When Guinness beer saw sales slumping in pubs what did they do? They created a branded microverse. You might think it was something beer related, but it wasn’t. They did what any right-minded brand should do, solve a problem for their clients.
In their case pub crawlers “would argue about certain facts while downing a pint.” Yet, no one could give a definitive answer until The Guinness Book of Records came out (now The Guinness Book of World Records). Didn’t realize it originated from a beer company, did you?
The Psychology Behind The Microverse
By providing a resource pub crawlers could go to for the answers they wanted, just like in my last article Focus On Giving, people will support the source so they can get more. By adding their name to it they created a subliminal brand connection. Someone in a pub says, “Oy, who’s the bloke that scored the most goals for Manchester United?” Someone grabs The Guinness Book of Records and gives the answer. That person then says something along the lines of, “told ya.” Then he says, “Oy bring me and me mates a round of Guinness.” (Guinness is Irish, but I can’t do an Irish accent. Next time you run into me I’ll do a really good British one.)
Do they buy Guinness every time? No, but creating the Book of Records did turn around pub sales and created a new revenue stream for them. You need to do the same for your business.
The Foundation of Your Microverse
Stop thinking of yourself as providing a product or service and start thinking about how it helps your clients. How does it enhance their lives? What problem(s) does it solve? Are others talking about it? They better be talking about it or you need to rethink your business.
You need to create a small universe, a microverse, that both current and potential clients can immerse themselves in that answers all the above and more. As they do any business in that microverse, you will be the main referral source for everyone there. Let’s put it another way.
I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials for Facebook groups. If not here’s an example. That commercial highlighted a specialized niche, kazoo players. Obviously, if there’s a Facebook group with enough followers people will begin to inquire about the best kazoo brands and so forth.
There people will begin saying the same brands over and over again and people will buy from them without question because, like Guinness, they come from a trusted source. This is also in line with my article, Smallest Viable Audience, since it’s a group that just large enough to not have over 200 competitors, but enough interested people willing to continually buy. You must do the same for your brand.
Become The Authority
To this you must become the authority in your field. You do that by being quoted by others which gives you credence or by becoming the hub that everyone goes to for information in that field. When you do, you’ll see your microverse grow organically and your brand will sell on its own.
It works! Don’t worry about perfecting it, just get started and improve with time. Until next time I wish you much success transforming your business into an amazing brand.
