Kathy Rhodes, author of First Draft (one of our Mojo Friends down in the left margin, I might add) has a bone to pick with the big blue ball. Kathy’s husband, Charlie, recently passed away. Charlie was a 20-year business customer of AT&T. Obviously, his business phone line now has to be disconnected. And, on a technicality, good ole AT&T sent Charlie (who is deceased, mind you) a bill for $360 in order to fulfill the remainder of the contract, along with a warning not to breach.

Really, it just boggles the mind.

I might suggest to AT&T that, if they’re going to bill their dead customers for time unused (how dare you die before your term is up!), then they might want to modify their mission statement to read, “to connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, both here and in the hereafter, and do it better than anyone else.”

An elevator pitch (or elevator speech) is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100-150 words).

A variety of other people, including entrepreneurs, project managers, salespeople, evangelists, job seekers, and speed daters commonly use elevator pitches to get their point across quickly.

Christian Bale is by far the best batman…sorry Michael. Dark Knight is one of the better movies I’ve seen this year. In preparation for the movie, I had to go back and watch Batman Begins yet again just to get in the mood, of course. The key line of the movie…the moral of the story, I suppose…caught my attention.

“It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.”

Now, the obvious connection here on this blog is, clearly, that it’s the experience you create for your consumers that ultimately defines your brand. Forget the bloated annual ad budgets. Consumers know you by what you do…or, more to the point, by the experience you create.

Marketing is a battle of perception, not products. So, it doesn’t matter if your product or service is the greatest thing ever…it doesn’t matter if your operation is as efficient as a new water hose…it doesn’t matter…none of it.

It’s not who you are underneath, but what YOU do that defines you.

I was sitting on the couch this morning with my dog Bailey, as I do every morning, drinking my freshly-made smoothie, watching Fox & Friends. And, suddenly, there was Kathy Ireland. Now, I’m a child of the 80’s, so I remember Kathy Ireland…mostly from the early Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues. Apparently, however, Kathy found life and purpose beyond the bikini and was talking about her billion-dollar brand.

If “brand” is a common word, or a set of experiences, memories, emotions, images, and reactions, then “branding” is the act of intentionally creating those things. It’s the steps YOU, as a business owner, can take to encourage positive interaction with your consumers. It’s the act of building a relationship between an idea (your business) and your consumer.

This act is best exemplified when you stop to consider what a successful brand looks like. There are countless definitions, I’m sure. I ran across one this morning that I like better than any other I’ve ever read: a successful brand is a brand whose self-esteem value far exceeds its utility.

Fox News ran an AP story this morning about Starbucks’ new incentive. The incentive basically states that if you buy a Starbucks beverage in the morning, then you can bring your receipt back after 2PM and get another beverage for $2. That’s about 50% off the normal price of a Starbucks beverage.

Starbucks blames a healthy portion of their recent weakness on consumer spending, gas prices, and a faltering economy. And some of that might ring true. However, the National Coffee Association revealed in their 2008 report on trends that daily gourmet coffee consumption is up 3% over last year and that the average number of cups per day is up this year for the third year in a row. So, one can deduce that consumers are, in fact, buying and drinking gourmet coffee.

Just not at Starbucks. At least, not as much as in years past. Why?

It’s an easy pit to fall into…come on, who among us wouldn’t want to have a store on every corner in America? If only we could remember the little rule about scarcity…we want what we can’t have…we want what the other guy doesn’t have because it sets us apart as unique. It’s the crossroads of the ego and the id. And, it’s a story as old as Eve and the apple.

Deep down, every consumer would love to be the black sheep…the rebel…the trendsetter. So, when brand supply goes off the charts, it stops suggesting that its consumers are unique, and begins to reek of mainstream. And, thus, brand demand begins to dissipate as consumers trot off through the garden in search of the next forbidden fruit.

Mojoloco welcomes a new client to the family! Kami, as she is professionally known, is a public speaker engaging the platform of “the power of one, exponentially.” Kami is preparing to take this message of hope, joy, and accountability to churches and faith-based organizations across the country in the spring of 2009.

Mojoloco is working on a Brand Summary, a corporate identity, and a 12-month plan. We’re excited to see Kami’s message come together as the coming tour approaches!