Brand Management - Grateful Dead Style
Brand Management - Grateful Dead Style
Brand promises get tested with each consumer encounter, and if a brand's execution does not meet or exceed its promise, consumers will flee it faster than you can sing "Truckin," and you can say goodbye to your once-loyal customer base.
If brands represent the sum total of the images that people have in their minds about a particular organization, I would rate the Grateful Dead, one of the world's legendary rock bands, right next to the world's best brand builders ... folks like Disney, FedEx, Nike, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola and Sony, among others.
Branding 101 taught us that brand managers must: define an experience that the customer values; deliver that experience in everything they do; measure the impact on their customer and deliver the experience consistently. Without debate, the Grateful Dead deliver on all accounts. From the very beginning, the Grateful Dead were always about the music and the experience, their "product," so to speak. And they protected it rigorously. Un]ike most rock bands,The Dead resisted commercial opportunities and Hollywood overtures at every turn. Yes, they embraced the hippie culture, but did so with a laser-like focus and understanding of the benefits of long-term brand management.
Moreover, the band highly valued their fans, uh customers. With great foresight in 1968, they were the very first musical group to establish a proprietary customer database and newsletter to stay in touch with their legion of loyal fans. They followed in the early '90s with a powerful, interactive Web site. Against every rule in show business, they allowed their fans to record their live concerts. This further fueled the grass roots devotion to the band, which generated high brand equity and sustainable customer loyalty. If brand equity can be defined as a combination of salience and perceived quality, the Grateful Dead's brand equity would score off the charts.
Some 35 years after the band's creation, Grateful Dead Merchandising continues to market and sell music and merchandise at a brisk pace. Although Jerry Garcia, the Dead's spiritual leader, (I mean brand manager) died on Aug. 9, 1995, the "Dead" franchise remains as strong as ever, with brand extensions proliferating. Take note you MBAs at Procter & Gamble, Philip Morris and Kraft.
World-class brands require nurturing and diligence. The care and management of the Grateful Dead produced big dividends and enjoyed vast spiritual and economic rewards. Venues were always sold out, and the band played before more people than any other group in history. Essentially, this was accomplished without any brand advertising or marketing. Go figure, but such is the strength of brand loyalty — priceless benefits!
The Dead were tireless workers. The sheer number of their live concerts is legendary, and the "live" connection with the band was a central component. This led to an oft-heard saying, "There's nothing like a Grateful Dead concert." For decades, the Grateful Dead were firmly established in the Top 5 grossing entertainers of any kind worldwide. In Forbes' annual listing of the world's highest paid entertainers, its members consistently ranked near the top.
Although I have never seen a customer satisfaction or brand equity index for rock bands and their fans, I'd suspect The Dead would come out a clear winner on almost all metrics. Certainly, they were prolific musicians and songwriters. But their greatness came from their ability to connect fans to their brand in a profound, emotional way. Like other world-class brands, the Grateful Dead forged deep, lasting relationships with their customers and consistently met and exceeded expectations.
My experience in branding has taught me that talk is cheap; the best brands (witness Wal-Mart, Lexus and FedEx) are legendary executioners. They walk the talk! Quite frankly, The Dead talked very little ... they just consistently delivered on their brand promise. Attention all brand managers! There's a lesson to be learned here. Keep your promises and you'll keep your customers.
Brand Management Grateful Dead Style - To learn more about this author, visit Rob Rush's Website.
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What can brand managers learn from band managers? Plenty. Just look at the Grateful Dead.
Brand promises get tested with each consumer encounter, and if a brand's execution does not meet or exceed its promise, consumers will flee it faster than you can sing "Truckin," and you can say goodbye to your once-loyal customer base.
If brands represent the sum total of the images that people have in their minds about a particular organization, I would rate the Grateful Dead, one of the world's legendary rock bands, right next to the world's best brand builders ... folks like Disney, FedEx, Nike, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola and Sony, among others.
Branding 101 taught us that brand managers must: define an experience that the customer values; deliver that experience in everything they do; measure the impact on their customer and deliver the experience consistently. Without debate, the Grateful Dead deliver on all accounts. From the very beginning, the Grateful Dead were always about the music and the experience, their "product," so to speak. And they protected it rigorously. Un]ike most rock bands,The Dead resisted commercial opportunities and Hollywood overtures at every turn. Yes, they embraced the hippie culture, but did so with a laser-like focus and understanding of the benefits of long-term brand management.
Moreover, the band highly valued their fans, uh customers. With great foresight in 1968, they were the very first musical group to establish a proprietary customer database and newsletter to stay in touch with their legion of loyal fans. They followed in the early '90s with a powerful, interactive Web site. Against every rule in show business, they allowed their fans to record their live concerts. This further fueled the grass roots devotion to the band, which generated high brand equity and sustainable customer loyalty. If brand equity can be defined as a combination of salience and perceived quality, the Grateful Dead's brand equity would score off the charts.
Some 35 years after the band's creation, Grateful Dead Merchandising continues to market and sell music and merchandise at a brisk pace. Although Jerry Garcia, the Dead's spiritual leader, (I mean brand manager) died on Aug. 9, 1995, the "Dead" franchise remains as strong as ever, with brand extensions proliferating. Take note you MBAs at Procter & Gamble, Philip Morris and Kraft.
World-class brands require nurturing and diligence. The care and management of the Grateful Dead produced big dividends and enjoyed vast spiritual and economic rewards. Venues were always sold out, and the band played before more people than any other group in history. Essentially, this was accomplished without any brand advertising or marketing. Go figure, but such is the strength of brand loyalty — priceless benefits!
The Dead were tireless workers. The sheer number of their live concerts is legendary, and the "live" connection with the band was a central component. This led to an oft-heard saying, "There's nothing like a Grateful Dead concert." For decades, the Grateful Dead were firmly established in the Top 5 grossing entertainers of any kind worldwide. In Forbes' annual listing of the world's highest paid entertainers, its members consistently ranked near the top.
Although I have never seen a customer satisfaction or brand equity index for rock bands and their fans, I'd suspect The Dead would come out a clear winner on almost all metrics. Certainly, they were prolific musicians and songwriters. But their greatness came from their ability to connect fans to their brand in a profound, emotional way. Like other world-class brands, the Grateful Dead forged deep, lasting relationships with their customers and consistently met and exceeded expectations.
My experience in branding has taught me that talk is cheap; the best brands (witness Wal-Mart, Lexus and FedEx) are legendary executioners. They walk the talk! Quite frankly, The Dead talked very little ... they just consistently delivered on their brand promise. Attention all brand managers! There's a lesson to be learned here. Keep your promises and you'll keep your customers.
Brand Management Grateful Dead Style - To learn more about this author, visit Rob Rush's Website.
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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