Transcript Are you a secret weapon? - Executive Assistant Network

Are you a ‘SECRET’ weapon?
Maria Carlton
Compass Development Group Ltd
The Greatest PA Ever?
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
While J-Lo was still in Nappies…
Wonder Woman aka
Diana Prince was a 5
Star, 1 Woman BRAND
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
What makes a secret weapon?
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Always Ready for Action!
Knows what’s going on –
everywhere
Understands the business
he/she’s in
More commonsense than
ambition
Has great motivation
Knows how to get and use
information wisely
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
A Brand vs Brand Values?
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A brand is the immediately identifiable
essence of all that you are or a company is.
It is the intangible things that tell people what
they can expect to find based on previous
experiences of that brand.
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It is NOT a Logo or just a ‘look’. It is all the
things that make the brand stand apart from
it’s competitors
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
Brand Values are…
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What makes a brand unique. What gives it
personality, and substance. The guidelines that give
the brand a special identity and purpose.
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For example: Innovation, Creativity, Honesty,
Quality, Freedom, Loyalty, Value, Expensive,
Rugged, Dependability, Generosity, Luxurious, Fast,
Steady, Safe, Tasty, Efficient, Reliable,
Conservative…
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
Don’t you
want to be a
strong brand
too?
Brand Values
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Let’s talk …
AIRLINES
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Qantas
Virgin
Air NZ
Singapore
Jetstar
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CARS
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BMW
Lexus
Ferrari
Chrysler
VW
Ford
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
Exercise:
Innovation, Creativity, Honesty, Quality, Freedom,
Loyalty, Value, Expensive, Rugged,
Dependability, Generosity, Luxurious, Fast,
Steady, Safe, Tasty, Efficient, Reliable,
Conservative, Warmth, Comfort, Adventure,
Leadership, Teaching, Beauty, Catalyse, Win,
Superior X, Freedom, Choice…
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
How much do you
consider your
company brand in
your everyday life?
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
Back to being a secret weapon…
Why can’t
you be a 
secret
weapon?
NO Reason!
What’s your boss’s
bottom line ???
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He’s (probably) run by
accountants
The little things matter
Dollars are in the
details
Your eyes are more wide
open than his/hers
Keep your eyes and ears
open
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
What difference can you make?
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Identify the little things that might make or
break the budget and keep the customers
happier?
Does he/she know that you are his secret
weapon?
Will you work as a team to make big things
happen through small changes?
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
Know your boss’s objectives…
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??/Books
Headbands
,
What does he/she need most?
Is what you hear in the staffroom more real
than what he hears in the boardroom?
Have you looked at your company through
the eyes of a customer lately?
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
Being Brand Conscious Achieves 3
Things…
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Improves your vision – where your
company is great, and not so great
Helps you to obtain and filter information
– use this wisely
Gets you noticed – your boss’s appreciation
can have outstanding long term benefits
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Pay rise, promotions, head hunted
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield
Wonder Woman Knows…
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“The secret to being a
great secret weapon is
knowledge – of who
you are, what you stand
for, and how to apply
these things in your
every day personal
branding…”
Maria Carlton – Navigating the Marketing Minefield