Continuing with virtual events in the time of COVID-19, our May Signature Speaker Series will take place via Zoom on May 12th at 8:00 a.m. Michael DiFrisco will present “Inside Out Marketing” as a free webinar. Click here to register.
“Inside Out Marketing” involves looking at your business from your customers’ perspective to make sure your inside reality is aligned with outside perceptions, because that’s when the marketing magic happens. This presentation will teach you:
- How to determine your organization’s authentic inside reality
- How to best communicate this reality in a dramatic and memorable way
- That communicating your inside reality in your outside perceptions is the best way to ensure your brand talk is aligned with your brand walk
Michael DiFrisco is Chief Marketing Officer for the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry in Madison, Wisconsin and the founder of BrandXcellence. He’s developed branding and marketing programs for B2B and B2C companies and is the author of Shadowcasting: Growing Your Business by Growing Your Reputation and How to Craft a RADICAL Brand.
We recently chatted with Michael to find out more about his upcoming presentation and some personal fun facts.
Q: What do you expect the audience to take away from your presentation?
A: An unshakable understanding that, to be successful in the marketplace, your “inside reality” (your character and your conduct) must be aligned with your “outside perceptions” (your conversation; what you say in your marketing and communications). THAT’S Inside-Out Marketing.
Q: What is holding companies back from doing what you advocate?
A: Many companies get wrapped up in their tactical marketing–you know, websites, brochures, SEO, their social presence, etc. But your marketing doesn’t matter if you don’t first understand your marketplace positioning, your one-thing differentiator, your competitive advantage: what you say and how you say it. Then, you can concern yourself with tactical marketing: when, where, how often, etc.
Q: What will companies gain from what you are advocating?
A: Better decision-making, because knowing your inside reality is an essential framework for helping you decide what to do and what not to do. Efficiency and effectiveness, because inside-out marketing focuses your limited resources on a clearly defined goal, enabling marketing investments to build upon one other instead of being deployed scattershot. And control, because if you don’t position yourself, your competitors will gladly do it for you.
Q: If you were not engaged in your current career, what would you be doing instead?
A: Doing something with my hands. I’ve enjoyed boat building in the past and could see setting up a workshop in a barn somewhere and building wooden watercraft.
Q: What is your favorite pizza?
A: Well, as a Chicago native, I have to say deep dish. But a thin, crunchy crust is also awesome. Just nothing in the mushy middle between those two extremes!
Q: What is your favorite travel destination?
A: My family has been traveling to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, for four generations now, so that destination has a soft spot for me. But I love Europe and want to see more of it (as soon as the coronavirus scare quiets down).
Q: What is a fun fact about you?
A: Before moving to Madison, we lived in a converted church house that even had its own belfry! Pretty cool, but it was not cheap to keep warm during the cold ‘sconnie winters!