REPOSITIONING IN A FAST MOVING MARKET: A COMAPARSION BETWEEN ALAN MULALLY AND ALBERT SLOAN

REPOSITIONING IN A FAST MOVING MARKET: A COMPARSION BETWEEN ALAN MULALLY AND ALFRED SLOAN

           

            Alan Mulally, the present C.E.O of Ford Motor Company and Alfred Sloan, who headed General Motors in 1923 compare to one another because both used social media to reposition their organization in the market place. The reason why contemporary social marketers should study both of these men is that each repositioned their companies in a fast moving market. Both men made significant bets when their company was faltering. Both used social media to become significant brands. If we study their story and understand how they compare we can better understand how to use social media to make an organization a significant brand.

            Modern business moves quickly. To create a pre-eminent brand a marketer must be able to communicate that their brand creates significant value for a customer.  This is why social media is such a significant tool for a modern marketer. Social media is a conversation among friends. When friends have a conversation, barriers are broken down.  This is critical in creating  significant brands. Markets evolve. What was very important today, may not be very important tomorrow. To serve their customers, a marketer must know exactly what their customer is looking for in their product. The product that best serves their customer will be the product that will become the pre-eminent brand.

            One-third of the world resides on Facebook. This is just one social media platform. Many social media platforms are integrated. This creates incredible scale. A marketer can now communicate to over 160 billion people all at one time. They can understand exactly, in real time, what their customers need from their products. A perfect example of this is Alfred Sloan, who was the CEO of General Motors in 1923.

            At this time, Mr. Sloan had what  looked like be an absolutely insurmountable task. In 1923, the Model T had 57% of the car market. It was also a significant social media brand. Henry Ford had done a masterful job in branding the Tin Lizzie. General Motors had only 12.7% of the market. It would seem that Mr. Sloan would not have any chance of branding his cars. Mr. Sloan had a plan.

            Mr. Sloan used the social media of the day. Today, an executive would use Facebook to communicate to the masses. Mr. Sloan talked to people all over the country in what they wanted in a car. He engaged the customer personally, just like you would do on a Facebook page.

            Mr. Sloan realized that price was no longer the deciding factor. Customers now wanted safety and ease of use. He realized the paradigm had changed. In 1913, GM had invented the self starter. People wouldn’t need to crank their cars any longer. Through the use of social media, Mr. Sloan realized it was time to start placing this technology in the car. Mr. Sloan repositioned the market around ease of use.

            When Mr.Mulally took over Ford in 2001, he faced a world much like Mr. Sloan did in 1923. He knew that he had repositioned the market in Ford’s favor. He did what Mr. Sloan did.  Through social media, Mr. Mulally engaged his customers to find out what they wanted. He   realized that his customers were had lives  that revolved around social media. He created cars that had software systems that would integrate with their personal technology systems of its. Mr. Mulally repositioned the car as a social media brand---not a car brand.

Dean Hambleton

dnhambleton@gmail.com

OPERATING IN FAST MARKETS; HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN THERE HAS BEEN A PARDIGM SHIFT IN MARKETS

OPERATING IN FAST MARKETS: HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN THERE HAS BEEN A PARDIGM SHIFT IN MARKETS?

            A paradigm is the operating foundation of a market. It defines what is the one thing that drives the functioning of a market. The paradigm that drove the car market in 1904 was low price. Henry Ford understood this. This is why the Model T became one of the greatest brands in American history. The paradigm that drove the American car market was that most people could only afford an entry level vehicle.  In 1923, Albert Sloan of General Motors understood that America had changed. America now had a significant middle-class. This changed how cars had to be marketed successfully in the United States. Albert Sloan picked up the paradigm shift.

            How Albert knew that there had been a paradigm shift in the market is instructive for today’s modern marketers. Albert understood the paradigm shift because of his wise use of social media. When Albert took over as CEO of General Motors, he toured the country and spoke to countless people. Social media is the engagement between brand and product. Albert Sloan created a social media brand at GM through his engagement of people in conversation---not unlike using a Facebook page in our era.  By coming into contact with all this information, Albert realized that people now had disposable income. Because of this, they would be willing to pay more for a car if the car was more comfortable to use. General Motors installed windshield wipers, lights for evening driving,  heaters to warm passengers during cold weather months. A critical element in General Motors marketing was that they offered self-starters.

            Prior to this, driving a car was a physically demanding experience. To start a car, a driver had to crank it. It took a certain amount of physical strength and stamina to do this. This is why few women drove cars before 1923. Sloan understood this by talking to women. These conversations, this engagement through 1923 social media, allowed Sloan to create a lucrative market in women drivers. This is a market that Henry Ford did not realize existed.

