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Preston Tucker And The Future.

1/29/2019

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During a neighborhood walk with friends several mornings ago, we got talking about Preston Tucker and his innovative automobile from the late 1940s. Thirty years ago, I had written a client speech on the subject, so went searching through basement files (the old paper kind) ‘til I found it. The subject seemed just as fresh today as it did back then.   

It was just after World War II when Preston Tucker, a former policeman, car salesman and engineer/tinkerer, grabbed the future by its collar and shook it. New cars hadn’t been produced since 1942, and the fresh-from-Detroit 1946 models were warmed-over prewar designs. Tucker, however, imagined something radically different, an innovative design that would turn heads and help build the fortune that had always seemed to elude him.  His vision of tomorrow’s automobile took shape in the barn back of his house in Michigan, which housed the Ypsilanti Machine & Tool Company where Tucker had designed (but never could bring to market) an armored car,  an innovative tank turret and a fighter plane.

What eventually would become known as the Tucker Torpedo for its daring new shape was a revolutionary car.  A safe car.  A fast car.  A fuel-efficient car.  A car that could stop on a dime.  A car that knocked your eyes out.  

The Tucker ‘48 was incredible. Nobody had ever seen (or imagined) anything like it. His car was built low to the ground and shaped like the future. It had a windshield wide as a picture window that was designed to pop out in a crash, saving the driver and passenger from popping it out with their heads. It had a third headlight in the center, which pivoted for a better view of the road as the car turned. The engine was in the back. It was fuel-injected and there was a double transaxle to drive the rear wheels. It wasn't clunky looking like most other post-war cars. And wasn't slow, either.  The Tucker Torpedo could go 120 mph - with handling and endurance to match. A prototype Tucker ran around a test track for 24 hours and got 25 miles per gallon. When the car was rolled over at 95 mph to prove how safe it was, the driver walked away from the wreck unscathed, and the car was driven away after one tire change. The windshield popped out, just as planned.

People loved the Tucker Torpedo and wanted to buy them (priced at $2,000, when the average new car cost around $1,200). Crowds surrounded the car everywhere Tucker went. Over time, he raised enough money to put together the people and facility to manufacture and market the car, and although his future seemed assured, the Tucker was a failure. Preston Tucker's dream to produce the finest automobile ever made never got to spread its wings, partly because of his own business and financial limitations but also because of crushing political pressure said to have been engineered by the Big Three American auto manufacturers, who perceived the Torpedo as immediate threat to their future. Only fifty-one Tuckers were ever produced.

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The "competition” may have helped assure a lack of his cars in our future, but Preston Tucker had something to say about that future. It was a sharp warning for America.

“If big business closes the door to the little guy with new ideas,” he said (quoted in a 1988 film about his life and dream), “we might just as well let the Japanese and the Germans walk in here and tell us what to do. We’re going to wake up one morning and find ourselves at the bottom of the heap instead of being king of the hill. We’ll end up preferring things from outside the country to things that Americans build right here. There will probably come a day when we’ll be buying our cars and radios and appliances from our former enemies.” 

People laughed at Preston Tucker’s predictions. They had no concept of a time when American-made automobiles, radios and televisions would nearly be overrun by well-designed, well-made products from Japan and Germany. All they could think about was now. The war was over and heretofore scarce consumer goods had begun reappearing on American shelves. There was a huge demand for new cars as a promising future reached toward the second half of the century. With the demise of Tucker Motor Company, American automakers knew exactly what their near future could have looked like had Tucker’s “car of tomorrow today” succeeded. 

There’s a scene in the film where Tucker is in the barn trying to convince his small development team that there was just about enough steel in a tank turret prototype they had laying around from which to build an automobile prototype.

“Can anybody look me in the eye and say we can’t do it?” Tucker challenged.

The prototype did get built, despite Detroit's scheming, and so did fifty more Tuckers. Forty-seven are said to survive today, at least one of which sold not long ago for close to $3-million. The company didn’t make it, however, and the reasons for that remain controversial, but the car was ahead of its time before it left the sketchpad. The mere reason that Preston Tucker tried and almost succeeded gives us reason alone to admire this man who looked fifty years into the future and got to work making things happen.

 
Note: This reflection on Preston Tucker and the Tucker Torpedo was adapted from a 1989 client business presentation about Future Perfect Thinking.    © 2019 by Brian E. Faulkner

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It Used To Be Easy!

10/23/2015

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Remember when all you had to do is make one call to Ma Bell to get your phone and its installation underway?  In short order, a guy (almost invariably a guy) showed up at your house and hooked up the phone to a jack he installed on the wall.  Then plugged in the phone he'd brought with him.  It’s still that way, in part -- that is, if you have a simple residential setup and don’t expect too much.

But if you have a small business, it’s an entirely different proposition these days, especially if you’re blissfully ignorant of the changes time has wrought in the phone business – even when it comes to the phone that sits on your desk, stays put and doesn’t fit in your pocket or purse, take pictures, track your whereabouts or have that super-smart (but clearly very tiny) young woman inside can answer most any question you care to come up with.  

