In a six-year landmark project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras studied 18 exceptional and long-lasting companies. The study looked at each business from their very beginnings to the present day. Each business was studied in direct comparison to one of their top competitors.
The authors asked: “What makes the truly exceptional companies different from the comparison companies and what were the common practices these enduringly great companies followed throughout their history?”
Porras and Collins determined that the primary driver for building a successful company is the ability to nurture a true vision.
By example they cite many companies including Walt Disney, one of the greatest corporations in the world. Disney’s core purpose or vision is simple – “To make people happy.”
As part of Disney’s brand strategy an entire language that reinforced their ideology was subsequently nurtured:
- Disneyland employees became “cast members”
- Customers are referred to as “guests.”
- Jobs are “parts” in a “performance”
- and the rest is history…
Amazingly, their research discovered the companies that preserved their ideals and embodied them in their blueprint (vision, mission, brand strategy) outperformed the stockmarket performance by a factor of 12 since 1925.
There’s no doubt that a business model based on building a relevant and lasting brand that resonates with customers has the potential to give companies an edge.
Since the mid nineties the products that have flourished and survived the last two recessions are the ones that presented themselves to their respective customers as concepts, not commodities.
Today, building a brand is becoming the longterm focus for an increasing number of businesses. The advantages the booming online economy brings to niche businesses and services is driving massive change in the way we communicate with prospective customers.
For 50-odd years the traditional brand management tools – product, price, place and promotion formed the basis of everybody’s marketing plan.
Marketers and clever businesses have now found a fifth brand management tool to help stand out of the growing clutter – experience. Rivals can quickly copy any market position, match quality, service and prices.
However by being laser clear on your target market and building a truly different competitive strategy using a tailored set of activities that embeds “experience” as a pillar of your brand will create a differentiated advantage that the competition can’t easily copy.
Delivering your brand as an essential element of your customer’s experience starts by considering the following five strategies.
1) Review your core purpose
Start by developing and committing to an entirely new course that defines the brand according to a total experience dedicated to the customer.
2) Corporate commitment & employee buy-in
Importantly, complete buy-in from management down is mandatory to empower, influence and coordinate improvements across all functions. Your customer loyalty will be built via consistent brand performance—not by an isolated positive experience.
3) Customer focus
A customer experience driven brand lives or dies according to your knowledge of customers’ loyalty drivers. The larger your business, the greater the need to conduct customer research. The key here is to identify and improve the high-impact drivers that your customers will relate to or derive value from.
4) Business strategy
Match brand and customer strategy with your marketing strategy. Delivering your brand experience must be an ongoing exercise in improvement and differentiation. Aim to outperform the market by integrating brand and customer loyalty into your business results.
5) People are everything
The more cooks, the bigger the mess in the kitchen. When you assemble your team, quality over quantity will make all of the difference. Only work with the best cooks – that goes for staff and outside contractors.
Above all, your team must have:
- Shared values
- Resourcefulness
- Creativity
- Optimism – a shared belief that you can actually pull it off!
Remember – your brand promise is your differentiator, which must be communicated consistently, from touch point to touch point, for the consumer experience to be truly felt. Otherwise you risk wasting your marketing dollar and, worse, turning customers off the brand because of a failed promise.
About the author
Peter Engelhardt
Peter has a ridiculous amount of marketing and communications experience. He is an inbound marketing advocate and passionate about branding. Above all he is the driving force behind Creative Brew and a proud dad.
photo credit: JD Hancock via photopin cc
