PHILOSOPHY
FIND YOUR CASTLE
In 2013 I was attending a DTC Symposium and the GM of a large Napa winery was sitting on a DTC panel. He was being scoffed at by room full of DTC Managers who were not taking him seriously because his specific winery has a castle. The perception was that they could not possibly make wine that was taken seriously and could therefore not relate to the challenges of the group. The GM asked how many people in the room had visited the castle. Only a few hands went up. He asked how many had tasted the wine. Again, only a few hands.
This was his response:
"Our winery and castle see millions of visitors per year. And you know what, the wine is good too. But hey, I get it, we don't need wine. We have a castle. My advice to everyone in this room is, FIND YOUR CASTLE."
This resonated with me on so many levels. We cannot all travel to Italy to bring a castle back bit by bit, but what we can do is figure out what makes a brand special, what makes a brand unique, and tell that story.
That is a brand's castle.
What's your castle?