Yankee Candle – Master of Fragrances

“A passion for fragrance”. This statment is the very relevant tagline of Yankee Candle; a brand that has become America’s best loved candle and the world’s most recognised name in the candle business with over 150 fragrances across its product categories of ‘Candles’, ‘Wax Melts’, ‘Accessories’, ‘Flameless Fragrance’, and ‘Car and Small Spaces’. 

 Source: https://goo.gl/AlroAj

The brand owes its success to a once broke, 16 year old American boy who couldn’t afford to buy his mother a Christmas gift, so he crafted his own candle from melted crayon to give to her. His neighbour spotted his creation and asked him to sell it to her, so he did, and with the money he made from the sale he made a new candle for his mother, and another one to sell. Yankee Candle now sells its products worldwide through over 500 company-owned retail stores; talk about a success story.

Yankee Candle has achieved enormous growth over the years since its establishment in 1969, in which the brand has taken on both line and brand extensions, a co-branding opportunity and multi-branding strategies; all of which have been successful, and I believe Yankee Candle’s growth doesn’t stop there. I believe the brand can experience even more growth by undertaking another line extension strategy.

Yankee Candle already has a wide range of products under its various product categories, however I think there is a gap to include a couple of new products under the ‘Car and Small Spaces’ category. I think in particular there is room for expansion in the ‘Small Spaces’ aspect of this category, which already includes the products ‘Fragrance Spheres’ and ‘Room Spray’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: https://goo.gl/4IXi7L

Yankee Candle could introduce the addition of wardrobe fragrances and scented bags for drawers. These new products would fit into this category seamlessly because a wardrobe and drawer are logically considered to be small spaces. These additions would be a way for Yankee Candle to increase the variety available to customers in this particular product category.

If Yankee Candle were to undertake this growth strategy it would firstly need to consider:

• The perception held by the consumer of the Yankee Candle brand and;
• How the addition of wardrobe fragrance and scented bags will be of value to the consumer and the Yankee Candle brand

Secondly, Yankee Candle should understand the benefits and risks of undertaking a line extension.

Some potential benefits would be the fact that consumers already have positive associations with the existing Yankee Candle brand name in terms of its long-lasting fragrances, true to life scents and high quality ingredients. This will result in a more than likely positive reaction and adoption of the new wardrobe fragrances and scented bags, as customers will assume the same qualities exist in the new products. This positive association will also then lower the perceived risk of buying these new products from the brand.

Yankee Candle Quality

Source: https://goo.gl/BykxDM

By promoting the new products, Yankee Candle will also receive the benefit of raising awareness for not only its new products, but for the brand as a whole.

A potential risk Yankee Candle could face would be product failure as a result of not providing an advantage over competitor products in the same category. For instance, the launch of wardrobe fragrances and scented bags could bring in new competition from Bed, Bath, and Body; a brand already selling these products. If Yankee Candle doesn’t offer a distinct difference in these products, it may risk failure. Yankee Candle may gain a competitive advantage against Bed, Bath, and Body if its new products have the same long-lasting scent as its other products, which is one of the brand’s key differentiators.

Another risk the brand my face is if the wardrobe fragrances and scented bags fail, the failure may hurt the image of the Yankee Candle brand.

Lastly, Yankee Candle needs to consider how this line extension will be beneficial in the future, as well as how the vision of this strategy aligns with Yankee Candles’ brand identity.

Yankee Candle could attract potential new customers with the addition of wardrobe fragrances and scented bags, as it is a segment of the market the brand has not yet explored. It could therefore reveal interest in a new segment or even spark interest in its existing customer base. The brand is also setting itself up for a potential increase in sales and profits if customers take to the new products.

I believe Yankee Candle would succeed if it adopts this strategy, because the brand name is already widely recognised and associated with high quality; which will encourage customers to try a new product from the brand. Customers will expect the wardrobe fragrances and scented bags to have the same qualities in this regard, just like existing Yankee Candle products.

Macintosh fragranced Yankee Candle products

Source: https://goo.gl/TXPlTP

The introduction of these two new products is relevant to the existing product range and allows the brand to continue to live out its mission of assuring “that every new experience with our fragrance is as good or better than the one before”. The introduction of the new products will allow Yankee Candle to challenge itself and hold true to that statement by ensuring the fragrances are just as good or better than what’s already on offer.

