MIA: Leadership Training

• Consider the emotions and feelings that arise to become part of the relationship people have with your company at every touch point; this is how you build an idea in people’s mind of who you are as a company and as a brand.

• There is an imperative of tapping feelings/emotions to build charismatic brands defined as any product, service or company for which people believe there is no substitute.

• Charismatic brands garner 50-percent share or higher, and 40-percent price premiums.

Fernandes provided with everyone with lessons learned since the Charles Luck brand (a “style minded” with a commitment to purposeful design) was launched three years ago. He also showcased how an understanding of economic trends, sustainability, and the core competencies of your own company are all drivers in building your company’s brand.

In the second presentation, branding expert Marty Gould, a frequent speaker at both StonExpo and Coverings, expanded the branding discussion into the tactical attributes of your company’s price, service, product, experience, and access.

Gould noted that you have to identify one of those five tactical attributes and excel at it. You must select a second attribute and be above average. Companies that try to excel at all five attributes will be left behind.

He also showcased why in the internet age, building a brand is much different. The internet helps stone companies, “create an environment to encourage people to buy.”

The attendees also learned the differences between driving people to your content (traditional media, keywords in content, search optimization, and paid online searches) vs. driving content to your people (social media, online press releases, blogs, article syndication, and email lists).

He concluded with the following advice:

Step 1 – Focus on your niche (what are you best at? What can you lead at?)
Step 2 – Identify your target audience
Step 3 – Evaluate your content (is your message real or adspeak?)
Step 4 – Surround your customers (content goes everywhere, not just your website)
Step 5 – Make a commitment (it takes time to make it work!)

The event kicked-off on Oct. 18 with a networking reception hosted at the local Walker Zanger showroom. Walker Zanger, along with Moraware and Schechner Lifson Corporation, sponsored this year’s leadership workshop.

“The leadership workshop of the MIA was a very productive day including outstanding speakers, giving a very practical approach to address today’s challenges in our industry,” said Patrick Perus, Polycor CEO. “It gave us a fresh outlook on some important subjects we are working on (sustainability, branding, etc), along with opportunities to network with other players in our industry.”