            In the modern era, social media is a critical tool because social media is about engagement between brand and customer. This engagement large, scaled engagement creates tremendous amounts of information. This information tells a contemporary marketer exactly when the operating foundation, the paradigm, of a market has shifted.  

Dean Hambleton

dnhambleton@gmail

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: HOW HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS CHANGED THE MARKET PARADIGMS OF TRADITIONAL INDUSTRIES

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: HOW HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS CHANGED THE MARKET PARADIGMS OF TRADITIONAL INDUSTRIES

            Because there is so much content and engagement created on a social media platform, modern markets now move “at the speed of thought”. New products are constantly being created or repositioned. An effective marketer must constantly reposition their product. They must understand when to do this repositioning. This is analogous to the days of the early car business.  Modern marketing was developed during the branding of the early days of the car in the 1900’s.  In the early 1923, Ford’s Model T controlled 57% of the domestic automobile market. General Motors only had 12.7%.  It was thought that GM would never pass Ford. General Motors C.E.O Albert Sloan understood the structural changes happening in the domestic car market. This knowledge of a fast moving market allowed GM to overtake Ford and be the market leader that is today.

            Social media has created great scales of information. This large amount of information and the speed at which it can be transmitted, constantly changes the paradigm on which businesses and markets operate. To create a strong brand, a marketer must understand when a significant change has taken place.

            Two things that have changed market paradigms are globalization and social media platforms. These two things have created a lot of content that has to be developed and easily transported. The wonderful thing about social media is the engagement that it creates between customers and brands. Companies now have a knowledge base to create products that customers really do need in a form that they really need it. Customers really do define their products for a producer. It is almost as if companies are just bit players in the marketing of their own products.

            Instantaneous repositioning creates whole new companies and business models that make even main line companies to evolve drastically overnight. Social media platforms have made Ford Motor Company move from being a car company to a social media brand. With a new technology called In Sync, a Ford automobile is nothing more than just one big IPhone on four wheels.

This technology was created because Ford engaged with their customers. Since 1997 Ford has been trying to find an answer to GM’s in car technology. After speaking with customers, Ford created a social media technology that now makes the car THE PLATFORM. General Motor’s technology that seemed insurmountable a few years ago, is now a non factor in the automobile business. Social media technologies has created a role reverse from the 1930’s. Social media, through the leadership of Alan Mulley, has transformed Ford into a significant market player.

These sudden, massive paradigm shifts are the reason why the percentage of companies falling out of the top three rankings in their industry has increased from 2% in 1960 to 14% in 2008.  These intense quick paradigm shifts, created by social media, have created the seismic changes that are taking place in many markets. Many present day CEOs can’t define something as basic as what industry are in and who their competitors are in their industry.

Dean Hambleton

dnhambleton@gmail.com

WHY IS PIXAR'S BRAND SO SUCCESSFUL?

WHY IS PIXAR’S BRAND SO SUCCESSFUL?

            Pixar’s brand in animated movies is successful because they simply have strong content and they have high barriers of entry that a potential competitor has not been able to overcome.   Pixar is the animated movie wing of the Walt Disney Corporation. This organization is eminently successful. Each of its 14 movies has been very successful in terms of box office revenue and many of its movies have been nominated for Oscar consideration. I love their movies. Pixar is one of the top brands in media. They make animated movies that are a hit with kids, but their story lines have a lot of substance for adults.

            Recently, I attended one of their movies for leisure. I couldn’t help but mix business with pleasure. As the movie was progressing, I began to think about Pixar’s brand and how it is put together. In the business press, Pixar is well thought of.  It has a solid reputation in business and marketing circles. I observed the audience.  The audience was made up of both kids and adults. 

            Sure, Pixar’s movies are animated. This genre is attractive to kids. That’s why kids go. However, I am an adult, and Pixar has created a brand with me.  I was very expectant of the date of the release of the movie that I attended. Pixar’s movies have a brand with adults as well as kids.

            As a general rule, I have come to the conclusion that a company should never market to just one group.  This has made me think about Pixar’s branding strategy. A marketer wants as broad an audience has he can get, but a brand should never targeted for “everyone”.

            In observing, Pixar I have come to the conclusion that there is an exception to every rule and Pixar is the exception to the branding rule which says that products should be targeted.