The changes began in the early ‘80s, when the government broke ginormous AT&T Corporation into an array of regional Baby Bells.  That led to more competition – especially as the underpinnings of the communications business became so utterly transformed by digital technology over the next 20-plus years, vastly enlarging the competitive playing field and enabling an infinite variety of whiz-bang phone features.
    
Recently, I had the opportunity to help start a retail store (one reason why the frequency of my blog posts has decreased so much in the last few months).  We began with four blank walls and a carpeted floor, did some minor construction work, applied some paint and started inquiring about a phone system, which seemed relatively straightforward on the surface.  But it turned out more like comparing apples and kumquats; they both grow on trees but there the similarity ends.

First up was Time Warner Cable, not one of my favorites.  However, the lady who represented them on the phone was delightful and well acquainted with her system’s many features.  She also was eager and efficient about giving me a quote, which I thought included the phones.  We also conversed with Vonage, who clearly did include the phones.   The competitors' prices were very similar, as were many operational features, which lulled me into thinking that they were more alike than not.   So we decided to go with TWC, arranged for installation and went about tackling other tasks.

It wasn’t long before the TWC tech showed up and hid himself away in our utility closet for a while, busily making sense of the jumble of wires and connectors the previous tenants had left behind.  When he was ready to go, he told me what our phone numbers were and how to access the WiFi, after which he packed up his tools and got ready to hit the door.

“Where are the phones?” I asked in complete and total ignorance. 

“We don’t provide the phones.”

“What?!”

“We just connect the phone lines up to your system here.”

“WHAT?!”

“You’ve got to buy the phones from somebody else.”

He might well have told me that I had to materialize the phones out of thin air.

“And what about the wall jacks?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

“You’ll have to call in an electrician to do that,” he said, climbing into his truck and heading off to lunch.  “Good luck!”

So we called in an electrician, who did a masterful job pulling bright blue wires from the utility closet through the walls to the two desks that were supposed to have phones on them.   Then he, too, headed off into the lovely autumn weather, leaving the ends of the blue wires sticking out of the wall at both spots, with a small pile of wallboard dust on our just-cleaned carpet as if to prove that he’d been there and done something.

I never did get to talk to that guy, but I’m sure had I inquired about where the wall jacks were, he would have informed me in the matter-of-fact way that technicians sometimes talk to non-tech people that “We don’t do wall jacks.  You’ll have to call somebody else.”
I should have known.  So then I got busy Googling up an IT person who might consider installing two wall jacks in a tiny retail store.  And actually found one, who proved both helpful and instructive; he even straightened out some stuff in the utility closet that he declared hadn’t been done quite right by TWC.

Kazaam!  We were almost in business.

So I called the helpful TWC sales person with the pleasing manner and asked her how I’d missed that they didn’t supply the phones.

“Oh, a lot of people ask that,” she said.  “You can get phones at the Big Box store if you like.  We only provide the phone lines and the phone system – not the phone itself.”

That’s when it hit me that the features TWC sold as part of their “Business Class Phone” reside in their software, not in the instrument that sits on your desk.   I almost felt shamed to have missed that bit of information, but then again, isn’t it logical to assume that if your product is called Business Class Phone that you’d actually be INCLUDING a phone as part of the deal?
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Apparently not.  You’re actually buying Business Class Software!  And I did, indeed, head across the street to Office Depot and buy a phone, which works just like TWC advertised.

Then I got thinking what would have transpired had the nice TWC sales lady communicated all that stuff up front?   Would that have been a competitive advantage for her company?  Would my experience have borne out the Marketable Truth© of their tagline (Enjoy Better)?   Probably not – and to give Vonage credit (The Business of Better), they did tell me in advance that they didn’t provide the phone lines, only the phones themselves (plus their version of feature-laden software).

Of course, none of this confusion should rest on my broad shoulders, right?  Believe that and I’ve got a copier story to tell you, too … next time!

Marketable Truth © by Brian E. Faulkner         Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

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Car Insurance Seen in a Whole New LIght.

7/27/2015

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For some time now, I've been aware of -- and impressed by -- Liberty Mutual's Whole New Light TV campaign.  Every time I see one of their spots, which feature everyday folks musing by a shoreline with the Statue of Liberty in the background, I pay attention. The ads work because of their simplicity, because of  story, because of the “real” talent they’ve chosen and because each spot presents a common insurance frustration that viewers can identify with immediately:

“You’re driving along, having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pickup truck slams into your brand new car.  One second it wasn’t there, and the next second – BOOM! – you had your first accident.  Now you have to make your first claim.  So you talk to your insurance company, and – BOOM! – you’re blindsided for a second time: They won’t give you enough money to replace your brand new car. 


        (pregnant pause)

Don’t those people know you’re already shaken up?”

I love the reference to “those people”.  We all know who they are.

The story goes on:  Liberty Mutual not only replaces the new car but also includes the value of depreciation.  Another spot in the series offers to replace a policyholder’s older car with one a whole model year newer. 

“You should feel good about your choice of insurance,” Liberty Mutual’s Web site informs us.  “That’s why our new campaign aims to shine a light on this otherwise confusing category.”

