Never
judge a book by its cover is an adage that rang true for me during the class
visit to Landor. When I visited the company website, I was overwhelmed and
turned-off. I found the website to be cluttered and cumbersome; too much info
and no clear map on how to get it. I thought to myself: “this company must be
worth their weight in gold, if they are confident enough to have this be one of
the first touch points through which people experience their brand.”
And
boy, was I right! Landor, unlike the other companies we’ve visited didn’t have
any particular decorative appeal nor was the reception area teeming with
employees. The following are the things that stood out to me:
-They
served refreshments: we are lowly students and yet they cared enough to make us
feel at home. I wonder what they do when their clients visit?
-Mimi,
the Client Director who spoke to us, had this energy and excitement as soon as
she opened her mouth. She hadn’t even started talking about Landor’s work and I
could tell she loved her job. That is the kind of enthusiasm I want in my
career- it was refreshing to see that.
-Landor
approaches its work from this perspective: “Without a story, you become just a
commodity.” Who
doesn’t like a good story? No wonder Mimi loved her job; getting to brand each
product or service, even the less exciting ones by starting with a story seems
to be a far more interesting and successful approach.
-The
Crown Royal case study left me thirsting for more. How do focus groups held in
elaborately designed rooms lead to a perfectly crafted bottle design?
- As
I mentioned in class, I thought I wanted to explore the PR industry but the
session at Landor piqued my interest in Branding. I know that brands live in
the hearts or minds of consumers and no matter how much branding goes into a
particular product or service, the brand ultimately belongs to the consumer. I
am interested in branding because I want to know how successful brands get it
right. What story has to be told or reflected in the product or service for
consumers to connect to it?
-It
was also important to see the relationship between Mimi and Tam, the Client
Associate. An indication of workplace culture is if there is a pleasant but respectful
rapport between employees of different levels.
Some
of the opportunities and challenges brands face as it pertains to their role
and identity in consumers’ minds are:
-Breaking
through the clutter to occupy position themselves in the minds of the
consumers.
-Not
just occupying a space in the minds of consumers but getting there first. If a
brand positions itself first for a particular product category, it will be hard
for another brand to take over that spot.
-Getting
there first is only half the solution- consumers must have positive perceptions
of brands.
- If
consumers have positive perceptions of a brand, those consumers are essentially
unpaid brand ambassadors. Their positive word of mouth can help a brand gain
more customers than advertising ever could.
-Positive
perceptions sometimes lead to brand loyalty.
-If
the perception is negative, it is hard to reoccupy that space with a positive
perception.
Summer’s
Eve recently informed its Facebook Fans that it does not test its products on
animals underneath a photo of various employees with their pets. As a consumer I
must admit that animal testing is not an issue that informs my purchases. I
think it might be because animal testing was such a big issue some years back
and a lot of cosmetic and personal care companies vowed to stop such practices.
And so I just don’t think of it but I’m sure other Summer’s Eve users who have
a more ethical approach to shopping were already aware of this. I did a little
digging to find out if Summer’s Eve’s competitor- RePhresh tests its products
on animals and I couldn’t find that info anywhere, not even on their website. I
always thought one of the major points of differentiation between the two
brands was that, Summer’s Eve seems to appeal to younger women and RePhresh was
for older women. But it seems animal testing might be another point of
differentiation.
No comments:
Post a Comment