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🔥 Unlock Your Brand's True Voice: Pain Points Exposed
Unmask Your Brand: The Marketing Revolution You Can't Ignore
Hi there! I’m so glad you’re here. FYI, I clean my subscriber list every month, if you’re not opening this newsletter regularly, you’ll be removed from my distribution list (no hard feelings)– make sure you’re reading consistently!
We have a long edition, buckle in:
How to use AI to create a more authentic brand
Cool AI-generated spec ads + brands that are using AI
AI tools to try
Mood Board for the week
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DEEP DIVE
Elevate Your Strategy: Authenticity as Your Marketing Compass
Hot take: authenticity is a lazy marketing term. No one wakes up and genuinely thinks, “I’m going to be super authentic today.”
Instead of pursuing "authenticity," brands should focus on the emotional and visceral elements that actually resonate with consumers. Here are the three pillars to focus on instead (and AI prompts to help guide you):
đź’— Vulnerability
Every profound and lasting connection we create is rooted in vulnerability (think about it).
To forge genuine connections with your customers, dare to reveal your brand's vulnerabilities. For example: Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, openly spoke about not feeling good in clothes. She created a solution based on her needs (and insecurities). Pay-off: $1.2B valuation.
Starting the conversation < surrender the conversation
Brand Story Telling Prompt:
Your task is to craft a compelling brand story for a company that communicates its values, purpose, and differentiation. The narrative should connect emotionally with the audience through the use of mythology, archetypes, and narrative techniques. The central theme of the story should be fearlessness.
To achieve this, keep the following guidelines in mind:
Begin by introducing the core values and purpose of the company.
Highlight what differentiates the company from its competitors.
Use elements of mythology or well-known archetypes to create a timeless and impactful narrative.
Incorporate vivid storytelling techniques to engage the audience emotionally.
Emphasize the theme of being fearless through examples or metaphors.
Please start by crafting the brand story based on the company’s values, purpose, and differentiation. Make sure to emphasize the theme of being fearless.
The company’s values, purpose, and differentiation can be found below, surrounded by triple quotes:
“”“… insert company’s values, purpose, and differentiation here …”“”
Please generate the brand story according to the guidelines above.
🫢 Honesty
Effective marketing highlights strengths without sacrificing truth, striking a delicate balance between promotion and integrity.
As my therapist would say, “The truth will set you free.”
Tell the truth about your brand: how far you’ve come, who’s using your product, and how you’re making an impact. I love this example of a 96-year-old woman whipping out the (non-PC) rhyme of the former Carnation Milk slogan.
Social Listening Prompt:
Your task is to monitor social media conversations across various platforms to uncover real-time consumer insights and marketing opportunities for <brand>.
Please follow these steps:
Identify Relevant Content:
Track specific keywords related to <brand> and its products/services.
Monitor brand mentions, hashtags, and keywords across platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Identify and categorize complaints, feedback, and suggestions from customers.
Analyze Customer Feedback:
Pay special attention to themes of vulnerability expressed by customers, such as frustrations, unmet needs, or emotional pleas for improvements.
Use natural language processing to detect sentiment and urgency in the conversations.
Generate Insights:
Summarize key insights from the data, highlighting common complaints, emerging trends, and potential opportunities for enhancing customer satisfaction.
Suggest actionable steps <brand> can take to address customer vulnerabilities and improve their experiences.
Highlight any positive feedback and testimonials that could be leveraged in marketing campaigns.
*use Perplexity for more real-time listening + Chat GPT to create a report.
đź’Ş Fearlessness
Saving the best (and easiest) for last. Infuse your brand's actual culture into your marketing—think of it as your brand's way of 'being true to itself'. This approach should feel natural and bold, not forced or artificial.
Can’t do a fearless section without including Nike (sorry not sorry). We all can see how they live out their mission statement: “Bring Inspiration and Innovation to every athlete in the world.”
You can’t be fearless if you don’t know where you’re headed. Live out your mission statement.
Mission Statement Prompt:
Your task is to help identify a brand’s mission statement. Follow the steps below to create a concise and impactful mission statement.
Step 1: Introspection:
Reflect on the core purpose of your brand. Ask yourself why the brand exists and what fundamental need or problem it addresses.
Step 2: Audience:
Identify whom your brand serves. Consider the primary audience or customer base and what matters most to them.
Step 3: Value Proposition:
Define what sets your brand apart from competitors. Highlight the unique benefits or values that your brand offers.
Step 4: Summarize:
Combine the insights from the previous steps into a concise and clear mission statement. The mission statement should be inspiring and reflect the brand’s core purpose, audience, and unique value.
Please answer the following questions to initiate this process:
What is the core purpose of your brand? Why does it exist?
Who is the primary audience or customer base of your brand? What is most important to them?
What makes your brand unique compared to competitors? What are the core benefits or values it provides?
Can you summarize the answers from the above questions into a single, concise mission statement?
Your responses will help create a comprehensive and impactful mission statement for your brand.
AI IN THE WILD
Top brand activations using AI or cool spec ads I saw this week!
AI TOOLS
To aid your marketing efforts
MOOD BOARD
nail appointment with fellow Cal alum, Erin Cafaro |