branding

Where loyalty becomes a part of corporate DNA

May 2, 2012

Where loyalty becomes a part of corporate DNA

Branding Insights
One of a series by John Paulo Cardoso, Spyder Works Chief Creative Officer & Founder

Are points and travel miles cards the best way to spur customer loyalty? Or is there a better way by embedding a loyalty program in operations? Shoppers Drug Mart is about to find out. It has launched a new Shoppers Drug Mart Everyday App to build a stickier user community from its customer base. The app invites shoppers to gain real value by displaying online coupons at checkout, refilling prescriptions anytime, and creating a shopping list that customers can carry with them on their phone based on offers available at their preferred location.

To me, this is a different kind of loyalty program. Instead of being driven by collecting points or special promotions, Shoppers Drug Mart is building a trusted relationship with customers by designing programs intended to give customers ‘the most personalized health care experience possible.’ A well designed app can be a valuable extension of your brand at a time when in-store promotions and service offerings can be accessed on demand by anyone with a smartphone.

What’s more personal than that?

By John Paulo Cardoso Blog, branding, business strategy, social media, Spyder Works No comments Tags: , , , , , ,

Despite the Recent Headlines: Offer Still Outranks Price

Apr 11, 2012

Despite the Recent Headlines: Offer Still Outranks Price

Branding Insights

One of a series by John Paulo Cardoso, Spyder Works Chief Creative Officer & Founder

The big box retailers are singing the Amazon blues on a daily basis. They say that they can’t compete with Amazon’s model and the lower prices for commodities that it offers. While price is always important, I believe that the real issue is that their stores and brands just aren’t offering anything unique to engage customers.

Unless, of course, you are the retailer Loblaws. Currently, their President’s Choice (PC) brand is third on the Ipsos Reid list of Most Influential Brands in Canada…that’s 33 spots ahead of Loblaw’s itself.

The PC phenomenon speaks to the consumer’s relationship with a brand and its promise, versus that of a commodity. It also demonstrates that the power of the brand and branding can greatly outweigh the distribution channel and price.

It also explains why Loblaws calls PC the brand “worth switching supermarkets for”.

By John Paulo Cardoso Blog, branding, marketing, Spyder Works, strategy 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , ,

“Kraft Singles” out its Snack Division

Mar 28, 2012

“Kraft Singles” out its Snack Division

Branding Insights
One of a series by John Paulo Cardoso, Spyder Works Chief Creative Officer & Founder

There are no red flags with Kraft’s new name change. On Aug. 4, 2011, Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT) announced plans to divide and create two independent public companies: a high-growth global snacks business and a high-margin North American grocery business. And now on March 21, 2012 they announced its plans for its snack food corporate name as Mondelez International, Inc.

As their press release describes it, “‘Mondelez’ (pronounced mohn-dah-LEEZ’) is a newly coined word that evokes the idea of “delicious world.” “Monde” derives from the Latin word for “world,” and “delez” is a fanciful expression of “delicious.” In addition, “International” captures the global nature of the business.”

What this demonstrates is that the company truly understands the strength of its brands and how they have built a relationship with customers. And now they are using this knowledge to manage the branding of its new independent company to leverage the platform “make today delicious.” The move to invent a new word and taking the time to let everyone know the phonetic spelling is the right thing to do for a multinational conglomerate rather than trying to leverage one of its current brand names. As the Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld has said regarding the new global snacks company, “we wanted to find a new name that could serve as an umbrella for our iconic brands, reinforce the truly global nature of this business and build on our higher purpose – to ‘make today delicious.’ Mondelez perfectly captures the idea of a ‘delicious world’ and will serve as a solid foundation for the strong relationships.” Kraft Foods Inc. brands know how to build relationships with its customers and now it’s applying it to the market and investors.

By John Paulo Cardoso Blog, branding, marketing, Spyder Works, strategy No comments Tags: , , , , , ,

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