To conclude, I think Yankee Candle would be successful in the adoption of a line extension strategy. The introduction of wardrobe fragrances and scented bags is relevant to the existing offering in that product category and allows customers more variety from a brand they already value and have positive associations with. The introduction of these new products seamlessly fits into the brand’s promise of helping “your house feel like home” with its “evocative, long-lasting scents”, and communicates Yankee Candle’s “passion for fragrance” to its customer base.  

 

I Say, You Say, Nestlé

The Nestlé corporate brand has been around for over 150 years. The brand was established in 1866 by Henri Nestlé and started out selling infant formula. I’m sure at the time Henri couldn’t have fathomed just how much growth the company would experience over the next 150 years and amount into the world’s largest food and beverage company with over 2000 brands in its portfolio.

     Source: https://goo.gl/4z0olp

Nestlé aims to live by its slogan of “Good Food, Good Life” and its mission of “enhancing the quality of life and contributing to a healthier future”. The brand is guided by the values of “fairness, honesty and a concern for individuals and families, communities and the planet”. Nestlé has a huge commitment to society, in which it focuses on 42 key commitment areas covering the categories of ‘nutrition, health and wellness’, ‘rural development’, ‘water’, ‘environmental sustainability’, ‘human rights and compliance’, and ‘our people’. 

Each of Nestlé’s product brands in the areas of; ‘baby food’, ‘bottled water’, ‘cereals’, chocolate and confectionary’, ‘coffee’, ‘culinary, chilled and frozen food’, ‘dairy’, ‘drinks’, ‘food service’, ‘healthcare nutrition’, ‘ice cream’, and ‘pet care’ are managed carefully so that they consistently carry out the corporate mission, values and social responsibility endeavours. However, there have been numerous instances where the portfolio wasn’t managed carefully enough. This resulted in a bad reputation for Nestlé on a few occasions.

Before we scrutinise the incidents where Nestlé went wrong, let’s start on a more positive note and take a look at how the brand successfully manages its over 2000 brands in its portfolio.

  Source: https://goo.gl/J0uW0y

Management of the Nestlé brand portfolio

Firstly, Nestlé has managed to keep its large product offering relevant. The brand has achieved this by adapting to the world that has changed around them over the last 150 years. For instance, Nestlé developed the platforms ‘Nestlé Health Science’, which focusses on “the therapeutic role of nutrition to change the role of health” and ‘Nestlé Skin Health’ , which focuses on “science-based solutions for the skin”  to add to its product offering in order to adapt to the changing needs of a more health conscious and appearance concerned consumer.

Furthermore, Nestlé keeps its 42 key commitment areas at its core but still adapts them to a changing world. The brand did this by incorporating ‘The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact’ into its business practices to ensure relevant social and environmental issues are being addressed in the most effective ways.

Secondly, Nestlé has created a cohesive brand portfolio by ensuring its corporate identity is aligned and communicated through each of the individual brands under the umbrella Nestlé brand. Nestlé achieves synergy between its various brands via its “shared value” concept, in which value is created through the pillars of its core business for both shareholders and society, and then carried down to the various brands in the portfolio. For instance, the Nestlé identity and values are clearly communicated in its ‘Nescafé’ coffee brand, in which Nescafé strives to improve the lives of coffee farmers whilst reducing the environmental impact of farming, thereby living by the Nestlé corporate mission of “enhancing the quality of life”. 

Nestlé pillars of “shared value”

Source: https://goo.gl/UbHHvs 

Whilst the above mentioned examples are great indicators of Nestlé’s effective management of its brand portfolio, the discussion to follow will highlight some incidents of where Nestlé’s management wasn’t so effective, and in turn created a negative perception from customers and tarnished its brand reputation.

The role of the customer in brand reputation

The role of the customer in the reputation of a brand is of utmost importance, as it is the customer’s perception of a brand that has a large baring on the brand’s success. If a customer negatively perceives a brand, this will have negative consequences for the brand. The advent of the internet has given way to various social media platforms, which has given customers an instant outlet for this negativity. It is therefore extremely important for Nestlé to carefully monitor what is being said about its brand on these platforms and respond to negativity quickly, respectfully and in a transparent manner. Nestlé has been ineffective in this regard on numerous occasions which will be discussed below:

The ‘Pure Life’  incident no.1:

In one particular incident Nestlé got a bad reputation for its ‘Pure Life’ bottled water brand. Nestlé was accused of being profit-driven, preaching but not practicing its concept of “shared value” and exploiting people in developing countries instead of enhancing their quality of life, which the brand claims to stand for. The reason for this accusation was the discovery of how the local people in Pakistan were forced to spend most of their income on buying ‘Pure Life’  because the country’s natural water supply was nearly none-existent as a result of Nestlé using part of it for the production of the ‘Pure Life’ brand. Furthermore, the researcher who made these accusations was denied access into the Pakistan production plant. What does that say about the practices that are taking place there? Nestlé’s lack of transparency doesn’t exactly scream ethical practices.

