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Recent reports by CBS News and The Bloomberg Report rave about the performance that KFC restaurants have had in China. With over 3200 stores there now, the chain is outselling McDonald’s and the other US fast food chains significantly. While domestic performance isn’t as great, my trip to KFC’s first restaurant in Corbin, KY, gave me a clue as to why the chain is one of the strongest brands in the business.

Over the door inside of the original Sanders Café is a sign that defines Good Will as “The Disposition of a Well-Pleased Customer to Return to the Place where he has been well Treated.” This is identified as the definition by the US Supreme Court, but it certainly is also the benchmark of successful brands who deal directly with their customers. It’s interesting that KFC is doing so well in China when the experience here does not always live up to the above definition. However, when you read more into the reports and learn how not only has KFC’s parent YUM Brands made a practice of hiring local managers for their stores and operations, but also the restaurants have catered to their customers by having local favorites to the menus and added design and architecture to make it feel like they are at home and not in an American icon in a strange place.

Marshall Field, the department store pioneer, best described Good Will as the only asset that a store’s competition can neither duplicate or destroy. It is, in fact, the basis for a long-term relationship that also defines a successful brand. While Colonel Sanders built his brand on his secret batter recipe (which the company still keeps securely locked up in Louisville), he also understood the importance of treating his customers with a smile and with respect. The original café displays a lot of evidence that the reflect a respect for the customer and the warmth of family place to dine. On the same trip, we stopped at a McDonald’s in Lima, OH, that was designed with fixtures and accessories that made it feel not just like an upscale restaurant but gave it a warm, homey atmosphere as well. (The mocha frappe was as good as ever, too.)

As I look at stores and restaurants that are struggling recently, I think it would be good for them to take note of the Colonel’s adherence to building good will by building a brand that resonates with their buying style and keeps them coming back to a place “where they are well treated”.

To learn more about how to make your brand more successful, watch for our new book: “BrainBranding. Activate the Brain—Stimulate the Brand.” Co-authored by Robyn Winters and myself, the book will be available on Amazon and Kindle later this month. Watch for our announcement soon.

While the amount of advertising in traditional media has gone down in the past couple years, it’s still amazing to see so many ads that appear regularly that don’t seem to have any reason for being other than to fulfill a long-term media contract.
Some of the circulars that run every week—and sometimes twice a week—have about as much subpoena for the customer to read and then shop as the legal notices that still appear in the classified section. The customers have to be bored and I suspect that the advertising staffs at many retailers are bored as well.

This is especially true for the ROP ads that continue to be placed by major department store chains. The ads fill space, but certainly don’t provide any reason to chose one store over another. The item selection isn’t much more interesting and the prices are ho-hum. So why do they run these ads anyway? Sometimes I wonder if anybody at corporate is paying attention!

Case in point is the now famous ad that Macy’s ran in the Miami market the day after the sixth game of the NBA championship series between the Heat and the Dallas Mavericks. The ad congratulated the Miami Heat on their championship and featured team products on sale to celebrate. Only problem was that Dallas won not only that game but the championship. Even if the Heat had won that Sunday’s game, they would still have had to play one more game to decide the championship. Knowing the power of the press, I became skeptical that maybe that was the plan all along and that the media event that ensued might have been exactly what Macy’s wanted. I never checked to see if they ran one in Dallas/Ft. Worth as well. Overall though, it’s just another case of advertising that does nothing to enhance the brand and build a relationship with the customer.

Many of the ads that appear every week—week after week—seem to have as much marketing thought behind them as the signage on some of the windows of the stores. Knowing the cost of these ads, can you image what could be done if they created messages that inspired the customers to like the store and differentiate it from their competitors. Retailers complain about the economy and tight budgets, but then there are wasted media dollars that do nothing but satisfy a contract or fill an already boring ad calendar.

It’s time to start watching our ads and making sure that there is a reason for being in every message. And that reason can’t just be to clear out sports memorabilia for a team that was as inspired as the advertising for the store.

