According to management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, strong retail brands result in more frequent consumer visits, higher per-customer spending, and the ability to charge premium prices.
What makes a great brand? Great brands stand for something. They focus on one differentiating value they can own, and then they relentlessly deliver that value in every interaction with the customer.
Sounds easy, but its not. Most businesses look at their brands from their own perspective, not the consumers. By saying, “Our brand does this, this, and this,” these businesses add complexity, not simplicity. In a world of unprecedented noise and clutter, brands that “stick” in peoples minds have a very clear, specific focus.
Take, for instance, the St. Paul Saints, a Minor League Baseball team. Just like all baseball teams, they put nine players on the field, sell peanuts, win some and lose some. But the Saints arent selling baseball. Theyre selling fun. At a typical St. Paul Saints game, a nun gives massages to fans in the bleachers. A pig delivers the game balls to the umpires. Theyve hosted Pillow- Fight Night, Call in Sick Day, given away Michael Vick dog chew toys, and invited fans to bring their sleeping bags onto the field for movie night. The Saints have a clear brand strategy to build fun into every game, every night.
DEFINE YOUR BRANDS FOCUS
The single defining idea for your brand is found at the intersection of four critical elements: Customer, Competition, your Business, and Solution Offering.
Customer: First, take a look at the customer. Who is he or she? What makes him tick? What is his pain? What motivates him to buy? Conduct instore surveys or focus groups. Ask your frontline employees what they see. You need to probe deeply to get at the heart of the customer. Is she looking for a trail running shoe or is she truly looking for an escape from the confinement of her nine-to-five job?
Competition: Who is competing for the wallet-and heart-of your customer? This will include the obvious retailers offering similar products. But often, the competitive set extends beyond this, such as outfitters that rent gear and resorts or lodges that offer an experience. Understand your customer and you can better understand your competition. Assess your competitors strengths and weaknesses. What are your competitive advantages?
Business: What are the key drivers of your business? Are you customer service driven? Technology-driven? Something else? What is your mission? What are your company values? What are the passions of your people? What are you best at? What are you not good at? Truly great brands are truly authentic brands.
Solution Offering: What exactly are you offering? Products? An experience? Peace of mind? Ask the question, “What are we giving to our customers?” Get input from everyone in the company. Brainstorm and create a list of 20 things youre offering the consumer. Push yourself beyond the obvious. Remember, the Saints are not selling baseball-theyre selling fun. Now, define the intersection between these four elements. What is the single word that your brand stands for? Is it quality? Experience? Community? Expertise? Escape? Make sure it passes these tests: it must be relevant to the consumer, differentiated from your competitors, authentic to you, and financially rewarding.
Next, re-align key business practices around your brand. Connect every customer experience with your brand.
Marketing Materials: This is obvious, but often poorly executed. If your brand represents “expertise,” your communications should include endorsements from experts in the field, testimonials and images of hardcore runners. All messaging must leave the impression that your store is the authority on running gear. Everything else-price, selection, fashion-is secondary. Develop a strong tagline (e.g. Nikes “Just do it”) and distinctive design theme to run through all of your communications.
Store Experience: The Apple store isnt merely selling products; its selling the “Apple experience.” Digital cameras, photo printers, and Apples iPhoto software are grouped together, just as people use these in their homes. The staff carries iPods or iPhones, evidence that they, too, are living the Apple experience. Build your store experience around the brand so every customer entering your store knows exactly what your brand stands for.
Personnel: Hire, train, and offer incentives to your employees to be brand evangelists. Hire only people who are passionate about your brand, no exceptions. Create a culture and incentive program that inspires and rewards individuals who bring your brand to life for the customer.
Business Goals: This is often overlooked, but is essential. If your brand represents “community,” develop goals centered on creating shared experiences for your customers. Build an online message board for customers to share trail info, and define a goal for the number of registered site users. Set a goal of generating “x” percent of new-customer sales through referrals, and create incentives for current customers to refer their friends.
The secret to building a memorable brand is really quite simple: Identify the one thing-one thing-that your brand stands for. Then, align all of your customers brand experiences around that one thing. It works for Nordstrom, BMW and Amazon. It will work for you.
