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Christmas: It Used To Be Easy.

12/24/2014

Oh, for the good ol’ days, when Christmas was less a debate and more a gift to be discovered and opened on December 25th. Or did we live in a bubble back then?

Maybe a bit of both.

We Catholic and Protestant kids had heard about the “reason for the season” in cold, crisp (not always snowy) New England, but in truth we didn’t know much about it, despite the belief our faiths tried to imbue in us. We DID, however, know about and embrace the whole Santa, milk and cookies thing, which our Jewish friends got into just as enthusiastically.

It’s not as easy to feel warm and peaceful about Christmas these days despite the twinkling lights and soaring chorales, given (a) the season’s near manic commercial aggressiveness and (b) the hurt feelings that have arisen in recent years as people with other traditions (or an ideological axe to grind) work to substitute Christmas greetings with Holiday greetings, and America complies so as not to offend, without acknowledging -- or perhaps even realizing -- the word’s etymology: Holy Day.

And so the season of Great Joy finds itself sunk in controversy at the insistence of a vocal minority, the Great Good of it all but lost in the murk of political correctness and an orgy of consumption that now kicks off just after Halloween, blasts through Thanksgiving practically without pause and finally screeches breathlessly to a halt at the Christmas Eve finish line.

Compared to “how things used to be,” it can all be just plain disorienting to those of us who came up in that slower, simpler time. But it’s only that way if you let all the hullabaloo and nay-saying creep into your heart. I simply choose not to.

So, have yourself a blessed Christmas season filled with peace, joy, love and hope (no matter what you may choose to call it).

“And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.*”

*This promise applies to men, women, children, babies, relatives, friends, acquaintances, business associates, kittens, puppies and anybody else who may wish to participate. All are invited to partake!

Takeaway: Give from an open heart, allow others their space, wrap yourself in family ... and enjoy!

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

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THe Real Thing: (not Coca-COla)

12/20/2014

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Image © by Brian E. Faulkner

Popped into a music store yesterday to buy a gift for my guitar-playing son and hadn’t been there more than a minute before I spied what looked at first glance like a Martin D-45 marked down to around $300. If so, that would be the deal of the century, and should I have stumbled on such a rarity, its purchase, no doubt, would have made me feel less bummed over having sold my '63 Martin 00018 twenty years ago to buy an alternator for my old Chevy Celebrity.

The D-45, for those not acquainted with premium-quality guitars, is C. F. Martin’s flagship model, complete with abalone inlays, fancy purfling, East Indian rosewood sides and back and a sound that stands up and speaks with both sweetness and authority.

The pretender in that guitar shop didn’t even come close, although it did have some attractive inlay work. Apparently, a previous shop owner (now deceased) had a bunch of guitars made up in Korea to look like the best of the best American instruments and had his name put on them. The guitar on display was one of the few would-be Martins or Gibsons or Fenders that hadn’t been sold over the years.

Guitars, like pianos, invite you to play them – or not. It’s either a match made in heaven or a block of wood with strings on it (a guitar-shaped object, as the derision goes). This particular guitar felt heavy, played thick and did not sing. It was more of a decoration than a serious musical instrument – something you’d hang on the wall of a Nashville-themed restaurant.

Brands are a lot like that. The best ones sing. They wrap you into an experience that you look forward to – whether you buy a product for pleasure, utility or both (like the Black & Decker rechargeable lawnmower I finally bought last year). I never have been much of a guitarist, but I always looked forward to playing my Martin. I liked its song. And it made me feel more accomplished than I actually was.

I paid $300 for that guitar in 1970. Today, it would bring around $3,000, maybe more. A big D-45 from the same era could fetch upwards of twice that (the first one was custom made for Gene Autry in 1933). These days, MSRP on a D-45 fresh from Nazareth is close to $11,000 -- and worth every dime.

I once had an acquaintance with a D-45 for sale. He advertised it in the classifieds (in the part of North Carolina where a D-45 could be considered a six-string holy grail). No takers. So he doubled the price.

It sold lickety-split! That guitar was the real thing – and (finally) priced accordingly.

It’s tempting to suggest that in order to sell something lickety-split it needs to sing like a Martin D-45 and be as costly, but ain't necessarily so. A satisfying experience (like I used to get from my old Martin 00018 and still get from my lawnmower) can occur in all product categories and at all price levels. With guitars, that ranges from collector instruments on down through a student’s first guitar, which should NOT be a block of wood but have a sound that draws the ear in and strings that play with enough ease to encourage. Too many parents make the mistake of buying a “bargain” instrument for their child to learn on and then wonder why the thing ends up stuck back in the closet after a couple of months.

Quality, of course, can be maddeningly difficult to get a grip on. One of my least favorite definitions is the industrial-bland “conformance to requirements.”

Bah!

True quality should delight and amaze. It should make you want what it’s got, whether resident in a fine guitar, a beautiful set of gears for a transmission or something as simple as a flashlight that feels good and works every time, a tool that you can use with confidence while searching for that old guitar you know must be back there in the closet somewhere …

TakeAway: Be the real thing, the brand or product that people look forward to using (or building into the things they make) – no matter what you’re selling.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

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Dressing Your Brand For Success.

12/17/2014

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Image © by Brian E. Faulkner

Came across an upbeat woman in a grocery store a few weeks ago who impressed me with her new product -- and her enthusiasm. Her name was Kissie (yes) and she was sampling her all-natural, refrigerated salad dressing line in the produce department. By all reports (hers and the store’s), the sampling was a success. And no wonder. The product was great – and positioned as one-of-a kind flavors “never before seen in any store or restaurant”.

But her name and branding were even better.

The first thing that caught my eye was the illustration on her label: a stylish young woman in a little black dress and a wide-brimmed hat set against four green squares of various hues. And then there was the product name: Little Black Dressing Co. And the tagline: DRESS UP YOUR SALAD.

Zing! She nailed three of the most daunting tasks in marketing right out of the door: a compelling brand name, a powerful tagline and great design.

“I’m a little black dress girl,” she told me after I asked about how she came up with her brand name. “It works for everything, for all occasions. And Little Black Dressing Co. offers “a dressing for every occasion,” including four tempting flavors (the one I took home was "Honey, It’s Dijon Dill").

The creation of Little Black Dressing Co. seems right out of Small Business 101: a family steeped in “homemade everything,” a big organic garden, Nana Kate’s wonderful salad dressing, friends and neighbors willing to pitch in and help mix, bottle and label freshly prepared product around the kitchen table and church group members who advised Kissie either to stop making the stuff or start selling it. “Kissie”, by the way, comes from “Christy”, which is “cute when you’re two but can be a problem when you’re forty-something and some secretary shouts to her boss that ‘Kissie’s on the phone!’”

Kissie and her husband successfully raised four children before she ventured off into businessland. And before that she earned a fine arts degree in graphic design and worked in a restaurant, a combination that clearly prepared her for Little Black Dressing Co. What she wasn’t quite so prepared for, however, was satisfying FDA and NCDA (North Carolina Department of Agriculture) nutritional requirements, HAACP food safety requirements and selling her product to grocery stores, which had set margin expectations and (at least at this stage of the game) direct delivery requirements. And, of course, in-store sampling.

“Personal introduction is important,” Kissie says. “People want to know where their food comes from – and thank goodness supermarkets now are tuned into local products. It’s all part of giving consumers a positive experience.”

Image © by Brian E. Faulkner

Lady Luck also has played a part in helping get Little Black Dressing Co. off the ground.

“I got an email one day from a catering firm that wanted me to provide my dressing to the U.S. Open tournaments (men’s and women’s) at Pinehurst. I thought my family was cranking me, especially since my husband and brother-in-law are such avid golfers – both sides of my family are, in fact, even my grandmother. So I put off answering the email for a while, and when I did finally contact them, I hadn’t really decided if my family was still messing with me.”

They weren’t. Little Black Dress Co. ended up providing 88 bottles each of three flavors to the Open – all mixed and bottled by Kissie and her team. The product proved so popular that the caterer ordered 768 more of each, which proved quite the task for the entrepreneur and her crew, who “knocked out the order in seven days” while keeping up with other demand.

Momentary success like that, not to mention Little Black Dressing Co. having been named a finalist (among 5,000 entries) in this year’s Martha Stewart’s American Made competition, has helped get the attention of grocery store prospects, including Lowes Foods, Whole Foods and The Fresh Market stores in the Piedmont region of North Carolina.

Which makes one wonder whether Kissie and company may be approaching a tipping point.

“Little Black Dressing is selling so well in some stores that I’m in shock,” the proprietor says of her most recent sales gains. “We were ‘produce winner of the day’ in one Fresh Market. “So, “between making the product, bottling, paperwork and sampling, I’m a busy girl – with eight stores running hard, which we’re making proud. After all,” she says, “I work for them!”

The next hurdle is familiar to any entrepreneur who wants to move out of the family home, go into full-bore production and hire people to help make growth happen.

“I don’t want the business to consume me,” Kissie says, “although I’ve tripled sales in the past four months. That means I’m about 2/3 of the way to taking on a packer. Meanwhile, I just keep right on doin’ what I’m doin’.”

Whichever direction the business may take her – to stay small or gradually step-up demand and the capacity to meet that demand, you can be sure of one thing: Kissie Stroup and her Little Black Dressing Co. will succeed.

How can they possibly go wrong with a name like that?

Not to mention flavors like Dreamy, Creamy Vinaigrette, Far East Flair and It Takes Three to Tango (a combination of ranch, 1000 Island and blue cheese crumbles). And each and every one “hand crafted with pride and love.”

TakeAway: A great brand name and powerful tagline will go a long way toward dressing your product for success.

Contact: http://littleblackdressingco.com/

Content © Brian E. Faulkner

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Pick Up The Phone And Smile: An Unusually Satisfying Business Experience.

12/2/2014

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Had occasion today to call a hotel in Orlando. Suzan answered the phone, and she sounded so enthusiastic that it immediately made me feel that she – and everybody else at the Grand Bohemian -- was delighted that I’d called. Not just glad ... delighted! What a rare experience these days when so many businesses care only enough to plug you into their endless, impersonal and oh-so-frustrating automated answering systems. Either that or the person who answers the phone gives you the impression they’d rather finish filing their nails than talk to you.

"Good afternoon, and thank you for calling the Gran Bohemian Hotel -- this is Suzan at your service." The way it should be done.

Suzan passed me along to Marion, who was equally enthusiastic. She, in turn, connected me to the secretary of the gentleman who owns the hotel – just like that. Impressive, especially after having tried to contact business execs whose phone setups clearly suggest that they don’t want to be found.

I had not been aware of Richard Kessler and his 10 themed hotels, elegantly branded as The Kessler Collection. But I will long recall the exemplary welcome I received on the other end of his phone. He clearly recognizes the value of investing in the people it takes to enliven his properties, known for their “distinctive architecture, rare art and music, and exemplary service,” which I have no doubt runs like a golden thread through the entire business.

The Kessler experience reminded me of a hotel stay in Columbia, S.C. going on a month ago: the Clarion on Gervais Street. To tell the truth, we almost turned around and went somewhere else when we saw the property. The entrance was temporary and rather uninviting. A worn carpet led the way to the front desk. The place was under renovation, and management clearly had decided to do what business it could while one part of the facility was being torn down.

But the front desk folks welcomed us warmly, made good noises about our grandchildren (who were exploring every corner of the lobby as only a trio of curious toddlers can do) and explained the situation. The elevator was wobbly and the hallway carpets were grungy. The door to our room opened reluctantly and banged angrily against its metal frame. It was late and we were tired, so we decided to stay and ask for a discount at checkout time. However, by then the hotel staff had completely won us over – from several shifts of front desk people to the woman who cleaned our room.

Despite the less-than-perfect accommodations, we left smiling. There was no need for a discount. Plus, the kids found it fascinating to look out the window of our rooms in the morning as a power shovel demolished the building across the way.

The two very different hotels shared a common characteristic: a great experience, thanks not only to good people but also to management with the wisdom to hire, train and keep them.

TakeAway: Good people with great attitudes can make a huge customer experience difference – and create loyal brand advocates.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner
Tags: Grand Bohemian Hotel, Orlando, The Kessler Collection, Clarion

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sample blog:

This is a sample blog for writer Brian E. Faulkner. It presents stories about brands that do (or don't) communicate competitive advantage effectively. Stories have been gleaned from the business press, personal experience and occasional interviews. New articles are added from time to time, and every so often there will be a post of general interest -- about things like success, passion, social trends, etc.

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Brian Faulkner is a writer and strategic communication consultant who helps business clients explain their competitive advantage in compelling and enduring ways.

He also is a five-time Emmy award winning Public Television writer & narrator for a highly-rated and well-loved magazine series.

Christmas: It Used To Be Easy.

THe Real Thing: (not Coca-COla)

Dressing Your Brand For Success.

Pick Up The Phone And Smile: An Unusually Satisfying Business Experience.

sample blog:

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