When a coach crafts a playbook for a team, itâs with one goal in mind: to win the game. A winning playbook understands and plays to the strengths of each member of the team, and responds with insight to the strengths and weaknesses of the competition. Followed correctly, and modified as needed, the playbook sets the stage for an undefeated season. What coaches have done for sports, Jeremy Miller has done for companies. Sticky Branding is a well-crafted winning playbook for brands, with a special view to helping small and mid-size companies compete in a crowded landscape. Youâll want to grab a copy of this highly practical guide, study it, and put it into practice. This is not just a book of theory, but one borne out of Millerâs own personal experience and research. When he set out to turnaround his family business, research and analysis uncovered a surprising key to what it would take to succeed. It wasnât the sales people or processes that needed overhauled; it was the brand of the company. This led to a major rebranding of his business, and the catalyst for research and interviews with over 1,000 CEOs and business owners, 5,000 sales and marketing professionals and profiles of over 750 companies. The result is this action-oriented book designed to help companies innovate and grow recognizable and memorable brands â what Miller calls âSticky Brands.â Sticky Branding proposes and outlines 12.5 principles to help grow your brand. The first, Simple Clarity, is perhaps the most important. This quote from the book resonated with me, because, sadly, it is so often true: "Surprisingly few companies make their brand easy to understand. They struggle to explain their business clearly. You visit their websites and leave confused. You read their brochures, watch their videos, review their case studies, and after all that you still may not know what they do.â Be sure to spend time on this first principle, as all the rest follow from there. There is a section on differentiating your brand and making it stand out âlike an orange tree in an evergreen forest.â As Brand Strategist for Orangeline Consulting, I naturally enjoyed this word picture. The third section is a highly practical read on how to grow brand awareness and drive sales. I can think of a few small-business clients who will really benefit from this section alone, and have already added some strategies to use with them to my own portfolio as a result. I particularly like the emphasis Miller places in the book on paying attention to your internal team as well as the customer-centric focus. He shares some words of wisdom from his sixth grade teacher that will be familiar to most: âMy sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Dixon, used to say, âYou were born with two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion.â This is an applicable guideline for your company too. Itâs hard to innovate if youâre not listening. Paying attention to your clientsâ needs and ideas generates so many good opportunities to serve them better.â Itâs familiar, but often overlooked, advice. Miller doesnât skimp on this section, and neither should we. Companies will do well to follow the playbook step-by-step when thinking through their relationships with customers. What I enjoyed most about the book is the thoughtful and helpful addition of practical exercises at the end of each chapter. These are worth the price of the book alone. Use them to create your own winning playbook, and you just might find youâve created, or helped someone else to create, another Sticky Brand. . About the Author Jeremy Miller is a speaker, branding consultant, and President of Sticky Branding. He can be found on Twitter (@StickyBranding) and on his company website, Sticky Branding. Get your copy of the book Sticky Branding: 12.5 Principles to Stand Out, Attract Customers, and Grow an Incredible Brand
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