COMING SOON: Robyn Winters and I have just completed a book on branding with a revolutionary point of view. Brain Branding, Activate the Brain—Stimulate Your Brand is in its final edit and will be available on Amazon and your Kindle very soon. Watch this blog for a special introductory offer!!

Standing at the highest point in San Francisco, one can’t help breaking into a chorus of “I left my heart in San Francisco”. I’ve been there many times throughout the years and still get a thrill every time I visit whether on business or for pleasure. I’ve often said that I’d rather go back to the “city by the Bay” 10 more times than take one trip to a third world country. San Francisco is more than a city. It’s a brand. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a special feeling or relationship with the city. Thinking about it, shouldn’t a store or product have the same time of feeling toward its brand as well. Without a relationship, I always say, there is no brand. This is what the Heart of the Brand is all about. So much of today’s marketing is focused solely on the Truth of the Brand (i.e. the facts, just the facts) that the customer fails to have any feelings (good or bad) about that brand and sees it as just another storefront or product on the shelf.

The other night I decided to watch one of the top rated TV shows and take note of the commercials that ran both on the network as well as the local breaks. During that one-hour program, there were, by my count, 12 commercials and not one of them gave any reason beyond price/promotional deal or product facts for the viewer to consider purchasing the advertised product. So, where’s the branding? It seems like most advertisers have abandoned trying to build an emotional relationship with the customer and give him/her a distinguishable value that would convince them to buy.

There are exceptions and it’s no surprise that the companies that have a message targeted at the heart of the customer are the one’s who continue to grow their market share.

Publix food stores are a great example. First, the company runs really great stores that are clean, efficient, and staffed by generally friendly, helpful people. But when it comes to advertising, the company goes beyond its ongoing BOGO offers to remain price competitive by running commercials and offering mailings that remind us that having dinners and lunches with our families are important. Over Easter, while most food stores hawk their discounts on the Easter hams, Publix ran (for the second year at least) a 60 second spot that celebrates a family dinner and a special relationship between a brother and sister that tugs at your heart and builds a relationship with the brand at the same time.
The company does this all year by tying in important family gatherings with the benefits of shopping at a store that’s part of the family for years.

Crate & Barrel has grown over the years by providing a great shopping environment, with neat and exciting merchandise that translates to the home experience as well. It has assumed the role, over the years, as the contemporary customer’s lifestyle guide and makes one feel at home whenever he/she comes into the store. Their advertising has always been as cool as the stores making the merchandise come alive and relevant to the lifestyle of their customers. While their prices are competitive with all the mass merchants, the company realizes that it’s an emotional choice to shop there and it’s all part of being a welcome guest in our homes.

Walgreen’s recently announced that it was installing charging stations for electric cars in 150 of its Chicagoland stores. This is just one more step in the company’s commitment to providing the convenience that today’s drugstore customer expects when they visit the stores as many as 3-4 times per week. Whether it’s in-store medical clinics (that I have found to be really are professional and caring ) or pharmacy systems that really make filling and re-filling prescriptions almost effortless. To have a pharmacist call you personally to offer to go over all of your medications and give you an assessment and summary has nothing to do with $4 generics, but it has everything to do with keeping you healthy and keeping you as a loyal customer in the future. The stores are as promotional as ever, but when it comes down to it they know that their customers are need driven and they have to meet those needs consistently to reach the heart of the loyal shopper.

Home Depot has gotten back on the track that made it so successful over the years by providing helpful customer service in every aisle. On a recent trip to “just pick up a couple of things”, I was approached by a smiling, friendly orange-aproned associate making sure that I found what I needed and offering to help with any questions that I might have (and who doesn’t have questions when you’re at Home Depot? The company’s support of the Olympic athletes over the year is more than just a good marketing handle, it’s representative of the heart of this brand as a good neighbor and good citizen. The recent rash of tornadoes and floods have moved the local stores to action as the caring company to help you through really tough times.

