By George Latella
Over the last few blogs, I’ve covered various elements in formulating your Brand Strategy. It is now time to bring it all together. We started the process by identifying the four key questions that you must answer:
- Who are you?
- What do you do?
- How are you different?
- What problems do you solve for your customers or why are you better than the competition?
While all four questions are important for you to understand, the last one is the most important as that drives consumers to your brand. Your customers should ALWAYS be at the center of your Brand Strategy.
The first step in the process is called segmentation. This involves putting people into groups based on demographics or descriptors (age, race, ethnicity, income, education, etc), geographics (where they live, where they work, where they shop), psychographics (attitudes, interests, lifestyles), and consumption behavior (heavy, medium, light users). Another way to think of these might be benefits sought, characteristics, how they think, and how they act.
We use the following questions to get at the center of the issue:
Who is your customer? (Male/female, older/younger, ethnic/white, blue collar/college educated, millennials/Gen Z)
What do they buy/consume? (Craft beer, seasonals, domestics, cans/bottles/draft)
When do they buy/consume? (Morning/night, weekday/weekend, special events, seasonally)
Where do they consumer? (on-premise, off-premise, at home, at an event)
Why do they buy? (To try something new, to be social/share with friends, to take to a party)
What package/s do they buy/consume? (cans, bottles, draft)
How do they consume? (Alone, with friends/family)
Once you segment the market, you need to identify who your “Target Market” is. Who is the primary group of people that you’re going to market to? Current heavy users or a group with more future potential? Are you looking to acquire new customers, retain existing customers, or develop new and existing customers?
This will help with your marketing communications. Finally, you need to position your brand in the minds of your customers.
We then discussed your core brand values, message and personality.
What is Brand Personality?
It is the tone and attitude that begins to immediately separate your company from the competition.
Everyone knows Cheers from TV and if you’re from Philadelphia and know who Joe Conklin is, you’ve heard of Chip Snapper’s taproom. If not, think of the local corner taproom in the neighborhood you grew up in.
If you were going out for a beer, would you rather go to Chip Snapper’s Taproom or Cheers? Both serve beer and other beverages but provide a different atmosphere. You would expect a corner taproom to have the same group of people there all the time. And while Cheers had regulars, you also saw many other people frequent that establishment. Maybe you prefer a sports bar or a lounge that provides entertainment. Know what problems YOU solve for the customer.
Finally, we discussed Brand Icons.
Icons relate to our sensual side. Sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. We crave certain things as consumers. And our senses help guide us in certain directions.
You can also define an icon as something that is unique to your brand and brings up an image in the mind of the customer.
Visual – Beer bottle with a sliced lime (Corona)
Sound – The sound a beer bottle or can makes when opened/poured
Touch – The feeling of an ice-cold beer mug or cold bottle/can in your hand and on your lips
Smell – The difference between a corner taproom and bar/restaurant that serves food
Taste – Light beer vs. lager vs. porter vs. hard seltzer
Next, we discussed the power of people and characters.
A great example of this is the comparison between Jim Koch from Boston Beer and the former spokesman for Dos Equis, “The Most Interesting Man in the World”. Both brands are very successful and have used iconic figures very differently in their marketing. A few years ago, Dos Equis replaced the older character with a younger one. This was an obvious indication that they were going after a younger target market. Many brands have chosen to use influencers versus celebrity spokesman, especially if they are targeting Gen Z.
All of this put together helps form your brand roadmap. They help guide all of your decisions as it relates to YOUR brand.
In the next blog, we’ll discuss Marketing Planning.
Marketing is a race with no finish line!
George Latella is a Professor of Food Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Food Marketing which is one of the largest majors at Saint Joseph’s University recently celebrated its 60th anniversary. George can be reached at glatella@sju.edu or 610-304-1034.