Category Archives: Business

March 3, 2023 · 8:03 am

The Distinction Between CPG Brand Management and Luxury Brand Management

By James D. Roumeliotis

Brand management is the process of creating, developing, and maintaining a brand in order to achieve business goals. It involves establishing a brand identity, building brand equity, and ensuring that the brand remains relevant and competitive in the market. However, brand management strategies can vary depending on the type of brand being managed. In this article, we will explore the differences between managing a consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brand and a luxury brand.

What is CPG brand management?

CPG brands are typically everyday products that consumers use on a regular basis, such as food, beverages, personal care products, and household items. CPG brand management is all about creating a brand that appeals to a broad range of consumers and maintaining that brand in a highly competitive market. CPG brand managers need to focus on product innovation, pricing, packaging, distribution, and marketing in order to succeed.

The focus of CPG brand management is on creating a consistent and reliable product that consumers can trust. CPG brands often have lower profit margins than luxury brands, which means that cost control is critical to their success. CPG brand managers need to carefully balance the cost of producing their products with the price they charge consumers in order to maximize profits. Additionally, CPG brands need to be marketed in a way that appeals to a broad audience and drives sales volume.

What is luxury brand management?

Luxury brands, on the other hand, are products or services that are associated with high levels of quality, exclusivity, and status. Luxury brand management is all about creating a brand that conveys a sense of prestige and luxury to consumers. Luxury brand managers need to focus on product design, craftsmanship, exclusivity, and marketing in order to succeed.

The focus of luxury brand management is on creating a sense of exclusivity and rarity that appeals to a select group of consumers. Luxury brands often have higher profit margins than CPG brands, which means that their pricing strategy can be more flexible. Luxury brand managers can charge premium prices for their products, and they often use scarcity and limited availability to create a sense of exclusivity.

Luxury brands are also marketed in a way that is different from CPG brands. Instead of appealing to a broad audience, luxury brands target a niche market of high-net-worth individuals who are willing to pay a premium for quality and exclusivity. Luxury brand managers often use celebrity endorsements, event sponsorships, and other high-end marketing techniques to build brand awareness and create a sense of exclusivity.

Key differences between CPG brand management and luxury brand management:

  • Target market: CPG brands target a broad audience, while luxury brands target a niche market of high-net-worth individuals.
  • Product features: CPG brands focus on creating a reliable and consistent product, while luxury brands focus on exclusivity and rarity.
  • Pricing strategy: CPG brands typically have lower profit margins and need to balance the cost of production with the price they charge consumers, while luxury brands can charge premium prices and use scarcity to create a sense of exclusivity.
  • Marketing strategy: CPG brands are marketed in a way that appeals to a broad audience, while luxury brands use high-end marketing techniques to build brand awareness and create a sense of exclusivity.

In conclusion

While both CPG brand management and luxury brand management involve creating and maintaining a brand, the strategies used to achieve these goals can be very different. CPG brands focus on creating a consistent and reliable product that appeals to a broad audience, while luxury brands focus on exclusivity and rarity to appeal to a select group of high-net-worth consumers. Understanding these key differences is essential for developing effective brand management strategies in either context.

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December 7, 2022 · 8:58 am

The Cult Brand: Providing an exceptional experience to the point of total customer devotion

by James D. Roumeliotis

There are brands that tout the virtues of their products and/or services with a religious fervor. A “cult” brand is a product or service with a strong loyal customer following, whereby their clients are fanatical about their products or services to the point where their lifestyle revolves around those popular brands. This level of fanaticism also makes those devout followers unsolicited brand ambassadors.

Cult brand examples with customer aficionados include Apple, BMW, Porsche, Fox News, Lulumemon, Zappos, Oprah, Harley Davidson and Starbucks to name a few. As for Starbucks, it offers a superior product and experience that some people would go out of their way, by driving by less expensive alternative coffee shops, to pay for Starbucks’s pricier cup of coffee.

More than just a product or service, it is a lifestyle

Generally speaking, brands that are designed for a lifestyle should have a much higher emotional value to consumers than ones based on features like cost or benefits alone.

Call it “hype” or give it any other label, cult brands are a unique breed that create and are given plenty of attention. Their brand value is also much higher than their closest competitors. They have achieved a special connection with consumers through their distinctive appeal.

Unlike religious or similar type cult following, the cult brand is considered “benign” or a “benign cult” since it satisfies a need and desire in a positive and harmless manner. Some brand loyalists have gone as far as having their beloved brand tattooed on their body.

A brand is considered as a “cult” brand if the following aspects are present:

  1. Customers receive more than a product and/or service ─ they experience a lifestyle;
  2. Brand devotees firmly believe there are no substitutes for their beloved brand;
  3. Customers feel a sense of ownership with the brand;
  4. Loyalty is prolonged over time compared to brands which are considered fads and unsustainable in the long-term;
  5. An extraordinary degree of customer loyalty exists.

Ingredients of a cult brand: using psychology, identity and a sense of belonging

It is not enough for brands to spend plenty of money on glorified advertising. Any company with an adequate budget can do that. The essential challenge is to utilize an approach that makes people want to embrace a product and/or service that people would enjoy making it part of their life, as well as identity and belonging.

Brand cult status is an emotional component of the brand but it is not as simple to achieve. As per The Cult Branding Company, a brand consultancy firm, there are seven rules of cult brands this author stands behind ─ and are as follows:

Rule #1 – Differentiate: To achieve a special connection with consumers, the brand should have a distinctive allure and be unconventional in a good sense.

Rule #2 – Be Courageous: Cult Brands are successful because they are unlike their competitors. They possess their own personality, DNA and rules. They are also passionate about their offerings and their customers for whom they exist in the first place.

Rule #3 – Promote a Lifestyle: The goal of a lifestyle brand is to get people to relate to one another through a “concept brand.” These brands successfully sell an identity, image and status rather than merely a “product-service” in the traditional sense of the term.

Rule #4 – Listen to Your Customers: Focus on serving your customers’ desires by being customer-centric. Encourage feedback and utilize it as an opportunity to form ideas, and provide solutions that establish and retain loyalty.

Rule #5 – Support Customer Communities: Cult Brands build effective and sustainable relationships with their customers by developing and supporting a customer community that allows users, partners, and company employees to share information, answer questions, post problems, and discuss ideas about product enhancements and best practices in real-time. Cult brands also gather their loyalists by organizing occasional social events to ignite additional enthusiasm for the brand.

Rule #6 – Be Open, Inviting, and Inclusive: Cult Brands do not discriminate in terms of age, race, or sexual preference. As such, everyone who believes in the brand’s mission is welcome.

Rule #7 – Promote Personal Freedom: For most, the Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs pyramid includes elements of self-esteem and self-actualization. As such, a well-regarded brand will express this as much by promoting freedom which is essential in expressing one’s own unique identity and worldview without fear of consequences.

In the end: Achieving the highest level of emotional connection via brand advocacy

Cult brands have a fanatical customer base. A culture is created around the brand based on consumers of a niche group. From there, the brand evangelists spread the message and enlist more followers.

When consumers are treated with honesty and delighted by a brand experience, they begin to bond emotionally with the brand. They become brand loyalists and advocates – buying the brand more often and recommending it to others. This behavior serves to build the brand’s reputation. This approach is priceless – even though it may take longer to take a positive effect.

That said, innovative products, exceptional services, the total customer experience and the lifestyle which comes with being associated with the brand are what truly makes a cult brand exceptional from competing brands. The key objective is to create a relationship of trust. The world’s powerful brands establish trust and friendship with their customers. They develop emotional capital, and gain passion. This is what makes them great, thus “cult” brands.

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October 3, 2022 · 9:51 am

Exploiting The Benefits Of Niche Marketing: Strategic Marketing

By James D. Roumeliotis

In strategic marketing “speak”, who earns more money? A general practitioner or a specialist physician such as an ophthalmologist? The latter has spent additional years studying with an emphasis on one particular area of practice which makes him or her both scarce and sought after in his or her profession. The same goes for an organization that has spent years studying the market with emphasis on doing one thing, but one thing extremely well. This automatically justifies higher fees translating to improved earnings. How does a saddle maker to the horse and carriage trade reposition itself to maximize its know-how in leather goods to now command $4,500 for a simple briefcase? Or even hawk silk scarves at $400? Think Hermes.

The answer lies in specialization, craftsmanship, and branding. As with all other specialized professions, a business that, chooses to concentrate on a particular market segment should simply be generating higher revenues. Alternatively, if you join the herd of the mainstream, there is always a vast consumer audience to tap. Profit is driven by volumes. It is harder to compete on price to the point of being perceived as offering a commodity with little or no differentiation — otherwise known as a “unique selling proposition” (USP). The only exception to that rule is when an enterprise keeps churning out innovative, “must-have” items ahead of its competition. Yet that requires constant creativity, refinements, and a considerable amount of R&D. Apple is an example of a brand that has managed to hit both objectives. Not bad for an enterprise, that started life in a garage.

Defining the term “Niche”
Strategically, niche marketing is the way to go forward. However, you ought to be on top of the game. Recently, the firm Kusmi Tea has managed to put all the right elements together in an unbeatable combination. It personifies mass marketing and branding. If you have a specific group of people interested in “organic tea”, you have your proverbial niche. Whether promoting niche products, in focused markets, such as those for vegans, cruises exclusively for “cougars and cubs” or geared for ultra-high net worth individuals, the activities applied to attract that refined target undoubtedly calls for creative strategic thinking.

Targeted Audiences
The best way to start is to define your target audience. An 18-year-old girl who wants to lose weight to fit into her dress is interested in weight loss diets. Hit her at her waistline, and the target is captured with simplicity.

The family who just purchased a puppy wants it trained and therefore requires the appropriate service. Show you can make a dog shake, rattle, and roll and still act well-behaved in the company of others and you will no longer need to flog dog whistles. Ever notice how a 50-year-old lady wants to hide her wrinkles and is always searching for a miracle formula to make her wrinkles disappear in minutes? Open Vogue and see how this “class act” can be achieved. These cited groups above represent finely honed targeted audiences. Marketing to such audiences and building an emotional bridge from the intention to purchase decision always attracts higher conversions. You don’t need to recreate the wheel. All you need to do is to find a suitable product that your target audience is looking for and present it on a silver platter. All target audiences liked to be addressed with intimacy and personal contact.

Driving the Niche
Common sense tells you that driving a selected audience is efficient and lucrative.
The following key index shows how niche marketing should be your chosen business strategy:
1. When entering a new niche market, generally you will not have much competition to deal with. This is justification alone for choosing a specific market in the first place. It also makes your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Internet marketing strategy focused and cost-effective.

2. Niche markets appeal to target customers, and they are generally much more willing to spend money when their specific needs are met. This means that by catering to a specific target market, you can generally earn a better profit margin.

3. Some niche markets contain sub-groups of the main niche. For example, acai berry weight loss pills or natural weight loss diets are sub-niches from the weight loss niche. Despite their relatively small size, they are actually quite sought after. Identifying this need spares you from having to compete with similar businesses. People who fit this profile will seriously consider your product — especially if it offers them a genuine solution.

4. Niche marketing makes it possible to focus on becoming a true expert within a particular realm while building a reputable brand name. Strategically, it is also more focused and easier to segment and attack.

The “Ideal” Niche Player
A niche market player is very effective at working closely with customers to build and maintain long-term relationships by innovating and challenging the existing norms in the industry, thus adding value to the project, program, and organizational level. If one is considered an expert in what one does by focusing on one area, then great success will follow. The value proposition must be relevant to the target market.

This means a target market must be clearly defined. Focusing on a specific market requires knowing it inside and out. This includes conducting a market analysis, stating a precise target market description and goal, as well as being clear about the type of relationship one would like to achieve with his/her market.

By definition, then, a business that focuses on a niche market is supplying a need for a product or service that is not being met by mainstream providers. As such, one can think of a niche market as a narrowly defined group of potential clients offering them the best of what you have. In return, their vendors will profit from higher margins and customer loyalty. As for targeting smaller “sub” niches, you will find them much easier to dominate.

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September 6, 2022 · 10:28 am

The Art of Selling Luxury Products: Brand Story Telling & Persuasion

By James D. Roumeliotis

Correct link: https://bit.ly/3ew7I56

Recently, I followed a Linkedin luxury sector group thread. Discussion centered on the appropriate manner clients should be treated by sales personnel in a luxury retail shop such as Gucci.

To my astonishment, one participant, posing as an expert stated that salespeople at such boutiques should be snooty. The reason given was that this attitude was part of the luxury cachet.

How ludicrous and puerile, I thought.

In my experience, this is precisely what you should not do. Whether you spend $10,000 or more on a Rolex or $20,000 or more at Hermes all clients should be treated with respect. Period. Aspiration and negative attitude sales pitches are not only counterproductive, but they are also destructive. (I might add, that this should be true of all human interaction and not just the act of buying luxury products.)

Does Luxury Really Have Meaning?

Luxury was never about price. This is an outdated concept built on a social model which is incompatible with democratic values. It is about brands, which are authentic. Authenticity implies function, design, intrinsic value, and in certain cases heritage and pedigree.

Luxury must provide the right experience.

Sophisticated customers want the wow factor.

This means touching the heart and dazzling the senses. When done in this manner, the client feels their lifestyle enhanced. Yes, I know, like you do that a product is just a thing. However, things act as a trigger and can alter perception, inner balance, and outer harmony.

Look at the keys to luxury brand management and you will recognize the essentials in selling aspiration:

1) Self-expression and sense of self
2) Exceptional treatment and experience when in the act of purchase
3) Craftsmanship=Quality
4) Authenticity
5) The Rarity Factor
6) Emotional Bonding
7) Mystique

To achieve these elements the brand must be expert storytellers. One of the grand storytelling kings, Ralph Lauren, understands this like the lines on his hand.

