I was in a social setting recently where one of the people stood up and said, “A good lead for me is anybody who….” Whoa, Chief. Your good lead is not anybody and everybody. It’s a distinct group of people. Even if you don’t know exactly who that is, picture someone from that target audience in your mind. Give them a name. Think about what they like and don’t like. Not just the stuff in relation to your business, but the issues they face and worry about. Don’t just put them in a category like 25-34, makes $75,000, etc. Those stats can be interesting as a starting point but eventually you have to fill in the space of where a human being should be with real human behaviors.

But that’s only the beginning. Start thinking about your enemies too. Nobody does this because nobody wants to think that, heaven forbid, people don’t like them. But doing so crystallizes not only who you are for but who you are NOT for. This is not a bad thing. It’s easy and fun. Think about the best brands in the world and I guarantee you there are people who can’t stand them. I’ll use myself and my agency as an example of who I’m not for.

My enemy is a guy named, oh, let’s call him Fred. And full disclaimer: Fred is NOT based on any one person but is instead a full conglomeration of elements I’ve dealt with.

Fred is a Chief Marketing Officer at a bank headquartered in Oklahoma and has been in the field for 27 years. Which is perfectly fine in itself. But Fred and me disagree on several issues.

Fred thinks, wrongfully so, the best ideas and insights are discovered by the biggest agencies. He doesn’t realize how level the playing field really is.

He is focused solely on traditional media — not that there’s anything wrong with traditional media, but he doesn’t have much of an open mind to including new media.

To justify what he believes, he often starts a sentence with “Look, I’ve been in this business for 27 years,” which, although an admirable accomplishment, is becoming a statement that means less and less in a rapidly changing technological world that can cause shifts in consumer behavior from years ago.

Fred’s not the kind of person I can see having a beer or other type of cocktail with outside of the office setting.

Rather than listen to and try to understand his target audience, Fred is a gigantic wuss who shows everyone around the office the ideas and insights created by the agency and makes decisions based on this completely unscientific poll so he can feel better about himself.

Fred isn’t much of a collaborator, which is too bad because that usually can be one of the best types of relationships.

Fred isn’t willing to talk about his budget that openly. He’d rather have me play “Guess What Number I’m Thinking Of” and bid for his business that way.

It’s not easy to put yourself out there and position yourself against certain people who would otherwise give you money. Now more than ever. But the irony is that if you don’t, you say you’re for “everybody.” Brands can never be for everyone. Not even Starbucks, Nike, McDonald’s, Apple and the other names you know. The best of them have fans. And the best of them have enemies. Do you know yours in either category?

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