TA #149: 👀 Can we align these two wildly different brands? [A live edit]

Boston, Sunday, November 5, 2023

Hi, Tator Tot.

"You have a bold and brave heart to wear these clothes," the tailor tells me.

She is crouched on the floor, pinning an extra fold of fabric around the inseam of these candy-pink pants I'm wearing. Nearby hangs the matching pink jacket and a second new suit: black with a riot of bright butterflies.

I watch her in the mirror. I debate how to respond.

I've had a sh*t week. (The asterisk is there because I don't want any scolding from those gatekeeping email filters who sprout halos of piousness at that word.)

This week had too many details. Too many deadlines. Too many plates spinning. A couple of them smashed on the floor, requiring a Costco-sized application of Super Glue. I'm mentally spinning them right now in my brain.

I don't know this tailor; I've never worked with her before. But there's something about her...

Let's weigh our choices, my brain says:

Option 1. Respond with Platitude? ("Thank you... mumble mumble... it's my... umm...brand.")

Option 2. Respond with Truth?

"Thank you," I say, out loud this time. On impulse, I choose Truth:

"To be honest I don't feel bold and brave right now," I tell her.

She stops pinning as she looks up at me, through the mirror. "Oh," she says. "I have something for that." She goes back to work.

Mental plates stop spinning. What did she mean by that?

* * *

Ten minutes later, as I'm leaving her shop, she pushes a brochure into my hands. "Also pick up clothes Friday," she says. "Open 11-5. Cash only. No cards."

Outside, I look at the brochure.

On one side is her tailoring business card, with a heavy old-school font and a sewing machine that looks like it ran screaming from the low-rez library of Windows 95 clip art. "Susan," the font reads.

The flip side of the brochure is partially in Korean. It's sales collateral for health and beauty supplements—herbs and serums and sprays and little bottles. Little wellness nips?

I suddenly remember something else Susan told me as I was leaving: "No annual fee." (Ah. Now I get it.)

Confusing, isn't it?

Two totally different businesses, working out of the same storefront.

* * *

That was a few weeks ago. Ironically, one of those spinning plates was a talk on brand positioning I was due to give in Vegas.

Brand positioning is often misunderstood. But in Vegas, I broke it down:

Brand positioning is the rich, warm place you thrive in that lets your customers see who you are. And how you're better than all the rest at delivering what they need right now.

It's not a logo.

It's not a tagline.

It's not only your value proposition. (Although that's part of it.)

Brand positioning signals why people should care about you. That care is what makes them think of you first—before all your competitors.

I like the Venn diagram Qualtrics offers to explain positioning—see below, adapted/edited by me.

I like it in part because I can't resist a good Venn.

And I like it because Qualtrics uses plain language in describing where to focus. (Not "inadvisable zone..." but "dumb zone.") Feels more honest and real, yeah?  

(Here's the original.)

Side comment: I used subscribers here because that was how the audience in Vegas describes whom they sell to. You can sub in customers or prospects or audience or community or early-stage funded B2B solution providers or tailors looking for a side hustle in Korean health and wellness products. Whatever works.

The brand positioning challenge for all of us is two-fold.

1. What position can we truly own?

 ▶️ What's our sweet spot?
 ▶️ What deep need do we meet?
 ▶️ How do we deliver on that better than everyone else?

Avoid areas where your competitors have expertise but you do not.

Avoid the area where you and your competitors suit up like gladiators and go head-to-head with an undifferentiated expertise. That's the dumb zone because it's a battlefield where your cudgel is likely Price.

2. How do we make the position we own motivating & memorable?

 ▶️ How do we tell a brand story that sticks in the brains of our customers?
 ▶️ How do we bring our expertise and ourselves to life so that our audience feels an emotional connection to us? I have a framework in the new edition of Everybody Writes.

* * *

Today, the plates have stopped spinning. (They're neatly stacked back in the cupboard.) But still I'm thinking about Susan.

Confusing, isn't it? Two totally different businesses, working out of the same storefront.

I'm not so sure anymore.

I think there's a way she can bring her two businesses closer together. Together we can help her with her brand positioning, to make it a little less haphazard. A little more intentional. And a lot more memorable.

The position Susan owns: She helps you look and feel good—inside and out.

How Susan can make it motivating & memorable: She helps you embrace the best version of yourself—the boldest version of you. Both inside and out.

Let's riff together on Susan's positioning:

"Look good, feel good... tailored to your needs."
"Custom solutions: Inside and out."
"Wellness nips and fashion tucks."

Okay, not the best. (LOL on the last one.) We need a whiteboard to really workshop this.

Here's the deal: The more I thought about Susan... the more I realized that she actually had a pretty strong brand position, if she chose to embrace it. I've never been to another tailor who made me think about anything other than what I was wearing. Have you?

I thought about her original comment: "You have a bold and brave heart."

She already was telling me what she believes—that clothes aren't just covering for our furless skin. They're a reflection of who we are.

"Nips and tuck for your bold and brave heart?"

Still workshopping. We'll get there. 😊

* * *

A tailor that sells supplements... a little weird.

Or maybe—weirdly genius. Because you know we need more weird.

DEPARTMENT OF SHENANIGANS

To-go order: One ergonomic aluminum laptop stand. With cheese.

EVENTS

📅 Nov 29: Webinar Days. I'm BACK for the 4th or 5th (?) year with my pals at TwentyThree to dig into trends in content marketing. Cost: $0.
 

📅 Dec 7: Content Summit with PlayPlay. I'll be talking about brand storytelling. Cost: Also $0.

* * *

Thanks for reading this far.

Thanks for your kindness and generosity.

Stay healthy.  

Breathe.

🫡 See you again on November 19.