It's The Little Things

I recently travelled from West Kent to London on a day return ticket. Not my usual commuter season ticket, but the little paper one that the guard likes to stamp authoritatively. How sweet when I noticed that instead of the usual round punch there was in its place a butterfly. Now the service wasn't particularly great - the carriage was dirty and the train ran 15 minutes late. But it was the butterfly that I remembered at the end of the journey. I found myself smiling when the standard of service would otherwise have made me feel grumpy. Why? Because it suggested attention to detail, and care for passengers, it was done for no other reason than to give a little pleasure.

British Supermarket's - time for change?

I have ordered my weekly online supermarket shop from 3 of the biggest supermarkets now. I don't order from Tesco anymore because there are too many own label options, and not enough branded ones. I don't order from Waitrose any more because they screwed up my Christmas dinner shop and managed the enviable feat of sending me rotting onions 3 times in a row. In desperation I stuck with Sainsburys despite our ups and downs. Like sending me 'ripen in the fruit bowl' nectarines when I deliberately order ready to eat. Experience has taught me that 'ripen in the fruit bowl' means 'I go from rock hard inedible to mouldy without ever passing through the juicy ripe phase'. But this week Sainsburys managed the corker of all corkers. They delivered a rough-looking cauliflower, out of which a piece had clearly been cut with a knife - the edge of the removed mouldy bit still in evidence at the periphery of the cut. Talking to others I see I am not alone. The customer service departments somewhat perversely also verify this.
Has anyone actually found a supermarket that delivers fresh food that looks fresh and not the stuff that they can't sell instore? Supermarkets spend a lot of time looking at each other and comparing prices. They forget that most people don't enjoy the shopping experience that they offer - they shop there because they have no choice. It is ironic that the nation of shopkeepers has become a nation beholden to just 4 supermarkets. Yes, consumers do increasingly have a voice, but not yet it seems when shopping for their groceries.

Advertising Works

There was a programme on TV tonight (Professor Regan's Pharmacy), about the science behind homeopathy. Rugby players took a pain relief tablet that they thought was branded and then put one hand in ice water. Then (I'm guessing a while later) they took a different pain relief tablet - one they thought was own label - and put their other hand in ice water. They lasted about 8 minutes with what they thought was a branded pain relief, and less than half that with what they thought was an own label version. Turns out it was actually another branded product, same dose, leading to the conclusion that "Branding on painkillers seems to give additional pain relief." The advertising, packaging and brand name have a placebo effect, which when absent actually decreases the perceived performance of the product. A nice simple example of advertising effectiveness.

What Gordon Ramsay Could Learn From Ronseal

I have never bought the Sun newspaper. Not until today that is. I did because the front page exclusive suggested that Gordon Ramsay has been a naughty boy (again). The man who built his reputation on cooking from scratch with fresh ingredients, who told The Times that his idea of food hell was ready meals, who criticised restaurants serving reheated meals, has in fact been serving ready meals in his own eateries. It turns out that "up to 50% of the menu...could be done off-site." This means £2 meals made in South London and delivered to The Narrow, The Warrington, The Devonshire and Foxtrot Oscar by white van man where they are sold for £10 accompanied by the message that all food is cooked fresh on-site.

There is now a danger that regulars at these gastropubs will feel conned. That viewers of Kitchen Nightmares will watch in a different light. GR has built a powerful brand. A brand founded on his creativity in the kitchen, and his energy, but most of all on his consistent pursuit of perfection. He has generated a great deal of trust, the kind of trust that takes a long time to build, that earns you a £60m empire. But one of the four major components of brand trust (discussed in an earlier blog on Brand Trust) is Competence - do customers believe it does what it says it will do?

It will be interesting to see how forgiving the gastropub regulars will be. That may well depend on how GR responds to remedy this breach of trust. A good place for Gordon to start might be with the Ronseal brand - it does exactly what it says on the tin.

Spare Room?

www.spareground.com is a place where you can offer that extra bedroom, empty garage or unused field to people who need a bed for the night or somewhere to store their sports car or possibly to someone who wants to start an allotment. This is another example of how web-based communities are flourishing - organising themselves to create a marketplace where those with excess supply can meet those with the demand without following the traditional course of local newspaper advertising. One to watch.

