By Dick Mitchell, President
Dick Mitchell & Associates

Once upon a time there were two companies. Both made whirlpool spas, and both were experiencing less than desired growth that was forcing them to re-envision their brands to pull more share from competitors.

Company A convened their senior leadership in the conference room. The CEO surveyed the group asking for thoughts about how their brand might be repositioned in order to be more successful. As you can imagine, everyone had ideas to share. Sales, marketing, communications, product development and manufacturing weighed in. Even HR had a good idea, “Let’s ask the employees what they think of the brand and what we should consider adjusting.” And, of course, the employees contributed their thoughts as well.

When all the input was gathered the leadership reconvened, spending the whole day together discussing and refining their brand promise. They left the conference room excited and immediately began tweaking their products. Success? Not really.

Company B’s leaders received the same request from their CEO. Leadership expressed their ideas. They included employees in the exercise, too. But, they did something that never occurred to Company A. Rather than relying on themselves, they investigated their company from the outside. Sales and marketing made good use of all customer data. Then they went one step further. They brought consumers together in search of deeper insights. What they learned was eye-opening. Yes, their product needed to be even more competitive. More importantly, consumers told the company that they needed a better reason than just wanting spas to buy spas.

With this indispensable insight the leadership made a disruptive decision about what the brand needed to promise in order to be more appealing. When they left the conference room after considering all the input, they had created a very unique brand promise.

They realized – with the help of consumers – that they would be far more successful selling competitively designed spas if they were no longer in the spa business. They repositioned themselves to be in the health and wellness business. Their promise changed to offer consumers something that they were ultimately searching for. This guided them to broaden their product lines to take share away from other industries as well as their own. They began offering products that would make the customers’ spa experience even more therapeutic, leading to healthier lives. Far-fetched? Not really.

Company B really exists. For obvious reasons, it wishes to remain anonymous to protect its proprietary strategy.

Company A’s name doesn’t really matter. In fact, it is irrelevant. There are many choices for people who just want to purchase a spa. They all look and sound basically alike. Do you want to buy from one that just wants to sell you a spa, or would you rather do business with the company that wants you to be healthy?

The moral of this tale? When crafting a brand promise, be the brand that includes consumer desires beyond your literal product offering. If you’re honest, it’ll open more doors.

 

A Word from Randy about Dick Mitchell

I am thrilled that Dick Mitchell returns to share his brilliance.

Dick Mitchell is a marketing consultant, creative talent, and much more. For over 35 years, he was a trusted leader at The Richards Group – America’s largest independently owned branding and advertising agency. During that time he helped companies such as Dell, Fed Ex, TV Guide and Wake Forest University articulate their brands and tell their stories. He was also one of 5 members of the Leadership Council that plotted the future for The Richards Group. His responsibilities included development and growth of the firm’s brand design, digital advertising, customer relationship marketing and data analytics practices.

Dick’s creative work has received international recognition and is included in The Library of Congress. He won his first gold medal from the New York Art Directors Club at age 25 and his second before the age of 30. He has judged every major graphic design show in America including American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and Communications Arts (CA).