FRONT LINES

{MAY 2015}
The Hot List

Info Bites to Fuel Your Business

1
HEY, BATTER BATTER!

Lou Imbriano, CEO of TrinityOne, Inc., writes in “Branding 101: The Small Business Guide to Building a Brand Identity” that discovering and implementing your company’s brand identity isn’t as complicated as it seems. In honor of spring and America’s pastime, here’s the line-up for making your business go yard.

SWING FOR A BASE HIT:

Understand the business niche you are in and how you differ from competitors.



Know your target audience to the core.



Fully grasp how your product and services hit the sweet spot of your audience’s needs.

SWING FOR A HOME RUN:

Make sure all communications, individual or mass, are consistent and in line with brand positioning.



Have one person/group review all outside messaging and any brand associations.



Reward loyal customers and fans with perks and special treatment to show your appreciation.

Source: Brand Knew magazine

2
LISTEN UP

70%
of companies with customer service ratings of outstanding use customer feedback to make strategic business decisions
50%
of organizations with industry average customer service incorporate customer feedback into the business strategies
<29%
of sub-par businesses value customer input at all.

Source: National Business Research Institute, Inc.

3
MILLENNIALS FLEX RETAIL MUSCLES

80 million Americans fall into the millennial demographic (18 to 34 years old). They spend around $600 billion/year… and will account for 1/3 of retail spending by 2020.

They are easily becoming the most powerful demographic due to their influence on trend setting.

Source: Industry Weapon Inc.

4
TODAY’S CONSUMER…

Still sees price as a primary motivating factor, BUT

$ Values quality, customer service, and in-store experience.

$ Has a little more wiggle room in his budget and increasing consumer confidence.

$ Has developed through technology a savviness with price transparency between different retailers and brands.

$ Millennial consumers are quick to ID brands and companies that don’t seem genuinely invested in them or the causes they care about.

– Proper Insights’ analyst Pam Goodfellow, in an interview with the National Retail Federation (NRF)