What are your destination’s “accidental” brands?

You don’t have to go to Jamaica to know that it has great beaches, rivers, waterfalls and flora. Then again, several Caribbean islands have those.
But, I don’t think anyone can leave Jamaica and not know what is unique and innate to Jamaica:

• Blue Mountain Coffee
• The Jamaican Bob Sled Team (with its own restaurant and merchandise at the airport)
• The colors of the Jamaican Flag (used in every imaginable tourist-related product)
• The colors of the Rastafarian movement (see above)
• Braids
• Jamaican Jerk
• Chicken-every-imaginable-style
• *Bob Marley*
  

What a great diversity: music, food, colors, entertainment, “boutique” java, sports and fashion.
And most sustainable and renewable.

Three Questions for you:

1. What are your destination’s unique and innate accidental brands?
2. How can they be exploited, preferably in a sustainable way?
3. Is there something for every taste?

The marketing of green: 5 ways to be part of the trend

Green has taken center stage, not just because of global warming, but also because of the price of oil. Finally going green also makes good business sense immediately (the way business people, unfortunately, like it).

Here are five tips to ride the trend. Remember though, you can ride the trend, but you must be sincere. Otherwise it will hurt your brand.

1. Use green to add value for your customer. I always thought a restaurant with its own vegetable, flower or herb garden is a neat idea. Now, it reduces transportation costs... and there is really nothing to beat freshly picked vegetables on the plate and flowers on the table.
2. Use green to attract customer segments with a special affinity for the environment. You can imagine that if you are the only company in your category known to reduce, reuse or recycle water, energy, bags, etc., you may appeal to certain segments. This strategy works best for companies that are seen to provide a near-commodity, such as banks, insurers, and airlines. There are not so many other tangible sources of differentiation.
3. Develop new uses for your products using green. Curacao cantaloupe is an additional way to use Curacao liqueur.
4. Support efforts that reuse the waste that your company produces. In Jakarta, my friend Roy and his team make the coolest laptop bags from empty tubes of toothpaste found on the streets.
5. Use green to distinguish your brand or company from others for a short moment. At MarkStra, our corporate gift this year was a reusable crate for shopping and a list of tips. Let me say that I consciously try to reduce our footprint through composting, planting trees, and several other efforts. But, I admit... the empty reusable crate over the holidays was to distinguish us from the habitual well-wrapped baskets well-filled with goodies.

Garbage as fashion

Getting back in touch with my friend Roy Tan was one of the most pleasant moments provided to me by technology this year. This for several reasons.

First because Roy, an ex-Citibanker who now lives in Indonesia, and his colleagues at Brandt International have developed a very effective sales performance management tool, which we are about to start marketing in the Caribbean. The premise: Just because someone is a good salesperson doesn't mean s/he can become a good sales manager. One needs different skills.

Second because Roy is involved in a project called XS Project Europe. They make artsy fashionable laptop and other tote bags from plastic garbage collected by poor trash pickers on Jakarta's streets. Each is one of a kind and artistically designed. Sometimes you can even recognize which brand the tube of toothpaste was from. It's well worth a visit.

Branding Curacao's International Financial Sector

Some 18 months ago, out of pure interest, I started examining what could be the unique competitive advantages of Curacao's international financial sector. The many years of expertise suggest that a unique competitive advantage must exist. Only, I believe the sector has been promoting benefits that now exist in most jurisdictions.

Recently a picture of a beautiful Curacao monument used in a some promotional material for the sector, triggered a discussion and further thought. First about the image the sector really wants to portray. Second, about what potential clients are impressed by and therefore what image (brand) the sector should portray. And then we discussed what picture would best fit with what these clients look for in a Caribbean jurisdiction and therefore what picture we should use. A classic brand essence exercise, but done informally.

I do not know. As many Curacaoans I am proud of our monuments and the fact that our city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Monuments are classic and depict a proper conservatism. That image may very well be necessary. I also know that in at least some sub sectors of the industry, the people are young, risk-takers, educated at some of the premier schools of the world. Now everyone is connected 24/7, the world is fast, global. Unfortunately, in international business, we expect images to be the same wherever we are. That suggests a "seamless fit".

So, it merits further thought and discussion. Most people in the industry are accountants or lawyers, who are less inclined to truly "market". That is not their strength. Proper market research, followed by the appropriate strategy would be a good step to take.

Of Curacao Cantaloupe and rum

Brand and product development exercises for (alcoholic) beverages is one of our strong suits. So, I have taken to collecting cook books published by Caribbean producers of different liquor and have developed some recipes of my own as a result.