            Pixar is something like the Model T in 1908. Henry Ford did a brilliant job of marketing and branding his car. The Model T was directed to everyone because virtually every American wanted a car, and there weren’t good alternatives. In 1908, there was a small middle class. In our nation, in 1908, most people were struggling financially. Low cost was the most important factor in any car brand in 1908.   The Model T could do this. The Model T was a unique brand in a unique time in our history.  Pixar is the same way.

            Pixar’s movies have a great story lines, and they have immersive computer aided technology. Pixar movies are an overwhelming content for adults to watch. The quality of its content and the capital that is needed to make and market these movies creates a huge barrier to entry. I don’t see how the brand could be varied ---an animated movie is an animated movie. Perhaps another movie house at some point will create an umbrella brand ---create two renditions of the same brand. The way this would happen is that if some movies were made just for kids, and another group of movies would be designed with adult themes and be obviously created for just adults. A General Motors model for branding in animated movies.

            In addition to the high barriers of capital, Pixar is also well run.  Pixar has 3 overriding principles that it uses in creating great movies. Everyone must have the freedom to communicate with everyone. There has to be an environment in which it is safe for everyone to offer ideas. At Pixar there is an attitude that there is no idea that is not to outlandish. The creators of the content for Pixar’s movies stay close to the academic community.

            Pixar is located in the Los Angeles area. It is located near technology houses, such as the lab at USC, that do game changing technology in the area of game technology.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND BRANDING: THE BENEFITS OF AN UMBRELLA BRAND

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: THE BENEFITS OF AN UMBRELLA BRAND

                        A salient fact about social media marketing is the fact that markets move so very fast. Social media creates great scale. The scale creates the great speed that we find in contemporary markets.  The way that social media brands are created is that first a product is positioned. The scale of the market makes it evolve. This means that the product is repositioned. As the brand continues, the repositioning creates a new positioning.

            The way that the early car industry was branded is an example. Two great giants of this era were Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company and Billy Durant who created General Motors. Both understood that the original market would depend upon low price. Durant also felt that the low price should also have variant brands to target different groups. Henry thought that price was the key and he created a world class brand in the Model T. For a time, Henry’s bet was the correct one.

            The market evolved overtime. As the decade of the 1910’s progressed a middle class developed. With more resources available, people began to want more than just a low price in a car. The variance of income created different targets for the car. This created the necessity for the car to be branded in different ways. Luckily, for GM, Billy Durant had created these different brands. In the General Motors model, Chevy was the entry level for low income people. Ponitac was the next level. This is for people who start a job, and start receiving  early career promotions. For the mature mid career there is the Oldsmobile. For those people know on the fast track there is the Buick. Finally, for the people who have made it, there is the Cadillac. I think the GM model is the model that modern social marketing should follow.  Different income groups define their products in a different manner. The brands help them define themselves. This is the beginning of what is called the “umbrella” brand. This is several brands of the same product, under the roof of one company. It is this strategy that allowed General Motors to overcome a seemingly insurmountable lead by Ford in the 1920’s to become the pre-eminent brand in cars.  What are the benefits to having an umbrella brand in relation to having just one big brand like the Model T.

                        As in the case of General Motors, a big benefit is MARKET GROWTH. There is strength in numbers.  With many brands, like the GM family, there is constant engagement with the General Motors brand, instead of the singular General Motors “car”.  As In the GM case, no one brand can control the entire market. This is the genius of Albert Sloan. It was Albert Sloan that has taught marketers the importance of targeting, segmenting, differentiation, and branding. This is in clear contrast to Mr. Ford’s assertion that you can have any color you want as long as it is black.

            Multi brands PREVENT BRAND EXTENSION. In 1923, there were many car companies, most with one brand. By having multi brands, Mr. Sloan was able to consolidate the market and to dissuade the smaller struggling companies not to extend their brand and to get out of the market, allowing General Motors to concentrate on Ford.

            Multi brands PROTECT THE BRAND IMAGE. Everyone knows that Chevy, Ponitac, Olds, Buick, and Cadillac were General Motor brands. Each of the cars contributed to the GM image. Ford singular brand in the Model T worked against Ford.  Because it had only one brand, Mr. Sloan was able to portray the Model T as a brand “built by farmers for farmers”.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: DECIDING BETWEEN A SINGLE OR MULTI-BRAND

Social media platforms create great scale. If Facebook were a nation, it would be the third largest in the world. When using a social media platform, because there is so many people in one place, a marketer must decide something early in their branding strategy.  Are we going to have a single brand or are we going to have multiple renditions of the same brand?

