It Doesn't Matter If It's Food, Fashion, Music, Cars or? Branding is a Science

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody - Bill Cosby

I had a meeting with a nice gentleman the other day who is working on the branding of his company. I was a bit alarmed at what he said. It was obvious that this person wasn't exactly clear as to what Branding means.

He is in the restaurant industry and said to me,

"We can't be sure the age of our customers or who they are so we can't decide on what kind of food we will serve, we just have to make sure that the food we serve always tastes great."

Well, yes and no. He can't decide what kind of customers he's going to get or their age. That's true... But if he thinks he is making things to please everyone, he certainly can't do that either. He's wrong there. Also, if he's thinking is that his only competition are other restaurants, then he is dead wrong on that issue too. 

I'll explain why in a moment. 

Just like the old adage that Bill Cosby made into his own above, this kind of thinking is a time proven key to failure. It astounds me that to this day, with all the many example around us on why this sort of thinking doesn't work anymore (please think: Apple, Google, famous fashion makers, etc.) When you try to please everyone, you please no one. This is obvious and has been repeated over and over again throughout history since the Industrial Revolution. The serve-all method is a sure-fire way to fail.

Here's why...

The success of corporations like Coca-Cola, Apple, Google and Mercedes Benz, just to name a few; proves that specialization is the key to success in this day and age.

The sushi-ya is good at what they do. "But they can't be sure of the customers or their age!" Should the sushi-ya now add Chinese Food, Hamburgers, Indian Curry, etc. to the menu? Of course not!

There are lessons around us everywhere. Let's look at the restaurant industry for an easy example. Quick name one highly successful and profitable family restaurant? Denny's? Nope. They are rumored to be on the verge of bankruptcy. How about in Japan? What others are there? There's Gusto and Jonathans and Skylark to name a few. All rumored to be nearing bankruptcy. Skylark did go belly up.

How about Royal Host and Sizzler? Well, the Royal Host chain isn't doing well, but is better off financially than Gusto and Jonathans... Why? They own Sizzler in Japan.

Sizzler?! Well, yes, folks, Sizzler is doing well in Japan, thank you. Why? They specialize. They realized years ago that they needed to set themselves apart from the others in their market space. Sizzler is a steak house and its steak meals start at over ¥3,190 a plate! (about $35.77). Sizzler may be considered a family restaurant but they are doing all they can to destroy that image and change to a higher end steak restaurant.

That's Branding. That's smart. That niche marketing.

Branding is doing thorough market research and then focusing on one part of the market.

The example above I gave where the boss said, "We can't be sure the age of our customers so we can't decide on what kind of food we will serve, we just have to make sure that the food we serve always tastes great." He is so completely wrong on that point that it makes me wonder if he has ever bothered to read any books on Branding and Marketing? Or, does he even understand the concept? I don't think so, that sort of thinking is like something out of the 1950s.

Let me get back to that point and prove to you why the other restaurants are not his only competition in this day and age and why trying to please everyone will fail with a simple example.

Imagine: It is your free time, say lunch time. You have one hour. There are so many things for you to do and to choose from on how you spend your one hour. You could go shopping or you could go to the gym, or for a walk, or to a coffee shop. You could go to a book store or meet friends, you could listen to music on your iPod or iPhone or Android or at a record store nearby. You could eat your own homemade lunch or, you could go to a restaurant. The choices are endless.

But, since it is lunch time, and you didn't bring your own lunch, you are hungry. 

In your immediate area there are 5 family restaurants. There's the Denny's, the Skylark, Gusto, Jonathan's or Royal Host... Those restaurants have everything, but I'm sure you'll agree that even though they do have everything, everything is not particularly delicious.

Besides the above, there's also a plethora of choices. There's a McDonalds (Definitely a niche restaurant), a standing soba shop, a delicious sushi restaurant, Chinese food, Indian food, Korean Barbeque, Japanese lunch of baked fish and miso soup, Wendy's, Pizza, etc...

Now, it's not rocket science but most people would go to the specialty shops. 

"How to triple your users and sales by doing just one thing..."

This movement of the market and people's tastes have dictated why this science of Branding is so very important.

Once again, take Apple Store for example. What if they thought that, "...there's all sorts of people who come here of all different ages. We need to please them!" Do you think Apple store would then start carrying Epson printers and ink cartridges? How about printer paper and office supplies? Should Apple start carrying Android phone or old-fashioned cell phones to please the older crowd? See? If one were to stop and think about this for just one second, they'd realize the absurdity of not specializing towards a niche market...

