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What does having a “strategic enemy” do for your brand effectiveness? Why is showing always better than telling when it comes to marketing? How can you get your brand into the mind’s eye of your audience by oversimplifying your brand?
In this podcast episode, Joe Sanok discusses how to oversimplify your brand with Laura Ries.
Podcast Sponsor: Headway
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Meet Laura Ries
Laura Ries is a world-renowned positioning strategist, bestselling author, and compelling keynote speaker. As President of Ries & Ries, the branding consultancy she co-founded with her late father, Al Ries, she has advised Fortune 500s and startups across more than 60 countries.
She co-authored foundational books such as The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR, and The Origin of Brands. Her latest work, The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For, presents a provocative new angle on how brands can distinguish themselves by defining what they’re not.
Laura is also a regular media commentator on CNN, Fox, CNBC, PBS, and more, bringing clarity to brand discourse in a noisy world.
Visit RIES and connect on Instagram and LinkedIn.
In This Podcast
- Essential marketing terms
- How to differentiate yourself to be known for something
- Live it in your work
- Audit: How to build and position your brand
- Laura’s advice to private practitioners
Essential marketing terms
Many people just think, “Branding is my logo”, and that’s part of it – your visual identity is incredibly important, but let’s go back to that essence of branding itself … You want to get that brand inside the [client’s] mind. (Laura Ries)
Most people are concerned with the external aspects of branding, including the logo, color scheme, website, and social media. These are important, but they support the end goal, which is to position yourself in the mind of your ideal customer.
How to differentiate yourself to be known for something
One great way to differentiate is to be a specialist in one key area, whether it’s adolescents, eating disorders, or marriage – there are lots of ways that you can find that specialty. However, the challenge again is to distinguish yourself, because saying you are a specialist doesn’t get you all the way to the end goal of your ideal client working with you.
Your brand is centered around your focus and emphasis on your specialty.
What you’re promoting and what you’re building is your brand, that focus and emphasis on your specialty. You don’t have to communicate all that you do – you want to narrow that focus so that you can stand for one idea. [Even] if you’re a specialist in one area, they will think that you can do a few other things! But the goal is to be THE [specialist]. (Laura Ries)
Live it in your work
Once you grasp the focus of your niche and differentiating factor, breathe life into them through your work.
Then, you can project this focus visually, through your brand, social media, website, office space, and client interactions. Your brand is, therefore, the way in which you present your differentiating factor to the world around you.
When you have decided what you want to stand for, all the things you can build around that can reinforce it, to make it more memorable, to drive word-of-mouth. You want your patients to go on their own and tell other people why they should see you, what you’re good at, what your approach is … Therapy is a complicated thing, so how can we oversimplify it? (Laura Ries)
Audit: How to build and position your brand
You can conduct an audit on your brand and current position to see where you currently stand. One of the ways to do this is to look at your “strategic enemy”, the title also of Laura’s new book.
A strategic enemy is an oppositional force that your brand stands against. So, the idea is to bring contrast of what you’re not to more clearly understand what you are. (Laura Ries)
The key concept of ‘strategic enemy’ is to show how you are different. It is not about claiming to be better; it’s about showing what you do differently that more closely aligns with your target audience’s needs.
There is a lot of power in showing versus claiming.
If you claim to be better, it’s not believable … But if you showcase [how] you’re different and you contrast it to the other options out there, that sets up the person and empowers them to feel good about the decision and understand why they’re choosing you as their therapist. (Laura Ries)
Laura’s advice to private practitioners
Thank you! You are offering a great service to the world.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Al Ries and Jack Trout – Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
Al Ries and Laura Ries – The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
Al Ries and Laura Ries – The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR
Laura Ries – The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For
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Useful links mentioned in this episode:
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GPBC25: Using Jane to Work Smarter Not Harder, with Emma Furze and Allie Joy | POP 1266
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Meet Joe Sanok
Joe Sanok helps counselors to create thriving practices that are the envy of other counselors. He has helped counselors to grow their businesses by 50-500% and is proud of all the private practice owners who are growing their income, influence, and impact on the world. Click here to explore consulting with Joe.
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