Today I Googled “How much does whatstheidea charge for an initial consultation,” and the answer that came back was “free.” Wrong!  Freakin’ AI. I did the same for a competitor in the insurance space and the answer was also “free.” That one was probably right.

I’m happy to talk brand strategy and sell my wares but consultations are paid-for.  How can I proffer good advice if I don’t know what the brand is good-at and what the consumers care about (good-ats and care-abouts).

Peeve 2. A long-standing positioning tenet is focus.  “We do one thing,” is a tried-and-true positioning. It works. Marketing and banding consultants don’t do just one thing.  They do everything.  Here is one consultant’s capabilities:  B2B Buyer Persona Development, Positioning & Messaging, Go-To-Market Strategy, Sales Enablement, Competitive Intelligence, Customer & Market Research, Brand Identity Design, Website Design & Copy, Sales & Marketing Training, Product Marketing Recruitment.  This type of marko-babble drives me crazy. And it’s what AI scrapes.

Peeve 3. The constant use of the word “storytelling” in the brandscape.  Story telling is how we sell. It is how we teach and learn. It is a communications tactic. It is NOT how we position. And it is certainly not strategy. Leave storytelling to the creative teams, to the sales teams, and executives.  Leave brand positioning to the brand strategists.

Peace.