            The classic case of this is how the early car business was branded. In the early 1900’s, Henry Ford of Ford Motor and Billy Durant at General Motors had to make a decision on how the car should be branded. Both knew that the pre-eminent brand in automobiles would be company that could produce a low cost car that the masses could purchase.  If a single brand were created, this would contain costs. However, people want variety. Henry and Billy branded their products in different ways. Their dilemma is the dilemma of the modern social media marketer. Do we go with single or multiple brands for the same product?

            The early car business is an excellent benchmark because what happened from 1908-1928 is a barometer of how moden products develop their brands. In the social media age, in general, a brand is created in three ways. A product is positioned. It is then repositioned. It is the positioned again. This happened in the car business.

            Henry Ford made a brilliant assessment of the car market of 1908. At this time, there was a weak middle class. People were struggling. Henry Ford himself only paid his workers  $.39 an hour.  Creating a car for the masses hinged on one thing---the lowest cost. Henry created the greatest brand of all time, the Model T. Billy didn’t see this. He created multiple brands at GM. As the market evolved, this assessment turned out to be as brilliant as Henry’s.

            By 1923, the market had changed. Now there was now  a middle class in America.   People had disposable income. Albert Sloan, the new CEO of General Motors understood this. People wanted variety and they had the ability to pay for it. The car market was now repositioned. A new paradigm had developed in the car market. People now purchased cars to define their financial state in life. The new market would be based on making cars that people could afford, but low cost transportation was not the where the brand hinged.  There was a car for entry level people. There was a car for middle class people. There was also a car for rich people Alfred Sloan coined the phrase, “A car for every purse”. This contrasted to Henry Ford’s phrase of 1908, “you can have any color you want as long as it is black”. Rich people would not buy a poor man’s car.

            Henry didn’t understand this. Ford Motor Company almost went bankrupt because he didn’t realize how markets had evolved.  As a rule, in general, single brands are not effective in the long-term. As markets evolve, different renditions of a brand are created.  In many cases, you enter the market with a single brand, and then you expand. The great thing about social media is that its scale allows you to monitor the speed of the market. You now have a tool to monitor your markets in real time.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: HOW HENRY FORD MISSED THE PARADIGM SHIFT IN THE AUTO MARKET IN 1923

SOCIAL MEDIA BRANDING AND STRATEGY: HOW HENRY FORD MISSED THE PARADIGM SHIFT IN THE AUTO MARKET IN 1923

            The great fact of social media marketing is that the markets move so quickly. To be a great social media marketer you must be humble. A social media marketer must understand that the great scale that social media creates also causes markets to be repositioned quickly. This repositioning sometimes happens overnight. A social marketer must understand what Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over to its over…and then it ain’t over”.  Henry Ford was probably the greatest social media marketer that ever lived but his brand failed because he failed to see how quickly the car market and the American society was changing in 1923. It is a sad tale. Perhaps by reliving it, contemporary social media strategists can avoid the terrible fate that fell upon Henry Ford.

            The Model T automobile is one of the greatest brands of all time. The reason why this brand was so successful is because Henry Ford made key observations about the car market in 1908.  It was through social media that Henry was able to do this. Social media is about brands and customers engaging. Henry did this. Because of this engagement with customers, Henry knew that America was thirsty for a car that all could afford. The market of 1908 revolved around price. By 1923, the paradigm had changed. It was Alfred Sloan of GM who used social media of the day to grasp the paradigm shift.

            As 1923 dawned the prospects dId not bode well for Mr. Sloan and GM. His story is an example for social media marketers. The analytics were absolutely in favor of Ford. In 1923, 13 Model Ts were sold for each Chevrolet. This did not phase Mr. Sloan. Why?   Through the social media that Mr. Sloan had available to him, Mr. Sloan knew that he had a great opportunity available to him.

            Mr. Sloan’s social media was engaging with customers. Mr. Sloan traveled extensively. He talked with many customers about cars. Through this engagement, which is what social marketers do today on greater scale through social media networks, Mr. Sloan knew that GM, by leveraging their strengths and by being creative, could overtake Ford. Sloan’s greatest asset was Henry Ford’s arrogance.

            Ford didn’t see that the engineering improvements and the innovations  of his competition were inevitably eroding the Model T’s appeal. These created real paradigm shifts in the auto market. Ford was an expert in driving costs down low, but this was not now an asset in 1923. The paradigm shifts in the market off set this. Mr. Ford could not grasp this. Mr. Sloan did. Mr. Sloan grasped this because he expertly used the social media of the day---which was talking to customers  and to car dealers.

