Monthly Archives: January 2022

Is-Does Then Why.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I’ve written a great deal about a simple but important brand component: the Is-Does.  What a product “is” and what a product “does.”  (For the purposes of this post I’ll use product to also mean service.) Having come into the branding world with a concentration in technology I know that understanding what a product “is” is foundational. Is it hardware? Software? Platform? Or an app?  It may seem simple but sometimes it really takes some digging to get that answer. (Just read a few About page on tech company websites.) What, for instance, Is a video game? Or LinkedIn?

After the Is is out of the way brand strategists need to establish the “does.” What does the product accomplish for the user.  What is its function. This requires creating context and usage for the product. Is the iPhone a phone for instance? Or a communications device? A recorder of content. All the above? The iPhone broke the mold for the Is-Does and screwed up branding for many technology companies. Swiss Army knife anyone?

Earlier in the week I was reading a Mike Troiano blog post where he discussed what he believes to be most important brand component, the “why.”

Can’t argue the “why” is important, but I can disagree with the hierarchy. If you share the Why but not the Is and the Does, you are wasting a consumer’s gray matter. (I’m talking technology and emerging services here, not mature categories.) There are only a few whys in the marketing world: improved productivity, better price, make money, improve efficiency, more sustainable and more equitable. Without the Is-Does, these end-benefits or whys are just commodities.

When brand people just straight to the why in their claim they are missing steps, especially in nascent categories. Brand strategy is strengthened by a narrative, as Mike says in his post. Completely agree. But brand strategy is nuts and bolts. It’s measurable and quantifiable.  Narratives and stories on the Why are best left to ad agencies.

Peace.

 

 

 

 

 

Brand Planner’s Prayer

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Things we remember.

We remember beauty.

We remember new.

We remember rich.

We remember melody.

We remember funny.

We remember nature.

We remember poetry.

We remember pain.

We remember educators.

We remember warmth.

We remember charity.

We remember happy.

We remember love.

We remember triumph.

These are the things we remember.

(I post this brand planners prayer once a year as a reminder.)

Land of No.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

 

Advertising is a young person’s game.  If you are really, really good at it you might keep your job until you are 50.  That said, I’ll go on record here and say there is an advantage to being older and experienced. You have lived in and learned from, a career of a thousand “nos.”  If you hear no a thousand times you develop a special king of savvy armor.

When younger in the business I rarely had a chance to have a boss, client or researcher say no to my work. And I learned very little. But as you move on and up, your decisions and insights are judged. And the more you hear no, the more you learn.

Fast forward to today. Like The Beatles who practiced in nightclubs in Italy for 10,000 hours before doing anything meaningful, an experienced practitioner starts to hear less nos. Advertising is not always scientific. A lot of yeses fail. But nos are the true impediments.

When you are mindful of all your past nos. When you understand their logic. When you are not paralyzed by them. You are experienced.

There is a little enclave on Fire Island, NY called Ocean Beach. AKA the “Land of No.” It’s quite a fun spot once you learn its navigation.

Peace.

 

Zoom and Brand Research.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Brand strategists are always on the lookout for trends and cultural developments. One such trend, resulting from the pandemic, is the growth of Zoom meetings. In my last post I discussed how less meetings and more independent work are not the most productive ways to work in today’s world – though there are certainly positives.  But recently I was on a Zoom call and noticed a neat strong positive to working remotely, albeit it was a bit embarrassing.

Last week I was on a Zoom webinar sponsored my alma mater Rollins College on the topic of diversity, inclusion and equity; a topic on which I need mas training. For a change most of the postage stamp heads were black. (Is it me or do other white people look at rooms filled with white heads and feel uncomfortable? White much? is a meme I like to use.) Anyway, the webinar guest, activist Sophie Williams from London, was explaining that decades ago the gov’t tried to recruit blacks to live in the U.K. by running ads in the West Indies, highlighting all the wonderments of UK life. Sophie went on to say it was effective advertising though it never mentioned that life for blacks in the UK was going to be “shit.” I giggled at her expletive. No one else did. Zoom allowed me to see that. Big ass faux pas. Insensitive me. Had, in real life, I been in a row of students looking at the back of heads I would never have known my mistake.

While working at Zude, a social media startup, years ago and attempting to recruit musical acts, I uncovered an important planning insight: “never are musical artists more in touch with their art than when looking into the eyes of the audience.”  Zoom lets you do that. Used properly it can be a great research tool.  

Peace.  

