The biggest question for every business is – how do we generate more connections and sales? When under this constant pressure, the natural reaction is to find new tactics and inventive ways to generate more income. Reacting to market forces is a sign of a desperate business. The world has changed and the number one aim for business is to be top of mind when a customer is ready to buy. Today we are faced with three perplexing questions. Who are we to get noticed? How will we get noticed? What can we say that resonates with customers when they are ready to buy? The Internet is great for serving up buckets of information. The term “content is king” has become a cliche, but it is true. Businesses must be very aware of today’s consumer, who is very savvy when it comes to engaging with their message. Many entrepreneurs I see simply start a business: they rarely plan one. So if you’re feeling lucky, your survival strategy is an endless bag of money and you don’t plan on using “The Ultimate Brand Survival Kit” to improve your chances, stop reading now. Pass it on to someone who will put it to better use. I want you to do so much better. Survival is not about selling more, it’s a result of your actions. As Ray Kroc said: “Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.” Take responsibility and do what needs to be done for your business to survive!

1. 10
steps to surviving today’s
information overloaded society.

2. HOW ARE YOU
PLANNING TO CUT
THROUGH THE
PHENOMENAL
AMOUNT OF
COMPETING NOISE
VYING FOR YOUR
CUSTOMERS’
ATTENTION?
Information Overload is a fact, not a slogan.
In 2012 there were:
ARE YOU
LEAVING IT TO
CHANCE?
2.7 billion ‘likes’ on Facebook every day
2.4 billion Internet users worldwide
1.2 trillion searches on Google
634 million websites
59.4 million WordPress sites around the world
87.8 million Tumblr blogs
1 billion monthly active users on Facebook
175 million tweets published every day
4 billion hours of video watched on YouTube
per month
1.1 billion smartphone users
source: newstex.com

3. “Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you
sweat, the luckier you get.” – Ray Kroc
WE LIVE IN A CHANGING WORLD.
START WITH AN ACTION.
WINNING THE WAR.
The biggest question for every
business is – how do we generate
more connections and sales?
Before reading any further, make a
commitment to yourself to act on
something you learn in this edited
report. Reflect on your competition or
the companies that impress you, begin
by using at least one strategy that
resonates and build from there.
To prosper you need to be seen as a
leader and as the business that solves
your customers’ needs, rather than
pesters them to buy.
What can we say that resonates with
customers when they are ready to buy?
Businesses must be very aware of
today’s consumer, who is very savvy
when it comes to engaging with their
message.
Few of us have any way of gauging the
relative value of the information our
website, blog or LinkedIn disperses. Is it
helpful, effective and valuable, what is
ignored and wasting everybody’s time;
and how do you tell the difference?
IT’S YOUR CALL.
Many entrepreneurs I see simply start
a business: they rarely plan one. So
if you’re feeling lucky, your survival
strategy is an endless bag of money and
you don’t plan on using “The Ultimate
Brand Survival Kit” to improve your
chances, stop reading now.
Pass it on to someone who will put
it to better use.
Stand out by delivering a far better
experience than your competitors,
creating brand distinction through
differentiation.
Yes, it’s a long-term play but there are no
halfway measures if you’re planning to
win the war.

4. SURVIVAL TACTIC NO. 1
Following the leader only clears the path.
A vision enables you to truly lead.
Jerry Pooras and Jim Collins They
discovered that companies who
preserved and acted on their ideals
outperformed the stock market by a
factor of 12 since 1925.
When you have a vision,
everybody wants to help
you. They want to work for
you. Put simply, a cause
inspires.
In a six-year landmark project at the
Stanford University, James C. Collins
and Jerry I. Porras studied 18
exceptional companies.
The authors asked: “What makes truly
exceptional companies different from
their competitors and what common
practices have these great companies
followed throughout their history?”
They determined that the primary
driver for a successful company is
theability to nurture a vision.
ACT NOW - If your business
needs better traction for your
marketing and you want to
feel stronger leading your
team, articulate your passions,
desires and dreams. Belief
in yourself will ignite trust
in people who can see your
passion and believe in your
dreams.

5. SURVIVAL TACTIC NO. 2
In branding as in life “if you accept anything but the best, you often get it”.
Being average is the hurdle to overcome as you build your brand.
Everyone is trying to
accomplish something big,
not realising that life is
made up of little things.
FRANK A. CLARK
Without realizing it,
playing sport as kids
was probably our first
experience with
branding.
The coach placed each
team member in a
position that reflected
their noticeable
strengths.
We quickly learnt how to get recognised
for the things we were naturally best at.
Yes, that’s branding at its most innocent.
Just playing the game’ would not lead
to the recognition we deserved. To stand
out we improved our natural skills.
Supporting our team (think staff) meant
being clear on what we could offer.
Whether it’s on the playing field or in the
corporate marketplace Being different
gaves us an identity.
ACT NOW – My best advice
for achieving meaningful
differentiation is to never
use your competition as
a benchmark. Make the
competition irrelevant and
challenge the status quo.
Just because “we’ve always
done it that way” doesn’t
mean you have to keep doing
it that way.