Amen to that! Insurance, whether auto, health, homeowner or life, all too often seems like a costly crap shoot, despite the assuring words used to sell us our policies.  So it’s refreshing to see a straight-talking sales pitch based on credible slice-of-life situations – without yammering on so much about price (the up to $423 you can save to switch is slipped in toward the end of the spot -- frosting on the cake compared to the main benefit). 

If I hadn’t experienced such consistently good customer service from my State Farm agent over the years, which is a personal rather than corporate competitive appeal, I’d be tempted to give Liberty Mutual a shot at my business because of their common sense advertising – but would be less likely to change companies for a 15% price difference, even if offered up by a cute green gecko. 

Pure and simple, Liberty Mutual has done a superb job of communicating their competitive advantage.  Their tagline is so strong that price may not even matter: car insurance seen in a whole new light. 

TakeAway:  Create an authentic and credible competitive advantage.  Then, present it in terms that people can rally around; they will be more likely to want to buy your product or service.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner



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Why Airline Travel Should Be More Like Ben & Jerry's.

6/11/2015

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- Images © by
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Brian E. Faulkner -
Tags:  NetJets, Yahoo News, IATA, Ben & Jerry's, American Airlines, United Airlines, FlyersRights.org, Delta, Southwest, Jet Blue, Spirit Airlines

I hate flying.  Not the soaring, free kind of flying that dreams are made of.   I’m talking about public conveyance, the cramped kind of flying: commercial airline travel, where you’re imprisoned in a long aluminum tube with your fellow inmates for an insane number of hours.   Which isn’t really flying at all but more a kind of suffering you have to endure to get from one place to another without spending days or weeks doing it.
 "Flying commercial” brings up all sorts of mind pictures, most not all that appealing:

* waiting in lines
    - ticket agent lines
    - security lines
    - gate agent lines
    - boarding lines
    - baggage line
    - lines to get in other lines
* overbooking
* carry-on hassles
* cramped aisles
* cramped carry-on space
* cramped seats
* the seatmate crap shoot
* quarrels over seat backs
* make believe food
* bad air
* restrooms that are anything but restful
* weather delays
* crew delays
* tarmac delays
* late arrivals
* missing connections
* sleeping in the terminal

And that’s assuming the technical part of flying goes perfectly – all the doors get closed, the wings are securely fastened and somebody checks to see if there’s gas in the tank.

If I had a NetJets budget, I wouldn’t be concerned about such things.  But I don’t.  And most of us don’t.   Which made me perk up and take notice of this headline on Yahoo News:

           Airlines struggle to please the modern passenger.

According to the article, here are some of concerns expressed during this year’s meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade group for airline execs – keeping in mind that these weren’t complaints from passengers but observations and comments by the execs themselves:
  • More passenger info is needed, especially on mobile devices.  One suggestion was to “offer passengers a behind-the-scenes view of their suitcase as it moves through the airport machinery,” although methinks that could create more concern than certainty.
  • Give people a “nice, reliable experience at a normal price,” one exec said.  Another added: “Make my life easy,” which sounds great except that airlines appear to staff for ordinary flying conditions in a world filled with extraordinary events, the least of which these days is the weather.
  • “Don’t give me a vanilla experience”, one panelist told the IATA gathering.  But is that so bad?  Because  when I buy a pint of Ben & Jerry’s vanilla ice cream, my expectations are met every single time.
  • Another exec spoke of “managing” expectations, which seems like an especially worthy goal – as in no surprises!    Just over half of meeting participants thought the airlines weren’t “doing a good job meeting passenger demands.” 

What are passengers demanding?   Here’s how a reader named Mike put it in the comments section:
“The only issue is how stupidly uncomfortable the experience is.                                                                                 You’re stuck in a tiny seat from which you can’t get up most of the time."  
“THE DAMN SEATS ARE TOO SMALL,” agreed Mr. B (dramatizing his frustration by writing in all caps), “and the answer isn’t smaller carry-ons,” even as the IATA proposes new industry-wide standards for carry-on bags.   The small places in which we now are asked to stow our carry-ons seem to be getting more restricted while people are becoming more frustrated (sometimes even rude) as they seek a spot to stow their briefcase or backpack, often rows away from their seat, causing that much more confusion when it comes time to get off the plane.   And as dissatisfaction increases, seat room and restroom room appear to be shrinking.  

It seems absurd, but perhaps not altogether illogical,that “the two most profitable airlines — American Airlines and United Airlines — have abysmal customer service satisfaction scores,” according to a recent Forbes article, quoting Kendall Creighton, spokesperson for FlyersRights.org , which advocates for air travelers.   “An airline’s customer satisfaction levels appear to be inversely related to profits,” she says.  “The higher the profits, the worse the scores.  The more modest the profits, the higher the customer satisfaction.”   And now the government is proposing new emissions standards for aircraft, which would put additional pressure on price and profit.

