Trusted Brands Need To Stand Up And Be Counted In A Down Economy

Customers Will Gravitate To Brands They Admire In Tough Times

By David Miranda

When times are tough, people gravitate to safe havens and there is no greater safe haven than a trusted brand that has historically delivered excellent value. Who is more qualified to help in difficult times than a brand that has been there for me in the past and will continue to earn my trust in the future?

In challenging times, it is time for trusted brands to leverage their accumulated brand equity in the marketplace. It is called brand "capital".

Let's be clear. This is not about indiscriminate price promotions. Those are just knee jerk reactions and historically have caused unintended consequences, i.e. dilution and displacement of revenue.

In challenging economic times, available demand always searches for the best value and the best place to find the best value should be with trusted brands.

What should admired and trusted brands do in times of economic uncertainty?

1. Show leadership - Communicate quickly and effectively with the marketplace that you understand the challenging environment and empathize with the audience, i.e. "we feel your pain".


2. Seek competitive advantage - Be first and bold with solutions that customers gravitate to rather than wait for the competition to dictate your strategy.


3. Be "stratactical" - In a down market, people and businesses alike make decisions within a more compressed time frame. This means a brand needs to consider strategy concurrently with tactics, i.e. stratactical solutions that allow quick adjustments to volatile market conditions.


4. "Don't take the bait" - There will be the impulse to react to competitive offerings. Urgency is the handmaiden of chaos.


5. Steal share - The pie shrinks during downturns so getting a bigger piece of a smaller pie is key to success.


6. Understand that great brands that do smart things during difficult times become greater.

Stand up and be counted.

"Retail Is Detail" - A Lesson From Mickey

J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler Shows How Its Done

By David Miranda

In a recent New York Times story by Joe Nocera, "A CEO Sells The Store", J Crew CEO Mickey Drexler was reported doing what he has always done and continues to do - going to his stores, fussing over the merchandise, speaking with managers and, yes, grilling customers on what they like, don't like, where else they shop, etc.

Oh yeah, the article highlights the results on Mr. Drexler's hands-on approach.......

"At a time when most retailers are struggling — with credit tight, and consumers increasingly unwilling to spend — J. Crew stands out. It is growing at a steady, healthy clip; Mr. Jaffe estimates that when it reports its 2007 results in a few weeks, the company will report revenue of $1.3 billion, a 14 percent increase. It is nicely profitable."

One should note that this kind of CEO is a rare bird. Most, as we know, do their "CEO-ing" (or "CMO-ing", "COO-ing", "CFO-ing") in the ivory tower many times removed from the person who makes their large compensation packages possible. No, not the corporate board - the customer.

In another example of the front line CEO, last week, Starbuck's new CEO (former CEO) Howard Shultz took the dramatic step in closing all Starbucks stores for three hours to - get this - re-train and re-energize and remind its thousands of front line "barristas" why they had been so successful in the first place - putting the customer first.

Could Mssrs. Drexler and Shultz be onto something?

Could it be that the front line impacts the top line that, in turn, impacts the bottom line?

By jove, I think they've got it!

If you are a corporate executive, ask yourself these questions:

1. When was the last time you were at the front lines of your business speaking with front line personnel, managers, customers? (By the way, "royal tours" with a huge entourage do not count.)


2. Do you solely rely on second or third hand facts and figure to make decisions?


3. Have you ever been a secret shopper of your own products and services?

In an economic downturn, consumers will gravitate to those brands that get the key basic right - customer recognition.

You can't do that in the ivory tower. Go Mickey! Go Howard!

Recognition Marketing - The 4 "R's" Of Marketing Success

Tips For Marketing Yourself, Your Firm, Or Your Brand

By David Miranda

The basic principles of marketing, 4 P's (product, price, place, promotion) have been taught to aspiring marketers for almost 50 years with gratitude to academics Professors Neil Borden and James McCarthy. The world, however, has changed dramatically in those five decades in ways that would mandate that Professors Borden and McCarthy revise their college textbooks.

There are a confluence of powerful forces that make marketing more challenging that ever before. These include:

• the perishability of preference
  
• time poverty


• uber-choice


• societal A.D.D.


• a wired (and wireless) world

The four P's are less relevant today in the big scheme of things. Product, price, place (channels of distribution), and promotion (advertising, promotion, etc.) are all under siege in ways and means never imagined. Who could have foreseen the impact of email, Amazon, Google, YouTube, iTunes, blogs, social networking, PDAs, cell phones, Tivo, spam filters, Do-Not-Call List, satellite broadcasting, podcasts and so on and so on?

Bottom line? Despite the proliferation of communication channels and choices, people are harder to reach than ever, hence, new thinking is warranted.

The new thinking? The 4 "R's of Marketing.

First, Recognition. "Recognize me as an individual not a statistic."

Second, Relevance. "Don't bother me with things that aren't relevant."

Third, Reward. "I know what's in it for you, but what's in it for me?"

Lastly, Relationship. " Treat me like I'm important and I'll reciprocate".

Note no mention of price, product, place, or promotion.

Why? Do the 4P's well and you have done things right. Do the 4R's well, however, and you have done the right things - those things that matter to the people who matter most - your customers.

Update those marketing text books.