Please note that KAB Marketing is no longer operating as a consulting and presentations company. The Blog "What's Branding Got to Do with it?" will continue to be published on a regular basis.
As we enter the sixth month of dealing with the COVID19 pandemic as well as civil and political unrest around the country, I thought it would be good to reflect on what we are learning and share a couple of reports that gave me cause for optimism during these trying times.
First, some things that I think we’ve learned from the pandemic as it has affected our branding and marketing efforts:
Retail will never be the same. Of course, we continue to read on a weekly basis about store closings and bankruptcies and that’s no surprise. Marketing experts and academics have been saying for years that “mediocre retailers with real unique reason for being struggle to survive.’ As we have read the reports of national chains with high brand awareness (not pertinence), I doubt that many of us consumers have been surprised or really disappointed that these store fronts have been shuttered for good. We won’t miss them. As we drive by the local shopping and strip centers and notice the vacant windows and whited-out signs of hundreds of local small business entrepreneurs who simply couldn’t survive the quarantines and social distancing mandates for more than a few weeks. More will surely follow as they never built a relationship with their not-so-loyal customers.
Online and internet shopping will continue to grow. Amazon and all the other online marketers had a significant effect on shopping prior to the pandemic. The inability or desire to shop in person has given many previously hesitant shoppers to the internet to give it a try and most have found it a beneficial alternative. Convenience in shopping has been one of the key brand attributes for many years. Now, consumers have discovered that not only is online shopping convenient but it’s easier, trustworthy, well-communicated, and cost effective. Our experience with Walmart pick-up and ordering online has been remarkable and many other stores that we have preferred to shop personally have quickly and effectively demonstrated that customer service doesn’t have to be in person to be satisfying and loyalty building.
Advertising is changing. Our local newspaper has reduced its print distribution to two days a week with online issues every day. I’ve always been a habitual print newspaper reader, but I find that having online capability works and is convenient. The print advertisers who used sale circulars as their main promotional medium have been forced or have chosen to abandon that vehicle in favor of broadcast, online and other social media to reach their customers and have found that sale ads were more of a habit than a promotional sales stimulant. Those who have had effective branding messages continue to do business despite the pandemic and continue to market themselves with messages that really reach the heart and mind of today’s beleaguered consumer.
Pay it forward. In view of the discord we are experiencing in our cities, we should not lose hope and we should find ways to reach out and offer programs of love and understanding to our communities. Here is a feature from CBS Sunday Morning a couple weeks ago about the We Care program in Shreveport, LA, that demonstrates that communities that reach out beyond racial and economic barriers can improve the quality of life and avoid the civil unrest that plagues our country. Pioneered by a local pastor, Mack McCarter, the We Care program has grown neighborhood-by-neighborhood to the point that it has spread this feeling of love and understanding across economic and racial borders and had made a difference. I urge you to watch this to see how much more effective this can be versus the rioting, government forces, and political shouting that have brought distress to our country. Click on the link below to watch.
Broaden our perspective. Our country has been dominated by int. ense competition. This has been true in the marketplace and it’s time to cooperate to help solve the issues facing us. It appears that the large tech companies are recognizing this now, but political leaders are attacking successful businesses from all sides. This is a result, I believe, because of our antiquated two-party system that fosters one party or the other, black or white, north or south, male or female, straight or gay, and so on. Again, on CBS Sunday Morning there was an interesting interview with Comedy central’s Daily Show host, Trevor Noah. The comedian has succeeded well beyond his black, South African roots to continue the success of this program. In the interview, with CBS’ Jim Axelrod, Noah’s comments about America being a Two-Sided society that fails to understand the nuances between different points of view and social upbringing is really on target for understanding the turmoil in our country. This is particularly true of our political and governmental wrangling that, I believe, is having a lasting, detrimental effect on our society and our position in the world community. I hope you’ll watch the attached interview in its entirety as it provides an interesting perspective.
I hope this finds you and your family well and safe during this unprecedented time in our lives. I know that we all are finding it hard to believe all that has happened over the past several weeks now that “pandemic” ,“Social Distancing”, “Stay-at-home” and Coronavirus have become part of our everyday vocabulary. I know that we have found the new normal has afforded us time to catch up on many tasks that we have been procrastinating about for a while. We’ve also become more dependent on the internet and social media to maintain our communications with family and friends as well as to keep experiencing normally personal interactions like school, church, holiday celebrations, and even some cocktail parties where everyone toasts to a screen instead of clinking glasses.
Probably, most have you haven’t given a thought to branding during this time, unless you are still working in the marketing industry.
I was talking today with a good friend Tom Shay (retail consultant, author, speaker and founder of Profits Plus Solutions. We were talking about retail marketing as we do quite regularly and about the importance of marketing even in times like we are facing today. Tom said that he thinks there are basically three types of retail marketing during this period:
Stores that have batten-down their marketing. Basically stopping all marketing efforts given the restrictions and concerns of the public. This is an understandable tactic to cut the expenses when the revenues dramatically are reduced. Unfortunately, not all their competitors have done the same so the share of mind so it likely will be hard to bounce right back after the crisis subsides
Stores that keep it the same and promote as they always have. There are many whose message are still item/price and trying to drive sales as they always have. Unfortunately, in an environment of required stay at home behavior, a discount has little or no bearing on motivating someone to risk contamination or illness.
