The Difference is Brand

Over the thirty years of working with Lifestyle Businesses I have gone into many companies with a brief to increase sales. On some occasions (when it’s the most fun) business owners and managers have allowed me to have a close look at the whole sales and marketing operation and suggest changes to teams, branding and communication plans. In some cases, owners have been willing to look at a completely new direction as the business was not currently satisfying the desires of managers and owners.

Due to the success of the Lifestyle Awards I have been able to have a close look at 000’s of businesses not just in London but across the country.  Often interviewing owners and been able to find out why they believe they have become successful and for me to research so I could form an informed opinion why some Lifestyle Businesses are so successful and in turn win Lifestyle Awards when others are left scrapping for survival.

After meeting with literally 000’s of Lifestyle businesses and (with this size of sample I have to generalise a little) the difference between the ‘have’s’ and the ‘have not’s’ is clear…its Brand.

For those of you that are still reading let me take you back 20 years in London to demonstrate how the lifestyle businesses market has worked and how that in turn has been replicated in the other great cities around the UK.

Twenty years ago London was a very different place, especially in the lifestyle business sector, it was all pretty simple, if you wanted to experience fine dining, visit what we would call a ‘Style bar’, enjoy a late drink or visit a hair dressers that did not have a far reaching smell of ammonia you needed to visit the West End, the West End was were it was at. The demand for Hairdressers such as Nicky Clarke, Night Clubs such as Browns or Bars like Atlantic Bar where through the roof. To be able to patronise these fantastic businesses you needed to pay top prices or know someone who was able to get an appointment or reservation…or preferably both. Times were good for managers and owner’s and in turn customers did buy into to the whole experience and privilege of their association with these brands.  

Over the years the city spread and developed, house prices were rising so developers and property owners were investing in properties they owned having the result of improving neighbourhoods. At the same time Central London was seeing an increase in tourism and migration into the city, the waiting list or line to get into the desired West End venue was getting longer and longer. Savvy entrepreneurs started to open localised high-quality restaurants, bars and hairdressers on people’s doorsteps where there were concentrations of inhabitants of discerning Londoners. By 2010 and the build up to the Olympics (and the first year of the London Lifestyle Awards) London was a very different place from the late 90’s every neighbourhood had a style bar, a restaurant or a desired hairdresser. London was saturated and competition was at fever pitch. Supply was outstripping demand substantially.

As a communications consultant and celebrator of these great industries this was a fascinating time. This was when I really started to see the differences in the businesses between those that survived or died and those that thrived.

When competition becomes intense, when the demand is not enough to go around there is a temptation to cut the price of the product and work ever increasingly harder selling your product cheaper than your competitive neighbour. In the night club and bar sectors we saw street teams of promotors on the streets literally trying to grab people to pull them into venues for cheap or free drinks. ‘A boards’ were outside hairdressers with ever decreasing prices and the happy hour was now firmly Happy Hours…sometimes during the week days lasting all night long. We witnessed the advance of the daily deal and offer sites such as Top Table and then Groupon and Living Social. These sites had a devastating effect on the industries, the mass of lifestyle businesses experienced that if they did not have a deal or a cut price offer you had empty businesses it really was a race to the bottom. In turn more and more resource from business owners and managers were invested into the sales function, whether in house teams or giving your customer accusation function away employing external promotors. The additional problem to this is, while revenue is declining due to cut price deals the cost of gaining sales is ever increasing and more and more ‘sales people’ enter the market place making more and more noise. More and more cold calling to businesses trying to sell a Christmas party or event at their venue, this was great for the consumer as they could pick and choose the cheapest option, they had many and it left the poor business owner at the mercy of what the nearest competitor is willing to sell at. These businesses died or barely survived but who are the ones that thrived...what did they do.

The businesses that thrived many I know well through the lifestyle awards did not enter this ‘sales’ focus price race to the bottom, instead of investing in more and more in outbound sales drives they invested in Brand. A brand gives a reason to choose creating a demand that is less responsive to price changes. These businesses were brave, they did not drop their prices instead they insured the quality of product remained high but more importantly the reputation of a quality experience was perceived by the public long before the customer patronised the business. A list of these businesses does look like a who’s who of the history of the London lifestyle Awards, but businesses such as Home House, Taylor Taylor, Errol Douglas and The Savoy have long been advocates of sticking to ‘Brand Values’ and riding any storm they may face. I am not saying that invest in brand and all your troubles will be over, but I am saying invest in brand and you will have more opportunity to get over your troubles.

Daniel Priestly in the fantastic book Oversubscribed illustrates this brilliantly.  Daniel tells the story of the queue for a handbag concession in Selfridges where a small separate room is roped off with queue of well healed ladies wait patiently to be able to be let in to spend literally 000’s of pounds on a designer hand bag. Less than 500 yards away is a shop on Oxford street packed to the rafters of hand bags which look very much like the same bags, they are quality made and there is a man outside shouting the latest sales and trying with all his might to get passers by to purchase a ï¿¡50 bag…. There is no rush for this, no queue just a lot of people annoyed by his constant noise and sales pitch.

You may say, but my business is not a high-end business is brand still relevant to me? The answer yes of course, the whole point of Brand is so the potential customer understands the experience they will receive before they become a customer. Sainsburys, Tesco’s and Liddle basically sell the same products but still can evoke brand preference. The high street coffee shops that now dominate our cities and towns do not compete of price, inside they very rarely talk about price instead they put beautiful pictures on the wall of heartfelt messages about the love they put into their coffee. Compared to the local Café that plasters its walls with price information and notices about free toast of coffee with the ‘Big Mans Big Breakfast’

What I wanted this blog to do was to make you think about you own business, are you the person outside you bag shop shouting your cheap prices or are you the business inside Selfridges invested in Brand whose customers queue up to buy from you. If your sales team just need to keep shouting louder and louder as the months go by, I fear for your long-term future, you may survive but will you thrive?  However, if your brand is doing the talking for you that’s a different story, your brand should be helping consumers make the right choice.