Brand Blathering

Restaurant Marketing

2007-04-09T09:24:00.000-07:00

I recently presented to a local chapter of the National Restaurant Association at their annual meeting. I spoke about “The 10 Things Every Restaurateur Should Know About Building and Marketing Strong Brands.”

Here are the ten things:

Know your customers
Know what they value
Build awareness
Be unique and compelling
Have a convenient/visible location
Have convenient hours
Develop a concept
Exceed customer expectations
Focus on front line employees
Create sensory experiences

For instance, for the first point (know your customers), think about this.

What is of the greatest value to each of these customers?

A harried father with three young children
A couple celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary
A large person with a voracious appetite
Business partners wanting to have a serious discussion over lunch
A vegan
A business executive wanting to entertain businesspeople from China
A delivery truck driver wanting to eat in 15 minutes or less
A couple on their way to the theater
A high school boy on his first date with a girl on whom he has a crush
A group of high school kids hanging out
A world traveled epicure
A mother wanting a quick bite to eat while running Saturday errand
A group of thirty-something women celebrating a divorce

Consider the following attributes:

Menu (type, variety, ala carte versus fixed price, etc.)
Flavors, textures, ingredients, freshness, organic
Presentation
Food quantity
Availability of alcohol, wine list, etc.
Ambience (architecture, light, sound, décor, etc.)
versus comfortable/homey, etc.
Privacy (versus people on display to be seen)
Wait staff (invisible versus interactive)
Activities for children
Total elapsed time (leisurely versus quick)
Total price

Often, restaurateurs realize that their restaurants need to be repositioned, but they want to do this without incurring the huge expenses of capital projects/leasehold improvements. This can occur when a restaurant gains the reputation of being a “blue hair” restaurant, which can even dissuade 50 and 60 year olds from dining there. It can also occur, when a restaurant located in a hotel is passed over by people in the community because of the general perceptions of ‘hotel restaurants.’ There are cost-effective solutions to repositioning these brands if the restaurateur can identify whom he or she would like to increasingly attract. Often, a simple gimmick, menu change or other market segment-specific cue can be all that it takes to attract new customers. Drive this with a little buzz marketing, and the restaurant is well on its way to attracting a new audience.

Branding Commodities

2007-04-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked to conduct a workshop on branding commodities. A commodity, per one Merriam-Webster dictionary definition is “a good or service whose wide availability typically leads to smaller profit margins and diminishes the importance of factors (as brand name) other than price.” By definition, commodities lack the differentiation and ability to charge a price premium that strong brands have. Several participants in that workshop represented different energy companies. Each one wanted help in being able to charge a 10-20% price premium for his or her “commodity” products. Here is the good news -- a colorless, odorless, relatively tasteless alcoholic beverage (vodka) has been branded and commands a price premium -- one brand (Absolut) due to its consistently advertised bottle shape alone. And, of course water has been branded. I remember paying $23 for a bottle of Voss branded water at a restaurant in La Jolla, CA several years ago when that brand was first introduced. And bananas and pineapples are branded. Frank Purdue fed his chickens marigolds and ground carrots to give them their differentiated, healthy looking coloring.

I am a firm believer that everything can be branded/differentiated. I have never encountered a product or service that I could not brand/differentiate. So if it is possible, what are some of the tactics for doing so? For B2B brands, you can pursue any combination of the following to provide differentiation:

Superior product or service consistency (quality control)
Superior ability to customize products or services to a customer’s specific needs
Superior responsiveness (order fulfillment, technical support, customer service)
Optimal/preferred bundling/unbundling of products and services, creating greater perceived value or better fitting a customer’s approach to purchasing
Superior range of products and services (one-stop shopping)
Value chain integration
Unique/preferred/more accessible distribution approach
Identify your most important/profitable customers or customer segments and focus on meeting their unique needs -- conduct conjoint analysis to determine what they value the most

For consumer products, you can add the following:
Ingredient branding

Unique packaging
Emotional branding (‘brand as a badge,’ superior purchase/usage experience)
Unique attitude/personality

In emotional branding, the brand stands for something important to the target customer. It projects and reinforces his or her intended self-image. Being associated with that brand says something about who he or she is. It says I am sexy, I am stylish, I am rich, I have high social status, I am concerned about the environment, I am frugal, I am powerful, I am smart, I am kind, I am spiritually evolved, I am athletic – the list could go on and on.

For brands in which there is no product or service differentiation, the role of the marketer becomes critical. The brand itself, and what it stands for, may become the primary or only point of difference.

While this is a quick survey of the topic, I hope I have shown you that any product or service can be differentiated/branded in a way that allows for a price premium to be charged. One needs to ideate (brainstorm) in a focused way around each of the differentiation approaches listed above to arrive at a successful differentiation strategy for his or her brand. And, don’t forget, any successful differentiation approach must pass this test: (1) the differentiating benefit is highly important to the target customer, (2) your brand can deliver the benefit well and (3) your competitors cannot. That is, your brand must promise to fulfill a strong customer need for which there is a marketplace gap. I wish you great success in branding your commodity. If you need some help, let me know.

Brand Research -- Brand Management

2006-12-13T03:23:00.000-08:00

Brand management cannot succeed without research.

Brand Creation -- Research uncovers the underlying customer values, attitudes, needs, motivations and perceptions that lead to a brand's positioning. It identifies competitors' strengths and weaknesses, helping you further differentiate your brand from the competition, and perhaps even allowing you to reposition their brands to your brand's advantage. Research can help you identify the most powerful brand identity configuration, one that delivers the highest recognition and recall and the most positive associations. It can help you choose the advertising execution that best meets your brand's objectives. Research will help you determine the most advantageous pricing strategy for your brand. It can also help you determine the optimal mix of product/service attributes that deliver the greatest customer value for the least cost.

Brand Management -- Ongoing brand equity monitoring can help you identify ways to strengthen your brand's equity and customer's loyalty to the brand. It can also help you identify when the brand might need to be repositioned to remain vital. A wide variety of brand equity components should be monitored in this process -- from awareness, relevance, differentiation, value and accessibility to emotional connection, vitality, preference, personality and other key associations.

Brand Growth -- Research significantly increases the probability of success when entering new geographic markets with a brand. And research is essential in maximizing the likelihood of success when extending the brand into new product and service categories. In summary, research is essential to your brand's success as you create, manage and grow it.

I will devote the next several blog posts to the effective use of research in each step of the brand management process. This will include a discussion of the different research methodologies available and the most important considerations when using them.

In this blog post, I will focus on research that can help with brand management.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” This is especially true of a brand and its equity. A robust brand equity measurement system will accomplish the following objectives:

Measure the brand’s equity across a variety of dimensions at different points in time over time
Provide diagnostic information on the reasons for the changes in brand equity
Gauge and evaluate the brand’s progress against goals
Provide direction on how to improve brand equity
Provide insight into the brand’s positioning vis-à-vis its major competitors including its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
Provide direction on how to reposition the brand for maximum effect

BrandForward has identified that the following five attributes drive customers to insist upon specific brands: awareness, relevant differentiation, value, accessibility and emotional connection.