            Source: https://goo.gl/l4zNzX

The ‘Pure Life’  incident no.2:

In another incident relating to the ‘Pure Life’ brand, Nestlé was accused of showing no concern for the environmental sustainability of drought stricken California, as the company continued to produce bottle water despite the low water levels. Nestlé was urged to stop but instead responded by saying they would increase production in California if they could. Nestlé acted against the environmental sustainability it stands for and again, demonstrated lack of transparency, as the the brand refused to release the amount of water it uses to the public.

The ‘Kit Kat’ incident:

There was also an incident related to the ‘Kit Kat’ brand, in which Nestlé was accused of endangering the orangutang population in Indonesia by sourcing palm oil from local suppliers used in the production of the ‘Kit Kat’, as rainforests were being cut down to do so. Greenpeace asked Nestlé to stop buying palm oil from Indonesia but Nestlé didn’t listen. This resulted in Greenpeace creating a campaign against ‘Kit Kat‘ in order to voice its concerns. The campaign went viral and caused a lot of backlash against Nestlé on Facebook.

Greenpeace campaign against ‘Kit Kat’

                  Source: https://goo.gl/GC2CdG

Customers took to the Nestlé Facebook page to voice their own disapproval of the matter. Even the ‘Kit Kat’ brand was altered to read ‘Killer’ and posted on the profiles of hundreds of customers to show their disapproval.

        Source: https://goo.gl/6JjybK

Nestlé didn’t respond well to the negativity it was getting from customers. The brand took on a very defensive and aggressive stance in response. Nestlé was rude to customers and told them their comments would be deleted. Nestlé also initially forced the removal of the Greenpeace campaign from YouTube. The brand responded by saying they are only responsible for “0.7% of global palm oil”, which serves as absolutely no justification for its actions.

Eventually Nestlé did respond in a more appropriate manner and met with Greenpeace to discuss its palm oil supply chain. The brand also hired a new sustainable company to source its palm oil from. Furthermore, Nestlé employed a new digital and social media manager to handle its online reputation.

Overall, I do believe that Nestlé is a strong brand, as on most occasions it has successfully demonstrated a brand portfolio that is relevant, consistent and synergistic, and it has also taken action to correct mistakes it has made. However, I don’t believe the brand is as strong as it could be and this is because it hasn’t always acted with transparency in its operations and has gone against what it stands for on numerous occasions. The brand also seems to have struggled in its response to negative publicity, although Nestlé has shown improvement in this regard.

I therefore think that in order for Nestlé to continue to build and improve its brand reputation it should:

• Own up to its mistakes as they happen, not try to justify them
• Be more transparent in making business practices known to the public in the areas of environmental sustainability and the sourcing of ingredients
• Be proactive in analysing business practices for each individual brand in the portfolio to ensure the corporate mission, values and 42 commitments are being applied
• Respond quickly and respectfully on social media to negativity and never delete negative comments

GoPro – Be your own Hero

Source: https://goo.gl/FZDZhU

What started out as a wrist camera developed by a passionate surfer to fulfil his desire to film himself whilst surfing, is now the multi-billion dollar company – GoPro.

Nicholas Woodman, founder and CEO, found a way to solve his own problem, and in turn filled a gap in the market, in which action enthusiasts would have a means to film themselves in high definition doing exciting things. GoPro successfully captured a niche and blew competitors like Sony and Canon out of the water with the introduction of the world’s most versatile camera, and is now the market leader in its product category.

Source: https://goo.gl/E9cFjV

So what’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word GoPro? Do you think about it being the world’s most versatile camera? Does your mind run at 100 mph when thinking of all the exciting things you could capture yourself doing with the GoPro? Do you think about how you could be a hero? In fact, all of these things probably come to mind and that’s because GoPro has successfully communicated its purpose, vision and unique value proposition to its target audience through its integrated marketing communications strategy across its digital and social media platforms. In doing so, GoPro has successfully elicited emotional connections with customers and established brand resonance. Furthermore, the brand has created an inspired community that reaches far beyond the actual product.

