November 19, 2014 · 10:53 am

Brand Purpose

I was reading a report on lifestyle segmentation and women when I came across a term that I really like: Brand Purpose. I know – if this is what you read for fun, what the heck does your work reading entail?  In any event, the term comes from the folks at Harbinger Communications and it’s so of their USP – Unique Selling Proposition. They define it thusly:

Brand purpose is the ownable, actionable impact the brand will make on the lives of the target consumers, rooted at the intersection of what the brand offers the world and the consumer’s deepest cares and desires.

There are a couple of things to consider here and I think it isn’t a bad exercise for anyone is business (and, therefore, anyone with a brand) to think about them.  First, what does your brand offer the world?  How is it different from anyone else doing what you do or offering the same type of product or service?  What problems are you solving for your customers?  I’m amazed when I speak to businesses about this how few of them have a very clear notion of the answer to those questions.

Second.  What do you know about your consumer?  You have rams of information at your fingertips about the “what” – what did they buy, what was the average sale, etc.  You might know their basic demography.  But what do you know about their motivations?  What primary research have you done?  What feedback do you get on a regular basis?  The world is no longer “we talk, you listen.”  Brands need to do way more listening than talking.

Finally, how can you “own” the answers to the above?  Can anyone else come in and take your place in the consumer’s mind?  Is your positioning and purpose actionable, or is it just a nice mission statement?  Are you adding genuine value to peoples’ lives or are you just making this month’s sales target?

Something to consider today!

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November 18, 2014 · 12:23 pm

What Business Hours?

I tried to pay my health insurance premium on Saturday. Even though I have a 31 day grace period, I’m always prompt about sending it in on the due date since I don’t want a sniffle to turn into pneumonia which rapidly becomes bankruptcy.

I’ve been paying the bill online for a year. It’s a pretty easy system. Input the account number, input the invoice number, tell them if you want the money taken from a bank or a credit card and you’re good to go. This time, not so much. With the invoice in my hand I was told the system could not find my information. Oh sure – they knew the group number existed, but not the invoice. Hmm. Maybe using the telephone payment system?

Same result. The automated system couldn’t find my invoice either. No problem. Heck, it’s late morning on a Saturday – let’s call customer service and speak with a human. Um – no. Not until 8am Monday. I guess it hasn’t dawned on this company that people who are at work during the week might like to have an opportunity to speak to customer service when they have an hour to wait on hold and do their business.

So promptly at 8 Monday morning I called. I got right through to an agent who found my invoice without an issue and took my payment. As it turned out their system had a database issue over the weekend which is why it couldn’t process any payments.  Which prompted a couple of thoughts.

If you have critical systems you need to have monitors in place which alert you to failure.  Any web-based client who owns servers has some sort of alert in place to tell them if something is down.  Even more have alerts in place to tell them if something is running slowly, if a DDoS attack is happening, or if any number of other events occur that affects site performance and, therefore, their business.  In this case, the company could not take in revenue.  That’s pretty important.

Doing business when YOU want and not when your customer is ready is so last century.  I realize that implementing automated systems to facilitate that during non-business hours is what the company was doing but failing to monitor and maintain those systems is the same as not having them.  Actually, it may be even worse since it frustrates your customers.

The concept of “business hours” is dead.  Your business is open 24/7.  Maybe it’s just your mind that’s closed?

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November 14, 2014 · 11:30 am

It’s The Tortilla, Stupid

Foodie Friday! For our fun this week, let’s consider the taco. Not the Taco Bell sort of dish but the real deal one can find everywhere from food trucks to bars to restaurants. They come in many varieties with different types of wrappers. I’m a fan, mostly because you can order a couple of one type, a couple of another type, and not be overly full. I’m also a fan of finger food and tacos meet that criterion as well.

English: Don Chow Tacos Ultimate LA Taco

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tacos de asador, tacos de cazo, tacos dorados (flautas to you!) – that’s just the start to a list of the dozens of varieties that exist. They all share one thing. They are some sort of filling encased in either a corn or flour tortilla. The meat may be marinated and grilled, fried, or boiled. Fish may be grilled or fried. The taco may be soft or hard, flat or puffy. There may or may not be guacamole or salsa or onions inside. But there is also a business point in there.

The proteins in the taco are the star of the show.  As you eat them you’re probably thinking about the flavor and texture of the meat or fish.  What you might not realize is that the tortilla is what makes the dish.  First, without the tortilla you’ve got a salad (or a very messy hand!).  But it’s the subtile flavor and crunch (or not) of the tortilla that brings the dish together.  That’s my business point.

We tend to focus on the “stars” in business.  The CEO, the productive salesperson, the marketing genius.  We forget sometimes that without the support staff – the tortillas – they would not be able to bring to the business what they do.  More importantly, just as the “wrong” tortilla (what the heck are puffy tacos anyway?) can run perfectly cooked and flavored filling, disgruntled staff can kill a star performer.  Try a taco with a fresh, homemade tortilla and you will understand the importance of the wrapper in making up for any flaws in the “star”.  Run your business with a happy, productive, supportive staff and you’ll find out how much better the “faces” of the company become.

Make sense?

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