These brand insistence drivers work together to move customers from being aware of your brand and preferring your brand to purchasing your brand and being loyal to your brand. The next chart shows how this works

We recommend that brand equity measurement studies:

Focus on the key drivers of customer brand insistence
Measure changes in brand equity over time
Diagnose reasons for changes in brand equity
Provide insight into the current brand positioning, including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
Provide direction on how to increase customer brand insistence

Brand equity studies should measure the following for your brand and each of its competitors, with responses reported separately for different user segments:

Awareness
Convenience/accessibility
Perceived value (including quality and price sensitivity)
Rank in consideration set
Preference
Usage
Relevance
Differentiation
Vitality
Emotional connection
Loyalty
Multiple personality attributes and
Other brand associations.

Another Unusual Advertising Medium

2006-12-13T03:21:00.000-08:00

Are you looking for a way to make some extra money while promoting your favorite brand(s)? Advertisers, are you looking for new advertising media? Consider Human Billboard advertising. Go to www.TatAD.com and select from permanent or temporary tattoos to one of many other types of human billboard activity. Rates will vary based upon how much exposure you receive and in which markets. Just when you think that advertisers are running out of new media, you are proven otherwise.

Social Networking and Consumer Power

2006-12-13T03:13:00.000-08:00

The emergence of social networking on the Internet (MySpace, LinkedIn, facebook, YouTube, Flickr, etc.) has led to new brand building opportunities and perils. While brands can take advantage of these networks to promote themselves (see the iPod video at YouTube -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BufCM6eKTTw), these same networks have given individuals increased power to make their own positive and negative statements about brands. For instance, view what a disgruntled Comcast customer communicated about Comcast on YouTube -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvVp7b5gzqU. Brand marketers would do well to constantly monitor these social networks for references to their brands. At a minimum, they would learn allot about how customers perceive and use their brands. If they are fortunate, they may also be able to address/diffuse potentially disastrous references to their brands before they become ‘viral.’

Geo-branding

2006-11-08T06:17:00.000-08:00

I have been working with several geo-brands lately. Geo-brands tend to have many audiences:

Current and potential residents
Current and potential businesses
Developers
Investors
Tourists
Conference and convention planners
Sporting event site selection committees
Business travelers
Residents’ out-of-town friends and relatives

Following are important geo-branding considerations for the tourist segment:

Defining and understanding the target market (geo-demographic, lifestyle, attitudes, motivations, etc.)
Defining/setting appropriate geographic boundaries
Knowing what the top-of-mind associations are for the place
Knowing which attractions make the place a destination
Knowing what makes the place different
Standing for something
Remaining authentic
Knowing and leveraging the place’s assets
Building on/enhancing the place’s strengths
Capturing the place’s most important point(s) of difference in a slogan
Understanding/maximizing the place’s aesthetic appeal
o Natural features (ocean, lake, mountains, canyon, waterfalls, etc.)
o Architecture
o Zoning, code
o Curb appeal – parks, scenery, landscaping, flowers, fountains, sculptures, etc.
Creating a consistent aesthetic
Amenities (restaurants, cafes, public toilets, benches, etc.)
Sidewalks, bike paths
Parking
Signage/way finding

Brand Research for Brand Creation

2006-11-08T06:08:00.000-08:00

Brand Research

Brand management cannot succeed without research.

Brand Creation -- Research uncovers the underlying customer values, attitudes, needs, motivations and perceptions that lead to a brand's positioning. It identifies competitors' strengths and weaknesses, helping you further differentiate your brand from the competition, and perhaps even allowing you to reposition their brands to your brand's advantage. Research can help you identify the most powerful brand identity configuration, one that delivers the highest recognition and recall and the most positive associations. It can help you choose the advertising execution that best meets your brand's objectives. Research will help you determine the most advantageous pricing strategy for your brand. It can also help you determine the optimal mix of product/service attributes that deliver the greatest customer value for the least cost.

Brand Management -- Ongoing brand equity monitoring can help you identify ways to strengthen your brand's equity and customer's loyalty to the brand. It can also help you identify when the brand might need to be repositioned to remain vital. A wide variety of brand equity components should be monitored in this process -- from awareness, relevance, differentiation, value and accessibility to emotional connection, vitality, preference, personality and other key associations.

Brand Growth -- Research significantly increases the probability of success when entering new geographic markets with a brand. And research is essential in maximizing the likelihood of success when extending the brand into new product and service categories. In summary, research is essential to your brand's success as you create, manage and grow it.
I will devote the next several newsletters to the effective use of research in each step of the brand management process. This will include a discussion of the different research methodologies available and the most important considerations when using them.

In this blog entry, I will focus on research that can help with brand creation. The most important consideration in brand creation is the brand’s positioning. Central to brand positioning is knowing who your brand’s target customers are. The first step is to choose the primary, secondary and tertiary targets based upon an assessment of the following:

Market size
Market growth rate
Market profitability
Strength of customer need
Degree to which the customer need is untapped
Market entry barriers
Market exit barriers

Market size and growth rate can be determined through volumetric forecasting. Internal analysis and secondary research can help you with market profitability. Strength of need and need gap can be determined through concept testing against a normative database. Market entry and exit barriers can often be uncovered through industry analyst reports and strategic analysis.

The ideal target market is one that is large, profitable and growing rapidly. It has strong needs for the product or service and there is a large gap in filling those needs. Generally, low exit barriers are preferable. Entry barrier preference will depend on the size and resources of your company relative to its competition. Low entry barriers will allow quick easy entry for you, but also for potential competitors.

Assuming you have found ideal markets for your product or service, the next step is to determine the most beneficial position for the brand in those markets. The ideal position addresses one or two of the most compelling customer motivators uniquely and exclusively. Put another way, brands should choose to ‘own’ one or two customer benefits that are (a) highly compelling and purchase motivating, (b) based on company strengths and (c) not adequately addressed by other companies. Benefits can be functional, emotional, experiential or self-expressive.

Customer benefit structures can be uncovered in qualitative research, such as focus groups and one-on-one interviews. Projective techniques, laddering and guided imagery can often help uncover these. The next step is quantitative research that measures the importance of each category benefit and how well your brand and each of its competitors are perceived to deliver against each of those benefits. Benefit importance versus delivery can be mapped for your brand and each of its competitors to visually expose potentially powerful brand positioning opportunities.

This research can then be used to create a brand positioning statement including brand essence, promise and personality. This positioning statement can guide the creation of the brand’s identity (visual and other sensory cues), its messaging and its customer touchpoints.

Logos, taglines and other brand identity element options can be measured for their congruence with the brand’s essence, promise and personality. They can also be measured for their recognition, recall and preference. Recognition can be tested in the field for different logo options. One can test the greatest distance at which a logo can be recognized in different lighting conditions for different media (from web to storefront) at different times of day. Preference can be determined through a simple customer sorting exercise. Recall can be established by embedding each logo option in with the logos of several other brands (displayed in rows and columns), briefly presenting that logo grouping, and then asking people to recall as many logos as possible.

