There’s little doubt about it, Corporate Citizenship has become a force within many brands and organizations. Some of these efforts are very large in scale and highly publicized (think Pepsi Refresh project). Others are as simple and small scale as creating an office recycling program. Either way, it seems as if people within organizations of all sizes and types are actively seeking out opportunities to be better corporate citizens. The momentum behind the movement seems so great that it almost seems assumed that something must be done by each and every brand and organization.

One question must be asked, though, when considering whether or not your brand should engage in an activity;  what is my motivation for doing this? That’s right, I said it. As much as it pains me to say, your brand better have very specific reasons for being a better corporate citizen, or you may be doing more harm than good.

I’ll spare you the lecture that economist Milton Friedman would give on this topic. I’ll just say that anything that takes a brand’s eye off of the singular focus it was created to achieve makes the brand a little less competitive in its market and a little less viable as an ongoing concern. In an ever more competitive world, it doesn’t take much of a slip to lose your competitive edge and set you back. So, if you’re considering doing something in the Corporate Citizenship realm, you need to ask yourself a very important question. “What is my brand getting in return for this effort?”

The problem I see with the body of knowledge on the topic is that nobody really knows how much these efforts drive purchase. Aside from some very specific situations, there is simply nothing but anecdotal evidence suggesting that engaging in these activities will actually drive people to purchase your brand more than a competitor. There have certainly been research efforts suggesting that X% of people believe it is important and that people are willing to pay $X more for a product, but this research is riddled with overstatement and social bias. Nobody wants to say that it’s not important to them. Is it actually enough to overcome the objections they already had that were keeping them from buying you in the first place, though?

The best advice we can give at this point is to evaluate these efforts as you would any other opportunities your brand has. A holistic business case should be built before you go green or start to give a portion of your revenue to a certain charity. Keep in mind, this case does not need to be built strictly on an expected increase in purchase behavior by your customers. Keeping employees or other stakeholders engaged and happy can be every bit as valuable as increases in sales. There could also be other financial benefits such as tax incentives or savings on fuel expenditures. 

The bottom line is this; don’t do it just because you see everyone else doing it. Make sure that a thorough investigation has been conducted and that there is a clear benefit to your brand. Otherwise, you might be wasting valuable resources and energy.

While I spend my days understanding shopper behavior and applying rigorous research and analysis methods to help companies “grow categories,” I spend my weekends shopping like crazy.  With my bank account being the victim of all of these great growth strategies! As you know, retailers and manufacturers are always finding new ways to create incremental growth or, simply put, make shoppers spend more.

One of my favorite places to shop is Target. Before I even make it into the store I have generally blown $20 on the dollar spot. After piling my cart with a bunch of stuff I really have no use for, my second stop is always the shampoo aisle. Regardless of need, I always stop. Something about the colors and the arrangement of the shampoo aisle just makes me feel so clean and orderly and I generally end up picking up something guaranteed to fix frizzy hair or give me more volume.

Well, much to my surprise, my venture into the shampoo aisle a few weeks ago yielded a fantastic new surprise! The new Pantene display! Aisle violators grabbed my attention as they organized the offering by color and hair solution. That’s right, hair solutions–easily found! And not only did the aisle violators frame up the offering, but the bottle packaging was new and perfectly coordinated with the signs. You can image my excitement as I quickly zeroed in on the “fine” solutions area. I left the aisle with a whole new system of hair care.

And as if that weren’t enough, over the past two weeks I have seen TV ads, magazine ads and even a billboard all showing the same solutions-oriented campaign. This prompted me to go to the Pantene website which just confirmed the greatness of this initiative; because it, of course, had the same message.

As a shopper scientist and self-proclaimed expert shopper (at least, that’s what I tell my husband) I just want to highlight this entire initiative to all of the CPG companies out there. It has all of the key elements needed to truly bring growth to a category. First, there was obviously research conducted to understand the category needs. Clearly, the brand understands that women have very specific concerns. Second, shopper research must have been done to understand that women come into the aisle looking for a solution, and that behavior needed to be addressed. Translating those shopper insights into action is critical! Third, the in-store execution is simple, easy to understand and gives the shopper just enough information to get where she needs before closing in on her specific product. Finally, Pantene brings it all together with a consistent campaign across every touchpoint of the brand from TV to website to billboards.

