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Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
What is a brand to do when it finds itself caught in a place where it needs to change, or it will die? More to the point, what do those who are charged with care and maintenance of the brand to do?
Evolve.
Interesting article in this months QSR Magazine, about the most recent CEO of Caribou Coffee, Michael Tattersfield. Suffice it to say that under the watchful eye of Mr. Tattersfield, Caribou has revived itself from a company in trouble, to a company that has seen 500% growth in its stock price last year alone.
What does he claim is the secret to his success? Well, among other things, brand evolution.
“Eighty percent of coffee is consumed at the home or office, and we weren’t in that category significantly,” he says. In 2008, when Tattersfield joined the brand, Caribou’s commercial interests were performing well, with its products available at just more than 2,000 stores. “If we really wanted to build the brand, we knew we needed to evolve from a branded retail coffeehouse to a branded coffee company,” Tattersfield says. “That’s one of the key decisions we made as an organization to invest in this and grow it.”
Today, Caribou-brand coffee is available at 7,000 stores, including Costco and Sam’s Club.
What I find interesting is that brands can, and quite possibly should, evolve. Many marketing gurus suggest that this is nothing but a veiled line extension strategy.
Clutter Revisited…(or) Missing the Point!
I hear them on the radio, several times each day. I turn on CNBC, and there they are, advertising through our regional cable network. I get my local chamber of commerce e-letter…and there are their banner ads.
I begin to see what has amounted to a substantial and fairly effective marketing plan. I am seeing and hearing them everywhere, and can’t seem to get away from the message. So…let’s take a look at what all this hub-bub is about. A quick search for their name in Google takes me right to them.
Whoa. Wait a minute. How much did you spend on that marketing campaign? What were you thinking?
I can guarantee that half of the people you are trying to reach, (and I know this because they are marketing through channels that reach folk like me,) are going to check you out on the web.
Website…awful! Why would you spend all of the money in your marketing budget to get people to stop by your shop…albeit virtual…that the ‘front porch’ is falling off of, and hasn’t been painted since 1956?
Advertising guarantee in Time Magazine…not exactly
As reported on AdAge.com recently, Time Inc., a very large publisher, and one the industries biggest advertising buyers are collaborating on a new concept that will guarantee an advertiser that a certain number of people will remember their advertising or actually take action on it…or they will run ads for free until they do.
Interesting.
Let’s look at a few of the caveats…shall we?
- Can only involve one magazine title, not multiple titles.
- Titles include Time, People, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune. Take a look at their ad rates sometime.
- The accountability practice will only involve the large ad buyers clients…for now…sorry.
Stephanie George, exec VP at Time Inc. says, “…in a crowded media market, when it comes to accountability, the work from this Alliance will help prove magazines’ advertising effectiveness.”
What are the chances that if this stunt doesn’t work that we will hear nothing about it again? Pretty good I’d say. Ms. George should also get the resume ready.
You’ve heard the idiom, “long, (tough, or hard) row to hoe“? Well, marketing can be a bit like that.
Expecting immediate results, even from a well-funded campaign, is unrealistic. There are ways to literally bring people right through the front door, but are they sustainable? Short term results are fantastic, don’t get me wrong, but sustainable revenue does the successful company make.
To get to sustainable revenue, you must plow the entire field. It takes time and money.
So when you find yourself plowing the field where your business will grow, you really should think about putting a bit of money in before you plant the seed with the new customer. Make sure they know a bit about you before you walk through the door for the first time.
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