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Scott Jeffrey

Three Retail Marketing Strategies for Independent Retailers

Many independent retailers worry about big competitors who have significantly larger marketing budgets. Unfortunately, these fears are well-founded. Studies show people purchase a higher percentage of their merchandise from big box retailers. Despite the emergence of these mega businesses, however, many small retailers continue to thrive in this competitive marketplace. The key to survival, we have found, is knowing your best customers better than any other retailer in your market.

Here are three retail marketing strategies to help David compete against Goliath:

1) Show your best customers the love

As a small store owner, you can concentrate on small details that big box retailers cannot. Superb customer service is the biggest intangible asset for independent retailers. People like to shop where they feel comfortable and where they feel the owner truly cares about their wants and needs. It is the least expensive change to make in order to take on the larger chain stores.

Dave’s Soda & Pet City is an independent pet supply retailer with seven locations. While its not easy to compete with the big boys like Petsmart and Petco, Dave has always found time to show love to his best customers. People value when others share stories with them or listen to their stories; and this is why Dave created his community involvement programs where Dave’s Soda & Pet City joins the local community in activities where stories abound and real relationships are formed.

2) Follow your own unique product and service path

Offer your customers products and services that your competition does not. You’re going to need a strategy to overcome the lower prices and wider selection that large retailers provide. Get creative.

Dave’s Soda & Pet City accomplishes this by partnering up with brands who only sell to independent retailers. This gives the store unique products that his big competitors don’t carry. In addition to this strategy, Dave started his own brand of products that are now available nationally for other independents shops to carry. Combining this innovative retail marketing strategy with a personal touch (Dave has a company of very nice people) creates a strong relationship between his brand and his customers.

3) Train your associates to better serve your customers

Hire employees that you plan on treating fairly and you like working with. If you want your associates to take care of your customers start by taking care of them. Give your team motivation and pay attention to their needs. Help your staff become proficient in their respective departments and make sure they are readily available to meet your customers’ needs. If your employees can provide this, your customers will have an extra incentive to continue doing business with you.

Consumers often make mistakes with their pets and are very upset to learn that they could have harmed their little loved ones. This requires Dave to always hire associates who will be kind to his customers and teach them the right way — to ensure that they will take care of his customer’s beloved pets. When you’re in a business that is emotional as buying goods for your best friend, it’s important to have associates who care deeply for the store and for the customer’s needs.

The Untold Story of David and Goliath

As an aside on the theme of David and Goliath, author Malcolm Gladwell shares his insights into the classic tale of the underdog:

October 30, 2013 by Scott Jeffrey

The Cult Branding Company Launches New Marketing Courses Offering Top Business Advice for Professional Marketers and Small Business Owners

Orlando, FL (PRWEB)

Savvy marketers from major retail brands and small business owners alike are in constant need of new ideas and methods for attracting customers and building brand loyalty. There are always better go-to-market strategies available and new practices for improving business metrics.

The Cult Branding Company, a brand loyalty research firm, just unveiled Marketing Courses for executives and entrepreneurs. The Cult Branding Company is the brainchild of BJ Bueno, marketing strategist, brand loyalty expert, and author of “The Power of Cult Branding” (Crown Business) and “Customers First” (McGraw-Hill).

For over a decade, Bueno has been educating the marketing community on innovative methods for generating consumer insights, building brand loyalty, and formulating effective go-to-market strategies. His online Marketing Courses offers top business advice for professional marketers and independent business owners, sharing the knowledge and insights used by leading brands like Apple, Harley-Davidson, IKEA, Southwest Airlines, Zappos.com, and Amazon.com.

“When I saw the information Bueno was offering in his marketing courses, I got a shiver up my back,” explained David Ratner, owner of the retail chain Dave’s Soda and Pet City in Massachusetts. “What if my competitors read this and follow BJ’s advice? I don’t care what size business you run, you could and should follow the guidance of his courses. As I went through the material, I kept thinking of ways to get my customers to tell me how to improve.”

