Welcome to part four of our Brand Like a Rock Star five part series about “Why Your Marketing Doesn’t Work”. If you missed any earlier entries, you can find them here (Part One), here (Part Two), and here (Part Three).

Here’s the cold, hard truth: you are too close to your product or brand, and it is hurting your marketing efforts.

Could The Beatles have done this on their own?  Not a chance. They were too close to their own sound to see the bigger picture. Every artist needs an objective producer because every artist is too close to their own product. The same holds true in business, branding, and marketing. That’s why outside branding advice is so vital.

In business, having so much knowledge of your own product makes you, the business owner, entirely unqualified to see your brand objectively! It is impossible for you to see your brand the way your customers see it.

Rock star brands work with objective experts to help them see their product from the consumer’s point-of-view. They realize that they cannot possibly read the label when they are inside the bottle. Objective outsiders can help them understand how real people see, use, interact with, and experience their brand. That view point makes for extremely effective advertising.

Every great athlete has a coach who looks at his game from a different perspective. The coach is never nearly as good the athlete, but they have a point of view that it is impossible for the athlete himself to have.

PS – part of the inspiration for this series comes from Roy H. Williams piece “12 Causes of Advertising Failure”, which is included in his book “The Wizard of Ads: Turning Words Into Magic and Dreamers Into Millionaires”. Smart people read Roy’s stuff.

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Last summer I sent the manuscript for the book Brand Like A Rock Star to various agents and publishers, and was rewarded with a nearly-equal number of rejection letters.

Fortunately, one publishing company expressed interest. I met with them in the fall.

When I sent them my book in the summer, I felt that it was an almost-finished product. I figured a little editing would help, but the book was essentially done. They didn’t feel the same way. They liked what I wrote, but they figured it was more of an e-book at that point. They felt it needed a lot of additional content to qualify as a “real” book and they suggested some angles I could take. Somewhat reluctantly, I took their advice and sat down to work on a project that I had mentally already put away. Over the next few months, I amazed myself and more than doubled the word count with solid content. No filler! It turns out that their advice was right!

A few weeks ago I sent them the revised manuscript for Brand Like A Rock Star. This time, I was certain, the book was done. Complete. Fini. Yesterday they sent me their thoughts. Apparently I was wrong. I’m not quite done yet. While they seem to be thrilled with the progress I’ve made, they’ve suggested additional changes that I didn’t expect.

The cool thing this time around is that my mind is open. I’ve seen the difference their third-party input can make on a project that I’m very close to.  This time around, I’m actually very excited to work on the changes they are suggesting.

That’s the benefit of a second set of eyes, or ears, on a project.  When you are very close to something, like your own business or brand, you sometimes get too close to it. You start to lose sight of what your project looks like in the bigger world, seeing only what it means to you and your world.

That’s why The Beatles had George Martin.

That’s the difference Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno made on The Joshua Tree.

It is what Jimmy Miller did for Exile On Main Street, Goat’s Head Soup, and Sticky Fingers.

It is how Ahmet Ertegun influenced Led Zeppelin, Crobsy Stills Nash and Young, Percy Sledge, and Otis Redding… among many, many others.

Are you willing to take a few steps back, and let a fresh set of eyes look at your brand?

Rock stars have producers, sound engineers, and guitar techs. Rock star brands have consultants, advisors, and confidants.

Who is your brand’s George Martin?

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They had been in the studio for hours and hours recording, and desperately needed a break.  One of the boys in the band went out for some beer.  Meanwhile, some friends of the band came by the studio.  Gradually, the recording session gave way to a party.  The songs got crazier and crazier. The drummer pounded on an ash tray instead of a drum kit.  Everyone in the room joined in the singing, even if they didn’t know the words. The singer raised his voice above the incessant talking and laughing around him, until he could resist no more and gave in to the laughter himself.  The final product became a #2 hit in December of 1965.

“Barbara Ann” remains one of the Beach Boys most endearing songs, 45 years after the studio party ended.

Beatles songs like “Taxman” and “The Long And Winding Road” are only two of many songs to feature stray guitar notes, drumming mistakes, and various unusual microphone noises.  The Beatles were famous for their mistakes, outtakes, and experiments gone wrong.

One of the things I love about rock ‘n roll is that it is at it’s best when it is imperfect.

Even in the days of four-track analog recording, George Martin and Brian Wilson had the ability to create audio perfection.  They did it over and over again.  No doubt that most of these mistakes were intentionally left in.

There was a point, only a few years ago, where having a solid brand meant covering up every wart and imperfection.  But today’s brands need to connect in a more authentic way, and some wise brands have caught on to this trend.

Canadian cough medicine Buckley’s knows this.  Their product doesn’t taste very good (to say the least), but it has a track record of working very well.  Instead of coming up with a new better tasting formula, they were wise enough not to fight the obvious (bad taste).  Instead, they flaunt it.  Their slogan is “It tastes awful, but it works”.

Marmite is another product that, to most palates, tastes awful.  True, it is loved by many, especially in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.  But to the vast majority, Marmite is a horrible tasting product.  So why fight the obvious.  Embrace it.  Flaunt it.  Revel in it.  Even the front page of their website gives you two options to click on.  One says “Marmite is perfect” and the other reads “Marmite is horrid.”

Human beings are wonderfully imperfect creatures, and we can only relate and bond with other wonderfully imperfect creatures.  We can’t possibly form a bond with something that has no flaws, because flawless simply doesn’t exist.  What an amazing visceral level to connect with your customer on!

1. What are your brand’s inherent imperfections?  What aspects of your brand turn some people off?

2. Can you use them to stand out from others?  Are your imperfections more glaring or more interesting?

3. Do your imperfections make sense?  It is easy to grasp how a bad tasting medicine would work better than one that tastes good.

Be brave.  Embrace your imperfections, and add some humanity to your brand.

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