Session 2 Brand Builders

Creative ~ Smart ~ Effective September 14-15 ~ Dallas, TX Brought to you by: 105

Session 2 Brand Builders VGS

ED FRECHETTE AU BON PAIN ALAN HIXON DAN KIM MOOYAH BURGERS & FRIES RED MANGO Executive PANEL PATRICK BENISILLO VGS MODERATOR - LINDA DUKE DUKE MARKETING

Brand Builders Managing Growth: Emo6onal Connec6ons and  Community Involvement

Au Bon Pain • 31 Year‐old brand • Over 200 units  • Urban loca6ons • Market Place design

Au Bon Pain • We are about two things: –Food that just tastes beKer –Beyond‐the‐ordinary hospitality

Emo6onal Connec6ons • Unique foods • Amazing people

Emo6onal Connec6ons • “Hire the Smile.  Train the Skill” • We hire great people ﬁrst and then train them on  the required job func6ons • Weekly job fairs –On 6me –Our story –Outgoing people –Tests

Emo6onal Connec6ons • High reten6on rates –Management turnover 23% –Hourlys less than 50% –Average crew tenure 3 years • “Give Yourself a Raise” program

Emo6onal Connec6ons • Guest Feedback – Weekly tracking –2:1 Compliment/Complaint ra6o –Compliments are about the people • 96.6%

Community Involvement • Par6cipate in communi6es we serve • Stand for something –Food for Life Program ‐ external –Au How We Care ‐ internal

Emotional Connection •Foundation •Buy In •Implement •Measure

WOW! Factor •Deliver an Experience That Motivates •Do Not Be Perceived as a “Me TOO” • Love=Emotion •Define Your “Love That’s

The WOW! Factor

Finding Your Brand Personality

Caring for our community • Commit to Becoming Involved Via Your Brand Promise • Involve People at All Levels In Your Organization • Define Your Desired Results • Implement A Measurement System

How we use social media to create an emotional connection with our fans (aka customers).

Keys to Developing an Emotional Connection with Consumers • Understanding the brand hierarchy • Brand positioning • Target consumer • Using social media

The Brand Hierarchy • In our view, there are three levels of how consumers react to and embrace brands: • Brand preference - choose one brand over others, but decision may sway depending on variety of factors (value, location) • “I like Starbucks, but I’ll go to the local coffee shop because coffee is coffee” • Brand loyalty - prefer one brand over others, and will usually choose that brand but may choose other brands depending on circumstantial factors • “I like Starbucks, and almost always go there, but I’ll go to the local coffee shop because I have a coupon” • Brand passion - almost always choose one brand over others because consumers have an emotional connection with the brand • “I love Starbucks, and will only go there because I’m passionate about Starbucks” • Why do consumers become passionate about brands? • They have an emotional connection with the brand

Brand Positioning How we want our brand to exist in the minds of consumers • Many reasons why consumers connect emotionally with a brand, but common theme is that the brands consumers emotionally connect with deliver more than just the product: • Trust/reliability, quality, value, design, social status, personality expression, aspirational lifestyle • Companies that successfully develop an emotional connection with their customers position their brand to provide emotional beneﬁts that their customers seek. • Apple: Stylish, savvy, embraces simplicity and independence • Toyota Prius: Eco friendly, practical, unpretentious • T-Mobile:Young, hip, trendy, tech savvy • Southwest Airlines: Reliable, practical, frugal • In & Out Burger: Quality, value, reliable • Brand positioning is important before any emotion connection can be made with a consumer: • What are the core emotional values that are important to your company and your customers?

Red Mango’s Brand Position • Red Mango’s brand is deﬁned by our company’s commitment to three fundamental values that are important to us and to our customers: • Health, Taste & Style • Health - committed to offering the healthiest snacks, treats and meal replacements • Taste - committed to offering the best tasting culinary experience • Style - committed to delivering Health and Taste in the most stylish way

Target Audience Establishes the mind-set or values that unify all people who could use your brand • Positioning the brand also requires a fundamental understanding of the core customer • Allows companies to communicate to core customers in the most effective way • For Red Mango: • Active, health conscious, and brand conscious consumers; wellness-driven customers • 70% female, 18-35; want to look good and feel good • Values transparency and honesty; tech savvy, information seekers, discerning; can’t BS them • Desires to interact with the brand; doesn’t like to be spoken down to • Brands are their friends, so developing a friendship is important. =