According to the Forbes article, Jet Blue has the highest passenger satisfaction scores and the lowest profit margin.  Spirit Airlines, whose ironic tagline is Less Money. More Go, had the highest margin and lowest customer satisfaction, while “Delta and Southwest have managed to strike a balance between profits and happy passengers.”

I have a suggestion:  In the interest of communicating clear competitive advantage, each airline could post a simple graphic at critical passenger touch points, from ticketing through to the baggage carousel.  The graphic would consist of ten stacked rectangles, one each for the top 10 measures of airline customer satisfaction.  Each rectangle’s color would change as customer satisfaction ebbs and flows, from angry red for poor performance through shades of yellow to leafy green for superior performance.  Data could be gleaned from in-flight customer surveys taken every day, on paper, through passenger devices or even later online.   The information should include date of service, flight number / seat number and accumulate over time.

I challenge each of these airlines, in fact the entire airline industry, to put their heads together and create what might be called the Airline Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a numerical way of communicating the same info the colored rectangles do.   Perhaps the IATA will choose to lead the way.  Such measures surely will be more effective in raising airline industry expectations – and performance -- than making “standardized” carry-on bags even smaller!

TakeAway:  If your business, brand or product satisfies – even delights – customers, let the world know about it.  

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

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TaglineS 101: Nobody Says It Better Than Dr. Hansen.

6/1/2015

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Picture- Image © by Brian E. Faulkner -
Tags:  Carolina Men's Clinic, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Camel cigarettes.
Driving north from Charlotte on 1-77 last week my ear caught a radio commercial for The Carolina Men’s Clinic, which is said to be unusually effective at helping men overcome their E.D. issues.  I listened all the way through the spot because I was too tired to reach over and change the station -- stuck in the predictable afternoon clot of traffic where lanes constrict from three to two, an event so normal that the traffic reporters pretty much ignore it.   

I find E.D. commercials particularly irksome, whether on radio or TV, especially since I’m not in the market for release from this particular misery.  But what grabbed my attention this time was the clinic’s claim that “even urologists trust Dr. Hansen to fix their E.D.” 

What a great line, akin to a shoe store bragging about how many podiatrists shop there.   I liked the line so much that I laughed out loud and began listening for the clinic’s spot during subsequent trips to Charlotte.

I have no idea how well the good doc’s treatment works (they claim a 92% success rate vs. a substantial failure rate for the branded pills hawked on TV) and remain mystified how a board certified family practice physician with a background in osteopathy established a clinic to treat men with sexual dysfunction in the first place.   It may be as simple as finding a need and filling it; the need certainly seems to be there.

Another thing I liked about his spot was the promise of a non-intimidating experience -- plus proof in the pudding: treatment guaranteed to work or you get your $199 fee back.  Dr. Hansen may be effective (or not), but either way there’s a lesson here to learn about communicating competitive advantage: 

     (1)  Understand what sets your product or service apart from everybody else’s.

     (2)  State your difference in a few compelling, memorable, authentic words.

     (3)  If possible, have your tagline tell a story.

When I was a young teen being led astray by the tobacco industry, an R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company ad claimed that doctors preferred smoking Camel cigarettes.   I ended up smoking them, too, lured in part by my parents’ example and by RJR's compelling ad, even though their proposition made no sense.  But lots of people smoked in those days; it was socially acceptable – even expected.   So how bad could it be if More Doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette (according to a nationwide survey)?   T
he toughest guys and most elegant women in the movies all smoked ...

I don’t know how well Dr. Hansen’s bit of clever copywriting is working for him, but the lesson here is clear:  his radio spot DID get my attention and DID make me remember what sets the Carolina Men’s Clinic apart, thanks to a handful of ear-catching, memorable words.     

Dr. Hansen doesn’t use the “urologist” claim as a formal tagline, but dontcha think he should?

TakeAway:  A tagline that tells a solid strategic story gathers ears and changes minds.


Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

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Price! Price! Price!

2/16/2015

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Tags:  Greentoe.com, Priceline, Consumer Reports, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, J. C. Penney, B&H, B&H Photo, online discount cameras, smartshop.org

Have you ever thought about the difference between price selling and selling price?


Price selling is discounting.  It’s lazy marketing.  And having sale after sale after sale not only takes a bite out of profit but could be a long-term trap (just ask J.C. Penney).

Selling price is price-as-product. 

An intriguing example of price-as-product popped up on my screen this morning: Greentoe.com.   Their ad snagged me because I’ve been fishing around online for cameras and lenses.  So I clicked through to their site, where they immediately offered “the lowest prices available” on brands like Nikon, Canon, Olympus, etc.

“People like you are saving big on photo gear,” claimed the big green headline (the shade of money).  “Set your price and save up to 20%.  Brand new products.  No grey market.  Authorized retailers.  USA warranty included.” 

Does the advent of Greentoe.com mean I’ll no longer have to contend with my local Best Buy’s lackluster camera department?  (http://tinyurl.com/nywuxcx)  Does it mean I won’t have to risk ordering my next camera from one of those slippery big city camera discounters?

