First They Brainwashed me at 7 YEARS OLD, Then They Broke Into My Bathroom...

I was just in my bathroom and doing my regular weigh in,
to see how much weight I haven't lost.

As I looked down at the clear electronic scales, I noticed
something that I didn't pay attention to before.

It was the logo on the free scales we've been sent. It was
a Weight Watchers logo.

In the UK, weight watchers in huge. They are a big brand
and a household name.

One of the reasons they are a household name is because
they advertise everywhere and word of mouth is insane
(the product works).

But as I stared down at my non-fluctuating weight, I realized
that what I was looking at was possibly the best example
of branding that I have ever seen.

Just think, every time that I am conscious of my weight, I see
the weight watchers logo. If that's not spot on branding, then
I don't know what is.

It's like a PC repair company giving away free keyboards. It's
like a hair loss/shampoo company giving away free hairbrushes.

But then I had a little think about this whole branding thing. I
thought about how banks and building societies go after the
mindshare of kids, so that when they grow up, the company's
name is firmly lodged into their subconscious, and subsequently
become more trusted too.

I tried to think of an example and remembered back to my childhood.
I remember how a leading building society called Cheltenham & Gloucester
teamed up with Paddington Bear (a very popular kids animated TV
show in the UK).

They too nailed the branding to a tee and got into
the minds of the kids from an early age (mega sneaky).

How?

They used to give away free piggy bank coin collectors,
in the shape of Paddington Bear. Me and my brother had
one each and loved them.

When we wanted to cash in on them, we'd take them to the
building society branch and collect our savings!

We were hooked into a corporate branding exercise from years
ago, and that same company STILL runs ads on TV using
Paddington Bear.

The reason I am making this post is because I think we can all
learn something from branding.

I'm sure there are many Warriors who send out physical products.
I think you are the ones in the best position to send out merchandise
that your customers can use, and so that you can put your name
in their minds more often.

But why not just stick to email?

Good question, and you SHOULD still use email in my humble
opinion. However...

Email is becoming over populated, not just by your competitors
but by people in general. More people come online every day
which means more emails are being sent everyday. With social
networking really starting to take off, this will mean even more
emails being sent every day between friends and family.

So you're not just competing with marketers or other big
businesses, but you're competing with your customer's friends
and family. And trust me, THEY are going to be the ones that get
opened first over you every single time.

But I've not seen a single advert or promo email from Weight Watchers
for many months, if years...yet they are immediately on the forefront
of my mind tonight as I contemplate achieving the very result they
guarantee to provide.

Keep on thinking on,