Curacao Cantaloupe

1. Peel a cantaloupe (melon) and cut it in wedges of 2-3 centimeters thick. You can use other fruit, especially those that are not tasty enough on their own.
2. Make a thick syrup of equal parts of sugar and water. This means you would have to heat up the two
3. Throw in the cantaloupe wedges and boil for a few minutes until the fruit is softened somewhat
4. When the mixture is cool enough to handle, divide the wedges in sterilized (previously used) glass jars and fill up to 2/3 with the syrup
5. Fill to the top with orange Curacao liqueur, preferably the authentic one
6. Serve at room temperature with your best local ice cream
   

The recipe above is adapted from Edward Bottone’s Spirit of Bermuda (cooking with Gosling’s Black Seal Rum). It is absolutely delicious. I also have a love-hate relationship with the matter because cantaloupes are the one vine in my (organic) garden that lizards absolutely will not leave alone.

Colorful tropical fruit steeped in rum also makes for a nice gift, drink and fruit. Red hot peppers in rum makes for a nice hot gift. Both ideas are from Steven Raichlin’s The Caribbean Pantry Cookbook.

The Lecture Circuit

It seems like once you start lecturing, you keep on doing it. Besides lecturing at the University, I held two other presentations over the past 6 weeks:

For a group of marketing managers including several banks, fast food restaurants, home improvement stores on a short introductin to "Return on Marketing Investment" in September.

And for the Curacao chapter of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International on "What exactly is Branding?", a session to encourage smaller companies to brand themselves better last week

Branding according to MarkStra

The word "branding" is in vogue by marketers and non-marketers alike to denot many things. Often it is to denote a "a not-independent" establishment (i.e. part of a global brand) or some major advertising effort.

But, what is branding really? The following is based among others on Jack Trout, Al Ries and Gerald Zaltman.

A brand is ONE word you own in the mind of the relevant consumer.
The key words are:
· One word (concept, belief, aspect)
· Ownership
· The relevant consumer
If done well that word enables you to differentiate yourself meaningfully from competitors in a way that consumers value and will pay for

That word and its ownership have value to you because they either:

• Enable you to command a price premium
• Drive volume
• Increase the lifetime value of every customer (among others through loyalty)
• Or a combination of these
• With an acceptable ROI
  

The ultimate goal of a branding exercise is to determine:

• what that word should be
• how to achieve its ownership (in all aspects and by all means)
• which consumer segment to weigh heaviest when seeking the above (because one cannot be all things to all people)

By this (true) definition of branding, every business, large or small, in a large market or a small market can embark on a branding excersize to "brand itself". For instance, even the smallest independent shoe store can brand itself as being the one with the most personal service. Let's assume that the customer values that. The store can achieve the ownership of this ONE word or concept for instance by remembering each customer's name, his sizes and preferences like no other shoe store does.

Even when a company is part of a larger group (a multinational, a chain, etc.), a company can still brand itself further for its specific market. For instance, being a Ritz Carlton hotel in Curacao is different from being a Ritz Carlton hotel in Aruba. If for nothing else, in Aruba the guest is more likely to be an American than in Curacao. In the same way, a Ritz Carlton in the city is different from a Ritz Carlton at the beach. Each can and should brand itself further (within company guidelines, of course). Otherwise, there is no difference for the guest if he chooses Ritz Carlton in Curacao or Ritz Carlton in Aruba. And, we know what than can mean for your revenue.

Diversity in communication: an anecdote

My boyfriend has lived in the Caribbean for several years now. He is a good sailor who has sailed the Caribbean Sea extensively. He is also an accountant who works in the international financial sector. A native Dutch speaker, he speaks good English.

I am a local Caribbean woman who had a proper undergraduate and graduate U.S. education in the North East. I too have travelled extensively in what I call "my Caribbean" for my roots lie in the Dutch as well as in the Spanish and English Caribbean. I am a marketer. A native Papiamentu speaker, I speak good English and Dutch. Spanish also, but that's not relevant now.

We are going on a sailing holiday with some friends: Canadians, New Yorkers and Californians.