Exceeding Expectations

Luxury goods are not sold the same way as mainstream products. It’s not enough to simply introduce and sell a luxury brand surrounded by a fancy store with design-inspired display cases either. Consumers of luxury brands tend to have higher expectations than that of traditional consumers. They are discerning and sensitive to questionable tactics, as well as intolerant when comes to aggressive salespeople.

The attitude, product knowledge, and overall delivery/presentation of the product by the sales consultant/brand ambassador all play an equally important role. This translates to a well-educated, skilled staff having good communication skills, a high level of presentation skills, and a customer-centric approach.

A study by The Luxury Institute, in New York, finds that Burberry and Bottega Veneta excel far better in CRM (Customer Relationship Management) than other companies. Their key findings were under the title:

“Leading Edge Insights Into The World Of The Wealthy”

Sales associates should be employed from related luxury brands and products, with consideration given to those in the service sector such as hospitality or premium airlines: Singapore Airlines, Swiss Airlines, Emirates, and others — or perhaps from premium apparel brands and high-end cosmetic brands. One thing is certain: Training ought to be based on specific brand requirements.

As more luxury brands open their own retail outlets to stand apart, they need to better control sales channels, image, and front-line personnel.

One cannot stress enough for Sales teams to have the right training.
For new sales hires not familiar with selling luxury brands, a company has to invest to train them and ensure occasional retraining including recap courses. Luxury sales training should include:
– In-depth product knowledge – specifically how it will help satisfy the customer’s needs;
– Focus on the customer – who they are, what they like/dislike, determine needs, motivations and preferences;
– Exceed customer expectations by delighting and surprising;
– Appeal to client emotions;
– Never put down the competition.

Ultimately, craftsmanship, design innovation, exclusivity, and pedigree sell themselves. Correct sales attitudes should personify the luxury branded products and it becomes in the client’s eyes a done deal.

Selling, or Rather, Storytelling with Product Knowledge and Finesse

Consumers today are sophisticated when it comes to shopping – thanks primarily to the internet where information on just about any product can be researched and used for comparison purposes. Consequently, when a prospective client walks into a store, he/she is armed with knowledge – which is why the sales professional should be product proficient and adept at assisting and guiding the client to the purchase by making use of flattery, romance, and showmanship. Charisma is an asset.

To illustrate, if a sales consultant, wearing a pristine white pair of gloves is presenting, for instance, a Chopard watch, he/she will utilize terms with finesse and avoid using language which discusses a specific price tag. In its place, the word “value” can be used. Instead of calling the product an obvious “watch”, the sales consultant can say, “timepiece”, “masterpiece” or simply pronounce the model name. It should then be demonstrated in a dazzling manner emphasizing its innate qualities and timeless design with functionality – amongst other features that focus on one’s sentiments.

When selling a niche automobile such as a Porsche, the sales professional can talk about racetracks, describe road-holding capabilities, and build up a fascinating story – after which time he/she can bring up reliability and the technical details which confirm to the discerning client what he/she is already aware of.

Hiring Selection Process: Who Should Make the Cut?

When seeking to hire sales consultants, there should be a set of criteria established to ensure a successful performance. The people selected for the end-user contact should have the following characteristics:

1) Retail sales experience in a luxury environment;

2) Empathetic: expertise in establishing customer relationships that translate into sales;

3) Image: proper attire and fashion accessories, verbal communication, and grooming. Clients should see the brand made manifest so it has a personal connection;

4) Skilled at the emotional aspects of a sale: bond with customers so that relationship leverage is genuine;

5) Passionate and Professional mindset;

6) Highly collaborative: knows how to work with and through others in a team-based environment;

7) Entrepreneurial, competitive, self-confident, and self-motivated.

Discounted Luxury is an Oxymoron

Under no circumstances should luxury brands be discounted. They need to stick to their true sense of meaning and heritage. By cutting prices, brands risk changing the quality-price relationship in the customer’s mind. This practice normally stems from sales consultants, who may not be convinced that the particular luxury goods offered for sale actually merit the price.

Such an attitude can be tricky to navigate effectively. Customers need to believe otherwise they question and the product is devalued in their eyes. Salespeople, who are not up to this aspect of brand personification should not be hired.

Price discounts should be a tactic of last resort.

A robust alternative is to offer gift items or bonuses such as complimentary tickets to Art exhibitions, gift certificates, or access to a coveted local restaurant.

Employ Mystery Shoppers

In the retail brand experience, nothing should be taken for granted. In a progressive customer-driven entity, training and developing human assets should be an ongoing process. Moreover, brands should be an enemy of the status quo.

Hiring mystery shoppers to gauge the total sales cycle approach and report back their experience to management should not be ignored.

Another suggestion is for the luxury boutique owners to hire a third party such as a consultancy firm, which specializes in the high-end retail domain, to shadow the sales consultants and evaluate their performance.

Both techniques need to be conducted with frequency. How can you understand what the client expects by acting and gauging behavior in the field? You can’t.

The Final Take

Remember, a luxury sales professional does not pressure customers to buy.

He/She plays the role of a luxury purveyor and advisor – someone who is an expert product consultant and keeps a client’s best interests at heart. By demonstrating value, a sales consultant establishes himself/herself as a professional.

It’s about establishing a person-to-person relationship as opposed to a salesperson-to-customer relationship.

In today’s economy, service has become a core competitive advantage. Hiring the right people and training them to sell properly, increase sales and retain the brand’s luster should all be part of its ongoing ambitions.

Sophisticated customers want products that dazzle their senses, touch their hearts and stimulate their minds – which they can relate to and can incorporate into their lifestyles. The degree to which a luxury product is able to deliver a desirable customer experience is vital.

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July 4, 2022 · 10:23 am

The Creativity and Strategy of Nation (Country or City) Branding

By James D. Roumeliotis

When branding comes to mind, we think of products and services. We also come to think of “personal” branding ─ especially in professions such as attorneys, architects, accountants, and the like. Moreover, with the prevalence of freelancing, as well as influencers, branding offers them similar benefits in regard to grooming their image and reputation to attract more clients and fans respectively. However, cities, towns, and even countries have joined the bandwagon and business concept in branding themselves. They do so because they understand the many benefits of branding nations. These include attracting trade, business investment, possibly immigration, and/or tourism. For a few, it may be reputation management due to a negative perception/disrepute of the location.
 
Nation Branding refers to a process in which a country claims a distinct brand positioning in the minds of its citizens, the global prospect/customer, and international stakeholders. This requires the country to invest resources in coordinating and integrating a multitude of activities.
 
In many cases, the country image provides credibility to the brand image. Think French wine, Swiss watches, German Cars, Danish designs, and Greek hospitality. Additional examples as consumers top of mind are Italian fashion, Colombian coffee beans, and 100% pure New Zealand wool, and are some of the well-known examples. 
 
Through effective nation branding, countries, and cities independently, can develop a distinct personality that benefits both the country and its renowned national brands within it. Tourism and national airlines may be the main representation between nation branding and corporate branding. However, there are various other sectors that can also partake an important role in nation brand building.
 
Countries are turning to PR to revive their global reputations
A Public Relations (PR) agency can bring value and enhance a nation’s reputation. They are storytellers who create narratives to advance their agenda.  Additionally, PR can be used to protect and build reputations through various online and offline media sources, as well as self-produced communications.
 
When Kuwait was invaded by Iraq, the former hired Hill & Knowlton. The agency was tasked with creating international sympathy along with Western military support for what was essentially an oil-rich undemocratic regime in the Middle East. This worked in its favour.
 
Where paid media, such as advertising by a country, is normally the default way to promote anything that may be construed as propaganda, earned media, which is what PR is considered, offers to help boost brand awareness, increase credibility and expand reach. Earning media on trusted outlets and news publications not only validates the content created but gives a brand for a nation third-party credibility. PR comprises any publicity or media that is not generated by the country (or city) or any of its agents, but rather by a third party ─ an agency along with organic methods via the targeted audiences, social media fans, journalists, and/or bloggers.
 
Corporate branding leveraging nation branding
Inherent connections exist between a nation’s brand and the corporate brands that operate within. Both rely on each other, thus leveraging each other’s fortes to build and further their reputation. One corporate sector that typically has close ties to a nation’s brand creation is the airline industry. For example, national carrier airlines such as Emirates in Dubai, Singapore Airlines in the island country of Singapore, and Turkish Airlines in Turkey, have been highly successful in leveraging their respective countries’ image, culture, and values in order to market their services, as well as act as nation brand representatives globally. The experience for visitors begins with the inflight experience.
 
The task of building soft power, along with a positive image of their nation, is one that policymakers throughout the world are becoming ever more concerned with. The soft power strategy has become popular in Turkish foreign policy. Turkish Airlines, a well-known international airline brand, has evolved into a tool for Turkish soft power because of this appeal and the momentum Turkish public institutions gave Turkey in its pursuit of soft power.
 
Case Study: Repositioning Greece
In today’s globalized world where national identity loses a step, a country willing to compete must have a brand. This brand should communicate to the world audience Greece’s characteristic values that make up her essence. The louder and clearer this message is broadcasted, the better Greece will emerge among the nations.
 
Greece is, in fact, easily recognizable globally, as a country mainly for its beautiful landscapes (especially its numerous islands), its history, food, hospitality, and some are even aware that besides tourism and agriculture industry respectively, the country is also known for its powerful merchant shipping domain. Greek shipowners control one-third of the world fleet. However, the fact that Greece enjoys a powerful image overseas does not necessarily mean that the country has a brand, at least not in a brand in the modern meaning of the word. Other countries have successfully built their own brands, but Greece has not, or at least not well enough, other than its Greek Tourism Organization with its annual tourism advertising campaigns (with a different theme and slogan every year).

Greece’s competitive positioning should be entrenched in both the leisure destination as well as an environment full of opportunities inspired by its residents’ lifestyle, boosting the business environment and merging the country as an attractive investment destination. The aim should be to create a country recognized worldwide (especially in the nontraditional international markets) for its unique lifestyle, talented people, innovation, and entrepreneurial culture but certainly without losing its destination branding features within the tourism and hospitality markets. Moreover, Greece can take advantage of its rich culture (philosophy, language, athletics, etc.) to improve its international image and cultivate cooperative relations even with countries that have no direct interests.

Greece should be able to gain competitive advantages over other nations. Being considerate of the nation’s image at home and abroad is paramount for this to transpire. Promoting a specific brand would definitely help.

In the end
Evidently, positioning or repositioning a destination is not an easy task. Effective promotional campaigns and shrewd diplomacy can be utilized as a means to achieve strategic objectives. In doing so, a country or city/town, like a product or service enterprise, should think analytically, target specific audiences, create a unique value proposition, and aim to establish a global brand that resonates. This requires conceptualizing nation branding as a form of national soft power. 

Futurebrand publishes the Country Brand Index every year, which includes an overall ranking of the 75 countries and rankings by dimension, FutureBrand collected quantitative and qualitative data from Approximately 2,500 opinion-formers and frequent international business or leisure travelers in 17 countries (USA, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, UK, Germany, France, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, UAE, India, China, Thailand, Japan, Mexico, and Australia). complete perception dashboards for the top five country brands, regional leaders, and ‘ones to watch’ for the future. Futurebrand tests a global research sample based on the Hierarchical Decision Model (HDM) which involves determining an individual’s awareness, familiarity, association, and preference toward a country’s brand. In their 2018-19 ranking, the top 5 nations’ brands were (ranked from first to fifth) Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Sweden, and Canada. (Source: Wikipedia)
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April 3, 2022 · 10:17 am

The Dysfunctional Organization: Weak Company Culture and Negligent Leadership as the Culprits

By James D. Roumeliotis

How often do you come across a company, either as a consumer or at a business relationship level, and realize how frustrating it is to deal with?

To understand and penetrate the corporate governing structure and “culture”, you need to look no further than the upper echelon of the hierarchical tree. It is here that procedural decisions are shaped and executed. An entity’s leadership is expected to head the enterprise by governing its long-term growth and sustained wealth.

Moreover, there is a constant search for the “right” human resources. Recruited and fresh talent must resemble the leadership in tone and style. Call it the organization’s DNA. Exceptional organizations are good at these types of corporate strategies, thus strengthening performance effectively.

We notice that in certain types of B2B transactions, there can be scope for unscrupulous behavior. One or both parties are tempted by “disservice” during their business exchange. Shortsightedness might lend itself to making this underhanded approach appear “profitable” on paper. Such relationships inevitably end badly because they are not conceived with trust or respect.

Success Breeds Success

Companies that foster the right attitudes and strategies put themselves on track for success. Examining their corporate histories, you can witness a trajectory of growth. They have a tendency to dominate their markets and “win” through competent talent, innovation, and an entrepreneurial mindset within the leadership at the executive level. These choices underscore the prosperity and rapid growth of the institution. An examination of Alphabet (Google) or (Meta) Facebook shows this quite nicely. They are not built like “traditional” corporations nor do they act like them.

Organizational leadership is accountable for creating value for customers, employees, and its owners/investors. When Bill Gates conceived Microsoft, he put the firm on track for providing constituent audiences with what nobody else could provide. Understanding “asset” management in an expanded meaning of the term guaranteed that Microsoft would succeed under, co-founder, Gates’s stewardship.

The opposite is equally true. When top executives lack knowledge or experience for board positions, they should not be promoted to these leadership roles. Some family-owned businesses run afoul here and this brings up the issues of sustainability and corporate governance. Another weakness in running an organization, in my view, is pushing for short-term profitability at the expense of solid planning. For example, in large organizations, competence is not the primary value but rather connections, politics, and clever tactics. Such “benefits” can usually compensate for incompetence.

No business can continue to prosper unless it attracts fresh and eager talent. Despite the dilemmas within the financial world, top organizations consistently lure new talent with lucrative compensation packages. It is easier for a firm such as Goldman to tap the “best” because of its reputation, size, and success than a small local financial player. When Goldman recruits they know where to look, whether it is Harvard or the London Business School. Prospects will already contain the seeds of the corporate culture in their past. Given the “right” conditions, new talent blossoms. Qualifications are never enough. They are a starting point reinforced by attitude and values. The selection and screening process is designed by HR to weed out inappropriate candidates.

