Summary: A pleasure to welcome Austin McGhie to Intrepid Radio. Austin is the president of the Strategy Group at Sterling Brands, and the author of Brand Is A Four Letter Word: Positioning and The Real Art of Marketing. In our interview, you will learn: 1. If you use branding as a verb, you are dead wrong. 2. Positioning is the true heart of marketing. 3. People confuse branding and positioning, thinking they are the same thing. 4. "Find what makes you unique, in a way that makes you better." 5. How to really build a brand. 6. Brand is a response...not a stimulus. 7. Why people are so afraid to really differentiate themselves. Is it because of our culture's emphasis on conforming? Or a desire to be liked by everybody? 8. "You have to bake the differences in when you start...You can't paint the marketing on later." 9. "Niche is NOT a four letter word." 10. Why Austin doesn't really want you to think outside the box. 11. The difference between strategy and tactics, and that most people don't really know what strategy is. 12. "Strategy is the art of forced choice." 13. Too many traditional sales reps struggle because they are branding, when they should be POSITIONING instead. The number one reason sales reps ultimately have to sell on price is because they've done a lousy job positioning their product or service. I will be giving away a copy of this book to my mailing list SOMETIME WEDNESDAY, so click here to join the list in time to be in the running! You can learn more about Austin here, and click below to purchase the book (affiliate link): If you enjoyed this conversation, and want to hear from other cool and hip folks like Austin McGhie, subscribe to my podcast on iTunes by clicking here. And, a review and customer rating would be much appreciated as well!