6. SURVIVAL TACTIC NO. 3
In life (and business) promises are promises
but performance is reality.
Children are remarkable for their
intelligence and ardor, for their
curiosity, their intolerance of
shams, the clarity and ruthlessness
of their vision.
ALDOUS HUXLEY
The world is full of
mediocrity and boring
stuff. Worse still is the
fact that boring stuff
quickly becomes
invisible.
Conversely, something remarkable is
worth talking about and worth paying
attention to.
You can’t sell a lemon no matter how
many marketing dollars you throw at it.
Creating and selling something
remarkable requires passion, guts, and
awesome ideas.
The more intransigent and crowded your
marketplace, the busier your customers
are, the more remarkable you have to be.
ACT NOW Never accept
average. Start by looking at
one aspect of your business
and brainstorm how to make it
remarkable. Look for ideas and
inspiration that you can learn
from. Go to sleep and wake
up thinking outside the box:
“what if we ...?”

7. SURVIVAL TACTIC NO. 4
A cause inspires, it’s as simple as that!
Only one who devotes
himself to a cause with his
whole strength and soul
can be a true master.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
To gain the attention
of potential customers
today, your brand must be
supported by a cause, an
emotional reason for being
that people will relate to.
People buy BMWs because of two simple
words, ‘luxury sports’. Nike celebrates
the ‘inner olympian’.
Yes, international brands spend more
money than you or I have to secure
their inspired footprint, but that’s no
excuse. Australia’s Solargain strives to
be ‘Solar energy specialists’. Not heating,
not industrial, not systems and not hot
water. By being energy specialists they
gain instant and broad credibility. They
do, however, have to live up to the claim!
ACT NOW – Reach out to
your team or a professional
and work on uncovering
your cause/passion. Then
promote it endlessly. Weave
it onto the front page of
your website, use it in your
email sign off, plaster it
onto the company cars and
shout it from the rooftops.

8. SURVIVAL TACTIC NO. 5
Be clear on your product or service’s point of difference
and be sure to ramp up the contrast!
“What you say in advertising
is more important than how
you say it.”
David Ogilvy, Confessions of an Advertising Man
Business is not fought in
the jungle so ditch the
camouflage. When you
determine what is truly
distinctive and unique
about your company you
need to get the news out
through every channel
you can.
BUT be careful not to just add to the
clutter of useless information cluttering
cyber space. As globalism removes
barriers, people are erecting new ones.
Our brains are very clever at filtering out
irrelevant information, letting in only
what’s different and above all useful.
You must focus on why your product
matters. Continually reinforce what you
do differently to your competition in a
meaningful way. By being clear, it will
help you find the customers who ‘get’
what you say and want to listen.
ACT NOW – Study the
activities you perform
that your rivals don’t, or
the similar activities you
perform in different ways.
Then shout about it. Use
design to show it. Use
content to explain it. Use
media to get it heard. And
use your team to reinforce it.

9. SURVIVAL TACTIC NO. 6
Don’t confuse the growing number of channels with your brand’s voice.
The channels are simply tools, your content is your voice.
The aim of marketing is to know
and understand the customer so
well the product or service fits
him and sells itself.
PETER F. DRUCKER
The rapid pace of
technology is introducing
a mind-numbing number
of what are essentially
marketing platforms. As
human beings we are
attracted to shiny new
things like bees to flowers.
Where once we connected via a letter,
fax or phone, we now have an endless
supply of platforms. Websites, Blogs,
Pinterest, Quora, Google+, Tumblr,
Slideshare, Facebook. And now we have
MySpace re-launching.
Focus on your message, not the
messenger. What is a Facebook post that
ignores its audience’s demographic?
What’s a Twitter post if it’s not timely?
What is a Slideshare presentation unless
it tells the audience something they
didn’t already know?
ACT NOW – Consumers are
information rich and time poor.
Your brand grows hinges on how
easily customers ‘get’ what you’re
offering. They decide which
platform they like. Your task is to
find out where that is and then use
the right language and messages
that fit with that platform.