Brand messaging (from taglines to advertising copy) can be tested for congruence with brand position in one of two ways: (1) measuring responses (perceptions and intended behaviors) before and after viewing the crafted message or (2) testing two forms of the crafted message in the marketplace (more expensive split-run technique).

Corporate Sponsorship of Everything

2006-08-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

I have been following with some interest the emergence of corporate sponsorships in various aspects of our lives. It started with sports brands sponsoring athletes. If you watch Tiger Woods play golf, the Nike brand has been encoded in your brain. Sponsorships branched out to the naming rights for stadiums and arenas. Pick a city and you can usually find a sponsored sports venue. When I was in Detroit recently, I found it ironic that Toyota sponsored the Scout Shop at the Detroit Boy Scout office. I am sure that marketers at GM, Ford and Chrysler would not use the word 'ironic.'

I remember reading not so long ago that Clark, Texas offered to rename their town DISH in return for free satellite TV from the DISH network for its small number of homeowners. Las Vegas is selling naming rights to its monorail and Chicago is seeking the highest bidder to name a freeway, currently called the Chicago Skyway.

Just recently, USA Today ran an article citing Sheboygan, Wisconsin's push to sell rights to virtually anything at two public high schools as a way to raise cash. For instance, those high schools now have Kohler Credit Union kitchens ($45,000), Acuity Insurance field houses ($650,000), Sheboygan Orthopedic Associates locker rooms ($45,000) and Associated Bank school stores ($60,000) among other named entities.

Where will this stop? I will not be surprised to hear that a parent has named a child after some company in return for a small financial donation. Come to think of it, I remember having an Allen Bradley cap as a child, something my parents said the Allen-Bradley Company sent them after my birth was announced in the local paper (my full name is Alan Bradley VanAuken). I wonder if they received any money for my name. Probably not. I was born too soon for that and besides, my parents misspelled "Allen."

It will be very interesting to read of the types of sponsorships are offered for sale next.

Brand Research

2006-08-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

Brand management cannot succeed without research.

Brand Creation -- Research uncovers the underlying customer values, attitudes, needs, motivations and perceptions that lead to a brand's positioning. It identifies competitors' strengths and weaknesses, helping you further differentiate your brand from the competition, and perhaps even allowing you to reposition their brands to your brand's advantage. Research can help you identify the most powerful brand identity configuration, one that delivers the highest recognition and recall and the most positive associations. It can help you choose the advertising execution that best meets your brand's objectives. Research will help you determine the most advantageous pricing strategy for your brand. It can also help you determine the optimal mix of product/service attributes that deliver the greatest customer value for the least cost.

Brand Management -- Ongoing brand equity monitoring can help you identify ways to strengthen your brand's equity and customer's loyalty to the brand. It can also help you identify when the brand might need to be repositioned to remain vital. A wide variety of brand equity components should be monitored in this process -- from awareness, relevance, differentiation, value and accessibility to emotional connection, vitality, preference, personality and other key associations.

Brand Growth -- Research significantly increases the probability of success when entering new geographic markets with a brand. And research is essential in maximizing the likelihood of success when extending the brand into new product and service categories. In summary, research is essential to your brand's success as you create, manage and grow it.

I will devote many of the next several blogs to the effective use of research in each step of the brand management process. This will include a discussion of the different research methodologies available and the most important considerations when using them.

The Role of Brand Marketing in New Business Success

2006-05-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

As I work with more and more smaller businesses, including start-ups, it has become obvious to me that some businesses attempt to address underlying business problems through branding. I find that I am not only consulting on branding but also general business strategy and especially the intersection between the two. Given this clear need, this article is about the intersection of branding and business strategy in creating a successful new business.

A very common problem I encounter is businesses that have a product and a manufacturing process but little understanding of the underlying customer need that the product addresses. Businesses should always start with a solid understanding of the customer needs that its products and services can fulfill – functional, emotional and otherwise. This assumes that the business has already identified its primary and secondary target market segments and knows a fair amount about those segments’ needs, desires, hopes, fears, values, aspirations, problems, concerns, shopping behaviors, etc. All of this can be discovered through formal or informal market research. Research techniques are myriad, but often include one-on-one interviews, focus groups, online surveys and discussions with current customers. Another technique is to ‘shadow’ your customers and ‘live the brand’ with them to discover how they experience it.

Another common problem is developing a product or service that does not deliver a superior value proposition to what is already available, either because it is not differentiated in relevant ways from what is already available or because its cost structure demands too high a price for the perceived value.

Sometimes, while the business may understand the customer’s need and have created a superior solution at a reasonable price, it may not be able to easily identify or communicate with the target audience (or be made aware of the event or situation that triggers the need) making the marketer’s/media planner’s job very difficult and sometimes even impossible.

I have said this many times before: a brand promises relevant differentiated benefits to specifically targeted customers and then makes good on that promise in all that it does. Ideally, it promises a benefit (or benefits) that: (a) are extremely important to the target customer, (b) the company is particularly well suited to delivering and (c) that the competition is not addressing. The most powerful benefits to own are often emotional, experiential or self-expressive.

Another common new business problem is being under capitalized, leading to cash flow problems. What may otherwise have been a very successful, profitable business, dies for lack of cash. This can be solved by accurately forecasting cash flow needs and raising enough funds to cover inaccurate cost or revenue estimates or other faulty assumptions or unforeseen circumstances. A related problem is the ability and will to live with low or no income for a few years until the business has a chance to more fully develop.

Choosing the right business model is also important.

What is the long-term profit potential in the product/service category? Is the business scalable? What is the ratio of fixed to variable costs? What is the sensitivity of demand to price? What, if anything, will make your execution of the business more profitable than everyone else’s?

Adaptability is critical. Most successful businesses have reinvented themselves many times until they have landed on a formula that is successful.

Hard work and attention to detail is also extremely important.

And again, I will stress that businesses often start with a product or an idea, but no real understanding of the underlying customer need or purchase/usage behavior. Marketers, when asked to develop marketing for start-ups and other small businesses, must be able to deliver much more than a logo, tagline, brochure, trade show booth or ad campaign. They must be able to help the business understand its markets and its business model and define and deliver upon its unique value proposition.

Another comment: business owners in my experience -- especially doctors, engineers, and other very smart, analytical types -- often underestimate the importance of marketing and the unique skill sets of experienced marketers. This sometime leads to cutting corners where they shouldn’t be cut or second guessing messages or campaigns based upon anything other than the communication of product functions and features.

I have seen businesses that have created superior product functionality but ignored the look and feel of the product (its aesthetic design). What otherwise would have been very successful products are spurned by the target customers for this reason alone. Don’t forget product aesthetic design (and packaging, if appropriate).

Two other areas in which marketers can be very helpful to small business owners: in crafting the optimal pricing and distribution strategies (which can only be adequately addressed in separate dedicated articles).

Last, but certainly not least, newer quickly growing businesses are almost always constrained in what they can spend on marketing and brand building. The brand marketer will best serve these businesses by focusing on (a) the basics (defining the unique value proposition, crafting pricing and distribution strategy, etc.), (b) low or no cost marketing techniques (such as publicity, customer referrals, building ‘buzz’ and highly targeted marketing) and (c) the quickest and easiest incremental revenue wins – identifying and pursuing the ‘lowest hanging fruit.’