            The Ford story of 1923 was a sad story because Henry Ford was a tragic victim to his own success. In 1913, Ford instituted the $5 a day wage. This act revolutionized American society. Other industries had to follow suit, and by 1923 there was a strong middle class who had much disposal income. In 1923 people wanted more from a car than just transportation. They wanted a car in more colors than black.

            By 1923, most people had already owned a car.  This changed the dynamic of the car market. Because there were so many cars around, the market at the lower end could be satisfied with used cars. In 1923, used car purchases started becoming a significant market dynamic. There was strong competition now at the lower end, which is the space that the Model T occupied.

            The big change was the development of the middle class. Dealers would now accept the trade in of a used car to be discounted for purchase of a new one from a higher price bracket. The higher bracket cars had more appearance, performance, and comfort than the Model T. By 1923, people were using the car to define their place in society. If a person were successful, he wanted to communicate that. He did this communication through the car that he drove. The car market had changed. The Model T was seen as an entry level car for people from the lower levels of society. Sloan grasped this.

            A new dynamic that was coming into play was development of loans to purchase cars.  In 1908, seldom did people take out loans to buy a car. With more disposable income, car buyers were more confident in taking out loans. In this area, General Motors was a pioneer.

            General Motors created their own financing arm in 1919---the General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC). Ford refused to help dealers by creating their own financing arm.  Financing became major paradigm shift car marketing. It happened because of the countless conversations that Mr. Sloan had with customers that he met at the many dealerships that he visited around the country. By 1926, thanks to GMAC, three out of every four cars in the United States were bought on credit. In 1926 only 13 of the more than 130,000 banks in the country had more money available to lend than GMAC.

            Financing also changed something else involving the purchase of a car. Because people now had disposable income, a small monthly payment allowed people to feel that they could “move up” in their choice of a car.  Installment credit allowed individuals to purchase cars that were beyond their means in years past.  They could now afford to purchase 2 or 3 cars for a family, instead of just one.  Most of the time, those 2 or 3 were GMs and not Fords.

Dean Hambleton

dnhambleton@gmail.com

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; HOW ALAN MULALLY HAS POSTIONED FORD AROUND SOCIAL MEDIA

Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford, has positioned Ford around Social Media.  He has repositioned Ford as a  Social Media brand and not as a car company. He has created a technology called Sync. This technology transforms the car into a rolling Smartphone.  It allows all outside technology to be integrated into the car's system.

Ford now has competitive advantage over General Motors.  On Star is based upon TECHNOLOGY INSIDE THE CAR.  Sync is based upon technology OUTSIDE the car.

HOW HENRY FORD CREATED A MIDDLE CLASS THROUGH HIS MODEL T BRAND

Henry Ford completely revolutionized American society with the Model T. This brand created a strong middle class in this country

This nation was in need of a transportation tool that allowed people quick transportation.  On October 1, 1908, the date of the launch of the Model T, there were 88 car companies operating in this country. These brands were targeted for the rich. Most owners felt that to maximize profits a car had to be sold at the highest price possible.

            Henry Ford approached the market from a different perspective. Ford knew that this nation was in dire need of a means of transportation that an average wage earner could afford. He understood that if he did this he would create a pre-eminent brand in cars. He realized that people were thirsting for a car that they could afford to drive.  The Model T accomplished this.

            This created a problem for Mr. Ford. He had large orders that he couldn’t fill. His brand’s success was dependent quality. In 1908, there was a shortage of passable roads for a car. A car had to be tough to withstand the punishment. If the car did need service that car had to be repaired easily.  This placed a premium upon  the workers.  For the Model T to be successful it was essential that Ford use good workers who really cared about their job. This created a problem.

            In 1908, the work in auto plants was hard, dangerous, with terrible pay. The workers had no incentive to do good work. Mr. Ford’s solution revolutionized America. He offered a wage of $5 a day. At the time of this increase, auto workers were making $.39 a day. In this one masterstroke, workers now wanted to work at Ford. 

            This move created real problems for Ford’s competitors. Because of scale, the costs of creating costs were lowest at Ford. Ford was now attracting the very best workers from the competitive companies. The only way that other companies could compete is that if they offered comparable wages.

            This destroyed many competitive companies. The added labor costs made it    impossible for many of the original 88 brand  to compete. In one swoop, Ford created a middle class.

            The car business is one of the most significant businesses in this country. This is because the car business is a “feeder” business. The car business affects the 1 in 8 jobs in this country. To make a car, you need steel, tires, parts. The car business is one of the biggest upholstery clients in the country. All these job sectors now had pay $5 or close to it to attract workers good enough to supply their auto clients.

