Tag Archives: Business plan

Abercrombie &Fitch CEO – Brilliant or Bastard?

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a&FIn recent news, outraged critics have been blasting Abercrombie &Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries’ comments about what the A&F brand stands for.  Here’s what he said:

“Candidly we go after the cool kids.  A lot of people don’t belong (in our clothes) and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.  Those companies that are trying to target everybody young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody either.”

The Good

1. Clear Brand Character

You really know what this brand looks like, sounds like and thinks.

2. Clarity Around Who The Brand DOESN’T Attract

Anyone that has issues with polarizing statements or can’t naturally fit the clothing need not apply.

3. Standing For 1 Thing

The CEO is very smart when he says that standing for ALL things makes brands “totally vanilla”. Amen to that.

4. Being Controversial

I’d never even heard of Mike Jeffries before. Now me and millions of others have and the A&F brand is big news as well as a viral sensation.

The Bad

1. Alienation

When you’re teeing off a percentage of the population just make sure that the remaining portion is big enough to keep your biz afloat.

2. The Inhumanity

Hey, I considered myself a “Fat Chick” in high school so need I say more about how hurtful just the words are?

3. Botched Positioning

One could argue that the same point could’ve been made with more tact and finesse by stating that the A&F brand embodied natural young leaders who attracted attention and liking based on their God given talents, abilities and personality. To me, that still describes ‘cool kids’ but in a much more empowering way.

So there just might be a few marketing lessons to be learned from this dude, even if said dude will never win any Nobel Peace Prizes.

As a small business coach, I ask you the small biz owner, what’s the lesson in this for YOU and your brand?

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk

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Are You Deciding To Be A Success Or Not?

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I was exhausted.

I had worked non stop talking to clients all day and still had an article to write AND a networking event that night to go to. I was also nursing a cold.

At that moment I understood that I was standing at the precipice of a decision. An even bigger ‘AHA’ came to me as I followed that train of thought.

We’re the results of our series of decisions throughout our lives but especially in our businesses.

 You Are What You Choose

So did I push myself to pour myself into a dress and heels and hit the event that night even though I felt like death warmed over? I decided it’s too easy to stay stuck in the house, behind the phone and behind my computer. I decided I actually get clients out of meeting new people.(and so do you!)

How Are Your Choices Adding Up?

My hero Dr.Wayne Dyer has a barometer by which I measure all things. He says if you look at the state of your life right now, it’s a mirror for what’s going on inside you.

So if you’re sick and in despair or can’t get any clients, what’s happening inside you? Remember, the sequence of events in your little body are: thought, feeling, action. Not the other way around.

Lump It Or Like It

If you don’t like the results of the decisions you’ve been making lately, how do you change? Do you accept that that’s the way the cookie crumbles or make a DECISION to change?

Proof Is In The Pudding

Another hero of mine, Anthony Robbins says that the only indication of a decision is an action step that you take. Otherwise (and I vehemently agree with him) you’re just talking to yourself and fooling yourself. When you consistently make the decisions to be successful, you will BE successful.

If you want to change your results, change your thoughts and most importantly AND  change your decision.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!

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The Secret to a Strong Branding Message? Focus.

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Can’t focus? Then you’re in for a tough time in business.

Here’s someone else who agrees with me about the need for a business to pick just 1 thing to sell to only 1 group of people–, (a cool ad agency dude).

He agrees that people are confused by your messaging if you’re telling them you do MANY things for ALL types of different audiences. In addition, he outlines the 4 musts that the 1 message you choose must have:

First, your core message needs to have an emotional and rational side. You  need to connect with people’s hearts and minds. Make no mistake. People are  driven by both. A simple idea like “Volvo makes cars that are safe” resonates on  both levels.

Second, it needs to be believable. I could tell you: “Adam is the next  President of the United States.” But wish me luck convincing you of that.

Third, your core message needs to be relevant to a group of potential  customers. If there’s no market opportunity, that’s not a good place to be. I  might own the only lemonade stand on Mars — a great positioning opportunity –  but not if there are no thirsty Martians to drink my lemonade.

Fourth, your core message needs to be simple. If people can’t understand,  remember or repeat your one thing, it’s too complicated. If it’s too  complicated, it won’t find a home in your prospect’s mind. And remember: that’s  where your brand lives.

via The Secret to a Strong Branding Message? Focus..

All the books I’m reading lately (Seth Godin’s Icarus Deception, Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind) are telling me about the new connection economy where left brained thinking jobs and tasks are moving en mass to China and that right brain thinking like appealing to emotions and empathy are essential skills to prosper in the economy of the future.

What does this mean for your business? It means that your brand has to stand for something that connects to your consumer’s emotions. Focusing that message on a single emotion like safety or freedom can make a huge difference in how much people remember and value your brand.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!

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Do Customers Love You? 5 Questions to Ask

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Your customers may ‘like’ your Facebook page but do they actually LOVE you? That’s such an overused word but I don’t mind. I use it for everything because like any consumer, I’m passionate about the products and services I spend my life with. How about you? Answer these questions to see if your customers are feeling the love too.

1. Does your company generate organic buzz?

What makes people want to share the word about your company?

2. Do you provide your consumers with a simple, compelling marketing message?

Make it easy to share your message by giving your customers the language to put to the experience.

3. How do you reward your customers?

Consumers want to feel special and valued.

4. Do you really, really know your target customer and where to reach them?

Where do your customers hang out online (and in person)? National organizations, community groups, high-profile blogs and online communities are important to your campaign.

5. Are you giving your customers a reason to keep coming back?

Your audience will naturally generate buzz if you give them a reason to talk about you, offer them a good laugh with a fun video, or touch their hearts through a program that gives back.

via Do Customers Love You? 5 Questions to Ask.

As a small business marketing consultant, I ask these questions of my clients every day. If you’re a small biz owner and you don’t know the answer, then it’s high time you started to hang out with your target peeps and get into their world to understand their perception of you and your competitors.

The real tell, of course is whether your business is growing or not. I still say ask the questions because no matter what, you should always know if somebody loves you.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!

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Brandings Cardinal Sins: 3 Common Mistakes to Avoid

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You probably know that branding started in farms thousands of years ago to distinguish one farmer’s cattle from another’s. In business, it’s one of the most important things to set you apart from your sea of competitors. Nobody’s born with this knowledge and you don’t know what you don’t know. I mean look at this ad from a cigarette maker.  Here are a few things to avoid when it comes to picking your own brand:

1. Choosing a bad name:
- It’s difficult or confusing to pronounce.
Restaurant chain, Au Bon Pain, or the shoe company, Saucony.

- It’s embarrassing to say.
Even diehard Apple fans rolled their eyes and laughed uncomfortably when the company launched the iPad, a product whose name sounded to many like that of a feminine-hygiene product.

- It’s impossible to remember.
Long names and those containing ambiguous descriptors, like “solutions” and “partners,” are generic and difficult to remember.

2. Imposing outlandish services, products or terms:
Qwikster was a sloppy attempt to gloss over a huge price increase in Netflix’s service offerings. The experiment went so badly that Netflix quickly reversed itself and reverted to a single brand, albeit one with separate streaming and DVD pricing plans.

3. Offending users:
Bic’s pastel-colored pens created to meet the “unique” writing needs of the  female gender sparked outrage and derision across the internet and represented a  major branding blunder for the pen manufacturer.via Brandings Cardinal Sins: 3 Common Mistakes to Avoid.
How sad is it that one of the offenders of bad branding mistakes is my alma mater (BIC) but it’s a great lesson about how important branding is to even a giant, let alone a small business like me.
Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!
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