Repositioning Through Labels

It is fascinating to me how politicians and political parties use labels to position or reposition bills, ideas, agendas, actions or groups of people. For example, children who arrived in the US illegally at a very young age are called either dreamers or illegal aliens depending on which political party is talking about them. The Affordable Care Act was renamed Obamacare by its rivals. When asked in surveys, some people say they support the Affordable Care Act but not Obamacare. Depending on which political party is talking about it, many states are in the process of either voter suppression or insuring election integrity. New York State passed the SAFE (Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement) Act, a gun regulation law. I have seen several signs in my neighborhood that say, Repeal the SAFE Act, but who wants to repeal a SAFE Act?

Defund the police doesn't sound good at all. It is a terrible label, especially when it really refers to reallocating or redirecting funds from the police to other types of first responders that are better equipped to deal with mental health and other issues.

Conservatives have called liberals snowflakes and liberals have called conservatives deplorables. Is a Black Lives Matters gathering a march, a protest or a riot? It depends on the news station to which you listen. Was the event of January 6, 2021 at the US Capital an insurrection or a march? Again, it depends on the news station to which you listen. Republicans stoke fear among their base by using the term socialism, which is now laden with all sorts of negative meanings if you are Republican. And Democrats fear fascism and have referred to former President Trump as a fascist. 

Democrats coined the phrase The Big Lie to refer to Donald Trump's denial of his defeat to President Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump is now hijacking that term, The Big Lie, and twisting it to mean the lie that Joe Biden was legitimately elected as president. 

Related to The Big Lie is Stop the Steal, a catchy phrase used by Donald Trump supporters indicating that they thought the election had been stolen.

When it comes to abortion, it is either about the right to choose or the right to life. 

And who in their right mind would like a cancel culture? Coastal elites are despised by many people but no wonder because some coastal elites talk about where those people live as flyover country.

And Republicans like to call the Democratic party the Democrat party and some conservative publications shorten Democrat to Dem because it doesn't sound as worthy of respect. But some Democrats refer to neo-conservatives as neo-cons because it has more negative connotations. Republicans have tried to demonize the term liberal, but many liberals are very proud of the term and what it stands for. 

And then there are some military labels. Which is more palatable? 50 troops were lost today, 50 soldiers lost their lives today or 50 people were killed today? And how about peacekeeper missiles? I guess I shouldn't be concerned if I see one heading straight toward me. 

And now there is a newly popular pejorative term (actually coined in 1970), microaggressions. Doesn't sound very good, does it?

The whole point of this blog post is to demonstrate how word choice matters and that labels can turn people on or turn them off. This is a common tactic in politics and now that most news sources are so slanted in one direction or the other, different groups use different terms to refer to the same thing. Usually one term is derogatory while the other one is inspiring, encouraging two different views of reality.

Pivoting Your Business During COVID

Some businesses have been the beneficiaries of the COVID-19 pandemic. They were either in the right place at the right time or they seized an opportunity created by the pandemic. Disinfectant product sales were up 230% in March and April of 2020. Clorox has enjoyed great success in 2020. Zoom has become a household word and those of us who regularly attend business meetings likely now use the Zoom platform on a regular basis. Amazon's Jeff Bezos' net worth exploded by $72 billion in 2020. Other online stores and marketplaces such as Wayfair and Etsy have also seen their revenues and profits soar. Pandemic-fueled online shopping has also been very kind to PayPal and other online payment systems. Due to at-home boredom, Facebook and other social media platforms have seen huge increases in usage and associated advertising revenues. Netflix added 26 million new subscribers in the first half of 2020. Grubhub, Uber Eats and DoorDash are all benefiting from the pandemic. UPS and FedEx have experienced record revenues. As people are spending more time in their homes, they are investing in home amenities. Three of my four neighbors added elaborate decks with fire pits and outdoor kitchens to their homes in 2020. Boats and travel trailers have also seen a spike in demand. Vacation rental homes have seen rental nights soar in 2020. And businesses considered to be essential, such as Walmart, have seen their revenues increase significantly.

Other companies have taken advantage of the pandemic in a variety of ways. Many companies have slashed their expenses by reducing their real estate footprints as more and more employees work out of their homes. Other companies have moved their businesses to online platforms. Some local businesses have attracted customers from much larger geographies when they went online. Many churches have seen attendance increase as they switched from live to virtual church services. This transition to online commerce has kept many web designers very busy during the pandemic. Some distilleries have added sanitizer products to their product mixes while other companies have added face masks to their product portfolios. Telemedicine is another industry that has grown significantly due to the pandemic. 

