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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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Small-biz marketing muscle starts with branding
CHEEKY, charming and unconventional David Tyreman gets thousands of dollars for presentations and entrepreneur boot camps, but small-business owners can get a bit of his energetic expertise and British accent for free on Feb. 28.
Tyreman calls himself cheeky, charming, unconventional and an expert in differentiation. He has been engaged by international brands including Polo by Ralph Lauren; Tommy Hilfiger; Walt Disney Imagineering and more ginormous retail conglomerates than you can shake a stick at -- and he lives here now.
The former antique dealer/visual merchandiser will headline the first of a series of
TO RSVP
» Jane Sawyer
» U.S. Small Business Administration
» 541-2990, ext. 205
» jane.sawyer@sba.gov
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seminars by the U.S. Small Business Administration Honolulu District Office.
"Marketing 2007: Make it Good, Better Best," unfurls from 8:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Feb. 28 at the Honolulu Design Center's Cupola Events Theatre. Patt Steiner, executive director of the Hawaii Women's Business Center, is also slated as a presenter.
Attendance is free, but registration is strongly encouraged to reserve a seat and materials, according to Jane Sawyer, SBA business development specialist.
Marketing is in the title, but Tyreman's specialty is branding, which must precede any marketing effort.
It's like the shrieking ending line from "Another Brick in the Wall," by Pink Floyd: "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?"
Branding can be a meaty, chewy process.
"Typically when people think of branding, they think of a company that's going to organize their corporate image, their icon, their letterhead ... your logo," Tyreman observed.
"I say that's a load of crap."
Companies strive to be No. 1, or the best, but "what if I was to tell you there is something more significant?"
"Being considered the only choice," he said.
When traveling to England, "I'm compelled to fly on Virgin Atlantic (Airways) ... they stand out as the only choice."
Air travel is basically "sitting on a bus in the sky, but when I fly Virgin, I'm a maverick, I'm rebellious," like founder Richard Branson. Branson is not in the airline business, but the entertainment business, Tyreman said.
Flying first class -- upper class, Virgin calls it -- from Los Angeles to London can cost $12,000 and, for the money, his experiences have left him wishing he could stay on the plane -- after a more than 11-hour flight. No, the airline is not a client.
"We want to live vicariously through the movies we watch and the products we purchase," he said. "So, I help companies focus on the steps required to stand out as the only choice."
One of his favorite quotes is, "The brand is an amusement park and the product is the souvenir," attributed to Nick Graham. Graham made novelty ties and later founded Joe Boxer, an underwear company that exploded into a lifestyle brand.
Apple Corp.'s current Mac versus PC advertising is an example of the theme-park-souvenir scenario, as it can make a Mac owner feel "more savvy ... creative and fun," than a PC user. (Disclosure: the Star-Bulletin newsroom runs Macs.)
Whether large or small, selling products or services, all businesses have a personality, Tyreman said. "It's just that most businesses have a very boring personality."
His book, "David Tyreman presents, World Famous," explains, "the four steps between you and a world compelled to do business with you."
The first step is to dare oneself to stand out.
"We have to stand out, in every single place we touch the world," Tyreman said. It is a point he illustrates with a picture of a fried egg.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com