Bueno’s Marketing Courses provide timely professional training to help marketers learn how to attract more profitable customers, differentiate a brand from its competitors, and cultivate legions of loyal customers that love a brand.

“Our firm’s time is invested in serving our larger clients,” Bueno explains, “but we wanted to be able to support other marketers and small business owners in their efforts to grow their businesses. We designed our Marketing Courses specifically for marketers and entrepreneurs looking for new ideas and ways of building brand loyalty.”

Each Marketing Course offered by The Cult Branding Company can be completed within four hours and can be accessed from any computer or tablet.

October 15, 2013 by Scott Jeffrey

Announcing Our Winter Marketing Seminar

It’s all too easy for retail marketers to focus exclusively on generating the next transaction. But savvy marketers understand that there’s a more powerful way of growing market share and competing effectively in the retail jungle: build brand loyalty.

Building brand loyalty doesn’t happen by accident. Brands that are successful at creating loyal customers respect their patrons as human beings. They learn to relate to their customers—to connect with them at an emotional level.

In order to connect with your customers at an emotional level, you need to gain insights into their motivations and tensions. Only then can you create an actionable plan to begin building brand loyalty.

An Intimate Marketing Seminar for Brand Builders

For anyone interested, I’m holding a marketing seminar on how to build brand loyalty in Orlando, Florida on December 6th. We’ll be discussing how to build strong emotional bonds with your customers and how to increase customer retention. Learning the true drivers of loyalty provides consumer insights that you can use to develop powerful marketing strategies.

Learn more about this marketing seminar and sign up here.

October 1, 2013 by Scott Jeffrey

What is Marketing?

Marketing is the practice of allocating resources to gain awareness and consideration from future customers for the purchase of a product or service. Marketing satisfies the need for the company to create customers and build relationships that will bring the business sustainable growth. Marketing also communicates the value of a product or service to the marketplace. Because marketing communicates the value of the organization even shareholders benefit from having marketing programs that are effective at creating profitable customers for the business enterprise.

Definition of Marketing

1: the process of allocating resources for the purpose of attracting a customers to purchase a product or service.

2: the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.

3: a system of communicating the value of a service or product to customers, for the purpose of attracting customers.

4: the science of consumer buying behavior and providing customer value.

What is Marketing Concept & Meaning

The theory of business was forever changed after the 1930s when the Age of Marketing was born: Supply for a product is greater than demand, creating intense competition among suppliers. In the marketing approach to business, the company first determines what the consumer wants, then produces what the consumer wants, and then sells the consumer what it wants.

Leon Leonwood Bean, who founded retailer L.L. Bean in 1912, expounded on the marketing concept in his first circular: “I do not consider a sale complete until goods are worn out and the customer still satisfied. We will thank anyone to return goods that are not perfectly satisfactory … Above all things we wish to avoid having a dissatisfied customer.”

In 1954, management guru Peter Drucker said: “If we want to know what business is we must first start with its purpose…There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer. What business thinks it produces is not of first importance-especially not to the future of the business or to its success. What the customer thinks he/she is buying, what he/she considers “value” is decisive determines what a business is, what it produces, and whether it will prosper.” (The Practice of Management, 1954, P.37)

Cult Branding Company Explains Marketing

Marketing originated in the earliest societies and continues today in our largest and most remote cities around the world. Some of the top marketing efforts in the world include companies that sell soft drinks, cars, music, airplanes, and airplane tickets even software has been marketed widely in today’s techno culture.

Each day more and more choices for products are available to consumers around the globe. This rise in choices for consumers means the importance of marketing continues to grow. Without a solid marketing strategy, most products and services will go unnoticed. With the rise of customers having more choices of products and services to choose from marketing will continue to be an important part of any successful business plan.

There are companies that have used marketing to create customer loyalty. Companies that do this exceedingly well are known as Cult Brands and have emerged in different markets and business categories around the globe.

Cult Branding examples using marketing

Some very special companies have mastered the art of marketing their products and services to attract loyal customers.