            Overnight , this created a middle class. Ford used the social media of the day to make sure that people knew where there sudden blessings were coming from. This created a brand for Ford that other automakers could not compete against. In 1908, Henry Ford became a folk hero. He became one of the most beloved men in American history. Unfortunately, things happened to change this, but in 1908 everyone wanted to buy a Ford. Everyone loved Mr. Ford. Mr. Ford and his car were synomous with one another.

HOW HENRY FORD POSITIONED THE MODEL T IN 1908

Henry Ford positioned the Model T on price. This captured the market and changed our society forever. The Model T automobile transformed America as we know it. This transformation happened because Henry Ford knew how to reposition a brand. More importantly, this transformation happened because Henry Ford understood the American society and understood where it was headed.

The most important talent that Henry Ford had as a marketer was that he understood the paradigm structure of his market. In short, he understood how his market works. He knew what things had to be done in order to create a brand.  In 1908 there were 88 car companies in America. Several of these companies had multiple brands. Just as today, Henry Ford had to market in a space that was flooded with products. How did create a brand for his Model T?

            Henry surveyed his market and he understood the paradigm of the car market of 1908. The United States had a geographic vastness. The American people  needed dependable transportation to conquer this vastness.  The nation and its individual people needed a means to move quickly. The brand which could create a car “for the masses” would control this market. The success of the brand would hinge on low price. This is key point in explaining why the Model T was successful. Ford positioned the Model T against the other 88 plus brands on price.  A car had to be developed that anyone and everyone could afford. Ford understood that the car was not a toy for the rich, but a necessity for everyone.

The world that Henry Ford envisioned happened. He was able to develop a no frills car. People knew that if they purchased a Ford, it could come in any color they wanted as long as it was black. He understood that at this point, the vast majority of Americans wanted a car that they could afford and that would run properly. He developed a machine that was practical with no frills . The Model T was a success. Overnight, Ford captured 50% of the market. More importantly, now anyone could afford to a car and drive

            This car changed how people lived. They now had a means for dependable transportation.  They could get to jobs quickly. The car gave workers greater opportunities. A middle class developed. That middle class created whole new industries, like road side hotels and service stations

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; HOW HENRY FORD USED SOCIAL MEDIA TO CREATE A BRAND FOR THE MODEL T

Henry Ford created a brand for the Model T because he had a lot of engagement with both customers and competitors.  Around the Flint area, a strong community developed in which people strongly engaged one another. Henry Ford, David Packard, the Dodge Brothers, Billy Durant, Alfred Sloan, David Buick, Albert Chevrolet,  Ransome Olds,  Walter Chrysler, and Henry Leland were the primary players.  They were rivals, but they strongly corroborated with each other.  It is strange dynamic about entrepreneurs.  People compete yet still share large amounts of information.

Henry Ford was the platform that people went to when they had content to share.  Henry knew people. Through engagement with them, he knew what kind of car they needed.  Henry knew how to create a car that people would buy.

            Henry knew the players. He knew the business models and strategies of the other 88 companies. This knowledge that was gleaned from the social networks of the day allowed Henry to gather information. This information allowed him  to understand how to create a great brand. Henry Ford realized that people needed affordable, reliable transportation. They needed a car that was reliable, and easy to repair.  They needed a car that could easily be repaired if it broke down.

            A  major observation that Henry Ford made was the car was not a toy for the rich, but a necessity for the average person. He knew that if a car could be developed that provided basic transportation, with few bells and whistles a world class brand could be created.

            This is how he positioned himself in relation to the other brands. The Model T was a car for the masses, in contrast to a toy for the rich.  If you purchased a Model T, you could get it in any color you wanted as long as it was black.  The Model T provided transportation to masses and this revolutionized the American society as no product has ever had.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; HOW DOES PROCTOR AND GAMBLE CREATE BRANDS THROUGH BUSINESS SOFTWARE

Business Intelligence software is software that takes enormous amounts of information and predicts accurately what consumer’s desire.  Social media is a game changer in the creation of modern brands.

Because of this incredible scale, business intelligence software is critical in developing modern brands.  It involves high-speed calculations. It involves world class statistical analysis.  Much of business and sports are analytic driven.  Business intelligence software gives a company a tremendous competitive advantage. Business Intelligence Software develops world class brands.

Proctor and Gamble is an example of how this is done.  This company endlessly analyzes data created from its business intelligence software. This software has the capacity to crunch up to 10,000 scenarios simultaneously. This creates the ability to predict whether premium-priced diapers will be a bust in Morocco or the impact of a toothpaste promotion could have in Brazil in comparison to this same promotion if it runs in Chile.  

