In this episode of the Marketing Smarts Live Show, guest Allen Adamson delves into the importance of adapting your brand to changing times.

Titled "A 'Brand Differentiation Through Experience Innovation' Conversation," the episode offers valuable insights for businesses looking to thrive in dynamic environments.

Host George B. Thomas and Allen Adamson emphasize that as the world continues to change rapidly, businesses must evolve to keep up. They discuss how businesses that are quick to adapt can use change as an opportunity for growth and differentiation.

Key Takeaways:

1. Innovate through experience. The conversation highlights the significance of creating unique customer experiences. In today's competitive landscape, offering a product or service isn't enough. Businesses need to innovate by providing memorable and engaging experiences that resonate with their audience.
2. Embrace change as opportunity. Change is often seen as a challenge, but it can be a powerful catalyst for growth. Companies that view change as an opportunity can find new ways to reach customers, improve their offerings, and stand out in the market.
3. Continually learn and improve. The importance of a mindset geared toward continuous learning is a recurring theme in the discussion . In a world where change is the only constant, businesses that are committed to learning and improving are more likely to succeed.

By embracing change, focusing on creating exceptional experiences, and committing to continual learning, businesses can not only survive but also thrive in a constantly changing world.

Check out the video for more details, and the full podcast (link below the video) for the entire insightful conversation.

Don't miss any future episodes: Subscribe to the Marketing Smarts Live Show on YouTube. And to catch up on all previous episodes, check out the full playlist on YouTube.

Episode Details, Guest Information, and Referenced Links

Episode No. 62

• Live date: December 28, 2023
• Episode link: youtube.com/watch?v=QzH3LI4cyDU
• Original podcast episode: A 'Brand Differentiation Through Experience Innovation' Conversation: Allen Adamson on Marketing Smarts [Podcast]

Guest's social media profiles:

• Twitter: @adamsona
• LinkedIn: Allen Adamson

MarketingProfs resources referenced in the show:

• Brand Transformation: When (And How) to Revitalize a Brand
• Keeping the Brand Healthy: The Annual Brand Checkup

"In B2B News" article referenced in the show:

• 4 Ways to Make B2B Marketing Less Boring

"From the #mpb2b Community" links referenced in the show:

• LinkedIn post

Transcript: Brand Differentiation Through Experience Innovation, With Allen Adamson

Hello to all my Marketing Smarts Live viewers today. I'm super excited to bring you another episode of the Marketing Smarts Live show.

This week's topic is all about A "Brand Differentiation Through Experience Innovation" Conversation.

So, if you're ready to get your learn on, buckle up and let's get ready to rock and roll.

Hey, I'm your boy George B. Thomas, speaker, trainer, catalyst, and host of this here show, the Marketing Smarts Live show, as well as the Marketing Smarts podcast found on your favorite podcast app.

Our guest clips today are brought to you by none other than Allen Adamson.

Allen Adamson is a noted industry expert in all disciplines of branding. He has worked with a broad spectrum of businesses in numerous industries.

Allen helps clients seize opportunities before the competition, activating solutions that enable them to shift ahead of the market, generating long-term value and increased brand equity.

Allen's newest book, Seeing the How: Achieving Market Advantage by Transforming the Stuff We Do, Not the Stuff We Buy, published in May 2023, focuses on the consumer experience as a competitive advantage and the ways that such a change in perspective has allowed companies to achieve dramatic growth and category leadership.

Now, remember the clips of Allen Adamson today are pulled from the full Marketing Smarts podcast episode, and if you want to listen to the full interview with Allen Adamson and myself, make sure to tune into the Marketing Smarts podcast, link to the full show will be in the description below after the live show ends.

Now, in this episode, again, I'm talking with Allen Adamson about A 'Brand Differentiation Through Experience Innovation' Conversation.

In this first clip. I wanted to ask Allen a question about Experience Innovation and what he means by this, and maybe if he could share a couple of examples.

I mean, Experience Innovation sounds complex but, I was curious. Is it?

Here's what he had to share.

Allen: It's a hard change because most successful businesses are started by engineers or someone who has invented a product, and to tell them that they shouldn't talk about their product is hard. Talk about how it works, because while you have a difference, it's not something that is going to last. In fact, the differences people are already going to know about. Let me give you a story.