Here are the criteria that I use to estimate the potential for a new business or brand:
* Size of market (customer need, total revenue potential) – bigger is better
* Rate of market growth (or contraction) – high long-term growth rate is best
* Market fragmentation – this may be good or bad – requires additional analysis regarding the factors that underlay this fragmentation
* Your unique value proposition within the market – extremely important – be honest with yourself
* Your current or projected share of the market – bigger is better
* Market profitability – higher is better
* Market entry and exit barriers – high entry barriers and low exit barriers are best

I hope this helps you as you think about the value of marketing and branding in the context of new business development.

Brand Repositioning and Organizational Reinvention

2006-03-05T04:11:00.000-08:00

I have been working with a number of organizations lately whose brand repositioning efforts involve nothing less than organizational transformation including business model and culture change. Take libraries as an example. In most people’s minds, libraries are synonymous with books. However, for those of us who can afford it, Amazon.com is a much more convenient source of books, with its 24/7 availability, advanced search and browse capabilities, extensive product reviews and very quick shipping. One of the underlying benefits of books is information. How much easier is it today to search for information online using one of many search engines rather than going to the local library? And whether you are looking for information or just the pure pleasure of reading, think about the advantages of going to a Barnes & Noble store with its overstuffed chairs, café, book readings and signings, community rooms, etc. Where then does the modern library fit into people’s need fulfillment? I believe libraries need to redefine themselves from ‘book archives’ to ‘community places’ – places for the acquisition of information, sharing of ideas, exposure to different cultures and enrichment of life in general. Obviously, this has huge implications for brand position, competitive set, culture, business model, sources of income and the physical environment. I hope this example demonstrates that increasingly brand repositioning is accompanied by culture and business model change requiring the interdisciplinary efforts of marketing, business strategy and human resource professionals at a minimum.

Geo-branding

2006-03-05T04:07:00.000-08:00

Joao R. Freire recently shared a paper that he wrote on Geo-branding with me. It was published in the November 2005 issue of Place Branding.[1] It makes some very interesting points about place branding:

The worst thing a place can do is not try to intervene in the creation of its image
Given that brands often are a part of an individual’s self identity construction, places where one might visit will be influenced by the meaning behind the place and what that communicates about the individual’s lifestyle and self image
Some people claim that branding might corrupt a place’s authenticity and abuse its natives. The author argues that rather tourism and geo-brands deliver these important benefits:

-- Contribute to the preservation of local cultures and thus global diversity

-- Provide important community resources, especially jobs (Most of the resources created for tourists can also be used by residents)

-- Help increase community self esteem by reinforcing the place’s unique values

The most interesting conclusion of this paper for me is the importance of branding places and of choosing meanings that will appeal to the tourists (and residents) that the place desires to attract.

[1] Freire, Joao R., “Geo-branding, are we talking nonsense? A theoretical reflection on brands applied to places,” © Henry Stewart Publications 1744-0696 (2005) Vol. 1, 4 347-352 Place Branding

The Conference Board’s ‘Extending Your Brand to Employees Conference’

2006-03-05T04:03:00.000-08:00

I recently had the opportunity to present and lead a panel discussion at The Conference Board’s ‘Extending Your Brand to Employees Conference’ in Chicago, IL. The conference provided a forum for marketing, brand, communications and HR professionals to share how they have engaged their employees to embrace and deliver upon their brands’ promises.

Here are some of the more interesting quotes from that conference:

“Branding is all about the promises your company makes to external audiences and the promises it keeps with those audiences.”

Randall S. Rozin, global director, branding and marketing communications, Dow Corning Corporation

Scott Davis, senior partner, Prophet, indicated that he believes the following three things are most important in branding today:

Brand relevance
Customer experience
Employee engagement and alignment

“It seems to me that when people talk about employer branding, they are talking about one of two things:

Positioning the organization to potential and current employees
Engaging employees to deliver upon their organization’s promises to its customers

These two things are important and related, yet different.”

Kristen Weirick, employer brand manager, Whirlpool Corporation

Bonnie Gellas, director, corporate communications, Merrill Lynch indicated that at Merrill Lynch ‘Human Resources (HR)’ has been renamed ‘Leadership and Talent Management,’ reflecting how that company views the evolving role of that function.

Lissa Reitz of Target Corporation indicated that Target’s research showed that their guests (customers) believed that if Target’s bathrooms were clean, it indicated that Target was a well run store. At Target, people are paid not only to clean the floors, but to keep them shiny at all times.

Story telling emerged as one of the most powerful tools to reinforce brand building behavior. Dean Rodenbough, director, corporate communications, Hallmark, indicated that as a part of its internal brand building activities, Hallmark implemented a ‘Stories of Hallmark’ speakers series in which employees tell brand related stories. Yolanda Villegas, global branding leader, GE Insurance Solutions indicated that when her company asked employees to tell a customer story, over 100 employees responded.

Successful Brand Champions

2005-11-25T08:21:00.000-08:00

Chief brand champions will be more effective if they exhibit the following personal characteristics:

Curious
Well rounded
Intuitive
Visionary
“Big picture” thinker
Strong customer knowledge
Strong business knowledge
Assertive
Disciplined
Tenacious
Resilient
Passionate
Able to simplify the complex
Able to translate brand concepts into something relevant for non-marketers
Story telling ability
Teaching ability
Likable personality

These qualities seem to imply three roles: (1) vision crafter, (2) teacher/evangelist and (3) standards enforcer.

Source: BrandForward’s informal survey of corporate brand management leaders, May 2002.

The Importance of Point of Purchase

2005-11-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

Over the past 20 years, retail brands have significantly increased their leverage over consumer product brands because (1) they increasingly control access to products and (2) the environment in which the products are sold and (3) they have point of sale data to which manufacturers are not always privy. And given the relative size of some of the largest retailers (Wal-Mart’s sales of $285.2 billion [year ending January 31, 2005] eclipses P&G’s sales [all brands] of $60 billion), retailers don’t only affect product sales and market share directly through product access/distribution, but also indirectly by contributing to marketplace exposure/brand awareness.

Point of purchase is the place where everything a brand has done either results in a sale or doesn’t. While most consumers still state that product brands are more important to them than retail brands, most would not waste the time to seek out their preferred brand at another store if it is not available where they are shopping. And, according to a March 31, 2005 Economist article, consumers spend no more than 6 seconds trying to find a preferred brand before they give up and settle for a substitute.