Established software companies’ interview process includes quizzing candidates with challenging technical questions. This practice not only assesses problem-solving and knowledgeability but also explores the ability to perform under pressure, which is a key skill required for software engineers to succeed in their intense work environment.

One thing is firmly certain ─ the best-managed companies have “one” factor in common:
They are constant achievers in their respective industries. These companies exude managerial excellence. Financial performance is the result of this style of management. Consider companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, among others, which thrive and ranked in 2021 by the Drucker Institute Company Ranking, as America’s largest publicly traded companies according to Peter Drucker’s principles of effectiveness—“doing the right things well.”

Deeds Not Slogans

Companies with inept leadership usually fail in the first year or two, but even established companies can stumble badly when they outgrow the capabilities of the founding team. Research by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics demonstrates that nearly 6/10 businesses shut down within the first 4 years of operation.

To be a successful entrepreneur is not an effortless task. It takes plenty of sacrifices. A new generation of young entrepreneurs thinks the road is smooth and a fast track to easy wealth. Not everyone will become Jeff Bezos. Obstacles and sacrifice are part of the deal. Harnessing opportunities and overcoming challenges daily to top the competition is constant work. These conditions are true no matter what the sector of a business engagement or company size.

Telltale signs of weak organizations can be traced to inept leadership. The following points highlight the deficiencies:
• Poor customer service – slow or no customer inquiry replies – abysmal handling of sales and service complaints. Service is portrayed as a reward, not a right or benefit.
• No Unique Selling/Value Proposition – Companies need to define and articulate their unique value proposition and deliver on it consistently. Create a platform for sustainable and competitive advantage.
• Operational deficiencies – various ailments and no structure
• Absence of or very little communication among staff and management – Divisions aren’t well-coordinated and do not function as a team.
• No transparency – There is hardly any openness from management.
• Unethical practices – short-term selfish objectives in search of market share. Top executives should promote social norms and principles as moral agents.
• Lack of proper execution of decisions and new products/services.
• Productivity incentives should be implemented to boost results and employee morale. People must be given a reason to work hard and be efficient.
• Creativity is practically non-existent – An absence of innovation and employee empowerment will hurt progress and stifle new ideas.
• No clear vision/strategy – there needs to be a strategic vision that reflects a truly unmet need and has the commitment of a dedicated CEO. That means that there is a well-defined target audience with a distinct value position that is differentiated, meaningful, and deliverable.
• A weak sales force along with an unattractive compensation plan.
• Favoring nepotism and bias – promoting family members over other qualified employees often leads to resentment or, worse, prompts valuable non-family employees to leave the company.
• Poor hiring practices – should hire for attitude and train for skills.
• Slow/delayed decision-making process – too many layers – overwhelming bureaucratic structure.
• High turnover, which leads to poor employee morale, reduced intellectual capital, lower service levels, higher operational costs, and decreased productivity.
• Management in a state of denial about their organization’s shortcomings – remaining with the dysfunctional status quo
• No specific and/or stable channel strategy – Some companies focus on building a product but don’t think through how to get it into the hands of customers. Even if your product is great, unless you can sell directly, you may be dead in the water without strong channel partners.
• The hidden game – corporate politics – power plays by a handful of individuals for their own benefit to the detriment of their colleagues and the company.
• Misrepresentation of the brand(s) – too much hype – empty promises – not delivering on expectations – leads to dissatisfied clients who will alienate the brand.
• Weak financial controls – cash flow dilemmas – over leveraged/undercapitalized (high debt-to-capital ratio) – not reinvesting a certain percentage of profits for future growth.
• Absence of sound marketing program(s) and/or brand strategy – A brand is defined by how it behaves, from the products it builds to how it treats its customers, to the suppliers with whom it works.
• Growing too fast and not staying on course as the company grows.
• Lack or very little employee training & development.
• Deficient in control systems – reactive rather than pro-active.
• Lack of continuous improvements or complacent.

Top executives need to be accountable to the ownership or Board of Directors – whichever applies, or at least to an outside arm’s length and neutral party such as an adviser who can also play “devil’s advocate” when necessary.

Good Organizations Matter

The way to solve an organizational problem is to confront the structural issues with a moral sense of purpose and ethics. For its clients to receive stellar service, the firm must have its house in order. Besides structure and an efficient operation, employees should be trained and empowered to do their jobs efficiently.

Seth Godin, a renowned marketing strategist, stated succinctly: “If you want to build a caring organization, you need to fill it with caring people and then get out of their way. When your organization punishes people for caring, don’t be surprised when people stop caring. When you free your employees to act like people (as opposed to cogs in a profit-maximizing efficient machine) then the caring can’t help but happen.”

Companies that disrespect their employees and shut-out clients get willfully isolated and have a short life span through erosion of market share and significant loss of revenue. A company’s goal should place emphasis on serving its people properly and fairly. Higher morale generates higher profits – though occasionally other priorities hinder that objective, for example, self-serving behavior by certain executives.

Enterprises spanning a wide array of industries have earned distinction as “well-” or “best-” managed” by demonstrating business excellence through a meticulous and independent process that evaluates their management abilities and practices – by focusing on innovation, continuous training, brainstorming and caring for their employees’ well-being – as well as investing in meeting the needs of their clients.

In a nutshell: Well-run companies thrive no matter what by hiring the right people, taking good care of them, listening to customers, and never ceasing to innovate and improve.

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March 1, 2022 · 6:33 pm

The Master Salesmen of Self-Help: Pitching Vague Concepts, Which Can’t be Measured, by Means of Savvy Messages and Emotional Tactics

By James D. Roumeliotis

In a Mad Men episode (Season 5, Episode 12: “Commissions and Fees”) actor Don Draper stated: “What is happiness? It’s the moment before you need more happiness.” Life should be a “do-it-yourself project.” Each level has its obstacles and perks, and you will be required to have a plan in order to navigate through it. With that said, the business of selling hope has been here since the bible. According to Marketdata, estimates are that the self-improvement market was worth $11.6 billion in 2019 ─ profiting off people’s problems. Not totally against this as it may actually help some individuals. However, most of the information provided is far from objective. The extravagant promotions (i.e., hype) utilized to stoke-up interest for the overrated and undervalued costly courses, as well as the 2-3 day “success concerts”, disguised as a business event with secrets to offer, along with all the hoopla on display, seem to be working for their intended target audience ─ mainly those with insecurities and inferiority complexes who believe they have been offered something of value and anticipate getting inspired. Needless to say, not everyone is a good fit for the schemes being sold.

Sadly, the euphoria, from success preaching concerts and sessions, wears off after several days, thus the attendees return to their pre-session selves. Evidently, you can’t be motivated by not being dedicated. Think of what was gained watching/listening to the “masterminds.” Possibly doses of motivation and common sense with a placebo effect.

Sold are also rehashed success “blueprint” programs where methods to become triumphant, on paper ─ in theory are scientifically unproven. Such recommendations are not blanket solutions to everyone’s challenges which one may be actually facing.

Then there are the coaching sessions which most of the time are not conducted by the extremely busy and prohibitively priced charismatic motivational “guru” himself or herself. Instead, the coaching task has been outsourced to a trained soldier who, despite his or her best effort and intention, does not possess the same persona compared to the one who had you sold on the overpriced sessions in the first place.

Master Salesmen at Manipulation & Emotions

There is a big difference between telling people what they like to hear and telling people what they need to hear. The new-age motivational gurus know exactly how to create a sense of urgency. Their charisma, voice inflection, observable passion, stage animation, audience engagement, and presentation skills are traits that create the buzz and draw crowds. They are most certainly very clever in marketing and packaging their personal image/brand. They put on a fancy light show accompanied by dramatic sound designed to evoke an emotional response in oneself creating the belief you are getting transformative change. There is no evidence to support the idea that those types of seminars have long-term positive changes in people attending them. People go to them because there is something about themselves that they want to change. There are other options and modes of therapy that are far less expensive that have been proven to be efficacious (think clinical psychology). What does it mean, for example, “to have a date with destiny”? Feel-good advice is a vague concept and an illusion. It does not solve anything or explain “how to” do something such as to overcome adversities in life or in a business.

Success trainers, income experts, and business coaches preach personal success systems. They supposedly know and share methods/strategies that will help you dream big and achieve your goals along with a substantial income. They do so by encouraging their audience to look at things from a different perspective and to become more attentive to their own talents and abilities. Yet most personal development coaches at motivational events often sell products including courses, books, and coaching. Apart from this, most built their success by selling rehashed advice. 

The Use of Verbal Jujitsu

Straight talk and common sense only go so far. Apparently, sometimes it pays to overcomplicate a simple message by using simple terms into scientific or eloquent lingo as a good way to sell ideas. As a result, this should make the success guru a thought leader or mastermind on that specific subject which in turn will cause his or her reputation and authority to surge. They use this in their favor to communicate to their audience what it must do to achieve success by seeing things from a different viewpoint using vague concepts which can’t be measured. It sounds good!

Alternative and Practical Complimentary Advice

On stage, the ‘Masters at Manipulation & Emotions’ deliver glorified common sense, stirring tales of how they attained success, as well as package their most important concepts and turn them into a compelling manifesto.  On social media, they deliver videos speaking about how they earned their millions. Likewise, those (self-proclaimed) success authorities use remarkably effective strategies to sell them in the form of books, talks and consulting engagements. Essentially, the takeaway from them should be how to approach personal branding with splendor.

Consider that life should be viewed as a “do-it-yourself project.”  Be proactive and responsible for your own destiny. No one has a silver bullet to offer you or do for you what’s necessary to progress in your life. Furthermore, no one owes you anything! Every single one of us (barring those with physical or psychological handicaps) is capable and should be responsible for self-development and for each of our outcomes.

There are some who have stated that they have spent a reasonable amount of money on Tony Robbins books and watched free videos on YouTube. They didn’t spend anything on his costly and at times reworked courses. Perhaps this is how people should learn from such popular motivational personalities. Avoid joining and following pricey cults and simply avoid parting with your money.

As a process, this is how one should essentially consider when working on thyself (from my perspective):

1. Define/find your purpose. Discover what drives you and pursue it…relentlessly.

2. Define your goals (short and long-term).

3. Deconstruct your goals into stages and steps.

4. Create a plan with specific date targets.

5. Execute consistently. Keep pushing yourself!

6. Fail, adjust and improve.

7. Persist until achieved along with the aid of practical resources (a tenacious mindset

    development is an important benefit).

8. Move on to the next.

As a final point, consider applying the SMART goals acronym to assist you in guiding your goal setting. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Details of this here.
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February 1, 2022 · 9:35 am

Beyond Loyal Customers: How to Develop Customer Evangelists

By James D. Roumeliotis

Loyal customers are always good for business. But there are customers who are a notch better than them. Before I dive into this category, I will define what a “loyal customer” is. It’s one who regularly purchases from a particular store or chooses a certain brand repeatedly. Although they are repeat customers, their loyalty may be driven by low prices, convenience, and/or a frequent positive customer experience. A business should strive to not merely create happy and loyal customers but the type who are so enamored by your company or brand that they are willing to go out of their way to become your advocate – even if you may have disappointed them once or twice. They forgive those occasional services and quality issues but let you know when quality slips. They are beyond loyal and make purchases for themselves and others. They passionately recommend you to friends, relatives, colleagues, and others, as well as provide unsolicited praise or feedback. This is the “customer evangelist” category of customers.

Customer Evangelists as Your Indirect Salesforce

Customer evangelists influence and, in some cases, become part of a company’s volunteer salesforce and/or brand ambassador. They will not hesitate to want others to benefit as they have. The term “evangelist” is derived from the religious believers who roamed the backstreets of the world to spread the word of their faith. Beliefs are based on emotional connection, profound convictions, and arise through experiences. Strongly held beliefs impel many to tell others about theirs.

Customer Acquisition: Word-of-Mouth Still Rules

Evidence shows that acquiring a new customer is five times more expensive than keeping a current customer happy. Moreover, customer profitability tends to grow the longer a customer stays with you as it costs less to keep a customer coming back for more. Results of a study reported in 2001 by Euro RSCG Worldwide, one of the largest advertising agencies in the world, regarding the influences on buyers of consumer technology products, found how consumers get most of their information about technology products: 13 percent from advertising, 20 percent from Web sites, and 34 percent from word-of-mouth (WOM). Furthermore, 78% of people rave about their favorite recent experiences to people they know at least once per week. These results are testament to the power of what is also referred to as “word-of-mouth advertising,” WOM marketing includes buzz, viral, blog, emotional, and social media marketing.

Social Media Customer Advocates & Influencers

An “influencer” is someone who, either through his or her professional or personal brand, has a large following or audience on his or her blog and/or social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter, whereas an “advocate” is an actual customer who has a passion for the brand and expresses that love by sharing his or her experience with others. Influencers may have a large social media following but not necessarily create the ability to drive action ─ rather it gives the ability to drive awareness. Effective influential results require audience and advocacy. Thus, advocacy is driven by the depth of conviction, and influencers typically are less committed to the product or brand than are actual customer advocates.

Loyalty or Reward Programs

There are also reward or loyalty programs specially designed by companies and brands to incentivize customers who frequently buy their products or services to be their first choice each time. Cases in point are with rewards programs such as with Starbucks where each purchase brings a customer closer to free drinks and food, Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club a frequent flyer program that allows members to earn tier points. There are three loyalty tiers – Club Red, Club Silver, and Club Gold, each of which provides different benefits to the most loyal customers. Then there is Amazon Prime ─ a premium Amazon membership, for a certain annual cost, which provides its regular buyers with a bunch of benefits including free 2-day shipping on a wide range of products. Research shows that an effective, fair, and well-managed loyalty program works. According to Yotpo, 52% of American consumers will join the loyalty program of a brand they make frequent purchases from, and according to Bond, 84% of loyalty program members have made a redemption from the program. However, to stand the best chance of success in tough market conditions, programs must enhance the overall value of the product or service if they are to incentivize the customers to make their next purchase.