 

New Future of Work.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I did an insight piece on the “Future of Work” while working with ad agency JWT on their Microsoft 365 business — it was a blast.  At the time, who other than some epidemiologists would have predicted COVID 19 and its rampage across the globe. Covid changed everything. Two key outcomes for the working world were less meetings and working from home. The cry for less meetings is not new but has certainly grown thanks to Covid. The work from home phenomenon, however is new and here to stay. Ish.  

If you combine these two workplace developments the result is a lot of individual work product. And for me, that’s a bad trend.  Most people work best with fellow employees. As sounding boards. Lunch partners. Idea generators. Creative recombinators as Faris Yakob would say.  

The future of work is not isolation. Hell yeah we can do it. And it might even make us more self-reliant and resourceful short term.  But working like pod people is not good for anyone. We are a gregarious species. Whistling while you work is no substitute for communicating while you work. I get the head-down thing, I do. But we all need to come up for air frequently. It’s healthy and it’s productive.

Peace.

 

 

Cultural Strategy.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I was listening to the Fergus O’Carroll’s On Strategy podcast with Harvard professor Douglas Holt yesterday and heard some cool insights on brand planning. Mr. Holt has this thing he calls Cultural Strategy which as a student of anthropology interested me quite a bit. Brand planners have to be cultural anthropologists, as they try to nestle their selling schema into current culture — with an eye toward creating future culture. (An academic would blast me for the last part of that statement. Culture is organic, not man-made, they would caution.)

(Pictured here, Franz Boas, father of cultural anthropolgy.)

One of Douglas’s thoughts is worth dissecting: “Whoever is the symbol of the dominant ideology in the category, controls the category.” (Clearly a challenger mentality, evidenced by his follow-on point that you need to disrupt the category leader who can outspend and out-media all challengers.) 

Two differing examples, the first supports Holt’s Cultural Strategy notion: when Oatly plays its save-the-planet card in oat milk messaging, that’s not an endemic product quality sell, it’s a culture sell. When I used the word “nestle” above, my point was one needs to nestle an endemic product value into the cultural lever — not use the cultural lever as your main value. With my client Handcraft, maker of the Potty Genius Potty training kit, we didn’t position around reducing disposable diapers in landfill, a cultural lever. We led with the “joys” inherent in the accomplishment.  The landfill claim was a support, albeit a very good one.  

Douglas Holt is certainly onto something. Most planners agree culture (and category culture) are robust insight mines.  But don’t pray tell forget what is popping off the production line. Product always needs to be at the heart of any claim or proof plank.

Peace.

 

 

 

 

What Comes First the Brand Strategy or the Product?

By
Steve Poppe
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0

My definition of brand strategy is “an organizing principle for product, experience and messaging.”  Most practitioners get the “messaging” part. And a growing number understand the “experience,” especially those with branded storefronts. How a customer experiences the brand at retail is more than a passing fancy.  Dunkin is a very different experience than Starbucks.  But when it comes to an organizing principle guiding “product,” many underdeliver — which is quite odd since the product almost always precedes brand work.

So why does one create an organizing principle for a product that already exists? Well, it’s useful when making changes to the product. When creating product extensions.  When franchising the product. When dealing with supply chain issues. How about when dealing with quality control. Or hiring people who design the product. Apple certainly gets this. No Evil Foods understands. Marmot subscribes. 

Marketers who fully understand their product’s, provenance, heritage, DNA, differentiators and UPS (unique selling proposition), have the easiest ways forward. And the most organized. And most principled.

Peace.

 

Positivity in Brand Strategy.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Neil Young’s new album has a rather apocalyptic track called Human Race. Many of today’s social commentators seem obsessed with negative goings on. Climate. Politics. Covid.  The list rolls on. There are, indeed, lots of reasons to be negative. I get it. My friend Donald hasn’t tweeted a nice thing about American politics in years. The evening news is 92% bad stuff, one puff piece.

There’s a miasma of negativity surrounding us. It’s deafening. Yet life goes on. We try to be healthy, tell jokes to lighten the moment, and search for light.

One place positivity is quite important is branding. (Didn’t see that one coming, did you?) Planners should always be looking for the light. For the promise of goodness, success and perhaps a touch of elation. That’s how I run my brand strategy practice. Lot’s of planners look to solve problems. I get that too.  It’s easy lifting. Many marketers looking to branding solutions are trying to fix things. But positivity is my jam and I like to think it makes for the best brand planning.

Find a positive brand objective. Seek out a positive consumer motivation. Bathe your discovery in warmth, consumer pride and satisfaction. We have lots of time to be solemn. Our job it to position brands around hope and positivity. Not the meh.

Peace.

