Storm Tussey Just a few thoughts

I was browsing the information super highway the other day looking for something to inspire me when I ran across a really great program that enriches both the community and the environment. A program that speaks to me on so many levels and ties in perfectly with my current reading material : Farm City: The education of an Urban Farmer.

A program that asks participants to come together and ask themseleves “What do I want my urban life to be like?”  The group is called Urban Re:Vision and its a “diverse group of people focused on changing the urban landscape by re-imagining all the components that make up a city block. From energy to transportation to commerce to community, we believe that by finding innovative, healthy and sustainable ideas to help revitalize one urban block, we can create a blueprint for better cities everywhere.” The site has conversations, contests and art. Oh, the art is FANTASTIC. Check out their site at http://www.urbanrevision.com

Some of the art is below:

I was recently walking down a Grocery Store aisle looking for my favorite Kashi Crunchy Granola bars and as I was looking at all the different granola bars I realized something. They all look the same.

Each day more brands hit the shelf. However, there is less and less differentiation.  In a world of competition more vicious then high school cheerleaders and heightened performance expectations that match gymnastic judges expectations, there has never been a more important time for brands to identify, carve out, and own a unique space in their target category. Yet, more brands are playing follow the leader rather than actually being a leader.

Though being a strong brand is something that only time can build, building a differentiated brand is not as complicated as some would lead you to believe.

First thing First, A brand is NOT a tagline, graphic standards or a logo.  If that is what you constantly judge your campaigns against, then you are doing it all wrong.

A brand is a PROMISE, Who you are, what you do, what you say, and most of all how you say it to the consumer. Imagine Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. It’s positioned as an internal struggle, a coach pushing you to be your best. Stopping the naysayers and just get out and do it with Nike’s support. Now, imagine the “Just Do It” campaign positioned coming out of your mom’s mouth or your boss’s mouth. Most consumers would definitely not “Just Do It”; instead they would do everything they could to avoid doing it. Connotation of your campaign is integral to your promise.

The second part of differentiation is the emotional benefits of your brand. Americans use brands for a number of things-features, benefits, but most of all emotional gratification. This is even more true of brand rejectors, whose brand choices are ironically designed to showcase their rejection of  traditional brand values. Focusing on how your brand’s actions make its core customers feel-or the aspirational feeling you would like them to receive from interacting with your brand.

A great example of this is done with coupons. If you are pitching your brand with a coupon and a line saying “Times are hard, every penny counts” without realizing it, you have made your consumer feel like they “need” help, that they have “failed” in some way. However, if you pitch it as “Smart Ways to Save Money” then you are helping the consumer feel smart and leading them to believe that they are taking better care of their family by saving money.”

The third part of differentiation is what drives consumer perceptions. Consumer perception is two-thirds what a brand does, and one-third what a brand says. Meaning your companies walk will always mean more to a consumer then your talk. Performance will always trump awards. Your brand is only as good as the promises you keep.  How well does “what you do” align with “what you say”? Timberland, Stonyfield Farm, Patagonia, and Cliff Bar are companies that understand how to walk the walk.

Most companies will come back with “We can’t afford to run campaigns of those magnitudes”. You don’t need a fifty million dollar advertising campaign to create a meaningful brand. Ben and Jerry’s, Burt’s Bees, and The Body Shop are just a few examples of brands whose growth was not fueled by advertising dollars but by making a unique promise to consumers and then keeping that promise.

Splashy Ad Campaigns filled with empty promises will never do well and often cause more harm. BP had a great and colorful campaign a few years back that sold a “better fuel, better world” idea but they didn’t follow thru with their promises and ended up pulling the campaign within three months of consumer entry.

To ensure differentiation of your brand, ask yourself “What does this do for the consumer”? Then ask yourself the following questions, What about this makes me special?, How does this make the consumer feel? And lastly but most important, Can I keep my promise?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know about the Geek Squad.

The Geek Squad is known for channeling Will Smith in Men in Black by wearing a White shirt, black tie & pants and sturdy but boring black shoes. They make house calls in VW Beetles that are white and black in a style similar to 1950’s saddle oxfords or you can visit the “Geeks” at your Best Buy store for assistance with any computer or technology problem. They are also available online 24/7.

Well, as of July 19th, the Geek Squad will have some comrades. Best Buy’s CMO Barry Judge announced yesterday of a new Super Hero-esque grouping- the Twelpforce.

