Don’t believe the entrepreneurial pundits who say startup success is as simple as launch, prove, and scale. It’s more like launch, prove, scale, prove, scale, prove, scale, and prove again! Most businesses fail not because they couldn’t prove their concept, but because they proved it, and then expanded too quickly... too … [Read more...]
Increase Sales with Positive Customer Experience
WORD OF MOUTH TRUMPS ADVERTISING
When a new company is just getting started or sales are down, the pressure is on for more advertising. But is that the best solution? Advertising is based on your long-term commitment to running expensive ads repeatedly before you can get any “traction.” But there is something else driving the sales gauge that is less … [Read more...]
Vermont’s Darn Tough Socks Deliver on their Brand Promise
KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!
Just when you thought everything was made in China, just when you thought there was no alternative to products that didn’t hold up, just when you thought that American manufacturing was dead, here comes Darn Tough! This plucky little Vermont sock company, founded in 2004, is demonstrating that Quality, Value, and Integrity … [Read more...]
4 Steps to Take Before You Grow Your Brand
TAKE A SHAKEDOWN CRUISE!
When it comes to launching a new branded product, we caution, “Every ship that sinks was first launched!” The launch is not the magic. Surviving the first few months is not the magic. Even achieving positive cash flow is not the magic. The real magic is the navigational skills that get your “entrepreneur-ship” to port … [Read more...]
Why Brands Are King – Brands Trump Commodities
KLEENEX - MORE THAN SOMETHING TO SNEEZE AT!
Like Kleenex, Xerox, and Coke, some consumer brands are so strong that their very names have replaced the commodities they represent in the lexicon. But they are commodities none the less. What has elevated these brand names to this level is their history, popularity, or virtual monopoly of their category. Every brand … [Read more...]
7 Characteristics that Set True Entrepreneurs Apart
TRUE ENTREPRENEURS ARE BRAND BUILDERS
These days the word “entrepreneur” has been expanded to mean just about anyone who is self- employed. But we would like to see a new definition that distinguishes between solopreneurs, sole proprietors and single service providers on the one hand, and brand equity builders on the other. What really distinguishes brand … [Read more...]
A Bad Brand Design Decision Should Be Corrected, Not Justified
DON’T GET THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE!
When it comes to branding decisions, some are much more successful than others. But when jobs are at stake and resumes are being built, there is a tendency, especially among larger organizations, to try to justify the brand design decisions and hold the course. Sometimes this happens within the company and sometimes it … [Read more...]
Grow Your Brand by Getting Your Non Salespeople into the Field
MEET THE REAL BOSS!
Because salespeople are on the “outside” in most companies, and everybody else is on the “inside,” there is a tendency to view the sales team as somehow separate from the office folks. This can be very counterproductive when it comes to brand building. The inside vs outside physical division can lead to structural and … [Read more...]
Seizing Opportunity Requires Fast Action and On-the-fly Corrections
THE PROBLEM WITH PERFECT
Street smart brand builders are light on their feet, constantly looking for current events, market changes, and consumer mood shifts they can take advantage of. When you are building your brand, pop-up opportunities abound. But can you take advantage of them before that window of opportunity is closed? The best approach … [Read more...]
New Brands Should Lever Their Positive Prospects
SURROUND THE NAY-SAYERS WITH SUCCESS!
When many hopeful startups enter the marketplace, they are surprised by the large percentage of “nay-sayers” they encounter right off the bat! These folks say “no” because they’ve never seen your brand before. They have no history with it. They already have performing brands and limited space. They don’t want to give up … [Read more...]
The Best Brand Building Advice for the New Year
SAY HELLO TO THE REAL BRAND OWNERS!
“With your experience in the real world of brand building, can you just give me the one thing I need to know to build my brand in the New Year?” A member of the audience asked us this question after a recent keynote address. These days it seems like everybody just wants everything boiled down to one kernel of truth. It’s … [Read more...]
Tony Robbins’ Courses Helped Us Build the Famous Barefoot Wine Brand
IT’S A LONG DRIVE FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO LA
When we started Barefoot Wine, it was without money or knowledge of the wine industry. But we also had a few other challenges we were carrying around with us - right between our ears. For one thing, we had to overcome the negative thoughts that had been haunting us since childhood. These thoughts existed due to the cynical, … [Read more...]
They’re Not Strangers, They’re Customers
DON’T TURN MONEY AWAY!
We live in a world where entire groups of people are suddenly classified, by some, as the enemy, or personas non grata, but if we can get over political classifications we realize that everyone is our customer at some level. The real question is, will they buy our goods and services? For brand builders there is only one … [Read more...]
The Lifetime Value of Your Brand’s Customers
NOT JUST A ONE-TIMER
When you acquire a customer, you get something else - you get the opportunity to make them a lifetime customer. What is the value of that? What do you have to do to keep them buying your brand? It's an opportunity, not a given. In fact it's more of a challenge! Before they bought your brand, you could not lose them because … [Read more...]
Selling Your Brand Over the Web is a Price Race to the Bottom
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
When speaking to the Executive MBA class at Tulane University last week we were asked, “Why bother with bricks and mortar distribution challenges if you can sell your brand on the web?” We often get this question, especially from millennials who grew up with online commerce and don’t see the advantages of bricks-and-mortar … [Read more...]
Brands Can be Hurt by Turnover When Key Relationships Are Severed
IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT!
Lost opportunities, reduced sales, broken relationships. These are the nightmares of all brand builders. Maintaining stable business relationships are crucial to brand growth, and business relationships are based on performance over time. So why would a brand builder risk turnover when key relationships hang in the balance … [Read more...]
Brand Builders Who Produce and Sell Their Own Products Can Underestimate the Value of Their Own Labor
DON’T GET TRAPPED BY DOING IT ALL
Some brand-building entrepreneurs start off doing everything themselves, from production and supply chain management, to sales and customer service. Often this works – for a while! But ultimately they realize that in order to grow their brand, they must hire salespeople besides themselves. Then they realize they have to … [Read more...]
Consumer Brands Live or Die by their Adjacencies
YOU ARE KNOWN BY THE COMPANY YOU KEEP
Consumer food and beverage brands destined for bricks and mortar retail stores had better know what is slotted next to them on the shelf. All your great work on branding, brand development, logo design, and packaging can suddenly come to an abrupt halt if your branded products are misplaced on the shelf. This is why a … [Read more...]
Brand Builders Must Respect Shipping Size, Weight, and Configuration Requirements.
BIGGER ISN”T ALWAYS BETTER
Too many compelling package designs fail simply because they aren’t practical. During the design phase it is essential that you realize that you don't have the world of all possibilities in which to design your package. Find out what the distribution system demands before you even begin the design of your package or label. … [Read more...]
Successful Brand Builders have to be Prepared to do the Middlemen’s Work
THAT’S NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR
When your brand is new, you may be disappointed by the performance of brokers, distributers, jobbers and retailers in the handling and merchandising of your branded products. We were! In fact we were in denial for months. You know that river in Egypt? We were drowning in it. Finally we realized that we had to do “their” … [Read more...]