Stores that have reacted quickly to the situation and have taken a revolutionary approach by offering take-out and delivery that previously didn’t exist or was a convenience rather than the standard. Of course, Amazon is doing a gangbuster business as a result of this, but other companies have stepped up their operations to make it easier to continue to do business with them. We just tried our first online order and store pick-up at WalMart. We’ve known that they had provided this service for quite a while, but WalMart has upgraded the whole process to make ordering easier, to provide notice when the order is being filled and if there are any out of stock items or substitutions available, text confirmation when the order is ready for pick up, special signing to direct the customer to newly created parking areas with a sign and phone number to call upon arrival, and a friendly staff person who is there within seconds to load the order (no tips allowed) in your car. Other stores have done similar operational changes and have marketed them to their customers to reassure them that they are in business and are sensitive to the restrictions of the pandemic.
Other industries are reacting as well. Newspapers are reducing their print distribution and expanding their online presence to maintain communications while their advertising has dramatically been reduced. Financial institutions are increasing their marketing of their online banking service including mobile deposits via your cell phone camera as well as promoting their drive-through and ATM services. Auto dealers are marketing financing deals to suspend any payments until the pandemic is resolved. And there are many more. The key is that now is a time to continue to build the brand relationships with your customers and community.
This brings me to the outstanding effort done by my former agency and employer, Doner Advertising in Detroit. The agency has a long history of offering their creative expertise to messages that are targeted toward building the pride and spirit of the Motor City’s citizens. They have done this in the past for the local zoo, key health care providers, and community organizations with not only media support but award-winning commercials that reach the heart and the minds of the community. The reaction to the coronavirus pandemic is no exception. As you are probably aware, Detroit has been hit exceptionally hard by the virus and as a result so has the economy. Doner decided to keep the spirit of the city up by creating and producing a commercial titled “When the Motor Stops”. Click on this link to view it for yourself:
The copy is heartfelt and motivating, the production (which was shot in one day) is dramatic and captures the mood hitting all of us, and the message is one that we can all use at this critical time. Is it branding? Absolutely. For a city that needs positives more than ever. And for an agency, that continues to value its Detroit roots and creativity that has helped maintain the creative advertising and marketing reputation of the Motor City.
I hope you all are staying well and safe. I can’t wait to get back to normal!
It’s good to be back blogging again this month. After a couple months of fighting the after
effects of 3 months of radiation therapy
for prostate cancer, I pleased to be feeling great and to report that the first
post-radiation PSA blood test showed the treatment is working!! Of course, now
we have to worry about coronavirus/Covid 19, but branding must go on more than
ever as our shopping patterns are drastically changed.
During my time away from the blog, another Super Bowl has
come and gone and this year’s game proved to be quite an exciting one. Of course, the game each year seems to become
more incidental as the media flocks to talk about the commercials (Are they
worth $5 Million for :30 seconds?), the halftime show (once again a waste of
time no matter how much you like J-Lo), the live radio coverage by every sports
talk station in the country from radio row), a
4-hour pre-game show on Fox that was about 3 ½ hours too long, too many
hamburger and hot dog bun specials in every food chain’s ads for a month before
the game. However, I have made a
tradition to review the best of the super spots in this blog for the past
several years, but this year I will only highlight a couple that I think helped
strengthen two already successful brands and, I believe, have been worth the gigantic investment in
media time this year.
I have always maintained that a successful brand strategy
takes time and consistency to develop, and that those hot shot products or
services that take all their media budget to make themselves feel good by
having a spot in the big game are wasting their money. A great brand is the result of building a
relationship with your target customer and that “wiz-bam, thank you, ma’am!”
spots on one expensive show are just that.
Like a personal relationship, branding requires time and consistent,
meaningful communication and interaction to be truly successful.
Here are a couple of brands that have taken the time and
strategic effort to build a brand that resonates with their customers. They also stood out with great creativity on
this year’s big game extravaganza.
GOOGLE. It’s not just a brand. It’s an action verb and now part of our everyday language. In the process, the company has produced revenues in 2019 of over $161 Billion and has become the go-go place for information on just about anything you want or need to know about. The company continues to grow with the addition of YouTube, now over $15 Billion in ad revenue and growing as its own online television network. It also is expanding Cloud which generates over $10 Billion in revenue. It just seems like yesterday, that I attended a conference in Phoenix where a futurist talked about this new company with a funny name, Google, as the first big name in search engines. Now it will generate over $100 Billion in search revenue. And there’s no stopping this growth as we depend on all of it’s units in our everyday work and personal lives. We’ve heard about how great it is to work at Google, with breakthrough policies and program that keeps its 10000+ employees loyal and motivated every day. With all that significant growth and the cutting-edge technology that keeps it moving forward, one would think that Google doesn’t need to do much branding. However, the company keeps its branding message on the personal reasons why Google plays an important part in the lives of people all over the world. The spot in the Super Bowl is a great example of how Google with all its services and technology helps keep the memories of a lifetime alive for just one person who cherishes his life with his wife, Harriet. This spot hits the sweet spot for those of us who are now threatened by the virus rampaging around the world, but it also says something about company that remembers that it helping customers make life a little easier to manage especially in tough times. Here’s the spot that ran on the big game which surely made a difference in all of us who cherish the past memories.
JEEP. The original SUV stays true to its roots as it fights to maintain its share of the hottest market category in the auto industry. In my recent, trip to Walt Disney World, I couldn’t help notice as I took a photo shot of our parking lot row ID (memory aid) that looking down an entire row of some 50-75 vehicles that there was not one conventional sedan in the endless row of SUV’s and pickups. Jeep has always stayed close to its military roots and love of the wild (and not so wild) outdoors by keeping its design and features consistent even as it has added more models, sizes and features. With Cherokees, Laredos, Wranglers and more, Fiat Chrysler maintained that consistency in the brand with its new Jeep Gladiator, a four-door pickup ATV-like model. The vehicle is pretty interesting and the company further solidified its place in our memories with a creative spot featuring Bill Murray as he reprises his role in Ground Hog Day to demonstrate all the fun one can have conquering the winter outdoors in this new type of Jeep.
These are terrific spots with break-through-the-clutter
creativity that isn’t limited to just being on the Super Bowl. The spots ring true all year and every time I
see them, I get the message and my relationship to these brands is
enhanced. There’s no promotion. No sale
event. No limited time only. Just a reach-out and grab-you-by- the heart
creative message. Branding like this is truly Super.
I’ll add another comment here to wish you and your families
good health and peace as we face the challenges of this virus that now threatens
our lives and society. I’m praying for a
quick resolution and for the expertise and leadership to help us find a
solution. I hope you will join me in
this as well.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…..to look at
television advertising. Why? Well, first there’s more of it. Every year marketers, especially retailers,
pump more of their ad budgets into holiday campaigns in order to capitalize on
the largest selling season of the year. Second, most of these advertisers put
more emphasis on creativity that targets the Black Fridays”, Saturdays or Black
Weeks for that matter. Once upon a time, it was the time for slick, flashy,
thick catalogues filled with everything one might imagine to give a loved one
for Christmas. The mailboxes and Sunday newspapers
were bulging with more advertising than our growing population could comprehend
and in the process has become immune to, or at the very least bored with. With growth of online buying (they stopped
shopping long ago), consumers still want
to give gifts and yearn for the memories
of (as another line of the Christmas Carol titled in the first words of this
article) ”Christmas’s long, long ago.” I
have written here repeatedly that branding during the holidays should continue
the messages and rationale of the branding a company does all year long if it
wants their Christmas messaging to be more effective. And many continue to do that…and many have
stopped advertising at all.
However, there are still some advertisers who not only run
great spots that communicate their brand strategy, but they also capture the
spirit of Christmas. Here are a few that
I think you’ll enjoy and share. Merry
Christmas!
Hobby Lobby is a chain of over 850 arts and crafts stores that consistently markets itself as a store that supports important causes. The company has a philosophy that it states as a Christian ethics and it has a reputation of treating its customers and its employees as special. This Christmas it created a commercial that is consistent with its creative strategy and the importance of family relationship. Enjoy this spot about a mother and son discovering their love at the holidays. Click this link to view: https://youtu.be/AwYSfdvtMmo?t=11
Macy’s continues to fight the challenges of maintaining the specialness that department stores once owned at Christmas. By keeping its Thanksgiving Parade, its special holiday windows on Herald Square, it ongoing Believe holiday ad campaign (Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Clause), Macy’s created a special holiday message this year that captures the spirit of Christmas in the story of a girl who wants to be Santa and brings Christmas to life (Yes, you know her name!).
Aldi doesn’t run much TV in marketing its very successful grocery chain that I featured in an issue of this blog a couple months ago. When they do they make it as special as a singing carrot and his friends at Christmas: Click on this link to view: https://youtu.be/LW_SRd2hIFw
Argos in the UK is a successful part of Sainsbury which has always done great Christmas commercials. This year their catalogue is a Book of Dreams and a father brings his daughter’s dream to life in this swinging spot: Click on this link to view: https://youtu.be/7GjeHzrn8jg
Amazon has changed the retail world in a relatively short period. The Amazon packages that seem to arrive every day on our porches are testament to their success and how they have also changed Christmas shopping and gift giving. Behind it all is a real spirit of how everybody needs somebody especially with a smile like Amazon’s logo at the holidays. Click on this link to view: https://youtu.be/s2K0flh9uMc
Pedigreee recognizes that pets are an important part of the family, especially at Christmas time. I wish I had done this spot when I was heading the marketing department at PetSmart several years ago. The idea of an adopted pet fits perfectly into their good nutrition brand and makes an important holiday idea e alive through a dog’s eyes.
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It’s that time of year
when there finally seems like there is a break in the weather with lower
temperatures and (thankfully) humidity.
I always enjoyed autumn when we lived in Michigan and Germany, but
there’s one thing that I’ve always been
turned off by during this season. And
that’s Halloween. Not that I didn’t
enjoy trick-or-treating when I was young (and the chocolate high afterward) nor
watching my kids and grandkids put on their costumes to prowl the
neighborhood. Now that the barrage of
Halloween Advertsing and events has started, once again I wish that we could
change the brand that Halloween has become.
HALLOWEEN BRAND TODAY
Sure it’s a $21 Billion sales bonanza for retailers and boom time for theme parks, movie theaters , and other venues—not to mention greeting cards and decoration companies. I simply think it’s time to go back to the roots of this holiday and rebrand it as a more positive celebration. After all it all started with a celebration back in the 7th century of All Saints Day on November 1st, followed by remembrance of the dead (All Souls Day) on the following day. Hallowed Evening was the night before as a pre-celebration of the next two days. Over the years, the celebration not only included our departed saints and loved ones but also angel, devils, and various other goblins. This has grown to a celebration of ghosts and goblins, zombies, various ominous creatures like spiders and bats, and acts of gore and cruelty meant only to scare the dickens out of everyone from kindergarteners to grown ups. I suggest we can still celebrate without “Hallow-screams” Haunted houses, and torture chambers to mention only a few deathly themes.
I say let’s rebrand the holiday into hallowed evening where we celebrate our ancestors who have helped make our lives better and the world a better place to live. Yes, we can still put on costumes to depict our past relationships (even if they were with clowns, princesses, and friendly dinosaurs) but let make it a positive event where we celebrate with those treats and parties and share the happiness of the event, instead of a frightening occasion.
RE-BRANDED HALLOWEEN
Companies are
rebranding their products all the time.
GM has successfully rebranding Cadillac and Buick. Kohl’s rebranded its
food stores into successful department stores with EDLP. McDonald’s rebranded
itself from a burger joint to an every meal restaurant.
Gallo rebranded it’s cheap wines to a selection of fine affordable brands. Southwest taught us that low price flights also could set the standard for service and promptness. Rebranding doesn’t have to be something that marketers do because their sales and market share are slumping. Successful Branding is aimed at building a positive relationship with your customers. While our movie theaters and video streams are filled with violence and horror, there’s no reason to promote that in retail and in community events. Let’s find a way to keep the fun (princess and fireman costumes are cuter than zombies, (any day!) and create a new brand that remembers the good times and the people who made it happen for us. So, let’s get rid of the aspects of Halloween that frighten, scare and depress and rebrand it as the positive holiday that it was meant to be.
Aug 21, 2019
BREAKING THE MOLD FOR FOOD STORE BRANDING
KEN BANKS’ BLOG AUGUST 2019
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BREAKING THE MOLD FOR FOOD STORE BRANDING
Supermarket marketing is not usually a good topic in a discussion of retail branding.
Yes, there are some chains, like Publix, Wegman’s, H.E.B., HyVee, and Trader Joes, who have built loyalty though the years with providing an outstanding shopping experience with quality operations and marketing. WalMart has taken the top spot as a national chain by having the best price perception of any grocery stores built on their discount store success. Most of the rest of the chains continue to try to build sales with a low-price strategy supported by heavy promotion. Their formal is predictable and redundant with weekly print ads and price promotions. While price is always a factor in the grocery business, the failure of many discount food chains in the past few years verifies that it takes more than a good price on ground chuck to maintain a loyal customer who shops weekly and in many cases more often . Then, there is Aldi.
I first visited Aldi when they had just arrived in the US by breaking into the Chicago metro area several years ago. I was in my last few weeks at Eckerd when our President, Frank Newman, organized a trip for his key executives to the Windy City to do some store visits. We were surprised when we didn’t go to Osco or Walgreen’s, but rather went to this new chain of discount grocery stores from Germany. Some things stood out right away, low prices, neat but spartan stores, mostly private label brands, and crowds of customers.
Well, it not only caught on in Chicago, but Aldi has become quite a phenomenon throughout the U.S. today with more than 1800 stores in 35 states making it the fastest growing chain. The company has done this by creating a cult following that has learned that the lower prices on key items like milk and eggs, is not just pennies lower but as much as 30-40% versus traditional chain across the street. The brand is accentuated by operational differences like no free shopping bags, no baggers at the register, charging a quarter (refundable0 for using a shopping cart. Their dominance of private brands is made up of not just cheaper items but using their European heritage to bring baked goods, meats, cheeses from overseas that are reminiscent of Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. Like our household, most shoppers don’t switch over exclusively. We love our local Publix and it’s selection and service more than ever. However, there are some trips for which Aldi just makes more sense. The profile of the Aldi customers and their local market areas show that their customer base are not just price shoppers either.
We can’t ignore the warehouse clubs in this discussion. Costco and Sam’s have created quite a niche in the food store business by making the experience exciting in a warehouse atmosphere and by providing quality foods that are exceptional. It’s the rest of the chains that seem to have trouble looking around at what happening and they continue to do more of the same. Repeating the same deals, the same messages, and offering the same experience. The result is that chains like Winn Dixie and BiLo have filed for bankruptcy. SavALot, which looks a lot like Aldi’s model, is deeply in debt and probably won’t survive. Walmart has taken notice and is focusing more of their competitive efforts in the grocery end of the business on an upstart like Aldi. They’ve proven that it’s low prices, but it’s not JUST low prices. You have to live up to the brand in everything you do, everyday.
Aldi is aggressive, but they also have a sense of humor. Take a look at their price comparison TV campaign here. https://youtu.be/tR9arN2J8lk
Our recent trip to Glacier National Park in Montana was one
of the most spectacular of our journey’s over the past several years to
national parks around the country and the world. Most significant memory, however, is the
comparative photos that have been taken of the glaciers over the past several
years and how fast and how significant these mammoth ice flows are
disappearing. Some say it’s simply a
matter of nature taking its course. However, the surge in ice melt is more
likely the cause of global warming and the use of fossil fuels that have
contaminated and increased the temperature of the atmosphere. I couldn’t help but think of this as an
analogy for the way many great brands are disappearing from the marketplace at
an ever-increasing rate and that this not simple an evolution of business
cycles. Rather, like our disregard for the air we breath has
had an adverse effect, the disregard for building brands that last and adjust
to the changes in customer preferences has had a significant effect on the
disappearances of some great names in marketing that (like the glaciers) we
thought would be on our shopping horizon for years to come.
Glaciers have retreat some 15 miles in past 30 years!
We’ve talked about great brands like Toys r Us, Sports
Authority, Payless Shoes, Abercrombie, Banana Republic, Gap recently in these
articles, and we’ve also seen the same retreat not in aerial photos but in
sales and market share reports for brands like Sears, Penney’s, numerous banking
organizations, insurance companies, Circuit City, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mercury,
and the list goes on. All of those now
empty storefronts and brands, in my opinion, could have survived successfully
if the senior management, especially marketers, had developed an ongoing brand
strategy that evolved to meet the customer trends and attitudes. Great brands like Amazon, Costco, Walmart,
Geico, Lexus/Toyota have recognized that to succeed in today’s market, a
company has to adjust and consistently innovate with a premise that appeals not
only to the mind of the consumer but also the heart. That’s where the relationship begins and, I
believe, if many of our industrialists in the past had experienced the beauty
and specter of our national parks and, particularly, glaciers. They would have had a plan to protect the
brand that is our natural environment.
I was talking with our postman a few days ago, as he sat in
his over-heating mail truck. He was
complaining about how inefficient these trucks were and how Amazon was changing
the world of retail delivery. At the
same time, I viewed a feature on a news report about the growth of electric
vehicles in China and that inexpensive electric vehicles are here, now and
being mass produced as fast as the infrastructure could keep up with it. I thought about how efficient mail delivery
with electric vehicles that could be
charged every night. How the
streets of New York (and Chicago or Vegas) could be less polluted if all those
taxis and buses were electric instead of gas.
These are major improvements that can be made now that not only benefit
our environment, but also improve the brands of the postal and transportation services
to help build those businesses. Great branding can save a company with a reason
for being by adjusting its benefits and messages to more people and creating
demand. It takes a vision and a
conscious effort to create the value and a relationship that endures.
Nine years ago, I got together with another
consultant/speaker to co-author Brain Branding—Activate the Brain…Stimulate
Your Brand which is now available on Amazon and Kindle. I had been consulting and presenting on
developing an effective brand for several years, but when I heard Robyn’s
presentation on communication and whole brain thinking, I believe together we
had discovered an innovative way to make branding come alive for marketers in
almost every consumer industry. Robyn
had been enlightening her audiences on the fact that the brain is actually
divided in four quadrants—not just two halves.
As I listened to her, it became apparent that the differences in these
four quadrants mirrored four of the five steps that I had learned were
necessary in creating a successful brand strategy. So, we put our “brains” together and develop
BrainBranding. It was a new way to look
at how to understand customers better by studying the way these customers think
when they decide to shop a certain store, buy a specific brand, or use a special
service.
We have been promoting our book and presenting ever since by
helping marketers understand that there are four thinking styles:
The Investigator
(Quadrant A)- This customer
researches extensively before making
decision. And it’s not just price, the investigator wants to know
product features, reviews, warranties, service and history.
The Coordinator
(Quadrant B)- Reliability and dependability are important to this
customer. Requiring simplicity and
practicality, she wants a clear definition of the features and looks for
solutions to the need or problem that nurtured the interest. The coordinator wants
details and facts.
The Relater (Quadrant
C)- A relationship is important to this customer and they will seek out a
seller who is personable and genuinely interested in them and their needs.
An emotional connection is critical and once you have it the brand loyalty is
difficult to lose. Want benefits and will share them with others and is
motivated by a positive purchase experience.
The Trendsetter
((Quadrant D)- This customer wants the latest and the newest technology or
style. Anticipates “out of box” thinking and innovative features and
benefits. An early adapter who prefers
multiple options for brand usage.
The interesting fact is that research has shown that over
90% of the people in the market are motivated by all of these styles to some
degree. So, you can’t just brand to one
style, you have to have-e a brand message that hits all four to some extent and
to do that the marketer has to exercise these same styles in a four-step brand
development strategy and they aren’t in the same order as presented above.
CREATE
YOUR VISION—(Trendsetter)Look to the future.
Why does your brand exist? What does
your future vision look like and how will the market change. Look for state of the art options and unique
benefits. Be creative in your
message. Stand out. Have a strategy
based on the future as well as research of past competitors and brands.
CONDUCT
RESEARCH (Investigator)—Get the facts about your brand and what it’s all
about. Look at market history and
competitive brands. Look at brand
history and sustainability. Dive into
the statistics that support your brand’s position and analyze the competition
for strengths and weaknesses. Determine the brand’s position and its value
proposition. This is the TRUTH of the
brand.
COMMUNICATE AN EMOTIONAL VALUE (Relater)-
Unfortunately, many marketers jump into a new ad campaign or theme before doing
the necessary homework above. Once you’ve done the homework, you can start
communicating the feelings that you want the customer to have toward your brand
and how they feel toward you as seller.
Communicate the benefits of using your brand or service. Let them know
What’s In It For Them! Develop the HEART
of the brand—how it makes them feel inside and what personal service it
provides.
CONSTRUCT A PLAN (Coordinator)- Add some form to
your substance with a plan that is comprehensive and executable (and
understandable). Combine the 3 steps above into a marketing plan and develop a
reasonable timetable and measurement for success. Honestly determine the state of the brand
today and where you want it to be in the future (and how to get there.)
That leaves us at the Step Number 5, which we have added
because without it all of the others are just an exercise in futility or at
best mediocre results. That is to LIVE
UP TO THE BRAND EVERY DAY! In order to do
this, you must market your brand to your staff and those who represent you in
every aspect of the business. This is
just as detailed as the plan in Step 4 above.
It is not just a video or memo that briefly explains the new brand
position, it is a marketing strategy developed by and for everyone who has a
stake hold in the product or service. If
the server or salesperson doesn’t get it and demonstrate it with every
transaction, the customer won’t return.
If the service department or product development don’t create what is
promised in the marketing, they won’t buy it.
If the message isn’t consistent with your brand strategy and have appeal
to all of the thinking styles noted above, forget about success.
All of this is discussed in more detail and with specific
case studies and example in our book. We
also developed a manual that walks you through the process of developing a
successful brand. Good luck and
Stimulate Your Brand!
By this time next month, the last of the former 4400 Payless
Shoe Source stores will be shuttered and another retail brand will disappear
from the marketplace…and no one will notice.
Since the company announced its closing a couple month’s ago, I’ve been asked
a few times for my opinion on why this once aggressive retail chain that had
remodeled and re-positioned most of its stores not long ago, failed.
Soon to Disappear
Of course, my simple answer is BRANDING…or the lack
thereof. Having worked in the discount
shoe industry for the agency handling the Pic n’ Pay Shoes chain, based in
Charlotte several years ago. There
certainly seemed to be a lot of opportunity for success for a chain like
Payless. A closer look, however, showed
that it was a tough challenge despite the growth of athletic and casual shoes
and rapid changes in fashion shoe styles in the past several years. The problem with a brand like Payless was
that the name said it all. It was a
brand based on low prices and not much else in the customers’ minds. As I’ve said many times, low prices only get
you in the retail ballpark and it’s all the other things that you need to do to
form a customer relationship that builds a brand that resonates and makes a
difference when someone chooses a store or service. With the intense competition from the discount
chains, off-price designers shoe stores, and off-price stores like Kohl’s TJ
Maxx, SteinMart, etc., just having your own brand of low-priced shoes wasn’t
enough to keep a loyal customer. Add to
that the warehouse clubs that feature name brand shoes consistently at least
half off the regular retail. Don’t
forget the outlet malls that always have a number of shoe outlets and it’s more
than a challenge.
Already gone.
I recall a campaign that we did for Pic n’ Pay for their line of athletic shoes. The message was yes, this is a good price but when you compare the features and construction to the same shoe from Nike in a more convenient location, you had a brand statement that made a difference. Pic n’ Pay has long faded from the scene due to being acquired and merged into other brands.
However, Skechers has developed its brand of casual shoes with a brand statement that focuses on comfort and style and lets the retailer do the price promotion. I’ve noted that they have now opened over 3000 free-standing outlet stores and they’ve successfully created a brand selling over 170 million pairs a year and generated over $4.5 Billion in sales. It’s a brand based on comfort, but it has aggressively established itself as a strong citizen of the communities they serve and a sustainability program as well. Then, they market their shoes with effective creative that focuses on the comfort benefit, even if you have big feet like Howie Long. Click on this link to view one of the spots: https://youtu.be/CGhUEYvz8zI
Coming on Strong
Payless, to me, never seemed to have any other message than
price. Its stores were updated but not
exciting and their free-standing locations helped build a convenience attribute
but they just seemed to be just another retail location with little consumer
appeal. Additionally, their marketing
never seemed to provide any other reason to buy your shoes there regularly.
Price only gets you on the playing field, a relationship builds a successful
brand.
That’s what branding is all about. Building a relationship and then providing a reason for being that resonates with your target customer. Unless, a store invests in the product, the outlet, and the experience to differentiate it from increased competition (both in stores and online), it hasn’t much chance. Then, if you can’t make the investment to create a marketing message that reaches your target customer, the store is doomed to become another of the several empty stores dotting our marketplace…and a brand we’ll soon forget
So another Super Bowl has come and gone. The game surely wasn’t memorable this
year—although some day we will all remember the Brady/Belichick Dynasty and
this game will come to mind even if we forget who they played. The hype for this sporting event has gone
beyond overdone unless of course your favorite team happens to be playing. The media coverage, the media day, the radio
row, the pregame shows, the halftime show (yawn), the postgame show, the
highlights if any are getting to the point of boredom. So what branding got to do with it?
Well, there is no other media event on which more marketing
dollars are spent and more advertising hype is displayed than the Super Bowl
(whoops, I meant the Big Game since I don’t have NFL license). Let’s face it if you’re going to spend $5.25
million for a 30-second spot (that $175,000 a second) not to mention the
production and talent costs, you certainly do get a lot of media attention
beyond the airing of the spot itself.
So, it’s a bif spend and it’s a big opportunity to strengthen your brand
message like no other ad you might run the rest of the year.
I have to admit, I do not sit and scrutinize every ad that
runs before, during and after the game, but I do watch the game and am
sensitive to the messages just as I am when I watch Bull, SportsCenter, or This
is Us. I do this to see if any cause a
“wow” reaction or whether they go unnoticed or elicit a “What was that all
about?” reaction. Again this year, I am
impressed by the production dollars spent on these spots more than the
message. However some do break through
and at the same time, in my opinion, establish or further strengthen the
brand message for the particular product
or service. So here are my top five
spots that caught my branding eye this year. These are commercials that are
memorable not only for creativity but also for communicating the brand message
effectively. I’ve added a link to a
recap of all the commercials so that you can review them al without being
disturbed by a game or Adam Levine’s tattoos.
I’ve also noted a couple that I think wasted their money and our time
with no branding message that I can determine.
Click here to review all the spots without
interruption:
THE GOOD ONES
Dietz
Nuts: Ok, this is a pretty simply
produced spot with Craig Robinson (formerly on The Office) and his brother
and it’s about a new nut.
However, I think since it’s a spot to introduce a new kind of nut—made
out of meat not a vegetable (or is it a fruit?). Anyway, this spot gathers your attention with
a likable celebrity and a simple message that catches your attention while you
much on that bowl of beer nuts on the bar.
Humor that is realistic and a simple message and it caught my attention
to find out more about this new nut.
And, while were being nutty, I thought the spots by Planters (the #1
brand) were silly and the use of Charlie Sheen and A-Rod was superfluous.
Bubly.
A great way to introduce another new brand, Bubly sparkling water
features the guy whose name we all mispronounce, Michael Buble’ and his efforts to change the spelling to his
name even in the store. A simple name
that helps define the brand and differentiate it from the hundreds of other
carbonated drinks on the market.
Colgate Toothpaste. Never thought a classic packaged goods brand
like this would do a super bowl spot that really is on target. Featuring Luke
Wilson, a recognizable actor without any baggage to disrupt the brand message,
the message hits on the best benefit of using Colgate Total SF—that it leave
your breath fresh especially for those up close conversations. I think it was engaging, funny, and realistic
while positioning a new version of a well-known brand that we use everyday.
Fabreze.
Similar story here but not a new product. Just a new way of hitting on one of the
biggest uses of an air freshener but with a timely situation at a Super Bowl
party. No need for TO in this spot, but
the scenario is funny and drives home a new message for an every day product.
Devour Frozen Entrees. Another new product to me that I won’t forget easily. A different approach to positioning the brand from all the other frozen dishes out there and getting the message across that will turn you into a fanatic (frozenfood-ofile?). The scenarios are recognizable when someone is addicted but doesn’t want anyone to know and the brand name is interesting enough to spark some interest into an otherwise mundane product category.
There are several others, but I chose these for originality,
simple production, and getting the branding message across.
NOT SO GOOD ONES.
On the other hand, here are some who I feel wasted their
$5.25 Million plus :
Audi—Dreaming about a car during a near death experience caused by a cashew.
Nuts to
you.
Olay: Killer skin. Is this a trailer for a horror film or a poor way to sell soft, supple
Skin. I don’t think it’s a good partnership anyway.
Pepsi. I love Steve Carell, but I didn’t find these spots funny or effective.
Amazon: I love Amazon, but these celebrity spots (Harrison Ford) don’t work for
me at all.
Bud Light: Usually I find Bud commercials to be some of the best, but this one about
the jousters in its ongoing medieval campaign
is really stupid even if it is movie trailer in disguise. Dilly. Dilly
Turkish Airlines: Nice story and more of a short flick. Not sure it would make me want to fly.
Well, there are a lot a lot more but let’ s get on to March Madness and hopefully some more effective branding this year.
First, some things that I think we’ve learned from the pandemic as it has affected our branding and marketing efforts:
Pay it forward. In view of the discord we are experiencing in our cities, we should not lose hope and we should find ways to reach out and offer programs of love and understanding to our communities. Here is a feature from CBS Sunday Morning a couple weeks ago about the We Care program in Shreveport, LA, that demonstrates that communities that reach out beyond racial and economic barriers can improve the quality of life and avoid the civil unrest that plagues our country. Pioneered by a local pastor, Mack McCarter, the We Care program has grown neighborhood-by-neighborhood to the point that it has spread this feeling of love and understanding across economic and racial borders and had made a difference. I urge you to watch this to see how much more effective this can be versus the rioting, government forces, and political shouting that have brought distress to our country. Click on the link below to watch. 