A New Look at Pricing

US drivers now get half price parking in Manhattan if they drive a half size car. This latest innovation got me thinking. Once the preserve of Utilities, "pay for what you use" is seeping into other markets where an otherwise high cost can be more palatably priced. It's certainly something to consider afresh in your market as people look to cut back in whatever ways they can. Other products successfully targeted at drivers in recent years have been the "pay-per-mile" insurance policy and the "pay-per-hour" car rental clubs like London's Streetcar. But you can also pay-per-view films, pay-per-chapter for books, and per-song on iTunes, where once you had to buy the artist's whole album. And pay-as-you-go has made mobiles accessible to a much broader user base by including a younger age group where contract probably wouldn't have been a viable option.

What unit is used to price up your product offering? Could you change the unit to offer better value and retain customers through the credit crunch? For example, car parking has always been priced in units of time for use of a standard-sized space, and the success of mini-car sector means car parking space can now be priced in units of time and space taken. Have a go, see what you come up with.

When the Cost of a Refund is Too High

Refunds are about getting money back, about making you feel better when a service is below parr or you were sent something you didn't want. A "Big 4" supermarket sent me a home delivery and charged me for some duck legs that didn't get packed with the rest of my order. No problem they said we will issue a refund. So sorted....or so I thought. I've got no duck, but hey I can cook something else. Ahh! But it wasn't that simple. First you need to know that my refund was for £3. Here's what happened.

I got an email asking me whether I wanted the refund as (a) an e-coupon code to use with my next order or (b) a refund on my credit card, in which case could I call customer service. The thought of calling a call centre and hanging on the line to get a £3 refund filled me with horror so I opted for the e-voucher. It duly arrived by separate email. It was a complicated code. Of course I forgot to use it on my next order. Then when I did use it, it didn't get deducted by the checkout software. Call I'd been trying to avoid now duly put in to the customer service team. "Oh you have to click the "add voucher" button once you've put the code in...."

So, 2 emails read, 1 call to customer service at my expense, and 3 order deliveries later I finally got my £3 refund. God only knows how much it cost said supermarket in admin, let alone reduction in brand faith.

Apple - Owning The Buying Experience

On Monday I walked into an Apple store and handed over £1,440 without batting an eyelid. I got a slim, glossy laptop, a few accessories and a whole new computing experience in return. Quite remarkable because two days earlier I was a non-believer. Macs were expensive, incompatible with Microsoft and 'more for designers'. But customer service and visualising the experience won the day. I can't complain about the service I got in PCWorld, online, and down the famed Tottenham Court Road. (It was better than my experience of sales assistants when buying a printer - "I don't know the difference, I'll just look in the brochure.") I could see the brands and understand the relative specs. What I couldn't do was visualise me using them. There was no emotional connection. Just rows of same looking products with a spec label, and no easy way to compare them because each label commented on different aspects. Doesn't that just drive you back to the web? It does me.

The Apple experience was very different. Here, when I explained what I wanted to use the computer for, I got product recomendations, walkthrough of the relevant software, the option of one-to-one tuition and 15% discount on production of my son and his student uni card.

Buying a computer is still a big investment. The output it produces is a showcase of us. Whether we use it to crop and auto-adjust the home photo collection, create a website or make a business presentation, it lasts for years. Getting it wrong is costly. Being able to try the hardware - with the software we want on it - and receive a little personal tuition - these are the 3 keys to emotional connection. If it's only about price and product spec we may as well use a comparison web site which includes customer reviews and be done with stores and inexperienced sales assistants.

Apple's strength lies in its ownership of the hardware and retail elements of the supply chain, so it is able to co-ordinate the whole hardware/software/instore customer buying experience and make it tangible rather than imagined. Tangible experience is what converted me.

3 brands I love

Amazon - the doorway to learning and home entertainment. For £15 (for a book) you can learn what it took someone else a lifetime to learn, and hear what others think of it before you part with your money.
Warburtons - loved by the Bolton locals - its affectionately called Warbies - and now available nationally.
Doves Farm - organic flour in simple stylish packaging - helps me to live my weekend earth mother dreams.

Brand Trust: The 4Cs Model

Brands are like diamonds. Rather intangible. Hard to value with the naked eye. We look at that nice piece of sparkly glass and have no idea of its worth. De Beers solved this by introducing the 4C test. It worked. Now we can compare carat, colour, clarity and cut information before choosing the one we want.