10. SURVIVAL TACTIC NO. 7
If a customer touches or sees it, it’s media.
Go ahead and paint every canvas!
Because it is its purpose to create a
customer, any business enterprise
has two – and only these two – basic
functions: marketing and innovation.
PETER F. DRUCKER
Media today is not limited
to newspapers, tv, radio
and the internet. Broaden
your thinking and see
media as any and all
means of communication.
Then treat each touch point as an
opportunity to strengthen your brand
and communicate your essence.
There are everyday touch points that you
shouldn’t ignore. Why not use your email
sign-off to tell more of your brand story
or think of a “thank you” note as media?
Why can’t a PDF form be interactive. Why
does a parcel have to arrive in a generic
box instead of a branded one?
What is your impression of a company
who sends a generic Christmas card?
ACT NOW – Write a list of every point
of contact your business has with
customers; in person, online, through
mail, forms etc. Now think how you
could turn each into a better experience
with your customer. What will leave
them with a better impression
of your business? Why don’t
you start with your company
Christmas card?

11. SURVIVAL TACTIC NO. 8
Your customers are very judgmental:
tell them why you matter before they decide for you.
I’m not upset that you lied
to me, I’m upset that from
now on I can’t believe you.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
A century ago we
shopped at the local
corner store and the
ever-cheerful local
butcher.
An intimate relationship the level of trust
grew, leading us to clearly understand their
unique offering.
In today’s commercial marketplace, building
relationships so you can clearly communicate
your point of difference and your values has
lost none of its significance. Establishing
trust you will spend less time telling them
why your product or service is so good, and
competing on price will become less of an
issue.
ACT NOW – Positive interaction
with business hinges on shared
interests and values. If you believed
in saving the planet would you pay
a small premium to use a green
dry cleaner? Think about what is
different about your business and
what a customer will actually care
about. If you don’t find one,
create one.

12. SURVIVAL TACTIC NO. 9
It’s not about you; it’s all about your customer.
In the end, the customer doesn’t
know, or care, if you are a small or
large organisation. She or he only
focuses on the garment hanging on
the rail in the store.
GIORGIO ARMANI
In today’s world of
megaplexes & superstores,
business needs to take
a small-town retailer’s
perspective when it
comes to their customers.
Your customers are not
dependent on you – you
are dependent on them.
Marketing is all about their needs, ideals,
wants and desires. You must forget about
messages that talk about you do and
focus on the problem that your product/
service solves for your customers.
Apple don’t sell computers, they market
technology their customers love. Nike
don’t just sell shoes and clothes, they
sell the dream of athletic achievement.
And Bunnings sell more than paint: they
sell the widest choice at the lowest price
because they have determined that is
what their customers want above all else.
ACT NOW – Adopt the
‘customer-first’ mentality.
Examine the emotional
reasons your customers
buy your products or
services. What problem
have you fixed for them or
how have you made them
feel better?

13. SURVIVAL TACTIC NO. 10
IT and marketing are merging, so get closer to your inner geek.
Information technology and
business are becoming inextricably
interwoven. I don’t think anybody
can talk meaningfully about one
without talking about the other.
BILL GATES
From engaging with
customers to marketing
products, information
technology rules our
actions. This presents
new opportunities and
demands new approaches
to how we go about
managing our brands.
Print is declining. Everything can be
updated, modified, and adapted. News
is released through Facebook pages.
Mobile apps add to the brand experience.
Manufacturing processes are rapidly
evolving through 3D printing, just-in-time
manufacturing etc. Activities from HR to
finance all operate in the cloud. If there is
a problem, chances are IT will fix it.
Marketing employs the materials and
production of the time, so we need to be
agile and adaptable when we do it.
ACT NOW – IT can be an
expensive resource. Look at
what functions and expertise
you can bring inhouse. Every
leading brand has a unique
difference so think of ways
to use IT to reinforce yours.
Focus on customer experience
and customer service first.

14. The ideas outlined on the
previous pages have helped
many of our clients earn
leadership status and top of
mind presence at the crucial
moment of purchase.
To survive today your brand must have,
at a minimum, unique attributes,
functions or features. If your brand
can claim unique benefits as well your
chances of survival increase, but if your
brand stands for something that shares
a set of values with its customers – then
you’re bullet proof.
So make sure you’re impossible to
ignore, differentiate your brand, tell your
story, embrace technology and break
some rules.
If your brand stands for
something that shares a set
of values with its customers –
then you’re bullet proof.

15. About us
Creative Brew focus
on branding & marketing
for small and medium
sized firms.
We believe in:
• Helping our clients build their
competitive positioning – Clearly
understanding and articulating your
point of difference should be the
foundation of all your marketing
activities.
• Providing the right brand strategy
– we place great importance on using
strategies that bring your competitive
positioning to life, by defining you as a
certain “something” in the mind of your
market.
• Planning and building the right
brand drivers – today, marketing is so
complicated, it’s impossible for midsize enterprises to master current or
emerging new media ontop of their
traditional media activities.
Our journey is not dissimilar to yours.
We are growing and learning every day.
To help us make this guide even better
we want to hear from you. Please drop
us a line: info@creativebrew.com.au
Thank you! The Creative Brew Team
creativebrew.com.au
blog.creativebrew.com.au