Not too long ago, I worked in an in-house marketing department for non-profit hospital—the traditional healthcare environment of too many priorities and too few resources. In many organizations, healthcare or otherwise, we’d have been responsible for doing everything for everyone. Sound familiar?

However, in this organization we used our brand promise as a tool for decision-making. Whenever a program was earmarked for marketing dollars, we’d run it through a rigorous interview process (all stakeholders in a room together) to determine if the program could deliver an optimal patient experience—from first contact to after care.

Using the brand promise as a filter accomplished several things: 1) we allocated marketing dollars to programs that could reasonably deliver the experience that we promised, 2) we tied the concept of the patient experience with marketing support and created actionable steps to help programs deliver the brand promise, and 3) we influenced the way the organization determined its priorities. If a program wasn’t structured to handle the patient volume that marketing was likely to entice, it wouldn’t have been responsible to commit funding. Conversely, our market-ready process helped some under-funded programs gain exposure and approval for new equipment and technology.

Do you have examples of how you’ve used your brand to influence your organization’s culture and business strategies?

-Katherine Hall

Is there a branding fix to their problem?

The recent news that Netflix is reducing its monthly fees to undercut Blockbuster sent the company’s stock down–and raised the specter of the organization’s demise. Is DVD rental a commodity, only to be driven by price, which is what the action seems to say? Is there no barrier to entry in this category, once you have distribution and inventory handled? Obviously, being first to market (and inventor of the market!) isn’t enough of a brand advantage.

Netflix finds itself in two major branding conundrums. First, because the more people like the service, the more they use it. Netflix’s variable costs go up with usage, without being able to charge for the additional services. This puts Netflix in the unenviable position of losing more money the happier they make their customers, a brand-building kiss of death. Why spend time trying to improve service or make your customer experience more positive when you know it will not add to your bottom line? Secondly, Netflix has not found a way to differentiate itself from Blockbuster (except in a negative way by not having an in-store experience for exchanges and free rentals). This week’s Brand Challenge: What should Netflix do to differentiate itself?

-Lynn Parker

This makes me scratch my head a bit…

U.S. public image needs new branding

The U.S. military should improve its public image in Iraq and Afghanistan by using consumer-marketing strategies and focusing on the needs of civilians, according to a study for the Pentagon by the Rand Corp.

“Brands such as Starbucks and Apple have captured the hearts and minds of consumers and have reaped financial windfalls in return,” the study said, suggesting the military replace its “force of might” brand identity with one that emphasizes a promise to help local people.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think we are a little behind the eight ball on “branding”? Haven’t our actions over the last 4 years branded us in the minds of our citizens and global community? Will marketing help at this point?

Because of things like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and the lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, there is no trust. The general perception is of deception, so reality wins in everyone’s mind. The brand is no longer credible, so spin all you want, it’s what you do that counts.

- Jen Travis

According to a market survey by Interpret (7/6-7/10), iPhone is wowing new-to-Apple users and Apple loyalists alike with a full 90% of those surveyed either “extremely” or “very satisfied” and 85% equally willing to recommend it to others.

This, for a high-cost product with a high switch-over cost for those with cellular plans other than AT&T–and additional service fees for all. See Brand Autopsy post.

Strong brand? You bet. No matter how enormous the marketing budget, if it didn’t work and please people in a big way (one colleague fell in love with her friend’s iPhone from the moment she held it), the whole thing would crash. People are paying a price premium for what could be considered a risky buy (first generation technology and all that). But they’re doing it in droves.

Question: What lessons are here for your brand?

-Beth Woolley

P.S. It will be interesting to track what customers are saying in six months…all that happiness could backfire if it doesn’t hold up to its promise.

We asked the question: how would you strengthen the Tully’s brand if you were their brand manager? Your responses were great; and confirm our thinking as well. Collectively, here’s our recommendations for strategies we think would help bring this brand out of its tailspin. Tully’s – are you listening?

Strategy #1: Get a point of view
It’s always a mistake to be the alternative, without a positive reason for choosing that alternative. The biggest problem with Tully’s is that they don’t have a point of view. Customers want to feel some authentic passion, whether for the 3rd place, for a particular approach to coffee, for a personalized experience, or whatever. Even before doing customer research, they need to figure out what their passion is, then figure out which customers want that.

When in doubt, nichify. That is, be the best at doing one thing for one type of customer. Then build out from there. Currently, it is difficult to know what Tully’s is best at. So it is a bland “Starbucks lite” even with Lavender drinks, ice cream or whatever wacky thing they’re doing this week.

Strategy #2: Organize for that point of view
Tully’s loses the opportunity to gain brand loyalty with customers because they don’t deliver a differentiated experience. After doing internal and customer research to find out why people choose Tully’s, what they do well, and what they can own over time in the market, they need to set themselves up to intentionally and consistently deliver that experience. Organizing themselves around their core assets will enable them to drive the brand through the organization – from determining what products to offer, what type of people they hire, how they structure their stores, to how they train and how they communicate what they do – strengthening their point of differentiation in the hearts and minds of their employees and customers alike. Tully’s should bring back the local coffee shop feel — comfy seats, bulletin boards, art, mellow hip music. Tully’s has a chance to be more friendly not tragically hip — something really missing in many coffee shops. They need to remove any similarities to Starbucks - similar sounding drinks, merchandising and store layout and create a place that speaks to being local and yet coffee sophisticated.

