"BRANDS AREN'T COOL WHEN THEY TRY TOO HARD TO WIN," claims Brand Marketing Guru Allan Gorman. ?Brands win by being cool.

"Look at Nike, Starbucks, Tiffany, Fedex, Google or any of the other brands you?ve come to love and you?ll see that their real success comes from an emotional connection that transcends the competitively-focused way most companies try to hard sell themselves,? he adds.

?Once upon a time, telling a sales story about your technological edge or competitive product benefit might have made some sense,? says Gorman. ?Back when there were only a few choices?even number five in the category could still make a pretty good living. But those days are long gone. Now, in the age of the internet, there are hundreds or thousands of alternatives?and those old-fashioned sales arguments just aren?t as effective as they used to be.?

Promoting a theory he calls: Selling to non-buyers, Gorman explains that most marketers who try to affect sales through the promotion of a practical competitive edge are limiting their perspective to only those few who might actively be in the market... a relatively small audience at any given time. Their efforts will fall on deaf ears and become boring to the vast universe of potential ers who just don?t care. "If you can talk to non-buyers instead," Gorman suggests, "by crafting a story about what working with you will be like and what kind of beneficial results they will get, you?ll begin to create a new business model for yourself that can transcend the way customers think about your category. Winners win by giving their audiences something they can?t get anywhere else... and transforming perceptions about their brand from just commonplace into cool"

"Selling to non buyers is an idea as old as time," Gorman says. "Whether they are aware of it or not, it?s what every leader does. I?ve just clarified the mechanism and developed a better set of tools to help marketers better understand and practice it"

A thirty-year-plus veteran of Madison Avenue and leader of Brandspa, a northern New Jersey advertising and brand marketing agency, Gorman presents his message in essays, keynote talks, workshops and a delightful book: Briefs for Building Better Brands?Tips, Parables and Insights for Market Leaders.

Download the informative paper, Ten Marketing Secrets for Buidling a Sexier Brand and take an Interactive Brand IQ Test at http://www.advertisingagencybrandspa.com

Mr. Gorman is available for television and radio interviews, conference talks and workshops.