I was working with a small clothing brand that did a lot of pop-ups. When we talked about what they wanted people to associate with the brand, they used words like homey and outdoorsy.
It was almost like a log cabin that your family is sitting in with you. That's the feeling they were trying to create.
I asked, okay, cool, what are you doing for that? And the answer was, well, we say it on our website. It's on the tags.
But those are words sitting there. What else could you do to help people feel what you're talking about?
What if people could smell the words?
The suggestion I made was to think about scent. Something that reminds you of a campfire, a log cabin, or being outdoors. Could that be part of the pop-up experience?
Now, when someone walks by, they're also smelling the very words you want them to use.
That's why I like this example. Homey and outdoorsy can feel a little abstract when they're sitting in a document. But the moment you ask how someone might experience them, you have something to work with.
The brand already had a sense of the association it wanted to create. That gave us a starting point for the idea. And this is the part of marketing I find so much fun, finding ways for the words to show up in the world.
Your echoes need somewhere to live
In my Brand Echoes work, I ask what you want people to say about your brand when you're not in the room. What are the simple words, feelings, and associations you want them to remember?
Because when someone asks me about your business, you're competing with everything else in my head. My memory, my mood that day, all the other thoughts I'm having. You're asking a lot if you expect me to repeat your entire explanation.
So we get clear about the things that matter most, then find ways to keep reminding people of them. For that clothing brand, a scent was one possibility. It connected an idea they already cared about to a place where people were meeting them.
You can ask the same question about your own business. Where does someone get to experience the association you're trying to build? What happens when they meet you, open something from you, or spend time in a space you've created?
Start with one place people meet you
Choose one of your echoes and one place where people encounter your business. If you want to be known as welcoming, what would someone actually experience there? If you want to be known for making things simple, where would they feel that simplicity?
Those are questions to work through with your team. The answer has to make sense for your business and the people you're serving. You can begin with a small change to an experience you already have.
Then ask someone to describe it back to you. What words do they reach for? Do you hear the association you were trying to create?
For that pop-up, the question was, what could help people feel homey and outdoorsy before they even read the tag? For your business, what would it mean for someone to experience the words you keep using?
About this teaching
Adapted from an earlier High Velocity Radio interview with Stone Payton. The pop-up example is advice I described giving a clothing brand. It is not a report of an implemented campaign or a measured result. The recording date is unknown.