So, how can you maximize your product brand’s probability of success at point of purchase? Through the following:

Offering a unique or superior product sought out by the consumer prior to entering the store
Developing emotional connection and loyalty to your brand before and after the point of purchase
Creating a prominently visible brand identity (as seen from a shelf facing)
-- Including distinctive packaging size/shape/colors
Developing point of purchase signage that simply and powerfully communicates:
-- Your brand’s most compelling point(s) of difference
-- Your brand’s superior value (remembering that value has a numerator and a denominator -- this usually does not translate to lowest price)
Understanding retailer metrics and motivations and developing product programs accordingly
Working very closely with retailers’ category managers to ensure that your products receive maximum attention, consideration and placement
In conjunction with the category manager, developing innovative in-store promotions that highlight your products and brand(s)
Creating your own retail outlets so that you can develop and control a superior point of purchase experience

Important Brand Associations

2005-10-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

Most brands will want to be associated with the following by their target customers. We recommend that every brand tests how it stacks up against its competitors regarding each of these associations:

Trustworthy
Authentic
Relevant
Unique
Stands for something important to me
Feels ‘just right’ to me
Popular
Appealing
Likeable
Admirable
High quality
Innovative
Service oriented

Customer Research – Projective Research Techniques

2005-10-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

When conducting qualitative customer research, projective techniques overcome some of the limitations of direct questioning:

people are not always conscious of their underlying motivations,
people tell you what they think you want to hear,
people are sometimes embarrassed to admit their real motivations, thinking that divulging them would reflect negatively on them,
most people think of themselves as being completely rational in their decision making, so
they discount or dismiss non-rational reasons for their behaviors, and
some people fear how marketers might use the information “if they were to learn the truth about me” so they withhold that information to avoid being manipulated.

Projective techniques can help you better understand brand personality. For instance, “if the brand was an animal/car/person/sports team/occupation, what animal/car/person/sports team/occupation would it be and why?”

Other projective research techniques that help you get below the surface include:

sentence completion
brand sorting (on a wide variety of dimensions)
word association
collages
brand obituary/epitaph
brand press release/headline
consumer letters
brand time capsule
stereotypes
thought balloons
psychodrawing/modeling
role-playing and reenactment

I also have used the technique of providing participants with numerous pictures of a wide variety of people in a wide variety of settings. I then ask which of those people would buy, receive as a gift, and use the brand, and which wouldn’t. I then ask them to explain their answers.

The Quick Brand Health Assessment

2005-10-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

(Or, you know your brand is winning in the marketplace when…)

The brand is mentioned to customers and potential customers, and they brim with enthusiasm in their response.
Your brand’s external messages “ring true” with all employees.
Employees are enthusiastic and consistent in recounting what makes their brand special.
The brand’s market share is increasing.
Competitors always mention your brand as a point of reference.
The press can’t seem to write enough about your brand.
Your CEO has a strong vision for the organization and its brand. He or she talks more about the vision than financial targets.
Your organization’s leaders always seem to “talk the brand” and “walk the brand talk.”

How to Get the News Media to Cover Your Story

2005-10-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

Stories have a better chance of being covered if they:

Tie into what people are talking about today
Add to discussions on current “hot” issues or topics
Reference prominent people, places or things
Have visual impact
Are dramatic
Are unexpected, controversial or outrageous
Directly impact a publication’s readership
Have “human interest”
Educate or entertain a publication’s readers
Have a “local” angle
Tie into a holiday or special occasion
Represent a significant milestone or a major honor

Did You Know?

2005-10-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

Research has shown that the media environment affects advertising claims (see Aaker and Brown’s study of vehicle source effects of 1972). For instance, quality claims are more effective in elite or prestigious magazines because people associate the claim with the media environment.
Aspirational, upscale and high status brands have the potential to alienate customers who lack confidence. While these customers might admire these brands, they don’t feel comfortable using them. Building warmth, humor and less formality into the brands to make them more approachable helps overcome this problem. (Source: Blackston, Max. “Observations: Building Brand Equity by Managing the Brand’s Relationships.” Journal of Advertising Research 32, 3 May/June 1992: 79-83.)

Trade Secrets

2005-10-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

Trade secrets are an often overlooked form of brand protection. Trade secrets are simply information, techniques, procedures, codes, patterns, plans, processes, formula, prototypes, etc., that are developed confidentially and that are kept confidential. This even includes customer lists and instructional methods. The Coca-Cola syrup formulation is an example of a trade secret. (The added value of this approach from a brand perspective is that it often creates a mystique that has its own cache.)

Sometimes it is better to keep something a trade secret than to patent it. In some industries, companies routinely watch for competitors’ new patents and then try to design around them. Non-compete and nondisclosure agreements are important, but not infallible, in protecting trade secrets. The Economic Espionage Act of 1996 protects trade secrets against theft. Information is legally considered to be a trade secret if an organization can show that it took reasonable measure to keep the information secret and that there is economic value to the information not being made public.

A business can protect its trade secrets in the following ways:

Share confidential information only on a “need to know” basis.
Limit the number of employees exposed to trade secrets. Always inform employees exposed to those trade secrets that (a) they are being exposed to secrets and (b) the importance of keeping the secrets secret.
Mark all confidential documents “confidential – no copies allowed.” For added security, number each copy and keep a log of which numbered copy was given to which employee.
Use access logs for trade secrets.
Require anyone (employees, suppliers, customers, consultants and other business partners) who might come in contact with trade secrets to sign confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements before the relationship begins.
In consultant contracts, be clear about what intellectual property the consultant is to assign to your company during his or her assignment.
Require employees to sign non-compete agreements, prohibiting them from working for competitors for a period of time after their employment with you. If this is done within an employment contract, present this to the prospective employee well before he or she commences his or her employment with you so that the “consideration” is employment.
Employment contracts can also prohibit moonlighting or consulting for companies in similar lines of business while employed at your company. It can also prohibit moonlighting while on company time or using company equipment (including computers).
Educate employees about the treatment of proprietary information during and after their employment with you.
Carefully orchestrate employee terminations so that the employee is not able to take proprietary information with him or her.
Schedule exit interviews with departing employees. Use those interviews to remind departing employees of their confidentiality obligations.
Develop, communicate, and enforce security processes – from building security to paper document and computer security. Secure confidential information, with electronic and mechanical locks. (Passwords or codes should be changed regularly.)
Never store or allow transfer of confidential information outside of your company’s firewall.
Make extensive use of shredders.
Be especially careful of contract workers. Provide them with a company computer so they don’t have to use their own on the job.
Conduct trade secret audits.
Most importantly, identify all trade secrets and develop formal protection plans for those secrets.

It’s a Branded World, or

2005-10-15T12:02:00.001-07:00

Did you know that any of the following can and have been branded?

Products and services
Companies
Professional service firms
Retail stores
Hotels
Restaurants
Theme parks
Colleges and universities
Elementary schools and high schools
Museums
Municipalities
States
Regions
Software
Musical groups
Other performing arts groups
Summer camps
Artists

The Strongest Brands

2005-10-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

The strongest brands aren’t created with a logo or a tag line. They aren’t created with an advertising campaign. They aren’t even created with a product or service. They begin with a compelling vision -- a vision whose foundation is deep customer insight. The insight may be informed by personal experience, in-depth research, active listening, intuition, or one or more of many other paths to customer intimacy.

The strongest brands strive to understand cultural context, underlying values, hopes, anxieties, fears and other motivations. They also strive to understand self image, icons that evoke strong memories and feelings and other emotional stimuli. The most progressive organizations find ways to experience relevant contexts and situations with their customers.

