Build a better brand evangelist
Years ago, we took a tour of a whisky distillery in Scotland. The distillery we went to had been recently purchased into a larger brand headquartered in a distant city. The local receptionist at this distillery was still getting used to the new owners. As we stood around waiting for the tour to start, she made idle chit-chat with us.
“You should have come for a tour a couple of weeks ago before we got bought,” she said. “This whisky was much better.”
“Are you saying this whisky is not very good?” I asked.
“Not so much that,” she said, wearing the new company’s logo on her shirt. “But this is a blend of several malts. This distillery used to be dedicated to a single malt.”
“That was better,” she said.
This was not a ringing endorsement for people about to tour a distillery.
The local receptionist was not a great brand evangelist for the whisky. According to Neil Patel, a brand evangelist is a “person who believes in your product or service so fervently that he or she aggressively promotes it to others.” But she was memorable. Maybe she was skeptical of the new distant owners. Maybe she really thought the whisky was inferior. But her counterintuitive and perhaps very Scottish comments stuck with us because the new brand had invested lots of cash in our flashy walking-tour experience.
The best brand evangelists love what the brand does for them. For whisky drinkers, that looks like layers of flavor that blend sweet, savory, and peaty elements. For any of us, when the brand we use accomplishes some task easier, better, or faster, we can become sold on the brand. If it works well enough, that product becomes remarkable and we tell others.
But how do you hire people who will serve as brand evangelists?
As a copywriter who works with a number of brands, I am always eager to find my way into the heart of the brand. At Livingston Communication, we’ve had the good fortune of working with clients who were very deliberate in helping us feel the passion of the brand and see the mission that motivates their work. Here are four steps our clients have used to help build spokespeople for their brand.
Verbalize the bigger picture in a conversation.
Copywriters need context. The more context you give them, the better. One global medical device client had us interview dozens of engineers and scientists to understand how they innovated. We were helping the company track and promote how ideas turned into products, and those ongoing interviews helped highlight the pieces and steps along the way.
But on a personal basis, ongoing discussions with these innovation stakeholders produced a lot of enthusiasm for the task and all the moving parts involved. These conversations built on the vision for innovation, which helped us write better copy. We could see how the organization’s mission fed the process—even when the employees occasionally lost sight of that mission.
Schedule regular “this just in” conversations.
These regular conversations do two things: they keep projects front and center and keep them on track. But the bigger work these conversations do is continually laying down the context from the insider’s perspective. That is critical for copywriters hired to promote the brand because we need to hear about the brand from all directions.
We need to compare the insiders’ perspective to what we are learning from the outsiders’ perspective. We need to hear how the staff understands what is happening in the market and how recent developments affect the view of the brand. The more honest these conversations, the more fodder we have to create engaging messaging for the target audiences.
Describe what works and why.
Our understanding of a task leaps ahead when we see an example close to our client’s heart. Usually, performance statistics speak volumes, but if you have a favorite piece of communication that you feel really did well, that will help us immensely. Getting a bearing on what you see as important and useful is a strong step forward for a copywriting team.
Expect trust and capacity to grow.
Trust grows when the client observes the wise handling of the brand. When you see your copywriting partner come to understand nuance and then explain things in an even better way, well, that is what a successful transfer of passion and mission looks like.
Ongoing conversations help copywriters and clients move deeper into a brand. The best messaging will always reflect the passion and mission at the brand’s heart.
###