But What Do You Want Them To Remember?

I watch, and sometimes read your email posts and facebook posts as you promote your cosmic bowling nights, your short season leagues, your 8 for 8 leagues, your Bowling 2.0, your company parties, your fundraisers and your birthday parties.  

And just when I thought I had seen all of your programs, you bombard me with information about seasonal holiday parties, Thanksgiving, Christmas week and New Year’s Eve, not to mention Monday Night Football in your sports bar along with every weekend football {Go Pack! Go Badgers!} 

Now over the course of probably a month, I received many emails from you about your promotions and special offers…but what do I remember? At best, I will remember two or three of the offers. At worst, I will remember none of them.  

But more importantly, I will have no definitive idea of what you stand for, what is the meaning of your brand and why I should pay attention to what you say.  In fact that is the very reason why you need to use a multimedia and layered approach to promote both specific individual offers as well as promoting these offers within your BMU, “brand messaging unit.”  This is one unit of branding embedded with a specific offer that supports your brand,

So what to do? 

Pick one thing you want your customers to remember about you.  Maybe it’s: “Happy Lanes – Home of the Best Birthday Parties” or “Happy Lanes - We Make Short Season Leagues Fun” or “Happy Lanes – We Make weekends Fun.” Or…well you get the idea. Or at least I hope you do. 

Better to pick one thing to be proud of rather than trying to be all things to all people and thus ending up nothing to anyone. Use your new found brand identity and carry it under or over or around your center name.  

Preach about it inside of the center; use it as an intro statement in your PA announcements: add it to your hello speech when you answer the phone.  {“Thank You for Calling Happy Lanes, Home of the Best Birthday Parties, This is Fred, How May I Help You Today?} Do not abandon or be derelict in executing this approach.  It will build your business if you treat it gently. And if you build credibility for the position with testimonials, great stories and picture support, you will grow your business. 

There is one caveat to this whole message.  You really do have to be the best at what you proclaim; no BS allowed and you have to defend and grow that position every chance you get which is every day of the week, 52 weeks a year...