Core Competency Can Differentiate Your Company (Strategy)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™.  Today we are looking into how to differentiate your brand through core competency.

Core competency is the skill or production technique your business employs to deliver value to customers and is the central component of your company’s culture.

 There are three aspects of core competency:

• Core competency should be such that competitors can’t readily imitate you
• It should be applied to all products and markets you enter
• It should contribute positively to the customer experience

In essence, core competency is what your company is very good at doing.  Use this to your advantage and don’t try to be something you are not.  Analyze your company’s strengths and identify your core competency.  Then develop strategies to strengthen it and, even better, use it in the marketplace to differentiate yourself from your competition.

 

Once a Day Marketing™ inspires clients to brand bold. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com.Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at 11:00am (MT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

 © 2016 Once a Day Marketing™. All rights reserved.

Listen to our featured Ask Those Branding Guys radio show podcast: Cyndi Conn and Creative Santa Fe

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. On our radio show Ask Those Branding Guys, we discussed branding and marketing of a Santa Fe non-profit organization.

Joining us on the show was Cyndi Conn, Executive Director of Creative Santa Fe. Creative Santa Fe is a non-profit organization focused on strengthening the local creative economy through the arts. In the past five years they have expanded their efforts to encompass a broader scope that includes technology and other aspects of the economy.

There is a community of global leaders including scientists, business people and artists in Santa Fe that Creative Santa Fe leverages to solve all types of problems in a creative way. They work with other communities and global partners to shine a spotlight on the assets we have in our community. Cyndi sees the organization’s interdisciplinary approach becoming a model for others to follow. Creative Santa Fe also partners with communities to embrace risk they may not have taken on their own.

One branding challenge of Creative Santa Fe is clearly communicating the broader picture of what they do even though people do understand some of components that comprise each effort. Glover shared that it is essential to let people know what your brand is all about and what differentiates you. Cyndi feels it is now time to update the website and shift from a projected/theoretical theme to a building/accomplishment message.

Participation, engagement and public events are critical to Creative Santa Fe’s success in reaching out to supports and gain new ones. They have a newsletter and want to do even more to tell the community about what their success stories.

Cyndi’s branding tip to other business: be very clear what your unique offering is and be passionate about what you do. Nothing is a better message than other seeing how much you care about your brand.

Enjoy the show.

Once a Day Marketing™ inspires clients to brand bold. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at 11:00am (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

© 2016 Once a Day Marketing™. All rights reserved.

Value Proposition vs. Discounted Prices (Strategy)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today we are discussing the need for your company to have a strong value proposition.

The proliferation of coupons and product discounts has created a coupon culture among consumers. This is a pitfall for small businesses when they rely on coupons as a means of driving traffic. To win and maintain a solid customer base, it makes more sense for a business to create a strong value proposition.

 A strong value proposition means that customers feel they receive a good value in exchange for their hard earned dollars. Value proposition may include how your product makes the customer feel, what is included in the offer or a product performance guarantee.

Discounts and coupons are pricing strategies. Extensive use of coupons may create an expectation on the part of your customers for a discounted price and results in moving your product on price rather than the value proposition that you offer, which is the reason you are in business.

However, there is a right place for coupons in your marketing strategy, such as introduction of a new product to entice customer trials. Numerous types of coupons are available in newspapers, online, directly from merchants, etc. Daily deal websites such as Groupon offer discounts for local and national companies. Groupon enables businesses to market discounts to broad audience. The question is, should they?

Spend time refining your value proposition and incorporate that into your marketing message.

Once a Day Marketing™ inspires clients to brand bold. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at 11:00am (MT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

 © 2016 Once a Day Marketing™. All rights reserved.

Use Product Adoption Behavior to Target Your Message (Strategy)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today we are highlighting an important aspect of consumer behavior that will influence the message you create for your target customer.

We're discussing Everett Roger’s diffusion of innovation model and how it will assist you to understand your customer’s adoption patterns of new product innovations.

 

An innovation is any product, service or idea perceived by your customers as new. According to Roger’s diffusion of innovation model, the length of time it takes consumers to adopt a new product is represented by a distribution curve above.

 The model breaks consumers into five groups:

• Innovators, comprising 2.5% of consumers, are adventuresome; they like and seek out risk and are the first to buy new products
• Early adopters, 13.5% of consumers, are opinion leaders and once they make a decision to buy typically others will follow suit
• Early majority who make up 34% of consumers. This large group is very deliberate but they choose to follow the early adopters when making purchases.
• Late majority, also at 34%, tend to be skeptical. When they see other consumer getting on board, they will seek out a new product
• Finally, we have the laggards who comprise about 16% of consumers at the tail end of the curve. This segment is very traditional and they need to know that a product is well proven before they will buy.

