After 20 years in the business, branding coach Gair Maxwell had a few nuggets of advice to offer Moose Jaw business owners at his keynote presentation.
Titled “Big Little Legends,” the two-day seminar detailed the ways in which businesses can build themselves what Maxwell calls “an irresistible brand.”
Those businesses’ brands —the ones with a magnetic pull he likens to Apple, Nike, or Ferrari — are built using great stories as a foundation point.
“Basically, what's at the heart of this is: do you have a story? And does your story separate you, in terms of differentiation from the rest of the crowd or whatever space you compete in?” said Maxwell. “Because being different beats being better.”
He then pairs this idea of choosing a story with understanding of where the majority of the audience lies: online.
“This is the first year where spending on advertising on digital platforms is exceeding that of television,” said Maxwell.
He recommends business owners follow the trends; in the past decade, the rise of social media platforms and content creators has created an online space focused on connectivity. In terms of branding, it's a mecca of possibility.
Adapting to change is extremely important, said Maxwell, but he also noted that there are some things that are unchangeable and still very important as well. People will always gravitate towards other people and their stories.
The trick, according to Maxwell, is combining the language of branding, which is metaphorical and emotional in nature, with the language of business, which is logical and literal.
“Without the metaphorical, without the meaningful, without the emotional, you become very one dimensional,” said Maxwell. “Business leaders in the 21st century have to learn to speak both languages.”
The recent rebranding of Moose Jaw as Canada’s Most Notorious City is one example that Maxwell is proud of — he finds that the change is fresh, flexible, and exactly the kind of story-telling platform set up to produce success.
“The ‘Notorious’ thing is universal and it can be applied to anything. It's one of those words that Moose Jaw, only Moose Jaw, can own and they can own it forever,” said Maxwell. “And this is the equivalent, for Moose Jaw, of what Nike did with ‘Just do it.’”
Future success, he said, will depend on business owners embracing the word and living the story, to get the public to also live the story.
Maxwell’s seminar asked business owners the questions necessary to develop their stories and to get them on the path towards building their own magnetic brand. The rest, he said, is up to them to take the risk and be the leader who tries to move forward.
“That's the most misunderstood thing about what I do, is that people think it's about marketing or they think it's about branding, and they don't get it,” said Maxwell. “It's about leadership.”
