如何打造一个杀手级品牌？

    人类充满了好奇心。他们喜欢探索，喜欢购物。在任何一个周六或周日，美国都会有多达2500万消费者光顾商场。有时他们会带着一张准备好的购物清单，有时他们只是随意逛逛，有时只是想触摸、感受、体验一下他们准备在网上购买的商品。

    如果你有一个品牌，你就拥有了脱颖而出的机会。零售商告诉我们，强大的品牌不需要促销就能大卖。消费者来到店里，要求购买明星产品。而不知名的品牌只能待在货架上，等着大减价时被喜欢买便宜货的顾客收走。

    根据我们的经验，伟大的品牌可以万古长青——如果你努力经营的话。品牌让消费者的生活更加轻松，消费者也热衷于为品牌付出真情。

    这就是我们所说的信徒式品牌。想想苹果、亚马逊或是星巴克。不过复制它们的成功是一项真正的挑战。信徒式品牌很罕见。只有极少数公司拥有那些能在全球各地都受到尊敬的明星产品或服务品牌。全球共有1万家市值数百万美元的消费品公司，不过只有其中100家能理直气壮地说自己拥有信徒式品牌。它们提供魔法和光。它们提供娱乐、食品、幻想和彻底的快乐。它们获得了持久的信任、忠诚、热爱和几乎信徒式的推荐和拥护。对于粉丝、追随者和信赖者而言，这些品牌就是他们的宗教信仰。

    你该怎样把消费者变成信徒？你该如何打造信徒式品牌？在我们的著作《火箭：保证无限增长的八堂课》（Rocket: Eight Lessons To Secure Infinite Growth）一书中，我们把自己的发现总结成了8条品牌推广的金科玉律。

    法则1：不要问你的消费者想要什么（因为在你把产品展现出来之前，他们自己也不知道答案）

    几年前，有一家全球通信业巨头考虑进军移动电话市场。在讨论会上，他们邀请销售员来看直板手机，并问他们：“你会在什么时候用它？”销售员表示他们更愿意花25美分去打公用电话，而不是花500美元或1000美元来买这种笨重的玩意。于是，公司把移动电话的想法搁置一旁。这是一个昂贵的错误。该公司最后花了数十亿美元来重新进入这个曾经被他们抛弃掉的行业。消费者没法设想出一种更好的打电话的方式，当然也就想不到去掏钱购买它。成功需要好奇心、勇气、直觉，以及对时代脉搏的敏感性。它要求你透过简单的回答和消费者直觉般的拒绝，看到背后的本质。

    法则2：讨好你的死忠粉（他们绝对值得你这这么做）

    很少有公司会去计算其最好的消费者带来的价值，以及这些消费者的口碑推荐所产生的价值。我们的研究证实了“2-20-80-150法则”。有2%的消费者是所谓的“信徒”，他们自身就能带来20%的整体销量。他们的支持会影响朋友和熟人，最终占据公司80%的整体销量。通过朋友和自己的购买，这些消费者能给公司带来150%的利润。公司需要努力推销剩下20%的产品给“陌生人”，而这一过程有可能带来亏损。

    法则3：时刻欢迎消费者的吐槽（你会变得更强，然后卷土重来）

    丰田公司表示：投诉是一种礼物。该公司会跟进并处理每位消费者的投诉。这种成体系的运作方式扑灭了回头客的不满。投诉一次，请给我机会改正。投诉两次，是我的耻辱。投诉三次，我应当离职。丰田的处理方式使得回头客带来的销售价值和购买率都有所提升，顾客也变得更加忠诚。

    法则4：外观很重要（消费者真的会根据书的封面来评判一本书）

    消费者在做出购买决定时都会用眼睛观察。他们要寻找美感。他们幻想着让自己和至爱亲朋的世界变得更加美丽。在营造梦境方面，做得最好的公司是迪士尼。来到迪士尼世界的小女孩就像进入了魔法王国。她们会看到灰姑娘和白雪公主。这些形象进入了她们的潜意识里。她们当中许多人在决定结婚时还会回想起这些情节。通过实现幻想，迪士尼开创了一项盈利颇丰的业务。营造视觉盛宴的成本不菲，但其价值也是无穷尽的。

