Tony also shared “4 things” to build brand – one of which is all about company culture and core values. I’ll pay these forward to you now:

Thing #1: Have a Vision

Whatever you’re thinking, think bigger. Chase the vision, not the money. And make sure the vision has meaning.

Thing #2: Think Repeat Customers

Great product, great service or low prices. Choose and focus on two of these three.

Thing #3: Be Transparent

“Be real, you have nothing to fear” so go ahead and create a face for your company. At Zappos they have a blog, they have zappos TV and perhaps their most notable personality stage is on twitter…twitter.zappos.com

Thing #4: Create a Culture & Core Values

Zappos is a lifestyle for both employees and customers when you get right down to it. Here are the core values that play into the culture that Zappos prides itself on…

1. Deliver WOW through service.
2. Embrace and drive change.
3. Create fun and a little wierdness.
4. Be adventurous, creative and open-minded.
5. Pursue growth and learning.
6. Build open and honest relationships with community.
7. Build a positive team and family spirit.
8. Do more with less.
9. Be passionate and determined.
10. Be humble.

Tony and Zappos are living proof that all of this pie in the sky type thinking is possible. At the end of his presentation, he said that Zappos has tours at their Vegas headquarters and that if anyone wanted to have a tour, just send him an email. Well it just so happens that myself and 3 other Sitebranders are heading to Vegas for the DMA08 Conference & Exhibition Oct 12-15. After hearing this, I approached Tony at the end of the session saying we would like to take him up on the tour invite…so how do we go about setting that up? He said, just send him an email and he would send a shuttle to the airport to pick us up! I almost fell over…but then doesn’t this type of approach to service totally agree to everything Tony just preached in his keynote! You bet it does!

PS - are you going to the DMA08 show? If yes, be sure to drop by booth 1654 because that’s where Sitebrand will be! We’re part of the Passport to Prizes and we’ve got a Flip video up for grabs. As well, I’ll be hosting an Ask the Experts roundtable called: e-Marketing: Building a bridge from the landing page to conversion – would love to see you there!

DMA08