Why don't we introduce a similar model to quickly assess brand trust. The 4Cs being - Clarity, Competence, Consistency and Connection.

1. Clarity - what is it that the brand promises to do that others don't? We can use my brand essence test here.
2. Competence - do customers believe it does what it says it will do?
3. Consistency - is the message consistent over time ...across communication platforms ....between comms, company actions and the delivery experience?
4. Connection - how strong is the 'pied piper effect' versus competitors. How many followers buy off promotion? What price premium do they pay?

Having a clear promise and delivering on that promise are inherent requirements for a successful product/service. But the measure of a true brand is the premium paid by its consumers. It's true sustainability measured by the number of consumers who repeatedly see that premium as one worth paying. This is a quick way to see where brand trust is being eroded, and help us decide how best to act. For instance, looking at consistency will highlight the confusion that car buyers might feel when they decide to buy a German brand only to discover it's actually made in India now.

See previous article on brand trust.

More cuts at Asda - the end of the long tail?

It's that time of year again. Time to clear away the cobwebs in anticipation of brighter days. We're clearing more than cobwebs at the moment - institutions have been wiped away too. This has been threatening for a number of brands - particularly in financial services, motor and retail. Packaged goods looked on from the sidelines as grocers continued apace - we all need food and toiletries after all. Now it seems this may have been a little premature.

Asda is cutting some 30% of lines, from 10 key categories, reducing the previously fashionable long tail. Removing duplication where possible will cut handling costs and make more space for key value items. I have long been an advocate of reducing the number of indistinguishable product lines. When I go into a supermarket I am overwhelmed by the apparent choice. But it isn't really choice. Who needs to choose between 30 types of soft white thin-sliced bread? I am too busy and the decision isn't important enough for the time it takes to scan the shelves for something suitable. So I don't actively look and select, I go into closed mode and grab one I've bought before. A smaller selection puts the focus on products with real, distinguishable differences, gets shoppers back out of auto-pilot and forces us all to raise our game in product development and positioning. To those who do this best, the reward will be bigger market share from a smaller range. Amen.

Starbucks Instant Coffee - part 2

I have thought about this issue some more (see Starbucks Instant Coffee - part 1 if you haven't already), Starbucks coffee may not be the cheapest, but is that why visits are falling? ...And is a cheaper, instant coffee the answer? We can be pretty sure that plenty of research has been done. Yet, as a customer myself, cheaper coffee elsewhere is not what's reducing my visit frequency.

On weekdays I like Starbucks because I pay £3 for a coffee and get a free meeting room for an hour. That's good value. Its a change of scenery to do some quiet work. A place to observe our clients customers or meet business partners. Perhaps more business focused messages like this could help to fill the quiet afternoon lull.

My own visits have fallen because of the price and range of snacks. A drink and sandwich costs the same as a 2 course hot meal in the Thai restaurant next door, and I could buy, or make, a whole cake for less than the price of that small slice. Perhaps my Scottish roots are catching up with me. If you're a customer too, write and tell me what you think.

Womens Jeans That Fit - £12

Hurrah! Asda have launched a pair of jeans that cost the same as 2 ready meals in Waitrose. They are just £12. But - top this - they are available in sizes 11, 13 and 15, after Asda surveyed 10,000 women and discovered that two thirds of us don't fit the traditional 10, 12, 14, 16 sizing system anymore. This is an excellent example of a brand that is listening to what its customers need, and then delivering just that at a keen price point.

Starbucks Instant Coffee - part 1

I was speechless when I heard the news today. Starbucks Instant Coffee?!
The predicament is obvious. Starbucks wants to keep hold of customers through the economic dip. It’s having a tough time. The aggressive store expansion programme has left it with too many outlets, falling footfall and belt-tightening customers who now see that £3 is a lot to pay for a cup of coffee. Do that every day and your daily cuppa on the way to work is setting you back £60 a month. An obvious cut back when you’re looking to reduce outgoings.

Yet on the face of it, this strategy is hard to reconcile with the Company’s founding beliefs. In Schultz’s own words, he was inspired “to unlock the romance and mystery of coffee” by “the Italian passion for treating every detail of food preparation with reverence and an insistence that nothing less than the best will do.”

We are of course being reassured that it tastes exactly like the freshly-brewed version. That it took 20 years to get it right. That people can’t tell the difference. So maybe we are about to see a taste revolution. If anyone can achieve it Starbucks can, with its roasting and brewing experience and the current financial need.

