Skip links

Main navigation

Wylie & Co.

A Strategic Partner For Your Marketing Goals

Business Tips

By

Are You Stuck In The Middle Status Conformity Trap?

I’m a bookworm. I feel no shame in saying that. Lately, I’ve been engrossed in Originals: How Non-Conformists Move Through The World by Adam Grant. I’m about halfway through but one of the concepts that stuck out to me was the idea of the middle-status conformity effect. Grant writes that in looking at the hierarchy of an organization, those at the top felt they had more freedom to deviate from the norm and be trailblazers. Likewise, those at the bottom had little to lose and everything to gain by bucking the status quo. It was the folks in the middle — who incidentally make up the bulk of the employees — who felt they had the most to lose from rocking the boat and thus fought to maintain the norms so as to not jeopardize their standing. So basically, we have a ton of middle managers out there who are not thinking outside the box and who are much more likely to also shoot down new and original ideas from their subordinates. Not great for business, right?

This concept was striking to me because I’ve seen it play out with clients time and time again. Hell, I’ve felt it myself. When I first went out on my own as an entrepreneur, I had nothing to lose. I tried new ideas, pivoted my business when it wasn’t working, failed and tried and failed again. But as I continued to grow my business and become more known for the work I do, I felt much more nervous about trying completely new things or adding new aspects to my business. I had more to lose if things didn’t work out.

The same is true for the business owners and brand managers I talk to who are struggling to incorporate more of themselves into their brand. Who feel compelled to do things in a different way to better connect with their core customers but fear alienating their other customers or facing backlash from the general public. So they continue to do things as they’ve always been done and as a result don’t stand out in the market. It’s hard to take a risk when you’ve reached a certain point in your life or business, even if that risk will bring more gains.

Are you a woman of color looking to reconnect with yourself and form new bonds all while going on an adventure? Check out Color Outside: a 4 day adventure retreat for women of color.

For the past few months, I’ve been working on an adventure retreat for women of color here in Salt Lake City. If I’m honest, I dragged my feet on creating the experience even though I knew I really wanted to because I felt that it didn’t make sense with the current structure of my business. But once I cut through all of my own negative self-talk and doubt, I realized that advocating for more diversity in the outdoor space was in fact very much in line with the core values we practice here at Wylie & Co. I think it’s important for all spaces to reflect the richness and diversity of our actual world. Representation matters and I’m excited to help do my part to change the face of the outdoor industry by hosting adventurous women of color here in Salt Lake City at the end of September for a 4-day retreat. I’ve already seen the positive results from organizing the retreat and am excited about the new opportunities and avenues this will open up for my business.

Do you have an idea for your brand that seems out there but is connected to your brand’s core values? What could you do to start moving that idea forward? The world, after all, belongs to the Originals. Don’t get stuck in the middle status conformity trap.

Are you a woman of color looking to reconnect with yourself and form new bonds all while going on an adventure? Check out Color Outside: a 4 day adventure retreat for women of color.

By

Why Customers Will Forgive Your Mistakes

When I talk to brand managers and other social media strategists, the #1 reason they give for not wanting their brand to take a stand on issues is that they’re afraid of doing the wrong thing and being on the wrong end of a backlash. I’m not going to lie. This is a valid concern. We see it happen time and time again where “well meaning” brands dip their toe into an issue and it backfires. It happens. But I still counter that having your brand have a discernible set of core values that it stands behind is far more beneficial than risky.

Dove is one of those brands. They’ve made it very clear over the last decade that they stand behind all women embracing their real beauty. They’ve launched campaign after campaign. They’ve started the Dove Self-Esteem Project with the mission to ensure that the next generation grows up enjoying a positive relationship with the way they look. Most recently, they’ve partnered with Shonda Rhimes to start Real Beauty Productions, a new collaborative studio that will create stories based on real women’s lives and experiences.

Dove is absolutely walking their talk.

Why there is no backlash from women who love the Dove brand, even when the brand makes mistakes

And so, when the UK arm of the brand released a line of Dove Body Wash bottles that were designed to resemble the many shapes of a woman’s body (a short & curvy one! a tall & slender one!), it was a little weird. It seemed like they had gone a step too far and were looking for cheap, surface wins rather than the deep, engaging ones they had been known for. It was a misfire. But you know what, that’s ok. Since Dove had committed to doing the work for women and young girls and has continuously shown their dedication, it was not so terrible for them to shoot and miss on one campaign. Also, since they’ve put countless hours and dollars into researching these issues and have hired teams of women who understand these concerns, their misstep wasn’t insulting and hurtful.

When you’ve clarified what it is your brand stands for. Go deep into it. Research the issue, hire people who understand it and who have lived it. Start small and continue conveying why it’s important to you and your brand. Then one day when you make a small mistake, your community will be there for you and it’ll just be a small blip on an otherwise amazing brand story.

By

Everything Is Personal

Are your personal brand and your pro brand the same the same thing?

Short answer? Yes.

Long answer? Here goes:

We’re of the belief that everything is personal. Today’s consumers are savvy and they want to know who is behind the brands they support. They want to believe that the brands they’re giving their hard earned cash to, deserve it. Do their values line up with mine? Or at the very least, they want to make sure the brand’s values are not in direct opposition with their own personal values.

