Increase the Power and Impact of Your Brand with a WOW Statement

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Are you looking to enhance your brand impact, drive sales, and achieve your revenue goals? Harnessing the power of brand messaging with category design is the key to unlocking growth and scaling your business.

In my experience, there are gaps between formal, traditional marketing statements, the pillars of marketing success, and the actual application and results of these structures. These statements are either too formal and wordy or too slapstick and trendy. The pillars used to build and define marketing efforts were based on consumer behavior of the 1950s at best. Most messaging today is meaningless and forgettable. When companies complain that their messaging isn’t working, it’s because they don’t have an actual point of view that frames the client’s problem in a relevant and innovative way. Instead, it often is a copycat approach that leaves them constantly chasing their competition. This is why category design is so important. Category design involves positioning your business as a leader within a specific market category.

Now, yes, an argument could be made that if these statements are crafted properly, then they become timeless and flexible to accommodate the market, technology, and consumer trends. But the reality is, the statements often aren’t crafted properly and the pillars can become too confining which results in organizations becoming stuck in a swamp of constantly changing, evolving, or even obsessing over something that doesn’t matter because it was never created in a way that is useable, flexible, or as a way to unify the organization or its market around a particular point of view.

 

Hence the introduction of what I call, the WOW statement.

I was initially introduced to the concept of a WOW statement by a friend and mentor of mine, Extreme Emcee, Brian Walter, founder of The Extreme Meetings Experience in his video Verbal Ping Pong. In short, he describes a WOW statement as a short conversational phrase that generates interest in what you do because no one wants to listen to your drone on and on and on and on...

Over the years in using this concept with my clients, I have found something far more powerful when crafting a WOW statement than simply answering the dreaded question, “What do you do?” When crafted correctly, the WOW statement becomes a core premise that like a slinky can expand and contract into multiple forms—creating a level of consistency, accountability, and flexibility to allow an organization to scale and become that preferred brand in the industry or with that market.

Testimonial from Linda Benson

 

The WOW statement unifies the language within the organization, with its clients, and in the market. It also translates well across different delivery methods like websites, departments, and offerings. It answers the dreaded question “What do you do”, and becomes the core of your sales pitch. Contrary to what you may be thinking, a WOW statement isn't magic. It isn't big or bad. Instead, a well-crafted WOW statement is natural, inviting, and conversational. It makes it easy for your clients, prospects, and the market to keep you top of mind. In time, it’ll convert someone to your way of thinking or to doing business with you.

As I have helped numerous clients from start-ups through international organizations craft their WOW statement, there are some common ways that I see it implemented:

  • As a TAGLINE. Think Nike: Just Do It. It gets to the point, it's sexy, and it’s easy to say and remember, but by itself, it doesn’t really mean anything on its own. It’s just used as a tagline for consumers and in marketing. This gives you a line to put on your merchandise and makes it super easy for your market to repeat a phrase that they connect with. Where a tagline is different from a WOW statement a tagline is only used as a tagline. You don't see Nike weaving this phrase into product descriptions or in any other way. A tagline has limited use and therefore must be very powerful in order to be remembered. Nike is one of the few that has a truly timeless and powerful tagline.

  • As the MISSION STATEMENT. Often the organizations I work with adopt an extended version of the WOW statement to become their mission statement
    Taking this approach gives you the benefits of a tagline and the consistency of filtering it through the organization. And yes, it can also become how you answer the question, “What do you do? A client of mine, Paths to Understanding did this. Their WOW statement (and now organization tagline) is Bridging bias. Building unity. Their mission statement is now Bridging bias and building unity through multi-faith peacemaking. That is also how they answer the question, “What do you do.” Every service they offer is connected to the organization through this purple ribbon of their WOW statement.
    A key point to note here is when I work with nonprofits, there are legal requirements/board voting requirements to change the mission statement. For some, this is a non-issue, for others it’s non-negotiable.

  • As an ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN. Some examples are Apple: Think Different, or any of Coca-Cola’s: Delicious and Refreshing, Things go better with Coke, Always Coca-Cola, Open Happiness, or Taste the Feeling.
    The WOW statement can also be used simply as a campaign slogan—meaning it will only be around for a set period of time to capture attention. Campaign slogans can end up defining a brand and ultimately become the organization’s WOW statement or even tagline, some examples where this has happened: Wheaties in 1935 started using Breakfast of Champions; Hallmark in 1934 started using When you care enough to send the very best, or John Deere in 1972 started using nothing runs like a Deere. Campaign slogans are often trendy--meaning they are relevant in the present and often become dated or the butt of jokes in the short-term future, think Gidget the Taco Bell chihuahua, "Yo Quiero Taco Bell!". A WOW statement is timeless and allows you to create a category.

  • As the foundation for CATEGORY DESIGN. When crafted and implemented correctly, the WOW statement shifts the conversation in such a different direction that it can challenge preconceived notions of expectation creating a new future as if that different future already exists. Think about what Apple did with “spatial computing” that Google, Microsoft, and Facebook all failed with when they launched their versions of AR/VR devices.

 

The WOW statement works hand-in-hand with the positioning statement so they should be able to flow together. The WOW statement is like a slinky—it's flexible in its application and conveys a powerful, usually emotionally driven value in simple everyday terms so your brand remains interesting and invites others to be curious about you. The positioning statement reveals more specific details either about the market you work with or how you provide value. Though more specific, it’s still flexible enough to allow room to grow and scale your business. My latest tagline and positioning statements are a great example of how the WOW statement is flexible enough to accommodate different situations:

  • Omicle’s WOW statement: Be Ready To Scale.®

  • Omicle’s positioning statement: Omicle delivers brand clarity, marketing strategy, and operational efficiency to prepare leaders to scale their businesses.

  • How do I answer, “What do you do”? I work with leaders to scale their businesses through brand clarity, marketing strategy, and operational efficiency.

Again, even my WOW statement isn't big, bad, or even sexy. It's simple and easy to "get". As you go through the Omicle site, you'll notice that it is woven into everything--service and product descriptions, blog posts, and even the About and bios. It's so naturally woven in, that when I meet with a prospective client, they instinctively use the words "being ready" and "scaling". They often don't even realize they are doing this and when I point it out and draw attention to their own words, it clicks. WOW statements create a simple way for you and your market to use consistent language when talking about or describing your brand and the value that you provide.

 

Our WOW Statement is the Foundation of Category Design

Our WOW statement methodology is the foundation of a forward-thinking approach to brand building called Category Design. It uses languaging to change how people think. It’s intentional. It’s specific. And, it creates a distinction between the old way and the new way to frame a new problem with a new solution that hooks your clients. When you change how people think, you can change how they act. It gives your clients a mantra—a reason to do something different. Once you have the languaging, we can help you implement it using our framework to improve your odds of dominating your market.

It’s important to note that a WOW statement is not your product or company name, as that would in time, make it generic. With a category design framework, your product or company becomes the leader within that new industry where others will follow you to compete with you.

While a WOW statement alone will not solve all of your business challenges, when crafted properly it creates consistency, accountability, and a targeted direction for your business to scale making it easier for your market to know who you are and the value that you provide. This clarity closes sales faster because a confused mind rarely buys. Here are some of our favorite WOW statements that Omicle has created for clients...oh and you may assume that each of these WOW statements is trademarked. When a WOW statement has been finalized we do recommend that the client legally trademark it...


Client WOW Statements by Melanie Asher


Would you like your own WOW statement? Omicle delivers brand clarity, marketing strategy, and operational efficiency to prepare leaders to scale their businesses. If you are ready to scale your business, contact us today to get started.

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