Brand Purpose Gives Your Customers a Social Reason to Buy Your Products
WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR?
Consumers today realize that they are voting with their purchases. The world we live in is the result of the products we buy. It’s not enough for brand builders anymore to provide the best, the cheapest, or the most for the money. Now, more than ever,...
3 Big Risks of Rebranding
IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT!
Most brands don’t die because they are murdered by the competition. Most brands die of self-inflicted wounds. In the time we built the Barefoot Wine brand, we saw many brands come and go in the marketplace. Most of them fell victim to their own rebranding campaign....
5 Ways Product Differentiation Can Improve Your Sales
BUT HOW IS IT DIFFERENT!
There's so much noise out there in the competitive market. And it's only natural for customers to notice and be attracted to products that have differentiated themselves. They are drawn to the unique features that set those products apart from their competitors. Successful consumer brand builders...
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...
7 Responsibilities That Distinguish a Brand From a Product
YOU ARE YOUR PRODUCT!
The terms “brand” and “product” are often used interchangeably. This is especially true in the supply and distribution chain where branded products are moved along until they finally get to the consumers, usually on a retail store shelf. You will often hear consumer brand builders say...
7 Customer Loyalty Factors that Affect the Success of Your Brand
THAT’S MY BRAND!
Ever wonder where your new customers come from? They came from someone else’s brand! That’s right, they lost them and you picked them up! The question is can you hold on to those new customers, or will you lose them like they did? What are the...
7 Common Branding Mistakes that Can Hurt Your Brand
“OUCH!”
When all that work that you’ve been doing to build your brand to make it a household word finally begins to pay off, something else happens. Your brand becomes vulnerable! When it was new and relatively unknown, you could make a mistake and it would not be...
5 Steps to Strong Brand Recognition in The CPG Space
“THAT’S THE ONE!”
When you go to any store or online retailer, there are so many choices in every category, it makes you wonder how any one brand ever gets noticed over another. If you’re like us, you recognize the brands that have consistently provided dependable value time and...
7 Logo Mishaps That Can Cost You Plenty!
BAD LOGOS ARE NO-GOES!
Most marketing people put a lot of emphasis on logos. To hear them talk, it’s the logo that sells the product. They like to show you logos they’ve designed that have gone on to “build” amazing brands. But they’re not going to show you their client’s...
CPG Marketing Communications Must Respect the Retail Environment
I GET IT!
When you ask your friend who just made a new purchase, “Why did you buy that?” their answer is generally the result of effective marketing communication. They may respond with features and benefits, pricing and value, or reputation and accolades. These are all part of marketing...
7 Ways to Achieve Brand Loyalty and Turn Your Customers into Advocates
THAT BRAND IS “MY” BRAND!
You can’t go to a supermarket, hardware store, movie, or even buy an airplane ticket without being exposed to some kind of a brand loyalty program. Whether it’s supersaver, club membership, or travel miles, they all think they can keep you loyal with credits and freebees...
The 4 Stages of Business Development Require Different Strategies for Brand Survival and Growth
BE PREPARED!
As your consumer brand business develops, it will move through 4 distinct stages. It’s critical to the survival of your brand to recognize what stage you are in and what each requires before you get there and run into a wall. Understanding what to look for...
Design Your Brand Name, Logo and Catch Phrase to be Clear and Powerful
RUN IT UP THE FLAG POLE – SEE IF ANYONE SALUTES!
When most people think of consumer packaged goods (CPG) branding, they immediately think of brand names, logos and catchphrases. Even though there is a ton more to successful branding, like distribution, merchandising, packaging and positioning, it is the name, logo and slogan that most people remember....
Build Your Brand by Thanking Your Customers at Every Level
GET MORE OF WHAT YOU’RE THANKFUL FOR!
The two words that have the biggest impact on your CPG brand building efforts are, “THANK YOU!” This simple acknowledgment sends an important message of appreciation to your customers at every level of distribution - not just your consumers! But who are you thanking? And what...
9 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Charitable Donation
IT PAYS TO GIVE
“I donated products to a non-profit and it didn’t do us any good!” We hear this all the time. Many brand builders are discouraged from contributing their CPG brands to worthy causes because they don’t get thanked, they don’t get press, and they don’t get brand...
Build Your Brand by Helping in Times of Disaster
THANKS FOR THE HELP!
We have never seen so many natural disasters in such a short period of time. It is now obvious that we have developed populations and infrastructure in harm’s way. As the climate changes, it is becoming more apparent that these events will be the norm going...
5 Ways to Love Your Complaining Customers
“THEY TREATED ME RIGHT!”
Nobody likes complainers, right? They can’t be satisfied. They want something for nothing. They called just to annoy someone, and that was you. But many who call are sincere and should be treated like gold because this is a golden opportunity! Most unhappy customers just vote...
5 Ways Consumer Brand Builders Can Sell from the Bottom Shelf
NOBODY LOOKS DOWN!
We used to laugh over how the bread salespeople would fight over the eye level shelf position in the stores - that is until we had a branded product of our own. Suddenly we realized how important shelf position was to building a consumer brand. So...