By now, every marketer should recognize the importance of educating consumers. For example, how do you convince people used to a yellow cab or a car service to use the app friendly Uber. Imagine the mind of the consumers with such questions as “Who are the drivers?” “Are the cars safe?” “Is the ride more expensive than a yellow cab?” Well, technology is certainly making educators of marketers. But my long experience has taught me, teach a consumer how to better use their product and lo and behold sales soar! So are you ready for your role as an educator? If not, Lubicom can teach you! Even if you are we’ll give you an out-of-the box idea that is sure to generate interest.

If you are an industry leader, don’t allow any daylight between you and your key competitor since you may never rebound. Take Blackberry, for example, some of their new phones like the Z 30 or the PRIV are as good or better than Apple but it may be a case of too little too late as they already lost most of their loyal base to Apple. Then there’s Nike that just came out with automatic shoelaces meaning that with a push of a button the shoe closes snugly around your foot. They are ahead of the game and certainly ahead of their key competitors like Adidas and Reebok. Often a successful brand takes its leadership so for granted that they do not take the next step, particularly in today’s rapidly moving technological age. There is a long list of iconic brands that made the mistake of being asleep at the wheel. Remember Kodak?

Branding has become such an important marketing imperative that the number of failures has been staggering. No, branding is not for everyone. If you produce mediocrity in any form, the chances for successful branding are relatively slim. If you are in a competitive environment with iconic brands and do not have a special feature or message that makes you better or different, forget it. If you don’t produce perfection consistently, branding is not for you. If you do have what it takes to brand your product or service, make sure you have a strategic plan, a GPS to where you want to reach. Oh, I mean branding where people spend bundles of money to get people to remember the brand and guess what, they remember it for the wrong reasons. I strongly believe in branding but like everything else in life, it’s not for everyone.