Maybe …

“Greentoe.com is the first and only website that allows you to name your own price for products in five categories: photography, appliances, musical instruments, baby items, and home theater,” reports shopsmart.org, an online Consumer Reports “best deals” resource.   They’re doing for consumer products what priceline.com has done for air travel and booking hotel rooms.  And it has the same sort of intrigue.  Will they accept my bid?   Will it be soooo much lower than the price somebody else paid?

Greentoe’s process is simple: 

(1) Submit an offer, on “thousands of products” (and give them your payment info).

(2) “Hundreds of retailers” then are notified of your offer (a green, orange or yellow gauge helps you determine how likely they are to accept – similar to Priceline).

(3) The first retailer to accept gets the sale; the transaction is between buyer and seller. 

If you know precisely what item you want, Greentoe.com may be your cup of tea – that is, if their retail partners have what you’re looking for.  The site’s selection of musical instruments and pro audio equipment is far from comprehensive, but it’s not meant to be.  They know that brick-and-mortar stores always have aged merchandise or overstocks they need to sell, so greentoe.com matches them up with customers who live hundreds or thousands of miles away.   Same for TVs, appliances and other products.

Their customers don’t have to be lucky or do the legwork, the company states in its well written and informative blog
, they “just have to have a little luck to find that deal.”   Greentoe provides the luck.

There is something else.   Once you’ve punched in your payment card numbers, there’s no turning back, so if you’re at all queasy about things like that – or don’t make purchase decisions easily (like me), it might be best to buy elsewhere. 

Heretofore, the place I most likely would have picked to buy a camera is New York’s B&H Photo-Video, especially if I needed help choosing the right one.  B&H has it all:  vast selection, attentive service, technical expertise, free advice and competitive prices.  And, if you live anywhere nearby or are visiting Manhattan, you get to handle the goods before making a purchase decision.  Walking into their 70,000 square foot their store is like entering a dream world of professional photo, video and audio goodies.

You can buy cheaper than B&H, but probably not as well. 

To be sure, there are other excellent purveyors of professional photo, video and audio products – online and off, and some may have as compelling a presentation as B&H, but the positioning of that big store at 34th & 9th has always fascinated me.   They’re not only the largest independent (non-chain) photo-video retailer in America, they also communicate their competitive advantages clearly and set price accordingly -- unlike all too many businesses that only play the price card.   B&H.com appears to command a slight price premium over some other online camera sources, and if so, they more than earn their margins with their compelling added-value.

Greentoe.com’s selling proposition also is compelling, however, so I will keep them in mind when it comes time to buy whatever camera I decide on.  Who knows?  My bid price just might outweigh the loyalty I feel to B&H for sending me all those informative catalogs over the years.  But then again, during the time in my life when I sold audio equipment, it always rankled me when I helped educate a prospect only to see him buy from some discounter instead of me. 

It’s so easy to discount, which is the unfortunate first impulse of many businesses.  In most situations, price selling is mind-numbing, profit crushing and unnecessary – unless, like Greentoe.com, price is your product.

TakeAway:  Does your business or brand have competitive advantages that will attract more qualified customers and allow you to command better margins?  Or are you content to sell principally on price?

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

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Does Coach Have An Image Problem?

1/8/2015

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PictureImage © by Brian E. Faulkner
Got to thinking about Coach, Inc.’s brand image today after reading an article that questioned the company’s potential acquisition of fashion footwear brand Stuart Weitzman to complement their own nascent shoe line, reportedly the first of an array of “lifestyle” products to take them beyond handbags. 

Krystina Gustafson speculates in her CNBC.com article that, while Weitzman will add to overall Coach sales, it may not do much for the brand’s image, which needs some propping up.  She also quotes Robert Konik, an analyst with the global investment banking firm Jeffries, who suggests (in a note to investors) that Coach has, indeed, lost some of its pricing power. 

The brand may have at long last fallen out of favor with high end shoppers, Gustafson adds, because of “stale product, over-distribution and damaged brand equity from its high presence at outlet malls.”

Back in the late ‘80s, I helped their president, Lew Frankfort, with a Coach positioning speech he presented to an audience of marketing and sales reps.  Frankfort led development of the Coach business from the early ‘80s until his retirement late last year as executive chairman, during which he was instrumental in expanding the fashion leather handbag’s company’s revenue and global footprint by many orders of magnitude. 

My brief connection with him occurred during the company’s Sara Lee days, when the Chicago-based food and apparel giant was making acquisitions and launching initiatives in direct retail.  The corporation’s desire back then, via their Sara Lee Direct division, was to maximize the potential of its well-known brands, and what they discovered through research (if I recall correctly, conducted by McKinsey) was that if Coach products were sold in high end department store boutiques as well as Coach-owned retail stores, aggregate sales would increase.  That appears logical enough at first glance, but the fear was that department store sales would eat into Coach store sales – and begin eroding their price premium.  At that time, their flagship Manhattan store was said to do more sales per square foot than any other retailer in America.

But department store sales of Coach bags did not cannibalize sales in the company’s own stores.  And soon, the logic went, why not try outlet malls, since Sara Lee Direct already was knee deep in building off-price stores for its Hanes, L’eggs and Bali brands.  So Coach stores began turning up at the better outlet malls, a presence that remains today.

But there’s the rub.   Without denying the considerable growth of Coach, Inc. over the years, a portion of which clearly must have come from its outlet mall business, one does wonder whether their exalted brand name has been diminished by its continued presence in discount retail settings, where the merchandise isn’t always the same as that you’d find in New York, Beverly Hills or Tokyo.  For instance, in the third quarter of 2010, “87-percent of the merchandise at Coach outlet stores was manufactured for the outlet,” according to a 2011 article at palmbeachpost.com. “The rest was made up of items that came from the retail stores - perhaps excess inventory, or returns, or items that were no longer in season.”

“The outlet bag is just not the same quality, won't have the same details, as the one at the retail store for $1,200," noted Howard Davidowitz, chairman of national retail consulting and investment banking firm Davidowitz & Associates Inc., in the article -- although you still can cop a deal at your nearest Coach outlet store from time to time.  “A pink Mia handbag from Coach’s Madison collection was found on discount for $175 recently at the Vero Fashion Outlet," the same article noted,"plus an additional 20 percent off that was being offered on everything in the store for a final price of $140. That same handbag was available by special order at the Coach retail store in The Gardens Mall — still at the full original price of $358.”

Even so, I must admit that seeing a Coach store in an outlet mall these days rather disappoints me.   

The CNBC article notes that a pair of Stuart Weitzman pumps sell at a considerable premium over a Coach branded pair (assuming equal product style and quality, one would think).  So apparently Coach does, indeed, have some pricing headroom to make up because of the downward pull on their premium image, an opportunity that they’ve created for themselves by associating the brand with outlet settings for so many years.  

Meanwhile, I will continue to enjoy use of the Coach Bleeker Flap Briefcase I acquired back in the ‘80s.  It’s been through the wars -- including one minor flood that devastated its contents, and it still looks and performs great.  Let’s hope the company’s image does that well over the long run as Coach grows into those “lifestyle” products.

TakeAway:  If you’re marketing a premium product, stick with a price that commands -- and builds on -- your brand’s premium positioning.   

For additional discussion about sticking to premium product pricing, using Godiva chocolates as an example:  http://www.brianefaulkner.com/blog/godivas-alluring-words-enduring-promise  

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

Sources:  http://www.cnbc.com/id/102314069
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/outlet-stores-are-you-getting-a-good-deal-or-just-/nLpgZ/


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When Your Small Business Has a Song to Sing, Sing It!

11/28/2014

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PictureImage © by Brian E. Faulkner
Thirteen years ago I was part of a small business that interviewed three marketing and public relations agencies about developing a new product launch campaign.   Each PR firm had its strengths, but one stood out. 

The principal of that firm had traveled 750 miles to make her pitch – a second agency likewise.  The third was local.   Each recognized the potential of our product, launch of which soon got snakebit by the dot com bust of 2001 and by the kind of internal struggles that all too often mark the beginning of the end for some small business start-ups.

Sorting through an old file box on this slow after-Thanksgiving day, I came upon my notes from discussions with the agency we selected and decided to see what I could learn from them.  A quick review reaffirmed my 2001 choice of this firm over the others.  Even so, something surprising jumped out at my 2014 eyes from the notes and the agency’s promotional materials: 

They did not have a tagline that communicated their competitive advantage in a succinct, strategically compelling way. Which is unfortunate, because their strengths (as I noted them at the time) were considerable:

“The only reason to hire us is to build sales and create success.”
“We are dogged, ferocious, persistent and persuasive.”
“We are scrappy and move like a gazelle.”
“We are fiercely client loyal.”
“We are fabulous at PR.”


Adding to these pluses was the fact that their product-specific and media suggestions were right-on.   They were the single source option for everything we needed (except perhaps interpersonal counseling).   But the attractive brochure they left behind didn’t clearly communicate their competitive advantage.   Like many “creative” providers, it talked about the tools they used vs. how they make a difference with those tools.

I did a rough count today of the words used in their 2001 brochure text:

us words (we, our, company name):                                           27
you words:  (you, your, client, customer)                                  10
power words (success, strengths, expectations)                        3
difference words  (difference, competitive advantage)            0

There were more than twice as many us words as you words, words that focused more on the firm's capabilities than client needs.  They didn't communicate their competitive advantage nearly as well on-paper as they did in-person.  Why?   I don’t know, although you may recall the  story about the cobbler’s children having no shoes.

Even so, their web site must have spoken of competency for us to have invited their pitch in the first place.   But their personal presentation made all the difference.  The agency principal set her company apart from competitors with similar services (without knowing which other potential providers we were interviewing) – including the local firm, whom we personally liked very much, and the New York area one that had impressive, more narrowly focused capabilities.

So here’s my two-cents worth of tagline suggestions for this agency as it presented itself to us in 2001 (keeping in mind that they position themselves as a strategic marketing firm with PR capabilities rather than only a PR specialist):

AGENCY NAME:
“Persistent, persuasive and fiercely devoted to client marketing success.”

AGENCY NAME:
 “The Great Results Marketing and PR Agency.”

AGENCY NAME:
 “Fabulously successful small business marketing.”


Please note that these words are lifted directly from my conversation with the agency principal, not from experience using their services.   I just arranged them in strategically compelling ways -- perhaps you could use the same words to come up with an even better tagline around which the firm could have built an effective positioning / capabilities presentation.

What about today?  The agency's current online pitch isn't as strong as the compelling competitive story presented to us by their leader in May of 2001.   And still ... no tagline.

TakeAway:  Sing your song to the world with a powerful tagline that arises from your Marketable Truth
©, creates belief and once and forever sets your business apart from competitors.  Then get busy telling the world about it, using your tagline as the strategic foundation for marketing communication.

Tags:  small business marketing, public relations agency, PR firm, competitive advantage, powerful tagline, Marketable Truth 
Content © by Brian E. Faulkner       Marketable Truth © by Brian E. Faulkner




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If You Want a Great Job, Interview companies With Good VIBES.

11/17/2014

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PictureImage © by Brian E. Faulkner
Have you ever noticed how some businesses just wrap themselves around you and make you feel welcome, whether you’re a customer or a new graduate looking for a job?

I have found after many years consulting to businesses of all sizes (about communicating their culture and competitive advantage) that you can walk onto a sale floor, into a company headquarters or manufacturing plant and know immediately which organizations “click” and which do not.  The businesses that connect have good vibes.  There’s positive energy.  Their leadership is genuine, sometimes even inspired.  The people are real.  They’re not just plodding along toward quitting time.  They’re into what they’re doing -- and believe in it.  The organization shares a clear purpose and vision that are not just words on some poster hung in the break room.

My son-in-law works for REI, a national retailer of recreational equipment, clothing, footwear and other attractive, well-chosen merchandise targeted to the outdoorsy crowd.  He is enthusiastic about the company, which is organized as a consumer cooperative in which members get a dividend check every year for around 10% of a generous array of eligible merchandise purchased during that year, after paying a one-time $20 membership fee (you don’t have to join to shop there).  The more members buy at REI, the better the deal – it’s built-in.  REI also offers its members occasional deals that seem unusually attractive, in addition to store-wide sales that really are sales and not just come-ons.  

The point here is that REI has both a purpose (to make the outdoor life available to more people at a good price) and values (which seem to be that people matter and the environment matters).  The company uses words like approachable, collaborative, casual and playful to describe the work experience.  Everybody with more than 20 hours a week gets health care.  My son-in-law (who’s in retail management in an Atlanta-area REI store) says that the people who ultimately “stick” with the company buy into the REI experience (not to mention their generous performance incentives and retirement plan).  They may have come in just looking for a job but end up finding a passion for work that knits comfortably into the fabric of their lives and helps assure a secure future for them and their families.

The point here is not to suggest going to work at REI, although this perennial placeholder toward the top of Fortune magazine’s Top 100 Best Companies to Work For would be a great choice.  You may find something just as rewarding in some other retail setting, in a small manufacturing plant or even a big company.  I have seen what, just for this article, might be called the “REI Effect” in all kinds of workplaces where business leadership and employees are in-synch and often unusually productive.  They know what their purpose is, how their customers benefit, where they are going, and “what’s-in-it-for-me”, which could be just as true for a non-profit -- such as a school – as for a commercial enterprise. 

So, if your goal is to find a work experience like the one exemplified by REI, try “getting a job” using a more differentiated strategy.  Check the place out if it’s a retail store.  Watch how the “team” works.  Ask challenging questions about the merchandise and see if they rise to the occasion – even if it’s almost closing time.   Ask people how they like working there.   If you want to work for ABC Corporation or XYZ Manufacturing but can’t get immediate access, vigorously research them online.  Talk to people who already work there; figure out where they go for lunch or to chat after work.  Then request an interview with a company manager you’ve targeted (by name) before you even apply for the job.  If HR gives you the stiff-arm, try calling the person directly and leave a message that inspires them to call you back.  Let them know that you're interviewing them (and others).  Talk to that manager about opportunities at the company, get other inside introductions and take a tour. If you want a sales position, ferret out some of the company’s customers and talk to them.  This approach should pay off, whether you’re just out of school looking for your first position or a work veteran who has been “right-sized” out of a job (maybe especially so if you’re that person because you can more readily perceive what you want to see and don’t want to see).

It’s also instructive to remember that the world does not owe you a job.   But you do owe yourself a good job.   You are no mere commodity, and you’re not seeking commodity-like work.  You have value, knowledge, experience and intelligence to add to the employer’s collective purpose -- and to their customers’ satisfaction.  And you have every right to enjoy your work.

Look for that “REI Effect”, perhaps in one of the other 99 companies on Fortune’s Top 100 list.   And don’t be satisfied with less.  Because you’re worth it.

TakeAway:  A job infused with passion and purpose pays big dividends.  Use a differentiated job search strategy to find one.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner


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The Customer is Culture at this Successful Company.

11/10/2014

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Bob Tiffin gets up every morning a happy man.  After early meetings with his management team, the genial founder and CEO of Tiffin Motorhomes takes to his office, phone to ear, eager to speak with his customers. 

He knows he’ll get the calls, first because he invites them.  And second, because motorhomes are complex products and they need service from time to time.  An array of different systems must work as one to keep 30-48 thousand pounds of vehicle, 100-150 gallons of diesel fuel, 90 gallons of fresh water, 100+ gallons of waste water, plus cabinets, furniture and personal belongings (not to mention driver and passengers) rolling down the road. 

“A motorhome, first of all, is a home,” Tiffin points out. “It has everything a home has, but on wheels.  It also has hydraulics and a diesel engine – like a backhoe.”  Not to mention the finest TV and electronics packages available.  Plus a fine kitchen, an air conditioning system and two electrical systems, including a generator.  And it all has to operate properly at sea level or at 11-thousand feet and accommodate a variety of climate and road conditions.  From chassis to engine to handcrafted cabinetry to exceptional fit and finish, the company’s quality standard is high, whether an owner vacation travels or lives full time in their motorhome.  

“Our customer sets the standard,” says Tiffin.  “The customer is the culture of our company.  We think about them when we design our products.  We think of them every minute of every day and do everything we can to help them.  We have 200 employees in our service department.  Fourteen techs each take 30-40 calls a day.  And CoachNet takes the calls after hours and on weekends.” (CoachNet is a leading provider of 24/7 technical and emergency roadside assistance for motorized and towable RVs with a network of more than 40,000 service providers throughout the U.S. and Canada.)

“My three sons work with me in the business, and we meet every day with our engineers to go over each problem we got a call about the day before,” notes Tiffin.  Many of the fixes to those problems find their way into the company’s six Class A motorhome lines, which range from Allegro Breeze, the smallest rear engine diesel coach on the market, to the lavish Zephyr, “45 feet of sumptuous grandeur loaded with more features than we’ve ever put into a motorhome,” including a residential style fridge, two bathrooms and a stacked washer / dryer combo.  

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Image © by Brian E. Faulkner
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http://tiffinmotorhomes.com/
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Image © by Brian E. Faulkner
Bob Tiffin’s customer service passion is rooted in values instilled in him by his father, Alex Tiffin, whom Bob watched do business in the family lumberyard and general store in rural northwest Alabama from the time he was a little boy:
Build it well.  Make it better.  Back it with good service. Treat customers the way they    would want to be treated.  And always answer the phone.
These days, if Bob Tiffin isn’t in his office taking with a customer on the telephone, he’s more than likely talking to a customer in-person, at the Tiffin plant in Red Bay or on the road somewhere.

“If you can’t look your customers in the eye, you can’t do business with them,” Tiffin believes, a maxim that goes back to the Tiffin Supply Company days and has stuck with them since the family acquired and developed a motorhome manufacturing business after one of their customers went bust forty-odd years ago. 

The product may be more sophisticated these days, but Tiffin’s attention to the basics remains the same – in fact, it’s at the nexus of quality and service that Tiffin Motorhomes really shines.  The company is known not only for meticulous attention to design and manufacturing but also for Bob Tiffin and his legendary customer service, all of which combine to set Tiffin apart in a business where the competition isn’t shy about contending for market share.

“There used to be something like 100 motorhome manufacturers,” Tiffin says.  We’ve survived four major economic meltdowns since we started in business, and now there are only 6-7 manufacturers left.”  Which says a lot about his company’s products and the people who build and service them.

Just ask a Tiffin owner.

“Our customers talk about us around the campfire,” he points out. “We want them to say that we try our best to help if there’s a problem.  We don’t sugarcoat the fact that motorhomes can be challenging.   If there’s an issue, we ask our customers to call us, contact one of our 85 dealers, or drive to the factory.  Ninety-nine percent of the time, we’ll fix whatever needs to be fixed.  Because it’s our name that’s on their motorhomes.”   

Bob Tiffin gets it.  He gets it that the promise of quality begins on day one of the manufacturing process, continues through sale and delivery (by a limited number of carefully chosen Tiffin dealers) and extends through the entire ownership experience.  His team gets it too, understands that integrity is the foundation stone on which their current and future business success rests.  The promise Bob makes to Tiffin owners, the promises his sons make, and the promise that every associate in the Tiffin family makes is part of each motorhome that heads up the road from Red Bay.

“Customers invest from $100,000 to more than $500,000 in their motorhomes,” the founder says.  “Sometimes that’s their whole life’s savings.  And keeping them happy is our job” -- a Marketable Truth© deeply embedded in Tiffin’s long-time tagline:

“Where You Go, We Go!”

TakeAway:  Live your integrity.  A reputation for excellence will follow, and your customers will brag on you.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner      Marketable Truth
© by Brian E. Faulkner   

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    sample blog:

    This is a sample blog  for writer Brian E. Faulkner.   It presents stories about brands that do a good job communicating competitive advantage. Stories have been gleaned from the business press, personal experience and occasional interviews. Updates are made from time to time, and every so often there will be a post of general interest -- about things like success, passion, social trends, etc. 

    Author

    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.

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