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 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?

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.