5 things I would do differently for my brand

There are literally a million ways you can market your brand, but for every right way there is also a wrong way. The last thing your brand needs is any sort of marketing blunder; emergency rebranding, PR disasters, mixed messaging and, in the case of a franchise, the loss of franchisees, is no fun for anyone. Luckily, we tapped the mind of marketing superhero and Thought District’s Founder and CEO Eric Dinger for his top 5 tips on what any brand, whether a startup or a well-established institution, should follow in order to achieve success and endless adoration from consumers. Note: Neither 1851 Magazine or Mr. Dinger can guarantee endless adoration, but following these tips should definitely help. Tip 1: Remember that customer experience, company culture and your brand are largely indivisible. Tip 2: Create a brand promise and standards you’ll sacrifice profit for to uphold. Tip 3: Listen to your franchisees’ ideas - many of the good ones come from them (Big Mac, anyone?) Tip 4: Commit to being completely transparent about the things on which you’re spending franchisees’ marketing royalties. Tip 5: Seek to build a high fence , that noticeable differentiation between your brand and that of your competitors. Eric Dinger is the Founder and CEO of Omaha-based Thought District. Providing creative answers to business problems is Thought District’s chief’s bread and butter. He spreads it with a knife razor-sharpened on business-model innovation and strategy building through direct, successful work with companies’ C-Suite. The founder of TD, he’s evolving it the same way he helps advance its clients — by turning big picture, outside-the-box thinking into executable actions to produce tangible returns on investment. Story by Ben Heinemann