Audience Segmentation and Brand Consistency

Wouldn't it be great if every business had its own fiefdom of customers and all of those customers fit a nice little mold? That way, we could use a singular message, a singular marketing approach, sell to everyone, and all would be happy. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work like that.

The truth is, most of our businesses and organizations have multiple audiences that we have to satisfy, but we only have one brand. The real challenge in addressing all of these core groups of people is to reach out to them in a way that is unique to their needs but still brand consistent. I am unaware of any silver-bullet method to develop these approaches, but there is a framework that will guide you along your path:

• Map out the core elements of your brand and extend them out to all of the elements that go along with them
• List all of the audiences with which you need to communicate and develop profiles for them regarding what is important to them, the factors that help them make a buying decision, and demographic information about them
• Using your extended brand elements, begin to match them up with your audience profiles so you can see the path you must take to communicate within your brand
• Finally, use your paired up information to craft messages, sales pitches, and other marketing tactics that will help you to reach out to these audiences in unique ways that are still on-brand.

Recession Brands

During a recession (or "economic slowdown" if you live in Washington, DC like me), it seems as though everyone suffers. Every once in a while, though, we hear about the mythical "recession-proof" business, brand, or job and the reason as to why it is able to resist the financial condition of the market. In this case, store brands (or house brands) not only resist a recession, but thrive in it.

There are 3 tenets to a successful store-branded product that make it a powerhouse on the shelf:

1. They are usually priced lower, per volume, then their name-brand competitors,
2. Their quality is about the same as the nearest comparable product and,
3. The store's profit margin on them is typically much higher than with the name-brand products.

During a recession, people look to save money in the easiest of places, and so store brand sales rise as the Dow drops.* Because of the quality and price, store brands are the low-hanging fruit when looking to cut everyday costs and as their sales rise, so do the profits of the store.

So what can you take away from this? This is an example of a successful brand model that doesn't rely on messaging, visual appeal, or any of the other traditional branding attributes. This perfect storm of success is due to the unsung heroes of great branding: price, position, and quality.

* Ziobro, Paul. Store Brands Boost Kroger Profit. Wall Street Journal. September 17, 2008.

Support Your Brand with a Solid Name

The process of crafting a name for your product, business, or organization is much like developing a logo. You will have many iterations, different structures, options with meaning, and options that just sound good. And, of course, you will have strong opinions all around about which options are great and which are terrible.

I don't want to go into the process of naming, as there are many different schools of thought on this. Rather, I wanted to mention the importance of supporting your brand with a good name. A name isn't there simply to be a label or just to sound good--it is there as a supporting brand attribute. The name must reflect your core brand promise and whatever that message may be (playful, smart, sophisticated, etc.).

Everyone loves a good example, so here are some real world names that support and some that don't support the brands that they represent:

The Good

• Victoria's Secret. An exotic, high class woman's name paired with the idea of privacy is a surefire fit for a high-end lingerie line.
• Uno Chicago Grill. Not a great name in itself, but the change from Pizzeria Uno was a savvy transition as the restaurant chain diversified its menu and expanded into different entree options.
• Kitchenaid. It's direct to the point with 'kitchen' but insinuates how helpful the products are with the addition of 'aid.'

The Bad

• Overwaitea Foods. The Canadian supermarket chain got its name for originally selling 18 ounces of tea for the price of a pound. Now it sounds like their products will make you fat.
• Chevy Nova. Sounds great, right? In Spanish it means 'doesn't go.'
• Noblis. This health care innovation nonprofit promises that you will never know peace (bliss) by way of its constant efforts.