Brand Building | Content for Biz Inc.

Like Volkswagen, Tell A Story of Why You Do or Don’t Change

Some people don’t like change. With so many iterations of products and services customers are likely to get confused. Whether you do or don’t change, you want them to feel good about it, right? This deserves a story, not a spec sheet.

In 1960, Volkswagen ran a print ad that tells the story of why they made a minor change to their classic Beetle design. The appearance of the car had not changed for many years. They brought in a world famous Italian auto body designer and asked him what changes he would make. He recommended a larger rear window. So they made the rear window larger. The company assures the customer that they don’t change to be different, just better.

Build Product Legacy

What functional or design improvements have you made and why? Let your customers know. It is impressive that Volkswagen would seek the advice of a famous designer. Whom do you seek advice from? Quote the source. If it’s not apparent why you took the advice, explain. If you don’t change your product, describe why not. Be sure to include a narrator in your story. Someone the customer will identify with. In telling stories you create a legacy for your product. With legacy comes loyalty – especially for people who don’t like change.

Keep Marketing Content Fresh

To this day Volkswagen retains the classic Beetle design. Yet even back then, they changed their marketing content often. Ads focused on interchangeable parts, functional improvements, economy of costs, and consistency of quality. Beautiful and playful photography enhanced the ads appeal.

Look at Volkswagen’s television ad for Super Bowl 2013 to see how they are still giving people something to smile about. It’s a great example of product with attitude. In the modern era, a Stories page on their website allows people to find a story by topic or add one of their own. Any company can do this on their website and social sites. It’s a great way to see how people view your product both emotionally and logically.

Whether your product is the Volkswagen of your industry or not, engage your customers by telling the story of why you do or don’t change. If you don’t know of any stories, we can uncover them. Learn more about our content writing services.

Savoring Content at NRA Show in Chicago

Nearly two thousand food service manufacturers, restaurant and hospitality product brands from more than 100 countries are exhibitting under one roof at this year’s National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. Reasons to attend shows like this hold true. See the latest innovations and connect with others in the industry. Marketers, salespeople and product experts shared with us their views on content, industry trends and challenges.

Supporting the live interaction at the Show is content. Marketers tell us they are challenged with trying to create enough quality content through multiple channels. A walk down the aisles here show what “multiple” can mean. Content appears in all shapes and forms – video on flat screen TVs, print brochures, electronic QR codes, apps and real time signage. It is enough to overwhelm or exhilarate the senses. Here, food is a passion and the visual displays are beautifully executed in most booths.

The Show also serves as a kind of Oscars for those in the Restaurant, Food & Beverage and Hospitality industries. Awards were given to operator accomplishments, kitchen and food & beverage product innovations. The Spin Zester won an award in the kitchen product innovation category. Here is a brief interview with the product creator, a baker who found a better way to zest.

The company, Zip Zester, supports and expands the Spin Zester audience through a well designed website, blog and social media.

At the Show, the niche companies demonstrate successful strategies in segmentation and messaging. In this video Grecian Delight Corporate Chef Michael Zeller talks about what he’s serving up for attendees who enjoy authentic Greek and specialty Mediterranean foods. Visitors to the company’s website can search for products and recipes.

Exhibitors and NRA Show organizers are doing a wonderful job of engaging visitors and creating a multi-sensory experience for attendees. Adding to the ambience is content that captures the imagination and savors key messages.

Offer Your Brand Perspective on Industry News

To create branded content on topics of interest to your audience look no further than current online industry news. Then offer your brand perspective in a blog post, newsletter article or social media. A search for Industry News will result in lots of listings. But to find current news use Google > News > Past week. Many of the results are press releases published for media and public consumption.

When I google Food Service Industry News I see the National Restaurant Association Launches New ServSafe 6th Edition Food Safety Program. Read the release and create your own original content describing some of the best food safety practices used at your company. How is that important to the integrity of your product?

More examples from search:

US Foodservice: The Future of Foodservice in the US to 2016 – What trends do you see in your foodservice operating environment that will be influential in the next few years?

US Sports & Entertainment Foodservice Market Trends Analyzed in New Study Published at MarketPublishers.com. For food service providers to sports events, how are you improving the fan experience through food selection? What trends are you seeing?

CareerBuilder and the National Restaurant Association Team Up to Bring More Resources to Industry Employers and Job Seekers. The release states: “Under the two-year agreement, CareerBuilder will become the exclusive provider of recruitment and job search services for National Restaurant Association members as well as its state restaurant association members.” What do you see as the benefits of this? How do you find the best candidates?

US Foods, America’s Second-Largest Food Distributor, Chooses Ai2’s ProSel for an iPad Sales Force Solution Deployment. How do your territory sales managers give presentations to customer? Have you solved challenges in order-taking and content management using mobile apps?

And for those brands sensitive to sustainability issues: McCormick Achieves Net-Zero Energy Use with Constellation Energy. Their distribution center in Belcamp, Md., now generates more electricity than it uses. What sustainability initiatives have you launched and found to be successful at saving costs or adding benefits?