There are two implications here. If it doesn’t taste as good, if we can tell the difference, then Starbuck’s reputation for quality coffee is challenged. If it does taste as good, why the need for all that palaver with barista’s, roasting and grinding whole beans. A coffee is only as good as its taste and the fairness of its sourcing. Cheaper coffee, same great taste...we’ll all switch, leaving Starbucks with a higher footfall requirement to maintain revenue. And so, on the eve of Valentine Day I have to ask, might this spell the death knell for the mystery and romance of coffee, which to-date has been the magic and passion driving the brand?

Consumer 1 : City 0

My first blog article, Jobs Aren't For Life. Neither Are Brands, picked up an issue raised in the book, The Brand Bubble. That city valuation of the intangible brand had risen six-fold in the last 10 years - from an average 5% to 30% of a company's valuation. During this same period, consumer valuation of brands has fallen quite markedly. Brand trust today is half what it was 10 years ago. Well the bubble did burst. The consumer, it seems, was right not to trust some brands. And we find ourselves with the task of rebuilding both brand trust and share price.

In the past, successes of a few, like Google, have had a halo effect on all share prices. But as the bubble burst, plummeting trust levels of financial brands were closely and visibly linked with plummeting share prices. For the first time, brand trust = brand value. As we come out of the current dip, the shares which recover fastest may well be businesses and brands with a proven advantage, clear point of difference and stable trust levels. Chastened, more careful investors will look a bit closer at what a brand really offers before deciding which shares represent a good investment.

Download a pdf summary of The Brand Bubble here.

Twitter - A Life Lived In Soundbites

A man on a ferry on the Hudson sees a plane land on the water. Ferry turns round to help with rescue. Before they even get to the rescue site, man sends message to Twitter from his phone. Within 3 minutes of an earthquake, terrorist attack or celebrity spotting, we have the lowdown. Everybody is talking about Twitter, and I can see the attraction for those who want to keep up with celebrities, follow gurus, share with peers and catch up on what's happening in the world. Its the fast food of the communication world - no waiting, quickbite, low entry cost. If you haven't joined take a look. Its many business, brand and marketing possibilities are yet to unfold.

Name.Dot.Surname

Do you think we've reached the stage where parents will consider the SEO potential of names before settling on a moniker for their offspring? Perhaps not yet, but maybe the idea isn't that preposterous. After all, if they want to start a business later in life - to be found easily on the web - having a unique name is a distinct advantage. There aren't that many Ingrid Murray's, so I do ok in the list of Google returns. But my newly-acquired brother-in-law is Michael Jackson (not that one), so despite being an ex-Chairman of Sage, and on the committee of the Royal Albert Hall, he doesn't get a look in until page 15 of the search results. Would you look beyond page 2 or 3 for someone? Perhaps we should all adopt the strategy taken by only popstars and madmen to-date. In a world where people matter more than products, more attention to our personal brand name may be the future.

Bigger Please!

Is it me or have you noticed it too? Born at the very tail-end of the baby boom, I'm not exactly old, so I should be able to read product labels easily, right? Wrong! Glasses on, glasses off, contact lens in, at arms length, close-up. I can't quite make out how long I'm supposed to leave Viakal limescale-remover on my bath. I don't want limescale, but I don't want a hole in my bath either. Since we are fast becoming a more aged society, isn't it time that manufacturers used bigger typefaces....or put the instructions on a product website for us? (Though I note that www.viakal.com isn't anything to do with Viakal). I want to retain my uplifting belief that life begins at 40. It's rather hard to do so when my teenage son has to read the instruction label to me.

Round Peg, Round Hole

It's always good to share examples where competitive advantage is really working. Usually they've involved some departure from normative thinking....and this example is no exception. Its about talent selection to deliver the ultimate in customer service.

Thorkil Sonne is a Dane. He opted for a non-traditional talent-sourcing pool when founding his IT company, Specialisterne (The Specialists), 5 years ago. The decision has resulted in a real advantage, winning them business from Lego, Microsoft and Oracle. Specialisterne is a software tester. To do it well, to be best in class, requires long periods of concentration, and far more patience and attention to detail than most mere mortals possess. Thorkil's solution? 75% of his 50 employees have some form of Autism. The business need matched perfectly with the talents of the individual.

