brand

Apr 16, 2012

Ding-Dong, This is Your Wake-up Calling

Innovation Insights
One of a series by Ken Tencer, Spyder Works CEO

Dove speaks to “real beauty,” and Revlon to hope. There is Martha Stewart who has redefined the notion of ‘living’ and, of course ‘O’, the empowerment juggernaut.

But Avon Products is still best known for “ding-dong” – the century-old symbol of how they deliver, not what they deliver. Well, today the middle class are not at home during the day, they’re at work. And every business now provides in-home shopping, through the Internet, and next-day delivery.

Avon’s recent fourth-quarter results showed a sales drop of 4%. After 125 years, it needs a new direction. Avon needs to build on platform, not process. Avon needs to focus less on finding new ways to sell its products, and more on making people want to buy them. Capture the imagination of consumers, and they will want to find you. Avon should cull its 20-years-behind roster of celebrity endorsers and embrace the A-list: a socially interactive, engaging and inspiring life of beauty, glamour and style.

Process and delivery are important to every business-consumer relationship; be on-time, be in-stock, perform the way you promise – but today they are a “given.” What you make and how you deliver is not as important as how your customers perceive your brand’s ability to positively impact their lives.

By Ken Tencer Blog, business strategy, Innovation No comments Tags: Avon, brand, business strategy, customers, Ken Tencer, platform, process, The 90% Rule

Dec 8, 2010

Is distance learning innovative or regressive?

I recently had the opportunity to guest lecture at a major university. The topic was new media. In the middle of the lecture, it dawned on me that here I was talking about a trend in media that heightened the opportunities for interaction, communication and discussion … but I was talking to a half-empty lecture hall! The other half of the class was either watching me from home or taping me to watch at some later date when they had a minute (I know this because an exam question was going to be based on my lecture).

Huh?

By Ken Tencer Blog, business, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial Thinking, entrepreneurship, Innovation, The 90% Rule No comments Tags: 90% Rule, brand, business, Entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Innovation, Ken Tencer, social media, strategy, The 90% Rule

Nov 16, 2010

Building Brand U

When I work with companies to build their brands, I start with a very straightforward definition, “what we believe in, what we do and what we say… that matters to a lucrative set of customers.”

But what about Brand U? No, that’s not a new university for branding. It’s a reference to building our own personal brands. We have beliefs, actions and thoughts that matter to our employers, friends, family and foes. And they have a profound effect over the path that our careers are going to take.

By Ken Tencer Blog, branding, business, Entrepreneur No comments Tags: brand, branding, business, cyberspace, Entrepreneur, facebook, Innovation, Ken Tencer, social media, strategy, The 90% Rule