Every company needs a strong UVP.  Benefits include greater differentiation from competitors, an increase in the quantity and quality of leads, and greater market share.  Once again, remember to include tangible results in your UVP.  Statements like “the most technologically advanced system in the market” and “best in its class” don’t mean much in today’s world.  Every other company uses a similar statement and there is no way of knowing who is telling the truth and who isn’t. Ask yourself:  “What makes me different from everyone else?”, “What need am I satisfying for my target market that others have not addressed?”  You can also ask your existing clients.  Their perspectives on why they do business with you might point you in the right direction.  The following is an example of a great value proposition:

“Our company is the exclusive provider of patent-pending project management software for paving contractors, saving U.S. contractors over $34M in 2005.”

The statement is specific.  It sets the company apart (exclusive provider, patent-pending software) and it demonstrates tangible results ($34M in savings in 2005).  It answers the questions who, what, and why all in one sentence.  Here are a few other good ones:

“Tectronica offers solutions that will improve productivity by 22%.”

“Our clients are able to reduce staff by 18% and maintain productivity levels.  In most cases, their productivity actually increases.”

“Our clients have experienced pay back periods of just nine months when investing in our technology.”

The power of color struck me recently as I was wandering the aisles of a local drugstore looking for a particular product:  the Starfrit Chopper, a great a little kitchen aid that saves hours of manual chopping and slicing.  I had a good idea in which aisle it might be.  But as I almost walked past one of the aisles, I caught a bare glimpse (through my peripheral vision) of a color combination almost halfway down the aisle.  I looked directly this time and started walking towards the product to read what was written on the box.  Sure enough, it was the Starfrit Chopper.

I’m not the type who spends hours memorizing the packaging colors of kitchen aid products so naturally I was a little surprised.  But the fact is, the colors used be Starfrit in its packaging (the yellow and red stripe on the top)  stayed in my memory even though I noticed it only a handful of times.  And it was strong enough for me to notice using my peripheral vision.  This story serves as a good introduction to color and the conscious and subconscious attributes we associate with them.

Here are some of the positive and negative ‘learned associations’ we attribute to different colors, some of which are backed by actual research.  Note that not all these associations are universal and some may vary  from one culture to another.  The next time you are choosing your company colors (logo, packaging, etc.) keep them in mind.

• Red:  Some positive things we associate with red are:  sense of power, strength, power, and sexuality.  People tend pay more attention to detail when they see red.  A recent study by the University of British Columbia found that the color had a significant impact on cognitive performance, boosting test scores by as much as 30%.  The color helped them focus on detailed tasks (e.g. solving a math problem, editing a complex document, etc.). On the flip side, there are also some negative attributes that we tend to associate with red:  anger, aggressiveness, violence, and impatience.
• Blue: Positive associations:  tranquility, patience, openness, creativity, exploration.  The university study I mentioned earlier found that blue inspired creativity, allowing students to think outside of the box (the students came up with twice as many creative ideas in brainstorming tests).  Some of the negative attributes include: fear, coldness, passivity, and depression.

Here are a few other colors along with their positive and negative associations (not discussed in the study above).

• Green:  Positive associations include:  money, health, food, nature, growth, freshness, cooperation.  Negative associations include:  envy, greed, jealousy.
• Black:  Positive attributes:  dramatic, classy, committed, serious.  Negative:  evil, death.
• White:  Positive attributes:  pure, fresh, cleanliness, goodness.  Negative attributes:  blind, winter, cold, distant.
• Yellow:  Positive attributes:  caution, brightness, intelligence.  Negative attributes:  laziness, criticism.
• Orange:  Positive attributes:  courage, confidence, warmth, energy.  Negative attributes:  ignorance, inferiority.
• Purple:  Positive attributes:  royalty, sophistication, religion.  Negative attributes:  bruised, foreboding.

Source:  “How to choose your website colors” by Jason O’Connor (2005).

About a month back, I attended a great workshop by Tina Serano, co-owner of Beavertails, the company behind the delicious pastry that goes by the same name (and no, it’s not actually a beaver’s tail…it’s just shaped like one).

Tina had some great quotes on the topic of branding and small business in general that I wanted to share with my readers.  Branding, as its name suggests, refers to a company’s brand in the marketplace.  How do customers view the company? Why do they choose to do business with them?  Is it because of their  low cost? Quality? Fast service?

Branding is sometimes confused as being synonymous with ‘company logo’.  The latter is part of the branding process, as is other marketing materials such as the website, brochures, business cards, etc.  However, branding also includes business processes, strategies, and even people.  It is the overall customer experience your company offers.

Here are some of the gems that Tina shared with the audience:

“What you do has to represent you.”

