Lessons Learned from Week 3 of Brand Management

We had the CEO of Taco Bell speak to our brand management class a few weeks ago, and it was fun to hear about their brand ideal, how they dealt with the beef lawsuit (and spun it to their advantage), and how they're positioning themselves in a health-conscious 21st century. Some of my notes on the class and presentation below.

It’s not what you sell, it’s what you stand for

• What is purpose
  
• Jim Collins: core ideology
  
• Core purpose
  
• Purpose is a definitive statement about the difference you are trying to make in the world
  
• Purpose drives everything. It will drive all major decision making and become the determining factor in how you allocate resources, hire employees, plan for the future, and judge your success.
• Purpose is a path to high performance. It fulfills a deep-seated need that people have and will drive preference for your company.
• Purpose fosters visionary ideas and meaningful innovation. It provides the motivation and direction necessary to create meaningful innovation.
• Purpose moves mountains. It can rally the troops to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.
• Purpose will hold you steady in a turbulent marketplace. It will see you through when times get tough and the road seems unclear.
• Purpose injects your brand with a healthy dose of reality. It is not something you can fake. It's genuine. It's real. And it's something that your customers honestly appreciate about you.
• Purpose recruits passionate people. It will make your organization more attractive to value-based, passionate people.
• Purpose brings energy and Vitality to the work at hand. It provides meaningful and sustainable motivation for employees.
• Purpose contributes to a life well lived. Work is no longer a 9-to-5 job to be endured but a meaningful source of fulfillment and satisfaction.
• Discovering purpose
  
• Revisit your heritage
• Hedgehog concept
  
• What deeply passionate about
  
• What best in world at
  
• What drives economic engine
  
• Revisit Your Heritage. Explore the genesis of the organization. Talk to the founding fathers, review the founding documents, and find the motivation that's been present since the inception.
• Review False Starts. Review the "inspirational" initiatives that have been undertaken only to peter out for any number of reasons. The seeds of a great purpose might reside within the rubble of a historical initiative that was given up on too quickly.
• Contrast Your Successes and Failures. Takethe time to deconstruct your successes from your failures. Move beyond obvious variables to find both the tangible and the intangible factors that are present when you are at your best.
• Start Asking Why? Look at all the major initiatives under way at your organization and start asking why, to what end, for what purpose, to make what difference.
• Notice What Occupies Your Mind. Take notice of where your natural energy and attention tend to gravitate. If enough of your best and brightest people share this natural passion, the universe may be trying to tell you something.
• Transcend the Generic Mission Statement. A great purpose statement goes far beyond the modern-day mission statement that is often no more than a basic category description wrapped in corporate performance goals. Be clear and definitive about the difference you are trying to make in the world and leave the category descriptions and sales goals for the annual report.
• Remember, This Is Not a Tagline. A great purpose statement errs on the side of clarity over creativity. It is intended to inspire your internal constituents by giving them a clear sense of purpose for all they do. Leave clever taglines for the branding process.

Grow

• How well do we understand the ppl most important to our future?
  
• What do we and our brand stand for?
  
• What do we want to stand for?
  
• How are we bringing these answers to life?
  
• Great brands know when to say no
  

Customer-based brand equity (CBBE) model

• Differential effect: Because we know something about the brand, it changes how we react to identical programs.
• Brand knowledge affects taste test results (New Coke disaster)

Taco Bell

• Marketers good at what and how but not why
  
• Functional, emotional
  
• Don’t sell top 3 fast food items
  
• Chipotle not after same customer
  
• House illustration for brand plan
• Foundation: How
• Floor 1: What
• Floor 2: Who
• Roof: Brand (heartbeat/soul, insight, mindset)
• Mission