DW's Blog

The Real Power Of A Brand Lies In Its Ability to Emotionally Connect With its Customers

by DW Green — August 30, 2012

Since professional football teams are kicking off a new season perhaps another sports to business analogy is in order. Or perhaps not, but here’s one just the same. Winning teams exemplify qualities like preparation, teamwork, execution, heart, wholeheartedness, determination, courage, purpose, tenacity, talent, passion and self-confidence. From a brand perspective, the ultimate value of a professional sports team is in the emotional connection it creates with its fans. Enduring franchises, like the Packers, Cowboys and Steelers, consistently provide their fans with a reason to believe in their team. Whether it’s a championship season or a mediocre one, the fans remain faithful to their team. This team loyalty isn’t based on superficial marketing or slick advertising. It’s rooted in the hearts of the fans, in their love, in their passion for the team, and in their community.Our brand foundation work has similar roots. On the surface many retailers tell us they are about quality products, value pricing and exceptional service. Some retailers insist they’re only about offering low prices. Our brand foundation process is an exploration into the deeper meaning and purpose of an organization and how it can connect with all its stakeholders. The process requires hard work, collaboration, open mindedness, and creative thinking.We believe that all independent retailers who are good at what they do, have the mettle to prosper and grow and to build an enduring emotional b...

by DW Green — August 14, 2012

We have to first identify and articulate the purpose of a company to have a meaningful starting point to build the brand. What does your company have that consumer’s want that the competition can’t deliver? What is the difference your company is trying to make in the world? Lets figure out what really matters to people and develop marketing solutions accordingly. Sometimes the best way to improve perceptions might be to update the retail experience, enhance in-store signage, redesign the web site or whatever shows up. A purpose driven process transforms integration from an exercise in consistency to an exercise in creation—it’s about looking at everything as an opportunity to deliver another dimension of your purpose! How much more powerful would your brand be if everything you were putting out in the world was attempting to fulfill the promise of your purpose in some new and exciting way? Purpose is the great uniter. If your marketing efforts aren’t being developed with the overall purpose of your company in mind, you’re likely to have a whole lot of messages resulting in a whole lot of nothing in the market. We want to co-create ideas that are so intriguing, so entertaining, so persuasive and relevant to consumers that you are invited into their lives with open arms. And when you connect with consumer...

by DW Green — March 12, 2012

In the world of similes and metaphors, a mixed metaphor is a combination of images that do not work well together. “The fullback was a locomotive, running up and down the field like a ninja.” Only Ali could float like a butterfly and sting like a bee; this football locomotive can’t move like a ninja! In today’s rich world of marketing channels, mixing traditional advertising mediums inside new digital ones is like the metaphor above, it doesn’t work very well.The weekly print ad has an important role to play in the overall marketing and communications plan. But its effectiveness and influence has decreased with the advent of new digital marketing channels. In the last three quarters of 2009 mobile and internet advertising grew by 18.1% and 9.2% respectively, and older media advertising saw declines: −10.1% (TV), −11.7% (radio), −14.8% (magazines) and −18.7% (newspapers). And most certainly these trends will continue.Newspaper print ads do not translate well in websites or mobile devices. Desktop websites do not translate well in mobile devices. Print pdf’s are not user friendly on websites nor are desktop websites user friendly with the mobile experience. So why then do so many supermarkets present their weekly ad offerings in new media channels with non-digital material? Or why do they expect their desktop website to satisfy the mobile user experience?The beauty of new technology is its ability to connect to changing demographics and generational pr...

by DW Green — February 22, 2012

We recently received the Dorothy Lane Market Vendor Honor Roll award. It is a tremendous honor to be acknowledged by one of America’s premier retailers. Since 1991 Dorothy Lane Market has presented the DLM Vendor Honor Roll award to recognize outstanding vendors for their excellent service. Dorothy Lane Market is a Firm of Endearment, a stakeholder brand who honors and serves all of its primary stakeholder groups. Stakeholder groups include customers, employees, vendors, partners, communities, the environment and shareholders. Stakeholder brands align the interest of all in such a way that no stakeholder group gains at the expense of other stakeholder groups.According to Firms of Endearment* authors, Raji Sisodia, Jag Sheth and David B. Wolfe, “In addition to aligning the interest of all stakeholders, stakeholder brands embrace a humanistic approach to business. A humanistic company is one that is run in such a way that its stakeholders develop an emotional connection with it. Humanistic companies are the ultimate value creators; they create promotional value, experiential value, social value, and of course financial value. There are many companies that are successful and admirable in many ways but lack a strong emotive dimension. We call this emotive dimension the soul of a company and we believe that companies without souls face a doubtful future.”For the first time in history, the majority of adults in developed countries are forty years old and...

by DW Green — February 3, 2012

Supermarkets have been losing center-store sales for more than a decade, and the trend is only accelerating. Aside from the usual suspects (big box stores, limited assortment and other uniquely differentiated retailers) center-store sales are going to just about every brick and mortar retailer and online powerhouse. Fact is consumers have a plethora of purchasing choices and shop multiple venues every week. This isn’t a news flash! Why then, do so many food retailers continue to lament about lost center-stores sales and their inability to get customers down the grocery aisles?I say, “Get over it. Accept it.” Because every dollar you invest in chasing phantom center-stores sales is one less dollar you can spend in areas where you can gain a competitive advantage. How much more produce, or meat, or seafood or bakery or deli business can you do? If you don’t have 40% market share in those departments you can do better. Or how can you improve your merchandising, your customer service or your customer experience? What more can you do to support your community? What are you doing with social media and other interactive technologies? What percent of resources do you allocate to those possibilities? What is the ROI on chasing center-store sales?I’m not suggesting that retailers give up on center-store sales, but only to accept the reality of why they are going away and allocate precious resources wisely. There are definitely things that can be done to enhance...