FedEx is a very successful B2B company that also does B2C. For a long time, they were talking about when they first started how they got the packages to everywhere fast. They talked about all of the packages flying to Memphis and the whole thing. But at the end of the day, customers don't really care how you do it, they just want to know is it happening in time. Lots of these companies have gotten better about just telling the customers, "Your package is now in Cleveland. It will be at the store in two seconds."

Again, that's not their product, that's just telling them things that will make them worry less. It gets back to that simple thing of do less. If you're doing too much, you can't be good. Experience differentiation sounds like a big word, but small things make a big difference in experience.

Back to a customer thing. When Amazon started to deliver packages to your house, texting you a picture of the box at your door seemed like who cares about that, but that just says I better go open the door and get it, or it's there. A simple picture. For years, they would log on here and get this.

Just look at how people are living and how you might do simple things. Make it a little easier, a little friendlier, a little faster around your product, because you can't win on the product. I mean you can't win in the short term, but there are some winners.

Did you hear that?

Don't talk about the product. Talk about how the product works.

Customers don't care how you do it, they just want to know if it is getting done and when.

A big nugget I heard was around the word worry!

How do you make the customer worry less?

Does Experience Innovation = A picture of a box at your door?

If you are Amazon, it sure does.

During that clip, did you think of a way you can start implementing Experience Innovation in your organization?

Put the answer to that in the chat pane or let me know on Twitter using the hashtag #mpb2b and, of course, tag me using @georgebthomas.

We'll get back to Allen Adamson and his thoughts on A 'Brand Differentiation Through Experience Innovation' Conversation, But first, I have to ask...

Are you part of the MarketingProfs community? If not, become part of the MarketingProfs community by heading over to mprofs.com/mptoday - That's mprofs.com/mptoday.

Now, it's time for one of my favorite sections...

In the B2B News - Where we talk about breaking B2B news or really important tips we find on the Google news tab related to you and your B2B business. This week, the title is...

4 Ways to Make B2B Marketing Less Boring BY LINDSAY TJEPKEMA

Even the best B2B marketing can be forgettable and uninspiring. Instead of letting your company's B2B efforts fall short, liven them up with four proven strategies.

Traditional B2B marketing content may be data-rich and insightful, but it often falls short on character.

When was the last time you heard anyone call a whitepaper "exciting" or a case study "riveting?"

Never? Me either.

The problem is that most marketers have fallen for the myth that B2B efforts need to have a sterile, practical element. As a result, their output—while inherently valuable—falls flat in the personality department.

Want to learn 4 Ways to Make B2B Marketing Less Boring?

To read this article, check out the link below when the live show is over.

So, let's get back to Allen Adamson and his Marketing Smarts podcast episode.

In this next clip, I wanted to get Allen to unpack his brain on what mentality businesses need to have to really lean into this strategy or culture of Experience Innovation.

Here's what he wanted to share with us.

Allen: That is a challenge, because the premise is I've got it right. That used to be the way you could survive in business. You'd fix something and then you could get into if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and you could sit back, open the beer, and say, "I've done it." But as you said earlier, the pace of change is so crazy. If you just look at that as the end point, I've fixed the product or the service, I've solved the customer's problem, they're happy, every day you have to feel like you are becoming obsolete. You need a bit of this only the paranoid survive. If you don't come into the office every day realizing that yesterday you got lucky and things are changing, and if you just do the same thing you did yesterday, the only thing for sure is you'll be less successful.

I think part of it is not accepting the I've achieved it. You'll know when you've achieved it because, ultimately, sales is a good indicator of things going right. If the sales chart is going up, you're fine. But if you just say that's good, let's keep doing what we're doing, which is most of the mentality out there, you talk to people with successful businesses they say, "Business is great. We're just going to have Bob and Debbie do the same thing as always. We have no worries." Once you're into that we have no worries world, you're already in danger of becoming your father's Oldsmobile. You have to be constantly the nervous founder. Don't let your success get to your head.

Back to the other point that I said. Even small changes, like showing a picture of a package, take a long time to get right. You're better off doing a few small things and getting them right than trying to completely reinvent everything.

Did you hear that?

Times are changing for businesses and their product lifecycles.

Every day, you have to feel like you are becoming obsolete.

I like when Allen mentioned not accepting the "we achieved it" and let's keep doing what we've been doing.