Marty Neumeier, Director of Transformation at Liquid Agency, on How to Build Better Brand Skills

Unconventional Genius

My guest on this week’s Unconventional Genius is Marty Neumeier, Director of Transformation at Liquid Agency, a branding agency located in San Jose, CA. He joins me to talk about how to build better brand skills. Marty’s mission is to help business owners and leaders accomplish their goals and more effectively serve customers. During our conversation, he shares his wisdom on how to develop personal skills, leverage a competitive business edge, and set yourself apart with a fantastic, memorable brand.

Marty is the author of a few of my favorite books including "ZAG", "Brand Gap", and "Brand Flip." He consults with the leaders and executives of some of the world’s leading companies while writing and speaking on the topics of business strategy, design, and innovation.

How to robot-proof your career

One day Uber drivers are going to be replaced by autonomous cars. Many jobs that are done by humans will eventually be done by robots. Work naturally trends toward automation. Marty Neumeier has some ideas about how to avoid falling victim to that trend.

He explains his term “robot curve” by saying, “The robot curve is a constant waterfall of obsolescence and opportunity that’s driven by technological change.” He goes on to say that there is a downward pressure on the cost and value of work. However, our goal should be to fight against complacency by investing our time in creative and skill-based work.

5 metaskills that you should start developing now

Living in an age where robots could potentially threaten your livelihood sounds scary. But it also opens up opportunities not only to develop new skills but to consider what it really means to be human. Marty Neumeier is an advocate for developing what he calls metaskills. He says that metaskills are master skills that help you learn how to learn. He describes 5 metaskills that everyone should develop in order to be more effective and irreplaceable in the robotic age.

Knowing about metaskills is the first step. Using those skills is the next and perhaps most important action. Applying metaskills every day means thinking differently about the ordinary activities and considering how to do them better or more creatively. Listen to this conversation to learn more about these important metaskills and how they can help you build better brand skills.

Brand strategy vs. business strategy

Brand strategy and business strategy might seem very different, but they are actually complementary. Marty Neumeier says that business strategy is about company goals and prioritization, whereas brand strategy is more directed towards how the customer views the company. If a company fails to achieve alignment with these two business aspects there can be issues both internally and externally.

In the past, if you wanted to create a barrier to competition you just had to have more money or less overhead than a competitor. However, now the best barrier to competition is brand. Helping customers make a space in their buying and decision-making process for your business gives you a competitive edge. Listen as Marty explains how customers are now doing the work of creating barriers to competition for you.

Building better branding skills by elevating expectations

In what product or service category does your brand stand alone? In what area are you the only company doing a particular thing? Marty Neumeier calls this only-ness and he says It is the strictest test of a brand platform. If you have an only-ness factor in a category, then you can uniquely attract and keep customers.

Marty has once said, “There are no boring brands, just boring expectations” I love that quote.When leading a company, there are two areas of expectation that have to be managed. Companies need a visionary leader who can set expectations and also manage them through positive reinforcement and reward. Hear all about that and much more during this podcast with genius Marty Neumeier.

If you are with a consumer technology company planning to launch a new product at CES or are even looking ahead to CES 2019, the Max Borges Agency can help you succeed. To learn more, check out: www.maxborgesagency.com.

Topics Featured In This Episode

• [1:07] Introduction of Marty Neumeier, Director of Transformation at Liquid Agency
• [1:47] What is the obsolescence and opportunity of the robot curve
• [5:42] Marty Neumeier explains the 5 metaskills
• [8:32] How you can apply metaskills into your daily life
• [18:23] The differences and similarities between brand strategy and business strategy
• [20:58] How to use brand strategy to create a barrier to competition
• [24:57] Raising expectations for a company’s brand in 2 specific areas
• [28:11] Marty Neumeier talks about his favorite companies and books

Resources & People Mentioned

• Metaskills
• The Brand Gap

Connect with Guest Name

• Marty Nuemeier

Connect With Max Borges

• www.MaxBorgesAgency.com
• LinkedIn

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