Just about every day, I am reminded in one way or another that we live in a world of hyperbole. Overstatement. Smoke and mirrors.
Companies are obsessed with “The Brand.” Building it, preserving it, growing it.
But you can’t build The Brand until you have The Product. The Service.
Putting lipstick on the pig? Hell, we’ve bought the pig a new wardrobe, sent it to the nail salon, and posted it’s beauty shots on Facebook.
Consumers look past the beauty shots. Instead, they go to grainy videos of the real product that someone posted on YouTube.
Even if the bulk of consumers aren’t reading that hands-on review that some guy threw up on his blog shortly after your product launched, the mainstream reporter convering the beat in your industry certainly is reading. So is that investment analyst. So is your boss. Wait, what’s that you say? Your boss is more concerned about the message that is going out than he is about the messages that are coming in? If that’s the case, you got big problems my friend.
Keep this in mind: a brand that is built around a shoddy product or service is called a bubble. And bubbles burst.
If your view of reputation management is to squash what’s being said about you, then you’re only working to delay the inevitable. The truth will emerge. So what are you going to do about it? The companies that succeed are the ones that join the conversation.
It’s like that party you go to, the one with the girl or guy who’s well dressed and attractive. Only to find out that when you strike up conversation, all they talk about is himself or herself. No substance. No exchange of ideas. Just a one-sided affair of one person talking at another person. We’ve all been there, and we all know it’s a short conversation.
What’s the point? The point is we need to quit with the hyperbole. We can’t stand hyperbolic people, why do companies think we like hyperbolic brands? If you’re the best, fine, tell me about it. But if you’re not the best, what, do you think I’m not going to find out? Even if I buy your product, don’t you realize that if I end up unhappy, I’m going to tell all of my friends?
Build a decent product and tell me it’s a decent product, then I’ll probably be willing to give you another chance. But build an awful prodcut and tell me it’s great? Well, in that case, I’m writing a blog post about it, digging relevant articles on Digg, and reviewing it on Yelp.