So how exactly has GoPro achieved all of this?

Firstly, GoPro demonstrates a high level of consistency in its communications across each of its social media platforms namely Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; as well as its website, all of which effectively communicates the brand’s:

Vision: “We dream. We have passionate ideas about what’s possible in this world. Our passions lead us to create experiences and realities that expand our world and inspire those around us”.

Mission: “Enabling you to share your life through incredible photos and videos by capturing, creating and sharing the world’s most GoPro perspective with versatile cameras”.

Values: “Meaningful experiences”, “sharing” and “more fun”.

Slogan: “Be a Hero”.

Let’s take a look at how this is being realised across GoPro’s social media platforms:

Social Media

GoPro has effectively used its social media platforms in unison to convey the same message to customers – “GoPro is the world brought to you… by you, in which you are the storyteller”. GoPro spreads this message by encouraging customers to share their own unique content captured with a GoPro on its various social media sites. This action has allowed GoPro to create a very powerful brand community, in which people are constantly sharing their own ‘stories‘ and engaging with each others content.

GoPro has also effectively used its social media accounts to communicate the value of its products. It’s about feeling like a hero as you feature in your own photo or video from your own perspective. Allowing customers to capture their own content and share it on GoPro’s various social media platforms and then have it featured as the photo or video of the day, instills inspiration and a sense of community and fun, and allows meaningful experiences to be shared worldwide.

Facebook ‘Photo of the Day’ feature 

Source: https://goo.gl/NJ9CYR

Twitter ‘Photo of the Day’ feature 

 Source: https://goo.gl/Gzl3oI

Furthermore, GoPro uses its social media platforms to demonstrate the functionality and distinctiveness of its products. For instance, GoPro largely creates its marketing material by capturing its own original photos and videos with the GoPro itself and then posting these on its various social media platforms. The images and videos shared clearly demonstrate the high picture quality, versatility of the camera and the unique GoPro perspective the camera offers, all of which are the unique product attributes the brand aims to communicate to its customers.

The GoPro Perspective

Source: https://goo.gl/ClfCSm

Now lets take a look at how GoPro is communicating via its website:

Website 

A core component of GoPro’s website is the ‘Watch’ section, which is further broken down into; ‘GoPro Awards’ and‘Videos & Photos’. These two aspects of the website encompass the entirety of the brand and are indicative of the powerful GoPro community.

 Source: https://goo.gl/cZe3X8

The ‘GoPro Awards’ section allows customers to submit their own photos and videos captured with a GoPro falling under particular categories such as, ‘stories from the road’ and ‘capture different’. The best content, handpicked by GoPro, will be awarded a cash prize and featured as the video or photo of the day on the website and across its various social media platforms. The‘Videos & Photos’  section features all of the video and photo submissions that were selected as the best content under the ‘GoPro Awards’ section.

The‘GoPro Awards’ initiative allows customers to feel like a part of the brand and establishes an emotional connection with them. It also encourages customers to become brand ambassadors as they share their content and promote the GoPro brand.

GoPro: Kitesurfing Icebergs in Greenland

Source: https://goo.gl/VIbIyN

Secondly, GoPro has successfully established an emotional connection with customers, which has resulted in brand resonance. GoPro’s brand resonance can be examined in terms of the steps in the brand resonance pyramid below:

1. Brand Salience

GoPro has effectively relayed the most prominent product attributes of its products via its social media platforms and website by creatively using footage captured by GoPro cameras as its primary means of marketing the brand.

2. Brand Performance

GoPro efficiently ensures its products are meeting the functional needs of customers by responding to any customer questions, complaints or suggestions on all social media platforms.

3. Brand Imagery

GoPro creates the image of creating meaningful, fun experiences that can be shared. Customers can experience these feelings when using the GoPro camera to capture their own images and videos.

4. Brand Judgments

GoPro users see the quality and superiority of GoPro cameras over competitors because of how the brand markets itself to its customers. The brand communicates the high definition its product captures, as well as how the products can add an element of excitement to your life.

5. Brand Feelings

GoPro customers certainly have a level of attachment for the products, which is evident in the sheer amount of photo and video submissions received from people all over the world. People want to share their life experiences using the GoPro. GoPro has allowed customers to express themselves in a creative, fun way.

6. Brand Resonance

GoPro has achieved the brand resonance level, as it has successfully established bonds with its customers through its high level of customer engagement across its social media accounts and website.