Imagine what an at-home workforce might do to migration pattens and choices of residences. Places with scenic beauty, lower taxes, lower overall costs of living, better school systems, less traffic congestion and similar cultural amenities without all of the hassles of larger cities would stand to benefit from this trend. This also has implications for housing supply and demand and housing prices. Also consider what this might do to office space occupancy and repurposing. The pandemic is also accelerating the demise of brick and mortar retail and especially shopping malls, which are in the midst of being reimagined. 

I have taken my focus groups and brand strategy sessions online and have converted many of my educational offerings from live seminars and workshops to e-learning courses. 

But live theaters, live concerts, live sporting events, airlines, casinos, hotels, restaurants, bars, barbershops and beauty parlors, massage therapists and any other businesses that rely on large crowds or close proximities of people who are not from the same households have suffered. Because of the pandemic and its associated travel restrictions, travel companies and places that depend on tourist spending have also suffered. Which means that many service workers have been fired, furloughed or had their hours significantly reduced. 

Colleges and universities have been particularly hard hit as many have had to give up room and board revenue, while students are less satisfied with tuition rates as more courses are taught online without the social interactions and campus experiences that the students were expecting. Similar issues and frustrations have occurred in delivering primary and secondary education. 

While some people might be counting the months and days until "things get back to normal," it is unwise to have this as an expectation. As the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus said, "change is the only constant in life." And the pandemic has changed a lot. Not only has it changed the fortunes of businesses and individuals, it has also changed business models and even the long-term prospects for some industries. But even further, consider the impact of the pandemic on just one other thing - the environment. Due to decreased commuting, the air got cleaner and millions fewer animals died in our roads. On the less positive side, due to significantly increased online shopping and food delivery, packaging materials have increased almost exponentially. And speaking of the environment, the COVID-19 pandemic is not likely to be the last pandemic in our lifetimes given global climate change. Nor will it be the last disruptive biological, extreme weather or migration event in our lifetimes given the same. The one thing we can count on for the foreseeable future is change and lots of it. 

So, what does all of this mean for you and your businesses and brands? It means that change has already occurred, or if not, it will likely need to occur. And when that change does occur, you may need help rethinking your business model and repositioning your brand to better align them with and to take advantage of the new realities. This is where BrandForward can help. We specialize in helping organizations reformulate business strategies and reposition brands. This includes discovering new revenue streams and new ways that brands can serve their customers. If you are interested in learning more about this service, contact me at vanauken@brandforward.com. 

I wish you and your businesses and brands much success in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Repositioning RCI

Part of Wyndham Worldwide, RCI is a global leader in vacation timeshare exchange networks. Interval International is its primary competitor. While smaller than RCI, Interval International had successfully positioned itself as the “quality” vacation timeshare exchange network. RCI retained us to help reposition the RCI brand. After poring over the research, it became clear that the category’s primary benefit is choice. People who invest in timeshare exchange networks do so to expand their choices. It also was clear that RCI offered significantly more choices in more places around the globe. Furthermore, RCI offered many more different types of properties not available through competitors. We helped the company see that “maximum choice” was the benefit to own in the industry and that it had unmatched proof points against this claim. We knew that “maximum choice” would trump “a smaller number of high-quality properties” for most people (and affiliated resorts) when selecting a vacation timeshare exchange network (partner). We also worked with RCI to identify ways to expand the company’s choices and to rectify system and process barriers to offering greater choice.

© 2015 Brad VanAuken

Brand repositioning case study reprinted from Brand Aid, second edition, available here.

When to Reposition a Brand

Brand repositioning is necessary if one or more of these conditions exist:

• Your brand has a bad, confusing, or nonexistent image.
• The primary benefit your brand “owns” has evolved from a differentiating benefit to a cost-of-entry benefit. (For example, for airlines cost-of-entry benefits would be safe flights, needed routes, and required times.)
• Your organization is significantly altering its strategic direction.
• Your organization is entering new businesses and the current positioning is no longer appropriate.
• A new competitor with a superior value proposition is entering your industry.
• Competition has usurped your brand’s position or made it ineffectual.
• Your organization has acquired a very powerful proprietary advantage that must be worked into the brand positioning.
• Corporate culture renewal dictates at least a revision of the brand personality.
• You are broadening your brand to appeal to additional consumers or consumer need segments for whom the current brand positioning won’t work. (This should be a “red flag” since it could dilute the brand’s meaning or make it less appealing to current customers or even alienate them.)

