Perceived Value is a Personal Choice
IN RELATION TO WHAT?
It’s really hard to give folks a good deal! This is especially true when your price matches a point that is not known for high quality. We ran into this perceived value challenge when we started Barefoot Wine. Our concept was to produce a product that...
Don’t Exceed Your “Brandwidth”
TOO WIDE, TOO FAST
Focus is the key to any brand building effort. But what if your buyer asks for something else? Do you run around and create it for them, or do you stick to your guns? Certainly, one more offering couldn’t hurt, and you would get that buyer...
Physical Product Brand Builders Must Consider the Cost of Sales
WHAT DOES IT COST TO SELL?
Probably the biggest challenge we faced in building the Barefoot Wine Brand was to understand the cost of sales. We are not talking about the cost of goods, which was relatively obvious, but the cost of sales, which was a lot less apparent and hidden in...
Diligent Quality Control Can Save Your Brand’s Reputation
I DON’T BUY THAT BRAND ANYMORE!
When it comes to brand building, your greatest advocates can become your greatest detractors - over night! It takes years of consistently delivering quality to develop a strong base of satisfied customers who will stick their necks out and actually advocate for your brand. This is...
Brand Building – Nobody Wants to Do the Missionary Work
BREAKING THE ICE
When you are out to disrupt your industry, be prepared for the “missionary work.” This is the inglorious, frustrating, thankless, and painfully slow part of the startup process that new brand producers, in their excitement, often overlook. You can see how your invention, idea, or new...
Launching a New Brand Requires Consistent Effort to Overcome Inertia
EVERY SHIP THAT SINKS WAS FIRST LAUNCHED
Launching a new brand is easy. Getting it out of the harbor and onto the open seas of commerce is much more difficult. It seems like every day you hear about a new business launch. But you hear very little about what it takes to gain...
7 Obstacles that Can Slow Your Brand Growth
THE GRIND
Successful brand building requires a good plan, a great product, excellent positioning, and a good value, but the most essential ingredient is time. Sometimes it seems like your growth is gaining steam, then, for apparently no reason, it stymies. Sometimes it’s beyond your control and sometimes...
The Brand Name That Says It All! Barefoot Bubbly Sells One Million Cases!
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
It was storming that night in 1996 when Michael slowly drove up the long dirt road that lead to his humble farmhouse in the rural hills of western Sonoma County. He was careful not to spin out in the mud nor get grabbed by the treacherous...
Brand Image Suffers When Products are Out of Stock
DON’T PLAY HARD TO GET
We are often asked, “What was the biggest challenge you faced growing the Barefoot Wine brand?” People are always surprised by our answer, “out-of-stocks.” It’s the biggest problem facing any new brand. Some purists try to make a distinction between brands and products, often because they...
College Courses for Brand Builders
THE RETURN OF THE LIBERAL ARTS
When we talk to students about entrepreneurship, we are often asked, “What courses should I take in college besides entrepreneurship?” Entrepreneurship classes do a great job providing students with the structural and operational tools required to build their business. But ultimately, all businesses are brand building....
Successful Brand Building Requires Successful Entrepreneurship
THERE'S A "SHIP" IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
So much of successful entrepreneurship is brand building that when you finally go to monetize your business, it’s your brand equity that figures so prominently in the value of any acquisition or merger. This is why we focus on entrepreneurship. It is through entrepreneurship that many...
7 Ways Big Companies Can Become More Entrepreneurial – Part 6
RECRUIT, SOLICIT, AND AWARD FOR CREATIVITY
Today it seems like every big corporation wants to become more entrepreneurial. They envy the creativity and freedom of small start-ups, and they want that spirit in their own companies. In order to achieve the entrepreneurial spirit, they may have to think and act, even budget...
New Brands Must Survive Repeated Murder Attempts
THE BRAND THAT WOULD NOT DIE
Since it's Halloween, we thought we’d share a scary brand story. For the first five years of our brand’s existence, we had to survive various attempts to kill it. Even after that, we had to be constantly vigilant to protect it from threats to its very...
Brand Story: Barefoot Wine
HOW HARDSHIP, HUSTLE, AND HEART BUILT A BEST SELLER
Be 2 Steps Ahead of the Others On Tuesday, October 16, 2012, we will do something entirely out-of-the-box for the book industry, as far as we know. We will offer a limited number of advance eBooks 90 days before the official release of the paperback, The...
Maximize Your Impressions with Strategically Chosen Logo Wear
WORN OFTEN OR WORN OUT - LOGO WEAR IS MORE THAN LAUNDRY
When we had Barefoot Wines, like many companies, we used logo products to get our name and image out there. These included T-shirts, tank tops, polo shirts, corkscrews and visors. We always chose the best quality, most long-lasting items we could find to put our logo...