Understanding adoption patters for your customers is important to accurately target your advertising. Once you categorize your customers into the various groups of adopters you will be able to leverage demographics and psychographics to determine media characteristics and create a compelling advertising message for each group that will resonate specifically with them.

 Once a Day Marketing™ inspires clients to brand bold. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at 11:00am (MT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

 © 2016 Once a Day Marketing™. All rights reserved.

Listen to our featured Ask Those Branding Guys radio show podcast: Skirt Sports CEO Nicole DeBoom

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. On our radio show Ask Those Branding Guys, we discussed branding and marketing of a specialty clothing retailer.

Joining us on the show was Nicole DeBoom – Founder and CEO of Skirt Sports based in Boulder Colorado. Skirt Sports is a retailer of active wear that celebrates the real woman. Nicole was inspired to create the company when she was a professional triathlete and found it impossible to find pretty, functional clothes with a good fit for running and training.

Nicole’s vision was to create a clothing line that would make women look good and feel good about themselves at the same time. Skirt Sports launched in 2005 as an online retailer and favorable press in the early months propelled the company to success. To ensure customers can experience the products, have a great selection and maintain the brand message, a brick & mortar store is opening in Boulder, CO soon.

Sport Skirts mission remains building confidence and inspiring women to feel secure and get out and be active. Nicole uses very creative branding and marketing efforts to promote Skirt Sports. Grassroots campaigns have worked the best. Events, the national ambassadors program and social media all create a sense of community that enables customers to connect with and experience the brand.

The ambassador program grew out of customers’ desire to be involved with the brand. Through the program, Skirt Sports supports local athletes rather than sponsoring professional, nationally known competitors. They also sponsor women only 13ers and 5Ks.

Nicole knows that the world is constantly changing and strives to keep the brand fresh. Sport Skirts is focused on being very inclusive and welcomes women of all types; large sizes and small, fast and not so fast runners too! This is reflected in their hashtag #REALwomenmove.

Nicole’s tip for those seeking to start a business: Trust your gut. If something feels right to you then pursue it.

Enjoy the show.

 Once a Day Marketing™ inspires clients to brand bold. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at 11:00am (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

© 2016 Once a Day Marketing™. All rights reserved.

The Liquid Muse: Branding a Mixology Expert (Strategy)

Listen to our featured Ask Those Branding Guys radio show podcast: Natalie Bovis The Liquid Muse

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. On our radio show Ask Those Branding Guys, we discussed branding and marketing of a Santa Fe mixology professional.

Joining us on the show was Natalie Bovis, Founder of The Liquid Muse, a mixology business she started 10 years ago. She consults with liquor brands, teaches cocktail classes to bar staff, sales teams and the general public and is part owner of a liquor brand. 

The idea for The Liquid Muse came about when Natalie was a restaurant publicist in Washington DC. She noticed how eateries were using herbs in their cocktails and learned there was an amazing passion for mixology among bartenders. She quit her job, began learning more about mixology and started The Liquid Muse as a blog. This led to writing & consulting and grew into the business it is today.

Cocktails were created in the USA and have a fascinating history dating back to the 1800s. Many bartenders moved to Europe during prohibition and the popular drinks became popular there as well. Various liquors were important in different timeframes and the current trend is the foundations of the mixology.

Natalie’s audience is mainly comprised of bar professionals, she is often called upon to work with female consumers and her classes make mixology fun. In addition to teaching, Natalie has authored several books about cocktails.

The largest event during the year for Natalie is the New Mexico Cocktails and Culture Festival. This year it will be June 3-6 and includes seminars, parties, and a new event – the chef and shaker challenge. The goal of the event is to teach hospitality professionals the art of the mixologist. New Mexico cocktail week begins Memorial Day weekend ad leads up to the festival.

Natalie’s biggest branding challenge is explaining all the various aspect of her business. Those Branding Guys suggested that she think about what the essence is that connects all the aspects of her brand. Natalie’s branding tip: focus on collaboration and cross-promotion with others to generate organic growth.

Enjoy the show.

Once a Day Marketing™ inspires clients to brand bold. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at 11:00am (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

© 2016 Once a Day Marketing™. All rights reserved.