Comments for Trevor Lever

Comment on Reflections on Social Media Week by Trevor Lever

Trevor Lever — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:09:10 +0000

Thanks Bernie – was an interesting couple of days… hope the conversation(s) continue. The days of the CV may soon be numbered

Trevor

Comment on Reflections on Social Media Week by Berniejmitchell

Berniejmitchell — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:51:24 +0000

Trevor!
I hope you had fun in “that London”
Thanks for coming and thanks for writing up, my money is on number 10 – creating a conversation and ever evolving portfolio is much more fun and realistic than a traditional CV.
What amuses me is how many “social media reciters” still ask for a CV!

See you soon!

Comment on Reflections on Social Media Week by Trevor Lever

Trevor Lever — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:01:23 +0000

Thanks Girish, I think there is more value to be gained from understanding the customer (especially for B2C) using these tools. Glad you enjoyed the post.

Comment on Reflections on Social Media Week by Girish Balachandran

Girish Balachandran — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:47:50 +0000

Trevor, I wholeheartedly agree with point no. 2 that a brand’s biggest challenge is to hold back and listen to the conversations instead of dominating them. Good post, thanks for summarising the learning.

Comment on Forget about your brand, Mr SME business by Trevor Lever

Trevor Lever — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:49:56 +0000

Thanks Ryan – your idea of ‘field testing’ what you are selling is right on the money. It’s one thing to think about what your business will be and offer – but until you get ‘out there’ you can’t really know what the customer wants, or is prepared to part money for.

When I set up TLC (10 years ago) all I has was a business card. It was ~18months before I was happy enough to commit to a web site and strap-line that defined what I was offering – in a way that explained my value – to the customer.

Comment on Forget about your brand, Mr SME business by Ryan James

Ryan James — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:50:07 +0000

This is a BRILLIANT post Mr Lever… and something I’ve been actively advocating for years!

I will always tell a new venture to go and sell themselves for a year (minimum) before they start considering how to build and communicate their brand – as no amount of strategising will tell you what works better than the experience of selling it and gauging direct customer interest, uptake and your referrability.

In my experience your customers own your reputation (and your brand) not you.
All we own is the opportunity to determine how we are percieved.

Where ‘branding’ can really help is far more to do with resolving; what you are selling, why you are selling it, who you want to sell it to and understanding where the value lies.
The design part is the afterthought not the essence. Which I believe is the essence of what you’re saying.

Comment on Forget about your brand, Mr SME business by Trevor Lever

Trevor Lever — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:29:06 +0000

Thanks Marc, I thought this might stir the marketing community a bit I agree that the branding needs to be consistent with the value (and reputation) of that company. The problem for many SME’s, and certainly for most start-ups, is not understanding their value from the customer’s perspective. Which makes it difficult for folks like you to create an appropriate look & feel for the organisation. So these people promote a vision of what they think they should be – rather than the reality of what they are… perhaps we can carry on this one over a beer sometime?

Comment on Forget about your brand, Mr SME business by Marc French

Marc French — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:51:19 +0000

Brilliant post Trevor, very thought provoking. You’ve almost made ‘brand’ a dirty word but whether we like it or not every business has a brand. The critical thing for brand success is to understand that one’s brand is one’s reputation. And you’re right, one’s reputation is much more than a logo – which is just as well. So many genuinely great businesses camouflage their value with misleading logos, confusing leaflets and websites filled with jargon.

WIth a little help businesses can make their value clear; they can illustrate how they improve life for their customers. Once they see there’s a difference between that and just describing what they do then they’re on the way to understanding why people value their service and making it easier for people spread the word.

Only when a business understands why it’s valued by its customers should it start to wonder whether it’s logo is up to scratch. In fact if a business knows why it’s valued then it can really take control of how it helps people spread the word. After all wouldn’t it be nice if great businesses all looked and sounded the part, it would be so much easier to find them and do business.

Comment on Forget about your brand, Mr SME business by Trevor Lever

Trevor Lever — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:11:39 +0000

Thanks Jim, appreciate the feedback and support.

Comment on Forget about your brand, Mr SME business by Jim O'Connor

Jim O'Connor — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:00:56 +0000

Great advice Trevor (I say this as someone who helps businesses build their brand). So many people talk such a lot of bollocks around branding. Branding is reputation, not the pretty design elements – logo, colours, strapline, tone of voice etc etc are mere decoration, and customers want substance (someone who knows what they are doing and sorts out your problem). The pretty stuff doesn’t mean anything in itself – your reputation is what gives it meaning. Be good, instead of trying to merely look good – you’ll get found out soon enough!