Overall, I therefore believe that GoPro displays an effective brand orientation and integrated marketing strategy because the brand has clearly communicated the distinct attributes of its product, has highlighted the functionality of the product, demonstrated the value the product adds to customers’ lives, and has established a strong relationship with customers which in turn has resulted in brand resonance at the highest level, as a result of constantly engaging with its customer base.

Starbucks – A Human Connection

Starbucks. A brand that began as a single store located in Seattle in 1971 selling some of the world’s finest quality, roasted coffee, has culminated into the Starbucks as we know it today; successfully fulfilling its purpose of inspiring and nurturing the human spirit one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.

The brand owe’s its success to its customer centric approach, in which it has effectively managed all points of brand contact with its customers. Not only that, but Starbucks has crafted an effective internal marketing strategy, whereby it understands the importance of nurturing its employees so that they live by, and externally spread the brand values of:

• “Creating a culture of warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome”
• “Acting with courage, challenging the status quo”
• “Being present, connecting with transparency, dignity and respect”
• “Delivering our very best in all we do, holding ourselves accountable for results”
• “We are performance driven, through the lens of humanity”

So let’s start by examining Starbucks’ brand contact process in order to get a better understanding of its various customer touch points:

Step 1 – All points of brand contact 

Starbucks has effectively identified all product, service, planned and unplanned points of contact with its customers:

• Product contact points                                                                                             

Starbucks has included its logo on all product packaging from coffee beans to coffee cups, thereby reinforcing the visual brand identity in the minds of consumers.

 Source: https://goo.gl/lHxtvC

• Service contact points

Starbucks hires, trains and rewards every single employee to ensure they remain motivated and create an experience for customers that is enjoyable, consistent and meets the service standards set out by the company.

• Planned contact points

Starbucks has created various marketing campaigns to reach its customers in the most relevant ways. For instance, the brand launched its global ‘Meet Me at Starbucks‘ campaign, in which the aim was to show people that Starbucks is about more than just the coffee, its also about creating a human connection.

Meet Me at Starbucks:

• Unplanned contact points

Natural positive word-of-mouth has been created around the Starbucks brand as a result of the brand’s consistency in delivering a positive customer experience.

Step 2 – Primary brand contact patterns 

Starbucks’ primary brand contact pattern is its service contact point, as this is the main channel through which customers will interact with the brand in order to purchase their coffee.

Step 3 – Most important brand contact points 

• First contact point

The brand recognises the importance of first impressions. Upon entering a Starbucks store customers are greeted with the aroma of coffee, some relaxed background music, friendly staff, places to sit, and the Starbucks logo displayed on products, store windows and walls. These factors combined set the experiential atmosphere the brand aims to create for its customers and reinforces the brand identity at the same time.

Source: https://goo.gl/lV6Iax

• Last contact point

Starbucks also recognises the need to create a positive last impression on its customers in order to encourage them to return. The brand achieves this by having employees greet customers with a warm and friendly goodbye, and they will also offer customers a loyalty card.

• Frequent contact points 

Starbucks knows that the coffee barista is the most frequent point of contact customers will be exposed to. The brand therefore ensures that the interaction between the barista and customer at this point of contact is consistent in communicating the brand identity and values. Starbucks achieves this by having a staff member write the customer’s name on their cup of coffee to create a level of personalisation. Employees will however, often spell customers’ names wrong on purpose. This serves as a way to interact with them in a fun, playful, memorable manner, whilst challenging the status quo.

Source: https://goo.gl/Jpla1S

• Impact contact points

Starbucks takes cognisance of the fact that some points of contact have more impact than others. For instance, Starbucks offers a loyalty program, which grants a star to a customer every time they purchase a coffee. The more stars earned, the bigger the reward. This inspires customers to work towards that reward by buying more coffee, which encourages repeat purchases and loyalty.

 Source: https://goo.gl/NsGyox

• Resonant contact points

Starbucks is aware of which points of contact will establish resonance with its customers. For instance, the brand created the ‘mystarbucksidea.com’ website as a form of crowdsourcing. Customers submit their ideas to the site, which could range from an idea for a new coffee to suggestions for store improvements. Starbucks shows its customers that their feedback is valued, which makes them feel like a part of the brand.

Step 4 – Brand contact cohesion strategy

Starbucks has effectively developed a cohesive brand contact strategy, in which each above mentioned touch point is carefully managed to ensure the Starbuck’s purpose is carried out, its identity communicated, its values spread, and its goal of creating a “third place between home and work where people can gather for human connection” achieved. 

