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Happy Holidays. This time of year my thoughts always turn to my favorite brand, Santa Claus. We'll examine his brand's staying power in this holiday edition of Think. Additionally, we'll consider the benefits of advertising and have our usual potpourri of briefs. Let's get started. Cordially, Harry Hoover harry@hoover-ink.com P.S. if you know someone who would benefit from this newsletter, please feel free to forward this to a friend or subscribe here. |
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Santa: The Brand Every Christmas Eve, a burglar named Santa busts into homes around the world, but he has never been charged with B&E. He has one of the best, most positive brands around and it continues to inoculate him against any hint of impropriety, as it has for generations. Why does Santa's brand remain so strong? Because Santa is: • Consistent • Unique • Customer-focused • Viral Let's examine these to see what lessons we can learn. First off, Santa has a positioning statement and has used it to stay true to his mission for decades. (For more on positioning, see the May issue of Think.) It is this consistency that has helped him build a brand franchise that is the envy of other marketers. No matter what kind of communication vehicle he uses, the message is measured against the positioning statement. Fed-Ex and UPS also deliver packages, but they don't do it in the middle of the night in a sleigh drawn by eight tiny reindeer. Santa has cornered the market on uniqueness. He has not strayed from the market he identified in his positioning statement. His target is not every carbon-based life form. He focuses on kids. End of story. Talk about customer intimacy. Santa has perfected data mining. Who else knows if you: • are sleeping or awake • want a Barbie or a baseball bat • have been naughty or nice Santa invented viral marketing. As his customers get older and become parents, they market to the emerging group of customers for him. They know that if they deliver Santa's message, they will benefit from their children's good behavior. And it's not just the parents. Other marketers help him, too. Santa has never spent a dime on advertising. He has used good public relations tactics to develop, manage and maintain solid relationships with marketers who advertise for him. Consider the Coca-Cola ads featuring Mr. Claus. Think of all the newspaper inserts that carry his picture during the holidays. Then, there are all those helpers in department stores everywhere. Because of his adherence to simple marketing tactics, everyone loves Santa. Not bad for an old burglar with a reindeer fetish. |
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PR Builds Brands, Ads Build Awareness I firmly believe that advertising is an excellent tool for rapidly building awareness of a company, its products or services. I believe equally firmly that you build a brand through public relations, not advertising. A brand is the sum of all interactions a customer has with an organization. Most of those interactions are with employees, or the product or service itself. If those interactions are positive, then customers, allies and the media will tell others. This is PR. But, today I want to give you my top nine list for using advertising. 9. Boost employee morale 8. Create industry buzz 7. Create, build or maintain a positive image 6. Test new products and/or services 5. Retain existing customers 4. Reinforce personal sales calls, direct mail 3. Maintain consistent, controlled customer communications 2. Gain new customers, particularly hard-to-reach ones 1. Position or reposition your company, products or services. In a later issue, we will examine these in more detail. But it's the holidays and time to focus on family and friends, not work. Enjoy the season. I'll see you next month.
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