Strategy #3: Make sure employees support that point of view
People want their coffee to taste good and they prefer to have the face behind the counter to be a familiar one. The biggest problem with all of these larger coffee chains is that they have a difficult time retaining employees. A big reason for this is they don’t spend enough time on training–coffee training or customer service training. They throw new employees on the floor after only a few hours of training. This freaks new employees out, causing them to rush through orders, ultimately resulting in crappy coffee and a tenuous customer experience at best. Tully’s can differentiate itself from Starbucks and others by spending more time training its employees, so they feel confident they can deliver the brand experience Tully’s ultimately wants to deliver – differentiated and personal. Better training leads to better retention of employees and customers as well.

Strategy #4: Communicate that point of view
Talking about your products isn’t enough. Tully’s spends the bulk of their marketing dollars promoting their seasonal drinks without communicating the underlying reason you should go to Tully’s. Tully’s is not Starbucks. They don’t have a solid brand that defines what people can expect from them, so therefore, promoting their seasonal drinks isn’t enough to build brand loyalty. They need to use their brand to find their voice and develop a brand communications campaign to create positive visual associations with that voice. Their drinks may be part of this, but they certainly aren’t the whole of it. They need to be where Starbucks isn’t and creatively utilize local media and community events to reinforce their regional focus and create buzz at the ground level.

- Jen Travis

What is most interesting about the Mackey/Whole Foods/Wild Oats debacle as reported by Brand Autopsy is that his actions have the power to negatively impact the grocery consumer’s experience. I shop Whole Foods practically daily, and feel confident that the organization is looking out for my healthy food needs. But when I hear comments like, “I never intended any of those postings to be identified with me,” he’s basically saying he’s not sorry he did it, but he’s sorry he’s been caught. My belief in the integrity of their food choices is linked to my belief in the integrity of the individuals leading the organization, which is now under a cloud. Lesson: in an integrated brand, everything builds brand meaning, so be conscious about everything! Including what you post under a pseudonym.

–Lynn

I had a client ask recently “When will we be done with this whole branding thing?” To which I replied “Never.” Now that wasn’t just my cheeky consultant’s response in an attempt to imbed myself in the organization for an indefinite amount of time. It’s really a matter of how you define brand work. If you believe that it’s a visual identity, or even a campaign, then the end might look surprisingly close. If you define brand work as the alignment of all company actions to deliver against the brand promise, then it’s an ongoing process that requires vigilant management.

For those of you who are feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole notion of never-ending work, here’s my pseudo-Buddhist thought of the day: Everything you do is an expression of your brand. You can do it either intentionally or simply with good intentions. But by acting intentionally, in alignment with your promise, you are living your brand.

-Briana Marrah

Branding Strategy Insider posted today about brand mortality and what causes a brand’s demise. Their first cause: the extinction of a category. I don’t agree. Some of the best brands in history have managed to weather the extinction of a category by remaining focused on their strengths and evolving the “execution” of their brand to meet the needs of the times (usually just an evolving or new category). Take automakers Honda and Volkswagen. Two companies who have seen various categories or classes of cars come and go, but continue to drive into new car categories through focusing on their strengths: reliability and durability for Honda and hip and practical for Volkswagen. How about Apple? They have spent the last 10 years focusing solely on innovation and usability, which has propelled them into the personal audio category and now the PDA category - PC category be damned.

“Consumers want brands that stand for something” says Brand Strategy Insider. I believe that consumers don’t just want brands that stand for a category, but for a personal emotional and intellectual something that makes them want to see the next category that brand will delve into. Think about it. How can your brand transcend its business category to stand the test of time?

- Jen Travis

With the release of Ratatouille this last weekend it looks like audiences and critics alike confirm another hit from the folks at Pixar. So, how do they do it?

In an article by David Germain, Pixar is revealed as a studio who knows why they make movies, knows what makes a good movie, and who consistently perform to their own expectations. They have obviously identified their brand promise and are delivering it to their customers. What is the brand promise? Janeane Garofalo, actress in Ratatouille, says “They make movies they would like to see.” It works out because they think like a customer because they are the customer.

So not only have they built a successful company and a strong brand, but they have managed to blow some fresh air into Disney’s brand as well. And maybe some non-cartoon watchers like me will start putting down $9.50 to go to the theater. Or at least consider it for a matinee.

- Krista Joy Johnson

So many times I’ve heard people say, “It’s our great service”, or “our experience” when asked what differentiates a company. This blog calls BS on generic answers and is a good exercise for all of us to do when we are coming up with marketing claims. In a nutshell, keep asking “who cares?” until you get at a behavior or specific brand asset that somebody would actually care about.

-Lynn Parker