Recently my son Lukas had a little episode with stealing. I caught him taking money from his grandpa’s dresser. Just so I am clear, we’re not talking pocket change here, but rather the loot jingling in the depths of his lint filled pockets totalled one hundred sixty bucks! Now of course it was the principal of the matter rather than the amount itself, in which I was most concerned. But as you can imagine this sum of money spurred visions of visiting my future fourteen year old son behind prison bars! I had to think of a plan FAST, to turn this into a learning opportunity, but how?

Budding entrepenuer Lukas Korfiatis starts his first business appropriately named, “Luke’s Lemonade”
I decided that among other consequences, he was not too young for a chores list. I would make him earn the use of his newest toy and most prized possession, his bicycle, and teach him to save for future purchases. Lukas accepted the consequences of his actions by doing his daily chores without argument. However, unsatisfied with the time it was taking to earn back his bike privilege, he set up a lemonade stand and appropriately name it Luke’s Lemonade. I know what you’re saying at this point, “how cute, but so what? Every kid has thought of that”. Trust me, I agree with you but it’s what he did next that blew me away. He got on the phone and started calling his friends and family to let them know that he was grounded and was earning money to buy back the use of his bike. He went on to say that he would appreciate it if they would stop bye his lemonade stand and make a purchase. That day he earned over thirty dollars and was well on his way to renewing his bike privileges.

Whether or not you agree with my parenting style you cannot deny the marketing power behind the “Lukes Lemonade” brand story. Developing a brand in today’s over-communicated society requires a story line that gets people to stand up and take action. It then needs to be communicated consistently and frequently across all marketing channels. In Lukes case all he had was a phone, a hand made sign and an adorable smile. Your practice has many more options to communicate your brand message. Websites, brochures referral reward programs, staff communications & culture training and more. However, no matter what the method, if your story isn’t compelling, the message will not be received by the target audience. Need help getting started? Remove every dental technical term from your copy and don’t use in-mouth before and after photography. In my 10 years of Dental Branding I have yet to poll one patient who said they decided on a particular dentist after seeing their in-mouth before pictures. To us lay people, that is like sucking on a lemon. We much prefer lemonade.