I liked this quote since it establishes that we must have an emotional connection with what we do.  One of the reasons why I think many professionals are unhappy with their work is that they lack this connection.  They are reduced to a company function or job description.    They don’t see how they, as individuals, connect to the big picture, and so they feel unfulfilled.

“If you don’t buy into it, you won’t believe it and so you can’t sell it.”

Similar to the first quote, it establishes again the need for a connection between the person and the product.  It’s what makes the difference between selling a product or commodity and  selling an experience.

“Choose one branding word.”

This exercise really forces a business owner to think about what he or she has to offer.  Some examples are “service”, “speed”, “quality” or in the case of Beavertails, “addictive”.  Personally, I would have preferred a short sentence (7 words or less), but the idea is the same.  Keep it simple.

“You can’t change people’s perception of you.”

Once you establish a perception among your customers, it is very difficult to change it.  In other words, get it right the first time around or suffer the consequences.  It’s much easier to brand than to “re-brand”.

“When you create a brand, you want loyal customers.”

A strong brand differentiates you from the competition.  It creates repeat customers since you are able to deliver a unique experience.

“Don’t pay for media advertising.”

Tina is not a fan of big expensive marketing campaigns.  They’re costly and the return on investment is difficult to measure.  Instead, she encouraged us to use low cost marketing strategies (e.g. business to business marketing or cross promotion, free offers) to generate buzz.  She also talked briefly about guerrilla marketing,  the idea that costly marketing can be replaced with low cost strategies that effectively use time, energy, and imagination.

At the end of her presentation, she also mentioned a few of her favorite books:

“The tipping point” by Seth Godin.

“What happy people know” by Dan Baker.

“The monk who sold his ferrari” by Robin Sharma.

She also mentioned two cool websites worth a peek:

99design.com:   Have a pool of designers create a logo for you at a price that you set.

trendwatching.com:  A site tracking consumer trends worldwide.

The two books I would personally recommend for removing the mystery surrounding marketing are:

“Duct Tape Marketing” by John Jantsch.

“Guerilla Marketing” by Jay Conrad Levison.

I was headed downtown with a friend of mine this past weekend.  It was a little late at night so I decided to grab a coffee not to feel the effects of sleep.  I wanted a coffee from Tim Horton’s, but alas, there was no Timmy’s along the way.  The nearest one I knew of was 5 minutes in the opposite direction.   “Don’t worry about it”, I was advised. “There are tons of coffee shops along the way.”  I’m sure there were, but they weren’t the same as Tim Horton’s.  So I went out of my way and drove the extra mile to get my french vanilla.

Not a big deal?  I didn’t think so either at first.  But the fact that a company can influence me to the point of altering my route just to buy a two dollar coffee is pretty impressive.  So I thought it would be interesting to analyze the factors that influenced me in making this decision:

1.  Convenience:  I knew the exact location of the Timmy’s.  However, I didn’t know if there were any coffeshops along the way.  I always hate driving and searching for something at the same time.  I tend to drift towards oncoming traffic, which is not a good thing.

2.  Predictability:  I knew  exactly what I wanted:  a medium french vanilla.  I also knew the price I was going to pay:  give or take two bucks.  If I went elsewhere, maybe they wouldn’t have the exact flavour I wanted or if they did, it might be too watery or too sweet, etc.

Price was another factor.  I grabbed a bite to eat with some people from my dojo the other day.  They ordered some wine and offered  me a glass.  I accepted and at the end of the night, I was stuck with a $50 bill (the waiter split the cost of all 5 bottles evenly…thanks garcon).  The point being, I don’t like this kind of surprise.  When it comes to coffee, I’m fairly price conscious.  Don’t ask me to pay six bucks for a coffee unless it has some kind of magical ‘axe effect’, which attracts all the nice looking girls within a 5 block radius.  And if ‘Axe’ (it’s a deodorant that uses some creative advertising) itself doesn’t work, your coffee sure as hell won’t, either.

Last but not least, I was familiar with the layout of a Tim Horton’s.  The tables and chairs look the same everywhere.  Their counter is set up the same way.  Their people dress in a certain manner.  I know more or else what to expect on their menus, etc.  These are minor things, but they do influence us to a certain extent.

3.  Emotional attachment.  Hate to say it, but over the years, I’ve developed somewhat of a bond with this bloody coffee shop.  In high school, my friends and I would often meet up at the local Tim Horton’s.  In university, I did a lot of studying there.  During breaks, that’s where I would go for a quick coffee to keep me awake during the last half of Microeconomics or Financial Accounting.  Though not always obvious at the conscious level, we all remember these kinds of experiences and they influence us at a subconscious level.

So there you have it.  All of these things went through my head, either consciously or subconsciously, in the span of a few seconds which resulted in my decision to turn back.  Who would have thought?