From Story to Brand: Local Businesses Learn How to Stand Out with help from BrandKamp

JOPLIN, Mo – For small business owners, standing out in a crowded marketplace can be just as important as the products or services they offer.

That is the focus of BrandKamp , a hands-on marketing workshop led by brand strategist, national speaker and author Chuck Mefford.

Mefford, who developed the BrandsFormation system, has spent decades working in advertising and marketing. His career began in radio sales in the 1980s and 1990s before he eventually started his own advertising agency about 25 years ago.

"I started doing this when I was selling radio in another lifetime, the 80s and 90s, and I realized it wasn't just radio, there were other things too," Mefford said.

Today, Mefford works with business owners on building brands that customers remember, with an emphasis on strategy, messaging, consistency and reaching customers often enough to remain top of mind.

One of the concepts he teaches is what he calls the Four M's of marketing: memorable customer experience, message, media and measures.

The goal is to help businesses identify what makes them different, turn that difference into a clear message and consistently communicate it to customers.

Zimmer Marketing brings BrandKamp to local businesses

Zimmer Marketing hosts the BrandKamp workshops to give Four States business owners an opportunity to work directly on their branding and marketing strategies.

Rather than focusing solely on individual advertisements, the workshop encourages business owners to look at the larger story behind their companies and how that story is communicated across different platforms.

A major part of the BrandsFormation approach is top-of-mind awareness , being the first business a customer thinks of when they need a particular product or service.

Mefford said his work with local businesses is about more than simply teaching marketing techniques. He enjoys returning to the same communities and watching businesses develop over time.

"I love to watch businesses grow," Mefford said. "I love coming back and saying, 'Oh, you're here now.' It's like your family and your kids growing up."

He said that continued connection with business owners is one of the reasons he enjoys returning to the same markets.

"Watching people grow is what I enjoy doing," Mefford said.

He also sees a connection between his approach and the work Zimmer Marketing does with its customers.

"We are one in the same," Mefford said. "We both exist and if we didn't have customers we wouldn't exist, and our whole job is to help our customer get where they are going."

For Mefford, one of the most rewarding parts of the workshops is seeing business owners become excited about their own ideas.

"I like getting people excited. I like trying to read the room," he said. "I've always wanted to be the guy that throws a watermelon in the pond and makes a big splash."

He said those moments when an idea finally clicks for a business owner are what make the work worthwhile.

"Generally one or two people, the lights finally come on, and that's always worth the while," Mefford said.

Local business owners take the lessons home

Among those attending the event was Harlee Wheeler, owner of Glow Beauty Co. in Webb City.

For Wheeler, one of the biggest takeaways was the importance of recognizing that a business's story, and its connection to the community, is part of its brand.

"I think that it was really great how he was saying your story matters, the things you do for the community matters and you should talk about it," Wheeler said.

Wheeler also said the workshop gave her ideas she could apply directly to her own business, including a greater interest in radio marketing.

"Just really getting into radio marketing. I really need to do that," she said.

She also connected with the idea of telling the story of a physical, local business.

"I also really like the bricks and mortar story," Wheeler said. "That's definitely something I can do on my own, I don't need someone to walk me through that."

For local business owners, the message from BrandKamp is ultimately about finding what makes their business different and making sure customers remember it.

And for Wheeler, that means recognizing that the story a business has built in its community can be one of its most valuable marketing tools.