This is without a doubt the best book on retailing, since the wonderful ‘Why We By The Science Of Shopping’ by Paco Underhill. The best way I can think of to describe it is to give you some excerpts. Here goes:
“The natural inclination of retailers is, rightly, to focus on what they have to sell. I say rightly because the table-stake of being a retailer is being able to make a turn by selling something. It's the basic talent of any good retailer. If you don't have this quality or instinct, then you're in the wrong job. It would be like a professional footballer that couldn't kick a ball. However, it's not enough.”
“The great retailers (the ones who get past one or two shops) do much more than just think about how they are going to make a good turn on what they've got to sell. They see the bigger picture; they understand what their customers want now; they anticipate what they will need in the future and they appreciate the importance of differentiating their role from that of their competitors. To pull this off requires a level of customer knowledge that can only come from adopting the customer's position, by standing in their shoes.”
Which is more important, the brand or the merchandise?
“While merchandising is hugely important, something else is probably a little more important. Anyone who doubts this should take a look at Starbucks. For 16 years, they worried about their coffee. For the next 16 years, they worried about their brand. Product-centric Starbucks grew to six stores. Brand-centric Starbucks grew to more than six thousand.”
Martin Butler's premise is that those retailers who think of themselves as a brand rather than a stockist of brands are the ones who will win.
So you’ve changed the logo!
“I hate it when someone says they've re-branded their business when all they've done is change the logo. What kind of re-branding can that be when customers are subjected to the same old dismal service, when the window displays remain as dreary as they ever were and when the merchandising continues to look as if it was designed by a colour-blind accountant.”
What Makes You Special?
“Nine out of 10 shops are set up and defined by what the shopkeeper has to sell rather than what the customer wants to buy.”
“Any good retailer needs to rent space in the mind of its customers, so that they will think of the store even when they are not there. Out of mind, out of business.”
“If you don't stand for something, you stand for nothing; and if you stand for nothing, why on earth should anyone choose you?”
“Did your company define itself in relation to its competitors, or has it got a sense of its own identity, of what makes it special in its own right?”
The Embodiment of Your Brand
“I've yet to come across a great retail brand with only adequate staff. It's simply not possible. The staff are both the embodiment and the manifestation of the brand. If the staff are mediocre and indistinguishab-le from any other shop assistant, there is effectively no brand.”
Customer Conversations Count
“Go into each customer conversation with the mindset that this conversation is going to change your company in some way.
“Don't forget the people who work on the manufacturing side, have to book an appointment to listen to what their customers have to say. You've got your customers beating a path to your door. Be sure to use it.”
What Does Your Carrier Bag Say About Your Customers?
“Ask your customers what they feel your carrier bag says about them. A good research technique is to show pictures of people with different carrier bags and ask respondents to describe what the people in the picture are like. It's surprising how much can be read into a carrier bag.
• What does your company's carrier bag say about your company?
• Wha-t are your customers saying about themselves when they go out with one of your carrier bags?”
‘People don't buy what you sell - they buy what you stand for’ is a wonderful read with many insights from a fascinating, knowledgeable marketing specialist, whose parents owned a local hardware store. His chatty style and down to earth turn of phrase make this by far the most readable book on branding I’ve ever come across.
I do have two minor irritations about the book though. I’m surprised that such a wise and experienced advertising and direct marketing specialist allowed his book to be printed in a sans serif type. Something usually only seen in self-published books by authors who don’t know better. And while I have read and reread parts of the book, I would have expected the binding to stand up to my turning back and forth of the pages. It hasn’t. The first 32 pages have come loose from the binding. I did get an advance copy, so maybe this has been sorted out in the main print run. Despite these irritations, I thoroughly recommend this book. If you are in retail or advertising you will refer to it again and again and again.
Comments