In the End

Customer or brand evangelists are customer advocates who stay loyal to a brand and make it recognized to the public on social media or word of mouth. This doesn’t simply occur on its own. It’s a process that a company/brand must design and manage through trust-building, positive customer experiences, and marketing activities. This should lead to an organic pool of natural advocates as satisfied customers are often very happy to share their experiences. Programs should also be considered and created to reward and incentivize these advocates. This is often a good return on investment. Additionally, finding and choosing people with authoritative opinions, who are followed closely by the company’s target demographic, called “influencers” may turn them into supporters as well.

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December 2, 2021 · 12:18 pm

ME, Inc.: The Impact of Personal Branding in Strategic Marketing

By James D. Roumeliotis

I had a striking and might I dare say, haunting thought that continues to stick with me. Some years ago, I met a girlfriend through a dating site. Yes, I know this is not unusual. However, she initially remarked that I marketed myself online as if I was a (human) “product.” Through that pleasant conversation, I wasn’t certain if this was to be construed as a compliment or a criticism. Although my intent was not deliberate, I now understood the power of personal branding.

Today, personal branding is ubiquitous and an essential part of professional and non-professional activism. It isn’t different from product branding and relies on the same critical and analytical eye and criteria to float the “product” in the market. The only difference is that the product in question is “you.”

For example, if you are in the job market, the commodity you are selling is “you”. This also applies if you are seeking a promotion within your organization or whether you’re selling/categorizing yourself as the ideal independent consultant or political candidate respectively. The motives can be one or several.

The Brand Called “(Place your full name here)”
No matter what your name is or who you are, you are engaged in selling an image you wish to portray to a targeted audience. Joe McGinnis in his cutting edge book “The Selling of the President” showed how this could be done effectively. The book focuses on how Richard Nixon was able to “sell” his profile to the American public in 1968.

As individuals, celebrities have pretty much mastered the art of turning themselves into powerful, eye-catching and memorable personal brands. Think Paris Hilton, Madonna, George Clooney, and Donald Trump. Even President Barack Obama, during his campaigns, demonstrated how to take an unknown quantity and build a persuasive persona.

What Can We Learn from Them?
To start with, it’s not a one-off event but rather an ongoing process.  Companies constantly bombard us with messages and adverts for precisely this reason. To keep us reminded of their brand and thus reinforce their brand equity.

Keeping it genuine and delivering on promises is an equally important factor to consider. Your attitude and actions, from start to finish with any task you perform, set the tone for the type of individual you are and what others can expect from you.

Create a Brand Statement and a Value Proposition
Marketers, most notably, product brand managers, create messages about their products or services that encourage us to buy. Those messages tell us attributes about the product and the benefits to us as consumers if we purchase their products/services. Likewise, as a personal brand, you need to develop at least one message about yourself that tells your target market what you bring to the table, the benefits they receive from doing business with you, as well as what attracts them to you.

Your value proposition is all about your competitiveness and should spell out the strengths that surpass your competition. To put your brand to work for you in your job search, you’ll need to pull together all the pieces that make up your value proposition in the marketplace. A vibrant personal brand statement makes it that much easier for those assessing you to get an indication of what you bring to the organization.

Effective Communication Enhances your Brand
Whether you’re a CEO, manager, consultant, entrepreneur, business owner, professional, or even a job seeker, you should have the ability to persuade through your written and verbal messages. This includes giving effective interviews. Effective presentation skills will not only help you sell your ideas and products but will elevate your personal brand.

Management guru, Peter Drucker once stated, “As you move one step up from the bottom, your effectiveness depends on your ability to reach others through the spoken and written word.” This effective quotation not only tells it as it is, but it also tells us a lot about Peter Drucker as an effective management expert and communicator.

Character vs . Reputation
Reputation is what people say or think about you. That’s your personal brand and should be well-preserved. Character, on the other hand, is what you really are. It is crucial that you understand the distinction. It is said that character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. Always deliver on what you promise and if you look after your character, your reputation will look after itself.

What does Personal Branding Entail?
For personal branding to be effective, it requires managing perceptions
effectively. This encompasses several characteristics including:

– Be Unique and Remarkable in what you do by differentiating yourself from the mainstream. In today’s crowded and competitive world, we need that extra something that sets-us apart. Be distinctive, daring and acquire a competitive edge. After all, it’s a “dog-eat-dog” environment and survival of the fittest. No
matter what you do, you don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.

– Grooming and Clothes: — They are the packaging of your total image. The way you dress and groom says a great deal about you — whether you’re doing so out of necessity or doing it with flair, one can usually distinguish the difference. Watching your appearance also makes you feel good about yourself.

– Etiquette: — It forms a part of human interaction skills, is a strong indication of a refined person and proper upbringing. It should be applied in everyday life in a civilized society. In addition, Respect is esteem of a person, a personal quality and ability to demonstrate it to others through deeds.

Social Networking: Is it going to be Facebook, LinkedIn or Both ?
LinkedIn is the number one professional network, whereas, Facebook is presently the largest personal network with over three billion active users worldwide. Each has its unique purpose. Whether you’re a job seeker, consultant, and entrepreneur or happily employed, LinkedIn can be an incredible asset for your career or business. You can connect to over 800 million professionals in over 200 countries around the world. This is a cyber venue where a polished profile with a professional-looking photo and error-free text should be the only acceptable standard. It’s a portrait of you and your brand. It’s also where you will be importing your contacts and growing your network through new connections. In contrast to LinkedIn, Facebook is geared more toward socializing purposes with friends, relatives and acquaintances.

Many  companies are also taking serious notice whose idea is to engage with
present and prospective clients. It’s equally important that you are prudent and selective with the type of content and photos you place on your page as anyone can come upon it through searches. The message your page conveys will either be positive or unfavorable to your image. Frequent verification and updates on both social networks are recommended. Otherwise, your profiles become stale and unattractive.

Blogging
Another powerful marketing tool to consider is a blog. Writing articles for your own blog and for others will earn you consideration as a respected expert in your industry and subject matter, which, taken together, will create more credibility for you and increase your presence on the Internet.

In the Final Analysis
Regardless of the business you’re in or message you’re trying to depict to your audience, if you’re going to successfully shape your brand, you need to start by knowing who you genuinely are, then form the image you want to present, and subsequently, behave the part consistently.

Everyone, it seems, has a personal brand, but most people are not aware of this and as a result do not manage it strategically, consistently, and effectively. As your own “brand,” you are the head of “Me Inc.”

How does it feel to be the CEO of your own brand and life?

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October 1, 2021 · 2:58 pm

How to Raise Prices Without Turning Away Customers: Savvy and Diligent Tactics to Consider

By James D. Roumeliotis

Product and service pricing is a tricky strategy and depending on what is on offer − most notably a commodity, price increases can be very sensitive to the average consumer. How does a purveyor dance around this dilemma so as not to tick off its customer base? It takes several savvy and diligent tactics.

Pricing strategies

I begin by going over several types of pricing which a business will consider. These include:

Penetration Pricing: The price charged for products and services is set artificially low in order to gain market share. Once this is achieved, the price is increased.

Economy Pricing: This is a no-frills low price. The costs of marketing and promoting a product are kept to a minimum.

Price Skimming: When a higher price is charged because it has a substantial competitive advantage. However, the advantage tends to be unsustainable. The high price attracts new competitors into the market; however, the price inevitably falls due to increased supply.

Psychological Pricing: This approach is used when specific techniques are used to form a subconscious or psychological impact on consumers. The best example is when setting prices lower than a whole number such as 3.99 instead of 4.

Product Line Pricing: Selling a product at or below cost to incentivize customers and drive other sales. For example, a restaurant might offer a low-priced entrée with the purchase of a drink and dessert — both of which have higher profit margins.

Optional Product Pricing: A method applied to increase the amount customers spend once they begin to make a purchase. Optional ‘extras’, when purchased, increase the overall price of the product or service. Examples include computer printers and single pod coffee makers which mostly have a low initial entry price, whereas the cost of the ‘consumables’ or accessories, like printer ink cartridges and coffee pods, respectively, are much more profitable.

Captive Product Pricing: This occurs when an accessory product is necessary to purchase in order to use a core product. Examples of this include products such as razor blades for razors and toner cartridges for printers. This is also known as ‘By-product pricing’.

Promotional Pricing: Pricing to promote a product is a very common application. There are many examples of promotional pricing including approaches such as BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free), money off vouchers, and discounts.

Product Bundle Pricing: Here sellers combine several products in the same package. This also serves to move old stock. It’s a good way of moving old stock and slow-selling products. It’s also another form of promotional pricing.

Value Pricing: This is based on how much the customer perceives a product is worth. The objective is to make consumers believe they are getting the best value at a fair price. This type of pricing works well for ‘basic’ products that don’t have unnecessary details. Dollar stores are thriving due to value-based pricing on items that normally retail for more elsewhere.

Premium Pricing: Use a high price where there is a unique brand. This approach is used where a substantial competitive advantage exists, and the marketer is safe in the knowledge that they can charge a relatively higher price due to craftsmanship, pedigree and/or cache. Such high prices are predominately charged for prestigious and luxurious products and services.

Variable Prices vs. Fixed Prices:  Also known as “Dynamic Pricing”, “supply/demand pricing”, or “time-based pricing.” It’s a pricing strategy in which businesses set flexible prices for products or services based on current market demands. Examples of this are hotel and airline pricing according to the time of year/season, happy hours at bars (downtime), and TV/radio commercials cost during peak hours. In 2020, due to the start of Covid-19, “dynamic pricing” made headlines when the prices of everyday goods such as toilet paper and hand sanitizer suddenly increased dramatically ─ though this was a combination of demand vs. supply, as well as exploitation by many resellers.

Geographical Pricing: Geographical pricing sees variations in price in different parts of the world. For example, rarity value, or where shipping costs increase the price. In some countries, there is more tax on certain types of products which makes them expensive, or legislation that limits how many products might be imported again raising the price.

The general pricing strategy to be applied will depend on different factors including product or service costs, demand, the types of buyers/target market, or customer perceived value, and external factors such as competition, the economy, and government regulations. Moreover, the consideration is taken with the current stage of its product life cycle along with its distribution and promotion considerations.

Raising prices prudently

First and foremost, be transparent. If you make the effort to explain to your customers that you have hired extra staff to deliver an improved product, or for any other reason, the customer may consider accepting the increase, otherwise, he or she may simply suspect that you are simply doing so out of greed. How you pitch and position your price increases can determine the success of your business. Equally important, when making changes to your pricing, make certain that your staff have bought into the price increases. By supporting this, it will be able to communicate it effectively to your customers.

Following are some low-key approaches to price increases.

In Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG): Producers often reduce the product/packaging size rather than raise the price to cut costs. However, this can irritate customers as they feel cheated especially when done discreetly. For environmentalists, the optics of this tactic may be deemed effective if the brand can make a case that reducing product sizing results in reducing waste and under-use.

Create Additional Value: When raising your prices, differentiate from the competition by creating additional value for your clients.  For example, if you want to stand out, you should go above and beyond in whatever you are doing so that your customer deems your brand and/or your offering as being superior to that of your competitors. You can add value to a product or service by improving the packaging or the design and adding a storyline. Moreover, refine the total customer & service experience which includes a seamless timely process and/or offer something extra without charge.

Regarding Hourly Pricing for Services: Charge per project rather than by the hour. This will place the clients at ease knowing the total cost is predictable regardless if a project takes a shorter or longer period to complete. It eliminates cost anxiety and lack of control over the actual hours undertaken and lodged by the services provider.

Consider Incremental Price Increases

By applying incremental price increases on a regular basis or on occasion, you will condition clients to expect it. Depending on what you are selling, such as a subscription service, providing adequate notice is the right thing to do. Stating the reason(s) for this imminent outcome is a plus (think transparency). This way, clients can adjust their budgets accordingly. Timing is important as your level of service and customer satisfaction feedback should align with any increase as appropriate justification.

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September 2, 2021 · 1:48 pm

Sound Branding: Exploiting the Auditory Human Sense for Multi-sensory Communication and Emotional Connection



By James D. Roumeliotis

It is said that the human ear reacts to certain sounds which is telling that we’re wired for sound. Sounds, most notably music, trigger emotions, auditory pleasures, memories and associations. For branding, sound is multi-sensory communication and a holistic corporate model which drives perception, creates attention along with a familiar association. It’s also a means of differentiation from the plethora of advertising media.

The auditory effect to enhance brand identity

Whether it’s a memorable Intel or Coca-Cola jingle, a mega artist’s association with a soft drink or lifestyle brand, Harley Davidson’s distinctive and trademarked motorcycle exhaust sound, or Kellogg’s investment in the power of auditory stimulus with its cereal crunching sounds, marketing strategically through proprietary sounds is increasingly becoming a prevalent means of forming a distinctive brand personality. The advent of digital media and devices with built-in audio, such as smart phones, tablets, streaming media or podcasts, increases the opportunities for companies to utilize audio branding in their overall communication strategy and brand experience. Samples of audio identity can be viewed and heard here.

Consider, below, what some brands are doing with sound to entice new clients and retain existing ones:
– Automobili Lamborghini developed “The distinct sound of Lamborghini” — a stirring and thunderous video soundtrack and the prelude to a potent new driving experience.
– Hip boutique hotels such as Puro Hotel in Mallorca, whose beach bar has been voted one of the world’s 50 best by CNN Travel, surrounds you everywhere with lounge/chill-out genre of music compiled by its in-house DJ ‒ whether you open their website, choose to listen to their on-line steaming player, purchase a CD, relax by the pool sipping a passion fruit mojito or come nightfall, gather around to dance to their house tunes.