Here are 21 of the most powerful Cult Brands and how marketing has shaped their relationship with their best customers.

September 24, 2013 by Scott Jeffrey

To Be or Not To Be: The Inside Secret to Cult Branding

Abraham Maslow, one of the founding fathers of humanistic psychology, taught us that human beings have a higher, transcendent nature, which he visualized most eloquently in his Hierarchy of Human Needs. This simple pyramid gives us a framework from which to understand the essence of Cult Brands and how they inspire their most loyal and devoted followers.

The bottom four layers of the pyramid are what Maslow called Deficiency needs or D-needs. Nothing is felt if these needs are met, but in their absence, anxiety ensues.

The Answer: To Be

When the top level of self-actualization is reached, D-needs are transcended, and Being values (or B-values) are realized. These “intrinsic values of Being” when fulfilled, motivate and inspire humans to grow and reach their fullest potential.

The complete list of B-values includes:

Truth
Goodness
Beauty
Wholeness
Aliveness
Uniqueness
Perfection
Completion
Justice
Simplicity
Richness
Effortlessness
Playfulness
Self-Sufficiency

Simply stated, individuals who are more self-actualized tend to embrace more B-values than those suspended at lower levels.

Just like self-actualized individuals, Cult Brands are those self-realized companies that encompass more B-values than Iconic Brands, Average Joe Brands, and all other brands that fall under their shadow. These brands galvanize others towards greater fulfillment, wholeness, and integrity.

Let’s see how Cult Brands actually do it.

The Golden Rule of Social Groups tells us that consumers want to be part of a group that’s different. Here, Star Trek, Apple, and Volkswagen lead the pack, in their wholehearted embrace of the B-value of Uniqueness. These brands are not afraid to go against conventional wisdom, and celebrate their differences. Cult Brand loyalists happily congregate and revel together on common ground, proudly declaring their “be weird together, be weird no more” mantra.

When Cult Brands listen to the choirs, and take consumer feedback to heart, they uphold the B-values of Truth and Perfection. Apple’s commitment to their Mac User Groups serves as the perfect example. By interacting with these groups and constantly integrating their feedback, Apple honors and ultimately relies on their Brand Lover. Through this dynamic process of uncovering the truth about consumers’ experiences, they continually strive for perfection in their offerings.

What other Cult Brand than Jimmy Buffet, the King of Fun, and his loyal following of Parrot Heads could better personify the B-values of Aliveness and Playfulness? Cult Brands like Star Trek and Harley Davidson are also aligned with these B-values, in that they create consumer communities that celebrate lifestyles filled with youthful fantasy and adventure.

In the Golden Rule of Freedom, Cult Brands promote personal freedom and draw power from their enemies. No other Cult Brand has accomplished this with more grace, style, and ease than Oprah. Oprah drew power from her backwater competitors and aligned herself with more positive, uplifting stories rather than succumb to the ubiquitous drama of catfights and bar brawls.

Oprah wanted to showcase people at their best, unlike other talk show hosts who exposed the darkest sides of human behavior. Her intention to do good in the world is magnetic and irresistible, as evidenced by her loyal fans and ever-expanding media companies. Cult Brands like Oprah, through their devotion to charitable causes, their mission to improve people’s lives, and their commitment to promote freedom personify the B-values of Goodness, Beauty, and Justice.

In more simple terms, Cult Brands want to improve the lives of others. By harnessing the power and magnetism of B-values, these brands tap into our innate reservoirs of self-actualization.

We are drawn to Cult Brands because they make us feel good about ourselves, but on a deeper level, they lift us higher up the hierarchy to illuminate our Being needs. This drive towards self-actualization is intrinsic to our nature. Maslow understood it, and Cult Brands do too.

March 15, 2012 by Scott Jeffrey

They Ain’t No Fools: Making the Case for The Motley Fools

Brothers Tom and David Gardner started writing a 16-page investment newsletter for their family and parents’ friends. In August of 1993, The Motley Fool was born. Embracing the power of the Web to harness a community, the Fools quickly established the largest financial community—first on AOL in 1994 and then on their own website in 1997.

