gymkhana sf edition

first person to find andy in this wins a prize.

pl buyer reflects on united*

united* always always pushing the envelope. Perry gets recognition from one of private labels go-to's:


In my three years of working on PLBuyer, one thing that I’ve definitely noticed is that there is much confusion among consumers of what private label really means.

Whether you call them private labels, private brands, store brands, consumer brands, own brands or something else, we were talking about them at our first conference held last month at the Hilton in Chicago. I was very pleased with how the event turned out, and I heard a lot of positive input from the attendees as well.
My own personal thoughts on one of the best presentations of the whole conference was Perry Seelert’s presentation on Being Comfortable With Uncomfortable Ideas. He very much captivated the room with his speech. He basically said that too many retailers out there are patting themselves on the back and thinking they're doing a good job with their private label programs when, in fact, they ought to be digging deep down and really looking at what could take their program to the next level...

Full article over at PL Buyer.

put some beer on it

Let's hope your salad and meats are ready for flavor country. Donovan's has released his beer infused dressings to the masses in collab with Southampton Micro-Brewery. The only way you could get more New York is that you would have to be eating it off the subways 3rd rail.

Beer can chicken has never had a higher ABV till now. Designate your chef's please.

truth or consequences

Perry spitting truth over at mypbrand.com

There are plenty of reasons why consumers have a healthy dose of skepticism today, and a lot of it is fueled by more marketing exaggeration and puffery than ever. Products that overpromise, taglines that overreach and “oneupsmanship” that doesn’t pass the smell test. For many marketers, pursuing a strategy of authenticity, raw honesty and truth in your brand storytelling is much more emotionally engaging, and for private brands a way of better countering the CPGs.

Over promising
In the transparent world we live in today, where almost every fact is discoverable, it is amazing how many people and CPGs still try to twist the truth on what a product delivers and the story of their brand. Scott Thompson was the short-lived CEO at Yahoo, the latest exaggerator getting caught, for claiming a computer science degree on his resume he never attained. Cheerios in the CPG world through visual symbology (the heart-shaped cereal bowl) and through “lowering cholesterol” front-of-pack claims tries to own heart-healthiness, but this has never seemed credible. Many eco-friendly efforts like Huggies “Pure & Natural” diapers feel like classic cases of greenwashing, and the consumer is sick of it. Stay true, be real and don’t fall into the trap of puffery the consumer doesn’t believe.

Tagline-mania
Many retailers and CPGs feel like they have to have a tagline to be a fully-functioning brand, but more often than not it actually detracts from their message by aspiring too far. Just take the repetition and grandiose nature of the following: Panasonic is “ideas for life”, Safeway is “ingredients for life”, GNC is “live well”, and LG is “life’s good”. If you feel like a tagline is a good distillation of your brand, make sure it is unique for starters, but ensure that it is believable too. Taglines that are a call to action often fundamentally work better (Apple’s “think different” and Nike’s “just do it”.), as they are both aspirational and credible.

1, 2 or 3
Be ridiculously good at clarifying one thing that makes you different, whether that is a product or service attribute. Depending on the brand, you might be able to claim a subordinate attribute or two, but don’t go beyond that hierarchy as a rule of thumb. Many CPGs try to claim way too much, and the consumer gets lost in the claims and the clutter. Private brands often try to do the same. Distill ruthlessly and you will be much better received and believable.

Oneupsmanship
5 Hour Energy transformed the energy category when it came on to the market, shaking the leadership of Red Bull by introducing the idea of a sustained, crash-free experience. But 6 Hour Power, 7 Hour Energy and yes, 8 Hour Energy by a company called Mr. Energy? Seems like it might be a powerful strategy to claim one additional hour of benefit, but to the consumer these are copycat brands all the way. Take this to the world of private brand, and there is an analogy to be drawn as it applies to NBE tiering strategies.

In the game show “Truth Of Consequences” the consequence was always an embarrassing stunt of some sort, but in the world of national/private brands the consequence of exaggeration is a lack of consumer credibility in your brand story. Veer towards more ownable, credible language in your marketing overall and you will be positioning yourself in line with the consumer of the future and the transparent world that is unavoidable.