SXSW 2013 Sampler

Marketing Is a Verb 5
That’s because your mission statement, no matter how nicely it sits
on your desk, actually doesn’t matter at all. Your mission statement is
your actions, and each person who comes in contact with your brand
can have a different experience. The statement you make to the world
about your goals and what you truly value as a business is not found on
a piece of paper. It’s found in what you do.
When your wall says that ‘‘customers are number one’’ and yet
you make them jump through hoops every time they want to return
something, ask a question, or reach a customer service agent, then they
are not number one to you. Efficiency, overhead, and not hiring enough
customer service representatives are your number one concerns.
It is simply not good enough to spend more energy deciding what
our mission statements are than we do listening to our customers. It’s
not good enough to talk about what our brand is once a year, when
we have our yearly business retreat at an overpriced destination. Our
mission statements are being written every single day by our customers.
Our values are being dictated by the actions of our employees—every
day and with every interaction people have with our brand, company,
product, or service.
If you want to be UnAwesome, consider these companies as
examples, follow their lead, and we’ll see you in the next book. 1
1Seriously, if you really fark up, shoot me an e-mail and we’ll fit you in. This guy needs
content. unawesome@un-marketing.com.