Martin Lindstrom, branding expert and author of several books on the subject of ‘neuromarketing’, wrote in his book “Brand Sense” (on “Branding the Sound of Falling Aluminium”), that the Danish luxury audio/video brand, Bang & Olufsen, has raised the bar in the manufacture of corded phones with the Beocom 2 model phone ring tone. He is quoted stating, “By refining this existing sensory touch point, additional brand equity is established, and a new aspect of the Bang & Olufsen brand is raised in the universe of the brand.” Birgitte Rode, CEO of Audio Management adds, “The difference between the BeoCom2 sound and other ringing tones is, that the Bang & Olufsen sound is human, it makes you feel at home, and it´s instantly recognizable.”

Producing a desirable ambiance best suited for your target

The late fashion design icon Karl Lagerfield once stated that “Fashion and music are the same, because music express its period too.” Music, effects, volume and vibrations ‒ the tone and the energy of any place can be set with the right music selections. Upbeat music that would be appropriate in the evening may not appeal to morning customers who may yet be fully alert. If you have an Italian-themed bar, you may want to interject some Italian music from artists like Zuccero or Eros Ramazotti. If your theme/branding and ambiance is geared to a very hip, young audience, it will likely suit your customers to include songs with a driving beat from cutting-edge alternative and electronic artists.

Emotionally anchoring a brand to its clients

Designing and implementing custom music and visual strategies emotionally anchor a brand to its clients. A 1982 study published in the Journal of Marketing determined that “it is possible to influence behavior with music.”

In 1934, a company named Muzak, now owned by Mood Media, launched a pioneering idea of low-level instrumental background music which they termed as “stimulus production” which improved worker productivity in offices. This was eventually taken to other areas most, notably retailers, as well as the hospitality domain as a means to enhance the ambiance in and around surrounding areas.

Retail background music which is curated though licensed music/songs, as well as scent marketing, and various stimulating visuals, such as video walls and digital menu board, indirectly captivate and influence clients’ mood to make purchases and improve sales. These help create emotional connections between the retailers and their shoppers.

DJs or Music Stylists, as they are more urbanely referred to, include Felix Cutillo at Sonodea, who compile the playlists to complement the client’s (retailer, hotel etc.) brand identity along with input from their client.

Taking this even further, with live music event sponsorships, brands can enhance their image on their clients which in turn can positively influence their sales ─ as a 2015 study from live event promoter AEG and marketing agency Momentum Worldwide uncovered. “When it comes to connecting with consumers, especially millennials, music is one of the most effective ways. For brands, the opportunity exists within music to create value for their customers and build a lasting relationship unlike any other,” according to Glenn Minerley, Momentum Worldwide’s VP, Group Director – Music and Entertainment.

At the end of the day

A brand’s identity is comprised of visual, auditory and other sensory components that create recognition in the mind of the consumer. The power of music has the ability to seduce the soul, raise the spirit, build social connections, wiggle our bodies to the rhythm, increase purchases, as well as develop, strengthen and recognize brands. Sound branding supports refining brand communication and in designing a better sounding environment.

In some fashion, all business is show business and storytelling. Brand image is all about the experience, perception and differentiation you create in the customers’ mind. Sound branding forms part of the equation and bringing all this into meaningful consideration by applying its multi-sensory approach to attracting and retaining clientele to your brand and business establishment. It is, therefore, essential to consider audio brand management and strategic use of sound in the total branding equation.

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April 5, 2021 · 10:56 am

Why Many Businesses Earn a Paltry Profit, If Any: How to Turn This Dilemma Around

By James D. Roumeliotis   

10 Reasons Your Business Is Not Making Money – InsiderBLM

“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” – Henry Ford

Every business launched should be infinite and earn a profit ─ unless, of course it is a non-profit organization. Profitability has an impact on whether a company can secure financing from a bank or attract investors to fund its operations and grow its business. Continuous prosperity is earned most notably by tightly controlled financial management, including cash flow/liquidity, a methodical and lean operation, and a policy with emphasis on employee, vendor, as well as on a customer focused environment.

However, many businesses are not earning a decent profit margin or produced one for some time. Those companies are at a stage where they can be profitable anytime, but they prefer to invest money back into the company to keep the growth steady. However, there are also scores of them where they cannot survive without external debt or they are operating at a highly unsustainable business model such as selling merely on price with no unique selling proposition (USP) and instead, paying more attention at how fast they are growing. 

How much profit should a business be earning?

A decent margin will vary considerably by industry and size of business, but as a general rule of thumb, a 10% net profit margin is considered average, a 20% margin is considered high, and a 5% margin is low. The industries with the highest average profit margins include:

Large Industries

  • Software publishing
  • Pharmaceutical
  • Database, Storage & Backup
  • Semiconductor industry
  • Financial services (non-bank)
  • Healthcare support services

Small to Mid-size Businesses (SMB/SME)

  • Accounting services
  • Lessors of real estate
  • Legal services 
  • Management companies including consulting
  • Orthodontic and dental offices
  • Computer software and hardware technical operations
If You're Only In Business To Make Money… You're Doing It Wrong – Call Porter

Industries with low profit margins include airlines, grocery stores and automobile dealers as they are typical examples of low-margin businesses. Capital and labor intensive industries usually have low profit margins, due to massive investments with a low return or a long term return (ROI).

For a complete list of industries and average profit margins click here.

Popular newer companies with high values but no profit

Some notable relatively young companies across the tech and lifestyle sectors such as Airbnb, Uber, Wayfair and Peloton, to name a few, have yet to break even since their inception despite the justification for high valuations which are generally around the future prospect of earnings, among other factors. All highly hyped start-ups had great stories of scale, regardless of whether their stories have yet turned-out as predicted. In fact, many are actually losing millions every year during the first decade (think Amazon). Reasons for not making any profit include, in part, a large investment in sales and marketing, product development, technology and operations. Some are less efficient with scale. Consequently, to make money, they will need to re-engineer their business model and manage costs from running far ahead of revenues.

How to restore your business gains

There are several measures to take to make certain your business thrives, and profits are frequent, as well as attractive.

  • Your profit margins ought to be in line with your industry or better. Consider offering a premium product which will yield a better profit and reputation. Avoid markdowns as they are profit-killers. In addition, enhance your brand image and increase the perceived value of what you are selling.
  • Negotiate better pricing agreements with your suppliers to reduce the costs of goods and widen your margins. Negotiate for discounts. You may want to include free shipping or other offers such as receiving extra products for free. This works well when you are purchasing in bulk.
  • Reduce supply chain costs and inefficiencies. One way to accomplish this is by shipping product in less than a full truckload (LCL) as it is more costly when it is full (FCL). Making several deliveries each week is more expensive than just one. 
  • Streamline your operations and reduce operating expenses. Automate specific tasks in your business such as putting repetitive activities on autopilot. This way, you can reduce the time, manpower, and operating expenses required to run your business. Cut overtime and excess staffing as much as it is feasible and control other expenses by implementing rigid budgets and needless expenses. If the purchase does not contribute to the growth and improvement of the business, it should not be made in the first place.
  • Avoid over leveraging as this entails having a significant amount of debt in use along with a debt service strain. While debts used to generate revenue can increase revenue and profit over time, excessive debt can inhibit profitability. Keep your debt on the wise and strategic side of things.

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March 3, 2021 · 1:52 pm

The New Retail Business Reality: Rethinking and Reinventing an Outdated Model

AW360 Interview with FITCH on the Future of Legacy Retail – Advertising Week 360 • AW360

By James D. Roumeliotis

As far as many of us know, complacency does not offer any benefits. In fact, it is the enemy of progress and can be the single largest threat to any business. Any rational entrepreneur and business executive who is operating a business, any business, let alone a retail enterprise, should be savvy enough to understand that change is constant. Good times don’t last forever. You would think! Vision, creativity, and an element of innovation are key characteristics of a forward-thinking businessperson. Nothing in the world is static. This applies to business ─ any business. It’s an ongoing process.

What never ceases to amaze me is how at this day and age, you still have retail operators are in denial. They continue to focus on their bricks & mortar stores rather than witness the changes occurring around them in their sector and place additional focus on digital retail. Either stubbornness, short-shortsightedness or both are the culprit.

Legacy retailers embracing online or a hybrid channel

In 2019 more than $3 trillion dollars in global retail was transacted online which mainly comprised both tangible and intangible products including fashion items, airfares & tourism, tech products, books, music, and educational courses. If retailers, even in those sectors, for example, have not yet embraced eCommerce, they may not cease to exist in about 10 years’ time ─ or even sooner! The most successful retailers launched as upstart eCommerce sites rather than legacy bricks & mortar ones who transferred a big chunk of their business transactions online. The former includes Amazon, Wayfair, Zappos and Expedia to name a few prominent ones. Their purchase experience is seamless, their customer experience a delight, and their after sales service unmatched. Plenty of investment and reinvestment of funds in technology has catapulted and kept them in the forefront. The expression, “you snooze, you lose” applies fittingly in this circumstance.

The current role of physical stores

Despite brick and mortar remaining essential to retail, the purpose is evolving into using the stores as a means to attract customers by ways of a “media stage” in terms of experiential marketing, as well as another way to transact sales. Consequently, media is now a cost of sales and rent is now a cost of customer acquisition. This is the new retail business model. The old model relied almost exclusively on advertising to drive consumers to physical stores to purchase goods and/or services. Today, digital media and online sales are the drivers. Customers can purchase online and conveniently, in a timely manner, pick-up their order at one of the closest retail stores. This also saves the customer and retailer shipping costs.

Retailtainment: immersive retail experiences

Retail should be more than just products. It should be experiential, immersive and entertaining. It’s about bringing the products to life around the consumer rather than merely focusing on the features and benefits. With technology these days, it is possible to exploit those possibilities. According to The Freeman Company, 9 in 10 marketers believe that brand experiences provide engagement to that is more compelling for customers. EventTrack reports that 91% of consumers feel more positively towards brands after participating in events and experiences.

Experiential retail, or as it’s now coined as, Retailtainment is a marketing concept introduced by American sociologist George Ritzer in 1999. He defined it as “the use of sound, ambience, emotion and activity to get customers interested in the merchandise and in the mood to buy.” This translates to retail brands providing customers with fun, unique and in-person experiences that elevate shopping to new heights. This desirable retail experience can surely drive more traffic and as a result increase sales.

Examples of retailers who have implemented the Retailtainment concept in their stores include:

  • STORY at Macy’s
Retail therapy: Macy's Story shop comes to NorthPark, Office Depot wants to charge you rent

This is a narrative-driven retail experience by the American department store, Macy’s, in partnership with brands like MAC Cosmetics, Crayola, Levi’s Kids and more than 70 other small businesses. STORY initially started as a unique retail store who operated on the idea of renewing its stock according to different themes every few months. Themes like ‘Love’, ‘Remember When’ and ‘Holidays’ acted as guidelines for every new wave of products. After seven years in business, STORY was acquired by Macy’s in 2018 and relaunched as STORY at Macy’s since then.

  • Estée Lauder’s Power of Night Pop-Up
The Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair and it's Key Benefits | Luxe Society Luxe Society - Asia's Première Lifestyle Portal

The upscale cosmetics brand recently hosted their first Power of Night pop-up event at the Visual Arts Centre in Singapore. The focus of the event was on the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum, a beauty favorite in Singapore to rejuvenate skin and boost complexion hydration levels. The brand took an interactive approach to educate guests about how modern life affects our skin and what the relation is between sleep and skincare while providing entertainment through a series of recreational activities aligned with the theme.

  • Uber luxury brand Hermès with Carré Club
At the Hermès Carré Club, the Silk Scarf Becomes an Artist's Canvas | Vogue

The French luxury fashion manufacturer, Hermès, launched the Carré Club much to the entertainment of glamorous Hollywood. The studio space located in Chelsea housed eight of Hermès’s talented crafters where their skills were put on display, allowing visitors a behind-the-scenes peak of the brand’s manufacturing magic. The New York club was only open for a limited period, but this pop-up concept is making its way across major cities like Toronto, Singapore, Los Angeles and Milan. The entire experience of the Carré Club screams exclusivity, treating every guest like a VIP client. The limited installments only add to the charm of temporary luxury.

In the end

Today and moving forward, retail physical stores are meant as a media stage and physical exposure at the “right” locations, whereby customers can make timely and convenient pick-up purchases ordered/purchased online. The stores should also consider designing them with the goal of providing an unconventional experience to its shoppers. The main goal here is not necessarily to sell products, but rather to make the shopping experience immersive and improve the brand image.

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February 1, 2021 · 9:52 am

How to Blemish Your Well Established and/or Prestigious Brand and How to Prevent It

By James D. Roumeliotis 

A business invests time, resources and money building a brand over the years. Its image and reputation are sensitive matters which should be kept top of mind as they form perceptions on the mind of the consumer. This in turn drives revenues and noteworthy profits. Thus, it goes without saying that a brand is core to a company’s success. Moreover, the leadership behind it should be making methodical decisions to retain the brand’s reputation through diligent decisions and actions. Surprisingly, this is not always the case with some brands ─ primarily the people behind it, the brand custodians, along with their organizational culture.

So, What Gives?

The main reasons why a company may be neglecting its brand image includes:

  • Bad products or service;
  • Below average post sale service;
  • Not delivering on promises or lying and over-hyping the features & benefits offered;
  • Mixing and associating politics, race, religion, sensitive causes, and rogue individuals;
  • Overexposure including not carefully vetting the licensees;
  • Not delivering on a positive and effortless total customer experience;
  • Lack of employee training, empowerment, motivation and not everyone being on the same page or common goal with customer centricity throughout the organization;
  • Paying little attention to the noise and discussions made about the company/brand over social media.