The strongest brands are authentic and stand for something. They possess integrity. That is, they are internally and externally consistent; they are who they say they are.

The strongest brands have a distinctive and consistent ‘voice’ and visual style. They weave compelling stories. And they strive to develop emotional connections to their intended customers.

The strongest brands transcend specific products, services and delivery vehicles. These brands are most closely associated with functional, emotional, experiential and self-expressive customer benefits. They exist to meet deeply felt human needs in unique and superior ways.

Is yours one of these brands? I hope that it is.

The Next Marketing Frontier?

2005-10-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

Do you have an iPod? Have you loaded iTunes onto your computer? Have you listened to iTunes Radio? To which of its 400+ streams have you listened

DI.fm Goa-Psy Trance (A psychedelic voyage out of this world),
Radio Darvish (Persian Traditional Music),
Sunshine Radio (Popular Music from Nyiregyhaza, Hungary),
CMRadio.Net – EDGE (Loud Christian Music on the EDGE),
LamRim.com (Tibetan Buddhist Internet Radio),
Soldier’s Radio News (Army news as it happens),
Kid Safe Radio (Safe and fun programming for kids) or
BeatBasement (Independent Hip-Hop)?

Adam Curry, formally of MTV, is making it possible for anyone to become an iPod Radio star through iPodder, a software application that allows anyone to create a podcast. For more information, go to www.ipodder.org or www.ourmedia.org.

I think there is a marketing opportunity in here somewhere.

Product Placement

2005-10-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

Increasingly, consumer product companies are using product placement as a part of their overall marketing efforts. According to a recently released PQ Media study, product placement in TV shows and movies increased 44% to $1 billion in 2004. Overall product placement, including barter and gratis arrangements, grew 35% to an all-time high of $3.5 billion last year. Paid placements accounted for 29% of the total value of placements in 2004. The market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 15% between 2004 and 2009, reaching $6.9 billion in 2009.

Pricing 101 for Brand Managers

2005-10-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

One of the five drivers of customer brand insistence is “value.” While value is comprised of more than just price (benefit bundle, perceived quality, etc.), one needs to understand pricing to deliver a strong brand value. Following are some concepts that you may find useful as you determine pricing for your brand’s products and services.

Reference Prices

People often compare a product’s price to a “reference price” that they maintain in their minds for the product or product category in question. A “reference price” is the price that people expect or deem to be reasonable for a certain type of product. Several factors affect reference prices:

Memory of past prices
Frame of reference (compared to competitive prices, pre-sale prices, manufacturer’s suggested prices, channel-specific prices, marked prices before discounts, substitute product prices, etc.)
o Creating the most advantageous (and believable) competitive frame of reference is essential to achieving a price premium
Prices of other products on the same shelf, in the same catalog, or in the same product line
o The addition of a more premium priced product typically increases sales of other lower-priced products in the same product line
The way the price is presented – for instance, absolute number versus per quart, per pound, per hour of use, per application, for the result achieved, etc.; also four simple payments of $69.95 versus $279.80; for automobiles: total purchase price versus monthly loan payment versus monthly lease payment
The order in which people see a range of prices – like when a realtor uses the trick of showing the poorest value house first.

Price Sensitivity

It is extremely important to be able to estimate the impact of price changes on sales and profits. That is, it is important to know how a price change will impact consumer response, competitive response, and unit volume. Many business people erroneously believe that a price increase is the most cost-effective revenue generating marketing tactic. I have heard generally intelligent business people share their excitement about how a price increase will drop to the “bottom line” dollar-for-dollar. Most of the time, this is simplynot true.
People display different price sensitivities to different products in different situations. Often people are relatively price insensitive, but only within a relevant price range. Once a price exceeds that range, people become very sensitive. Raising the price across that threshold is akin to walking off of a cliff.

The following factors decrease price sensitivity:

Relevant brand/product differentiation
Marketing and selling on factors other than price
Convincing consumers that quality differs significantly among products and brands in the category
Self-expressive or “image” products or brands
Brand advertising
Situations in which price is a signal to quality – usually for relatively new or unknown products or brands
When it is difficult to ascertain a “reference price” within the category
When there are significant switching costs – in dollars, time, effort, risk or emotional impact
Product categories for which the risk of failure is an important issue
When the price is insignificant relative to the total budget or discretionary income
For businesses, when the item’s price does not significantly contribute to the price of the products and services that they sell
When the price falls within the expected price range for products in the category
Offering “value added services” versus “price discounts” to motivate purchases
New markets

The following factors increase price sensitivity:

Price promotions, especially when people are able to stock up on the price-discounted items
Mature and declining markets

Price Segmentation

Price segmentation (offering different prices to different market segments) increases overall revenues and profits, and it is particularly beneficial to industries that have high fixed cost structures. Obviously, price segmentation works better to the extent to which there are real customer need segments and to which you can effectively isolate those segments.
As an example, imagine that your business only offers one product priced at $5. But some consumers are willing to pay up to $8. You are leaving $3 on the table for each of them. Other consumers are more price-sensitive and only willing to pay $3. You do not get any of their business. By offering three prices -- $3, $5 and $8 – instead of just one -- $5, one can generate significant incremental revenue (see table in April 15, 2005 newsletter at www.brandforward.com).

While this is a simplified example, it illustrates the financial advantages of price segmentation.

Prices can be segmented in the following ways:

By time (higher hotel room rates for holidays and other peak tourist seasons)
By location (higher prices in locations with less competition or in which less price-sensitive shoppers shop, orchestra versus balcony seats in a theater)
By volume (volume discounts for large orders)
By product attribute (first class vs. coach section on airplanes; solid brass vs. plastic faucets)
By product bundling – examples:
o selling software in product suites vs. by the program
o selling e-Learning by library vs. the individual course
o fixed price versus a la cart menus
o “fully-loaded” models versus “basic” models with additional options available
o single admission ticket at theme parks versus charging per ride
By customer segment (brand-loyal vs. price-sensitive vs. convenience-oriented or image-conscious vs. economy-oriented)

Other price/value considerations

Pricing strategy should consider these factors: (1) perceived customer value, (2) competitive response, (3) channels of distribution, (4) cost parameters and (5) congruence with the brand position
Constantly explore new ways to uniquely add customer value to your products and services
In creating greater customer value, always ask, “How can we make it quicker, easier, less risky, or more pleasant to do business with us?” Ask, “What could we do that would favorably surprise and delight our customers?”
Communicate the value of services that you provide for free
Providing value-added products and services at “no charge” is superior to price discounting as a short-term purchase incentive because it preserves the value of the brand
Be careful to price your products and services to reward brand-loyal (versus brand-switching) behavior

Pricing is becoming an increasingly sophisticated discipline. These three topics (reference prices, price sensitivity, and price segmentation) are just a few of the important considerations when developing pricing strategies and tactics. (Introductory pricing [skimming versus penetration, trial pricing], product mix pricing, fixed and variable price components, price adjustments [reason, amount, and frequency], pricing to meet buying system requirements, loss-leader pricing, prestige pricing and even-odd pricing are other pricing approaches/considerations of note.)