You follow the same steps and address the same brand design components when repositioning a brand as you do when first designing the brand. But, brand repositioning is more difficult than initially positioning a brand because you must first help the customer “unlearn” the current brand positioning (easier said than done). 

© 2015 Brad VanAuken Excerpted from Brand Aid, second edition, available here and here.

Exploratory Brand Research

It is useful to perform exploratory brand research for relatively new brands whose markets are not yet fully understood. It can also be useful to perform this type of research for brands that need to be repositioned. Further, this type of research can inform brand and line extension decisions.

In exploratory brand research, one is trying to understand how the brand is perceived, purchased and used. Further, one is trying to understand the brand's competitive frame of reference and potential substitute products. 

This research is qualitative and is almost always conducted in focus groups or mini-groups. Here are the areas that I explore in this type of research:

• What do you think is in this package?
• How do you think the product works?
• Who buys a product like this?
• What would cause them to buy this product?
• Where do you think they are most likely to find a product like this?
• Where would they never find a product like this?
• Where in the store would it be located? Next to what other products? Why?
• How much do you think they would have to pay for a product like this?
• How often do you think they might buy this product?
• How would they use this product?
• How do you think using this product might make them feel?
• If this product were not available, what do you think they would purchase instead?
• Are there other similar brands? What are they?
• What do you think this brand stands for?
• What other types of products might be offered under this brand name? Why?
• What types of products would never be offered under this brand name? Why not?
• Do you think this is a good quality product/brand? Why or why not?
• Do you think this brand delivers a good value for the price paid?
• How might you change this brand to make it more appealing?
• What do you think the name means?
• Why did they pick those colors?
• Why did they package the product the way they did? 
• Is there a better way to package it?

One can use dozens of other similar questions. The point is to understand how the product and brand are perceived by its customers and potential customers. One can use a variety of stimulus to explore brand extensions, substitute products, alternative product category definitions, alternative branding approaches, other names, competitive contexts, different uses, varying distribution approaches, etc. One is seeking to understand what resonates with customers, what is puzzling or confusing to customers and what creates cognitive dissonance for those customers. All of this helps in positioning the brand properly and understanding the extent to which the brand can be expanded in its meaning and across different product categories. 

For more information on brand research, read Brand Aid, second edition.

Eight Common Brand Problems

In my fifteen years as a brand strategy consultant, I have interacted with the managers of several hundred different brands. This is often in a client/consultant relationship. At other times, it is in the context of an educational workshop or conference. Either way, I have been made aware of many brand problems. Here are the brand problems that organizations seem to encounter most often:

1. The competition has gotten intense and we have not kept up. Our products are no better than anyone else's and our brand no longer delivers a unique value proposition.
2. We have grown through multiple mergers and acquisitions and now have a very large and messy portfolio of brands that is confusing to our customers and expensive to maintain. 
3. Our new owner is changing the strategic direction of our business. Our current brand position will no longer work for the business' new direction.
4. Our new CEO has a new vision for the business and needs to change the brand to match that new vision.
5. We are launching a new product, service or business and it requires a brand strategy and identity.
6. We are expanding our brand to include new product or service categories or new customer segments and the old brand strategy or identity will no longer work. 
7. A disruptive technology has made our business obsolete. We need to change our business model and our brand.
8. Our new marketing vice president or CMO wants to refresh the brand based on his or her vision for the brand.

Repositioning Your Competitor's Brand

In the midst of the presidential nomination season, we will witness many examples of brands attempting to successfully reposition competitive brands - that is, the other presidential candidates. 

They will begin with research. Who are we talking with? Fiscal conservatives? Non-interventionalists? Progressives? Social conservatives? Democrats? Republicans? Foreign policy doves? Liberals? Tea Partiers? Social liberals? Evangelicals? Secularists? How do people label themselves and how large is each of these groups?