Trade magazines are a good source of credible industry news. Review your favorite industry magazines for ideas. Yahoo! Directory is an easy search for all types of industry news magazines. My search for food service industry magazines included: Directory > Business and Economy > Business to Business > Food and Beverage > Restaurant and Food Service Management > Trade Magazines. Or, you can Google [Industry Name] Magazines. Check out the news page, articles, blogs and newsletters from these publications for ideas on how to add your brand’s perspective on the industry news. Look for columnists within a trade magazine who cover the types of topics your audience is interested in. Find bloggers in your industry through Technorati and online trade publications. When you don’t want to write a full article or post you can leave a comment or tweet. On Twitter add an industry hashtag (#foodservice). Don’t let your subject matter expertise go to waste, offer your brand perspective.

This approach to creating branded content can be used by any size company in any industry. Are you running out of ideas to engage your audience?

What’s in a Company Name? Better Business Opportunity

The best company names are easily recognized, memorable and strategic. This may not happen on the first try. For instance, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing became 3M. International Business Machines (IBM) began as the Computing Tabulating Recording Corp. Today, the Internet allows companies well named to position their brands better across the globe. A new distinctive company name supported by quality content and key words can boost visitor engagement as never before.

A New Identity

President and CEO Laurence Briggs wants to build a group of food companies specializing in upscale Texas products. His proposal to change the company name Legends Foods Corporation to Republic of Texas Brands Incorporated was recently approved. Briggs said: “The name change represents the identity of our operational brands and ability to broaden the company’s activities into licensing of this prestigious brand throughout the world.” The company added a new domain name and trademarks. Companies acquired will be centralized under this new brand identity. Another location based company name is Cisco Systems, Inc., which is short for San Francisco.

Subtle or Grand Changes

Sodexho Alliance changed their name to Sodexo a few years ago. The name change reportedly was to draw emphasis away from the hotel services industry they were formerly associated with.

Just weeks ago, the American Dietetic Association announced their name change to Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics effective January 1, 2012. ADA President Sylvia Escott-Stump explained the change this way: “By adding nutrition to our name, we communicate our capacity for translating nutrition science into healthier lifestyles for everyone. Keeping dietetics supports our history as a food and science-based profession. Thus, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics quickly and accurately communicates our identity—who we are and what we do.” The organization’s domain name www.eatright.org will not change.

Wealth Effects of Name Change

Researchers from Chengchi University in Taiwan and the University of Wisconsin found that when oil prices are high stock returns and trading volume significantly increased for companies adding “oil” or “petroleum” to their names. Likewise, companies that removed “dot.com”, “dot.net”, and “internet” from their names after the Internet crash in 2000 found positive market reaction.

Content Support for a New Company Name

Company name changing should not be taken lightly. Name changes may confuse buyers so it is important to create new content on your website, newsletters, social media networks, blogs, and emails. Some of the online content that needs to change or be reviewed includes:

– Website domain name
– Logo and accompanying graphics
– Website content
– Keywords and meta tags
– Blogs
– Social media network icons, names
– Back links (if domain change)
– Videos, podcasts, webinars

Before the name change occurs launch a public relations campaign that includes reasons for the change, notify current customers and distribute information to the media through a press release. Even when a company or organization name has brand awareness with current customers a name change can create better business opportunities in today’s global economy.

How Memory & Metaphor Can Help Boost Sales

As business people how do we get our prospects to remember us?

I teach a memoir writing class and now apply some of what I’ve learned about memory to marketing communications. When tied to an emotion, facts and events are more likely to be stored in long term memory. Neuroscientists call the physical manifestation of memory engrams. Stored engrams can be activated by cues or stimuli. In business these can be a graphic logo, an ad, or word of mouth mention. We may not be conscious of the cues, but they are activating our memory and influencing our
buying behavior.

To help boost sales companies can create a customer experience strategy based on how customers feel while interacting with a business or product. As I understand it, the feeling becomes a memory and can then be activated with cues. Customer service and communication are at the center of this. When your customer has either a really good or disturbing experience it will likely end up in their long term memory. Those already familiar with your business or product are likely to remember details better because they are adding information to an existing memory. Accuracy of the recollection decreases over time, so reinforcing a good memory should be part of your customer experience strategy.

Metaphors add another layer to memory by asserting that two things are the same. Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman writes that metaphors help “shape what and how we think.” Interestingly, the more distant the metaphor, the better. He uses an example of a bank that included a Seeing Eye dog in its ad. After viewing the ad, people related feelings of warmth and reliability to the bank. A less distant metaphor, such as a vault, would have less effect.

Understanding how memory and metaphor affect the unconscious mind can help businesses market better. Long lasting memories rely on relevance, mood, emotion, existing concepts, story, distinctness, and other elements that affect recall. For businesses the emphasis remains on how to best serve and add value in a
significant way.

Remember, creating good memories for people is a worthwhile and profitable thing to do. Listen carefully. What metaphors do your customers use when talking about your products and services?