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Burberry: Check, please

In 5 years at Burberry’s helm, Bravo did a terrific job of increasing revenues while re-imaging the Burberry brand. From classic (read: something my dad would wear) to modern and pervasive (the Burberry check print was literally everywhere), the brand had evolved, and expanded, under Bravo’s steadfast leadership. 

These efforts demonstrated that to remain relevant, brands need to continue adapting to changing landscapes while staying true to their core. Toeing this fine line seems to be something Burberry did especially well:

- Widen your audience without losing your core customer: From tapping into high-fashion with the Prorsum line to using Kate Moss to speak to a younger generation of consumers, Burberry could appeal to a wide range of people (the hip fashion-forward enthusiast, the old-moneyed classic shopper, the young aspirational check-print owner). But how did they do this without turning-off their loyal customers? By maintaining quality across products, refusing to constantly re-iterate on products that were deemed classic (the trench coat, for example), and positioning their brand in the middle (accessible, but luxurious; lifestyle, but fashion). The goal? Appeal to many; offend few. 

- Refine, refine, refine: The Burberry check print was (and still is) so immediately recognizable. Success, right? While this was quite the achievement and helped the brand become sought after, it also backfired when it became adopted by non-target customers, ones that did not represent the classic, heritage-y-ness of the brand. How to solve for this? Introduce products with the check in subtle places (under the collar, along the cuff) and again, serve to satisfy many - those that want to make a statement, and those that desire the classic appeal of a quality product. 

While Bravo and the Burberry team had done a great job of turning around the brand, I would argue that they also may have spread themselves too thin. A wide range of product lines and positioning in the middle means that competitors can come at you from both directions. More accessible or fashion-forward competitors on one hand, and exclusive or luxury-only competitors on the other. Appealing to many, similarly, can backfire - that famous check print that was so sought after? It’s now become so common that it no longer holds the symbolism and brand-power it once did. 

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Singapore Airlines: Always a First Class Experience

“SIA was not a transportation company; it was unique travel experience.”

From the beginning, SIA sought to establish its own identity, and remain steadfast in the face of increasing competition and rising costs. Their unique focus on the customer experience - from pre-flight attentiveness to unparalleled in-flight amenities and beyond - allowed Singapore Airlines to create its own image: one of exceptional service. How were they able to not only achieve but to sustain such an image? 

First and foremost, it wasn’t an image: it was who they are. Extensive employee recruiting & training, policies to empower staff to help customers with individual needs, and special recognition for team members who went above and beyond for their passengers built a culture of care for the customer. They didn’t have to fake it to appear on-brand; they embodied it. 

They were unwilling to follow the status quo. They were the first to seek to distinguish themselves at a time when airlines operated largely in the same manner. They backed out of IATA, not willing to abide by its rigid rules and regulations.

They put their money where their mouth was: continuously investing in a new, modern fleet; flying more cabin staff per seat than most airlines; offering free amenities, even in economy - these were all examples of their prioritization of the passenger experience, despite the high costs of implementation. 

They were always ready to listen and evolve. They constantly updated their offerings to stay ahead of competition, and to give their customers what they wanted, even as that shifted with time. Moving from consistent and steady high-level service to individualized attention and care was a perfect example of exceeding the changing customer expectations and desires. 

The key take-away, as a business decides to build a customer-centric brand? This value has to be at the core of your business: it has to be embodied in everyone from front-line employees to senior executives; it has to be followed as a guiding compass, even when obstacles and declining profits loom; it must be a non-negotiable upon which the rest of the foundation of the company is built. 

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I’ll take a glass of the red

"He who knows how to taste does not drink wine but savours secrets"                 - Salvador Dalì 

While Salvador Dali may be on to something, the vast majority of wine consumers are not privy to such secrets - buzzed, perhaps, but in the dark nevertheless. 

As countless studies have demonstrated, including the one by Wansink et al, wine consumption has far more to do about perception than it does about quality. Even renowned ‘experts’ have been caught unable to identify grape varietals or countries of origin. If these experts can be mislead, the average wine lover is undoubtedly lost in the sea of options. Instead of using their palate and sticking to that which they know and love, most people shop labels instead - ah, a French wine, how decidedly romantic. 

