Think you know your competition?
If you answered yes, and your list only includes the brands which are in your immediate competitive space (the ones you see year after year at that Vegas trade show) – this is your wakeup call. It’s true, you ultimately will be competing for a sale against like brands, but what happens before a consumer decides to purchase a specific item; let’s say a fishing pole for example. Prior to that decision, a consumer is likely shopping for a form of recreation or entertainment, rather than a brand or product. This effectively increases your brands competitive landscape. You’re now fighting other forms of recreation/entertainment AND their respective brands.
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download This Is England With that said, it’s crucial that you begin looking inside and outside your industries to gain knowledge and insight when establishing your benchmarks. Whether they’re brand, product or service related – the perspective to be gained is invaluable. This will help in developing smarter products/services and ultimately a more compelling brand experience. Unless of course you’re content being the “smart follower” in your industry.
If the notion of more competition is making your stomach turn, rest easy. Here are some tips to help you navigate an ever-evolving brand landscape:
• Look around you and learn from others
• Treat “emotion” as a benchmark
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• Know your competition (inside/outside your industry)
• Benchmark all facets of your business (product, brand, service, etc)
• Create great products as well as great brand experiences• Identify key consumer trends/habits/preferences
You’ll be competing with anyone and everyone, which means you need to keep an eye on anyone and everyone…
How far would you go to protect the integrity of your brand?
How far would you go to protect the integrity of your brand? Would you be willing to walk away from millions of dollars of potential sales? Would you turn your back on a channel that would get your product in nearly 4,000 stores across the country? Would you go to unprecedented lengths to ensure the tradition, product quality and personal service your customers associate with your brand remain at the very highest levels? Jim Wier did.
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Wier is a former VP with lawn equipment maker Simplicity, owners of the Snapper brand. When faced with the prospect of helping Wal-Mart build their outdoor power equipment business around Snapper, Wier instead decided to pull his mowers from Wal-Mart’s shelves.
Pretty gutsy move. But Wier understood the history and tradition of the Snapper brand, the company’s ruthless commitment to product quality and its dedication to unparalleled customer service which was entrusted to a network of more than 10,000 independent dealers. He also understood that those people who were passionate about mowing their lawns and who took great pride in its appearance wanted, needed, the very best brand experience.
Charles Fishman’s January, 2006 Fast Company article, “The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart”, is a classic. It is a must-read for anyone who is entrusted with caring for and nurturing a brand and the customers who are passionate about it. Read it here
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Active Insights on the Brand Show
Our friends at Two West have a great podcast called the Brand Show
. Every week, they explore the brands people love, hate, and love to hate. Their guest list includes some of the best minds in the biz, including some familiar names from Hanson Dodge Creative. This week, our own Dawn Finnegan and Marty Ellery discuss our Active Insights research initiative. You can check it out here The Enforcer movie
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In our industry, looking back at the year can sometimes be a lackluster trip down memory lane. Not only with our clients but the entire marketplace where we “fight the good fight” everyday. We try our hardest to break through the clutter, build equity or establish lasting value for clients by creating points of difference that effectively position a product against the competition…. Blah-blah-blah – insert tagline here for another forgettable foray. 2007, however, introduced us to a very memorable product worthy of review: the iPhone.
Its a Free World… full movie The cellular phone industry had absolutely no point of difference, no true demand beyond utility, only the lesser of existing evils with me-too product and even lesser-loved service providers, Apple once again proves the critics wrong with the introduction of [another] phenomenon, the iPhone. Let me pull the curtain back– our job as marketers is not rocket science, although science is involved. It is proven that you feel before you think. While you rationalize, persuasion comes after an emotional connection and is limited to address needs, which is much less powerful than creating the emotion of want. After all, the “I want that” reaction is a much more desirable position for brands to be in when it comes to the price-value equation and the optimum position for the battle of consumer loyalty and company profitability. Nobody needed an iPhone; they just wanted one and were willing to pay for it. Great marketing didn’t create this demand or influence this decision, it aided in clearly telling the story of a great product, which in turn makes for great marketing.
E-commerce Makes It To the Boardroom
According to Michael Lombardo, author of “the Leadership Machine,” “There is enormous complexity at the leadership level of organizations today.” Lombardo’s work suggests that in addition to setting goals, building strong teams and keeping an eye on cash, today’s CEOs and company presidents need to be more sensitive to diversity issues, learn to think differently and drive innovation, and they need to be more directly involved in managing the challenges of e-commerce.
E-commerce? Wow! Part of me thinks it’s about time. After all, Forrester Research has been projecting continued double-digit growth in e-commerce for years. They go as far as to say that, on average, e-business will represent 10-15% of the typical business’s revenue opportunity within the next three years.