    法则5：把你的员工变成热情的门徒（因为热爱具有真正的感染力）

    如果你带着一个关于储存的模糊想法，走进Container Store并寻求帮助。片刻之后，就会有顾问来听你倾诉关于储存和家居的全部问题，然后他很快会为你提供一套解决方案。他们把这称为帮助“沙漠旅人”的销售方式——倾听、帮助、参与、建议。Container Store常年位列最佳雇主榜单。这家公司的员工得到了充分尊重，薪水也是业内同行的两倍，离职率只是平均水平的零头。

    法则6：加强在线业务（因为你的消费者都在这么做）

    这个世界每周7天，每天24小时都在运转。拥有最多可支配收入的消费者只有最少的时间。不过他们在家中和工作时都有高速的因特网。他们只要有需求，就会买他们想买的东西。

    法则7：大步跳跃（胆小保守是赢不了的）

    有些人提倡不断改进、循序渐进、稳扎稳打。不过没有哪家公司是用这种方式改变世界的。没有人真正用这种方式建立了信徒式品牌。为了做到这些，你必须展现出远见、无畏和刚毅。有大梦想才能有大成功。巴西公司Natura Cosmeticos最早只是一家小店铺和实验室，但它迅速意识到亚马逊雨林作为美容产品健康原料产地的巨大潜能。如今该公司已经成为全球盈利最丰厚的化妆品公司之一，并改变了拉丁美洲数百万女性的生活，提高了160万名女性销售顾问的生活水平。它实现这一切只用了极短的时间。

    法则8：搞清楚竞争性分化的涵义（因为它有助于维护客户关系）

    品牌十分脆弱。他们服从竞争性分化的规律。这个术语来自于人类学，意思是人际关系并不稳定。打造品牌也服从这一规律。品牌总是在不断变化的——总有景气和不景气的时候。

    现在，是时候书写你的故事了。让你的公司在所有人心里变得鲜活，然后开创永不停歇的增长吧。

    迈克尔•西尔弗斯坦是波士顿咨询公司的高级合伙人，也是Trading Up、Treasure Hunt、Women Want More、The $10 Trillion Dollar Prize等书的合著者之一。他目前在芝加哥工作。本文作者狄伦•博尔登、鲁恩•雅各布森和罗翰•萨德加也都是波士顿咨询公司的高级合伙人。（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    审校：任文科

    Human beings are curious. They love to explore. And they love to shop. Many consumers—up to 25 million Americans—visit a mall on any given Saturday or Sunday. Sometimes they arrive with a list of priority items that they’re ready to purchase. Sometimes they just wander and browse. Sometimes they are looking to touch, feel, and experience products that they will later buy online.

    If you have a brand, this is your chance to stand out from the crowd. Retailers tell us that strong brands sell without promotion. Consumers come into the store and ask for signature products. Weak brands sit on shelves, waiting to be scooped up at a steep markdown by bargain hunters.

    In our experience, great brands can last forever—if you work them. Brands make consumers’ lives easier. Consumers love to love brands.

    That’s what we call apostle brands. Think Apple AAPL -2.48% , Amazon AMZN -1.61% or Starbucks SBUX -1.81% . But replicating their success is a real challenge. Apostle brands are rare. Few companies have brands whose signature products and services are widely revered everywhere. There are 10,000 multi-million-dollar consumer companies around the world, but only 100 of them can properly claim to have apostle brands. They offer magic and light. They provide entertainment, nourishment, imagination, and utter joy. They inspire enduring trust, loyalty, love, and almost evangelical endorsements and advocacy. To their fans, followers, and believers, they are like religions.

    How do you convert customers into apostles? How do you build an apostle brand? In our book, Rocket: Eight Lessons To Secure Infinite Growth, we have synthesized our findings to create a set of eight branding rules.