The more you’re able to infuse you and your unique values into your brand, the stronger connection you’ll be able to build with your community. This also means that you’ll repel those who disagree with you, but this is good. When it comes to branding, you want your community to include your most fervent supporters.

What does this look like?

Infuse you and your unique values into your brand to build a stronger connection with your community.

Here at W&Co., it’s no secret that we think diversity matters. We believe that building inclusive communities and creating reflective marketing campaigns are two of the most important things we can do, for our clients and for society. It’s built into our core values as a company and is spread into everything we do — from the clients we take, to the influencers we work with, to the copy we write. Does this turn some prospects off? Sure does. But the brands who are looking for a human-centered marketing agency that champions diversity know immediately that we’re their people. Because our core values are baked into our agency culture, they’ll continue to be there as we grow. It’s the same for your brand. Ask yourself:

  1. Why do you do what you do?
  2. What is profoundly important to you?
  3. What is the intersection points between your skills, your passion, and what the world needs?
  4. What are your standards for yourself? Your non-negotiables?
  5. Who do you want to help?
  6. What problems can you solve?

How you answer these questions impacts the way you do your work. Of course, having a strong personal brand that ties in with your professional brand doesn’t mean your private life is up for grabs. You can still decide to be a private person while creating a business brand that is driven by your personal mission.

How do you infuse your brand with your personal mission?

By

When Good Bloggers Do Bad

Recently, beauty brand L’Oreal, announced that 15 digital influencers would take part in their year long program called the “L’Oréal League.” The influencers will create content and promote L’Oréal across their social channels. To take part in this program, the brand is paying influencers anywhere from $40,000 to more than $100,000, depending on reach and engagement.

I’ve been blogging for more than 6 years. One of the first things that you learn is the importance of disclosing any sponsored work in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Act, which in its most basic definition, that you have to let readers know through “clear and conspicuous disclosure” that you are getting paid to post on your blog or social media channels. It’s as simple as using “#Ad”, “Ad:”, or “Sponsored” at the beginning and/or end of your posts. It lets people know that you are posting advertisements for the brand.

Sometimes brands (and bloggers) try to get sneaky with these disclosures. They will use disclosures like “#Sp” or “Spon,” hoping to sneak by those pesky FTC requirements so their readers may not recognize that they are paying or being paid for their work. The FTC doesn’t like sneaky. Those kinds of disclosure can be deemed as an improper disclosure because it’s not clear to consumers and they aren’t able to differentiate advertising from other content.

And that’s exactly what L’Oreal and some of the digital influencers did. These bloggers used inconspicuous disclosures like “#LOrealPartner” and “#lorealleague” instead of proper disclosures.

These are not new or “small” bloggers. These are established bloggers with huge followings. These are bloggers who make up to $100,000 a deal! These bloggers know better. These bloggers were trying to skirt the system because as mentioned in the article, “An array of recent studies has shown that millennials do not respond most heavily when they know something is an ad”

Consumers are not stupid. Most people can figure out the difference between sponsored and not sponsored content. They see it enough to know. Most people also know that if a blogger is working with a brand, they’re getting paid for it.

So why would a big brand and bloggers take such a chance? I’ll be curious to see how the rest of this plays and what the brand and bloggers have to say.

Written by Natalie Hoage, Brand Manager for Wylie & Co.

Save

By

How To Successfully Pitch Influential Bloggers

photo credit

Working with bloggers who provide honest reviews and features of a product is a smart way for brands to reach out to a new or existing audience.

Our resident blogger, Natalie, receives several pitches every day. Some of those pitches are good and some of them are terrible. You wouldn’t believe how many people just copy and paste their pitch into an email or pitch with a product that doesn’t even apply to her life or family (which is a tell tale sign that they didn’t even bother to do any research.)

These 6 tips from BlogPRWire will help you successfully pitch bloggers so that they will be excited to work with your brand! http://bit.ly/1RRXx31

Save

By

Times Are Changing, And So Is SEO

“Something has been happening on our favorite social channels. Over the last year Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat have each released a collection of new features, which on their own would be mildly remarkable, but collectively signify a massive shift in the priorities of social channels.” – Meghan Keaney Anderson, Why You Won’t Recognize SEO in Five Years

image

Do you know what it is? It’s the ability to search inside your favorite social media channel. Wondering if that rumor about your favorite celeb is true? You can search for it on Facebook. Or search by the hashtag on Twitter. See if they posted about it on Snapchat.

No matter where you are or what you’re doing, if you have a smartphone you have access to the internet. And that’s why SEO is changing. Over 60% of internet use takes place on mobile phones, meaning that people aren’t sitting in front of a desk Googling keywords to find what they’re looking for. People are searching via social media channels and apps.

Search trends are changing. Has your brand considered an app to stay in touch with your audience? Are you engaging with them on your social media channels so that they’ll look to you for breaking news? Are you producing high quality content to position yourself as an expert? How will you position your brand to continue to capture an audience who is searching for you all over the place?

written by Natalie Hoage, Brand Manager for Wylie & Co.

Save