A good friend of mine once said to me, "Credibility is hard to get but even harder to buy." When I heard this I thought it was simply genius. It's so absolutely true.
Lately, I've been reading Malcolm Gladwell's most recent book, "Outliers." In one section at the front of the book, he writes about how kids get into the Canadian Major Junior A Hockey League; the premier league for children and teens hoping to become professional hockey players.
Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers
Gladwell writes:
You can't buy your way into Major Junior A hockey. It doesn't matter who your father or mother is, or who your grandfather was, or what business your family is in. Nor does it matter if you live in the most remote corner of the most northerly province in Canada. If you have the ability, the vast network of hockey scouts and talent spotters will find you, and if you are willing to develop that ability, the system will reward you.
Gladwell then goes on to point out that there's a lot of luck and being in the right place at the right time is so important towards becoming successful... But he also delves deeply into working at success and dedicating time and effort practicing and honing one's skills.
I'd like to point out that if a kid gets into Major Junior A hockey in Canada, then that kid gets "status." With Major Junior A hockey comes credibility. And this credibility is impossible to buy.
It's the same when you are trying to build a buzz for your product or service... Credibility is crucial. Without credibility, you will never build a long-term lasting success. Quality is crucial to credibility.
Not only is this critical for other people's perceptions, but it is also, I think, the deciding factor for yourself and your team. Think about this: If you or any of your team member's are not 100% sold on your idea, product or service; If you do not have complete and total faith in what you are doing, then you will have doubt in the back of your mind somewhere...
This doubt, no matter how small, will do great damage to your efforts so the elimination of this doubt is so important... This is where, even more than what others think, what you think, in your heart and in your sub-conscious, is critical. You must believe in what you are doing to be successful. It is even written in the bible, "Belief can move mountains."
I've told this to many people that I work with; creating a buzz and almost everything else we do is a form of sales. In sales, I must believe in my product absolutely to be totally effective. Why? Because sales is not a transference of data. If it were just passing along facts, then car salesmen could sell the best cars with a copy of a pdf. But it doesn't work that way. Sales is a transference of emotions. I, the salesman, must transfer my excitement and belief about my product to you, the customer. You must get excited about what I have to sell.
I have to believe. You have to believe. This is the key to sales (and creating a buzz)!
I am now working with partners on promoting tourism to a former Eastern Block country in Europe. In some circles, this promotion has been extremely difficult. Why? Because twenty years ago, this country was involved in a civil war and many Japanese people still have the image of war when they think of this nation.
We have to change that image among the Japanese. Maybe you have guessed the name of this country already.... A war 20 years ago in Europe? Yes. It had to be one of the countries in former Yugoslavia. I'm talking specifically about Croatia.
Actually, Croatia is nothing like the image that many Japanese people have; a cold and dreary former Soviet Bloc territory. Croatia has a rich history; formerly part of the Hapsburg Empire; formerly Rome. Croatia's tourism promotional copy is "The Mediterranean the way it used to be." Croatia has 7 world heritage sites, glorious architecture, fantastic gourmet (including seafood) and more! See some sites here.
But some Japanese still have the image of war.
Recently, two things have greatly helped us to gain trust and credibility among the Japanese. One has been the push from Japanese travel agents for Japanese tourists to visit Croatia. It really helps to show people the tourism and travel brochures made by reputable Japanese companies like Japan Airlines (JAL), All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) recommending Croatia. I mean, if Croatia weren't safe, they certainly wouldn't recommend it.
But the most recent thing that I think will be the watershed moment for Croatia tourism will be this December. From this December, Tokyo FM (TFM) will run a station-wide promotion on air and on the Internet (this will include, of course, SNS, blogs, Twitter, Pick, Mixi and Facebook!) The promotion will be for three lucky couples to win a vacation to Croatia including airfare and hotel....
The hotel stay is at one of the most prestigious hotels in all of Europe! It's the Regent Esplanade Zagreb. See photos here that will drop your jaw.
There's not a person in Japan over the age of 18 who hasn't heard of Tokyo FM. Tokyo FM is the flagship station of a 34 station Japan-wide FM network. Tokyo FM is prestige.
Will Croatia become the huge buzz and "place to be" amongst the Japanese within the next two years? That remains to be seen, but Tokyo FM accepting Croatia as a partner for a big Christmas campaign gives Croatia the respect and credibility Croatia needs. With this credibility in hand, it is the final critical factor needed to build the buzz among the Japanese who like to travel.
Now, with this credibility, they can get to work on building a buzz.
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Keywords:
Croatia, SNS, ANA, Europe, Twitter, Social Media, Outliers, Japan, Christmas campaign, All Nippon Airways, credibility, Mike Rogers, Tokyo FM, U-Stream, Tokyo, Pick, Regent Esplanade Zagreb, blogs, Internet, Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Malcolm Gladwell, The Mediterranean the way it used to be, JAL, Japan Airlines, Japan Travel Bureau, JTB
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