What does your company do? What skills does it require most? Might it benefit from a little extra lateral thinking next time you're recruiting?

Obama: The Consummate Marketing Man

I never thought I'd say this, but we can learn alot about marketing from a man in politics. That man is of course Obama. He is a consummate marketing man. Clear about what he stands for; consistent in his message and (so far) in his actions. He listens, encouraging dialogue in places that the voters go....shopping malls, YouTube, blogs. His message "change you can believe in" neatly repositioned McCain as a third term of Bush. Bush who went to war, who mismanaged the economy.

Obama went to the people. McCain to the corporates. Obama rode the new wave of crowdfunding and raised some $650m - a record in political donorship. Half of this came from ordinary people, people in the US like you and me, giving small amounts (less than $300). That's alot of people - more than for any presidential candidate ever. So Obama wasn't seen as a candidate who would line the pockets of corporates once in power, but would work in the interests of the people. He did what great brands do. He built a coalition of people who were prepared to part with their hard-earned cash. And he keeps doing it every day. The morning after his election, as newspapers carried the photo of his first day in office, an email went out from MoveOn asking everyone to "chip in $25" to a new cause. One that builds momentum, disarms the lobbyists and corporate politicians who plan to stop Obama in his tracks. In others words, at his moment of greatest success, work had already begun to dissipate the next expected competitive attack.

The Best Job in the World

Did you see it? Tell me you did. The ad in the jobs section of The Guardian on 10th Jan. This is what it said:

THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD
Island Caretaker: Islands of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia Full-time, live-in position with flexible hours. AUD$150,000 for a six-month contract. Accommodation provided – luxury home on Hamilton Island, overlooking Australia’s famous Great Barrier Reef. Responsibilities: explore the islands and report back. Clean the pool. Feed the fish. Collect the mail. Apply to Tourism Queensland at: www.islandreefjob.com

Not a hoax, but a brilliant viral marketing campaign by CumminsNitro, Melbourne, for Tourism Queensland. The little ad ran in 8 languages in the job sections of key newspapers around the world. Applications have poured in from places as diverse as Chile, Canada and China.
But the real objective? To raise the profile of Queensland as a Tourism destination. When you visit the mentioned website, as 2000 people are per second, you are greeted by pictures like this. And for those of us who aren't looking for a new job, it makes a perfect holiday destination. This is lateral thinking. The stuff that Competitive Advantage is made of. Here's hoping it translates into additional holiday bookings and Queensland visitors.

The Price of Convenience

I don't buy Fruit Shoots anymore. The kids love the taste. They're good value, often on promotion, and I pass them everytime I visit the supermarket. So why don't I buy? The answer is simple. One day I looked at the small amount of liquid and the large amount of plastic. I imagined the liquid swigged, gone in a moment. The plastic here for a lifetime, and beyond. The price of convenience became higher than I was now prepared to pay. Not in monetary terms, but environmental ones. I'm not a green person. I have compost and non-compost bins because the council require it. But I don't do weekly trips to the bottle bank and I'm not a member of Friends of the Earth. There's lots of talk about Food Miles and Bags For Life. It's the thin edge of the wedge. As the cost we are prepared to pay for convenience peaks, there may well be a backlash, and heavily packaged goods will be an easy target.

Brand You

As business people we spend alot of time analysing the products and services we sell, to whom, and how to price them. As consumers we assess each brand's offering and value for money. But there is one brand that we rarely relaunch, promote or assess the value of. Paradoxically, it is the brand which affects our annual earnings more than any other. Our personal brand. Brand You. Brand Me.

What does Brand You sell to employers, clients or customers? Why are you priced as you are and do you represent good value? In short, what is your personal competitive advantage?

Marc Cox of The Advocacy Factor has come up with a neat yet impactful way of helping you to crystallise what you do when you're at your best. It's a technique which looks at your roots, legacy and the impact these have on the way you work everyday. It's much more useful than Myers Briggs and many of the psychometrics tests in use today. Why? Because it is a simple, singular feedback of what you sell to others, the springboard to a sharper CV and the answer to that most pertinent of questions "Why should we hire you?" And because it surfaces your true values, you will learn which kind of cultures bring out the best in you. Time to start branding Brand You?