Classic Cases of Greed, Over-exposure, and Negligence

Pierre Cardin: When the late 98-year-old fashion designer with the eponymous name passed-away, he left behind a legacy mixed with unique creativity, yet his name was overexposed on hundreds of products, from accessories to home goods. From an icon to a blemished brand whose prestige waned to oblivion. For over seven decades, he designed unique and unconventional clothes which pushed the boundaries of the acceptable. For example, he introduced his “bubble dress,” a short-skirted, bubble-shaped dress made by bias-cutting over a stiffened base. He would experiment with synthetic materials such as vinyl, and Plexiglas among other avant-garde textiles. He also introduced unisex fashion which were indistinguishable between man and woman.

Later, Pierre Cardin developed licensing agreements with several industries which put his brand name on a vast number of consumer goods, including cosmetics, pens, even cigarettes. He once amused that, if given the opportunity, he may even put his name on a roll of toilet paper. As a result of his practice, he eventually cheapened his brand despite the wealth it afforded him. The overall effect of making Pierre Cardin appear on a variety of items was solely to make habitually non-fashionable products appear high-end.

By the mid 1990’s with about 904 licenses globally, his licensing overexposure led to the devaluation of the brand. In 2011, he attempted to sell his business. Despite discussions with several potential investors, he did not succeed in that endeavor.

So why did Pierre Cardin chase money to the detriment of his brand? He answered this question while defending his strategy by stating: “I don’t want to end up like Balenciaga and die without a nickel — then, 20 years after I’m dead, see others make a fortune from my name.“

The moral of the story is that a fashion icon brand which wanted to exploit its reputation and expand beyond its in-house offerings, required a strategy of licensing with a selective and discerning manner.  

Donald J. Trump and the family owned Trump Organization: The former US President and once renowned NYC Real Estate developer went from a hyped-up and aspiring luxury lifestyle brand to one presently looked-upon with disdain. He spent four years treating politics, diplomacy, the climate, and the well-being of his people as trivial matters, and in the process, alienated more than half-the country’s voters. The final nail in the coffin was the backlash from the Capital riot that he incited on January 6th, 2021. Timothy O’Brien, Bloomberg opinion columnist and the author of Trump Nation, on MSNBC News declared: “Trump’s brand is associated with violence, insurrection and hatred.” The headline in an Ad Week January 8, 2020 article, states: “Exclusive: Trump’s Name, Once a Brand, Is Now a Banner of Extremism.”

According to several people close to him, winning the Presidency to the WH in 2016 came unexpectedly to Donald J. Trump. He wasn’t quite up to the task for the job, other than the prestige and power bestowed upon him. While moonlighting as President of the US, Trump spent four years destroying two brands: his own and his Republican party’s. Consequently, banks, business partners, his lawyers, and political allies have distanced themselves from the former president. Much of his licensing business, which grew somewhat following the popularity of The Apprentice TV show, has reached a low point since he became president. 

Outright Reject Creating Scams and Malfeasance

Moreover, as anyone who maintains an element of morals and ethics in the business world will acknowledge, scams and malfeasance are not a good brand-building strategy. Consider the extinct Trump University: an online education scam, the Trump Foundation: a scam-packed philanthropy, and Trump Network: a multi-level marketing and devious organization.

What Can You Do to Preserve Your Brand Reputation?

  • Have a viable plan in place to build and preserve your reputation: It is not a onetime event, or a serious of occasional events but rather an ongoing process. Constantly monitor your brand. Be proactive vs. reactive to prevent issues from turning into a crisis.
  • Develop an online strategy to spot increases in negative conversation before they reach bloggers and online media.
  • Use social media to clarify customer misunderstandings, reducing overall complaints and building brand fans simultaneously.
  • Keep an open-door policy and encourage dialogue with your employees to obtain any adverse issues before they get exacerbated.
  • Apologize to customer complaints in a timely manner. 
  • Be transparent when handling client issues and avoid using pretexts.
  • Use testimonials as these can help boost any image problems.
  • Reward loyal customers and supporters by making them feel appreciated.
  • Do not associate your brand with any rogue partners. Choose the charities, sponsorships and cause marketing affiliations carefully.

Finally, avoid being entangled with religion, politics or any other sensitive subject and institutions.

Complacency and insensitivity in your business should, by all means, be avoided let alone developing and retaining a stellar brand reputation.

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January 25, 2021 · 9:07 am

The Four T’s of Leadership: Truth, Trust, Transparency & Teamwork

By James D. Roumeliotis

Those, like myself, who are drawn to the discipline of “leadership” have read our share of articles, research papers and oodles of third-party opinions on the subject matter. However, most if not all of us, will agree that the definition arrives at the same conclusion: Leadership is a skill and talent, mainly by an individual, to lead, motivate, influence other individuals, teams, and entire organizations to act toward achieving a common goal. In business, this implies directing colleagues and workers with a strategy to meet the company’s attainable goals and objectives.

For leadership to possess credibility, it must earn three sacred principles: Truth, Trust and Transparency plus an additional and equally important one ─ Teamwork. These elements will be expounded below.

Leadership styles

Regardless of leadership style applied, the four T’s presence are not to be discounted.

Without going much into detail on the eight leadership styles, as this subject is an article or book unto itself, its effectiveness is summarized in the following table:

Leadership StyleCommonly EffectiveOccasionally EffectiveRarely Effective
DemocraticX  
Autocratic  X
Laissez-Faire X 
StrategicX  
Transformational X 
Transactional X 
Coach-StyleX  
Bureaucratic  X

The four T’s of leadership

The four “T’s” are considered the cornerstone to a leadership’s personality and long-term success. Those skills are all within reach and should be brought to the top of a leadership personality.  

Truth: Lack of truth expressed in any organization can take many forms. It could be departments not sharing information because it might put them in a bad situation with peers or it could be information not reaching a manager because no one wants to pass-on any bad news. Leaders need to know the truth to make intelligent business decisions and the employees at all levels should know the truth to do their jobs effectively. 

Trust: Without trust, a leader will not succeed instigating a productive team culture. Moreover, the most important attribute building trust is transparency. Leaders build up their team members’ trust by communicating transparently and truthfully – in other words, by being trustworthy. In addition to the importance of team members trusting their boss, it is essential that supervisors also trust their direct reports and facilitate their success by creating the conditions for it.

Transparency: A recent Forbes poll revealed that 50% of employees think their organizations were held back by a lack of transparency. When an individual or an organization is transparent, there are no hidden agendas and no information is being kept from people who need to know it. Transparency also promotes recognition of common goals. This is important because you are not stating one thing while covertly trying to achieve something else. Trust and transparency go hand-in-hand because transparency builds trust.

Teamwork: Teamwork is critical to success in any effort. Excellent leadership requires inspiring the people around them by empowering them, by enabling them to contribute their expertise as a collective and cohesive team, and ultimately trusting them.  Teamwork and leadership in tandem are important because they provide clarity for your team and have a direct impact on the vision of the company and its results.

The way these principles need to be applied will vary with each circumstance. However, the principles themselves remain the same. Therefore, leaders can and should apply these principles in an adaptable way.

The takeaway

Leaders must create the conditions in their organization to succeed, as well as trust their colleagues and workers to do so, and verify that they have done so ─ by keeping in consideration the proverb, “Trust but verify.” By applying the principles of trust, truth, transparency and teamwork, leaders will help ensure their teams’ success. I realize that helping others grow brings me fulfillment. I see how being an educator, mentor or coach and an advisor, as well as an employer are rewarding roles for me. 

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December 4, 2020 · 10:05 am

Four Forms of Business Capital: Trust Capital, First and Foremost

By James D. Roumeliotis

Businesses usually focus on three types of capital such as Financial, Human and Intellectual but you rarely hear about a fourth one ─ Trust Capital. This is when a business and its brand possess honesty and considered trustworthy by its clients, employees and stakeholders. A brand is mainly a symbol, mark, logo, name, word, and/or sentence that companies use to distinguish their product from others. However, it is a person’s perception of a product, service, experience, and/or organization which matters a great deal. For those reasons, a brand is considered a promise which is a value or experience a company’s customers can expect to receive every single time they interact with that company ─ also known as touch points. The more a company can deliver on that promise, the stronger the brand value in the mind of customers and employees.

Defining each business capital

Financial Capital can be defined as an investment asset whose value is derived from a contractual claim of what they represent. These are liquid assets as the economic resources or ownership can be converted into something of value, known as cash, financial instruments or securities. It is liquidity available its disposal to operate efficiently.

Human Capital, also known as human resources and manpower among other organizational division names/designations used, is the group of people who work for or are qualified to work for an organization—the “workforce.” Human Capital or “people talent” helps creates economic wealth for the business. Human capital also includes assets like education, training, intelligence, skills, health, and other things employers value.

Intellectual Capital also known as “IP” refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. IP is protected in law by, for example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable a business or individuals to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. 

As for Trust Capital, it is an intangible asset whereby confidence in the leadership, integrity, credibility and responsibility of a business to deliver its promises to its customers, employees and its stakeholders exists. Trust capital is what the business utilizes during a setback or crisis when it needs to defend itself in an unfortunate and unexpected circumstance. The trust capital the business has built over time can help to weather the crisis of character.

Additionally, some of the most important traits your customers associate with your brand are honesty and trustworthiness. Consequently, presenting a brand that is honest and trustworthy can make it easier to gain and retain your customers. It is something that takes time and plenty of effort to build but can also be scarred overnight.

Ways to build Trust Capital

1. Adopt a Trust Agenda within the organization, led by top management. Build a strong corporate brand with leadership, credibility, integrity and responsibility at the heart of its organizational values and behaviors. Do not just making empty promises. Failing to match behavior and expected results with merely talk results in loss of credibility and trust.

2. Recognize that trust is not the same as reputation – both are equally important and should be treated so. Reputation is the backward-facing evaluation of past experiences with a company or brand. Trust is the forward-facing evaluation of consumer expectations of future experiences.

3. Focus on customization and personalization but know your limits. Trust plays an important role in both. The more a consumer trusts a brand, the more the consumer will share, and then the more personal a brand can be. Differentiate between customization and personalization.

4. Acknowledge that every consumer is value conscious and that consumers determine value, not companies. Value as perceived by consumers is what matters. All consumers want to think of their purchase of a product or service as a good, fair value. Best value is more than merely low price, nowadays it is the total customer experience and how a brand makes them feel.

5. Create brand attributes. Those attributes are what you want to share with your customers. Part of discovering your brand attributes is also defining a brand tone. Every communication you have with your customers should display your brand attributes and tone. These communications should include website content, FAQ page language, and social media posts. What differentiates your brand? It can make a huge difference in how much information customers will trust your company with.

In addition, consider ways to build customer confidence by:

  1. Take ownership of customers’ concerns and complaints.
  2. Reassure customers by reviewing what they have stated and confirm you understood them before working on and providing an answer or solution.
  3. Keep customers posted in a timely manner.
  4. Always exude calmness, be tactful and remain professional.
  5. Encourage feedback.

In the end

The four Cs to build organizational value are Financial, Intellectual, Human and Trust. Many companies focus on the 3Cs of Capital, Financial Capital, Intellectual Capital and Human Capital. Now, they must add a fourth C, Trust Capital. Trust Capital creates value for the organization and helps protect the business when there is a credibility issue or a crisis. Trust Capital takes time to build but can be destroyed very quickly. Senior Management/Executives must think of themselves as the organization’s ‘Chief Trust Officer’.  Trust is earned over a long term. However, trust can be lost quickly. Facebook, We Work, Boeing and VW are good examples of how trust can dissipate over short sighted decisions and/or poor corporate decisions. How management behaves after a crisis is critical because actions speak louder than words. However, if a brand has plenty of prior trust capital, it can eventually help stabilizes and return the situation to their trusted relationships with customers, employees and stakeholders.

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November 2, 2020 · 11:32 pm

Diffusion of Innovation: Getting past the first wave of innovators and early adopters to reach the tipping point

By James Roumeliotis

Diffusion of Innovation is a theory which explains how, why, and at what rate new ideas, including technology, spread. The concept was conceived by Everett Rogers, a professor of communication studies, which also inspired his book “Diffusion of Innovations” first published in 1962. It is considered one of the oldest theories in social science. Professor Rogers popularized the use of this premise with the intention of explaining how over time an idea or product gains momentum and grows in use and popularity among a specific population. Consequently, Diffusion is the process by which an Innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system.

What is it?

Diffusion research examines how ideas are spread among groups of people and focuses on the conditions that increase or decrease the prospect that a new idea, an innovation, product or practice, will be embraced by a certain population or society.  This concept ought to be taken in consideration when launching a new product if it is to succeed because no matter how good and innovative a new product is, it is very likely that a few people will adopt it just because it is new or novel.  The initial trend of those who adopt the change or innovation are called the “Innovators.” They represent about 2.5% of the population.

The next level and surge of people represents about 13% who will adopt an innovation, and these are referred to as the “Early Adopters.” Beyond these first two waves is the next portion of the population who represent the tipping point for a system. The tipping point is the moment of truth, the breaking point, and highlight. These are not the easy ones, as the law of diffusion of innovation tells us that you have to comprise between 15% and 18% of a population to accept an idea before you hit the important tipping point. That said, you must get past the first wave of Innovators and Early Adopters so as to accomplish the tipping point. Within the organization, according to Simon Sinek, author of five books, including ‘Start With Why’ and ‘The Infinite Game’: “If you are trying to get employees to embrace a new direction or innovation, it is even more crucial to engage people in the why of the initiative and not just the how.

Why is this beneficial?

The Diffusion of Innovation theory benefits marketers by helping them understand how trends occur. Moreover, it benefits companies in assessing the likelihood of success or failure of their new product or service.

How is it applied?

For starters, it is essential to determine where the majority of the target audience falls as this will indicate their key motivators.  Those insights will help determine how the product is marketed toward them. 

1. Innovators: Innovators are a minor group of people that constantly explore new ideas including technology products. These are the people who are influential and responsible for the creation of products that will then go through diffusion of adoption.

