{"id":303,"date":"2014-02-24T11:41:11","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T16:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/?p=303"},"modified":"2016-11-04T11:47:01","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T15:47:01","slug":"a-reason-for-your-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/?p=303","title":{"rendered":"A REASON FOR YOUR BRAND"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_video admin_label=”Video” src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/EBxMA6RX4C0″ \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n

PRESS PLAY>> TO VIEW KEN\u2019S VIDEO INTRO TO THIS MONTH\u2019S BLOG<\/p>\n

A visit to the DaVinci Machines exhibit last month made a real impression on me about the genius of this 15th<\/sup> Century artist and \"img_1531\"designer.\u00a0 While there were only a limited number of his designs on display (his notes reflected several thousand ideas that were developed), I was convinced that every one was developed for a particular reason\u2014usually military weapons\u2014that provided a solution to a particular problem or opportunity.\u00a0 Whether it was the ball bearing or a device that helped build a pyramid before hydraulics,\u00a0 the value of these concepts increased as the need for their benefits became more obvious in providing a competitive advantage over the users adversary.<\/p>\n

The same holds true as marketers develop new or improved products to gain market share versus their competition.\u00a0 So many new products or stores are introduced on to the scene for no other reason than to compete with a brand that\u2019s already there.\u00a0 If they are successful, let\u2019s get a piece of the action.\u00a0 Unfortunately, with so many choices vying for the same dollar from the customer, we end up with just another brand.\u00a0 If you walk through a shopping center (an activity that fewer and fewer of us get involved with these days), you can\u2019t help wonder why this or that store with a name on the sign that you\u2019ve never heard of ever managed to get into the marketplace.\u00a0 How many more fast food burger places do we really need offering basically the same ground beef on a bun?\u00a0 As I watched the $4 million Super Bowl spots, I kept asking what is the reason that I should buy this product.\u00a0 Now, I know that established brands like Budweiser and Coke don\u2019t have to continually explain what they are.\u00a0 However, they do have to reinforce the brand as part of everyone\u2019s lifestyle and create a brand preference.\u00a0 I took note of the Chobani Greek Yogurt spots on the Olympics recently and I kept asking what does \u201cHow Matters.\u201d mean and why should I opt for their brand or for Greek Yogurt in the first place?\u00a0 Nice spots for the Olympics spirit, but why Greek Yogurt.\u00a0 I like Activia anyway.<\/p>\n

\"chobani\"The point is that the first essential characteristic of a successful brand is to have a reason for being.\u00a0 The initial work is to determine why someone would try your product\u2014or keep using it\u2014and then reinforce this reason with an effective, creative message that cuts through the clutter and truly differentiates your brand from the others.<\/p>\n

It occurs to me the high-priced spots on the major media events that the primary reason for being is to run creative commercials with very little emphasis on providing a reason why or a really competitive message that differentiates.\u00a0 It\u2019s not unlike most shopping malls these days which don\u2019t provide much reason to shop there other than \u201cunder one roof\u201d.\u00a0 Thus, so many are being torn down or sit half empty these days.\u00a0 Yet, the town centers and shopping villages are thriving because they provide a more convenient, pleasant shopping experience\u2014and a return to the past when downtown shopping was neighborhood gathering spot with personality and with ambience that beats most big mega malls or big box retailers.<\/p>\n

So, if your brand is beginning to lose share of mind and share of wallet, it\u2019s time to go back and revisit what prompted your product or service in the first place.\u00a0 Are the reasons still relevant?\u00a0 Do they still differentiate you from the competition? Do they provide value beyond a sale price?\u00a0 Do they provide a reason for a personal relationship with the customer that really is the essence of a brand?\u00a0 If not, it\u2019s time to revisit and find a reason for being.<\/p>\n

IN MEMORIAM:\u00a0 I lost a good friend this week.\u00a0 Phil Kabachnick was professional retailer who brought innovation and moxy to his store in Middletown, Connecticut, for years.\u00a0 He understood customers and how to market to them by understanding the trends and what would keep them from going to the Big Apple to do their fashion shopping.\u00a0 After he closed the business and\u00a0 and was the behind-the-scenes operator of his wife, Terri\u2019s, consulting business, we shared some office space here in Tampa Bay.\u00a0 We also shared many discussions on retail, sports, and business building ideas over many Chinese lunches.\u00a0 He fought a good battle against cancer and kept his sense of humor till the end.\u00a0 I\u2019ll miss him.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_video admin_label=”Video” src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/EBxMA6RX4C0″ \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] PRESS PLAY>> TO VIEW KEN\u2019S VIDEO INTRO TO THIS MONTH\u2019S BLOG A visit to the DaVinci Machines exhibit last month made a real impression on me about the genius of this 15th Century artist and designer.\u00a0 While there were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=303"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions\/307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}