This, then, is what creates the predicament Concha Y Toro faces - declining profitability, general oversupply, and a consumer who cannot distinguish a pinot noir from a cabernet. Looking ahead, they have two options to try and boost their bottom line:  move away from their lower-end spectrum and focus on premium wines (a ‘bottom up’ strategy) or shift focus  to expanding capacity and becoming a leader in the lower-priced wine segment (the ‘top down’ method). Given what we know about perception, and that Chilean wine is known for its ‘value’ (despite several accolades for premium wines), it seems that the top down method is the way to go. Expand capacity, take advantage of economies of scale, and give the people what they want - cheap wine they can guzzle by the bottle. 

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Nudging and the Consumer Experience

The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged how we conduct our daily lives, and one thing has become abundantly clear: so much of what we do (work, class, socializing, or shopping) can be done online. While the shift to e-commerce was in full force even before, it will be interesting to see what happens when restrictions are lifted and ‘life as we used to know it’ resumes. Will people still opt to grocery shop in person - to examine apples in person, to feel the avocado for ripeness? Will they choose to buy perfume with a doting salesperson showering compliments and free samples, or instead rely on online reviews, assuaged by the promise of free returns?

For brands - both retail and otherwise - successfully navigating the world of e-commerce is critical, and will likely become even more so in the future. A focus on customer experience is one way to create distinction from what, in many sectors, appears to be an abundance of competition. Behavioral research shows that that humans “procrastinate, are cognitively lazy, freeze in the face of complexity and are highly influence by context” - helping them navigate the myriad of choices and features by “nudging” them in the right direction is a surefire way to enhance the customer experience, and create a win/win for the both brands and customers alike. 

How can brands employ nudges in the e-commerce space? Help make purchasing decisions easier. I’ve seen this done on many retail sites where popular items are labeled as “bestsellers”  - this quickly helps potential buyers understand what products are most popular and draws on the power of peer influence. Another way to guide people to the right product for them is to draw on the experience of others: reviews where customers share pictures of the products or comments such as “58% of buyers say this shirt runs loose” or “these shoes are loved by runners” can help customers identify with similar others to make better choices. Other examples are quick check out processes - these allow brands to take advantage of human impulsivity and avoid procrastination; instead of coming back for the product later due to many tedious check out steps, customers can quickly use Apple Pay or auto-filled templates to ease the process. Amazon’s “Buy Now” feature is a perfect example of this. 

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Inside Intel; Outside the Box

Intel’s philosophy of continuous iteration served as double-edged sword in the 1980s: while PC manufacturers were quick to incorporate Intel’s high-performing microprocessor chips, there was little incentive to replace these chips with newer generations. The Red-X campaign, while successful in its endeavor to promote the latest model, allowed Intel to realize that marketing each generation would run costly, especially with such short product cycles. Instead, a novel approach was tested -- branding the product to the end consumer. Most PC buyers had little insight into the inner workings of the computer and the Intel chip was immaterial in their decision making process. The Intel Inside campaign changed this altogether by re-training the consumer: suggesting that the highest performing computers ran on Intel microprocessors, they effectively linked the PCs with their product. All of a sudden, a product that the end consumer could not touch, feel, nor perhaps even truly understand, became a point of distinction to the PC-buying customer. 

The campaign was successful because it allowed Intel to become a household name, while maintaining relationships with the OEMs and delivering on their promises. The win-win strategy of contributing advertising dollars for each chip purchased incentivized PC-manufacturers to include the “Intel Inside” logo on their advertising and packaging, shifting the Intel name from one only design engineers might recognize to one that even the every day consumer could identify. This only served to be effective, however, because of their ability to remain at the forefront and continuously surpass competition. The overlapping developing cycles (to stay ahead of the technology curve) and the design and production of auxiliary products (to speed up adoption) were strong examples of how Intel managed to maintain its competitive advantage.

While this campaign was successful, there are certainly challenges associated with adoption of this strategy. Connecting your brand so strongly with another (or a specific type) can have significant drawbacks. First, if the other product fails, damage is likely to fall on your brand as well. The reverse is also true: if your product fails to deliver on its promise, the brand damage for the buyer (the true customer) would sever future relationships. Finally, connecting so strongly with a product type (like Intel did with the PC) can lead to difficulty when trying to expand into other product categories, as Intel faced when it looked to cellular devices.