2. Early Adopters: Early adopters are considered as opinion leaders or influencers. They are open minded to change, and often share positive testimonials and feedback about innovations that have left them satisfied, as well as feedback regarding how new products could be improved.

3. Early Majority: People that fall in the early majority category of adoption are basically followers of the early adopters. They take the opinions of the early adopters seriously. As a result, they are likely to perform behaviors such as reading reviews prior to purchasing a product. 

4. Late Majority: People in the late majority category of adoption are the skeptical ones who are not very familiar or comfortable with change. Quite often, those in this late majority category will only accept new products or innovations when they begin to feel pressure from those around them making them feel as if they would be left behind if they do not embrace the new products or innovations.

5. Laggards: They are the most conservative of the bunch. They only embrace new products or innovations when there is no alternative to doing so and often are persuaded to accept by facts found through their own research and reading reviews. Another common motivator for this group is the pressure felt by the other adopter groups.

If you are launching a new product, such as software, you can use the Diffusion of Innovation concept to help you identify the most ideal marketing strategy and approach for each group/category. Although the Adoption theory is beneficial when looking at new product launches, it can be equally useful when launching existing products or services into a new market.

The following is an example of how this concept can be applied to digital marketing strategies (credit: smartinsights.com)
Launching new software to the different groups.
  • Innovator: Show the software on key software sites such as Techcrunch, or Mashable. Providing marketing material on the website, with relevant information and lead to potential sales with downloads.
  • Early Adopter: Create guides and add to the major software sites, providing marketing material such as case studies, Guides and FAQs.
  • Early Majority: Blogger outreach with guest blog posts and provide links to social media pages, key facts and figures, and ‘how to’ YouTube videos.
  • Late Majority: Encourage reviews, comparisons and share press commentary on your website. Provide a press section and social proof with information and links to reviews, testimonials, third party review sites etc
  • Laggards: It’s probably not worth trying to appeal to this group!

The take-away

The diffusion of innovation is important to marketers and innovators because it considers adoption in context of a larger social system. The first two groups on the diagram (the “Innovators” and the “Early Adopters”) are the only ones willing to accept the risk of purchasing a product first, whereas, the other/subsequent groups are willing to wait and have others they trust try it first prior to making a purchase commitment themselves.

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Sources: Rogers, E.M. (1976). New Product Adoption and Diffusion. Journal of Consumer Research. (March). p290-301.

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October 4, 2020 · 11:02 am

The Inept Organization: Weak Leadership as the Culprit

by James D. Roumeliotis

Embarrasing Moment Photo - Pants down

How often do you come across a company, either as a consumer or at a business relationship level, and realize how frustrating it is to deal with?

To understand and penetrate the corporate governing structure and “culture”, you need look no further than the upper echelon of the hierarchical tree. It is here that procedural decisions are shaped and executed. An entity’s leadership is expected to head the enterprise by governing its long-term growth and sustained wealth.
Moreover, there is a constant search for the “right” human resources. Recruited and fresh talent must resemble the leadership in tone and style. Call it the organization’s DNA. Exceptional organizations are good at these types of corporate strategies, thus strengthening performance effectively.

We notice that in certain types of B2B transactions, there can be scope for unscrupulous behavior. One or both parties are tempted by “disservice” during their business exchange. Shortsightedness might lend itself to make this underhanded approach appear “profitable” on paper. Such relationships inevitably end badly because they are not conceived with trust or respect.

Success Breeds Success

Companies that foster the right attitudes and strategies put the firm on track for success. Examining their corporate histories, you can witness a trajectory of growth. They have a tendency to dominate their markets and “win” through competent talent, innovation, and an entrepreneurial mindset within the leadership at the executive level. These choices underscore the prosperity and rapid growth of the institution. An examination of Alphabet (Google) or Facebook shows this quite nicely. They are not built like “traditional” corporations nor do they act like them.

Organizational leadership is accountable for creating value for customers, employees and its owners/investors. When Bill Gates conceived Microsoft, he put the firm on track for providing constituent audiences with what nobody else could provide. Understanding “asset” management in an expanded meaning of the term guaranteed that Microsoft would succeed under Gates stewardship.

The opposite is equally true. When top executives lack knowledge or experience for board positions, they should not be promoted to these leadership roles. Some family owned firms run afoul here and this brings up the issues of sustainability and corporate governance. Another weakness in running an organization, in my view, is pushing for short-term profitability at the expense of solid planning. For example, with large organizations, competence is not the primary value but rather connections, politics, and clever tactics. Such “benefits” can usually compensate for incompetence.

No business can continue to prosper unless it attracts fresh and eager talent. Despite the dilemmas within the financial world, top organizations consistently lure new talent with lucrative compensation packages. It is easier for a firm such as Goldman to tap the “best” because of its reputation, size and success than a small local financial player. When Goldman recruits they know where to look, whether it is Harvard or the London Business School. Prospects will already contain the seeds of the corporate culture in their past. Given the “right” conditions, new talent blossoms. Qualifications are never enough. They are a starting point reinforced by attitude and values. The selection and screening process is designed by HR to weed out inappropriate candidates.

Established software companies’ interview process include quizzing candidates with challenging technical questions. This practice not only assesses problem-solving and knowledge ability, but also explores the ability to perform under pressure, which is a key skill required for software engineers to succeed in their intense work environment.

One thing is firmly certain ─ the best-managed companies have “one” factor in common:
They are constant achievers in their respective industries. These companies exude managerial excellence. Financial performance is the result of this style of management. Consider companies such as Amazon, Apple and Cisco, among others, which thrive and ranked in 2019 by the Drucker Institute as America’s largest publicly traded companies according to Peter Drucker’s principles of effectiveness—“doing the right things well.”

Deeds Not Slogans

Companies with inept leadership usually fail in the first year or two, but even established companies can stumble badly when they outgrow the capabilities of the founding team. Research by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics demonstrates that nearly 6/10 businesses shut down within the first 4 years of operation.

To be a successful entrepreneur is not an effortless task. It takes plenty of sacrifice. A new generation of young entrepreneurs think the road is smooth and a fast track to easy wealth. Not everyone will become Jeff Bezos. Obstacles and sacrifice are part of the deal. Harnessing opportunity and overcoming challenges daily to top the competition is constant work. These conditions are true no matter what the sector of business engagement or company size.

Telltale signs of weak organizations can be traced to inept leadership. The following points highlight the deficiencies:
• Poor customer service – slow or no customer inquiry replies – abysmal handling of sales and service complaints. Service is portrayed as a reward, not a right or benefit.
• No Unique Selling/Value Proposition – Companies need to define and articulate their unique value proposition and deliver on it consistently. Create the platform for sustainable and competitive advantage.
• Operational deficiencies – various ailments and no structure
• Absence of or very little communication among staff and management – Divisions aren’t well-coordinated and do not function as a team.
• No transparency – There is hardly any openness from management.
• Unethical practices – short-term selfish objectives in search of market share. Top executives should promote social norms and principles as moral agents.
• Lack of proper execution of decisions and with new products/services.
• Productivity incentives should be implemented to boost results and employee morale. People must be given a reason to work hard and be efficient.
• Creativity is practically non-existent – An absence of innovation and employee empowerment will hurt progress and stifle new ideas.
• No clear vision/strategy – there needs to be a strategic vision that reflects a truly unmet need and has the commitment of a dedicated CEO. That means that there is a well-defined target audience with a distinct value position that is differentiated, meaningful, and deliverable.
• A weak sales force along with an unattractive compensation plan.
• Favoring nepotism and bias – promoting family members over other qualified employees often leads to resentment or, worse, prompts valuable non-family employees to leave the company.
• Poor hiring practices – should hire for attitude and train for skills.
• Slow/delayed decision-making process – too many layers – overwhelming bureaucratic structure.
• High turnover, which leads to poor employee morale, reduced intellectual capital, lower service levels, higher operational costs and decreased productivity.
• Management in a state of denial about their organization’s shortcomings – remaining with the dysfunctional status quo
• No specific and/or stable channel strategy – Some companies focus on building a product, but don’t think through how to get it into the hands of customers. Even if your product is great, unless you can sell directly, you may be dead in the water without strong channel partners.
• The hidden game – corporate politics – power plays by a handful of individuals for their own benefit to the detriment of their colleagues and the company.
• Misrepresentation of brand(s) – too much hype – empty promises – not delivering on expectations – leads to dissatisfied clients who will alienate the brand.
• Weak financial controls – cash flow dilemmas – over leveraged/undercapitalized (high debt-to-capital ratio) – not reinvesting a certain percentage of profits for future growth.
• Absence of sound marketing program(s) and/or brand strategy – A brand is defined by how it behaves, from the products it builds to how it treats its customers, to the suppliers with whom it works.
• Growing too fast and not staying on course as the company grows.
• Lack or very little employee training & development.
• Deficient in control systems – reactive rather than pro-active.
• Lack of continuous improvements or complacent.

Top executives need to be accountable to the ownership or Board of Directors – whichever applies, or at least to an outside arm’s length and neutral party such as an adviser who can also play “devil’s advocate” when necessary.

Good Organizations Matter

The way to solve an organizational problem is to confront the structural issues with a moral sense of purpose and ethics. For its clients to receive stellar service, the firm must have its house in order. Besides structure and an efficient operation, employees should be trained and empowered to do their jobs efficiently.

Seth Godin, a renowned marketing strategist, stated succinctly: “If you want to build a caring organization, you need to fill it with caring people and then get out of their way. When your organization punishes people for caring, don’t be surprised when people stop caring. When you free your employees to act like people (as opposed to cogs in a profit-maximizing efficient machine) then the caring can’t help but happen.”

Companies that disrespect their employees and shut-out clients get willfully isolated and have a short life span through an erosion of market share and significant loss of revenue. A company’s goal should place emphasis on serving its people properly and fairly. Higher morale generates higher profits – though occasionally other priorities hinder that objective, for example, self-serving behavior by certain executives.

Enterprises spanning a wide array of industries, have earned distinction as “well-” or “best-” managed” by demonstrating business excellence through a meticulous and independent process that evaluates their management abilities and practices – by focusing on innovation, continuous training, brainstorming and caring for their employees’ well-being – as well as investing in meeting the needs of their clients.

In a nutshell: Well-run companies thrive no matter what by hiring the right people, taking good care of them, listening to customers and never ceasing to innovate and improve.

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September 7, 2020 · 12:14 pm

Lifestyle Branding: Engagement and the Total Experience

By James D. Roumeliotis

How Is Technology Helping Fashion Lifestyle Brands Connect To Their Human Side

When you visit your local Porsche dealership be prepared to engage. Staff will talk to you about the total experience. This will invariably include discussing the firm’s racing pedigree and performance. In your
mind, you will be able to feel the steering wheel, smell the leather seats, and hear the roar of the engine. This car represents to you an exclusive club and you desire to be part of the privileged few. The brand also added its own private race tracks in several parts of the world for its customers to have exhilarating moments testing various models. Clearly, one does not buy a Porsche simply to go from point A to point B. In practice, you might use this care to commute to work, but this is not the incentive to purchase a piece of automobile and racing history.

Porsche is clearly a brand with authenticity and heritage. The principles shaping the consumer’s buying behavior go beyond intention. There is a sense of engagement in fulfilling a dream. It can be to make
a social status statement or a personal style choice. Whatever it is, it is not an unconscious choice. The codifiers are clear: This is who I am, and what I believe in. Ultimately, it can also articulate your sense of
self-worth and your emotional aspirations.

The most important emotional benefit in my view is that a product of this caliber and class expresses itself when the consumer can declare, “It suits my lifestyle.”

Lifestyle Brands Matter
Not every brand is a lifestyle brand regardless of whether it strives to portray itself as such. A company can define itself as a lifestyle brand when its products promote more than a product with key benefits and
attributes. Note however that lifestyle branding is more than just promoting “a way of life”. It is a product or service that provides consumers with an emotional attachment to the lifestyle of the brand. Think of Ralph Lauren and you can readily see it is not about the clothes. It becomes an attachment like Porsche to an exclusive club in which you can be a member through emotional identification through use of the products in question.

Savvy companies understand these principles and look to keep the customer engaged. By doing so, they clearly forge the sort of long term relationships, which become the envy of their designated sector. Financial benefits clearly follow, but the raison d’être of the firm must back up its promotion for this to work effectively. One reason so many firms want to enter the lifestyle arena is profitability and high profit margins. Established brands can tap economies of scale when they launch new products at a cheaper cost to the firm. Surplus revenue can then be channeled into extensive advertising and promotion costs.

Building a Lifestyle Brand
Generally speaking, a brand that is designed for the lifestyle segment should have more emotional value to consumers. Features, cost, and benefits do play a role but by themselves they would be insignificant. There are companies that become a lifestyle brand by tying their product ranges to a distinctive culture or group. Marketing guru, Seth Godin labels this with the key word as a “tribe”. A classic case is Harley Davidson, who sells branded merchandise to customers whether or not they own one of the firm’s motorcycles. Other key lifestyle brands include Nike, Wholefoods, Red Bull, Hackett, Hermes, and Louis Vuitton among others.

In the electronics and computer industries, it is uncommon to have lifestyle products. However, Apple has broken this “glass ceiling” by its unconventionality with products which come with its seamless eco-system. Even its ubiquitous white headphones have become a fashion accessory and, some would even argue, a status symbol. The people who follow Apple and its “lifestyle” are clearly all obsessed in a way that the firm intended when it embarked on this well-thought-through strategy.

Lifestyle brands have clearly impacted on luxury brand management. The usual suspects such as BMW, Armani, W Hotels, and Rolex — just to name a few, have fostered commitment and loyalty with their promotional campaigns. These have given consumers an “associate” status with all that is glamorous. Just think of Daniel Craig and James Bond. Sales at Omega thrive on this “Bond engagement”.