This software is teamed up with Facebook and other social media platforms. Social media is now a special tool that was not available in times past. Business Intelligence software has been available since the early 1990’s.  The presence of social media creates huge information networks very quickly. Metcalfe’s Law says that a network of 2 quickly becomes a network of 1,092.

A product engages with a customer and the customer likes the product. This customer communicates this product with their friends. Social media is very viral. Through the “comment” box, a marketer can very quickly learns just what a customer likes about their product and what they don’t like. Business Intelligence Software and social media platforms allow the company to quickly develop highly differentiated and well-positioned products that a customer in a particular market truly wants. This creates strong, world class brands.

Branding is the ability to provide a consumer with just the thing that they want at a point of time when whey want it.  If you deliver a product that is exactly what your customer wants, naturally this is going to give you and your organization an advantage that your opponent simply cannot offset.

This is critical to Proctor and Gamble.  They can’t create revenue by buying other companies or brands. They must expand by creating products that people really do want.

This creates a problem for Proctor and Gamble. This problem can only be solved if highly desired products are created. Proctor and Gamble is large. To achieve just 4-6% growth, this company will have to develop a $4 billion business.

Proctor and Gamble'sdomestic markets are mature. Most of the growth won’t come from there. The company’s new revenue streams must come from emerging markets. Emerging markets have profit margins smaller than mature economies.  To off-set the lower margins, the company will have to sell larger volumes.  This can only be done by offering products that people in emerging markets really do want at price points that customers can afford.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: HOW THE MARINES CREATED A SUCCESSFUL SURGE THROUGH THEIR BRAND?

In very simple terms, the surge in Iraq was a branding campaign. The surge was successful because the U.S. Marines understood their brand and they knew how to communicate this brand successfully to the Iraqi people.

            To understand how surge worked, let’s use the analogy of going to the store and making a choice between two products. The choice of which product you purchase will come down to which product is branded the best. A brand is a combination of brand identity and brand culture.

The product that the Iraqi people wanted was the establishment of a government. They had a choice between a government based on choice, and one based on a narrow intepretation of Islam that the insurgency  espoused.

The identity of the Marines is they people of honor, who come to create peace. The culture of the Marines is that they protectt he weak.

The turning point in the surge was family being massacred at Haditha. There was a coverup.  Marines who were there used mechanisms withiin the Marine Corps to bring the evil doers to justice. Marines policed themselves.  Iraqis never saw this before during the Sadam era or the insurgency brand.

Through the actions of a private, a Marine officer was placed on trial for murdeur. The Iraqi people understood that the brand of the Marines was that they were men of honor. Thier brand culture was that they were in Iraq to protect the weak. The Iraqi people chose the Marine brand and rejected the insurgency brand.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: WHAT IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF BRAND CULTURE?

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: EXAMPLES OF BRAND CULTURE

            A brand culture is the values that a brand espouses. It is what a brand stands for.  Brands are just like human beings. They have a persona. This is why they are so important in social media marketing. A recent survey stated that 97% of all sold products are done through the recommendations of friends. To have an effective brand, a customer and a brand have to become personal friends with each other. A critical part in a human’s development is their creation of a personal value system.

            This is the function of a brand culture. A brand must stand for SOMETHING if a brand is to stand OUT. Brand culture is a very technical term. Perhaps the best way to explain is through illustration. A great example of brand culture is the movie, “A Few Good Men”.

            This movie is about the reconciliation between a brand identity and a brand culture. To have a world class brand both have to be well-defined. I don’t think you can have without the other. To have a brand you have to define who you are, which the identity stage. After you have defined the identity stage, you have to define why you are like that, which is the brand culture stage. In very simple terms, you have to answer two questions to create a brand. You have to answer a WHAT question and you have to answer a WHY question to create a brand.

            In very simple terms, the brand identity of the U.S. Marines is that they are honorable people who obey their orders.  In the movie, which is about 2 Marines, on trial for murder, the counsel for the two Marines establishes that the defendants acted honorably and obeyed their orders. They are convicted because their actions contradicted the Marine brand culture. In the dialogue of the movie, it is established that the Marine brand culture is that Marines are to uphold the weak. The WHAT question? Marines have honor because they obey orders. This is their brand identity. The WHY question? The reason why Marines have honor is that they protect the weak.  