Make a Profit, Not a Killing

I predict growth of a new type of business - let's call it Not Just For Profit. Sitting neatly between For Profit and Not For Profit, it pursues financial returns and an altruistic cause. Not Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) where the cause is peripheral, but Compassionate Capitalism if you like. The cause is central. Inherent in the values and principles that the organisation lives by. This gives immediate advantage because brand trust starts high and PR opportunities are great.

Logic runs something like this: (1) Greed is out. The recession reminds us that someone's profit is someone else's loss. (2) More of us want to make a difference in the world - to address social and environmental concerns. We can't all hop on a plane for a 6 month VSO project in Africa, so we buy Fairtrade bananas, maybe drive a Prius. But we want to do more. (3) The web has made it easy. We can find people who share our values, build a movement - a business - at relatively low cost through crowdsourcing and crowdfunding.

So there may be a fresh crop of startups entering your market shortly. Unfettered by a history, they offer a more relevant business model. Backed by a strong emotive cause, they bond more closely with your customers. Where will they hit you hardest? How can you lessen the impact?
Here is one such company. ARK. It stands for Acts of Random Kindness. The Company sells a logo'd shirt for £28 and asks that each time it's worn, the wearer does something kind for someone else. It was an idea dreamed up by an 18 year old while out on his Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition. He says

"I was tired of corporations being motivated by personal gain. I'd like to be different and join with people who share the same kinda thoughts."

He wanted to inspire people to be kinder to each other. Two years on his dream is being realised.

Disney: Brand Magic

It's often easier to focus on what could be better, what needs mending, so today I want to celebrate success with a brand bluepint that has delivered in every aspect. When we think Disney, we think of a hugely trusted entertainment brand. Films; Mickey Mouse; Disneyland; Disney Channel. It's more. Did you know that it owns 10 TV channels? It is a media owner as well as an advertiser. The Company employs 5 different business models to maximise revenue, delivering what customers want and advertisers need.

It has a magical positioning. For parents, it is a safe haven. No sex or violence in a world where the window of childhood innocence is fast reducing. A Saturday morning lie-in while the kids watch a film; the Sunday cinema treat; cuddling up together to read a book. To young children it’s just fun. It's “me-time” for older children. No school, homework or household chores. While grandparents see a brand they grew up with, a shared connection with grandchildren experiencing it now just as they did when they were little. Whether logging on to Disney.com or walking into a Disney store, you enter a world of magic. Of make believe.

Business-to-business relationships are strong too. Selling Disney products means quality content; higher cash margins from the price premium; extended shelf life; frequent launches; cutting edge imagery...... Field sales offices are even located next to retailer headquarters around Europe such is their commitment.

The CEO, Bob Iger, has aligned all divisions and cast members, (as staff are called), behind a single strategy. Focus has switched to fewer, bigger franchises on more platforms and with a longer merchandising tail. All divisions are nurtured to identify fresh platforms e.g. cruise ships, and new franchises e.g. Pirates of the Caribbean which started as a park ride not in Disney Studios.

This is paying dividends. High School Musical started in 2005 as a Disney Channel Film. The soundtrack was released 10 days before the TV premiere. Publishing launched a novel, then as traction grew, a complete series. Consumer Products negotiated licences. 7.5m DVDs were sold. Parks held rallies. Theatricals created school and professional stage productions. The Ice Tour followed, then High School Musical 2. The crowning jewel, High School Musical 3 finally premiered at cinemas in Autumn 2008 to great applause.

What started as a $4m investment became a $500m+ franchise, even before the High School Musical 3 premiere. $125 for every $1 of initial investment. The financial rewards when brand and business operations work in harmony are high indeed.

Brand Essence in Just 6 Words

It is hard to write a story in 6 words but Ernest Hemmingway did. "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." A powerful sentence isn't it? It instantly creates a myriad of images and emotions in our minds. If I say "Maiden voyage....iceberg....not enough lifeboats.", you know I mean Titanic. The 6 word story has become a bit of a phenomenon with magazines like Smith and Wired encouraging people to write their 6 word life story and share it.

Why don't we apply the same principle to brands? Can you write your brand story in 6 words? It's a good test of how clear and unique the positioning really is against the background noise. I've had a go at three. Is Starbucks instantly recognisable from the words "Third place between home and work" or McDonalds from "The fastest burger anywhere on earth"? Can you name this brand just from 6 words? "Mint with a hole. Fresh breath." We live in times of overwhelming choice and little differentiation. Weaker brands are increasingly vulnerable - think Robertsons Jam. To get on the shortlist, to swing the vote as the wallet is opened, means having a clear brand story present in your customer's head.

