Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Economic Revelations
IN THIS ISSUE:
FEATURE ARTICLE: Staying the course
Strong brands understand the difference between transactional and relational consumers.
Transactional consumers have no loyalty, and chances are, never will.
RUSSO PROFILE
According to Business Development Director, Kassi Guidry, “At Russo, we look for companies
that are forward thinking, and are truly good at what they do. Regardless of the industry,
if a company or organization does not have good business practices, and deliver
a strong product consistently, no amount of branding or marketing will save them.”
Crisis mode generally results in discounts, sales and an attempt to attract transactional customers. While this may help to maintain the
status quo, it won’t lead to long term gains. More importantly, you begin to slowly water down your message, losing the relational clients
you have worked so hard for. This loss of brand loyalty is difficult if not impossible to regain once it is gone.
Think about it. Has your product or service declined in value since yesterday? No, of course not? Well then, why would you even think of
not charging what your product or service is worth? Your brand is worth more than that, and it is vital that both you and your customers
regard it as such. Truth be told, once you head down the road of price point marketing, you will soon find yourself chasing after a dog
that will never be caught.
Strong brands understand the difference between transactional and relational consumers. Transactional consumers are going to drive
to the end of the Earth, or at least the State Line, to get the lowest price (please disregard the amount of gas and time spent on this
transaction). They will always make you work harder for less. Relational consumers on the other hand, will always want YOUR brand
because of the promises you have made regarding quality, service, and overall awesomeness. They provide you with both loyalty and,
wait for it – advocacy, the single most powerful form of advertising available. They rarely look for the best bargain, but rather, the best
quality. These are the customers we all want.
If you are an avid reader of our writings here at Russo, you’ll notice that we talk about advocacy and results quite a bit. The reason?
They are what we strive for with every branded touchpoint we develop. They are also unattainable as soon as you lose focus on your
core promise and begin discounting the value of your product or service. Remember, your promise is your brand – and as soon as you
begin slashing prices you lose credibility. So, before you run to the weekly paper and begin announcing the fire sale, think about the
ramifications of those actions. Yes, there may still be difficult times ahead, but those who stay the course and remain true to their promise,
will find their brand is not only intact, but stronger than ever.
In an economic downturn the visual expression of your brand is one of its most powerful forms of communication. A skilful marketing
agency can make the brand tangible and express powerful sales messages in the most compelling way. For them to be effective it is
important to involve your agency in the whole strategic branding process, giving them an understanding of the big picture and your
BRANDING IN A RECESSION
Even in cases where the brand sees its sales falling, brand custodians need to be careful before announcing a price off. If market share
is constant and sales are lower than normal it’s possibly not a great cause for concern as it is likely that competition too is hurting. If
market share is falling due to competitors discounting their brand excessively it may be a good idea to avoid discounting. No one wins
a discounting battle and the brand that avoids it may just come out stronger because the competition’s brand equity has eroded due to
BRANDING ON A SHOESTRING
The two approaches to managing your brand during these times are: 1) Cut back, wait out the recession, spend money on branding
when there’s extra in the pot; or 2) Full steam ahead, strike while the field is sparse. Carve out or reinforce a strong brand identity now
while the landscape is empty. So which of these two approaches do the brand managers apply? We talked to several across-industry
sectors and everyone seemed to agree, at least in theory, that branding is not just a patina to be applied during times of growth. It’s
a constant maintenance job. Nurture it and you’ll always be safe; dismiss it and you’ll start to see the immediate effects of decay and
As a Marketing Consultant in radio broadcasting, Kassi was responsible for identifying new business
opportunities throughout a diverse market place. This experience of working with multiple industries,
as well as her belief in building strong and lasting relationships, made her an ideal fit to head up
Business Development at Russo.
More than acquiring new business for Russo, Kassi works to find good matches for the agency to
partner with. These partnerships come from a mutual belief that strong brands produce long lasting results.
Here, the branding process begins before we even meet. Just as you would carefully consider hiring an agency, we also take who we work
for very seriously. We begin by taking a hard look at the exterior of a potential client’s operations, products, services, competition and
communications. Most importantly though, we want to see how a potential client’s brand is viewed and thought of by those who matter most
– the consumer and the general public. This preliminary research gives us a foundation to begin the conversation, with an understanding of
where we are, and where we need to go.
meeting
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REVELATION is published in 12 issues yearly by The Russo Group • Copyright © 2008 The Russo Group
opposition (op•po•si•tion) n.
1. the action of opposing, resisting, or combating; antagonism or hostility
Coby Cox
opposition
This month, Gallery R will be featuring the work of painter Coby Cox. The show, entitled “OPPOSITION,” will feature
selections of Cox’s newest work, which focuses on capturing the most elusive aspects of human nature; aspects
that are observable both internally and externally, though in simultaneous contradiction. Cox, a native of Lubbock,
Texas, and current resident of Lafayette and New Orleans, explains his work as recurrent images reconsidered as an
exploration of the nuanced nature of relationships and the impossibility of form and content acting in unison. While
the images may be symbolically suggestive, the symbols relied on are meant to define ironic relationships reliant on
contrast - the organic shape of anatomy wedded to the stylized line of machine. What is latently vulnerable about that
which is manifested as hideous, what is blatantly destructive about that which is perceived to heal.