Step 5 – Managing brand contact cohesion

Starbucks has effectively implemented its brand contact cohesion strategy at two critical levels:

• Leadership and management level 

CEO, Howard Schultz, has ensured that the Starbucks purpose, vision and values filter through the entire organisation at every point of brand contact with customers. He has also successfully created a unified brand culture, in which employees are motivated to work towards creating a “third place between home and work” for customers.

• Employee level

It is clear that Starbucks sees its employees as the most important stakeholder group in the brand contact process. This is evident in a statement made by CEO, Howard Schultz; “We built the Starbucks brand first with our people, not with consumers. Because we believed the best way to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers was to hire and train great people; we invested in employees”.

Source: https://goo.gl/TzJh9D 

So how exactly has Starbucks achieved brand alignment through its employees? By ensuring that its staff is well trained, motivated and rewarded.

Each new Starbucks employee is given a coach to guide them upon being hired. Next, 24 hours of classroom learning takes place, in which the brand’s history, social responsibility, the coffee production process, and brand values and vision are communicated. Module booklets are included and a coach checks in with employees upon the completion of each module. Furthermore, Starbucks includes training tools to keep the program fun and exciting. For instance, the ‘green apron book’, which details the ‘5 ways of being’ when interacting with customers. Then, once training is complete, employees are required to pass an exam. Training will continue for each step up in the organisation an employee takes.

Starbucks also ensures its employees remain motivated by making them feel valued and rewarding them. For instance, employees are referred to as ‘partners’ so that they feel more united and valued. Various rewards and incentives are also offered. One example is the benefit packages both part-time and full-time employees receive called ‘Your Special Blend’, which includes things like bonuses and medical care.

Starbucks implemented a successful employee engagement strategy, in which approximately 10 000 store managers from Starbucks stores all over the world were invited to the ‘Leadership Lab’.

The Starbucks Leadership Lab:

The Starbucks Leadership Lab is a “$35 million, 400 000 square foot experience with 21 projector screens and 5000 coffee plants, dedicated to mobilising employees to become brand evangelists”. From this statement alone it is clear how much value Starbucks places on its employees. 

The purpose of this strategy was for Starbucks employees to virtually see the process of coffee production to give them a better understanding of the product journey, to make them excited about being part of the brand, and to establish an emotional connection between the brand and its employees in order to encourage them to go the extra mile for customers.

Through this initiative Starbucks aimed to instil the company values of good quality coffee and human connection, as well as reinforce the brand’s mission to “inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time”.

In my opinion, Starbucks has effectively created a cohesive brand contact strategy, in which its brand purpose is clearly fulfilled at every point of contact. The strategy has successfully been implemented at both managerial and employee level, which is evident in its ‘Leadership Lab’ initiative. It is clear that Starbucks employees have been given outstanding conditions to develop their skills and spread the brand values in their interaction with customers. Starbucks has effectively shaped its brand through its employees and I believe Starbucks is certainly a brand other organisation can look up to.

Source: https://goo.gl/igi7AS 

Ben & Jerry’s Who?

If you haven’t heard of Ben & Jerry’s before, it certainly isn’t a name you will forget once you have tasted their amazing ice cream. What started out as a small business between two childhood friends; Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield; established in 1978 in a renovated gas station selling homemade ice cream, is now a multimillion-dollar business owned by Unilever.

So how did a brand selling something as simple as ice cream achieve such enormous success? By offering something different, and I don’t just mean the product.

So if you have heard of Ben & Jerry’s, the first thing that probably comes to mind is the product. This being the over 60 innovative ice cream flavours on offer. That’s certainly the first thought that enters my mind, but the distinctive flavours aren’t the only thing that set the brand apart from competitors like Haagen-Dazs and Baskin-Robbins, it’s the brand’s social mission that does. Competitors have a long road ahead of them in this regard if they want to rival Ben & Jerry’s success.

Let’s take a closer look at how Ben & Jerry’s has differentiated and positioned itself against major competitors; Haagen-Dazs and Baskin-Robbins.

Ben & Jerry’s follows a 3-part mission statement, which encompasses a product, economic and social aspect. Focus is placed on making a fantastic tasting product, on increasing value for all stakeholders, and on improving the quality of life globally.

Source: https://goo.gl/DpFhlD

But its Ben & Jerry’s social aspect of the mission statement I believe to be the true differentiator against its competitors. The brand’s social mission accompanied by unique product flavours has allowed the brand to occupy a prominent space in consumers’ minds.

