Is it bragging if I tell you what I am going to do, show you how I am going to do it, and then back up all of this by making it happen?

I am a sports fan. In my lifetime, there have boatloads of players who could talk smack. You know, the boasting about how they were going to do this and they were going to do that. Most of it is all talk, no action. However, I was watching a show recently on the great NBA rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics teams of the 1980s. As the story was told, Celtics forward Larry Bird's antics as a trash talker came into the spotlight. Bird was fond of telling opposing players what the Celtics were going to do on the next play, which usually involved Bird scoring. In one particular game against the Lakers, the Celtics were down by two points with only a couple of seconds left in the game. Bird walked over to Lakers forward Michael Cooper, one of the league’s best defenders, and told him that he would be shooting a three point shot from the corner. He pointed out the exact spot on the floor where he would make the game winning shot. Then he told him how he was going to get the ball. That Cooper would try to guard him, but Bird would curl around him, take a pass and make a three point shot to seal the victory. That’s quite audacious! Not only did he tell his opponent that he was taking the shot, but he drew up the entire play for him. The most audacious part of this story is that Bird did just as he said right down to the details. And the Celtics won the game!

Now let me compare that to marketing. Marketing makes very bold statements about brands. Typically this is done with a campaign slogan that is pithy and memorable. We hope to use words that will stick in the minds of consumers so that they define our brand by the slogan. We position products and services as the best, the highest quality, the most effective, etc. When you think about what you are selling, I would imagine you have made claims about it similar to these. However, are those slogans true or are they just a bunch of empty words? If you can back up your marketing claims in those campaigns, you have given your target market a reason to buy from you.

Here is a three step process to help you make your marketing campaign slogans more than just talk.

1. Say it to make your brand distinct

Whenever you are building a successful marketing campaign, your slogan has to do two very important tasks: it has to meet the needs or wants of your target market and it has to make a distinction between you and your competition. First, define your target market. To whom are you selling? Next, make a list of how your product or service can help them solve a problem or make life easier. Next, draw up a Unique Selling Proposition. This is a statement that defines what you are doing better to meet the customers’ needs than your competition. From there, create your campaign slogan. Here is a tip: if your campaign slogan can be added to your competitor’s logo and it is true of them as it is for you, you have not made any distinction in the words you have used. You need to start over.

2. Show it to the customer

It is not enough just to state your marketing slogan, you have to show what you are saying is true. This will tie your slogan directly to your work. Some ways to do this are to post customer satisfaction testimonials, to write case studies where the use of your product or service solved a problem for a client, demonstrations of your brand at venues that attract consumers (i.e. trade shows, lunch and learns, live point-of-purchase locations – think grocery store samples, etc.) If you can show your customer not only how your product works, but how effective it is when it works, you will have something to back up your words.

3. Back it up

There is nothing more frustrating to a consumer than when something you have just purchased does not live up to its billing. It fails to work or maybe just not as well as it was marketed. If you want to be effective in marketing, you have to understand the connection between quality control and marketing. If your marketing has oversold your products and services, many would argue that you need to back off your marketing. However, I would say you need to work on your product and elevate it to meet the expectations of your customers. No one likes to buy junk.

What is happening with your marketing claims? Are you promoting your brand to make a distinction? Are you demonstrating the effectiveness of your products and services to show your customers how your brand is good for them? Are your products and services living up to your campaign slogans or is there a quality issue? If you can say it, show it, and back it up, you will have a marketing plan that will sell well with your customers.