The Twelpforce won’t have the snazzy cars or structured outfits that the Geek Squad is known for. Instead, the “Twelpforce” will search Twitter posts to find people seeking information about electronics.  Judge stated that “ In the new world, you can go out and find people that are talking about technology and what they are interested in buying and want to share their knowledge. Hopefully, if you are generous and knowledgeable, people will come and buy.”

What is cool about the creation of the “Twelpforce” is that Best Buy get’s new media. They are not going to sit by and let others answer consumer’s questions. They will be seeking out consumers questions and helping the consumer make an educated decision. Which will in turn earn the trust of the consumer. This should help Best Buy stand out as the trustworthy, helpful, knowledgeable place to purchase electronics.

Kudos to Best Buy for getting the 4 P’s of Marketing and adding a 5th, Participation.

I’ve been so busy working on developing a fundraising event for one of my favorite zoos that I haven’t found a spare moment to blog.

However, I believe every piece of marketing should help develop a relationship with your core consumer.In honor of the notion: I encourage you to check out Shel Isreal’s blog on Social Media and the Relations Part of PR.

NY Met’s pitcher,Tom Seaver once said, ““In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency, not to worry about the numbers. If you dwell on statistics you get shortsighted, if you aim for consistency, the numbers will be there at the end.”

Tom Seaver should have been a Marketer.

One of Marketing’s biggest downfalls is the ability for companies to maintain consistency.  Their ads may convey one message but their PR is saying something in direct opposition or possibly their actions don’t follow the company’s mission. It’s been seen a thousand times, yet few companies focus on it.

Consistency is what helps build TRUST! Trust is what encourages people to do business with you. It’s the very reason why people become loyal, tell their friends about you and most of all it’s what makes your employees believe in you.

It’s time to look at your company from both an individual and organizational standpoint and evaluate your messaging strategy. Check out Scott Ginsburg’s Consistency Audit for a great collection of questions to help you evaluate your strategy.

This is reposted from the Brilliant Blog:http://www.churchofcustomer.com/2009/06/the-roots-of-word-of-mouth.html

The roots of word of mouth

Where does word of mouth come from?

A good experience, says Forrester.

A trustworthy relationship with peers, says Big Research.

A purple cow, says Seth Godin.

They’re all right, but the bigger question is: What binds all of those source elements together?

The answer is almost always hidden within a company’s culture.

Companies with great word of mouth tend to operate by a simple, yet inspiring purpose and well-defined values. They have created a cultural constitution, and every employee is sworn to abide by it, so help them God and the HR department. They understand that a purpose-driven company helps clarify decision-making while inspiring longer-term unity. They know that abiding by community-driven values compels employees to think of customers first, company second. They see the benefits of inspired, evangelistic customers and how company culture is the feeder river for streams of word of mouth.

When companies shun purpose and adherence to values, that’s usually the source of trouble. Just look at credit card providers, health insurance plans, Internet service providers and TV service providers, whose four industries recently appeared in a Forrester report as generating more bad word of mouth than good. The primary interests of companies in those industries often are, in order of importance: company executives, institutional shareholders, Wall Street bankers and analysts, then customers. They stealthily raise fees, add hidden clauses to purposefully complex operating agreements and cut customer service before rolling back excessive executive compensation. It’s not surprising then, that the government is now proposing standards to rein in excessive executive pay at publicly held companies.

Indeed, building word of mouth is bigger than simply paying employees well, much less leaving its function solely to the marketing or engineering departments. For creating good customer experiences, a company hires smart and empathetic people who believe in the company’s culture and provide evidence of believing in its values. It does not hire talented jerks, regardless of education or work history. It expunges those who acted their way through the hiring process.

For building trustworthy customer relationships, a company makes decisions according to its values. They do not rely on bad profits, the kind which trick customers (often used by the industries in the Forrester report). A company with great word of mouth is consistently fair and honest with customers, employees, suppliers, vendors and competitors. They do the right thing and right their wrongs quickly, often going above and beyond what’s necessary.

For creating purple cows, a company fosters creative thinking within tightly defined sandboxes to maintain elegant simplicity, a process that can be difficult but is ultimately rewarding to customers (and employees, especially), who crave simplicity in an age where complexity is daunting, worrisome and exhausting. Simplicity itself, especially with traditionally complicated products or systems, can be a bountiful source of word of mouth. Elegant simplicity is a form of art, and fans will gather to pay it homage.