I would highly recommend reading The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing by Thomas T. Nagle and Reed K. Holden to better understand how to develop effective pricing strategies and tactics. Online pricing resources include http://www.pricing-advisor.com/ and http://www.profitablepricing.com/.

Brands as Status Symbols

2005-10-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

From Gucci, Mercedes Benz and Rolex to a tony address, membership in an exclusive country club or an Ivy League pedigree, brands have long served as status symbols. What is the latest teenage status symbol? An iPod. With a price tag of between $99 and $399 (depending upon the model), most teenagers will want one of the higher end iPods. Keeping up with the Jones starts early in life.

The Branding of Nations

2005-10-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

Companies, products, universities, museums, municipalities and individuals brand themselves. Why not nations? After all, they have more at stake then almost any other entity – tourism, exports, foreign direct investment, industry formation/focus, immigration, satisfied citizenry, national heritage and support of domestic and foreign policy, to name a few.

Some countries or regions that have attempted to brand themselves include the UK, USA, Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Ireland, Scotland, Singapore, Portugal, Spain, Thailand and Dubai.

Branding nations is an extraordinarily complex task The stakeholders are legion (politicians, businesses, citizens, etc.) as are the potential target audiences (tourists, immigrants, business and political leaders, etc.). It is extremely difficult to control a nation’s image because of all of factors that can influence that image. Because so many factors contribute to that image and because brand building is such a long term process, it is also very difficult to measure the effectiveness of even a very well funded re-branding campaign.

Impressions are created by foreign policy including diplomatic and military strategy, participation in multinational discussions and agreements, immigration and trade policy, foreign aid, alliances and media briefings. Impressions are also created by exports (especially exported media and high profile product brands), tourism, study abroad, exchange programs, friends, relatives, and business associates residing in (or visiting) the country, domestic and foreign press and the hosting of international events (cultural, sporting). The culture itself is a significant contributor to brand identity as is the nation’s brand building capacity (resources and marketing savvy). A brand’s perceptions will also be influenced by how long the nation has been an active part of the world community and known by the world community. Put another way, industrialized countries that export have more brand awareness and “country of origin” associations than developing countries that do not.

“Country of origin” can be important in lending credibility and quality assurances to certain product or service categories. For instance, Switzerland is known for it precision watch making, Russia for its vodka, Scotland for its cashmere, salmon and whiskey, Germany for its well engineered automobiles, New Zealand for its lamb, France for its wine, Belgium for its chocolates, lace and beer, The Netherlands for its tulips and Japan for its consumer electronics and automobiles (Honda, Toyota).

Countries also have distinctive personalities. America is known for its prosperity, innovation, opportunity and freedom. Canada and Australia are increasingly known for similar qualities. France is known for its fashion, culture and food. Italy for its art and fashion.

And nations often have other top of mind brand associations (that may work for or against them): Australia (Sydney Opera House, Great Barrier Reef, The Outback, kangaroos, prisoner colony origins), South Africa (apartheid, Nelson Mandela), Austria (Vienna/Mozart/Music, Arnold Schwarzenegger), Canada (hockey, Mounties, maple leaves), Germany (Hitler, The Black Forest, polkas, lederhosen), Switzerland (The Alps), Tanzania (Mt. Kilimanjaro, safaris), UK (London, Royalty, lousy weather, bland food), USA (cowboys, New York City, George Bush, entertainment, materialism), Ireland (potatoes, greenery), China (The Great Wall, emerging manufacturing prowess, emerging world power), Brazil (Carnival), Mexico (sombreros, siestas, Mexican food), Scotland (bagpipes, tartans) and The Netherlands (windmills, wooden shoes, canals, dams).

An interesting exercise to better understand a nation’s top-of-mind brand associations is to ask people of various countries what comes to mind when they see “Made in the USA,” “Made in China,” “Made in Ecuador,” “Made in Japan,” “Made in Taiwan,” “Made in Mexico,” “Made in Brazil,” etc. What product categories come to mind? What quality comes to mind? What styling? What cultural influences? Or does nothing come to mind? A variation on this exercise is to solicit peoples’ reactions to the “Made in [country]” label applied to various product categories for the country or countries in question.

When branding nations, one should think about the following. Actions taken in positioning the brand can only influence brand perceptions, not control them. The most important consideration in nation branding is maintaining brand integrity. That is, telling the truth about who you are. False claims will be exposed and will likely have an adverse effect on the nation. It is particularly important to understand how a given brand message will be perceived by people in different cultures. Look at what you are communicating from their perspectives and sets of values, not your own. As is true for any brand message, to be effective, it must be relevant, believable and unique. Extensive research will uncover current perceptions and the most lucrative possibilities for repositioning. It is always more advantageous to build upon brand strengths rather than to try to overcome brand weaknesses. And, in branding nations, patience is a virtue that will reward those who possess it.

Countries would do well to constantly monitor what the foreign press writes about them. Historically, when there has been a conflict between the message sent by a nation’s culture and its politics, many people outside of that nation would understand and accept that seeming contradiction. A recent (2005) Pew Center of Global Attitudes poll might indicate that this is changing based upon Indonesia and Pakistan’s improved view of the USA but their declining view of Americans.

India successfully repositioned itself from “impoverished” to “a place for spiritual renewal” to attract more American tourists. It is also increasingly seen as a world hub for IT support with Bangalore at that perception’s epicenter. The UK is repositioning itself away from several entrenched negative perceptions – cold, arrogant, lousy weather, bland food, etc. – to the new Britain that includes a renaissance in its film, fashion and food industries and its emerging dominance in computer game design. China too is coming of age as a new brand as it becomes the source for more and more of the world’s manufacturing and builds new towns and cities almost “overnight.”

So far, only a small number of countries have begun actively branding themselves to the world. This will become an increasingly important activity as more and more countries understand what is at stake. This could become an important step in helping developing countries accelerate their development. After all, tourism often leads to consumerism and foreign direct investment. An effectively positioned brand can help with each of these components.

Example Branding Themes

Columbia: Café de Columbia (initiated by the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Columbia to position Columbia as the source of high quality coffee, features Juan Valdez and his mule) (1981)
Spain: Everything Under the Sun (featuring Joan Miro’s sun design as its logo to communicate a general attitude of optimism) (1982)
Costa Rica: No Artificial Ingredients (developed by the Costa Rican Tourism Board to position Costa Rica as an “ecotourism” destination) (1996)
UK: Cool Britannia (launched by Blair’s government after its 1997 electoral victory, informed by Geoff Mulgan and Mark Leonard’s book BritanA™ and Ben & Jerry’s “Cool Britannia” ice cream flavor introduced in 1996) (1997)
Australia: Australia Made (1999)
Hong Kong: Asia’s World City (“where opportunity, creativity and entrepreneurship converge”) (2005)
New Zealand: 100% Pure New Zealand
South Africa: Alive with Possibility™
India: Eternally Yours
Thailand: Amazing Thailand

B2B Purchaser Motivations

2005-10-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

These purchaser motivations are usually present in B2B buying situations:

“Price
Perceived quality
Technical specifications
Warranties
Other service or post-sale support
Financial stability of the seller
Buyer’s past experience
Organizational policies
Fear of making a mistake
Friendship
Seller’s interest in buyer’s business
Persuasiveness of seller”

Source: The Nuts and Bolts of Business-to-Business Marketing Research, Gabriel M. Gelb – Gelb Consulting Group, Inc. as featured on CRM University Learning Center.

