Brand Secrets and Strategies Podcast
David Lemley With Retail Voodoo, Why Brands Need To Become Good Citizens To Win Over Future Shoppers
Sustainable brand growth that attracts future shoppers will be tied to ethical practices including conscientious human-like characteristics. Aligning with mission-based causes, Citizen Brandhood is the focus of David’s new book, Beloved & Dominant Brands.
Welcome. The primary thing that sets natural brands apart from their mainstream competitors is the Achilles heel of their competition. Let me explain. Mainstream brands, retailers, and solution providers tend to commoditize the natural consumer. They tend to commoditize the way that everyone shops, and the stores that you shop in. Let me explain. Big companies tend to think of their consumers as all being the same. Very generic, if you will. In other words, female, head of household, 2.3 kids, et cetera. There’s not a lot of differentiation. I believe that this is one of the fundamental reasons why they struggle so much at retail.
I’ve talked a lot about how natural brands are responsible for sustainable growth across every category and every channel. In fact, on every single podcast page, there’s a link to the 2016 feature article that I wrote for the 2016 Management Handbook. The point is this, in the absence of natural organic, every category would be flat or declining. This is why natural organic products are so important to mainstream retailers, and why so many mainstream brands are acquiring them.
So, why does this matter? Because they’re trying to understand that unique consumer that buys your products. They’re trying to tap into that magic that you have, in terms of your ability to relate to and connect with that consumer. Now the reality is that understanding who this core consumer is, takes a lot more than just simply acquiring a company. This is your greatest opportunity to differentiate yourself from your mainstream counterparts. This is your greatest opportunity to stand out on a crowded shelf. And more importantly, if you leverage this properly, this is going to give you a significant and sustainable competitive advantage at retail.
In other words, retailers want three things. They want more traffic in their store, they want a reasonable profit, and they want a competitive advantage in their market. You have the opportunity to provide that by educating the retailer about that unique consumer that your product drives into the stores.
This is why today’s show matters. This should be at the heart and soul of your brand positioning. This is the foundation that you need to be building your brand on. And today’s special guest is the absolute perfect person to help communicate this to you. You’re going to want to stay tuned.