This, my CPG friends, is how it’s done! 

The new Stoli ad on tv caught my eye the other day.  If you haven’t seen it, it depicts Hugh Hefner sitting down and having a drink with himself.  Smoking jacket Hef on one side and a suited Hef on the other.  The conversation gets at the idea that Hef wants the same things as any regular guy, companionship and the like. (I for one, think he’s set the bar stratospherically high in that dept, but that’s just a hunch.)  It’s a thought-provoking display and it made me wonder what a conversation with a brand might be like.

I think that the idea of persona is evident in many brands, but not all brands might have that much to say.  Having a distinctive personality or tone of voice can be such a huge competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace.  I look at the personality that Starbucks has been able to create over the years and compare that to their Seattle’s Best rebrand.  Both sell a similar product, but their voices are much different with how they talk and relate to their customers.  If I sat down with both brands, the conversation from one to the other would be vastly different I think.

What might your brand say if you sat down and had a heart to heart conversation with it?  Would it be a happy conversation?  Would it be engaging?  Would you still be interested after an hour or two or would you be looking for the check?  Your brand has conversations with your customers every day in many ways…do you know what it’s saying, and more importantly, is anybody listening?

Design Forum has changed its name… sort of.

When we became part of Interbrand in 2002, we kept the name of the company that I founded in 1978. Since then, we’ve evolved from a pure design entity into a multi-disciplined consultancy with a deep pool of talent, including a lot of brand expertise.

“Design Forum” contains valuable branding in its own right. Our name has touched hundreds of success stories and a lot of people who’ve become our friends during thirty years in business.

Anyone who’s been through a company name change is aware of all the ramifications, from switching the sign on the front door to an updated logo on the coffee cups. And the risk, of course, that customers will assume there’s been a change in leader-ship—in our case there has not.

The time has come to take on the new Interbrand Design Forum identity in order to focus more precisely on what our business does—global retail store design that incorporates business brand strategy, shopper analytics, retail architecture, retail-sensitive implementation—and to stress our ability to draw on resources from around the world: 1,249 creative minds in 36 offices and 22 countries.

This month, Interbrand publishes the annual Best Global Brands in conjunction with
BusinessWeek. It’s one of the top three published business rankings in the world. If you think your business is a potential leader, here’s where you can find out what it takes. And of these 100 brands, you’ll see who the top riser and faller were this year. (Spoiler alert: Google and Merrill Lynch.)

Brand value is a simple idea. If retail brands play a role in choice, and shoppers must choose between competing products, then brands must contribute to earnings and profit. It then follows that brands must be quantifiable and valuable to its owner.

By using brand valuation as a diagnostic tool, we understand the precise economic benefit that brand has on every aspect of business. Insights into which brand attributes are relevant at each step in the customer journey tell us exactly what must be changed to make the brand perform better. You can then invest in the touchpoints that generate the most demand.

The topic of brand management has been generating more interest every year in the face of proof that strong brands, consistently managed, are more resilient in shifting economic climates. A study of Best Global Brands versus the S&P 500 conducted by Harvard and USC showed they outperform the market.

Yet, business pundits say we’re living in a post-branded world and that traditional branding is outdated. Perhaps that shouldn’t surprise me. Although the concept of brand value has been evolving since the ‘80s, it’s still misunderstood.

Brand is not an advertising gimmick. It’s a set of attributes and a promise: the attributes consumers have ascribed to store or product, and a promise made by the company to deliver those attributes through the way it does business. Ideally, the brand idea shapes the company and directs the behavior of everyone in it. That’s why we believe brands have the power to change the world.

