A marketing tip from my Italian grandma: Be who you are

No doubt you look at my last name and say Italian? But rest assured, on my mom’s side I’m your amico! Like all Italians, I had an Italian grandma. And like all Italian grandmas, she had an opinion about everything and wasn’t afraid to share it or the life lessons she had collected along her colorful life.

What she didn’t realize is that she also taught me some great marketing tips that in her honor, I’d like to share with you.

My grandma had many funny habits, beliefs and sayings. She was an easy and ready target for a family of joksters who love to tease. Fortunately, she took it with great grace and dished it back out. She could have easily "masked" some of her idiosyncrasies, but she stood tall (all 5 foot of her as she shrunk!) and took our ribbing.

One of our favorite things to tease her about was her affection for knee-high stockings and the fact that they never stayed up. (As evidenced to the right). It was not pretty.

But they were what she liked and she was completely comfortable in her own skin.

That’s a lesson that as marketers, we should embrace as well. Branding is very much about knowing who you are and by default, who you are not. We need to know ourselves well enough to be completely comfortable in our own skin.

It’s accepting and even celebrating that you are not a "one size fits all" solution. There are pros and cons to the consumer if they buy. We’re quick to point out the pros, but all too often we hide the cons.

If you’re expensive — tell them. If your product requires some technical expertise — tell them. If your production quality makes your product disposable — tell them. If your model is more of a plug and play than hand holding them through implementation — tell them.

That’s great branding. Here’s what we are. Here’s what we are not. It is authentic marketing. Good, bad or ugly stockings — tell them.

If you’re the knee-highed stocking of your category, don’t hide it. Pull up that pant leg and show the world!

Here’s the entire Marketing Tips from My Italian Grandma series, for your enjoyment: