Attention & Authenticity

Richard Heene, the father of the six year old “Balloon Boy”, got what he wanted…attention. This whole week we have heard about Heene and his antics, but at what cost? It is easy to get attention. Reality TV and the internet have created the ability for anyone to get attention. As a marketer, one of our responsibilities is to generate awareness for our company, products, and services. But that is not our sole responsibility. We all carry the responsibility of authenticity, as well.

I believe that marketers are really storytellers. We develop campaigns that tell a specific story to a specific audience. Our goal is ultimately to get the audience to purchase what we are selling, but it all starts with a story. We talk about being the fastest, smartest, biggest, smallest, or easiest. Whatever our “-est”, we build stories that demonstrate why it has value to our customers. The hard part is not telling a story, but telling an authentic story. This, to me, is branding.

Making unrealistic or inauthentic claims will ultimately damage your brand, your reputation, your sales, and your business. In the past few weeks we have seen a number of announcements from major IT vendors regarding their channel programs. Oracle and Avaya quickly come to mind. Both of these companies are telling a “channel friendly” story. The problem is that, in the past, neither of these companies has demonstrated the behaviors consistent with their claims. While the new programs appear to be positive from a channel perspective, the jury (in this case, solution providers) is still out. They want to see if the stories are authentic. I don’t want to be negative on either Oracle or Avaya, because I believe they are moving in the right direction and certainly companies can become outstanding channel champions after a period of less channel commitment. HP comes to mind.

One of my tenets to effective channel management is “mutual commitment”. This is not something that can be accomplished with a single initiative. Establishing mutual commitment takes time and consistency. That consistency spans your entire organization. It is not enough for the channel leader and channel managers to demonstrate their commitment to the channel. The executive team, sales organization, service and operations, marketing, and customer care teams all need to be part of the commitment, as well. When you achieve this level of commitment, you will have an authentic story.

Cisco, as an example, tells an authentic channel story. For years, Cisco has demonstrated commitment to the channel and greatly benefits from their consistency. Even when they mess up (yes…it is true…sometimes even Cisco makes mistakes), the channel is much more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Those that have not demonstrated the consistency in their channel strategy and commitment will likely find a much less forgiving channel.

Channel leaders…tell your stories, but make sure that you are not “Pulling a Heene” for some short term gratification at the expense of your long term relationships.