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).