Establishing the Emotional Connection Methods • In order for consumers to emotionally embrace your brand, they must see your brand as a living thing - A BRAND MUST HAVE A PERSONALITY • How can companies (restaurants) develop a brand with personality? • CUSTOMER SERVICE - most obvious and important way, as your staff bring your brand’s experience to life • The brand is your customer’s friend, so your staff should treat customers that way • MENU - making sure it’s consistent with your brand position and target consumer • Don’t deviate for the sake of short-term profit or short-term trends; creates confusion and perceived schizophrenia • STORE DESIGN - how does your brand dress? • Make sure the store design (which includes lighting, color scheme, music, furniture, customer flow) all provide visual cues that reflect the brand position, and provide an atmosphere for your customers to develop an emotional connection with your brand • CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION (aka ADVERTISING) - design and execute your advertising strategy in a way that your customers want to receive information • SOCIAL MEDIA - Applications like Facebook and Twitter bring a brand to life • Empowers companies to speak to their customers, and for customers to speak to companies, thereby giving the brand a personality

The Role of Social Media Facebook & Twitter • Social media is NOT media in the traditional sense • Not really used as another way to advertise or push content in one direction • Social media IS a platform that allows brands to speak to customers, AND for customers to speak to their brands • Two-way, interactive media • Dynamic communication = personality development • Old-school social media: comment cards, customer service phone numbers • Today’s social media: Two most prominent ones Red Mango uses are Facebook and Twitter

Facebook • Facebook is an application that allows both consumers and companies to create profile pages that express themselves with information that ranges from basic facts and photos to advanced interactive applications • Allows consumers to connect and share/exchange information, status updates, personal preferences • Basic Facebook facts • Over 250 million active users; more than 2/3rds are outside of college • Average user has 120 Facebook friends; fastest growing segment: those over 35 years of age • More than a billion photos uploaded on the Facebook site each month • Facebook fan pages are created by “brands” (personalities, companies, groups) to attract, connect and dynamically communicate with supporters of those brands • In traditional marketing terminology, think of Facebook fanpages as a highly-targeted mailing list, but one that allows your recipients to talk back to the company in real time. • Becoming a “fan” of a group/concept means much more than just a preference for of support of that that group/concept; it defines your personality through brand affiliation (e.g., wearing a t- shirt of your favorite logo or band) • More than 8 million users become “fans” each day (e.g., fans of companies, celebrities, groups) • Allows companies to talk to and socially engage with their customer, and gives your customers a voice that can be heard not only by your company, but by the customer’s peers who share common values by being connected to your brand

Some of the Most Popular Facebook Pages Barack Obama - over 6.6M fans Victoria’s Secret PINK - over 1.4M fans Apple Students - over 1.3M fans Coca-Cola - over 3.6M fans

Red Mango’s Facebook Page

Twitter • Twitter is a micro-blogging application that allows individuals and companies to share their current, at- the-moment thoughts... in 140 characters or less • Twitter users express preference for a brand by “following” the brand - i.e., indicating that they are interested in listening to what companies have to say • Allows companies to post thoughts, ideas, news, coupons, and questions that solicit feedback • Not as useful as Facebook in sharing media (e.g., photos, videos), but is faster and more instantaneous • Gives the brand a voice, and allows customers to talk to the brand, and thereby develops a personality for the brand

Things Restaurants can do with Social Media All intended to communicate interactively with customers, and give the brand a personality • Solicit feedback on products • Red Mango frequently asks what our Facebook fans thing of existing product ideas, as well as new ones we are thinking about (e.g., quick and dirty, yet meaningful, market research) • Encourage customers to talk to the company - positive & negative experiences, and then respond. • Share information • “Did you know”, interesting facts • Alert customers of new store openings • Can also target announcements via geography and demography • Can even send messages on customers’ birthdays • Send out coupons, special offers, incentives, etc. • Run contests • Encourages viral marketing and online brand building • Post exclusive photos • Celebrity sightings, new products that are about to be released, fan submissions, new store openings

Measuring Performance • Facebook • Use Facebook Insights to monitor customer responsiveness; also analyze demographic proﬁle, geographic makeup, and use this information to cater online and ofﬂine marketing campaigns

Things to Avoid • Social media alone does not work; social media is just one aspect of developing a well-rounded brand personality • Facebook/Twitter should not be used simply to advertise to customers; it should be used as a forum in which consumers feel like they are a part of the brand • Don’t clutter your Facebook or Twitter page; would you want your friend calling you 100 times a day? • Understand that Facebook/Twitter fans are intelligent, so keep your messages direct and honest

Collaboration Questions (Session 2 ) 1 What community building projects have you done - in community or online? What is the most important factor in your brand 2 from a consumers point of view, What steps are you taking to build your brand in 2 the social media front?

Cocktail Mixer & Dinner Party 6:30 PM - 9:30PM Keynote: Sue Morelli 8:00 AM

Creative ~ Smart ~ Effective September 14-15 ~ Dallas, TX Brought to you by: 150

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Session 2 Brand Builders

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