We learn how to make a perfect circle, where to put commas in the right place, and how to stay fit in a little place that I like to call school. But there are other things that we do not learn at school. Things such as how to crack an egg, or change a baby's diaper. We learn those things from our parents or others that we look up to. Some things we learn on our own. Like how to not wear striped pants with a polka-dot blouse or how not to eat an orange after you just brushed your teeth (I tried that before and believe me, it's not a good experience). Once you become a certain age, people expect you to know a certain amount of things... like you're just supposed to know, don't you know?
Ever since I was little, people have been asking me, "Why are you so quiet?" And I would always say," I don't know." I've come to realize that I am not good at communicating and now it has become more apparant. So I need to learn just like in school.
Lately, I've been reading and researching on the best way to communicate with others. I've also been observing others and how they carry on a conversation. I guess sometimes I don't realize what I am doing until after it happens. And since I'm so used to being quiet, it just seems easier. However, just like geometry and reciting Bible verses, I want to accomplish this. And I know that with the Lord's help, all things are possible.
What do you want your brand to be? What will it take to get target customers to embrace it as their own? Grab a pen and paper, you computer or tablet and start sketching it out.
This is your target consumer. The days of "everyone" are over, so you need to know who your target customer is. Demographics are the easy part. You can pick an age group, a lifestyle or anything else. It's the psychographics that count.
Think of it this way: when was the last time 100 women, ages 25-40, college educated, working professionals, with 2 children, making $100,000 or more each year felt the same way about anything? That's what demographics achieve.
Psychographics are the game changer, and lay the foundation for creating an emotional connection between your brand and your customers. Now... Put 100 women in the same room who are concerned about preventing skin aging, or streamlining their schedules, or any other "mindset" criteria, and you've got a more targeted, more cost-effective and time-effecient way of reaching them.
The target consumer is only ONE of the audiences you'll have to build relationships with. Every brand is influenced by 3-4 groups who often have different priorities or agendas. Who are they? What impact will they have on your ability to grow your brand? What can you do to help them find a place of agreement so you can focus your brand strategy and start growing?
I can' t tell you how many times I've heard "there's nothing else out there like it!" I promise you I can name 5-10 products or services that are exactly like it--in the mind of the consumer.
What you can uniquely offer in a way that no other brand in the world can is an EXPERIENCE. What will experience do you want your consumer to have? This impacts every aspect of your business from marketing, sales, operations, staffing, product development or service creation, fulfillment & shipping / providing the service... you name it. The customer experience is EVERYTHING! Without an outstanding and memorable experience, it doesn't matter how "great" your product or service is. It's not great in the minds of the people who buy it if the experience isn't great as well.
Where will people be able to buy your product or service? What's your distribution strategy? How will you implement it?
The where is as important as defining your target consumer. They are inextricably linked. If you're selling a product, you have two choices: sell direct or through a retailer (either direct via the retailer or through a distributor who places the products with retailers).
Many emerging brands choose to sell direct because (a) there's more control over the message and (b) there's higher margin. What they don't realize is that there's a real cost associated with this distribution method. It's the "Field of Dreams" phenomenon: if you build it, they will come. Actually, if you build it, they won't know you exist without substantial investment in sales & marketing to make people aware that you're selling.
It's a 24/7 world, so you need to make purchasing available when the customer wants to purchase, not when you want to be open. If you're a traditional retailer, you need an e-commerce website. If you're a brand with in a few stores, you need an e-commerce website. If you're a service, you need online appointment bookings.
This is the hardest question for brands to answer. Whether an established brand, an emerging brand or an entrepreneur who wants to launch a brand, the "why" often gets overlooked.
If the "why" is tied to a formula or service description, just know that anyone can copy a formula or service, which would commoditize your "why", essentially pushing it to the sidelines of the super-competitive branding game.
The "why" is your brand's DNA. It's what makes your brand unique. It's the experience you want people to feel from engaging with it. It has a personality. A voice. An attitude. A style. It cares. It engages and is engaging. It has a point of view.
There are 40,000 sku in a store. The average person uses 150. The spend less than .05 seconds considering brands. Why will your target consumer care about you? What desires does the brand fulfill? How does this translate into an experience? How will you stand out?
Here's a hint: the WHY rarely has anything to do with why you wanted to start a brand in the first place. It has everything to do with HOW your target consumer feels about the experience you promise and WHY you care as much as they do because you solve a problem THEY have.
Before you start writing your business plan, marketing plan, sales distribution strategy or anything else related to market share and revenue growth, take some time and answer your WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and, most of all, WHY for your brand.
When I started Kovner & Company, I wanted to bring my 25+ years of global brand experience to emerging brands, to help entrepreneurs reach their dreams and share a catalyst for success.
Even with the extensive information available thanks to online search, blogging and social networking, budding brands make the same mistakes over and over again. Heck, even established brands make the same mistakes.
This creates a system of failure that makes success exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to attain, not to mention the loss of precious time and money.
I'm launching this blog as an insider's view on what it takes to transition your product idea into a viable business that your customers not only connect with, but they can't get enough of it and can't keep quiet about it.
As a member of the community, you'll gain access to the "secret sauce" needed to grow a brand--from product development and branding, distribution and sales, marketing and ops, and everything in between.
This blog will be a catalyst for growth. It's a way to power up your investment. It's a roadmap to achieving your dreams.
While we can't guarantee you'll be the next big thing, we promise everything we provide is actionable and designed to help you navigate the exciting, thrilling, amazing, yet complicated and sometimes confusing, process of launching a brand...particularly one built with products.