Chrysler just announced a quarterly profit for the first time in over five years and I don’t think it’s because of their new relationship with Fiat or divorce from Daimler Benz. Besides appealing to its employees and U.S. customers as a Detroit-based company with great American standards, Chrysler has improved its messages in the media with a straightforward approach that gets to the heart of the customer a lot more effectively than another Toyotathon or factory rebate/$100 off factory invoice promotion. The company shed itself of many underperforming brands and dealerships and refined it’s assortment and the stores where they are sold to make it a pleasant experience to buy one of their cars.

McDonald’s is part of most of America’s dining experience every day. However, the recent performance in sales, I believe, is a result of tailoring its menu and service to today’s customer and making it fun to eat there again. From it’s competitive coffee shop offerings to tasty new entrée’s, they have gone beyond fast food to broaden their appeal to various day-parts and lifestyles. However, they continue to go after the heart of their consumers with their ongoing Ronal McDonald Charities and supporting community activities that make them a good neighbor as well.

Kohl’s is as aggressive as anyone with its promotional program that hits the customer 2-3 times a week. While I question sometimes whether this is overkill, their performance seems to justify the reliance on strong promotions. However, when you look at the power of their word-of-mouth advertising, you have to give credit to all of their other activities that go right to the heart of the customers. Kohl’s support of children’s hospital fund raisers and health education has endeared them to young parents who just happen to be their target customers as well. The company has expanded aggressively over the years but it has also made itself a good neighbor on a local basis and it’s paying off at the registers.

There are many examples and it makes you wonder why more advertisers don’t take note and start giving their customers a reason to like them rather than just be aware of the next sale event. Going after the heart of the customer just makes good business sense and is essential for a strong brand position.

COMING SOON. A new way to improve your branding can be found in a new book that I have co-authored with fellow NSA member and communications expert, Robyn Winters. The book is at our publisher and will soon be available on Amazon, Kindle and through our website. In the book we take a look at the four buying styles that all of us use to decide on what brands to shop, buy, and use. Then, we use these styles to help you implement a four-step process to develop a more effective brand. We think it’s a revolutionary way of thinking when it comes to branding and believe you’ll find it helpful in stimulating your brand’s market share.
More information will be coming soon and watch for a special offer to our friends and blog readers.

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Best Buy has long been one of my favorites as a retailer who has done an excellent job of developing its brand and growing its market share in the competitive electronics market. It has maintained its #1 share of the category and has out –performed the other electronics merchandisers consistently. I’ve commented on how Costco, Sam’s, and Walmart have really made an impact on the category but it wasn’t until I read an article recently by John Kelly in the Wall Street Journal about how Amazon was really becoming a factor in the category to the point that Best Buy had better watch its back as the company continues to grow.

As its shares have tumbled, Best Buy should note how Amazon has expanded its brand to compete favorably with big box retailers. Certainly, Amazon is a brand synonymous with online book sales. It’s Kindle e-book reader has set the standard for digital reading and now it has taken that lead to expand its sales in electronics and non-media to $18 Billion last year (up 66%). While the brick and mortar retailers continue to fight the price wars and promotions, Amazon has become the resource for information that over 88% of shoppers in this category seek online before they go to the store.

So, how has Amazon built their business beyond the original core strength as a bookseller? It all has to do with branding. Sure, Amazon has been a pioneer in online marketing but it’s what they’ve done for their customers and prospects that have established a brand that is consumer friendly and builds loyalty not simply by making it easy to find what you want, but by understanding their customers, recognizing their shopping preferences and rewarding them for their loyalty by making it easier to buy and offering targeted suggestions to build the incremental sales at the same time. The company has build its brand on a solid platform and has translated its reputation and trust to other categories from toys to flat-screens to fashion pumps. Using its ability to recommend items based on what you purchased as well as what you only considered makes this a highly personal brand that has built a relationship with its customers every time they click on the website.

Compare any page and any category on Amazon with a page in the sale circulars for Best Buy, Kohls, or Macy’s and you see a consistency of message and quality that is only surpassed by the consistency of the purchase transaction. It’s this kind of quality that builds relationships and enhances a brand that endures with its customers.