Did You Know?

2005-10-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

In general, it is much more important for a brand to focus on gaining the zealous support of its primary customers than it is to try to gain the business of a much broader audience. If the primary customers are “brand fans,” others will follow.
Risk taking, innovation, breaking industry rules, products that over perform and services that exceed customer expectations strongly contribute to brand vitality. “Adequate,” “suffice,” and “good enough” are not a part of a vital brand’s vocabulary.
The products and services that achieve the most “buzz” and that benefit the most from “buzz” are innovative, leading-edge, and of superior quality – often creating a new standard for customer experience.

Sponsorships: Something to Consider

2005-10-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

More and more today, we see sports stadiums and arenas, theaters and other buildings being named after the companies whose sponsorship dollars allow them to put their names on those buildings. While this may very well help in establishing and reinforcing a brand’s awareness among a large local audience over time, many people view this to be one of the worst forms of crass commercialism. Instead of naming buildings after founders, civic leaders or other heroes, we now name them after the highest bidders. Historical names are replaced with the names of the brands with the biggest bucks. While this does not seem that different from a university naming a building after the philanthropist who made the building possible or a theater naming a seat after a donor who donates a certain amount of money, to many, it seems indicative of all the things that are wrong with our over commercialized society.

As an alternative, I might suggest that brands “Adopt a Highway” or underwrite specific museum or gallery exhibits, or sponsor certain performances. While it might require more thought and effort to underwrite specific events, performances, community projects and other worthwhile causes, I believe the public will give the brand credit for choosing to support certain worthwhile community-enhancing activities rather than just slapping its name on a building for a large sum of money. Somehow, the latter makes the brand seem much less self-serving, much more community oriented and much more likable.

When it Comes to Colors, Names Matter

2005-10-15T11:12:00.001-07:00

I have written before about the importance of color choice in brand identity systems and retail environments. Recently, The Journal of Consumer Research reported on research conducted by Barbara Kahn of the Wharton School and Elizabeth Gelflan Miller of Boston College. These two marketing professors conducted research to understand what effect unusual names might have on the popularity of colors and flavors. They found that unusual names were more popular than expected names if people were given enough time to think about their decisions. So, while a surprising name might not get someone to buy a color or flavor that he or she does not like, it would make the difference if a person was choosing between two brands of the same color, one bearing a common name and the other an unusual name. The unusual name will almost always be preferred. Whether you are in the cosmetic, paint, ice cream, or crayon business, this finding has implications for you.

Bum-Vertising

2005-10-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Just when you think that marketing people had exhausted all advertising media, someone comes up with a new one. Ben Rogovy, a 22 year old Seattle entrepreneur is employing panhandlers to advertise his web site, Pokerfacebook.com, in exchange for an undisclosed amount of food, water and cash. All the panhandlers have to do is hold up a sign featuring the advertised web site address. Since employing bum-vertising (a term Mr. Rogovy intends to trademark), hits on his website have increased from hundreds a day to thousands a day. The publicity associated with the unorthodox approach can’t be hurting his business either.

Top U.S. City Slogans and Nicknames

2005-10-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Recently, Eric Swartz, president of TaglineGuru (www.taglineguru.com) released his company’s list of the top 50 U.S. city slogans and nicknames. Following are the top ten of each:

Slogans

Las Vegas, NV – What Happens Here, Stays Here.
Charlottesville, VA – So Very Virginia.
Atlantic City, NJ – Always Turned On.
Cleveland, OH – Cleveland Rocks!
Hershey, PA – The Sweetest Place on Earth.
Omaha, NE – Rare. Well Done.
Sante Fe, NM – The City Different.
Eagle Pass, TX – Where Yee-Ha Meets Olé.
San Diego, CA – City with Sol.
Peculiar, MO – Where the Odds Are With You.

Nicknames

New York City, NY – The Big Apple
Las Vegas, NV – Sin City
New Orleans, LA – The Big Easy
Detroit, MI – Motor City
Chicago, IL – The Windy City
Boston, MA – Beantown
San Francisco, CA – Baghdad by the Bay
Hollywood, CA – Tinseltown
Cleveland, OH – Mistake on the Lake
Los Angeles, CA – La-La Land

Cynical Consumers

2005-10-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

It is always instructive to work with business executives from different countries and regions of the world. For the past several months I have been working with a number of Russian marketing executives. I gained two interesting insights from my last interaction with them. Given the Soviet Union’s long history of propaganda infused communication (prior to Perestroika), most Russians today are very skeptical and jaded about what they see, read and hear in the media. This makes the marketer’s job even more difficult as message believability is always an issue, making proof points and ‘reasons to believe’ especially important in Russian marketing communication. This also argues for the importance of ‘customer touch point design’ (reinforcing the brand essence and promise at each customer touch point) in brand building efforts. Finally, it argues for carefully monitored congruence between what a brand promises and how it actually behaves.

The degree to which this applies to citizens of other countries is the degree to which their governments, businesses and religious and other institutions are perceived to control the issues and information to which people are exposed and how it is interpreted.

On a somewhat related note, I discovered that most company news and articles result from paid placement in Russia. There is far less opportunity (especially for large companies) to place stories through a media relations story pitching process. In Russia, the distinction between advertising and PR generated coverage is greatly diminished. Because of this, editorial independence also has less meaning.

Brand Accessibility

2005-10-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

BrandForward (www.brandforward.com) has tested its Brand Insistence ™ brand equity management system across numerous industries and organizations over the past eight years. We have found that the following five components drive customers from brand awareness to brand insistence regardless of the product or service category:

Awareness
Relevant differentiation
Value
Accessibility
Emotional connection

Over the years, I have focused on the ‘awareness’ and ‘relevant differentiation’ components quite a bit given their relative importance. But today, I will focus on accessibility. While it is clear that accessibility is important for retail brands, it is also important for every other type of brand. Accessibility is defined as how easy it is (or seems to be) for customers to interact with and purchase the brand. Certainly distribution channels and ‘location’ are important to brand accessibility, but so are hours of operation, wait times, product availability and process simplicity. Accessibility is driven by both spatial and time dimensions. A brand must be at the right place at the right time for a sale to occur. But accessibility is dependent upon even more than that.

I worked with a museum that was not ‘accessible’ to the general public in its geographic area because its gates, grounds and imposing buildings screamed ‘private – do not enter’ to the average person. So accessibility has an approachability aspect to it as well. Think of the personalities that have ‘turned you off’ over time. Perhaps they were too loud or too aggressive or too egotistical or prematurely intimate. Brands can suffer from the same problems. Accessibility has the most pronounced impact on converting brand awareness and preference to brand purchase. For this reason, accessibility is something you should seriously consider as you manage your brand and its equity.