Whilst both Haagen-Dazs and Baskin-Robbins also create high quality ice-cream with innovative names, the brands seem to be falling behind Ben & Jerry’s social endeavours. This is made evident in the positioning map I created below.

Positioning Map to compare Ben & Jerry’s level of social activity against competitors; Haagen-dazs and Baskin-Robbins:

 

From this positioning map it is evident that Ben & Jerry’s has a significantly higher level of social activity compared to both Haagen-Dazs and Baskin-Robbins.

So let’s delve a little deeper in to Ben & Jerry’s key differentiator; its social mission.

Ben & Jerry’s has a strong social mission at its core that is ingrained deeply in everything the organisation does. Not only that, but the brand lives by its mantra of “peace, love and ice-cream”, which is apparent in all of its social endeavours and the manner in which the brand interacts with its customers.

At the centre of its social mission is the brand’s ‘Caring Dairy’ program, which is a continuous improvement model that uses 11 indicators of sustainability to rate local dairy farmers’ practices, such as animal welfare and soil health. This initiative is a way for the brand to support local farmers whilst ensuring the dairy being sourced from them to be used in the production of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream is of the highest quality.

Source: https://goo.gl/3DNKzr 

Furthermore, Ben & Jerry’s has dedicated itself to a host of issues they care about such as, racial justice, fair trade, LGBT equality, democracy and climate justice.

The campaign created to support climate justice is a great example of how the brand positioned itself as a promoter of social change and in turn differentiated itself from its major competitors Haagen-Dazs and Baskin-Robbins. The campaign was creative and relevant, and connected with people on an emotional level through the product to the critical global issue of how an increase in temperature can be detrimental to the earth. The campaign resulted in over 1 million views and over 12 thousand signatures on a petition to take action demanding climate action. These statistics indicate the success of the campaign, and the campaign itself clearly resonated well with people.

Another initiative Ben & Jerry’s created is ‘Free Cone Day’, which is the brand’s way of giving back to the customers who have supported them. Once a year the brand allows customers to come in store and get a free scoop of ice cream of their choice. This initiative shows customers that they are valued, appreciated and important.

Source: https://goo.gl/SRX9Qo

Ben & Jerry’s further demonstrates the value it places on its customers by collaborating with them. Customer’s could enter a competition to submit new flavours to be added to the existing flavours on offer. The flavour with the most votes would then be added to the product range. Just like the ‘Free Cone Day’ initiative, this action shows customers that their input is valued.

Last but not least, whilst this may not be the brand’s key differentiator, Ben & Jerry’s has nevertheless differentiated itself in terms of its product offering. The flavours are innovative, cheeky and unheard of, such as ‘Chunky Monkey’ and ‘Clusterfluff’, which draws attention to them and makes them fun and memorable.

 

     Source: https://goo.gl/DwwAqI                                  Source: https://goo.gl/ykCgh1 

Haagen-Dazs and Baskin-Robbin may easily rival Ben & Jerry’s in terms of the product offering, as all 3 brands offer a wide range of unique ice cream flavours, however I find Ben & Jerry’s to have a much wider target audience than Haagen-Dazs who caters mainly to a more sophisticated, adult audience; and I believe Baskin-Robbins may have a much too large product offering with its over 1000 ice cream flavours.

Overall, it is evident that Ben & Jerry’s key differentiator against major competitors is its social mission. The brand clearly goes out of its way to live out its brand mantra whilst fulfilling various social endeavours the brand cares about. Ben & Jerry’s knows how to ignite the inner activist in its target audience by getting them involved in global social issues.

It is apparent that the brand gives careful consideration to both the community and end consumer in every business decision it makes, and I believe that this lays the foundation for Ben & Jerry’s loyal customer base. After all, its hard not to love a brand that cares so deeply for its environment and community, and Ben & Jerry’s not only does this, but they do it well.

 

That’s so LUSH

Lush is a cosmetics retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom selling a large range of products that fall under the categories of bath, body, shower, face, hair, makeup and perfume. The company has over 900 stores open all over the world. Now if that isn’t a measure of the enormity of Lush’s popularity and success, then I don’t know what is.

So what exactly makes Lush so desirable and loved? Well for starters, the brand has differentiated itself by ensuring that each and every product produced and sold is handmade from only the freshest ingredients. Even the product packaging is eco-friendly. Secondly, the brand has outdone itself in terms of environmental sustainability and charitable giving. Not only that, but Lush has proven relentless in its quest to support the fight against animal testing, which remains a pressing issue in the cosmetics industry with many organisations still testing on animals.

