Brand Lessons with The Big K

Rockford, IL, my hometown is the source for some new store testing by K-Mart... or more accurately new testing in old stores. This effort is interestingly detailed in a recent Chicago Tribune article. You may know Rockford as the former screw capital of the world, not because of Ginger Lynn Allen, but because of its status a leading manufacturing town from the 1940s – 1970s. Towards the end of Rockford’s glory days came K-Mart. K-Mart is trying to figure out its brand identity and how to ground it in a meaningful way with constituents. In a similar way, Rockford struggles to attract new business and industries to the once proud city.

I think there are a few interesting take-aways from the article:

1. As mentioned with politics in the previous post, when it comes to brand identity, it’s a position or be positioned proposition. K-Mart had the lead from a timing perspective and Wal-Mart outflanked K-Mart pragmatically on price. Target claimed a social position based on shopping experience. That kind of leaves a righteous position, but it’s hard for any consumer to think blue light and quality together.

2. Test. I think it’s a great idea to test concepts. In this case it’s a low-risk proposition, as Rockford is not a trend-setting, high visibility hot spot. Yes, I know, the greatest power pop band ever came out of Rockford, but that’s not going to help K-Mart. So, K-Mart may want us to want them, we’re not going to surrender to their whims. Ok, back to my point about testing. Try to figure out what might work. Iterate. Rinse, lather, repeat. Progress, not perfection. Then when you’re feeling confident, notify the public. Not the other way around. Especially if you’re trying to re-brand or reposition, don’t lead with the awareness campaign, then try to figure it out. You can do more brand damage if you deliver a bad experience when you’re saying you’re new and improved. The customer is left to believe that you’ve gone from bad to worse.

3. All symbolic, or brand, identities have a shelf life. Perhaps the Big K has run its course. From it’s regional days to the high points in the 70s, K-Mart has clearly gone through consciousness creation (new, unique drama), consciousness raising (growing/expanding the identity among more people), sustain the vision (shielding the committed, staving off new visions like Wal-Mart or Target), decline (your identity loses currency in the market place and your customers seek new visions that meet their needs) and then implosion (the vision dies).

Politics is a Position or Be Positioned Proposition

Last weekend, Al Franken won the Minnesota DFL nomination to be their candidate for the U.S. Senate race against incumbent Norm Coleman (R). While Franken won on first ballot, his campaign has been weakened by income tax problems and a satire piece for Playboy magazine. What I find interesting, is that it seems as though the Coleman campaign knows more about Franken than Franken’s campaign. The way Coleman’s campaign and surrogates have been able to keep Franken on the defensive is another example of how you can be positioned by your competition.

With all symbolic realities (brands, politics, etc.), it’s a position or be positioned game. If you can’t carve out an identity and ground it, you run the risk of having your competition do it for you.

Going "Code Blue" for Beer

An interesting article from the New York Times regarding Coors Light and their 360 campaign leveraging social media. Now, I'm not a fan of their product, but I do appreciate the effort to get their message out in a 360 degree manner...or as I used to say "surround sound"... but that might make me sound rather analog.

For instance, consumers ages 21 and older will be able to send friends “Code blue” alerts on Facebook.com, inviting them to meet up for a beer — a Coors Light, natch. They can even use Facebook maps to direct their potential brew crew to a nearby bar. The Facebook feature, or application, is scheduled to start early next week.

I think that the number of agencies involved in pulling off this campaign and representing the brand reinforce the need to understand and own one's symbolic identity.

Thanks to John for the link.