Brand managers each day make decisions regarding their brands.  Sometimes, the decision is about how to build a brand.  Sometimes, the decision is about how to reinforce a brand.  However, some of the most important decisions are how to not destroy a brand.

In order to make those hard decisions, you must first know what your brand stands for.

If I were to ask you to describe Wal-Mart, how would you answer?  I suspect you’d say something along the line of big box store that sells everything on everyday low prices.  Well, that’s Wal-Mart’s brand.

If I were to ask you to describe CVS, how would you answer?  I suspect you’d answer something like it’s a pharmacy that also conveniently carries some general merchandise.   Well, that’s CVS’s brand.

In fact, CVS is how it’s commonly called.  It’s full name is CVS/pharmacy.  In fact, it is the nation’s second largest chain of pharmacy.

Therefore, imagine my disappointment when CVS fails to fulfill its brand promise of being a pharmacy.

I am an allergy sufferer.  So, when fall pollens start to fill the air, I started my hunt for allergy meds.  Nowadays, the best OTC allergy meds are sold behind the counter of a pharmacy.  I started with a nearby Wal-Mart.  However, my mission failed, because the pharmacy was closed at the time.  I was disappointed, but I couldn’t really hold that against Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart after all is a general merchandiser, and it’s sometimes hit or miss when you’re looking for something specific.

So, I decided to go to the specialty channel route, and went to a nearby CVS.  Imagine my surprise when I found out that I also cannot get the meds because the pharmacy inside the CVS/pharmacy was closed.  Now, if the store in general was close, it was just unfortunate timing.  However, as long as the store was open, a store that’s called CVS/pharmacy, I would expect to be able to get pharmaceutical products from such store.  That is CVS failing on its brand promise.  If they could not keep the pharmacy open, they should just shorten the store hours accordingly.  This is why Walgreens is still my pharmacy…

Photo credit:  Sarah Spaulding

Kwikshop, originally uploaded by jeannie_chan.

Recently, I took a trip to Australia. There, many gas stations were partnered with the local grocery stores, making gas stations great one-stop shops. Now, we don’t have to go all the way to the other side of the world to see this. We observe this right here in the States with the recent KwikShop renovations.

These KwikShops are not only gas stations. They are pharmacies. They are your convenient take-out kitchens. They are true convenient stores!

This is just another step in the store format revolution. The line between different retail environments are blurring.

(Editor’s Note: I have taken a hiatus from this blog because other parts of my life took over. However, these parts have given me great inspirations for blog topics. Stay tuned!)

If you haven’t started following Tom Fishburne, please start today! His latest post really got me thinking… How useless social media is if you don’t have strong fundamentals. Social media is just another latest new trick in a marketer’s bag. But, it’s not the only trick. And just because it’s new and shiny still doesn’t mean it’s the best trick.

His post all started with Mark Ritson’s column. In which, he asserts that “Most brands don’t have the newsworthiness, broad appeal or dynamism to have any chance of making Twitter work for them.” So, get the fundamentals right. Don’t expect your consumers to “fan” you because you have a facebook page. They will “fan” you if they have been a fan. They become a fan when you get every other piece of the marketing mix right (you know, those dang Ps, like having the right product, at the right price, at the right place, backed by the right promotion).

Photo credit: Intersection Consulting

Related articles online

• Social media isn’t a magic wand (chelpixie.com)

Sometimes, people are confused when I use the term SuperTarget. This is because SuperTargets, unlike WalMart SuperCenters, are not yet commonplace across the nation. There are only a little over 200 SuperTargets across the nation. (Incidentally, one of the first ones were built right here in the little town I live in back in 1995.)

Target operates four store formats (exclude one-off urban stores). They are Targets, Target Greatlands, PFresh Stores, and SuperTargets. These are listed in order of their grocery offerings. Targets have very limited grocery offerings, and are generally the smallest in size. Greatlands have more offerings than the basic Targets. PFresh Store format is Target’s newest, currently being rolled out. These stores would focus on Target’s private label brands. SuperTargets offer Target shoppers the widest variety of grocery items. As you can see in the video above, they basically fit a grocery store inside a Target store. These stores are very large, and is the epitome of one stop shop for the savvy Target shoppers.

The threat from Target, unlike Walmart, is not generated through scale. As mentioned above, SuperTargets are not commonplace, and there is unlikely one right around the corner from your everyday grocery stores. However, Target is very good at attracting a specific segment of shoppers via their product offering. Their private label commands a following that warrants a new store format! These shoppers may not go buy meat and fresh vegetable every week. But they pick up cookies, ready-to-be-microwaved meals, etc. that are widely available at many Targets across different store formats. And they are picking up their favorite brand – Archer Farm, the private label brand available only at Target.

Continuing with my Food for Thoughts series, this is my little snippet on WalMart SuperCenter. For those of you who would never set foot inside, you may be surprised by this video. WalMart’s grocery selection is actually pleasantly presented. Pricing on their grocery items, like all other items at WalMart, is budget friendly. While this video may not persuade you to start your grocery shopping at WalMart, I think it’s apparent why WalMart SuperCenters present such a great threat to grocery stores everywhere.

This video would soon be outdated. WalMart is continuously improving their grocery efforts, for good reasons. You may not need a new shirt every week. But, for some families, they need a new gallon of milk every day!

