In our experience, we have seen many organizations working on the fruit and not the important components that produce the fruit.
We are privileged to work with many agriculturally based companies and often rub shoulders with the people who feed us on a daily basis. From that experience, we know that if you ask a farmer, he will tell you that when the fruit is mature, there isn’t much you can do to make it better. You might be able to shine it up a little on your sleeve, but if it’s bad, you’ve just drawn attention to the badness.
The same holds true for what you are selling/promoting (the fruit). Focusing your efforts on the final product and ignoring your brand is an exercise in fruitility (pun intended) and disappointment.
Nature teaches us, along with many other scenarios, that we must look after the plant in order to realize great fruit. We must carefully look after (nurture, empower and protect) the brand, which will then produce the desired results.
We’ve all heard the saying money doesn’t grow on trees. Often, that’s because we haven’t looked after our tree the way we should have.
At Bark, we’ve partnered with hundreds of companies over the past three decades, each with its own calling, culture and challenges. And while the organizations vary, the pattern of success is clear: the deepest, most fruitful results always come when we're fully integrated — not just as a service provider, but as a true part of the team.
Most of your potential customers aren't ready to buy from you today. Or tomorrow. Or even next month. And that might be the biggest opportunity you're missing.
In almost 30 years of running our company, I’ve seen one silent brand-killer show up repeatedly. It’s not lack of talent; it’s not budget; it’s not even poor strategy. It’s unquestioned assumptions. And in my experience, one of the most powerful questions any leader can ask is this. “What assumption are we making that’s no longer true?”