Written by Melanie Huet – Vice President, Marketing at Kraft Heinz
In the age of transparency we can no longer settle for good or slightly better. Legacy brands can only survive if they clearly own a brand positioning and benefit that is meaningful and differentiated. Being the largest brand with the most distribution at a decent value is no longer a winning playbook. When it comes to the products and services we sell, we must be the best at something to attract new consumers and retain the current ones.
To win we must own a superlative that is meaningful, defendable and differentiated from the competition.
What is it? Very simply it’s what separates your brand or product from the rest. Ideally it’s the first thing consumers think when your brand is mentioned. It gives you preference. It drives consideration and if done well ladders to devotion and advocacy.
Why does it matter? The mobile phone disrupted the path to purchase and drastically altered consumer shopping behavior. Most consideration now begins with a mobile search where consumers type in what they want, usually a generic category mention paired with a most desired benefit.
- Most comfortable business class from Chicago to Sydney
- Safest infant car seat
- Best selling doll for 5 year old girls
- Most effective medicine for sinus infection
- Cleanest ingredient line protein powder
This is a significant shift away from the past where the most influential recommendations came from friends, family, experts and in-store salespeople. The implication of digital search is that driving consideration requires understanding how search, product ratings and reviews influence category and brand purchase. The media strategy must be sophisticated enough to recognize these influential category entry points and ensure the brand receives top placement with meaningful content designed to engage the consumer at these valuable touch points.
This principle applies whether a consumer is shopping on a phone, at home, or in a store. 80% of shoppers used a mobile phone inside of a physical store to either look up product reviews, compare prices or find alternative store locations. Successful brands understand how to leverage search, ratings and reviews to build advocacy on-line.
The implications are clear.
- Own a superlative that is differentiated, meaningful and drives purchase intent
- Strategically leverage superlatives in SEM and SEO to strengthen placement in search results
- Product ratings and reviews are critical to gain conversion
- Customer satisfaction is the best weapon for developing advocacy and ensuring repeat purchase
- Be consistent with marketing communication. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat
Winning brands own a superlative and that superlative doesn’t need to be cheapest. An ownable brand positioning executed well helps you sell more product for more profit.