Celebrating its 15th year anniversary this summer, the financial advice business created by these two financially-savvy yet playful brothers has evolved to serve and support the Fools community with 250 full-time employees. Their flagship monthly subscription investment newsletter, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has become the largest investment newsletter of its kind with more than 100,000 subscribers (within five short years).

Taking a methodical approach, let’s see if The Motley Fool (TMF) deserves Cult-Brand status by evaluating the brand through the Seven Rules of Cult Brands. I must disclose that I’m a member of the TMF financial community; that’s part of the reason why I’m convinced they are nearing Cult-Brand status.

Applying the Seven Golden Rules to this “Foolish” Brand

Following the Golden Rule of Social Groups, TMF has one of the most vibrant communities on the Web with over two million monthly visitors and is starting to orchestrate live events around the world—both at investor-related locations and at Foolish headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

TMF goes head-to-head with Wall Street—calling out financial analysts and celebrity stock pickers who may be entertaining to watch, but are awful at picking winning stocks in the long run. Not courageous enough? They recently invested $1 million of their own cash with the mission of turning it into $1 billion (that’s right, I said one billion) over the next 50 years. Through their exclusive Million Dollar Portfolio service, Foolish subscribers can trade alongside TMF. This level of transparency demonstrates how TMF has put their money where their mouth is. Following the Golden Rule of Courage? Check.

One of the best qualities of TMF is that they’ve found a way to make investing and other financial matters fun. In fact, it’s part of their mission and even their tagline: to educate, amuse and enrich. Through witty commentary, playful jabs at each other, and comical writing, TMF is committed to helping their Brand Lovers save for retirement and entertaining them in the process. And, of course, the TMF internal culture propagates a similar level of freedom and fun: In a land of political bureaucracy, the Virginia-based headquarters was listed as one of the “Great Places to Work” by Washingtonian magazine.

One might argue that helping people improve their financial situation is linked to lower, survival needs on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs. But TMF is helping its customers save for their kids’ college tuitions and build towards their nest eggs for retirement. More importantly, TMF empowers millions of investors to take control of their own finances. This Cult Brand has “self-actualization” from the Golden Rule of Human Needs written all over it.

The doors at TMF are always open: Anyone is welcome to join the Foolish Community. The only criterion is the desire to take control of your own finances and to have some fun in the process. Over 50 TMF staffers monitor the forums, offerings insights and data not just as financial “experts,” but as additional members of the community.

As already stated above, TMF exudes freedom—freedom from having to put your hard-earned money with a mutual fund (where over 80% under-perform the market) and having to trust some celebrity stock pickers like Jim Cramer who are wrong 80% of the time over the long run. TMF draws power from the financial institutions at large and through their CAPS rating program. Launched in September 2006, CAPS is a free online stock-rating service that enables users to predict successfully which stocks are more likely to beat and lose to the market average. CAPS creates star ratings for over 5,500 stocks (at present), providing full transparency on how all the major financial players are performing. With this knowledge, you are in the driver’s seat.

A little too foolish, not Foolish enough

What’s keeping this powerful brand out of Cult Brand stardom? First, the long-form sales landing pages used to enroll new members into one of its dozen paid yearly newsletter services is off-putting. This Internet marketing tactic does not project the kind of quality and integrity aligned with the actual service. Communities like TMF grow by word-of-mouth and consumer education, not clever marketing copy. Second, do you want to cancel one of your yearly TMF newsletter subscriptions in order to focus on a different investment strategy? Surely you can cancel your online service online, right? Nope. They make you call to cancel your service over the phone, hoping that you won’t take the time to call—a similar tactic used by gyms that know you’ll procrastinate canceling your membership.

Will these oversights halt TMF’s rise to Cult Brand status? Only time will tell.

Overall, The Motley Fool is a powerful brand that listens to its customers, makes improvements, and serves its customers better than anyone else in its category. Other businesses can learn a lot from this Cult-Brand-in-the-making.

