Sticker Worthy Brands

If your brand reaches a point where people feel aligning with you says something positive about their own personal brand, I think you have achieved something special.  I can't think of many brands that have managed such success.    Apple, Harley-Davidson,Disney yes; Ford, Chevy, Nike, a little bit, others?  There are also niche brands that have loyal followings, but the list of big brands is pretty short.

Looking at bumper stickers is a good hint to see if a brand achieved this level of meaning. The next question is how did these brands do it?

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Bumper Sticker Branding

The Bumper Sticker Factor in Marketing | The Buzz by Mike Schaffer

Great Vision Statements: Whole Foods

There is a whole lot to like here.  This has the makings of a great vision statement:

"Our motto — Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet — emphasizes that our vision reaches far beyond just being a food retailer. Our success in fulfilling our vision is measured by customer satisfaction, Team Member excellence and happiness, return on capital investment, improvement in the state of the environment, and local and larger community support."

Pros: I love the concept of interdependence.  We have something to give to customers and employees and they have something to give to us. We are successful if our customers are successful.  Ties in very nicely with the principle that Your vision and your customers' vision should be the same.
They are also doing a great job of defining their brand as everything that really matters and putting the customer first.
Another strong point, is the honest communication you see in this document.  They openly admit they are publicly traded and that profits are OK.  It is important to be open and honest about that.  In addition, this is really powerful, When Whole Foods Market fails to measure up to its stated Vision, as it inevitably will at times, we should not despair. Rather let us take up the challenge together to bring our reality closer to our vision. The future we will experience tomorrow is created one step at a time today."  Finally, I love the passion in the entire vision statement.  It really speaks beyond simply selling food.  

The biggest negative I see in this vision is that they barely define what the vision is.  What is the end state?  What do they hope for their customers to accomplish?
Score 8 out 10

American Airlines unveils new logo with FutureBrand | The Drum

American Airlines unveils new logo with FutureBrand | The Drum I think it looks pretty good, I just hope it didn't take away too much focus from the things that really create a better airline.

Great Vision Statements: Amazon.com

I plan on doing a series of posts on great vision statements that align with the I VIEW THE TOP philosophy.  First up is Amazon.com. Amazon.com has a great vision statement:

Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.  

Pros: 
Amazon's goals are aligned with their customers' goals
Amazon's potential growth is defined by their vision (the earth, people) 
For the most part, it is not prescriptive in how they achieve it which allows them to be focused on delivering on their vision, not technology or strategy

Cons: The minor quibble I have with their vision statement is that it includes the word "online".  I guess you can expand the definition of online to cover mobile and other digital channels, but what if the concept of online goes away or becomes less meaningful?  Amazon could be too focused on online delivery and miss other opportunities.  

"Packaging Redesign" cartoon | Tom Fishburne: Marketoonist

"Packaging Redesign" cartoon | Tom Fishburne: Marketoonist This cartoon makes you think about what is really branding?  Is it packaging or is it the execution of your vision?  It is both to a certain extent, but I think it is worth asking, are my customers better served by updated packaging or by better execution of the vision?  

Want Motivated Employees? Put Them In Contact With The People They Help | Fast Company

Want Motivated Employees? Put Them In Contact With The People They Help | Fast Company How do you give employees' work meaning? Show them what their work really means to people. I think this is going to become an increasingly important leadership tool.

Google's Vision and fundamental truths

Ten things we know to be true – Company – Google I stumbled upon this page from Google today.  The page outlines 10 fundamental truths for Google.  I like it and I think it has been a major factor in their growth.  A few of them align very nicely with the I VIEW THE TOP principles.

1. Focus on the user and all else will follow. this aligns well with Vision 
2. It’s best to do one thing really, really well. aligns well with Brand
6. You can make money without doing evil. aligns with Open and Honest Communication
8. The need for information crosses all borders. aligns with Open Markets
10. Great just isn’t good enough. aligns with Perform Miracles

What is wrong with Net Promoter Score...

...nothing actually. I love net promoter score, but I do think there could be an opportunity to improve NPS.  I read someplace once that a customer with a great experience will on average will tell 4 people about it, but a person with a bad experience will tell 10 people about it.
 I don't have any research or supporting data on this other than one data point, me.  For me, I definitely tell more people about a bad experience than I do about a great experience.  When I had some significant difficulties with our home security provider (they could only do their software updates at 3am in the morning which caused the system to beep repeatedly), trust me, everyone around me heard about. I am also a person who makes a conscious to let people know about great experiences as well, but even for me the ratio of negative referrals is definitely greater.

Long story short, NPS should be updated to reflect how influential really negative reviews affect an organization.

Management Is (Still) Not Leadership - John Kotter - Harvard Business Review

Management Is (Still) Not Leadership - John Kotter - Harvard Business Review  I purposely do not spend a lot of time on this blog talking about how a business should actually be run apart from marketing (maybe at some future point), but leadership is required to make all of it happen.

