IT’S A RELATIONSHIP, NOT A QUICKIE.

Last week, I spoke to a Brand Management class of MBA students at the University of South Florida where we had a lively discussion about how long it takes for branding to work. I had stated in my presentation that many companies, especially retailers, fail to establish their brands because they are looking for immediate results (sales) as soon as they start their marketing efforts behind the brand strategy. So often what happens is that the company or store will spend months with consultants and/or agencies. developing a strategy within the organization Then they will budget an aggressive amount of advertising and marketing funds to launch the new strategy, much of which is upfront to “really hit the ground running”. After a couple months or so, they are quick to pull the plug—or at least go into hibernation marketing-wise—because they are not seeing an immediate return on their advertising investment.

This sort of reminds me of the 15-minute dating services that you may have seen on some of the news magazine programs recently. You know, this is where about 15 single guys and 15 single ladies sign up for a night of a dating blitz where they each get 15 minutes at a table together, then the bell goes off and they all scatter (like musical chairs participants) to another table and another Mr. or Ms. Right and start all over again. They do this all night and then hope that they get a subsequent, more quality, date with the one they liked best. One thing is for sure, these are not relationship workshops. “Whiz bam, thank you Ma’am” is more like it. Retailers today think about marketing and branding in the same way. Build a multi-media campaign, blitz the airways over a few weeks and then watch the customers pour in with their cash to make a purchase and, of course, become loyal shoppers who want to sign up immediately for your CRM card and carefully thought-out e-mailings targeted for their need and likes.

Well, as I told the students that night, it just doesn’t work that way. Branding is building a meaningful relationship with your customers and potential customers. And it just doesn’t happen in a couple 30-second or 16-page by-chance encounters. It takes time and it takes consistency for the relationship to develop. It also takes internal development (kind of like getting the right clothes or make-up for that dating session) to ensure that the organization understands what kind of relationship you expect them to have with the customer. Some of the most successful brands have kept the same brand strategy, with revisions to keep up with the times and changing competition, for many years to insure a loyal customer base and relationship. Sure the communications have to be freshened up with new messages and new creative, but the strategy (if sound) must be nurtured in all aspects of the business if you want to keep a positive relationship with the customer.

Daniel Burrus, CEO of Burrus Research, spoke recently at the Global Retail Marketing Summit in St. Petersburg, FL about the importance of building a relationship. In fact, he said, “The future is all about Relationships.” The key he said was to enhance TRUST with your customers if you are going to succeed. We have to “de-commoditize” continuously if we are going to stay ahead of the competition by constantly exceeding customer expectations. The importance of keeping at it everlastingly (as N.W. Ayer once said) will strengthen our brands and keep the entire organization on track.

As I get ready to go to Alaska for two weeks of relationship building with my wife, Sandi (and to celebrate our 40th Anniversary), I am more convinced than ever that to build a brand or a relationship, one must be committed to it, have a passion for it, and work hard at it…everyday.

Interview on Media Talk WebCast.

Click below to view my interview on Media Talk last week.

THE WAY YOU’VE DONE THE THINGS YOU DO.

PLAY THIS 30 SECOND VIDEO NOW.
John Costello is one of the top marketers in the U.S. and has made his mark at Home Deport, Sears, and Yahoo and is now President—Consumer & Retailer at Pay By Touch. The new company uses technology to use fingerprints, among other things, to identify customer shopping behaviors and preferences. Well, John certainly left his fingerprint on the recent Global Retail Marketing Association’s inaugural Summit at St. Petersburg Beach. A common thread throughout the excellent presentations at this meeting was the skyrocketing growth of technology, especially mobile media (cell phones), for retailers and service providers in today’s marketing programs.

One of the points John made, however, really resonated with me and my passion to get everyone in the organization involved with the brand strategy. He recommended that today’s successful marketing organizations should be organized by objective rather than by function as has been the norm for years. Instead of having VP’s of Advertising, Marketing, Branding, Creative, etc., the marketing organization leaders should be determined by the Who (most important customer segments), the What (differentiates the brand vs. competition), and the How (integrated marketing and advertising). To accomplish this, the former VP’s would now take on the rolls such as VP-Customer Intelligence and Insights (Who), VP-Brand and Product Marketing (What) and VP-Integrated Marketing Communications (How).

I think it’s about time that this type of thinking becomes the norm in our organizations where the brand should drive not just the marketing functions, but the entire organization. The operations need to be clued in to the brand strategy and organized so that the place where the customer gets his/her brand impression (the store) is consistent to the message. Human Resources needs to be set in finding people who will live up to the brand - whether it’s at the store or behind the scenes, IT needs to provide the technology and systems to stay up with the brand strategy and a technology savvy customer and employee base. The CEO has to become the Brand Champion who sets the pace, ensuring that the message is integrated into all decisions going forward. In short, it’s everyone’s job and it should be organized around the brand not around a chart of functions.

Until we get over the silos that currently hinder the effectiveness of today’s organizations and truly understand that the brand is the DNA that makes up the store, product or service’s reason for being, I’m afraid branding will continue to be simply a marketing function—for those who want to see their market share dwindle in the future.

For more information about the GRMA Summit, go to www.globalretailmarketing.com . Kudo’s to Sonny Nardulli and Stephanie Fischer on bringing a great forum for progressive thinkers to the retail industry.