7 Questions to Distinguish a Brand Builder from a Merchant– A New Definition of Entrepreneur
SHORT-TERM PROFITS OR LONG-TERM BRAND EQUITY?
We are international speakers on entrepreneurship. We've spoken it more than 50 schools teach entrepreneurship internationally. We've also given more than 50 keynotes to large industry conferences and summits. One of the questions we often get is, “Do we need a new definition of entrepreneurship?” The...
3 Steps to Mitigate Product Harm and Save Your Brand
“I LIKE HOW THEY HANDLED THAT!”
Your product has been found to be defective! You’re facing a market-wide recall! Your buyers are considering whether to continue to do business with you or not. All those years of brand building are suddenly working against you. Your brand is finally a household word. But...
Accelerate Online Brand Building with Physical Distribution
I’VE SEEN THAT BRAND BEFORE!
We spend a lot of time and money these days on online brand building. There are thousands of online marketers who promise to transform your sales. They’ll build you funnels, buy you Facebook ads, and even write compelling copy. But who does it go to? A...
5 January Challenges for CPG Brand Builders
DID YOU MAKE THE CUT?
New Year’s means a lot of things to a lot of people, but in the CPG world, it’s life or death! January is by far the most challenging and perplexing month of the year. It is unlike any other month, making it a surprise for most...
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...
Building a CPG Brand Requires Building and Maintaining Distribution
“WE DON’T CARRY THAT BRAND ANYMORE!”
Consumer Packaged Goods Brands are physical and therefore must be physically available to be purchased. All the brand building in the world won’t help if your brand is not available. We’ve seen tons of advertising money spent in vain because the brand builders did not pursue...
CPG Brand Builders Often Fail Before Finding Out What They Need to Succeed
True Brand Building Success Requires a Long Attention Span
“BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!”
Today folks think it’s OK to have a short attention span. We have so much competing for our attention, we’re so busy, and we have such limited time. We tend to want the short answer, the bottom line, or “the one thing” … or we won’t...
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...
Measuring Brand Equity is Like Trying to Hit a Moving Target
HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH? …HOW ABOUT NOW?
Once your brand sells, there is no question about the value of your brand equity. It’s the time before that sale is final when your brand’s equity is a moving target. However, it is possible to understand the factors, or metrics, that determine that value –...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Pricing is a Tricky Skill Brand Builders Must Master
WALKING THE TIGHT ROPE
One of the key elements of brand building is proper pricing. It also the hardest to get right. There are so many conflicting requirements that getting it right is like trying to escape the prison of established pricing conventions on a tight rope. Go too far...
Cost Accounting is Essential to Brand Builders
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
We recently spoke to several hundred Accounting Students at Lethbridge University at their Calgary campus. As brand builders, how could we resonate with this audience? How were we going to inspire accountants? Cost Accounting, that’s how! Yes, it turns out that without great cost accounting there...
5 Threats That Can Kill Your Brand in the New Year! – Part 1
MARKETING
We learned a lot about building an international brand during the two decades we grew Barefoot Wines. Most of it we learned the hard way, and that is why today we share our lessons in this blog devoted to brand building. Although we were successful, we...