How Marketing Will Change In 2013: The Strategic Forecast | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce

How Marketing Will Change In 2013: The Strategic Forecast | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce

If you give marketers an open forum to speak, you are going to get a lot of buzzwords, but there are a few diamonds in the rough here. I like this one, "Content (as in "happy customers") Marketing: Content marketing was all the rage in 2012, despite being misunderstood in terms of its scope and potential as a way of approaching sales and brand growth. Its full potential will begin to be realized in 2013, as marketers come to understand that: a) It’s simply a customer-first philosophy that dictates you deliver marketing consumers value, and b) It can--and must--be measured in terms of creating behavioral changes such as increasing consideration and, yes, sales."

Seth's Blog: What people buy when they buy something on sale

Seth's Blog: What people buy when they buy something on sale  I think organizations should be open and honest about their prices, which in general means that pricing games will ultimate be to a company's detriment, but the one exception is if sale promotions are part of the companies vision because their customers like to play the game.

Stop Talking About Apple, And 7 Other Brand Resolutions | Fast Company

Stop Talking About Apple, And 7 Other Brand Resolutions | Fast Company

Great article and a couple of really standout points, the first on big data which supports what I was saying earlier about is big data good and of course I love investing in customer service.

5. Don’t let big data blind you from universal truths. That’s no doubt that the business intelligence that comes from epic crunching of endless numbers can yield unprecedented insights into behavior, patterns of consumption, and unexpected connections. Like more insomniacs in the Midwest wear more purple and are earlier technology adopters than those who are sleepless in Seattle.

But turning marketing into atoms and algorithms can only go so far. Great, enduring brands are based on universal truths, and the best marketers will combine the computational skills that divide, with the psychological insights that conquer.

6. Over-invest in customer service. Your 800 number is the front line of brand building. Yet I’m continually stunned by how little attention the critical world of customer service receives from senior management. And how much of that attention is spent on how to take costs out, how to get people off the phone faster, how to hide your number on your website so people won’t call.

Customer service needs to be reinvented for a world where consumers are demanding more, where comparisons happen in real time, where loyalty is fleeting and there’s diminishing friction in changing brands. Customer service is where social starts.

My proposal for 2013 is that every CEO and CMO spend an hour a week listening in on some of their customer service calls. The result would be eye-opening--and a revolution in customer service, I assure you.

The key to future success in mobile apps

A VC: App to App Handshakes At first blush this seems fairly trivial, but the reality is that this is a huge issue.  Fundamental to success.  In fact, I read an article about the Ubuntu mobile OS the other day and how it would struggle to find footing, if they focused on this aggressively and did not worry so much about things like swipes in the UI, they could find success.  Why?  Because there are so many great apps that can accomplish a small task, but true ecosystem greatness will only come when they can work together.  

From Zipcar to the Sharing Economy - Arun Sundararajan - Harvard Business Review

From Zipcar to the Sharing Economy - Arun Sundararajan - Harvard Business Review I like this a lot. The idea of the customer of being more than just a customer, but a participant in the success of an organization, is very powerful.

Jeff Bezos on Leading for the Long-Term at Amazon - HBR IdeaCast - Harvard Business Review

Jeff Bezos on Leading for the Long-Term at Amazon - HBR IdeaCast - Harvard Business Review

Excellent interview with Jeff Bezos. Probably not much new here, but I think the focus on long term planning combined with putting the customer first is a great way to achieve success. I also like the fact that Bezos is considering physical stores and an Amazon phone but Amazon won't do those unless they have a different angle than what exists today. Amazon doesn't want to be just the 101st store on the block or the 101st phone on the shelves

Is Big Data Bad For You or Your Business?

You cannot read an technology or marketing publication today without a bunch of articles on big data and how it is changing the world.  I love the idea of big data and with every article I start to envision how it can fix things, but the reality is that for most organizations big data is not fundamental to success at this point.  Why?  Because there ARE fundamental issues that need to be resolved first.  Issues around vision, brand, employees, etc... Just replace advertising with big data in this cartoon by Tom Fishburne and the outcome is the same.

5 Lessons Microsoft Must Learn To Compete In 2013 | Fast Company

5 Lessons Microsoft Must Learn To Compete In 2013 | Fast Company This is an interesting article about what Microsoft has to do to in 2013.  I agree with most of the points, but I think they are symptoms of a larger cause, which is lack of comprehensive vision.  And of course I like point number 5, "Storytelling Is Important!"

Avis Budget snaps up car sharing leader Zipcar for $500M — Cleantech News and Analysis

Avis Budget snaps up car sharing leader Zipcar for $500M — Cleantech News and Analysis

I like this move by Avis, instead of their vision merely being how can we best rent cars, it is "Our customers temporarily need a vehicle, how can we best serve them?"

Instead of Making Resolutions, Dream - Whitney Johnson - Harvard Business Review

Instead of Making Resolutions, Dream - Whitney Johnson - Harvard Business Review

This is an excellent article and illustrates how the power of passion, vision, and brand scale from the individual to the corporation.