The methods to reach a target audience require an integrated marketing/communication strategy. They clearly require taking into consideration and harmonizing the following aspects:
• Experiential Marketing;
• Grassroots marketing;
• Promotional tours;
• Sponsorship of lifestyle events;
• Lifestyle marketing on the Web: think Facebook;
• Viral video marketing;
• Social media/networking (blogs, chat rooms & message boards);
• “Interactive” is key;
• Mobile phone media, text messaging & applications.

Not Every Brand Can be a “Lifestyle”
New research from Kellogg at Northwestern finds that the strategy of traditional brands to reposition themselves as a “lifestyle” brand may fail. The reason is not rocket science: they simply fail to “bond” with
their customer base. “The open vistas of lifestyle branding are an illusion,” said Alexander Chernev, lead author of the study and Associate Professor of Marketing at Kellogg. “By switching to lifestyle positioning, brands might be trading the traditional in-category competition for even fiercer cross-category competition. Now they have to compete not only with their direct rivals but also with brands from unrelated categories.”

The study reveals how brands serve as a means of self-expression along with the limitations of expressing a consumer’s identity through brands. Moreover, the study uncovers customers’ desire for self-expression through brands is finite.

Why Do Some Lifestyle Brands Become A Way Of Life?Fabrik Brands
Credit: Fabrik Brands

In Perspective
Forward-thinking brands are those which will continue to develop creative ideas and solutions that will allow people to interact with each other and explore, as well as share creative opportunities. Moreover,
those same brands will make it a strategic priority to add pleasure into the lives of their consumers.

To be sure, there are many excellent examples of lifestyle branding. Just examine the “hotel as lifestyle” creator, Ian Schrager. Since the 1970’s, as an entrepreneur, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Ian Schrager Company, he has achieved international recognition for concepts that have revolutionized both the entertainment and hospitality industries.

His passionate commitment to the modern lifestyle has been expressed through a series of pioneering concepts:
The hotel is no longer just a place to sleep. It is portrayed as your home away from home. This allows hotels to act like theater. Think of the boutique hotel or “cheap chic”, “lobby socializing”, the resort, or the spa.

His keen instincts for the mood and feel of popular culture were honed during the 1970s and 1980s, when he and his late business partner, Steve Rubell, created Studio 54 and Palladium. In 1984, they turned their attention to Morgan’s Hotel and introduced the concept of “boutique hotel” to the world, which is today one the hottest segments in hospitality.

The goal of a lifestyle brand is to get people to relate to one another through a “concept brand.” These brands successfully sell identity, image and status rather than a “product-service” in the traditional meaning of
the term.

If they are successful in capturing their audience, then they become legends in their own right. If you examine the published photographic testament to “Il Pelicano” in Tuscany you will understand perfectly the meaning of the lifestyle branding spirit.

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August 2, 2020 · 6:41 pm

The Sensuous Brand: How to create allure with products and user experience

by James D. Roumeliotis  

Sky Vodka - Sexy Brand

Why are visually appealing products rare which make purchasing it a delight and worth talking about? Common sense dictates that product design should be attractive – perhaps possess sex appeal if the brand behind its product(s) seeks to make a sales impact. Although beauty is subjective, there are common standards of attractive packaging, which are smart and demonstrate the intrinsic value of the product’s attributes.

However, many will agree that smart design looks timeless, expresses character and is visually seductive.

Barring lingerie labels such Victoria’s Secret (now defunct) or Agent Provocateur – which in and of themselves will ooze with sexiness, most other brands and their products from non-seductive sectors can still create and possess a sense of styling along with desire.

A brand that caters to all the senses, begins with an appealing brand identity, followed by creative industrial design of its products – which are complemented with a positive customer experience in every touch point.

Artfully articulating what your brand and offering represent

Adding personality to objects and human interaction are quintessential to customer envy and desire.

There are brands that design and churn sensuous looking products. However, there is one that most will agree is top of mind for the refined consumer electronics market –- Apple. It’s all about the appealing logo, the attractively designed and “feel good” products, the alluring packaging, the intriguing ads, and the overall positive customer experience at their retail level, Needless to say, it’s a contemporary brand that undoubtedly gets it. It’s no wonder it created a strong following, or as marketing maven Seth Godin would describe as a “tribe.”

When consumers are delighted by a particular brand experience, they begin to bond emotionally with the brand. They become brand loyalists and advocates – buying into the brand repeatedly and recommending it to others. This behavior serves to build the brand’s image and reputation.

Product design is key to a great brand. Design is the elemental differentiator with competitors. Allure builds the emotional bond and turns owners into enthusiasts.

“It’s all about integrating design and brand,” says Joe Doucet, founder of Joe Doucet Studio.

“We need to cease thinking of them as different disciplines. The essence of the Apple brand comes through its design. Take the logo off a BMW and you still know it’s a BMW.”

Design also needs to be part of the strategic plan from the start, embraced by the CEO and across the Board.

“A brand is not your logo or ID system,” says Robert Brunner, founder of the design shop Ammunition and author of ‘Do You Matter: How Great Design Will Make People Love Your Company.’

“It’s a gut feeling people have about you. When two or more people have the same feeling, you have a brand. You get that feeling via smart design, which creates the experiences people have with the brand. Everything you do creates the brand experience; ergo design is your brand.”

The holistic approach to customer attraction and retention

Consumers today are more brand conscience, yet there are companies which continue to spend money advertising and selling product rather than brand. They place emphasis on price and quality as differentiators despite these two being overused by many copycats. Successful brands take a holistic approach to selling by exploiting the 5 senses which now constitute the brand. This is accomplished by what I regard as “ambiance marketing” and “sensory/sensorial branding”, through a captivating designed setting, yet alluring. This adds character and invites clients to truly feel the brand experience.

To put the aforementioned into perspective, consider the following:

  • Visual – lighting, décor, colors, layout…you can get a real sense of movement using these elements.
  • Auditory – music, effects, volume, vibrations…you set the tone and the energy of the room with your sonic selections.
  • Tactile – textures, comfort, climate…this is all about how your guests interact with the environment.  This is a big thing to consider when you are designing the layout.
  • Olfactory – fragrance, emotion, ambiance…this sense is under-rated and powerful. Of all our senses, the sense of smell is most closely linked to emotion and memory. You can use something as simple as burning incense or candles to something far more complex like computer controlled scent machines to enhance your environment. This could just be the extra touch needed to set the mood.
  • Gustative – with food establishments, the challenge is in finding the perfect balance between sour, salty, sweet, and bitter during menu designs and beverage selections.  The presentation also makes an impact on the overall image.

Creativity, quality, storytelling and above all, customer experience

Standard products and mundane user experiences don’t offer compelling reasons for consumers to do business with certain brands. If a business can’t articulate its USP (unique selling proposition) ‒ as to why anyone should do business with your brand, your product and/or service merely becomes a “commodity” whose price will be the sole determinant in any transaction.  Being formidable and considered top of mind in your B2C sector requires a philosophy – a certain culture which will develop a following by consumers who share your values.

Quality materials, assembly and final product look increase a company’s competitiveness. The quality of a product may be defined as “its ability to fulfil the customer’s needs and expectations”. If the characteristics and specifications of a brand’s product line are equal or superior to its competitors, along with a fair price-value equation, the brand will turn out to be a preferred choice.

Storytelling, on the other hand, builds relationships by the stories that are well told. Stories add personality and authenticity to products which customers can better relate to and feel affinity with. Luxury brands tend to boast their pedigree since their discerning clientele desire a deeper level of involvement and understanding of the history and heritage of the brand when it comes to their luxury purchase. This is referred to as “experiential luxury.”

It is essential that the sales professional be product proficient and adept at assisting and guiding the client to the purchase making use of flattery, romance and showmanship. To illustrate, when selling a niche automobile such as a Porsche, the sales consultant can talk about racetracks, describe road-holding capabilities, build-up a fascinating story – after which time he/she can bring-up reliability and the technical details which confirm to the discerning client what he/she is already aware of.

When consumers are delighted by a particular brand experience, they begin to bond emotionally with it. They become brand loyalists and advocates – purchasing the brand more often and recommending it to others. This behavior serves to build the brand’s reputation.

Be first, different & daring – above all, visually stimulating

Plan and execute flawlessly the following to differentiate and develop into, as well as remain an enviable brand through artistic design and function:

–       The brand logo and company presentations should possess flair, consistency and be memorable;

–       Focus on a specific target audience/niche market rather than divert to several markets or the general population;

–       Innovative and “feel good” product design (both visually and tactile): Get inspired by designs from Philippe Starck, Pininfarina, Porsche Design and Bang & Olufsen. Architecture by Frank Gehry and the late Zaha Hadid and automobile design trends by Audi, Tesla, and in the last few years, Hyundai with its entire model makeup. Kohler Group doesn’t simply design functional bathroom and kitchen sinks and faucets, but rather bold designs and technology to an otherwise lackluster plumbing product sector.

Perhaps product customization and personalization should be available as an additional offering.

–       As for service related domains, place emphasis on employee attitude/personality, empowerment, constant training, effortless accessibility for your clients, flexibility when solving issues and presentations with style, as well as finesse. Each and every customer should be treated with personal care – a sign of individuality;

–       The Total Customer Experience: Be easy to do business with – accessible – at every stage of a transaction from initial contact/pre-sale, during the sale and post-sale (follow-through and customer service). Zappos, Nordstrom, Ritz-Carlton Hotels and American Express (to name some of the finest examples) are renowned for their obsession with customer service and total customer experience;

–       Soothing sounds and striking visuals: Consider sound branding complimented with refined standout visuals (audio, images and video). Surround your brand and its products/services with fashion, beauty, design and attractive models – without any marks of tackiness;

–       Packaging design should be visually appealing, distinctive, tastefully decorated, and equally inviting to open.

–       Sponsor, collaborate and/or associate with a fashion related brand and/or the arts. Both brands can benefit from combined exposure (PR and advertising). Luxury goods brands such as Versace, Bulgari and Fendi have teamed up with property developers to offer upscale designer hotels. Their trademark at hotel properties, in a select number of affluent cities worldwide, offers their loyal clients something new to get excited about.  It’s a collaboration which celebrates a shared fondness in design and luxury experiences.

–       Create and own a captivating name and category for your product or product line. Luxottica, is the world’s largest eyewear company, controlling over 80% of the world’s major eyewear brands (eye glasses and prescription frames) including Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses, along with Chanel, Prada and many other designer labels. It re-invented eyewear which were once considered a “medical device” and developed them into a fashion statement. They no longer label their products as “glasses” but as “eyewear” and “face jewellery” (for a lack of a better term/descriptive);

–       Marketing collateral and ads should be: (i) slick, (ii) minimalistic, (iii) emotional, (iv) portray a lifestyle, and (v) apply the “less is more” mantra. Arouse curiosity. Effective marketing campaigns should also include elements of: Imagination, Mystery and Memory;

–       Be a visionary and innovate – anticipate what your sector will look like in 3-5 years and begin to plant the seeds/strategize in a timely manner. Avoid complacency. Blackberry is an excellent case study exemplifying what they should have done a few years ago to remain relevant amongst iPhone and the Android platform smartphones.

Lessons from luxury brands: creating a lifestyle brand through emotional attachment

Brand loyalty is about building an emotional, and in some cases, irrational, attachment in a product. The most ideal example is when thousands of people line-up, regardless of weather conditions, to get their hands on the latest iPhone or iPad. This happens because Apple has built an emotional attachment to their products by creating a lifestyle choice rather than a product purchase.

It’s about how it makes you feel. Same goes for baby boomers, whether accountants or attorneys or business executives who purchase a Harley Davidson motorcycle and ride them for about four or five hours every Sunday afternoon. The bike makes them feel like a rebel – sort of an escape.

A brand that is designed for a lifestyle should have a much higher emotional value to consumers than one based on features like cost or benefits alone. The goal of a lifestyle brand is to become a way that people can utilize it to relate to one another. Those brands are an attempt to sell an identity, or an image, rather than a product and what it actually does.

Lifestyle brands have gained an increased share of the luxury market including prominent brands such as BMW (ultimate driving experience), W Hotels (avant garde designer hotels for a younger audience, along with whatever you want, whenever you want it, as long as it’s not illegal), Louis Vuitton (prestige and opulence), Rolex (representing the pinnacle of achievement; fulfilling and perfection in one’s life) and Aston Martin (power, beauty, soul and heritage). Those brands have given way to consumers to buy their products that they associate with a “luxurious life.” They are essentially a status symbol.

Hermes Equestrian Fashion Photo

The final take: Elegant & intelligent design

Beauty and design in all things is artistic, engaging, stimulating and creates a sense of comfort. It’s also a very personal thing. Creativity is beauty in art form. It starts from nothing, utilizes mind exploitation, imagination then something awe inspiring is produced which stimulates the mind and senses. The approach to creativity is the way an artist might stand before a new canvas, on which a beautiful painting can be crafted. Staff who work in a creative environment should be given plenty of leeway to utilize their full potential – the freedom to flourish. Not doing so limits their artistic talent and deprives the company from taking a leap at the competition. Apple has successfully unleashed the talent from their product engineers by creating a non-stifling work environment. As for architects and industrial designers, they should definitely possess the talent and imagination to create and turn extraordinary drawings into reality.

Brand loyalty is about building an emotional, and in some cases, irrational, attachment in a product. When Apple releases a new consumer electronic device, people line-up, regardless of weather conditions, to get their hands on the latest iPhone or iPad. This is a result of Apple constantly building an emotional attachment to its products by managing the total user experience.

“Total customer experience” is not an option but rather compulsory as part of an alluring brand. It takes savvy planning, execution and perpetual refinements to stand above the crowd. It’s how you get noticed and remain relevant. Luxury brand desirability is driven by standout design, craftsmanship, as well as what is felt.

It takes vision, creativity and intuition, along with unflagging discipline and a sense of style, to keep a consumer focused company relevant and its products on everyone’s must-have lists. No brand should be complacent.

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