Countless brands struggle with who they are versus who they want to be. Brands that understand who they are, what they can do better in, and where they aren't likely to better appeal to a customer are most likely to achieve vast success. It's very rare that small and mid-sized businesses can appeal to everyone.
Despite it, companies don't need 51 percent market share to succeed -- only politicians need 51 percent to win. Many times, we realize that when top company executives are separated they will detail two different company visions, which can spell trouble when company representatives talk to the press, or even to their own employees. Consistency can position strong points accurately and downplay limitations for the outside world. Doing so takes guts, honesty and humility.
We worked for a beverage brand whose parent company wanted it to be premium, but its distribution and consumers were far from premium. There is nothing wrong with selling a lot of product to a mid-level market customer, but our client's parent company thought there was. No matter how hard the company tried with upscale campaigns, the efforts did not resonate with the up-market audience the brand hoped to entice -- not in market research, social networking comments and discussions, and naturally, not in sales. In the beat-head-against-wall process, the company neglected the very customer that spent money on the brand -- mid-market buyers. No matter how often the media said it, how many consumers said it, how many times the cash register said it, or how often retailers said it, they weren't hearing that their customer was a pure middle-class, middle-America consumer.
It was tough to convince the brand that its existing customer represented a great market -- one it should prize and respect (all money is green). This consumer was buying the product despite the fact, or perhaps because of the fact, that they never even saw the messages the company was sending to a higher-end market.
Finally, a new Chief Marketing Officer was hired, and he aggressively targeted the existing and core consumer. Within one quarter of shifting messaging to a lower-end audience, the company's sales grew. Sales were up for seven quarters in a row -- I believe in large part because the brand had finally spoken directly and very personally to its existing loyal customers in language "regular people" understand. Until, that is, the CEO was fired, and the CMO took a new job shortly thereafter.
The new CEO switched back to the old messaging at the behest of the parent company. Guess what happened? Sales spiraled downward within months of changing strategy. The brand as it exists will never be up-market; it would have to change its name, design, taste -- everything -- for that shift to happen. But then it would no longer be the same brand, would it?
Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR - Friend him on Facebook here. He is also author of "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations."
SOURCE http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronn-torossian/marketers-do-best-when-realizing_b_4790812.html
Despite it, companies don't need 51 percent market share to succeed -- only politicians need 51 percent to win. Many times, we realize that when top company executives are separated they will detail two different company visions, which can spell trouble when company representatives talk to the press, or even to their own employees. Consistency can position strong points accurately and downplay limitations for the outside world. Doing so takes guts, honesty and humility.
We worked for a beverage brand whose parent company wanted it to be premium, but its distribution and consumers were far from premium. There is nothing wrong with selling a lot of product to a mid-level market customer, but our client's parent company thought there was. No matter how hard the company tried with upscale campaigns, the efforts did not resonate with the up-market audience the brand hoped to entice -- not in market research, social networking comments and discussions, and naturally, not in sales. In the beat-head-against-wall process, the company neglected the very customer that spent money on the brand -- mid-market buyers. No matter how often the media said it, how many consumers said it, how many times the cash register said it, or how often retailers said it, they weren't hearing that their customer was a pure middle-class, middle-America consumer.
It was tough to convince the brand that its existing customer represented a great market -- one it should prize and respect (all money is green). This consumer was buying the product despite the fact, or perhaps because of the fact, that they never even saw the messages the company was sending to a higher-end market.
Finally, a new Chief Marketing Officer was hired, and he aggressively targeted the existing and core consumer. Within one quarter of shifting messaging to a lower-end audience, the company's sales grew. Sales were up for seven quarters in a row -- I believe in large part because the brand had finally spoken directly and very personally to its existing loyal customers in language "regular people" understand. Until, that is, the CEO was fired, and the CMO took a new job shortly thereafter.
The new CEO switched back to the old messaging at the behest of the parent company. Guess what happened? Sales spiraled downward within months of changing strategy. The brand as it exists will never be up-market; it would have to change its name, design, taste -- everything -- for that shift to happen. But then it would no longer be the same brand, would it?
Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR - Friend him on Facebook here. He is also author of "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations."
SOURCE http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronn-torossian/marketers-do-best-when-realizing_b_4790812.html
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