Think about how you can embrace the big hairy monster. What can you do to start a dialogue about your monster? Can you engage your customers? Can it be reflected in your product design and your communications? Just like Wal-Mart, you’ll probably not be able to tame the monster, or even necessarily solve the problem, but you can start working on it. The key is to start a movement with momentum. Customers love it when they see consistent behavior in the right direction, and they want to support companies that face up to their big hairy monsters.

What will you need to do when someone threatens your absolute? MINI had the opportunity to protect its legacy, but when the Smart Car was introduced in the U.S., it lost its “est” (smallest) and became an “er” (smaller)—and along with it a lot of power, not only in product design but also in marketing. Try to own your “est.”

Once they’re changed, it’s time to start allowing people who work with you to use the new media to your advantage. Threadless has it dialed—its internal folks are communicating in a way that has invited passionate fans who want to participate in the culture of the company. By becoming more like a media company and putting communications at the center of your company, magic starts to happen. Think about how you might bake more
media into your products.

In addition to numbers, companies like to use place names for their products. The U.S. car industry has gotten really good at this. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work well, either. The name just doesn’t fit with the product, or at worst, it says something the product isn’t saying.

Think about your products. Is there a way to bake in names that mean something to the culture in which your products live?

Instead of just advertising the benefits, think about making the differences visible in your product design. If you do it right, not only will your products be more distinct but your competitors will also have a harder time copying them. In fact, you might want your competitors to start copying them. Think of the iPod earbuds. The white cords are so synonymous with the iPod that whenever anyone is wearing a pair of white earbuds, we all just assume that they’re carrying an iPod. Apple can just sit back, thank its competitors for helping promote its products, and start baking the next disruptive marketing idea into its next generation of products.

The Shakers had their founding story. It influenced everything they did. Think about powerful stories that are told inside your company. Is there a founding story? Herb Kelleher, the founder of Southwest Airlines, knows his. His vision for the airline was getting passengers to their destinations when they want to go, on time, at the lowest cost, and, most important, having fun doing it. This vision created a narrative that customers can connect with and employees can have a great time rallying behind. People crave a human connection with the companies whose products they buy. A cornerstone of good branding is good storytelling—but it’s a two-way street. Companies must constantly evolve their own story by listening to and understanding their customer’s stories. From here, they can create deeper, more relevant stories that evolve and continually change culture.