 

 

Can Brand Strategy Enculturation Cause Disruption?

By
Steve Poppe
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0

A not so new marketing buzz word is Disruption.  It’s been around the advertising business for decades and thought-leader Charlene Li has made quite a business out of it.  I’ve been thinking about the word and my business, brand strategy, and wondering if brand strategy can actually be a disruptor. My answer is a big fat “yes.”  Brand strategy, as “an organizing principle for product, experience and messaging” has the ability to govern the decision-making of employees and cohorts. 

When decision-making is in lockstep within a company, consumer attitudes cannot be far behind. And consumer behavior quickly thereafter.  Early in my career I leaned the fastest way to change consumer attitudes was through TV advertising. Smack TV watchers in the face with a message and demonstration enough times and they tend to believe. But advertising has been so watered down and the web has collapsed many of the steps-to-a-sale so as to make advertising way less powerful.

Brand strategy however, brought forth through all channels and contact points can disrupt business as usual. But it must be tight. Compelling. And category-meaningful.  When products and services live the life of the brand strategy, and don’t just talk about it, change can happen. And fairly quickly. That’s disruptive.

Enculturating your brand strategy is the ideal. First within the brand company, then within the buying public.

Peace.

 

Tips For Field Sales Reps

By
Steve Poppe
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0

A few years ago, I had a slow period at What’s The Idea? and decided to take a sales job. Direct face-to-face sales was something I’d never done. (David Ogilvy would have been proud.) Anyway, my job was that of a field sales rep and I was paid to pitch kitchen remodeling at big box stores and street fairs.

After a while I got good at it and did a little sales training for the company. Following is a sales team presentation I gave, which just came across and thought worth sharing. Enjoy.

I’ve been asked to speak tonight on Success At Street Fairs and also How I Turned Around A Slow Start as a marketing rep. When I first began at KM I used to call in a lot of zeros — and now I’m putting up my fair share of crooked numbers.

Someone once described a co-worker of mine as a guy who spoke in tee-shirt slogans.  He was known for memorable snippets of advice and wisdom.

For my talk tonight, I thought I’d borrow from that and maybe update it a bit by sharing some “KM Marketing Memes.” Memes being internet information bites that sound memorable and get passed along. 

So here are a few marketing memes that helped me at fairs and in my turn-around. Meme number

 1. Make Them Like You. It helps prospects open up when they like you. A smile is great, but is it a warm smile? A real smile?  In order to be liked it helps if you’re happy. Are you happy or just smiling?  Use humor when you can, it goes a long way to likeability.  And likeability is a real word in marketing.  It’s not easy to stand around and be happy, especially if you’re having a slow day.  So entertain yourself. Make yourself see humor in your surroundings and the people passing by. Make yourself laugh out loud. If you make it easy for people to like you, you’ve taken a step toward a sale.  Ask John G. about likeability. Or Arturo. 

2. Be Interesting. Think on your feet.  Ask yourself “How am I going to get to this person?” After you have someone’s attention, the best way to keep it is to “be interesting.”  Make customers talk, make them think. Get them to share. If you see a Montauk tee-shirt, ask “Do you have a kitchen in Montauk? Or do you surf Ditch Plains?”  Learning about people lets you be fast on your feet with interesting comments.  Bring them in. Being interesting means being topical. Be current.  “Happy Friday.” “Did you know today is free slurpee day at 7-11?”  Don’t recite the same factoids about products that you use time and again. Find new ways to say them. And use research to come across as having good business sense “50% of US kitchens are white,” “Quartz is in 50% of European kitchens,” “80% of KM’s business is in refacing.”  There are lots of ways to make yourself and KM interesting to customers.

 3. It’s About Tempo. The tempo of the information you share with customers should be set by them. If someone is in a hurry, also be in a hurry. If someone is just killing time, help them kill time – but don’t lose other customers while doing so. Don’t fire-hose people with information. Watch their faces. Do they want to talk? Or listen?  Leave time to listen for sure. Pay close attention to customers and what they want. Also remember, speed kills believability. It can make your pitch sound rehearsed.  It should sound to customers like it’s the first time you are saying the words.  Sometimes I wait until the customer speaks first – leaving dead air for the first few seconds. This lets them drive and is a good way to gauge tempo.

