Quotes by Tom Asacker

Within the first few seconds of meeting you or being exposed to your communications, your audience will form an impression that is easily reinforced and unlikely to change. They’ll observe your mannerisms, voice, choice of words, etc. and judge whether you are worth listening to. To cut through their innate disbelief - and very short attention span -simply push past your comfort level and be authentic! Amazingly, that’s all there is to it. Simply take off your mask - your title, your expertise, your bureaucratic language and technical jargon - and connect with them with honest, simple, and engaging language. Be on the level. Be moved to candor. Tell them what you believe and what you think. Speak the unspoken. Try it and see.

Face it. The customer service of our fathers’ days, like my father’s little full-service station, is long gone and it’s not coming back.  Customer service should now be thought of as the customer experience department, and its mandate should be to purposefully and tenaciously help the organization design the best darn customer experience possible.  Customer service is, in fact, dead.  Long live the customer experience!

Clarity should be the guiding principle behind every marketing effort. Clearness of thought. Clearness of appearance. Clearness of message. Clarity should inform every campaign, drive every question, and  rationalize every dollar spent and every piece of data captured and analyzed. Whether you’re launching a large scale branding effort, producing an event, or simply crafting an email message, follow these two steps to marketing clarity:

1. Discover. Ask yourself; are we truly clear about how to create superior value such that customers  are continuously attracted to us? And by value, I mean the qualities that render your product or  service highly desirable by your audience. It may be performance value, financial value, time value, entertainment value, identity value, or some combination. Note: Market research rarely reveals new insights into value creation.

2. Execute. Now that you understand how to create superior value, you must clearly and precisely align all spending and activities to both communicate and deliver that value. Note: If you can’t find the value in an activity, it does not exist.

"Authenticity schmauthenticity!" "Be authentic" is a hollow cry. It smells of the marketing puffery we chide. Instead, follow the lead of brand auteurs like Apple's Steve Jobs, Ronald Shaich of Panera Bread, Brin and Page of Google, and Disney's Robert Iger. Dream big! Stay tuned in to the changing marketplace.  Always be in beta. Have a fanatical attention to detail. Put your people at the heart of the brand, making sure that everyone understands his or her role in making the brand the star. And always, always put on a great show.

Facts don’t persuade, feelings do. And stories are the best way to get at those feelings.