Have a go at writing the 6 words which best sum up your brand or a brand you work on. How easy was it? Did the results surprise you? Might your competitor say the same? Would customers recognise you, and you alone? It's a revealing exercise. I'm not sure that McDonalds wants to be "the fastest burger anywhere on earth". But in my head it is. No mention of quality. But accessible and fast. Given the description some might say Burger King, but I'm betting more people would say McDonalds and that's not a bad place to be. Every brand has a 6 word story. What's yours?

This idea is now available to download from SlideShare as a powerpoint presentation.

When Premium Doesn't Mean Better

In a pre-Christmas blind tasting by Which, Netto mince pies scored better than Harrods, Waitrose and Sainsburys. At £1.19 for 6, you can buy 30 Netto pies for the price of 6 in Harrods. Enough for a party...and you needn't need worry what your guests might say. The test, among 150 people scored for appearance, taste and aroma; and showed that Netto isn't a nice anomaly. Aldi and Tesco pies got the same score. As did Mr Kipling and Co-op. Nor is this change in the natural order confined to mince pies. A £30 M&S made-to-measure shirt beat Savile Row's finest (RSP £165.90).

Shoppers assume that premium is functionally better, paying extra for emotional reasons, but justifying it on functional grounds. It is better quality, will last longer. If premium isn't functionally superior in ways that matter, shoppers will struggle to justify the extra cost on emotion alone. Do the "mince pie test" in your category. Do the premium products represent good value? How can you amend your strategy to attack/defend as necessary? Most people, it seems, don't want brandy and nuts in their mince pies.

Great Customer Service: If Not Now, When?

I fell in love with a dress in Monsoon and pair of shoes in Office. My dilemma...did the hues of cobalt blue match? The Office shop assistant accompanied me, shoes in hand, to Monsoon to find out. I have now told everyone how wonderful Office customer service is and how much they impressed me.

Contrast this with my bank, NatWest. Despite credit crunch and bail out headlines I've heard nothing. Just the usual statements. Oh, and a TV ad saying they could save me money if I cancelled my gym membership. We have just experienced the biggest stock market crash in living memory. Trust in financial brands is at an all time low. Why are they sticking with the old model?
What would it take for them to change the way they communicate with me? Why didn't they call me with personally tailored advice? They have my contact details; income; regular outgoings - information most companies would pay handsomely for. Meanwhile Martin Lewis, “the money saving expert”, is getting lots of media exposure, positioning himself in exactly this space. A space left by financial brands that didn't respond when and how customers needed them to.

As long as brands transmit messages which conflict with actual customer experiences, marketing budgets will deliver low returns. People will tell their stories to friends, family and 50 million people on the web....and people believe people more than they believe TV ads. Brands sticking with the old way of doing things, even now, as everything changes around them, risk being left behind. Customers will see that if great customer service isn't forthcoming under these conditions, then it never will be. They won't tell you, they will tell each other...and no brand promise can recover from that.

So tomorrow, or some time this week, take the journey that your customer takes. Take it anonymously and experience it as your customer experiences it. What did you find? I hope it is an experience that you would willingly share, one that you are proud of.

Jobs aren't for life. Neither are brands.

Every UK high street has a newly empty retail outlet for rent. It still bears the familiar red Woolworths banner and hastily pencilled goodbye note from now redundant staff to the all too few customers. It’s a brand we grew up with, and it has gone.

Jobs aren’t for life anymore. Neither it seems are brands. We no longer expect to serve our whole career in the same company and bid fond farewells, gold watch in hand. Maybe times are changing for brands too now. 2008 showed that even very established brands fail when competitive edge becomes hazy and debt rises too high. The warning signs were there, we just didn't heed them. Word spreads faster in the new economy. Falls from grace will likely be more commonplace, and when they happen they will happen quickly.

John Gerzema points out a real issue in his book, The Brand Bubble. Stock markets place ever increasing value on the intangible element of brands. Tracking metrics show that consumers are placing less value on these same brands. Less trust. Less respect. Less differentiation. This has big implications across all markets. For service providers, manufacturers and retailers. Shareholders and pension funds. CEOs, FDs and marketers. Is it time to put the branded business model in for an MOT?