether they choose to visit a store, or shop on their phone, text, tweet or even make a good old-fashioned phone call depends on many external factors brands can’t anticipate. To combat this, we must make our communications, marketing, commerce and customer service agile and channel-agnostic as well. This is what creates a great customer experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 3 of how to create an agile brand. It’s also not enough to just be adaptive. Without culture and processes for easy collaboration both internally and with external partners, being truly agile will not be possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every day, threat actors are working to penetrate your organization’s perimeter and access unauthorized, sensitive and confidential information. No organization is immune. Early detection is critical. Identity is at the core of security. Organizations that can seamlessly manage and maintain user access to business information and data will not only decrease the likelihood of a breach—and the financial, reputation and brand equity threats that accompany compromised data—but they will also eliminate service disruption, establishing a competitive advantage over their less-protected peers. In this episode of The Agile World, brought to you by TEKsystems, we discuss the critical importance of an identity access management (IAM) program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 2 of how to create an agile brand. When thinking about evolution versus revolution, you need to know when to take which approach for your own brand. You may need to take each of these tacks at different times. Generally speaking, you don’t want to continually take a revolutionary approach because you run the risk of alienating loyal customers. They may follow you through one reinvention, but too drastic change too often may not inspire the loyalty which is also critical to a successful brand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 1 of how to create an agile brand. While it seems that it’s only in the age of technology that everyone complains about being too busy and things moving too quickly, this isn’t the case. As early as 500 BC, Heraclitus said: “the only thing that is constant is change.” You need to find ways to take advantage of change and use it for your advantage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just as past generations had their own unique relationship to brands, this dynamic will continue to evolve over time. Let’s take a look at a few aspects of branding as they relate to the generations which will shape our economy and society over the decades to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices