You Have to Believe in Your Brand

If you've been in this business any time at all, then there are situations where you feel as if you're pushing rope. I love that phrase. It's right up there with "watching the train take a dirt road."

When it comes to helping companies develop and strengthen their brands, the idea of pushing rope sometimes comes to mind. Why is it so many companies wrestle with the idea of brand development? Why is it such a foreign idea?

A few months ago during a new business meeting, the entire room was in a fairly deep discussion about brand development for this particular company. As the discussion progressed, one of the senior clients in the room turned to me and said, "This could strengthen our whole company. It could change our entire business strategy — not just our go-to-market strategy."

The light bulb came on.

A fully developed corporate brand manifests itself at multiple levels. Companies see it in their employees. Productivity increases, efficiency improves, absenteeism declines, profits rise — all because employees have a clear vision of what the company is doing and their role in the company's success.


Customers see the difference of a well-articulated brand. Customers have long known the brand experience was one they enjoyed. Now the advertising, PR, product merchandising, sales experience and online presence match the brand they've come to know and love. Now they begin to tell their friends, family and neighbors. The brand begins to grow.

Suppliers notice the change. Now when they call or visit, they sense a new and invigorated environment. They notice your employees are more focused, more in tune with the customer. Suppliers are now more interested in working with you — to provide you more favorable terms since your inventory is turning more quickly and your employees are coming to them with new and different ideas on how to package and bundle products.


Key influentials begin talking about your company. Trade journal editors begin calling you and making a point to seek you out at trade shows. Investors begin to inquire as to how your company is doing. The buzz in the industry continues to grow. And nothing succeeds like success.

Brands connect people at multiple levels. But there are skeptics. There are those who have a hard time understanding the power of a strong, well-articulated brand. There are corporate executives who have never witnessed a powerful brand in action. They've never worked for a company that took full advantage of their brand. And if they've not witnessed it first-hand, then it is highly unlikely they will easily grasp the power of their own corporate brand. They'll be skeptical.

When you run into one of these skeptics, you're going to feel as if you're pushing rope. But don't give up. Work to help them understand the power of their brand. If their company has a strong brand experience, then they can have a strong brand promise.

And don't give in. If you see it, then they can see it, too. It may take weeks, months or even years. But if the brand experience is there, and you truly believe in it, then keep pushing until they get it.

A strong brand will drive a business at multiple levels. But the first challenge is making sure the decision-makers believe in the power of their own brand.

How to be memorable.

Have you ever wondered why some companies do better than others within the same category? Why is that? What is it about one company that makes them more successful? Let's take pizza, for example. This staple has been around for over 50 years. It's been made in every size, shape, texture and flavor. It comes with just cheese or with as many toppings as you can imagine. The category is dominated by Pizza Hut and Domino's. There are as many frozen pizzas at the grocery stores as there are days in the month. So why would someone make the decision to open a pizza restaurant?

Someone did. His name is Rob Dalzell and he owns Pizza Bella in the Kansas City Crossroads.

Pizza Bella is not your average pizza joint. In fact, it's not a "joint" at all. It's an upscale pizza restaurant. On my first visit for lunch last fall, the place was so packed with people, my Creative Director, Ky Miller, and I had to sit at the bar. Which, it turns out, gave us the opportunity to speak with one of the servers in more depth than we would have sitting at a table.

So we asked a simple question. "What makes Pizza Bella different?" The server told us about the fact that Rob Dalzell had experimented with over 400 different pizza crusts before he came to the one they use every day at Pizza Bella.

My mind immediately began creating images of a chef laboring over a table, rolling out dough, adding a select group of toppings and sliding it in a wood-fired brick oven — wondering if this dough would be the one. And then doing it 400 times. It was a great story.

And that's the point. Pizza Bella has a story. And they told it well.

Most companies have a story. It may be of how they started, how they faced adversity and prevailed, how they tweaked their product line and emerged into a new market, how they solve problems, how they exceed customer expectations — it doesn't matter what the story is as much as the fact that you have one and you're telling it.

Stories typically have little to do with features and benefits. Our world is filled with parity products. People want a reason to connect with a company or a brand. The story is how they do it.

If you're struggling in a category with multiple competitors, then think about the story you're telling. What is it about your company that separates you from the pack? What are you doing differently that will keep your story top-of-mind with existing customers and get you noticed with prospects? You have one. You know you do. All you have to do is tell it. Odds are good your competitors will keep trying the same old ideas. You have the opportunity to do something different.

And memorable.

Synchronization

I'm always looking for a good metaphor.

Here you have a series of metronomes doing what metronomes do. Ticking. On their own, they tick just fine. But when each metronome is placed upon a movable, flexible foundation, they all come into sync.

That's what we all seek within an organization — a flexible, yet supportive foundation that allows everyone to get into sync. Nothing beats a powerful team. Everyone rowing in the same direction. But a flexible foundation is key. Give people the support they need to excel, to bring forth new and innovative ideas, and the whole team wins.

Living up to your brand promise

Our client, McCownGordon Construction, just built an environmentally sustainable construction trailer. They call it the Green Trailer.

The trailer is constructed from recycled and re-used parts. It has a composting toilet, solar panels and a host of other features that significantly limit its carbon footprint.

Why would a company go to the expense of creating an environmentally sustainable construction trailer? Well, for McCownGordon, there were two reasons: 1) It was the right thing to do and 2) it is in line with their brand.

McCownGordon is not a typical construction company. This is an amazing group of individuals who work as a team better than almost anyone I've witnessed. The camaraderie is amazing. The care they take to do the right thing with their employees, clients and the community is second to none. When they first told us of the Green Trailer idea, we were intrigued but not surprised. It's the kind of thing a company like McCownGordon would do. In fact, I would expect nothing less than a bold move like a Green Trailer.

Pat McCown, one of the founders, asked that people take time when touring the trailer to find ideas they can use themselves to protect the environment. The Green Trailer is an educational tool. That's part of doing the right thing. And part of the McCownGordon brand.

In marketing, we have choices between big ideas and small ones. It's almost always better to grasp a hold of a big idea and carry it through than it is to execute a hundred tiny ones. People will remember the big idea. Especially if it's authentic, in line with your brand, and you execute well.

ASAP is Not a Deadline

The Roo wraps up her final exams this week, putting a cap on her freshman year at Loyola in Chicago.

I'm not sure anyone ever enjoyed finals. There were all the end-of-semester projects that had to be completed. Then, just as you were catching your breath from that flurry of activity, you had to begin the intense studying for finals. If you were lucky, you had at least a half-day between each exam in order to truly focus studying.

While there are plenty of things learned in college that are directly applicable to the commercial world, final exams offer a lesson all on their own. Cramming, you ask? No. The ability to internalize vast amounts of what will someday be useless information? No, not that either.

Final exams teach the extraordinary point of the importance of deadlines. The first day of the semester each student knows that 16 weeks later, there will be a final. They can plan on it.

Have you ever started an initiative without a deadline? Often we hear people say "We need it as soon as possible." Okay. That's a good place to start. But typically, we'll go a step further and say, "How about Tuesday the 22th?" The response from a client to a potential deadline will fall into one of three categories: "Oh, you can get it completed that soon?" or "Surely we can have it before the 22nd." or "That would work. Let's get started."

There is always a deadline. Likewise, there is always a budget. Sometimes you just have to ask the question in a different manner to uncover it.

When to drop the hard sell

I stopped by the bank today to cash a check. Before cashing it, I had to first endorse it. And to do that, I needed a pen. Fortunately, the teller had one. It was labeled Humana.

I would like to meet the person who first came up with the idea of imprinting logos on pens, hats, polo shirts, paper weights, letter openers, key chains, bottle openers and various and sundry other trinkets and trash. It's as if these promotion item distributors took interruption media to the nth degree. "We can put a logo on anything!" And they have. Land's End has an entire corporate division dedicated to the production of logoed apparel.

Please don't take this the wrong way. I firmly believe there is a place for corporate logoed promotional items. However, there is an alternative you might want to consider.

Give someone a gift without the company's logo emblazoned on it.

About ten years ago the popular holiday gift was a stadium blanket. For whatever reason, companies were giving their best customers high-end, woven wool stadium blankets. We received three that year from different vendors.

Two of the blankets we received had the company's logo stitched into the fabric. But the third blanket had no corporate identification at all. However, it came in a nice wooden box with a personal note, a sprig of pine and a couple of chestnuts accenting the inner packaging. It was beautifully presented.

Over the years I've used all three stadium blankets. They all serve the rational purpose of providing warmth from the cold. But the one I received in the wooden box, with the personalized note, sprig of pine and two chestnuts is my favorite. The company that sent it to me understood they were making an emotional connection with me, not sending me an ad.

Two companies sent me gift blankets that had a utilitarian purpose — they help keep me warm on cold days. The third company achieved something greater. They, too, gave me a gift that helps keep me warm on cold days. But they also created a memory — an emotional connection. One that has lasted for over ten years.

And to this day I remember who sent it to me. And they didn't even use their logo.

"I don't know" vs. "I don't care to know."

A few years ago my father was helping some friends of his remodel the old country store in our small southern Illinois town of Dundas. As they were tearing out some old walls, they found this piece of equipment (pictured at left) stuck between two 2x4's.

None of the men in the group, all in their sixties or seventies, knew what it was. In fact, they had to speak with friends before someone informed them it was a tobacco cutter. Back in the day it was used to cut plugs of chewing tobacco.

Once the men knew what it was, they could easily see how it was used. But without context, they were at a loss.

I spent a good part of my morning today learning about a new social media tool for which I had never been exposed. It's called Social Radar. The two gentlemen who created the software answered all my questions — and I had a lot of questions.

This was a completely new application with very big implications to marketing and the metrics that surround a successful campaign. Yet with all the exposure I've had to metrics, this was a totally new experience. Therefore, it required significant learning on my part. And candidly, I still have some learning to do.

If Peter Drucker was correct when he said "The only two things that are important in business are innovation and marketing," then we each must seek out opportunities to place ourselves in situations that are uncomfortable. If we're uncomfortable, then we're more likely to learn something new. And if we're learning something new, then we're far more likely to apply that new learning to strategies that drive innovation and/or marketing.

Here's an acid test for you. When was the last time you felt uncomfortable in a conversation? Where you were unfamiliar with the topic being discussed? Where you didn't know the answer? A week? A month? A year? When was the last time you said, "I don't know," and then went on to seek out an answer. There 's nothing wrong with "I don't know." The problem arises when the individual fails to look for an answer — signaling the message, "I don't care to know."

There are hidden questions waiting to be asked — and answered — all through business. We simply must take the time to identify the questions, and be comfortable knowing that we don't necessarily know the answers. Yet.

A Sustainable Tipping Point

There is rarely a clear point where a fad becomes a trend. Take the Green movement, for example. Some would say it is still a fad, that recycling and conservation is nothing more than a passing phase. Others would say that the issue of sustainability has moved from fad to trend. In fact, it may be reaching a point where, in some circles, sustainability is becoming institutionalized — office recycling would be a good example.

I watched an online presentation the other day called The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard. And while some of the phrases Ms. Leonard uses in the presentation cause me to cringe, overall the story she tells is compelling. If I were telling this story, I might alter some of the language to make it a bit less abrasive, but it's not my site, it's hers.

The most interesting point Ms. Leonard makes in the presentation is that we cannot continue to manufacture and consume in a linear process when we have a finite amount of natural resources. That's a fairly simple economic truth. Eighty percent of everything we purchase in the U.S. is disposed of within six months. I'm all for a consumer-driven economy, but perhaps there's a different way to approach it?

What might a new approach mean to businesses? Well, it could mean a lot. Take thrift stores, for example. Today, people perceive thrift stores as low-income, second-hand shops with questionable quality or worn-out goods. Not the kind of store you would find on the Plaza.

What if an enterprising entrepreneur created an upscale sustainable store. One where people could bring in their slightly used clothing, slightly used equipment and household items to be refurbished and sold back to the public in a well-merchandised, attractive, upscale retail environment?

There are retail establishments heading in this direction. Arizona Trading Company, Urban Mining and Good JuJu, to name a few. But these stores are still marketing to the fringe audiences. What if The Gap, Home Depot and Target took this idea mainstream?

This kind of thinking would begin to alter the face of manufacturing as we know it. Companies would retool their lines to refurbish previously-owned products. If Lexus can do it, why not Weber Grills?

Too expensive, you say? It might be more expensive to refurbish and restore than to manufacture new materials. Indeed, I'm almost sure it will be for the first few years. However, remember that you're marketing to a mindset, not a demographic. People who care about sustainability will be willing to pay a premium for sustainable products. And over time, as more companies enter the sustainable retail category, the costs will come down. Whole Foods is more expensive than Price Chopper, yet many people shop at Whole Foods.

It may be a ways off in the future, but if I were going to place a bet, I would look toward the idea of a sustainable retail shopping experience. It will appeal to a large mindset of people. And in creating it, the lucky entrepreneur will automatically reposition all the non-sustainable retailers in the market place. And that is good market positioning.

What does it take to change behavior?

The price of gas has increased by 73% since April, 2004 — $2.01 to $3.49.

Let's put that in perspective. If you were planning to purchase a $30,000 car, and within four years the price went to $51,900, would you consider an alternative? Or if the $400,000 home you were looking at now costs $692,000, would you make a concession?

I've talked with a number of people who believe $4/gallon gasoline is right around the corner. Some are thinking about purchasing a hybrid. Others are thinking about taking the bus. Still others are negotiating a flexible work schedule so they may work from home a couple days a week.

A friend of ours works from home three days per week now that gasoline prices have gone up. It saves her $18/week on gasoline.

If you're looking to alter a customers behavior, what must you do to get them to actually make a decision? What emotional triggers need to be pulled to have someone alter their behavior? It is more challenging than you might imagine. It's especially challenging if you're trying to do it based on rational thinking.

People can rationalize any decision. They can rationalize buying a Hummer, not recycling, global warming. The only way to connect with people to alter a behavior is to uncover an emotional insight that will lead them to a different perspective. Then, once they internalize that perspective, they may alter their behavior.

There are no short cuts. But there is a process. The first step is taking the first step. Uncover the insights that will lead you to a strategy. Then you can leap marketing mountains — even without a Hummer.

What Barry Knows

Saturday night Barry Manilow plays the Sprint Center in Kansas City — and I'll be there.

Manilow began his career in the mail room at Columbia Records. He was a classic case of do what ever it takes to break into the music business.

Before he made it as a pop star in the 1970's, Manilow wrote jingles for advertising agencies in New York. A couple you might remember: "I am stuck on Band-Aid 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me." and "Nobody can do it like McDonald's can." And I'm sure there are more.

The 70's and 80's were good to Manilow. He faded a bit in the 90's, but has surged again in the last eight years playing nightly in Vegas.

There's a lesson here for marketers. Barry knows how to reinvent himself and remain relevant to his audience. Companies have the same opportunity. Research, planning, development of engaging communications — all play a role in staying relevant.

If Barry Manilow can do it, so can you.

Free Beer Tomorrow

If you were to tell a prospective customer that your organization will be better tomorrow than you are today, what would their reaction be? Would they be astonished? Would they say, "Then I'll come back tomorrow?"

There's a sign over the bar at Harry's County Club restaurant here in Kansas City that reads, "Free Beer Tomorrow." Of course, each day patrons arrive, the sign says the same thing. The tomorrow they're hoping for never arrives.

We've often discussed using "Better Tomorrow than we are Today" as a positioning statement at Meers Advertising. I like the connotation of continuous improvement. We will learn something today that will make us stronger and better tomorrow.

Today, in marketing, it's easier than ever before to learn new things that will drive your brand and your business. A few minutes each day on the Web, a telephone conversation or two with a vendor or friend, or a lunch with someone in a completely different category can give you an idea that can grow into a business-changing strategy.

Of course, you have to be intentional about seeking out those opportunities. Rarely does one slap you up side the head. Actually, the only thing that will act as a cosmic 2x4 to your head will be when you witness your competition doing something completely new and different — and you say, "Wow. I wish we had thought of that."

No worries. I'm sure you'll get there. Tomorrow.

The Death of Features and Benefits

I taught an advertising and marketing class at UMKC last evening. The students were preparing to present a campaign they had been working on this semester. They had done their research, determined the competition, outlined the features and benefits of their product and were now ready to develop the message strategy.

Problem was, no message strategy based on features and benefits will make it in today's highly competitive market place.

The Industrial Revolution was all about features and benefits. And features and benefits used to be the bread and butter of advertising and other marketing communications efforts. However, the Industrial Revolution itself, inadvertently, brought about the end of the relevance of features and benefits.

Today most products approach parity. There's not a great deal of difference between a Honda, a Toyota or a Nissan. TQM, Six Sigma, the Baldrige Award, et al have brought product quality to the highest levels ever. Yes, there's still room for improvement on the service side of business, but products, in and of themselves, are rapidly approaching parity. Remember Sprint's ad campaign in the 80's and 90's about sound quality so good "you could hear a pin drop."

It's no longer relevant.

Today, what people want to know is why they should choose Sprint over AT&T or Verizon? Sound quality is all good. Coverage is comparable (for the most part) with all three. Phones are similar (with the exception of the iPhone). Costs are similar from plan to plan. So how does someone make a decision?

Most companies face a similar situation. Banks, restaurants, office supply stores, movie theaters — all are approaching product parity. There is truly no other option for differentiation other than with the emotional connection people have with the company and/or product.

That is the brand.

Tomorrow, take a look at your company. How are your products different than your competitors? What are you doing to be remarkable? To be remembered? To even be noticed? You'll not find the answer in a clever new ad campaign promoting the features and benefits of your product. You must dig deeper than that. You will find the answer within your customers' mindset. They know why they buy from you. All you have to do is find out why they do and then create an emotionally engaging message to invite them to do business with you.

People do business with people they like. Give them a reason, a story, that they like and they'll become your customer.

Measured Relevancy

Here's a stat I didn't anticipate. The Daily Update email from the Kansas City Business Journal now has 12,000 subscribers. Why is that statistic important? Because the circulation of the printed edition of the Kansas City Business Journal is only 11,000.

I'm guessing this has happened with other print media, but I've not heard about it. Think about the relevance of this fact. More people receive the Business Journal's Daily Update email than there are people who receive the Business Journal. Is it because the daily email is more timely? Yes. Is it because business people take less time to read and want their news in bite size pieces? Maybe. Is it because we're all more environmentally conscious and want to save a few trees and the energy it takes to print a newspaper? Um, probably not yet. But it's a good thought.

People are pressed for time. While the Daily Update email doesn't go into the stories with the same depth as the printed version, and the printed version has far more overall content than the digital email, it still says a lot for the overall delivery of the business news from the KC Business Journal team. They have successfully mastered both a print and digital version without cannibalizing one another. They're obviously watching this transition (transformation?) closely.

Did Joyce Hayhow and her team at the Business Journal start out to achieve this goal? Probably not. There was no way to predict this would occur. However, they are watching the trends and moving with purpose to support the direction their readers are taking them.

That's one of the great things about digital communications — it's measurable. When your customers respond to a digital offering, you know it. And you can adjust your offering to make it more relevant to your customers — fairly inexpensively. The more you do, the more you learn. And the more you learn, the more relevant you become.

Not a bad way to run a business.

Deer in the Headlights

I've never hit a deer in my car.

I've known people who have hit deer. And I know people who live in deer country that put those little deer whistles on their front bumpers that are supposed to scare deer away from the side of the road. I don't know if they work, but after my trip last week, I may invest in some.

I had the occasion last Tuesday to see a few deer along the side of the road while traveling to a client meeting in Iowa. It was night time. It was a two-lane highway. And every few miles there were deer standing twenty or thirty feet off the highway. There must have been a convention or something in a nearby town.

Growing up in rural Illinois, I know what a deer can do to a car, so it was my intention to not hit one. Fortunately, my car has some seriously bright halogen headlights. Kicking those things up to "brights" lit up the Iowa night like a thunderstorm. With the lights on "bright," I could see deer I would have never witnessed with normal lights, or even on low-beam halogen. Of course, it was a two-lane highway and I was constantly going from high-beam to low-beam as I met oncoming traffic. Going to low-beam also caused me to slow down a bit. I was highly aware of the possibility of over-driving my headlights and smacking into 150 pounds of leaping deer.

The same scenario happens every day in business. People become so busy with the day-to-day tasks of business that they rarely "kick on the high-beam lights" and take a look around. People go about the business of marketing focused on the road ahead. Not looking too far ahead because our "lights" don't shine that far. Nor do they look side to side to see what the competition is doing that could cause us to figuratively hit the ditch.

The only way to get a better view is to kick those headlights up to "brights" and take a look around. Do some research. Make sure you know where you are, where you're going and what your surroundings are. Keeping your head down and staying on the same path can cause you to either 1) arrive at your destination but miss opportunities along the way or 2) get whacked by a competitor that you didn't see along the road or 3) arrive at the wrong destination because you didn't see an opportunity.

Running a business without a little insight from your customers is not a good idea. In fact, at the end of the day, the person with the "deer in the headlights" look may be you.

New and Improved

It's easy to get stale.

I was traveling this week and had the opportunity to listen to the radio quite a bit. One particular NPR segment was sponsored by Sit for Less, an online company selling office chairs. In each sponsorship, the announcer says "Featuring Herman Miller Aeron chairs in the new color, True Black."

This sponsorship has been on the air for at least two years. There's an old rule in advertising that you can't use the word new to describe a product for more than one year. And who would do so? Especially today when the new cycle seems to be days and weeks versus months and years. Technology makes today's new next week's old.

Business people work diligently to bring new products to market. They add a new feature which brings a new benefit. They trot the product out at a series of trade shows and wait for sales to take off. And if the product is truly innovative, sales will take off. But if the product is only marginally improved, many customers will say "So what?" and move on.

Product innovation is more challenging today than ever before. Look at all of the companies who are working to top the iPhone. Sprint and Samsung have just launched Insight - a touch-screen phone designed to compete with the iPhone. But they're missing the point. The iPhone is only partially about the technology. The connection people have with the iPhone surrounds the brand — the emotional connection they have with Apple, Mac, iTunes and the cool factor that comes with it. No technological advancement in an attempt to simulate the iPhone experience will come close to matching the emotional engagement people have with Apple.

Does this mean innovation is dead? No, not at all. There must be product innovation. But there must be equal (or greater) focus on the brand. Our world is filled with parity products. There might be differences, but they are often slight. The only way to truly differentiate is to make an emotional connection with your customers. Give them a reason to believe your company cares about them more than their alternative choices.

And here's the good news for your company. Most of your competitors are going to either a) be too scared to differentiate their brand or b) not have a clue how to go about doing so. You, dear blog reader, are making an effort to understand what you have to do and how you might go about doing it. Which puts you several steps ahead of your competitors.

New and improved is just as relevant to your brand as it is to any product you produce. Your challenge is to take the necessary steps to make a new and improved brand a reality.