And, I'm sorry, food, music, fashions, etc. are all very broad topics. Anyone who thinks they can't be treated in a scientific fashion for Branding purposes simply just hasn't been paying attention.

For more on the Scientific Method and how Branding is a science, may I recommend: Brands and Brand Management - Contemporary Research Perspectives  

From the publisher review: "Very few books exist that meaningfully integrate the rich and vast body of scientific research and theories that have accumulated in the field, relating to both traditional and contemporary topics in branding. This book accomplishes that task, with contributions from leading experts in the science of branding, national and international. The book should appeal to all students, faculty, and marketing professionals with an interest in research findings about brands, and an interest in deepening their understanding of how consumers view brands."

Thanks to Kevin Riley for the TED link.

Today's Economy is Rewarding Ideas, Art, Innovation, Deep-Thinking and Daring… Can You Make the Change?

It couldn't have come at a moment too soon for a world economy faltering (definitely including Japan's too) that the time has come for the economy to start rewarding people for having initiative and new ideas. The time has come for our economy to start rewarding people for results and not process.

The old order of putting in long hours and sacrificing family life for work (and the time for truly living like a real human being and spending time with the family while attending to their needs) is coming to an end. The days of long hours of work in order to be "productive" (or what was confused as "productive") and actually achieving very little have fallen by the wayside. The days of process orientation at work is ending for our societies.


What I mean by that is people are starting to figure out that just sitting at the office and spending time (because everyone else is doing it) is no longer the norm. Working smart and working efficiently so that when you are working you are focused and incredibly productive is the new norm.


Last night, I received this from Seth Godin and really thought that we are on the exact same plane in this way of thinking:

Time doesn’t scale

But bravery does.

The challenge of work-life balance is a relatively new one, and it is an artifact of a world where you get paid for showing up, paid for hours spent, paid for working.

In that world, it's clearly an advantage to have a team that spends more time than the competition. One way to get ahead as a freelancer or a factory worker of any kind (even a consultant at Deloitte) was simply to put in more hours. After all, that made you more productive, if we define productivity as output per dollar spent.

But people have discovered that after hour 24, there are no more hours left. Suddenly, you can't get ahead by outworking the other guy, because both of you are already working as hard as Newtonian physics will permit.

Like I mentioned, the old order of putting in long hours to try to beat the competition are over. Do you really think you can do more and work longer and cheaper than a factory worker in China? Or an illegal immigrant from South America? I've written on this subject before. In that article, a world-famous chef was giving me advice on work and survival of the fittest. Please refer to: Quality Over Quantity, Especially as You Get Older. the chef told me:

"Mike, as you get older, you must always be concerned with these costs, but you must mostly be concerned with having your name associated with quality. When we are young, there are many in our same field of work. But as we get older, the field of people doing our job narrows down to just a few..."

...

"That's is why, Mike, as you get older, you must concentrate on quality and delivering the best. If you decide to concentrate on quantity, you will lose. Because when it comes to a quantity issue, then you start dealing with lower quality... You will not be able to beat a younger competitor... You will not be able to beat a McDonald's."

It is no longer useful, nor should it be acceptable, for someone to be sitting at the office basically watching the clock and accomplishing nothing. THat person needs to break the mold and get outside and see the real world, get real world experiences, see how the real world works and spend time with family to reattach their minds with how normal people live. These workers needs to reattach to what normal people think and what they want. They need to get out of their box.

Several months ago, I was out on a sales call with a salesman in my company. He is a very hard worker and a great salesman. I want to keep him and worry about him as my company does not yet pay him what he worth. When I met him for the sales call he looked completely exhausted. The night before he had been out with clients and didn't arrive home until 3:00 am. That happens a lot for salesmen in Japan. We went to our meeting and, after one hour, it ended. As we walked to the station I asked him where he was then headed. He answered;


"Back to the office."


"Do you have more meetings or urgent matters to attend to?" I asked. He answered in the negative but added,


"I have to go back to the office because everyone is still there."


I told him that it was ridiculous for him to do so and that doing so was actually counterproductive as he'd be still tired tomorrow (in Japanese it's called, 効率が悪い "koritsu warui" - something like results are inefficient"). I told him that we don't do things that way and instead of falling asleep at his desk, I'd prefer that when he is at work he is doing a great job and being efficient. I sent him home.

The new economy - for you and me at least - is not going to be "process oriented" (we won't beat the Chinese and Indonesians for that) but it is going to be "results oriented." Sitting at a desk for 12 hours a day being inefficient is a waste of everyone's time. Using your work time efficiently and effectively is the future - your future.


Doing a good 5 hours of work a day and actually getting something great done beats 14 hours of plodding along.


Can you make the change?