Once this is determined, that is, once the market segments have been established and sized, then different negative attributes are tested. The following are all possibilities:

• He believes in abortion, killing babies.
• He is crazy enough to get us into an expensive protracted war.
• He had an affair.
• She lies.
• He is a puppet of the 1%.
• He is controlled by big energy companies. 
• He is too idealistic. 
• We won't be safe under her leadership.
• He cheated on his taxes. He cannot be trusted.
• He is not tough enough on terrorists.
• She hates Israel.
• The economy will collapse under his leadership.
• She puts corporate interests in front of human interests.
• America will become a socialist state if he becomes president.
• He is a dinosaur.
• All of your tax dollars will go to lazy people that don't want to work if he becomes president.
• The minorities will take over our country if he becomes president.
• All of our jobs will be shipped overseas if she becomes president.
• Your child will never find work under his economy.
• There will be no opportunity for you to advance in society if he becomes president.
• She is a sociopath.
• He is an egomaniac.
• He is a socialist.
• He believes in creation science.
• He will start world war three.
• He doesn't believe in climate change.
• The environment will implode under his watch.
• You will be left behind in the America that he creates.
• Many animal species will become extinct if he becomes president.
• She is a dreamer.
• He is ruthless and power hungry.
• He is a scary evangelical.
• There will be no middle class left if he becomes president.

These ideas will be tested for how believable they are, how strongly they evoke a negative emotional reaction, whether they will drive a voting decision and how they will reflect on the person who makes these claims and the candidate against whom these claims are made. The results for each market segment will be analyzed to determine how much repositioning a competitor in this way can reduce his or her chances of being nominated or elected.

This is serious business and it is largely informed by marketing research and brand positioning concepts. Sit back and watch brand repositioning on steroids over the next year and a half.

How Does Your Organization Approach Brand Repositioning?

Often, we are retained when a new CEO comes on board and changes the direction of his or her company and its products and services. As a part of that effort, the CEO asks the CMO to initiate a rebranding effort to communicate the change in direction.  In this way, the rebranding effort supports substantive changes in products, services or business direction. When a rebranding project is initiated in this way, we are often called upon to help the organization revisit its mission, vision and values in addition to its brand’s essence, promise and personality. The CEO is the primary driver of the initiative throughout the organization.

At other times, we are invited to help companies reposition their brands independent of premeditated business changes. But, this is still a strategic exercise. We focus on what needs to change to create a substantive and compelling point of difference and we work with the management team to achieve that substantive point of difference. This may result in organization redesign, business process redesign, product redesign, customer service overhaul and other real changes. Key to the success of this approach is involving the organization’s leadership team throughout the process.

A third type of brand repositioning requests comes from organizations that know their brands lack differentiation from other brands in their categories, but that view this mostly as a brand identity and marketing communication exercise. This initiative usually comes from the marketing department itself and may or may not be instigated or supported at a higher level in the organization. We try to work with the internal team to not only change the brand’s identity and marketing messages but also to create additional brand promise proof points at each point of customer contact through our customer touch point design workshop.

There is a final type of brand repositioning project, in which we typically do not get involved (because we are brand strategy consultants). These are initiated by marketing departments and are viewed primarily as the need for a new communications campaign supported by fresh creative. It is independent of any real change in the organization or its products or services. The key point of difference is created through the messaging itself.

It might be useful for you to think through how your organization approaches brand repositioning and what that says about its capacity for long-term success.

How Does Your Organization Approach Brand Repositioning?

Often, we are retained when a new CEO comes on board and changes the direction of his or her company and its products and services. As a part of that effort, the CEO asks the CMO to initiate a rebranding effort to communicate the change in direction.  In this way, the rebranding effort supports substantive changes in products, services or business direction. When a rebranding project is initiated in this way, we are often called upon to help the organization revisit its mission, vision and values in addition to its brand’s essence, promise and personality. The CEO is the primary driver of the initiative throughout the organization.

At other times, we are invited to help companies reposition their brands independent of premeditated business changes. But, this is still a strategic exercise. We focus on what needs to change to create a substantive and compelling point of difference and we work with the management team to achieve that substantive point of difference. This may result in organization redesign, business process redesign, product redesign, customer service overhaul and other real changes. Key to the success of this approach is involving the organization’s leadership team throughout the process.

A third type of brand repositioning requests comes from organizations that know their brands lack differentiation from other brands in their categories, but that view this mostly as a brand identity and marketing communication exercise. This initiative usually comes from the marketing department itself and may or may not be instigated or supported at a higher level in the organization. We try to work with the internal team to not only change the brand’s identity and marketing messages but also to create additional brand promise proof points at each point of customer contact through our customer touch point design workshop.

There is a final type of brand repositioning project, in which we typically do not get involved (because we are brand strategy consultants). These are initiated by marketing departments and are viewed primarily as the need for a new communications campaign supported by fresh creative. It is independent of any real change in the organization or its products or services. The key point of difference is created through the messaging itself.

It might be useful for you to think through how your organization approaches brand repositioning and what that says about its capacity for long-term success.