by Roberto Carlos – Factor WOW

It’s not fear. It’s panic. How can I outstand? It’s a doubt that assaults us over and over during our way to success. We are all day, every day, trying to perform with excellence and we lose perspective about whether we are doing the right thing, even more when we make a lot of effort and see very few results. This existential crisis manifests a lot more in the communication – advertising – we make for our company. We understood a long time ago that advertising has changed, and that traditional media are increasingly less efficient.

10 years ago, with a press advertising we used to receive 100 calls, and today we would only receive one. What this business new era is teaching us is that customers are a lot more interested in knowing a story than seeing a commercial, no matter how creative it is. I don’t want to know if the watch is accurate, now I want to know it was used on a space mission or in the bottom of the sea. I don’t care anymore if your shoes are comfortable, but I’m intrigued about knowing how two system engineers started the company with the mission of donating a pair of shoes to the poor kids for every pair they sell to the rich ones.

We are in the era of telling stories, good stories. So, what everyone is starting to know is screaming stories that sometimes are not authentic, and that causes a bigger frustration in the audience. What works better nowadays is to tell stories that cause a WOW, and, contrary to what is thought, they don’t have to be one-minute stories, they can be long, even over an hour-long stories.

For this kind of stories, the ideal format is a podcast. A podcast is a recording in audio or video with certain characteristics, such as frequency, periodicity, and a central theme. It may have one or more narrators, and though they can rotate, it is important for the audience to get to know them and get familiar with their faces, voices, and style.

If you are wondering, “how a podcast connects with my company and my commercial objectives?” there is an example. Imagine you have a company that sells equipment for metallic pieces. You have a huge number of competitors. Everyone does practically the same. How can you differentiate? Imagine you launch a podcast about “The new era of manufacturing”, where you talk about the newest and surprising, the importance of quality control, etc. Every passionate of manufacturing (including your customers) is going to want to know what is new and exciting of this micro-universe. Of course, on each one of your podcasts you present as the director of XYZ manufacturing company and share your contact info. In no time, you will become on a reference of world-class manufacturing and customers will trust you more (because they see you every week and already know your face and your experience) than any other ordinary supplier that only cares about selling another project to their neighborhood customers.

Today more than ever in human history, it’s important to have a company with a strong voice, differentiated, and that contributes value to potential customers. This historic era is being called the “personal branding era”, and those that ride the wave will become the new influencers of their industry. Are you ready? Let’s podcast.

RöC es un emprendedor serial, creativo irreverente y fanático de la innovación. 
Es el creador del Factor WOW, filosofía de negocios que está revolucionando la manera como las empresas utilizan la innovación como arma secreta para crear experiencias extraordinarias en sus clientes. 
Es Director de FactorWOW.com, firma de consultoría en innovación que desde 2011 ha dado asesoría y capacitación a las empresas más grandes de México. 
Como conferencista ha dictado cientos de conferencias y talleres sobre innovación, marketing, liderazgo y creatividad en todo México y América Latina. 
Es autor de 10 libros, de los que se destacan “Factor WOW”  y “75WOW”,  “Rik, el niño sin imaginación” y “40 ventajas de ser pelón”.