You may think that I have been living in a cave for the last few years (and maybe I have) but I have to admit I hadn't heard of Katie Hopkins until recently when I read an article in the newspaper about her weight gain / loss project and the subsequent TV show. I was intrigued as I could do with losing a few pounds and to achieve this I know that all I need to do is exactly what Katie advises: eat less and exercise more.
When I read the article something connected somewhere in the midst of my brain that perhaps she had once been on The Apprentice but I couldn't recall anything about her. As she had captured my attention with a message that was relevant to me I wanted to know more about her. And as I did I found that there are some lessons there for business owners who want to know how to improve their marketing.
1. The power of the brand. Katie Hopkins has worked to define her brand and articulate what she stands for. Her twitter description is 'telling it like it is' and, love her or hate her, you have to admit this is exactly what she does. As a brand she is so memorable once you know about her she is hard to forget.
2. Clear messaging. Katie gets her messages across very clearly (sometimes too clearly some would argue) but she often has a simple message which she can elaborate on if needed.
3. Getting attention. In a world where we are bombarded by messages, Katie has managed to get people's attention. But not only this she has created an engaged audience. With 338,000 Twitter followers (and over 3 million viewers for the first episode of Big Brother) she has managed to create an audience who want to hear what she has to say (if only to disagree with her).
Now I'm not suggesting you go out there and offend half your customers and prospects but businesses can benefit from being focused on defining their brand, communicating clearly and focusing on messages which resonate with their target audience.
