Why is your customer buying from you? It may not be why you think.

By Ken Gasque

 

This is the first question I ask CEOs, Presidents and owners when they want to talk about branding or rebranding.  The truth is it is a very difficult question and most CEOs, Presidents and owners can’t tell you why their customers are buying from them.  Friendly service, good people, and quality are givens, everyone can claim these attributes. This article is about branding and three different approaches to obtaining the brand you want.

Rothy’s are a high end ‘timeless durable flats.’ They market to women millennials.  Their differentiation is their commitment to the environment—their ‘timeless durable flats’ are made from recycled water bottles.  And their process of manufacturing uses an innovative technology of 3D knitting which has two benefits—a seamless knit for the perfect fit (comfort) and the environment gets less waste because by knitting to shape they eliminate the need to cut small pieces of fabric from a larger one so there is no waste and clutter.  A cleaner environment.

They claim, “We create Rothy’s to be durable, washable and made to last.  And that means less shoes in landfills.”

What are the consumers buying?  Not just shoes because they could buy much more affordable shoes elsewhere.  They are buying “being environmentally conscious in all aspects of their business.”

What if you don’t have an obvious difference? What if your product is exactly the same as your competitors? And your competitor’s price is 30% to 50% lower than yours.  That is Clorox Bleach.  It is 6% sodium hypochlorite and 94% water, the exact formulation of most generic brands.  But, Clorox consistently commands 65% of U.S. bleach sales. Why?

Advertising.  Advertising builds awareness but that is not brand building.  Advertising that creates an affinity builds brand.  Clorox Bleach has positioned itself over the years as the bleach ‘good mom’s buy for their family.’  They have created a perceptional benefit— “I feel like a good mom when I use Clorox.”

Brands are about the experience and moms who use Clorox get a slight emotional lift.  They feel they are getting the best product to provide their family with cleaner brighter clothes.  A brand is where your product is positioned in the mind of the consumer.

Theodore Levitt, American economist, professor at Harvard and author of Marketing intangible products and products intangible said, “Everybody sells intangibles in the marketplace.”  He suggests that all products and services have some “intangibilities” in that they can’t be tested, and consumers make judgements based on design, advertising, corporate image, logo etc.

Design is a differentiator. Levitt also writes in Marketing intangible products and products intangible, “Common sense tells us, and research confirms, that people use appearances to make judgments about realities.  It matters little whether the products are high priced or low priced, whether they are technically complex or simple, whether the buyers are supremely sophisticated in the technology of what’s being considered or just plain ignorant, or whether they buy for themselves or for their employers.  Everybody always depends to some extent on both appearances and external impressions.”  Or as I always say… “We buy with our eyes.”

Norio Ohga, retired Chairman of Sony said, “At Sony we assume that all products of competitors have basically the same technology, price, performance and features.  Design is the only thing that differentiates our product from another in the marketplace.”

Performance Friction Brakes has scientific measurable results that prove their brakes outperform their competitors in stopping distance, quietness, and longevity.  And 90% of NASCAR and Indy Car race car drivers will tell you they can run faster because Performance Friction Brakes run cooler.

Even with provable superior quality and great word of mouth Performance Friction Brakes uses design to give visual support to quality claims… packaging, advertising and merchandising all reflect their quality.

Advertise… it pays.

 

About Ken Gasque

Ken Gasque is a brand developer, marketing planner and designer. Ken works with small companies and Fortune 500 companies who recognize the need to differentiate their products and services to stand out in a cluttered market. Ken is a highly visual, outside-the-box-thinker on advertising, branding and marketing—his work reflects his belief that “We buy with our eyes.” Ken writes and lectures on his experiences developing brands (good and bad).  www.gasque.com