by DW Green — January 13, 2012

Effecting change within an organization is a difficult proposition. And effecting change from outside an organization is even more challenging. Consequently, our central management challenge is to assemble, integrate and retain talented people who can stay at the forefront of new paradigms and techniques that affect our clients’ business. Our most sought-after employee must have tremendous skill at effecting change within client organizations, because what is in short supply, is the ability to effect change, to get things implemented, to make things happen. That’s the value provided by our company. We know that the proof of our value is found in results. Deeply rooted in our culture is the sense that if the client does well, I’ve done well and we’ve all done well.We accept responsibility for achieving results. We will, if necessary, put our selves at risk to further our client’s success; because the worst failure for our company isn’t to loose money; it is to lose a client....

by DW Green — December 19, 2011

As 2011 draws to a close, I would like to thank our clients, business partners and vendors for your business and for your friendship. I’d like to thank each of you for the positive influence and impact you have had on my life and on my company. I am most grateful and appreciative of our relationships. I am honored to work with you.To acknowledge the end of the year, it seems both fitting and proper to share this leadership blessing with you. I am inspired by Mr. Donohue’s words and read them often.For A Leader
John O’DonohueMay you have the grace and wisdom
To act kindly, learning
To distinguish between what is
Personal and what is not.May you be hospitable to criticism.May you never put yourself at the
center of things.May you not act from arrogance but
out of service.May you work on yourself,
Building up and refining the ways of
your mind.May those who work for you know
You see and respect them.May you learn to cultivate the art of
presence
In order to engage with those who
meet you.When someone fails or disappoints
you,
May the graciousness with which
You engage
Be their stairway to renewal and
refinement.May you treasure the gifts of the
mind
Through reading and creative
thinking
So that you continue as a servant of
the frontierWhere the new will draw its
enrichment from the old,
And you never become
functionary.May you know the wisdom of deep
listening,
The healing of wholesome words,
The encourag...

by DW Green — December 8, 2011

I don’t know about you, but I like direct mail. We receive a fair amount of direct mail offers at our home during the year. My wife, son and myself take advantage of the offers regularly. I’m a bit embarrassed to report that just last week I received a direct mail offer from a men’s clothing store for $300 off a minimum $800 purchase. I redeemed the coupon and ended up spending more than $800! A professional shopper I’m not!Direct Mail is a simple and powerful way to get your message directly to your target audience. A smart and effective direct mail piece can increase store sales by grabbing the attention of potential customers. The design of the piece and the offer are the two main ingredients for successful redemption.One of our clients uses a 11.5”x6” post card promoting four “free” items. Each free item is valid for one week, covering a four-week period. The four-week time frame spreads the distribution cost over a four-week period. They have experienced 7 to 12% sales lift. January and February are excellent months for this type of promotion.Here are some of the benefits of a direct mail campaign.
• According to the United States Postal Service, 98% of consumers bring in their mail the day it’s delivered, and 77% sort through it immediately. This means there are people who could be seeing your direct mail marketing campaign immediately who could potentially come looking for your business.
• Direct mail campaigns allow you to target on a spec...

by DW Green — November 1, 2011

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.”
-Yogi BerraIs your 2012 promotional plan completed? We co-create annual promotional plans with many of our clients. The purpose of the planning is to incorporate all elements of your marketing media into a single, easy-to-follow, 52 week document. This holistic approach ensures that all marketing components are addressed and form a strong, cohesive and interconnected plan.Here’s a recent content example of a promotional plan document:• Ad date
• Page count
• Front Page theme
• Promotional page theme
• Special event
• Blog topic
• E-Mail Blast theme
• Social Media Plan (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube)
• Texting
• What’s new?
• Brand Stories
• Recipes
• Website; Home page feature, content features and sub features
• Digital signage
• Radio/TV/Direct Mail/Magazines/Outdoor (Out of home)We spend about 16 hours preparing a working document, including holiday dates, researching event ideas and promotional themes, assembling wholesaler promotional plan and note the four slowest weeks of the prior year. The client meeting itself takes six to eight hours. The better the preparation the better the meeting. We then compile the information and finalize the 52 week plan. And as soon as the plan is client approved we begin work on detailing individual elements.A well thought out and all encompassing promotional plan is extremely important. As Yogi Berra once ...

by DW Green — August 25, 2011

I recently read Finding Inner Courage by Mark Nepo. It is an excellent book and I highly recommend reading it. In the introduction Nepo writes; “What does courage mean? How we hold this question is important. It’s interesting that the question, what does it mean? in Spanish, que quire deicer?, literally translates as, what does it want to say? The difference inherent in the Spanish view is that whatever holds meaning is alive and has its own vital authority and, therefore, demands us to be in relationship to it in order to learn its meaning. English view readies us to apprehend meaning, while Spanish view readies us to experience meaning.”Okay, interesting quote you might say, but what does it have to do with business? In a word…everything. What does your business mean? What does it mean to you? What does it mean to your stakeholders? Human beings are meaning making machines. When our relationships and our experiences are meaningful, we are confident and comfortable with our decisions, our choices and this meaningful connection enhances our overall sense of happiness and well-being.A company’s “reasons to believe” are deeply rooted in its purpose and meaning. It’s critical that a company’s purpose and meaning are fully expressed in designed experiences, culture, value offerings and communications; ultimately creating faith and trust in the brand by all its stakeholders. This comprehensive and holistic approach...

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