4. Kitchen Time is Exciting Time. Next to buying a new house, remodeling a kitchen is the most exciting time for a homeowner. Get excited with them. Share that excitement. When a middle class family decides they have enough money to improve their kitchen — to make an investment in their biggest family asset — you can see the pride in their eyes.  It’s like a vacation for the sole.  Ask about the house. The kitchen.  Get specific with your questions. “Does your kitchen get enough light? How is storage? Do you like natural wood or color?” Has it a functional design?”  Customers light up when I share with them how exciting it is to remodel the kitchen.  Get them talking about it.  This can also be a point during which you remind them a great kitchen partner can do the job quickly, on time, and on budget. Sell the KM single source advantage.

5. Educate Don’t Most people don’t like pushy salesman. So if you hear yourself selling, recalibrate.  If you can educate a customer in a way that moves them closer to an appointment, you’re much better off.  Education is the best way to create preference and action. (Remember when you were 5 years old and an unknown kid would come up to you and say “Do you want to be my friend?” Without educating shoppers, it’s as if we’re asking them “Do you want to buy my cabinets?”) While educating, use specifics about product value… this gives people things they can remember.  “We’ve done 50 thousand kitchens. We are direct-to-consumer. No showrooms drives cost out of the business. Refacing is half the price of new cabinets. Lifetime warranty.”  Help customers learn about our value and advantages. It helps them decide. Leaders educate. When shoppers learn from KM, they view us as a leader.

6. Read People. Some people in the store are sad. Some are deep in thought. Some are busy. Others have family problems. Read their emotions and be sensitive. Acknowledge it, and decide when not to intrude.  Tell crying kids, “It will be okay.”  For the happy suggest “Someone’s having a great day.”  Be kind and concerned for all. People can feel authentic concern. And it may help you the next time they’re in the store.  It’s a lot easier for them to remember you than for you to remember them. Give them a reason to.

7. Memorable Reasons to Believe. Marketing today is too focused on claim, and not focused enough on proof. If you find yourself claiming KM is good at something, pay it off with reasons to believe.  Some examples on competitive price: “We wouldn’t be at BJs if we weren’t competitively priced. We make our own cabinets so there’s no mark-up.  On quality: “We warranty most products for the life of your home. Our A+ ratings from Customers are 95%. #1 In Qualified Remodeler”  By using proof rather than claim, you remove yourself from the bluster of salesmanship.

8. Don’t Be Needy. Customers can smell a needy salesperson. A salesperson who wants the lead or sale too much, or who is too over-the-top, can be off-putting. As the Marketer Magic book says, “be helpful, whether we earn their business or not.”  It’s our job to make them want a free in-home design consultation. That can’t be forced, but is may be encouraged. It’s an amazingly valuable gift we’re giving them.  Treat it as such. And don’t apologize for our three qualifiers: own the two-home owner sit, don’t apologize — it’s part of a business model that has made us a $25M company.    

9. Read the Cart. Every cart that passes by at a BJs tells a story. This meme is a little like the “read people” one pointed out earlier but’s more about the cart. How fast is the car travelling, and what does that mean about the shopper? Is the cart being used as a crutch, holding up an elderly or tired customer?  Is it full or empty?  Full carts can mean the person may not like shopping or has little time during the week to do so. A cart with a few items may mean a frequent shopper who has extra leisure time. A cake in the cart suggests an impending celebration. Does the cart have squeaky wheels?  If so, it might mean the shopper has a high threshold for pain or is lazy. Or hearing impaired.  That’s actually a joke. Ish. Do they buy organic products? This might be a cue to talk about refacing as a sustainable solution.  If there are 6 gallons of oil in the shopping cart it can mean they are at work. If the shopper is head down, double checking the receipt, they may be very price-conscious – someone for whom the $1500 and $500 promotions are worth pushing hard.  I’m not telling you to go all Sherlock Holmes every time a cart passes but little cues can help you start a dialogue. And big cues may help relate to shoppers and inform how to build your case for a KM consult.  Lastly, 

10. Be Fastidious About Your Display. Maybe this should have been my first point, but I’ll close with it to make it memorable. I set up my display so it’s as eye-catching as possible. Not over-crowded. Not too busy. Like a good web home page, don’t give customers too much to look at.  Use your best samples. Keep them beautiful and aligned. I sometimes prop doors up with pennies to make sure they are level.  Walk up the aisle to check sight lines. Be fastidious about the cleanliness of your samples and tablecloth. Let the display do a great deal of the work attracting customers. The display is your most important selling tool. And using the 6 foot table, it improves your chance of Quick Setting by 33%.     

I don’t expect you to put these ideas on a tee-shirt or share them on the web, but if they help you get one more Quick Set a week – or even just make you a little more spry at a BJs on any given Sunday, then maybe they’ve helped.

Thank you.

Hope some of these insights helps with your sales adventure.

Peace.

 

 

 

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