They buy what you stand for
‘Retail is a people business. For sure, customers pay their money for whatever it is that you, the retailer, sell to them, but there's so much more to the relationship than this exchange. The transaction is simply the final affirmation that the customer buys into what the retailer stands for.‘
‘The brand is a guiding force that helps people choose. If customers can buy virtually identical items from many different places, you have to ask why are they going to choose in your shop. This is where the retail brand comes in.‘
‘You'll need something more to entice the mousetrap buying public to give you their custom. That something more has everything to do with making them feel good about you, the seller, and what you have to otter. You need your customers and potential customers to feel that your store is their kind of store. You need to stand for something that they value and can relate to. You want them to feel at home when they walk through your shop door.‘
‘In a world where you can increasingly buy identical items in different shops, how do you decide where to go? It has to be influenced by more than the product itself because that product will have largely become commoditized.‘
The rules of the retail game are changing. The winners of the future will be those retailers who successfully add value; those who rely too heavily on trading alone will lose out.
These are some of my favorites:
To make people happy (Disney)
To solve unsolved problems innovatively (3M)
To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people (Wal-Mart)
To help leading corporations and governments be more successful (McKinsey)
‘The best statements of purpose endure the passage of time and changes in management because they are rooted in the truth of the company.‘
Case:
- ” don’t think a brand can survive indefinitely on looking good or feeling clever. It’s got to have something more to it than that. Even a brand like Harrods, which is tarnished at the moment because it’s become too trashy and too touristy, still has a place, because it’s super luxury and there’s a place for super luxury brands. There’s still a need for Harrods, so it’s got the spine to it. Even though it’s had a bad ten or fifteen years, it’s still there and could easily become the world’s pre-eminent super premium brand again. That could happen, with different management and a new style, because the underlying reason for Harrods to exist is still there.’
2. Charles Revson of Revlon Cosmetics once said, ‘In the factory we make cosmetics, but in the store we sell hope. Advertising man David Ogilvy explained a brand is the consumer’s idea of a product. In the case of John Lewis, the benefit to the customers of their unique partnership structure is integrity that their customers can depend on. It also has the halo effect of helping its customers feel good about themselves because they can reassure themselves that they are making a sensible purchase.