Blonds Have More Fun!

In the book, The Blond Knight of Germany, American authors Toliver and Constable detail the life of the greatest fighter pilot to ever fly, Germany's Erich Hartmann. During WWII, Hartmann recorded 352 confirmed in-flight victories. To put it into perspective, very few American fighter pilots reached 100 in-flight victories. Simply put, Erich Hartmann reached levels of greatness most fighter pilots can only dream about.

Would you like your business to achieve such levels of greatness? A common way to learn from the success of others is to look at what they did and adapt it to your situation. Here are two ways Hartmann reached success, use them to turn your company's brand into a Blond Knight.

1) Know Your Enemy: "If you are unable to beat your enemy at his own game, it is nearly always better to adopt some striking variant." - Winston Churchill (intro to Chapter 4 of The Blond Knight of Germany.)

Hartmann's Use: He created a Pilot's Handbook of Enemy Strength that outlined all of the planes his enemies flew. It detailed the strengths and weaknesses and the best approaches in defeating them. He was rarely surprised by what the enemy was capable of doing.

Your Use: Don't depend on your personality and hard work to propel your brand beyond the competition. Learn all you can about your products, your field, your competition, future competition, etc. Find out what you are up against and plan your strategy accordingly. Having a good idea, being honest, and providing "great customer service" are not guarantees to the success of your brand. Knowing your enemy's strengths/weaknesses and how you honestly match up against them (and acting on this knowledge) is the greatest insurance for your brand's success.

2) Be First: "If you can't be first, create a category in which you can be." - Al Ries & Jack Trout

Hartmann's Use: Erich Hartmann said it best, "The pilot who sees the other first already has half the victory." Playing catch up is not a fun position when you are thousands of feet in the air.

Your Use: Catch up also is not fun when thousands of your dollars are at stake. Avoid playing catch up by creating a new category. Even the slightest difference in focus can establish you as a category leader - instead of another brand in an overcrowded category. Dell computers built their brand on selling direct to the consumer. Started in 1984 by a college student (soon-to-be a college drop-out,) Dell computers currently ranks as the leader in most computer manufacturer categories across the globe. Competitors such as IBM and HP have now tried to offer consumer-direct service. However, Dell was first in the category and it appears they will stay that way.

Erich Hartmann used a one-two punch combination of Know Your Enemy and Be First to become the best fighter pilot in history - The Blond Knight. You can use the approach to help build your brand. Performed with confidence, this combination is sure to grow your business. Meaning: more customers, more profits, more enjoyment - that proves it, blonds (blond brands that is) do have more fun!

Kevin Kearns is a small business branding coach. He holds a Master of Science degree in Organization Development and is a member of the Coachville Graduate School of Coaching. With a mixture of hands-on experience, research, and fun, Kevin helps you become the only choice for your customers. Visit http://www.kevinkearns.com/newsletter.html to join The Branding Bunch - a community made of small business owners that want to grow their business the easy way.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Branding Information:

Related Articles

Simple Risk Reversal Formula Will Send Your Sales Into Space (2 of 2)
Make A Bold Promise Then Back It Up With An Awesome GuaranteeWe finished the last article with a mnemonic..
Branding: What Not to Do
Here's a little story about what not to do as you carve out a name for yourself in the world of internet business.Don't use a miscellaneous email account as your primary web contact address.
Brand Identity - Corporate Identity and Brand Value
Companies work hard building the strength of their brands - it is critical to the ongoing brand management process to have meaningful and actionable data-driven measures of these efforts.Building a brand, cultivating its strengths, pruning its weaknesses, and making it more valuable to its owners is the bottom line job of marketing.
Brand Identity Guru - Is Your Brand Vital?
The world is not waiting for you?or your product or service. Or your firm.
Three Brand Identity Myths That Will Bring Your Business Down
To begin, let's define "Brand Identity," which is the combination of consistent visual elements that are used in your marketing materials. A basic Brand Identity Kit consists of a logo, business card, letterhead, and envelope.
Quick Tactics To Brand Your Business And Make More Sales
This may come as a surprise..
When Search Engine Marketing and Trademarks Collide
In the world of marketing, branding issues are always an important part of any campaign. Companies work hard for their name to be recognized as a quality organization and a leader in their field.
Planning Ahead With Your Designer: Tips For Design Consistency With Your Logo And Brand Elements
While we recommend that you contract with the same designer or design team while creating your brand identity materials as possible, we know that this scenario is not always possible.Whenever you work with a designer other than the original who created your logo, stationery and marketing materials, we suggest a few practices that will prove invaluable for ensuring a consistent look and feel across all of your marketing communications.
Branding: You are the Brand
What's in a brand name? Everything! Think of these brands: Coke, Barbie, Hershey, McDonalds, Madonna, Pepsi, Bono, Microsoft, Kleenex, Xerox, Steven Spielberg, Dell and GM. Did you notice that brands can be things, replicas of people and actual people? Brands are the public perception of a thing or person.
Personal Branding: Characteristics of a Strong Personal Brand
How many times have you been at a networking function and been lost for words when asked "what do you do"?We all have. But do you see this as a threat or an opportunity?Developing a Personal Branding Statement or PBS can be a powerful way to help market yourself to prospects, clients or potential employers.
Nike / Sears / Kmart
The Sears-Kmart merger hopes to fabricate some sort of silver lining for both retailers but instead seems to embody the inevitable philosophy of "going down together." Kmart, an already sinking ship, certainly worsens conditions for Sears, and Sears does not have a strong enough current to keep Kmart afloat when there are enterprises like Wal*Mart and Target constantly blasting holes in the stern with brand messages of "smart and classy.
Counterfeit Branding - Representing True Globalisation!
From cigarettes to fashion accessories to food products to medicines, more than 50% of the global market are filled with counterfeited products. Do you realise that the Nike t-shirt that you are probably wearing right now may not even exist in the design portfolio of Nike Inc.
Top Eight Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Your Business
Naming a business is like laying the cornerstone of a building. Once it's in place, the entire foundation and structure is aligned to that original stone.
10 Secrets for Free Media Placement
Why pay a high priced PR agent when you can get free media placement to promote your product, service, or book?Follow these top ten tips for 2005 and it willbe your most profitable year yet!1. Write an attention grabbing headline.
Brand Positioning - Brand Image
That cross-trainer you're wearing -- one look at the distinctive swoosh on the side tells everyone who's got you branded. That coffee travel mug you're carrying -- ah, you're a Starbucks woman! Your T-shirt with the distinctive Champion "C" on the sleeve, the blue jeans with the prominent Levi's rivets, the watch with the hey-this-certifies-I-made-it icon on the face, your fountain pen with the maker's symbol crafted into the end .
No Logo? Launching A Business Without a Logo Can Sabotage You
Initial lack of customers and cash flow often causes a small business to put off designing a logo and marketing materials professionally "until [they] got a few clients" or "until [they] get started." Designing their own marketing materials when they launch their business, instead of having them professionally created, will make getting those initial clients more difficult, and may result in a business that will not succeed.
The Very Basics of Design
Design is a very subjective thing, therefore, if you ask me how to come up with a first class design for your marketing collateral or publishing mediums, it would be very unfair for me or anyone else to tell you what is a good design and what is a bad design. But there are certain elements and principles that we should look for in a design to determine whether the design and layout of the material will be able to carry the message across effectively to the readers and your potential market.
Why Having A Niche Automatically Boosts Your Credibility - Become The Expert by Getting Focused
Yes, yes, we've heard it all before..
Santa - The Brand
Every Christmas Eve, a burglar named Santa busts into homes around the world, but he has never been charged with B&E. He has one of the best, most positive brands around and it continues to inoculate him against any hint of impropriety, as it has for generations.
Do What Works
"Can you hear me now?"You'd be hard pressed to find someone in the US who doesn't know the company behind that question.So why do big companies, like Verizon, hammer us with the same message over and over? Because it works.