Our country has been dominated by int. ense competition. This has been true in the marketplace and it’s time to cooperate to help solve the issues facing us. It appears that the large tech companies are recognizing this now, but political leaders are attacking successful businesses from all sides. This is a result, I believe, because of our antiquated two-party system that fosters one party or the other, black or white, north or south, male or female, straight or gay, and so on. Again, on CBS Sunday Morning there was an interesting interview with Comedy central’s Daily Show host, Trevor Noah. The comedian has succeeded well beyond his black, South African roots to continue the success of this program. In the interview, with CBS’ Jim Axelrod, Noah’s comments about America being a Two-Sided society that fails to understand the nuances between different points of view and social upbringing is really on target for understanding the turmoil in our country. This is particularly true of our political and governmental wrangling that, I believe, is having a lasting, detrimental effect on our society and our position in the world community. I hope you’ll watch the attached interview in its entirety as it provides an interesting perspective.
Probably, most have you haven’t given a thought to branding during this time, unless you are still working in the marketing industry. 
GOOGLE. It’s not just a brand. It’s an action verb and now part of our everyday language. In the process, the company has produced revenues in 2019 of over $161 Billion and has become the go-go place for information on just about anything you want or need to know about. The company continues to grow with the addition of YouTube, now over $15 Billion in ad revenue and growing as its own online television network. It also is expanding Cloud which generates over $10 Billion in revenue. It just seems like yesterday, that I attended a conference in Phoenix where a futurist talked about this new company with a funny name, Google, as the first big name in search engines. Now it will generate over $100 Billion in search revenue. And there’s no stopping this growth as we depend on all of it’s units in our everyday work and personal lives. We’ve heard about how great it is to work at Google, with breakthrough policies and program that keeps its 10000+ employees loyal and motivated every day. With all that significant growth and the cutting-edge technology that keeps it moving forward, one would think that Google doesn’t need to do much branding. However, the company keeps its branding message on the personal reasons why Google plays an important part in the lives of people all over the world. The spot in the Super Bowl is a great example of how Google with all its services and technology helps keep the memories of a lifetime alive for just one person who cherishes his life with his wife, Harriet. This spot hits the sweet spot for those of us who are now threatened by the virus rampaging around the world, but it also says something about company that remembers that it helping customers make life a little easier to manage especially in tough times. Here’s the spot that ran on the big game which surely made a difference in all of us who cherish the past memories.
JEEP. The original SUV stays true to its roots as it fights to maintain its share of the hottest market category in the auto industry. In my recent, trip to Walt Disney World, I couldn’t help notice as I took a photo shot of our parking lot row ID (memory aid) that looking down an entire row of some 50-75 vehicles that there was not one conventional sedan in the endless row of SUV’s and pickups. Jeep has always stayed close to its military roots and love of the wild (and not so wild) outdoors by keeping its design and features consistent even as it has added more models, sizes and features. With Cherokees, Laredos, Wranglers and more, Fiat Chrysler maintained that consistency in the brand with its new Jeep Gladiator, a four-door pickup ATV-like model. The vehicle is pretty interesting and the company further solidified its place in our memories with a creative spot featuring Bill Murray as he reprises his role in Ground Hog Day to demonstrate all the fun one can have conquering the winter outdoors in this new type of Jeep.
Hobby Lobby is a chain of over 850 arts and crafts stores that consistently markets itself as a store that supports important causes. The company has a philosophy that it states as a Christian ethics and it has a reputation of treating its customers and its employees as special. This Christmas it created a commercial that is consistent with its creative strategy and the importance of family relationship. Enjoy this spot about a mother and son discovering their love at the holidays. Click this link to view: 
Macy’s continues to fight the challenges of maintaining the specialness that department stores once owned at Christmas. By keeping its Thanksgiving Parade, its special holiday windows on Herald Square, it ongoing Believe holiday ad campaign (Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Clause), Macy’s created a special holiday message this year that captures the spirit of Christmas in the story of a girl who wants to be Santa and brings Christmas to life (Yes, you know her name!).
Aldi doesn’t run much TV in marketing its very successful grocery chain that I featured in an issue of this blog a couple months ago. When they do they make it as special as a singing carrot and his friends at Christmas: Click on this link to view: 
Argos in the UK is a successful part of Sainsbury which has always done great Christmas commercials. This year their catalogue is a Book of Dreams and a father brings his daughter’s dream to life in this swinging spot: Click on this link to view: 
Amazon has changed the retail world in a relatively short period. The Amazon packages that seem to arrive every day on our porches are testament to their success and how they have also changed Christmas shopping and gift giving. Behind it all is a real spirit of how everybody needs somebody especially with a smile like Amazon’s logo at the holidays. Click on this link to view: 
Pedigreee recognizes that pets are an important part of the family, especially at Christmas time. I wish I had done this spot when I was heading the marketing department at PetSmart several years ago. The idea of an adopted pet fits perfectly into their good nutrition brand and makes an important holiday idea e alive through a dog’s eyes. 
WestJet always does something special at Christmas that makes Canadiens realize that it’s not only a great airline, but also a great citizen:
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