Related Post:

• Groceries fighting back!
• Against Mass Merchants

Related articles online

• Over Half of Walmart’s Revenues Come From Groceries (shoppingblog.com)
• Kroger CEO: we offer more than Wal-Mart (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Wal-Mart’s Grocery Sales Expand (wsj.com)

My post on CPGBranding.com this week was inspired by the latest Healthy Choice and U commercials. These ads chose to go into the future by abandoning their past. This is particularly the case with U by Kotex.

These ads mock every other feminine care ads in the past. The point was to say that “we get it” to their target audience: the young ladies who are newly initiated to the world of feminine care. However, such ad put forth a positioning that U is different, U gets it. Therefore, now we will have to see if U can fulfill this promise. U is now beyond its functions. It’s about the colorful packaging. It’s about the online knowledge and support. It’s about connecting with these young ladies.

Today, I was remind of an axiom: Great ads make bad products fail faster. So, the test for U is to see if it can really connect with these young ladies!

I have written before how Kroger Marketplaces are taking on mass merchants. As more mass merchants stock groceries, groceries are staring to stock mass merchant products.

Here is a video taken recently at a Kroger Marketplace. You could see that next to the milk is furniture. This store carries a wide variety of products, most are very economical. I have myself bought a few pieces of home goods from Kroger stores. My area rug costs only $20. I think in the current economy, Kroger Marketplace posts a specific threat. To furnish an entire house / apartment at one time could post a significant financial strain on a family. This is exactly where Kroger could fit in. Along with buying the necessities (e.g. milk), you could easily pick up something for your new / existing home that you’ve been wanting to pick up. Because of the price point, Kroger can actually encourage impulse purchase for home goods. It’s a very different proposition than making a specific trip to a Target.

It doesn’t appear that Kroger is eager to expand this model. It’s being very selective in where to put in a Marketplace store. I look forward to see how this story would continue to evolve.

Related Post: Groceries fighting back!

Retailers can be our biggest enemy (as it’s evident with the current environment of private labels gaining shelf space over brand names). Or, they can be our biggest friend. At the end of the day, our products get sold off their shelves. Therefore, I have always had a healthy fascination toward the retail industry.

The other day, I visited a local Dillion’s, a Kroger store brand, and was amazed at the level of localization. This particular store was not in Texas, or San Diego. It was in Kansas, but in a Latino neighborhood. I thought I stepped into Mexico in the product assortment and the way the store was merchandised. It shows how sophisticated the art of retailing has become. In fact, today’s retailers have very comprehensive and important information about our consumers at each of their stores. This is why joint business planning has increased in importance. Manufacturers have long conducted extensive consumer researches to understand the consumers. Retailers now are empowered with real time information. Together, we can bring to our consumer exactly the product they want at exactly where they’re looking for it.

I am fortunate to live in a testing ground, somewhat, for retailers. It’s a great place to be for someone who’s fascinated about the industry. Therefore, in the next few weeks, I’d like to bring to you what I see on the transformation that had been unfolding in the last few years on groceries.

Related Posts: Groceries Fighting Back

Marketers like to talk about social media as a marketing platform. How can we get the message out? How can we control the message? How can we leverage this? Well, here’s the thing. The thing about social media is that it is in fact a media venue. (I heard about the health care reform on social media channels before I caught it on traditional news channels.)

Recently, I learned an equation from Michael Levine’s book, A Branded World: Adventures in Public Relations and the Creation of Superbrands. Branding = marketing + advertising + public relations.

Branding is the all encompassing effort of building a brand. It starts with marketing. Marketing defines the strategy. Marketing defines the 4Ps. Marketing defines the positioning.

Marketing’s plan gets translated into words and visuals through advertising.

Public relations builds on the advertising campaign and turns marketing’s plan into actions. Such actions include gathering media attention.

In that case, social media really falls into the realm of public relations. You build a relationship with bloggers the same way you build a relationship with traditional journalists. You “control” the message the same way – truthfully, honestly, and organically. It’s the same idea as controlling the press. Today, in addition to asking the question “What would the press say?”, we need to also ask “What would the world say?”

The world may be changing, but the basics still hold.

Photo credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

This has been a crazy week for me at work, leading a few campaigns with new products. This got me thinking about innovation. What is innovation? We all know that there are different levels of innovations, but I’ve never really come across a framework till this week.

There are three types of innovation.

1. Breakthrough
2. Expansionary
3. Incremental

Breakthrough is something that’s truly blazing new territories. To be honest, most of these brazen innovators remain unknown to the world. Most new companies / new products die in fairly early states without adequate support. Countless nameless mp3 players fit into this category for being breakthrough innovations in the portable music category.

Expansionary continues to expand the category. iPod. A few versions of iPod fit into this category as well… the video iPod expanded the portable category into different media.

Incremental. Some versions of iPod, such as the shuffle, are purely incremental. This is when companies start to think about how to bring in that extra consumer. This could be giving that extra gig to iPod storage. This could be lowering the price by removing some features.

However, this framework works for innovations outside new products as well. You could innovate the way you go to business. You could innovate what business you’re in. Breakthrough can be simply a breakthrough for your own business. When mass merchandiser started carrying groceries, that was a breakthrough for their businesses. When they started experimenting with various store formats, that was expanding their business in being a grocer. It is incremental when they started optimizing their shelves on how much groceries versus general merchandises they’d carry.

I’m going to take a little detour here. As we’re on the topic of innovation, I’d like to leave you with a cartoon from one of my favorite cartoonist. This is partially why there are so many more incremental innovations than breakthrough innovations. Something to think about

Photo Credit: Pierre Marcel
Cartoon Credit: Tom Fishburne