I doubt there’s a person in Iowa who hasn’t heard about the Cy-Hawk trophy uproar that caused the Iowa Corn Growers Association to rescind its new trophy design it and go back to the drawing board.

Boy, are there some marketing lessons for us in that situation.

Raving fans have an emotional connection to your brand.

In this case, the Corn Growers got walloped by three groups of fans: football fans, Iowa State University fans and University of Iowa fans. We work hard to get our customers to have a preference. To be proud to do business with us and to be such loyal buyers that they tell their friends.

They’re not just customers anymore. They’re stakeholders. And they believe (rightly) that their opinion matters.

We love that when they agree with us and shout our praises. It’s a tougher pill to swallow when we stub our toe and they loudly let us know.

Raving fans believe that your product or service says as much about them as it does about you.

If you don’t know what your customers think, ask them. As the Corn Growers learned. And ask before it’s too far along.

If you are inside the bottle, you can’t accurately see or describe the outside of the bottle.

The Corn Growers love corn, farming and Iowa. As they should. So from their “inside the bottle” perspective, the corn family was a tribute to all that’s Iowa. What better way to commemorate and celebrate an all-Iowa tradition?

But … it’s a trophy that is going to be hoisted over the head of some 300-pound lineman. It’s going to be the subject of fiery speeches from coaches, and it’s going to be in the dreams of 8-year-old boys who hope that someday they’ll be able to fight for the glory of winning it.

None of that says farm family or corn.

This is a common problem for business owners who can’t see or understand their business from the customers’ perspective. You need to find ways to always have a fresh and candid set of eyes.

There’s no such thing as a quiet consumer today.

Thanks to social media, access to reporters and a demand for 24/7 news, consumers have learned that not only do they have a voice, it’s a pretty loud one.

The good side of this new marketing truth is that when you can inspire and encourage those voices, they can do a lot of good. They can elevate a brand, answer a need or solve a problem.

The downside is – you’d better have a good crisis communications plan in place, because if you get sideways with them, the fury is going to come fast. As it did with the new trophy.

Final lesson.

At the end of the day, the Iowa Corn Growers got the message and, to their credit, stood tall and took the criticism. Their decision to rethink the trophy took grace, and I predict that they’ll come out of this storm pretty well.

That’s the final marketing lesson from this situation. A good brand can withstand a mistake or two. Consumers will forgive you the mistake as long as you own up to it and genuinely try to do it better the next time around.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached by email at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2011 Drew McLellan