The brand experience is as real as the product itself. This past weekend I was on the hunt for a product I’m interested in and I find myself as influenced as any other consumer by a powerful brand.
Case in point: John Deere riding mowers. I’ve had a John Deere Sabre riding mower for the past 7 or 8 years. It’s done a good job and taken quite a beating as I have about 2 acres of grass to cut and it’s not the most level lawn you’ve ever seen. A Sabre was an entry level Deere when I bought it, today they are discontinued. For as long as I have had the Sabre I was always cognizant of the fact that it’s seat is black, whereas a Deere’s seat is typically yellow. The rest of the tractor is John Deere green, but that seat is black. It was a small irritant but an irritant none-the-less. Colour branding is not lost on me.
This is the sort of brand relationship that we all strive for in our businesses. Colour branding is another powerful tool to build an association with the customer, much the same as icons, scent and sound. If you have never considered other brand devices, perhaps they could be leveraged to benefit your company. You know who ‘brown’ is don’t you? The big thing with any of them is consistency of use. Once you decide on your brand strategy – STICK WITH IT. One old rule of thumb is when you are starting to get sick of it, this is when your customer is only beginning to notice it.
Back to my mower shopping…
I looked at other makes and models, but it was only in comparison to John Deere and it’s features. In many cases the actual motor is identical. But I keep going back to the green and yellow. The work horse I’ve grown accustomed to. The others were red, blue and brown. I was aware of their reputations for quality and they were a little cheaper. But it wasn’t ENOUGH to make me even consider jumping ship. I have a definite comfort level with the John Deere product, and it was clear to me what I was feeling – the positive effects of a powerful brand and it’s hold on me! I’m not a motor head, so I can’t really tell just by looking under the hood if they are all the same – I am totally relying on brand to make my decision. The other two models that intrigued me were Club Cadet and Toro. I still have a reliable 20 year old Toro push mower. But they are not my top-of-mind choice.
All of my neighbours have Deere’s. When I moved here, I came from a standard city sized lot, and buying a rider seemed like a really cool bit of fun. (But frankly it’s only fun once). After that it’s still cutting the lawn and it’s a 2 hour job. So you want a quality piece of equipment. All the neighbours said if you want serious quality, John Deere is the hands-down choice. Is your brand experience as strong as John Deere is in my neighbourhood? Are your buyers advocates of your brand? Maybe it’s time you worked your brand to it’s fullest potential and strived to give your customers an experience they will embrace. You will have a brand that resists competitive flirting. The yard equipment business is a commodity business to be sure, but if the brand experience is compelling then the only decision that matters now for me is in what model of Deere I want.
You simply can’t beat the power of happy customers or brand advocates. They will pay more simply because they have a comfort level with your performance. They are not blowing smoke. Mind you, you must follow through with your end. If you even begin to take them for granted they will turn and probably never come back. You may have experienced the situation of referring somebody to a customer only to have that company let them down. It reflects on you. Same with your brand. Your customers love to refer you, it reflects on them as someone who can be relied on and has the contacts to make it happen. Your brand should make them proud. With my brand, a referral is a badge of honour. I will not let the referrer down even if it costs me.
John Deere’s great branding has made me a happy customer. The potential is there every day to improve YOUR brand. Whatever business you are in, your on-going efforts to succeed is measured in brand currency and that currency is spent on customers who love you. Use every device and experience to strengthen your brand. In most cases the only expense to achieve this is effort. Consider products you love AND love to talk about. Transfer these experiences over to your company and learn from them. As consumers we are essentially all the same. Good service is good service AND that is magic in the brand marketplace. Your advantage is, every company touts service but so few actually deliver. It looks good in the advertising, but if it is accompanied by the dreaded asterisk*, they don’t have great service they have an excuse to not deliver. On the other hand a competitor’s asterisk is just another opportunity for you to deliver a substantially better product, or by extension – “a positive brand experience”.
Ed
P.S. When I decide to lay down the cash it will be for another Deere, and this time it will have that powerful yellow seat.