atkinson advisor

ESPN used to be known as a great sports brand. In the last few years, it has transcended the sports label to become one of the best brands anywhere.

The company’s lineup now includes its flagship cable station, numerous specialty cable stations, a top-rated website, a successful magazine, and destination restaurants. The company recently launched its own mobile service for sports junkies.

CEO George Bodenheimer has received much of the credit for ESPN’s brand growth. In a recent Business Week profile of the company, Bodenheimer explained his own philosophy toward brand building:

1. Define your mission – “We serve the fans.”
2. Know what your brand is – “We view ourselves as the world’s biggest sports fan.”
3. Cultivate relationships with your customers – “Talk to fans, not at them.”
4. Develop an inclusive culture – “I came up from the mailroom, so I had managers who were listening to me.”
5. Continually enhance your product – “We have launched three new channels in the past two years, a broadband service, and a cell-phone service.”

Last month, Girl Scout cookies made their annual appearance in the office. It was a joyous time. There is a great branding lesson here:

• Don’t mess with a good thing. Girl Scout cookies have changed very little over time. Sure the packaging and some ingredients have changed, but the cookies themselves have remained largely consistent – one of the values of an outstanding brand.
• Fondness makes the heart grow stronger. No doubt the Girl Scouts have had numerous offers to license, franchise, and globalize their cookies. Seeing them on the grocery store shelf every week would likely kill the brand and the entrepreneurial lessons learned in the sales process.
• Revenue supports the values, not vice-versa. The organization is first and foremost about building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. The annual sale is a tangible extension of and means to achieve those values rather than an effort to fill the coffers.

Now, if you will excuse us, we have to go find the person who raided our stash of Thin Mints.

Simply Better by Patrick Barwise and Séan Meehan

In Simply Better, Barwise and Meehan present a compelling case that the best strategy for companies to retain and add customers is to excel at the basics of their business category – not by creating a unique selling proposition.

The foundation of the authors’ theory is that customers meet their needs by making a category purchase rather than by buying a particular brand. For example, people choose fine dining and then select from the available brands. They do not say, “I’m going to Ruth’s Chris. Now, am I going to have a burger and fries or the surf and turf?” The same applies for cars, televisions, clothing, etc.

Simply Better provides numerous examples of companies that have an intimate knowledge of the category benefits and have parlayed it into the best overall combination for customers.

The authors recommend that companies improve their category prominence by creating a “pure air” culture based on two principles. The first principle is seeing debate and challenge based upon facts and objective observation as a force of good. The second principle is that no one expects an easy yes for new ideas, meaning that only the best ideas ultimately make the cut.

NASCAR has come a long way since it started its engines on the sands of Daytona nearly 50 years ago. The sport has grown into a multi-billion dollar enterprise with a captive fan base of one quarter of the nation’s population. The typical fan — once thought to be a beer-guzzling hillbilly — now has a median income of $60,000.

NASCAR has done one heck of a job transforming its reputation. Here are just a few of the things the sport is doing right:

• Brand identification. NASCAR fans identify with and root for not just the team but for the team’s corporate sponsors. In fact, NASCAR’s ability to push products (and drive up stock prices) has led some Fortune 500 companies to completely abandon sponsorship deals in other sports.
• Accessibility. NASCAR is one sport where fans are actually encouraged to visit drivers in the garage, which is their equivalent of the locker room. Drivers are also accessible to media and never miss an opportunity to mention their corporate sponsor in an interview.
• Emphasis on diversity. NASCAR is definitely trying to bring more diversity to the sport. Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Magic Johnson is heading a diversity initiative for NASCAR. Pop singer Vanessa Williams and American Idol judge Randy Jackson have participated in major NASCAR events this year. The sport is also trying to expand and build tracks in major cities, such as Seattle and Staten Island in New York City.

Businesses can learn a lot from NASCAR’s example when it comes to building strong brand equity and consumer loyalty.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Thus began one of the most memorable brands in the history of cinema – not to mention the history of brands.

Star Wars has been a cultural phenomenon for 28 years. As with any business, the series has seen its ups and downs, yet it has endured.

The Star Wars brand endures because of its consistency. We look forward to each epic battle of good versus evil, tapping into mythological villains and heroes we know by heart. From a filmmaking standpoint, we look forward to the groundbreaking special effects and computer-generated images in every episode.

The brand endures because it was groundbreaking, especially in terms of marketing and commercial tie-ins. It revolutionized the economic model for major studio releases that followed.

Most of all, the brand endures because people “experienced” the movie. We experienced it in the theaters. Then we shared the experience with friends and family. Some even made the experience a major part of their lives.

Strong the brand of Star Wars for a long, long time will be.

Jugglezine by Herman Miller

Herman Miller is a furniture pioneer. The company’s Aeron and Eames chairs are legendary for their comfort. The company is also on the cutting edge of customer communications thanks to Jugglezine, its website about balancing life and work. The site features topics on lifestyle, technology, time management, working from home, and more. We highly recommend two articles: “The Zen of Desktop Management” and “E-Talking Essentials.” Jugglezine is, in its own words, “pleasantly uncommercial” and, at the same time, a perfect extension of the Herman Miller brand.