There are some interesting new names on the list this year. BlackBerry makes its way onto the global brand stage. We’ll see if it can outperform the iPhone. Luxury brand Ferrari zooms onto list. The debut of H&M is a great example of a retailer understanding consumer demands, as is the entrance of Marriott.

Our longtime client Honda still ranks high; also new to Best Global Brands is our client FedEx, whose promise we’re bringing to life in the FedEx Office stores (formerly Kinkos). Like all the leaders, they have managed to strike a clear note of differentiation that we have translated into retail environments.

Although we can understand nervousness in a results-oriented world, we’re hoping the current slowdown will push retailers to change. The world is becoming one global economy. Competing in it demands a connected and holistic approach to brand management, not siloed 20th century corporate habits. In order to stand out from the crowd and engage our associates and customers, our businesses must become branding communities, resilient and flexible. Because—particularly in retail—there are always new and unknown challenges ahead. Thoughtfully,
D. Lee Carpenter

Recession or no, our research shows that shoppers enjoy finding something new in the store. It’s human nature. Whenever retailers bring energy and inspiration to the game—even when shoppers are thinking long and hard before opening their wallets—they still give the store credit for a better shopping experience. And from a better experience comes all good things: the engagement, loyalty and bottom-line bolstering that smart businesses seek.

“Something new” encompasses a lot of territory. It can be a new prototype, a store-within-a-store, a value product, a time-saving service or an educational program. For our client Burger King, it’s a combination of value and excitement, from Burger Shots to the Whopper Bar, a hip new restaurant design we helped them create.

The Whopper Bar is a great example of what many brands are trying to do right now—be more interruptive, opportunistic and dramatic with their innovations.

A key differentiator of the BK brand is flame-broiled burgers. We brought this attribute to life through various design elements. The overall look is darker and urban-industrial with textures of fire and metal, yet the space is simple to use and friendly. The smaller footprint of this concept has opened doors to new real estate opportunities. That plus the revitalized business brand strategy is helping BK enter venues no one would have considered them for previously.

One of the mistakes made most with new concepts is the lack of an idea that’s powerful enough to get you where you want to go. Companies know that doing something is better than doing nothing. And some are closing under-performing stores intending to do a better job with their best stores. But if your goal is disruption, you’ve got to really fire up the passion around your brand and find an aspect to dramatize.

The second most common mistake in retail seems to be lack of speed. While looking back on other times of crisis, a CEO of a dot-com recently recalled how his company managed to survive and thrive because he pushed for radical new ideas. But in hindsight he realized his biggest mistake was moving too slowly. Had he been quicker, he’d have a bigger share of the market today. The same often happens in retail.

Last year our clients were urgently asking us for “Quick Wins” in the store. This year they are more cautious. Despite the increased challenges facing them, moves are being carefully evaluated to minimize risk and preserve capital. But time is of the essence. We can’t let uncertainty rule. Surveys suggest that shoppers are taking more time to research their purchases both at home and in the store. That means they’re looking at your competition.

Most companies are quick to cut costs, but slow to find and execute the ideas that deliver a new bundle of value to the customer who’s looking for a retailer to help them reach a balance between frugality and the indulgences they’ve had to give up.

Today you can tap into the many innovative tools that help speed up decision making, such as research and modeling to create a business case for change or to deliver the solid insights needed in the creation of fresh strategies. Collaboration tools can help cut across silos so you can speed up productivity. You can make decisions with a replicable process that offers scale, speed and flexibility.

There are also optimization tools available. We’ve got one of the best that keeps proving itself very powerful and effective, StoreBoard. So if it’s simply not wise to make a radical change to your business, you can still do what you do better than anyone else. A top priority for your brand right now is generating ideas for improving relationships with customers. We’ve noticed creative retailers are putting more emphasis on service, getting credit for solving customer problems and earning trust. That will definitely score points.

Whether you decide on a dramatic brand update or a more simplified retail experience that’s emotionally engaging, the intelligence and invention available today can help you look past the challenges to see the opportunities. You can add intensity and difference without compromising—sort of like Angry Sauce on a Whopper.
Thoughtfully,
D. Lee Carpenter