Brands, Branding, Brand Loyalty: Root Beer, Wine and Hamburgers

Brands, Branding, Brand Loyalty, what’s it all mean? There’s a lot of confusion on what a brand means and how it’s referred to in marketing and advertising not too mention what the consumer is supposed to understand and value.

Brands are not just products, they are definitely not logos, colors or packaging and they are not only a company you buy from. The truth is all these things are part of a brand, representing a tangible experience for a consumer they know and recognize.

I always go back to the definition provided by the author of the 22 Immutable Laws Branding.

–    a brand is a promise to the customer to deliver a desired or expected experience.

It doesn’t mean that every brand is the best brand. It means you know what you get when you buy wine from Gallo Wine vs. Mondavi or a hamburger from McDonalds vs. In and Out Burger. Very clear and differentiated experiences that customer loyalty is built on. Each of these companies is successful with its brands with very specific customers.

The key to building a consumer brand is creating an expected, repeatable experience consumers can identity. This builds loyalty and customer awareness about products. Customers, more than ever, want choice, demand choice and know that between price and quality they can have exactly what they want. Finding what they want and knowing who they are is the real critical part of understanding your brand and what attracts customers to your secret sauce.

MANAGING THE SECRET SAUCE Companies need to know that their goal is to find out who their customers are and constantly refine what matters to them, what cultivates brand loyalty is all about the customer. The GAP, which was one the leading national clothing retailers, has fallen from its lofty position and has been struggling for the last three years to regain a leadership role. They did one thing that they can’t recover from. They lost touch with who their customers where and what they wanted. It’s not just about the customer, though. New competitors, new  market trends have evolved – faster then they have ever evolved before – and have shifted consumer preferences. Large retailers, like massive dinosaurs, just begin to realize something’s different when they already need to have made major changes. It’s the challenge of a consumer-driven market and rapid and fluid competition from emerging brands.

Staying flexible or maybe staying narrow can be the successful formula IF you know the motivations and desires of your customer.

Oh yeah, I didn’t really mention anything about root beer.