The - admittedly not so original - idea of making caps for everybody befell us. So, for the past week the two of us have been thinking of a slogan that fits the following requirements. Probably also in this irrational order:

• The captain (my boyfriend) should like it well enough to accept on his boat. Ahoy, captain!
• I should like it well enough to arrange the production. A little sabotage goes a long way
• The guests should find it appropriate both on vacation in the British Caribbean and when they return home, so that they will continue to wear it. At least, the two of us should think that they will
• Our Anglo-Saxon friends and their friends should understand the humor, a humor that does not have Anglo-Saxon roots. Again, so that they will continue to wear it. Again, at least the two of us should think that they will

This all given:

• our different ethnic and professional backgrounds
• the hierarchy and our position in it
• that it should remain a surprise for our friends. So, we cannot consult them. No, we are clairvoyant enough

In many ways it reminds me of the times that I have thought up or contributed to marketing communication efforts. Or of some of the efforts I see and hear today.

I have accepted that everything we think of with the caps will be "a bit off". But, on vacation, it doesn't matter. We will all still enjoy the experience.

But, what if it were important, as it usually is in a marketer's professional life? What if we didn't know if it is important? Or how important it is?

Here are some questions to ponder:

• How well does your organization handle internal diversity?
• How well does it handle diversity as it relates to the customer? Do you just translate to different languages?
• How do you ensure that you make and execute the right decisions, i.e. those that appeal to the customers and not necessarily to yourself? Or the boss? Or her husband?
• Do you localize global campaigns? How? Based on what?
• How do you convince headquarters that something won't work locally?

Yes, maybe your market is small. But, how much can you afford to get it wrong when you could and should have gotten it right?

Consistent Customer Care

People often wonder how some companies achieve consistently good service. One way is through careful recruiting. Another way is by setting standards for employees. This ensures that what they say, how and to whom are within what the company finds acceptable. This, in turn, ensures a consistent level of service every time. A consistent predictable level of service is also part of your brand.

Setting standards
Does your company have standards? Do your employees know how and how fast you expect phones to be answered and within which time limit to return calls or emails? When to speak to shoppers wandering in the store and what to say? How you expect them to deal with angry customers? To thank for the business and how to do so?

You can also set standards to ensure more up-selling and cross-selling. Some companies’ associates consistently ask: “Would you like dessert with that?” Do you realize that that dessert could add 25% to the sale?

Measure, reward or retrain
Setting standards or providing training without measuring if the standards or training lessons are being applied, is throwing money down the drain. Do you measure if employees are applying what they learnt? Mystery shopping is one way to measure. The results show if you must reward or retrain your employees.

Customer feedback forms
These are also extremely useful, if you use them consistently and with specific goals in mind. For instance, it is better to make sure every customer gets a card and most fill it in on a specific day, than to have 20 cards filled out by chance over a period when you no longer remember what was going on. Do it the first way and you will know where to make changes or which changes were effective. Do it the latter way and all you have is data you don’t really want to process and analyze.

MarkStra can help

• Setting customer care and sales standards
• Setting up and executing mystery shopping programs
• Developing customer feedback programs and processing the forms

Return on Marketing Investment in Small Markets

In 2006 I attended the Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) Seminar of the Institute on International Research in Fort Myers. I will be posting a bunch of ideas discussed at that seminar. This is the first.

For some time now “branding” has been a focus for many brand teams. But it’s being challenged by the quest for a responsible ROI, a pressure to achieve better returns on marketing spending. The statement that I most remember from the ROMI seminar was this:

Branding has value if it:
· Enables you to command a price premium
· Drives volume
· Increases the average lifetime value of your customers
· Or a combination of these
All with an acceptable ROI. That’s a serious challenge in markets as small as ours. How can we go about it?

1. To understand how to face the challenge, we have to remind ourselves what a brand is. A brand is one word you own in the mind of the relevant consumer and which provides value to that consumer. The key words are: one word, ownership, value and the relevant consumer. Often, brand teams try to achieve ownership of that one word through advertising. This often involves highfixed costs (and therefore makes it harder to achieve an acceptable ROI). So, the larger the market, the better. But, what to do if you serve a small market?
2. We must realize that advertising is not the only way to achieve ownership of that one word. There are more tools in a marketing mix which can be used to differentiate ourselves from our competitors.

So, we should ask ourselves the following questions.

1. Are we unique (or different) in the way we: Conduct our direct selling, Manage and nurture our relationships, Provide customer care, Conduct our public relations, Are involved with our community, Price or distribute our products?
2. Does this uniqueness provide value to the consumer, which in turn will provide revenues for us, in the short or long run?
3. If we are not unique or different,is there a way we can be? In which area will this “uniqueness” provide the best return for us?

So, when you are next thinking about "branding", think further than "advertising"

I look forward to your comments.