            The acting and the court room dialogue between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson is riveting and it makes the movie a classic.  I watched the movie, originally, in a packed theater. When Jack Nicholson’s character confesses to the crime, everyone in the theater seemed to relax. Then the verdict was read. The defendants were found guilty. Many people in the audience gasped in surprise. Why were these marines found guilty?  Until I started studying brand identity and brand image, I have always been perplexed by the verdict.

             Marines and brands have two things in common.  To be effective each must have an identity and a culture. If either of these is not present, both a marine and a brand will fail. As the dialogue progressed, it was established that the Marines were guilty because they did not uphold the Marine brand culture which is that marines are to uphold the weak. They allowed a fellow a marine to die because they didn’t support that Marine and protect him from his weakness. The two marines understood their identity, but failed in their mission to full-fill their brand identity. To be successful, both marines and brands have to do both.  

Dean Hambleton

dnhambleton@gmail.com

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING:HOW IS BRAND CULTURE CREATED?

A brand’s culture is what it stands for---what are the brand’s moral values. Social Media branding is done through giving brands a human persona. To be a successful brand, the brand must stand for something, morally  This is what makes the brand stand apart from other brands. To be a well adjusted human being, a person must have a value system that they draw upon to make choices.

There is a clutter of products in today’s modern market place brought on by social media.  Anyone with compelling content can post that content onto a social media platform. How does a marketer make their product stand out? 

A significant way is to create a brand culture that the product can draw from when gray areas develop. The modern market place many times has many gray areas. A brand culture allows a product to navigate those gray areas.

A brand CULTURE is the moral values that this brand conveys. For many years Wall Mart had an image as being a very cold business. A company unconcerned about its employees and its workers. The culture of this company was just the opposite. The company’s culture was one in which supervisors very much cared about their workers and customers. The company could never seem to convey this image. Then Hurricane Katrina hit.

            The company was renown for its supply chain.  Before the storm hit, this retailer stocked its stores with items that would be necessary for hurricane victims to get back to normal. The storm devastated Louisiana and Alabama so severely, the retailer opened its doors and  gave away  necessary items and food. This retailer literally fed entire areas. Since that time, this retailer’s brand culture is seen as a concerned brand.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; HOW DOES A CUSTOMER CREATE A BRAND WITH ITS BRAND AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT;

In social media marketing brands have to become personal. If this is done, strong brands will be created. Reverse branding is when a customer creates a brand with its own brand. This is critical in creating strong brands.

Three things create reverse branding. Customers create IMPACT with their brand. Employees see for themselves how their work benefits others.

Reverse branding creates APPRECIATION. Employees come to feel valued by end users. Even though employees know intellectually that their contributions make a difference, gratitude from end users is a powerful reminder of the value of continued quality improvements and innovation.

Reverse branding creates EMPATHY. Employees develop a deeper understanding of end users” problems and needs and thereby become more committed to helping them.  Researchers have found that when product development teams had contact with customers, they were more likely to create offering that exceeded projections for sales and market share.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; WHAT IS BRAND CULTURE AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

A brand CULTURE is an explanation of the “WHY” of a product. The brand culture defines the values of a brand.  Brand IDENTITY is an explanation of the  “WHO”  the product. “Who are we?” This explains a brand’s identity. WHY are we like that. This explain the brand culture.

Nike's identity is that is a good company that does good things for people. When kids started killing each other for shoes, Nike's culture, its values, couldn't allow this to go on. Nike's culture made it change its image and its advertising.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: WHAT IS BRAND PERSONALITY AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT

• Brand identity is when we define ourselves.
• Brand pesonality is when other prople define us
• An example is Coach Taylor on "Friday Night Lights"
• This is important because unless we define ourselves, our brand will be hijacked with terrible reprocusssions.
• An example is Nike.
• Nike defined themselves as a concerned brand, the market defined them as "cool shoes". Kids strarted killing one another
• Nike took back its brand

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; HOW DOES A PHYSIQUE CREATE A BRAND

A brand's physique is its physical appearance.  This is a major part of brand identity.  Each human being has a different way of looking from all other people.  So with a brand.

A soda brand has an iconic bottle that is seen as happiness and peace.  This brand is so intense that it was used as an interogation prop in world War II. Max Schmelling was given a franchise after world war II, to break down walls between Germany and the the US

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: BRAND IDENTITY IS CREATED BY A PRISM

• A brand identity is how a brand sees itself.A  brand identity is created by
• PHYSIQUE. Why does this brand exist.
• PERSONALITY
• CULTURE----hapiness and trust
• RELATIONSHIP----between brand and customer
• CUSTOMER REFLECTION----I'm cool if I wear Nike
• SELF-IMAGE----I'm successful if I drive a Lambordini