If you’ve been following
the “Your Brand On A Desert Island” themed series we’ve been sharing
over the past few weeks, then you’ll be able to get into mental castaway
mode as fast as cracking a coconut (which actually probably takes a
long time but roll with me here) and in the perfect frame of mind to try out this fun ten minute brand exercise, Brand Message In A Bottle.
Through
history and popular culture there have been different purposes for
composing, curling and corking a handwritten message and sending it out
to sea. It can be a desperate attempt at discovery and rescue or just an
unrequited sentiment directed to some unknown soul and sent out into
the universe with really no hope of reply. Yikes, it’s actually quite
bittersweet when you think about it. No wonder notorious softie,
Nicholas Sparks, took the idea and ran with it.
When it comes
down to it, the point of this particularly romanticized (if not exactly
efficient) form of communication is not the long shot that someone will
actually find the message, read it and act upon it. The point is the act
itself, of writing down what you want, putting it out there, and
basically making your intent known to the only person that is guaranteed
to “get the message” – yourself.
Okay, getting a little Laws of Attraction here, so let’s get back to that fun ten minute brand exercise I mentioned.
Your Message In A Bottle: Dream Customer
The
idea is to picture your perfect customer. It’s sort of a no-brainer
when you think about doing this, but then you realize you haven’t
actually done it. What’s even better is writing down who this customer
is. And we don’t just mean an ordinary customer but a raving fan, like I
Dream of Jeannie (you know, ‘cause of the bottle) – a total loyalist.
But
the point is not that it’s a message to them. It’s a message to
yourself. It help keeps them in your mind, so you remember who you are
branding to. So to help you easily compose your message, you can try this fill-in-the blank format:
1. My dream customer values ______________ but really loves ____________________.
2. A stress they have might is _____________________________.
3. But a happy milestone in their life right now might be ___________________.
4. They often trust others who ____________________________________.
5. But what really makes them a loyal fan is _________________________.
6. Something that might happily surprise them about my business is _____________________________.
7. Some other favorite brands of theirs are _________ and ________________.
8. My brand should make them feel ________________________________.
You
don’t have to actually have a bottle for this, but it does make for a
nice reminder if you decide to keep your message or use it again to
stash future notes or goals, if that sort of thing floats your boat – or
bottle.
A multiple-person version of this Dream Customer
exercise could involve a real bottle (and no, it’s not Spin The Bottle,
although that could very well be the title of the next nostalgic Spark’s
novel) but it’s just filling out the same form independently in a group
setting, placing it in the bottle, and then each person takes turns
pulling out a “message” and comparing notes (differences and
similarities) about who you perceive to be your dream customer.
Got another ten minutes? Try one of our other “Your Brand On a Desert Island” exercises:
