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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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Don't Mess With Your Brand Story.

4/29/2015

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PictureImage © by Brian E. Faulkner
Tags: Microsoft, NPR, George Zimmer, Men’s Wearhouse, Joseph Abboud, Jos. A. Bank, Ford Motor Company, GM, Cadillac, Buick, Ford, Lincoln, Apple, Coca-Cola, New Coke
Every brand, company, product or service has a story – just like people.  People’s stories are a combination of image and reputation, which can be anything from well focused to wildly irresponsible.   Some businesses may be well-positioned (in a controlled, strategic sense) while others cast their reputation to the wind, allowing the marketplace to define who they are and what they represent.   Call it default positioning.   The example that most often comes to my mind is Microsoft, which hasn’t done a great positioning job.  There are many “Microsofts” out there, depending on who's doing the talking.  

Heard an interview with George Zimmer on NPR this morning.  His topic was paying people more, even at the expense of company profits.  But what grabbed my attention was his distinctive gravelly voice, the one he used on television when he was boss of The Men’s Wearhouse – you know the one:  

“You’re going to like the way you look. “I guarantee it!”  

Every spot had a story, and as leader-spokesperson, Zimmer was deeply imbedded in the Men’s Wearhouse image -- along with that famous tagline.  I can’t help but notice that the Men’s Wearhouse strategic positioning has become less distinctive since Zimmer was forced out, supposedly because of management disagreements.  Something’s missing from their advertising, and it’s not just Zimmer.   Despite the few recent Men’s Wearhouse spots featuring signature suit designer Joseph Abboud, their marketing seems focused more on price, like their long-time competitor, Jos. A. Bank, which Men’s Wearhouse purchased early in 2014 after a turbulent takeover battle.   

The takeaway here is that a strong brand story should not be discarded so readily, although I’m sure the Men’s Warehouse board thought long and hard about the strategic consequences of dumping Zimmer.   I find it discouraging, however, that they’ve fallen back on price advertising after such success with set-apart positioning, although it must be working or they wouldn’t do it.  But I’ll bet their margins aren’t as good as when Zimmer was hawking the wares, because price was hardly mentioned in his spots and, as I recall, Wall Street liked the stock.

I have several friends and acquaintances, each with a business in the same retail category.  Two of them ride a high-price wave supported by a brand story that's more than 150 years old.  They don’t have to sell on price and, as a result, get high margins.  Another friend sells the same type of high-end merchandise at market prices, although different brands.  His business story has been established for well over 50 years; customers seek him out because of his quality reputation.  Still others I know in that same business always seem to be wrestling with price.  They don’t command the margins they could because their business stories are indistinct.  They don’t have a Marketable Truth© to stand on. 

Both Ford Motor Company and GM currently are wrestling with their image stories.  GM is in the latter stages of rebooting its Cadillac brand to compete with the best German luxury performance sedans; they've had enough success that Cadillac is no longer seen as exclusively for oldsters seeking a luxury nameplate and plush ride.   Buick, another GM brand that used to have a fuddy-duddy image, is experiencing a surprising sales renaissance driven by rising demand in China, where the brand has become a status symbol.  Different time, different story.

Ford also is into a bit of image retooling of late.  Lincoln (finally!) is thinking about abandoning its confusing alphabet soup model designations in favor of real names like Continental and possibly even Zephyr.   All while Ford grapples with a negative quality blip brought about in recent years by a dashboard communication and entertainment system that has proven troublesome and hard to use – so much so that auto enthusiast Web sites are recommending that people wait ‘til a redesigned system comes out on the 2016 models later this year to purchase their new Fords and Lincolns.   

When I think of brand image, however, I think most often about Apple.  They were an upstart at first, but gradually built a business, operating system and reputation that out-shined the king of personal computers at that time, the venerable IBM.  Will gutsy moves into new product categories like luxury watches and even automobiles sour Apple’s reputation?  Not likely, because they’ve told and retold their brand story so well – and so long – that they’re as close to invincible as any business or brand out there.

Even so, in this day of social-driven media, there are new voices everywhere, and some percentage is quick to broadcast bad news.  One exemplary misstep marketers are quick to recall is the New Coke debacle of 1985, when Coca-Cola almost lost its way -- and that was before the Internet became so widely available.  This very day, April 29, 2015, online rumblings are afoot about a second brand of listeria-laden ice cream and a major beer maker’s label that seems to make light of rape.

Reputation or image -- call it what you will -- can bite you in the backside any minute … but also can help lead you to greatness.  All the more reason to consider whether your brand, business, product or service is solidly positioned in today’s uber-competitive, uber-critical world.

 TakeAway:  Shape your strategic position carefully.  And guard your brand story for dear life.

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




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Brands Are Not Your Friends ... Sometimes.

2/10/2015

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Tags:  gawker.com, Twitter, Coca-Cola, Coke, AdWeek, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Maytag
The provocative headline “Brands Are Not Your Friends” popped up on my iPad yesterday evening.   So I had to check it out.

The gist of the article (from blog site gawker.com) was that people should not be sucked into treating brands as “Friends” on social media, because brands “exist solely to distract, deceive, and manipulate us out of our money.”

Their example was Coca-Cola’s “MakeItHappy” Twitter campaign aired during the Super Bowl.  According to AdWeek.com, the brand’s goal was to encourage Twitter users to “mark negative tweets with the #MakeItHappy hashtag. Then, Coke turned those words into cute art images using ASCII lettering code.”

All well and good … creative and harmless you might say, and very much in line with the frothy, friendly good-time image Coke likes to project.   But Gawker apparently was nearly struck dumb with the perceived idiocy of the campaign, which they presumed was designed to “trick you into buying more Coke,” although company marketers likely would not have put it that way. 

So Gawker, which appears to trade in provocative takes on celebrities and media, came up with some digital skullduggery, which I will allow AdWeek’s writer to explain out of my fear of inaccurately describing something I barely understand:

“Gawker created a Twitter bot, @MeinCoke, which tweeted (quotes from) Mein Kampf at Coca-Cola to see if the brand would turn lines from Hitler's autobiographical manifesto into art.”  It worked, and Coke quit the campaign.

“It's unfortunate that Gawker is trying to turn this campaign into something that it isn't,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson told AdWeek. “Building a bot that attempts to spread hate through #MakeItHappy is a perfect example of the pervasive online negativity Coca-Cola wanted to address with this campaign."

All this collective mindlessness got me to thinking about brands and whether they are, in fact, our friends.  And my conclusion is … sometimes.   Is Coca-Cola my friend?   Not really.  Their product does not nourish and even may be harmful, given the 800 cans of soft drinks that American males consume every year, according to recent stats.  Consumption by both males and females reportedly has been rising since the ‘70s. 

My point here is not to make trolls out of Coca-Cola or any other soft drink marketer; we are free to make, sell and consume most anything we want here in this country.   And if we consider some products to be harmful, we also are free to not consume them.

In synch with what I have termed Marketable Truth in blog posts on this site and in my consulting work, it may be useful to have consumers decide whether brands actually keep their promises.  If somebody sells you a tool and it breaks, their brand claim is not authentic – but if it lasts for 25 years like our Maytag washer did, it earns a high score.  If a retailer claims great service but doesn’t deliver, they get a low score, which may prompt them to improve. 

So why not place brands on a “promise continuum”?   Call it the Brand Performance Index (or the Real Thing Index, should you prefer) – and you be the judge.  

Products like fresh fruits and vegetables likely would score high, except maybe for broccoli if you’re under 10 or are George H. W. Bush.  Soft drinks would score low -- or would they?   They might score high if people believe they’re getting the refreshing promise they expected from their Coke or Pepsi or Mountain Dew, or even a lifestyle boost.  Same goes for my favorite single malt whiskey!

So it’s up to us to decide, not some marketer … or even Michael Bloomberg.  Brand promise is best measured by consumer experience.

TakeAway:  How would your brand score on the Real Thing Index?

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner




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Budweiser Scores With Super Bowl Ad.

2/2/2015

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I’m not one for gushy ads, so when I watched Super Bowl XLIX yesterday, I looked for spots with solid strategic bite.  Not lifestyle stuff.  Not cuddly cute.  Not outrageously obscure (there was more than a few of those). I was on the lookout for ads with a clear benefits story -- although, like most everybody else on the planet, I did enjoy watching the Budweiser puppy find his way back home.

Yeah, yeah … I know it’s all about entertainment and ego, but Tom Brady and company provided enough of that to even satisfy my dad, a dedicated Patriots fan who’s been gone nearly four years now. Wherever he’s hanging out these days, I’d bet that last minute interception by Malcom Butler raised him and inch or two off his recliner! 
I didn’t see ALL the ads, no doubt, given several beverage refill breaks and more than a few old-man visits to the smallest room in the house.  But there were several spots that caught my marketer’s eye, especially Brewed the Hard Way, one of two other Bud ads that ran during the evening.

“Brewed” popped up in the third quarter as viewers were wondering which way the Tilt-A-Whirl game was going to go.  By then, we’d been served more than our share of emotionally-saturated spots, some truly inexplicable ads and a few that tried hard to sell something it was not – that means you, Toyota Camry.  And things had pretty much come back to earth after Katy Perry’s 12-minute entertainment extravaganza.

With a hard-driving fuzz guitar underlay and shots of Bud being made -- and enjoyed, flashes of text declared Budweiser a “macho beer, not brewed to be fussed over”, a brew for “drinking, not dissecting.”  Bud, the spot declared, is for “people who like to drink beer brewed the hard way.  Let them sip their pumpkin peach ale.  We’ll be brewing us some golden suds …"

“This is an affirmation of what Budweiser is, not an attack on what it isn't,” Brian Perkins, Budweiser’s VP of Marketing, told Robert Haynes-Perkins of the NY Drink Examiner.  “We're hoping to touch a chord with the person who wants the truth about how we make Budweiser and why it's great.

“We love craft beer” (and Anheuser-Busch acquires and sells some),” Perkins told the reporter.  "I think that the prevailing dialectic is that small must be better, and big must be bad.  That's the generally accepted trend. For us, big is good. It's not arrogant, it's just saying that it's great to brew a beer that so many people enjoy … it doesn't mean there's less care, less quality or less passion from the people who make it."

That’s tapping into the brand's Marketable Truth©.  And even though it scored only 5.15 (out of 10) on USA Today’s Ad Meter, I thought the ad was a strategic touchdown with its Brewed The Hard Way tagline.

There were a few other Super Bowl ads with solid positioning (of those I actually saw). 

GM’s new Colorado truck ads scored in my book by telling a story that revealed the cool truck guy vs. the less cool compact car guy.  The benefits story was subtle, but it worked -- although it only placed #39 on USA Today’s list.

I also like Sprint’s “Apology” ad (#34) because it directly called out the other carriers for being “really expensive,” offered to cut people’s wireless rates in half compared to Verizon and AT&T and gave them a way to make that happen.  They also used a whiny goat and a braying donkey to make a visual point about their competitor’s pricing.

And then there was GoDaddy’s “Working” spot (#55), which presented a direct, no-nonsense benefits story vs. the in-your-face, sexually charged approach they’ve used in previous Super Bowl ads.  It didn’t score very well with the public, however, which no doubt would like to have gazed upon Danica Patrick one more time or scored a smooch from Bar Rafaeli.  

Clearly, the ads I appreciated for their strategic punch were not favorites in the eyes of viewers who were more interested in being entertained than being convinced on the spot to change their mind about a product or buy something on the strength of product benefits.  

Fortunately for Budweiser, the public will be seeing more of “Brewed”. 

TakeAway:  In the long run, benefits-laden, positioning-driven advertising wins over creative fluff – unless, of course, a spot has both, like Apple’s famous “1984” MacIntosh ad during Super Bowl XVIII.   Little did anyone viewing that game know how much the world was about to change.


Content © by Brian E. Faulkner              

Marketable Truth © by Brian E. Faulkner

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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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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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How To Win BIG in 2016: A Tagline For Tomorrow. 

11/5/2014

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PictureImage © by Brian E. Faulkner
Despite its overwhelming success, the Republican 2014 campaign was a sorry example of strategic positioning.  Yes, the Republicans improved their ground game and voter motivation differed markedly than in 2010 or 2012.  And yes, there was considerable angst afoot about the president and his policies, his slide toward extra-Constitutional thinking and his enthusiasm for progressive social initiatives that cut deep into traditional American culture. 

But absent the “Nobama” ax the Republicans swung with such gusto, there was a clear lack of strategic underpinning to their midterm messaging.  Instead, they allowed the president to make their case for them.  He saved the Republicans the trouble of building a brand -- a short-term plus but a long-term minus.

The Democrats had more substance to build on (they always seems to think further down the road than the Republicans), but their 2014 messaging wasn’t all that cohesive, either – at least overtly.  However, it was clear to the electorate that the Democrats mostly stood for Obama and his ways, despite some candidates who fled toward the exits in fear of even mentioning the president’s name.   Love him or loathe him, the 2014 midterm was a referendum on Mr. Obama, including his carriage, his approach to a frightful list of geopolitical and geo-economic conundrums, his penchant for  social reconstruction and his claim to “protect the middle class” – a phrase I would forever ban from all political discourse, not because it isn’t important, not because it isn’t needed or worthy or possible, but because it has been beaten into utter meaninglessness by overuse.

So, as the endless phalanx of political ads finally fades to black, leaving the talking heads to chew things over, this observer has a suggestion for both political parties as they slog toward 2016: come up with a magnetic, meaningful word picture of the years ahead.  Recast The American Story in its many manifestations, from Main Street to Wall Street to the Arab Street.  Create a message that people can get a grip on, hang their hats on -- or cast aside in favor of the other guy’s take on things.

Democrat or Republican, what’s needed is a hard-working tagline that acts as a stand-in for party "market positioning".  Which should include the following characteristics:

  1.  Simple – uses as few words as possible.
  2.  Direct – makes a strong, unambiguous declaration.
  3.  Compelling – connects to both head and heart.      
  4.  Personal – speaks to people’s wants and needs.
  5.  Strategic – sets your message (or brand) apart.
  6.  Authentic – grounded in Marketable Truth©.   
  7.  Meaningful – presents tangible benefits.   
  8.  Visual – attracts eye and ear.
  9.  Memorable – sticks in the mind.
10.  Enduring – remains true, even in the face of change.

Readers of this blog know that my subject is communicating competitive advantage.  I am no political commentator, but there clearly are parallels between positioning a business, product or brand to advantage and doing so for a political party or candidate.  If you spread out the pieces and parts of your belief on a tabletop, you should be able to re-assemble them in a more strategically useful, more refreshing and attractive way, regardless of which political party plucks your heartstrings and moves your feet toward the voting booth. 

Use the list of qualities above to guide you in creating a key message, a compact, well-crafted expression of competitive advantage that helps assure consistency in every communication you make – commonly expressed as a tagline.  Then lay out a plan to tell your American Story.  Start disseminating your message at least by November of 2015.  And stick with it.   Modify the accents, if needed, but not the core message as party and candidates move together toward November of 2016:

Short, Compelling & Strategic Tagline

- supporting initiative #1
- supporting initiative #2
- supporting initiative #3
- supporting initiative #4
- etc.

Can it be all that simple?   Seems so to me.  And it just might save us from suffering through two more years of verbal mush, the kind we’ve become all too accustomed to as our national political campaigns unfold. 

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


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New Whole Foods Tagline Nails It!

11/3/2014

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PictureImage © by Brian E. Faulkner
Two words at the bottom of our Whole Foods sales receipt caught my eye yesterday:

            VALUES MATTER.

“What’s up with this?” we asked the nearest WFM team member.

“You know, values – the things people believe.  They matter.  That’s what Whole Foods is all about.”

Of course.  Whole Foods Market has hung its mostly organic hat on that for years.  A tilt toward unadulterated, un-manufactured foods has been their stock in trade ever since John Mackey and his wife started their first store in 1978.  Company “values” still encompass trust and the greater good … and attract a refreshing variety of both staff and customers.

But these days, Whole Foods Market® is far from alone in offering organic fare.  Even the most mundane mainstream grocer now carries some organics, and the leaders among them have gone in heavy for it – even Walmart, for heaven’s sake!   Not to mention a plethora of “natural foods” competitors out there who would like to eat WFM’s lunch. 

So Whole Foods needs a way to stand out … again.

That very evening, the first Whole Foods TV ad we’d ever seen popped into our living room (which either means we’ve missed ‘em when they’ve run before or they’ve just starting running in our area).  The spot talked about how values matter, profiled a family-owned farm and touched on organics’ companion differentiator, local providers – another difference that’s becoming less different these days as mainstream grocery marketers climb on the “local” bandwagon.

“America’s Healthiest Grocery Store,” declared the tagline at the end of the spot, nailing down in only four words what America has been saying about Whole Foods for a long time.  Witness this quote from Health Magazine in 2008, which asked a group of health experts to pick the Top 10 healthiest grocery stores (Whole Foods was #1):

“Whole Foods has the whole package -- from an extraordinary selection of fresh conventional and organic fruit and vegetables to delicious prepared foods with healthy ingredients and clear labeling. Whole Foods puts a premium on products that are grown or produced locally (read: super fresh).”

The Whole Foods tagline is a home-run.  It includes all “10 qualities of an effective tagline”— at least as I’ve perceived them over the years.

  1.  Simple – uses as few words as possible.
  2.  Direct – makes a strong, unambiguous declaration-
  3.  Compelling – connects to both head and heart.      
  4.  Authentic – grounded in Marketable Truth©.  
  5.  Strategic – sets your brand apart.
  6.  Personal – talks about customer wants and needs.
  7.  Meaningful – expresses tangible benefits.   
  8.  Visual – attracts eye and ear.
  9.  Memorable – sticks in the mind.
10.  Enduring – works as long as the truth lasts.

I’d like to think that the new Whole Foods “tagline” is a keeper.  Could be a test.  Or just an ad campaign theme. 

But based on this short presentation on Whole Foods' web site (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/values-matter), I’d say America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” is a keeper.  They simply may be sneaking it in under the “Values Matter” banner. 

It should be a keeper, because it tells the truth … and tells it well.

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

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Godiva's Alluring Words & Enduring Promise.

9/18/2014

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Tags: Godiva chocolate, Chocolatier, Trufflelata,  Target

When I traveled for business more than I do now, I’d occasionally come across a Godiva boutique and add a small purchase of their memorable chocolates to my personal expenses. 

It was a pleasant surprise to turn a corner in some upscale mall or market and spot the luxurious Godiva logo.  No matter where my thoughts had been, they immediately shifted to “chocolate” and the stolen moment I was about to experience.

I always picked the simplest dark piece from among the tempting individual choices and array of gold boxes – nothing fancy, just the one I imagined would deliver the purest Godiva experience without complicating it with other flavors.  After enjoying one (maybe two if I wasn’t in a hurry), the rest of my purchase got packed away for the trip home. 

Now flash forward to news that Godiva has launched a temptation called Trufflelata™, a creamy soft-serve shake made right there in the boutique with your favorite truffle blended in: Chocolate Lava Cake, Salted Caramel, Strawberry Crème, Hazlenut Crunch -- even Oreo Trufflelata.   Take your delightful pick.  

The alluring Trufflelata description and photography reminds me how good Godiva is at making us crave their products (with packaging, color, lighting, visual impact, aroma) -- same for their line of GODIVA Liqueurs announced earlier this year, including a Dark Chocolate offering they describe as “a delicious full-flavored indulgence with less guilt.” 

From way back in 1926, when chocolatier Joseph Draps first opened his Brussels shop, Godiva has been superb at crafting words to describe their “extraordinary richness and design, a collection of passion and purity” (the founder's words).  Today’s wordsmiths describe Godiva as “a sought after name with the timeless quality of passion, style, sensuality and modern boldness.”  Their corporate boilerplate proclaims GODIVA Chocolatier as a brand that “consumers universally associate with prestige, elegance and quality …”

I am taken with Godiva’s consistent ability to describe itself in words that haven’t strayed far at all from their founder’s original pronouncement -- many of the same “notes” are there.  It’s a perfect example of  Marketable Truth©, the authentic difference at the core of a product or service that speaks to its enduring competitive advantage.  When you couple their words with the product experience, it’s clear their “decadent offerings” deliver.  You can taste Godiva's truth.

How well regarded is Godiva among chocolate aficionados?  Very well, you’d think.  But chocolate purists often take exception with Godiva’s vaulted reputation, and some even have been known to make unkind comments when comparing the maker to those whose chocolates they consider more sublime (and perhaps more rare).  So maybe Godiva isn’t the best chocolate in the world, but neither is it the most expensive -- by far.  But to me, Godiva is both rare and costly.  I pay for -- and thoroughly enjoy -- the Godiva experience.

After a bit of dip during the recession, Godiva Chocolatier continues its global growth.  The company now is Turkish-owned, after 40 years under the Campbell Soup corporate umbrella, and has 450 worldwide boutiques.  Their $500-million or so in sales revenue is a drop in the bucket compared to the $75-billion worth of chocolate sold globally (U.S. total chocolate sales estimates are $18-20bn, about 25% of which is the premium market).    

In researching this story, I learned that women crave chocolate more than men, which doesn't seem all that surprising to this husband and father of three daughters.  As a friend points out, all you've got to do is walk through a crowded mall with a Godiva gift bag under your arm and see how many ladies' glances you get.

These days you can buy their chocolate bars at Target for around four bucks (“Expect More. Pay Less”).  The company also has introduced a line of tiny Godiva Gems wrapped in colored paper for sale in food and drug stores.  Which makes me wonder whether making the brand so universally available in the short run risks watering it down in the long run. 

It used to be that if you couldn’t afford $20,000 for a new car you could treat yourself to 10-bucks worth of Godiva chocolate a couple of times a year if you were fortunate to find one of their boutiques or specialty retailers.  An important ingredient of their marketing success was scarcity, which made your $10 purchase seem a bit like found gold.   Today, the new car you can't afford costs around $60,000, but your Godiva treat is still within reach at $26, a high enough price to make it an investment in self-worth vs. a reflection of net worth.

So, while you’re savoring your Godiva truffle, sipping your Godiva liqueur or relaxing with a cup of Godiva coffee “inspired by our finest flavors”, think about where the brand lives in your mind these days.   Godiva has insinuated itself into your being for a long time now and is likely to stay there despite its latter-day mass market adventurism.  The brand retains its set-apart image largely because of Godiva's exclusive positioning over many years, making it a brand that “consumers universally associate with prestige, elegance and quality.”

Frankly, though, I'd hate to see Godiva become a product so common that you can find it almost anywhere.  It just doesn't seem so wickedly worth it when you buy it at Target.   

TakeAway:  If you sell a premium brand, plant its exclusivity deep in people’s minds.  And don't try to grab somebody else's customers by going down market when things get tough.  Stick with your brand promise.  Your patience will be rewarded.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

About Brian Faulkner:

Brian Faulkner is a content writer and Key Message expert.  He helps clients come up with words to set their businesses, brands and products apart and attract the customers they want most.  His strategic insights (and the words that go with them) have made a significant, often immediate difference for client companies over many years.  His "sweet spot" is smaller to moderate sized consumer products, retail, service and manufacturing companies that may have struggled to find just the right words to position their business, brands or products to competitive advantage:

>  blogs to establish you as the thought leader / authority in your business category
>  case stories that communicate your sales successes and invite prospect inquiry
>  testimonials that showcase customer / client satisfaction in 1-2 short sentences
>  positioning statements to guide business development & marketing
>  landing page copy to set your business or brand apart in a compelling way
>  tagline development to attract the interest of your most qualified prospects

Brian also is a three-time Emmy award-winning Public Television writer and narrator of over 100 segments for UNC-TV’s popular “Our State” magazine series, on the air since 2003.  



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Brand As Handshake: A New Twist On An Old Problem.

9/5/2014

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How do you brand something as ordinary as fresh vegetables?  If you’re a grower who sells veggies to grocery store produce departments, how do you make your product stand out over competitive brands (few) and unbranded produce (many)? 

Back in 1927, the fresh produce industry was about to take an early step toward branding.  Of course, branding had been around ever since some enterprising Neanderthal decided to claim rights to a tool he’d made with by scratching his unique mark on it. 

And these days, most everything gets branded, from cattle to cars, soap to cereal – and with the advent of social media, even ourselves.

Brand, like a trademark, is not only a symbol of a company but “a consistent pledge” from that company to its customers, a “bridge to a relationship” with them that associates that brand with “only one origin or source,” according to Robert Payne, a partner at intellectual property firm LaRiviere, Grubman & Payne, LLP of Montery, CA (quoted this month in Western Grower & Shipper magazine).

Oddly enough, however, most fresh produce remains unbranded.  But not vegetables and fruit grown by D’Arrigo Bros. Company, of California, pioneers in produce branding.

Back in 1920, two Sicilian immigrant brothers discovered the fertile land of central California and thought it would be perfect for growing broccoli.  It wasn’t long before their 28-acre crop was almost  ready for harvest.  But who would buy it?  California was still in its start-up phase, so the two looked East, where they knew they could sell that much – and a whole lot more.  So Stefano D’Arrigo filled a railroad car with broccoli and shipped it to Boston.  Eight days later, brother Andrea unloaded the crop – still fresh after 2,800 miles – and sold it at a profit.

That was the way it would go.  One brother grew the broccoli in California and the other sold it in Boston, along with an ever-increasing variety of other fresh vegetables.  As competitors caught on, it soon became necessary for the D’Arrigos to set their produce apart.  Thus was born the Andy Boy brand, a highly visible logo with pink lettering and a picture of Stefano’s then 3-year-old son Andy on it.  Their brand still leads the way today, emblazoned on bright pink skirt ties that dress their broccoli rabe for sale. 

“Shoppers have told me that Andy Boy products really stand out in the produce section,” says David Hinkle, Southwest sales manager for Package Containers, Inc., the Canby, OR company that makes the skirt ties.  “The pink tie attracts people’s attention and invites them to buy.”

Frank Ratto, VP of marketing for Ratto Bros., Inc., whose company farms more than a thousand acres of herbs, fruits and vegetables in the Central Valley, likens branding agricultural products with twist ties to a handshake.  “They’re a stand-in for you,” he says.  “They give your product an identity.  They communicate brand value -- value in the Ratto Bros. name, the knowledge that people get fresh and tasty vegetables every time.“

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He says that most produce is sold ‘naked’, so when a shopper sees the Ratto Bros. logo with its distinctive horse and wagon illustration (a picture of Frank’s grandfather delivering produce back in 1905), she knows she’s chosen quality and can serve it to her family with confidence. 

“We brand 23 out of 45 products" with PCI's Identi-Ties®, he says, counting them off one by one – “from basil to watercress.  They’re an important tool in the presentation of our products -- especially in northern California, where our brand means something.”

“The produce department is one of the most demanding sections in a grocery store,” notes Package Containers’ Hinkle.  “Clerks are always having to straighten up the displays after people pick through the produce.  I’ve noticed, however, that there’s less of that with Ratto Bros. produce,” because their branded presentation works so well.  

It may sound amazing that something as simple as a branded twist tie is so effective at differentiating one produce brand from another (or from unbranded produce), but it does.  Just ask D’Arrigo Bros. Company, of California and Ratto Bros., as both third-generation companies extend the invitation for consumers to choose their branded produce, well into the 21st century. 

TakeAway:  Communicate your product’s uniqueness with a brand that’s tangibly and authentically “you.” It can make a real difference – right away and way down the road, too.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

Tags: D’Arrigo Bros. Company, Andy Boy brand, Package Containers, Inc., Ratto Bros., Inc., Western Grower & Shipper, LaRiviere, Grubman & Payne, LLP

About Brian Faulkner:

Brian Faulkner is a content writer and Key Message expert.  He helps clients come up with words to set their businesses, brands and products apart and attract the customers they want most.  His strategic insights (and the words that go with them) have made a significant, often immediate difference for client companies over many years.  His "sweet spot" is smaller to moderate sized consumer products, retail, service and manufacturing companies that may have struggled to find just the right words to position their business, brands or products to competitive advantage:

>  blogs to establish you as the thought leader / authority in your business category
>  case stories that communicate your sales successes and invite prospect inquiry
>  testimonials that showcase customer / client satisfaction in 1-2 short sentences
>  positioning statements to guide business development & marketing
>  landing page copy to set your business or brand apart in a compelling way
>  tagline development to attract the interest of your most qualified prospects

Brian also is a three-time Emmy award-winning Public Television writer and narrator of over 100 segments for UNC-TV’s popular "Our State" magazine series, on the air since 2003.  

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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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    Image © by Brian E. Faulkner

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