    Rule No. 1: Don’t ask your customers what they want (because they don’t know until you show them)

    A few years ago, a global communications giant was considering the cell phone business. In focus groups, salesmen were invited to look at the box phone and were then asked, “When will you use it?” The salesmen said that they would BE MORE LIKELY put a quarter into a pay phone than pay $500 or $1,000 for an unwieldy box. As a result, the company put the cell phone idea on a back burner. This was an expensive error. It cost the company billions of dollars to buy its way back into the business after it had taken off. The consumer could not imagine a better way to make a phone call and certainly could not imagine paying for it. Success requires curiosity and courage, instinct, and a taste for the jugular. It requires you to look beyond simple answers and impulsive consumer rejection.

    Rule No. 2: Woo your biggest fans (because they’re absolutely worth it)

    Few companies count the value of their best customers’ purchases and the value of the purchases that those customers promote through word-of-mouth advocacy. Our research supports the “rule of 2-20-80-150″4+.” The 2% of consumers that we call apostles personally responsible for a full 20% of the sales. To their friends and acquaintances they advocate up to 80% of a company’s sales. This combination of friends and self purchases deliver up to 150% of a company’s profits. Companies fight to sell the remaining 20% of their sales to “strangers” and generate losses chasing this business.

    Rule No. 3: Always welcome your customer’s scorn (because you’ll come back stronger)

    Toyota TM -3.23% says that a complaint is a gift. The company tracks and processes every customer complaint. This operates as a system to stamp out repeated customer dissatisfaction. Complain once, let me fix it. Complain twice, shame on me. Complain three times, and I should be replaced. Toyota’s approach translates into higher resale value, a higher repurchase rate, and deeper loyalty.

    Rule No. 4: Looks do count (because people really do judge a book by its cover)

    Consumers use their eyes in every purchase. They look for beauty. They dream about a better world for themselves and their loved ones. The best dreamscape company in the world is Disney DIS -1.63% . Little girls visiting Disney World go to the Magic Kingdom. They see Cinderella and Snow White. They carry the image in their subconscious. For many, it draws them back when they decide to marry. Disney has created a rich business by fulfilling fantasy. Visual brilliance costs a lot, but its value is priceless.

    Rule No. 5: Transform your employees into passionate disciples (because love is truly infectious)

    Walk into the Container Store TCS 2.46% with a vague idea about a storage problem and ask for help. Within moments, a counselor will have you telling him all your storage and living problems, and soon he will be offering solutions. They call this “man in the desert” selling—listening, helping, engaging, suggesting. It is a perennial favorite company to work for. The Container Store associates are treated with respect, are paid twice the wage of competitors’ employees, and turn over at a fraction of the average rate.

    Rule No. 6: Better ramp up your virtual relationships (because that’s what your customers are doing)

    The world has moved to 24/7. The consumers with the most disposable income have the least amount of time. But they have high-speed Internet lines at home and at work. And they want to buy what they want to buy when they want it.

    Rule No. 7: Take giant leaps (because you’re not going to win with timid steps)

    There are those who advocate continuous improvement, incremental advances, and consolidation. But no one ever changed the world that way. No one ever really built an apostle brand that way. To do these things, you must show foresight, fearlessness, and fortitude. Big wins require big dreams. Natura Cosmeticos, a Brazilian company, started as a small shop and laboratory and quickly realized the enormous potential of the Amazon rain forest as a source of health-giving ingredients for beauty products. It now ranks as one of the world’s most profitable cosmetics companies, transforming the lives of millions of women in Latin America and driving up the standard of living for its 1.6 million female sales consultants. It got there by leaps and bounds.

    Rule No. 8: Find out what schismogenesis Means (because it will save your relationships)

    Brands are fragile. They are subject to the laws of schismogenesis. This is a term from anthropology. It means that relationships are not stable. Brands work according to the same law. Brands are always moving—up, up, up or down, down, down.

    Now is the time to write your story, make it come alive for all, and create infinite growth.

    Michael Silverstein is a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group and co-author of Trading Up, Treasure Hunt, Women Want More and the $10 Trillion Dollar Prize. He is based in Chicago. Dylan Bolden, Rune Jacobsen and Rohan Sadjah are also senior partners at BCG.