December 11, 2008 by Scott Jeffrey

Calling All Business Leaders: Sell In, Not Out

Know Thyself

The first cardinal rule of becoming a therapist is Know Thyself.

Therapists-in-training will spend countless hours in the classroom learning fundamental theories of the mind and will spend years under supervised practice learning how to master the art of therapy.

Yet entering in one’s own personal therapy is not even highly encouraged in most graduate school programs.

When sitting with a client for the first time, novice therapists quickly learn the experiential realities of being ”stuck,” and how easy it is for one’s personal issues to muddy the therapeutic waters.

When therapists ask their clients to do the difficult task of going inward and facing the shadows that lurk in their psyches, the question first asked is whether they are willing to embark on this journey themselves?

The question can be applied to many different scenarios:

Would you become a violin teacher if you first didn’t master the art of violin playing?
Can you tell others what it’s like to climb Mount Everest when you’ve never done so yourself?
Can you teach others to practice compassion if you have difficulty practicing it yourself?

You simply can’t. You need to go through the hard work of mastering (or working towards mastery of) a craft before you teach it to the world. You need to wholeheartedly believe in your approach before you attempt to sell it to the masses.

In business, companies pride themselves on selling products that embody higher values like freedom and happiness, yet they turn a blind eye to the values they’re promoting, or rather not promoting, within their own organizations.

Sell In, Not Out

Through selling in, businesses embrace a global vision the entire company can be passionate about. Values pervade every aspect of the business, not only those that reach the consumer, but those that are felt at the deepest levels of the organization.

If brands cannot rally their own troops, how could they be able to rally their customers in support of their products?

When companies pride themselves on taking care of their customers at all costs, but treat their employees worse than their estranged brother-in-law, the misalignment quickly erodes confidence within the organization.

What differentiates Cult Brands and allows them to stand apart from the masses is their holistic approach to business.

Heather McIlhany, online marketing manager for DVD-by-mail shop Netflix, explained, “There’s an inverse relationship between how often a company talks about its values and how much those values are actually reflected in the workplace.”

Netflix understands that a great company earns the respect of its customers and its employees by promising certain values—like commitment, loyalty, and freedom—that they work hard to uphold. An operation without this synergistic balance loses its footing and ultimately, its sense of trust.

Like Netflix, Wal-Mart is another business that wholeheartedly practices what it preaches. The late CEO Sam Walton, built his empire on the “Always Low Prices” philosophy, a vision not only intended for the consumer.

Even when Wal-Mart made Walton a very wealthy man, he insisted on driving his beat-up old pickup truck instead of upgrading to a luxury vehicle, and sharing budget hotel rooms while on business instead of checking into a private suite at the Four Seasons.

His no-frills, frugal lifestyle continues to influence Wal-Mart’s culture. Years after Walton’s death, you’ll still spot top executives flying coach and checking into economy hotels together.

Herbert Kelleher, beloved founder and former chairman of Southwest Airlines, is perhaps the ultimate champion of selling in.

Unlike the bureaucratic mindsets of some CEOs, Kelleher purposely chose to inhabit a windowless interior office at Southwest’s corporate headquarters. He explains, “I’m trying to set a good example that it doesn’t matter where your office is, it’s where your mind is that should be important.”

In Kelleher’s view, physical space is meaningless. “It’s the space between your ears that should be the important thing.”

It’s the Southwest attitude that trickles down from the company’s leaders, in a cascading effect that inspires the employees, and ultimately the customers.

Kelleher remarked, “You have to treat your employees like customers. When you treat them right, then they will treat your outside customers right. That has been a powerful competitive weapon for us.”

In fact, the perfect pitch for ‘Selling In’ can be found in Southwest’s Mission Statement for their employees: “Above all, employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest customer.”

How consistent are the values in your organization? Do you talk a good talk about promoting higher values with your consumers, but won’t walk the walk with your employees? Take an honest look within and ask yourself: Am I selling in, or out?

September 23, 2008 by Scott Jeffrey

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