It is clear that Lush has a strong sense of purpose, which is guided by its core values of:

• “Naked – when it comes to packaging less is more”
• “100% Vegetarian – everything we make is 100% vegetarian”
• “Freshest Cosmetics – freshness is a philosophy we live and breathe”
• “Fighting Animal Testing – fighting animal testing for over 30 years”
• “Handmade – everything we do has a handmade touch”
• “Ethical Buying – our ingredients don’t cost the earth”

Source: https://goo.gl/SiDtq8 

Lush’s core values further support the brand’s vision of “We Believe“. The brand’s simple yet inspiring vision allows employees to feel unified by “we” and motivated by “believe”. “Believe” is all encompassing, as it can include everything and everyone.

Lush believes in “happy people making happy soap”, “putting our faces on our products”, “the words ‘fresh’ and ‘organic’ have honest meaning beyond marketing”, “buying ingredients only from companies that do not commission tests on animals, and in testing our products on humans”, and “going beyond monetary giving in supporting a cause”.

Each and every component making up Lush’s belief system is carried out on a daily basis from the sourcing of ingredients, the manufacturing of the product, the product packaging, the store design, the support of good causes, and the relationship with the customer.

Lush has passionately brought its brand to life both verbally and visually.

The brand communicates in an energetic, fun, friendly, conversational and transparent manner. Lush’s logo is presented in bold, white capital letters against a black backdrop. The bold title commands attention with its capitalisation and gives off the impression of purity, cleanliness and freshness with the white lettering. The black backdrop is simplistic and allows the white lettering to appear uncluttered and stand out. Furthermore, the choice of a white and black logo allows the colourful products to stand out against it on the website, thereby directing the customer’s attention to the different product categories and featuring stories. The logo visibly communicates the freshness that the brand stands for.

Source: https://goo.gl/p7eqMg 

Lush’s logo and tagline “fresh handmade cosmetics” is consistently included on all product packaging and in-store design. This reinforces the fact that products produced by Lush are fresh, 100% vegetarian, ethically bought and handmade. Even the wooden furniture used in-store is handmade, clearly highlighting just how deeply the concept ‘handmade’ is ingrained within the organisation.

Lush demonstrates its transparency by posting videos of the manufacturing process of its products on its website. The brand also communicates where it buys ingredients from, when and where the product was made, as well as who made it, on its product packaging. This strengthens the notion that the brand is trustworthy and that Lush really does produce “fresh handmade cosmetics”.

Source: https://goo.gl/J3H0ER 

Lush creates a sensory, memorable experience for its customers from the very moment before they set foot in a store. Customers are greeted with the enticing scent of fresh Lush products; everything from bath bombs, to soaps to shampoos; before they even enter the store. Then upon entering, customers are warmly welcomed and asked if they can be helped. This is where the Lush experience truly begins.

Customers are encouraged to try out products, in which samples of each product are provided. Items are displayed in a manner that sort of resemble a grocery store. This tactic adds to the overall sensory experience of the customer, which gives the impression that everything is fresh and organic.

Source: https://goo.gl/z4TzGV 

All products are displayed against the black store walls, which contain white lettering describing the products on offer; ‘Bath Ballistics’, some of the causes Lush stands for; ‘Fighting Animal Testing’, and some fun statements; ‘Love at first Sniff’. The black, white and wooden store design, allow for the colourful Lush products to stand out and is overall more visually stimulating.

I believe that the sensory experience Lush creates for its customers is what sets it apart from its major competitor The Body Shop. Both brands sell products that fall under the same categories and both pride themselves on sourcing ingredients for their products ethically, however Lush seems to go that extra step in involving its customers on a more personal level when they enter a store. Furthermore, Lush creates buzz around its products from the unconventional names selected, and the brand is continuously experimenting with new ideas for new products, thereby keeping things exciting for the customer.

Lush successfully communicates and actively involves its customers in the brand values, which only enhances the overall lush experience. For instance, Lush created a body lotion named the ‘Charity Pot’, whereby various causes were displayed on the lid of the product. Whenever a person bought this particular lotion, the customer got to choose a cause they wanted to support and the proceeds were donated accordingly.

Source: https://goo.gl/88ru4w

With all of the great initiatives Lush supports, its amazing products and the level of care that goes into customer relationships, who wouldn’t want to have a Lush experience for themselves?