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07.01.2004

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July 29, 2003"The Magic of the Cultural Brand" - an interview with Harvey Hartman

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Community Outreach And Your Brand Equity: want The Biggest ROI, Get "real"

Community is a hot topic these days, so first it is important to distinguish between the differing flavors of community invoked by marketers and brand managers. Lately we have encountered much hoopla regarding what we term brand communities, collections of like-minded players - consumers, fans, critics, manufacturers, retailers - all connected through a meaningful activity or shared, substantive interest. REI, Patagonia, Harley Davidson and Jeep are all examples of brands that have fostered successful brand communities, generating significant shared interest and participation - not to mention brand loyalty - among their membership. While brand communities are surely a promising development, that's not the flavor of community I want to talk about here. Instead, I want to focus on what I term the more conventional preoccupation with community issues among brand managers, specifically, efforts to promote relationships, goodwill and general stewardship by reaching out to people, organizations and communities all in the name of the brand.

So there I sit, exploring brand impressions with a young couple in the living room of their suburban Dallas home. I'm gauging reaction to several of the client's community/outreach programming efforts when the husband interrupts me in an exasperated tone:

"Look, don't you get it?? The only thing that really matters to me beyond the taste of the food and the assurance that the product will (hopefully) not make me sick is how they treat their employees. It's fine with me if they want to go around planting trees or donating food to the homeless or sponsoring charity events or giving out baseball caps at the ballpark, but none of those things affect me or anyone close to me, which is how I define community.

"On the other hand, I do know several people who have worked there and the things they say it - about the wages and benefits, treatment, opportunities for promotion and such - tell me a lot about the kind of company they are, which in this case happens to be a good one. And the fact that these folks benefited from working there, that's the kind of community support I'm looking for.

"It's like UPS...We all know that's a stressful, demanding job, but we also know that the employees are well compensated and receive great benefits. My uncle used to work extra holiday shifts there just to buy his kids cool Christmas presents. That's community for ya, and that's a heck of a lot more important than the fact that the company decides to sponsor the Hula Bowl or whatever."

And that's when it first dawned on me.

Traditional branding efforts stressing community outreach programs may seem good on paper. For that matter, they may even make the world a better place in very concrete, tangible ways. What they likely won't do, though, is build brand equity or awareness - at least not in any significant manner. More importantly, the problem here is not a lack of creativity or inspiration on the part of brand managers. Rather, the problem is a failure to understand the consumer's view of community. While we as marketers always assume community is about the "big picture" macro stuff - making the world a better place, giving back, etc. - the consumer remains focused on what matters most - themselves, their loved ones, their friends and their neighbors.

I should note here one very important caveat: we are by no means suggesting community/outreach inspired branding efforts are not worth doing in and of themselves. There is a long and rich history of corporate generosity and goodwill to communities great and small, and we at The Hartman Group agree this is a very good thing. By contrast, what we are suggesting here is merely that such activities prove an ineffective strategy to building one's brand.

Planet Earth, global warming, HIV/AIDS, poverty, homelessness, recycling; these things are important - perhaps ranking highly on an inventory of social issues - yet from the consumer's perspective, none of those things really have a tangible impact on his/her immediate life. Like it or not, America's strident individualism has bred a culture that tends to define community in the most selfish of terms.

And no doubt many will disagree with the above suggestions. But, consider the following findings culled from recent research on obesity. As we traveled around the US talking at length with consumers about this topic, we found that while consumers are unanimous in the belief that obesity is "a serious social problem worthy of immediate attention," few recognize obesity as having any direct impact on their own lives. Forget the impact on already scarce medical resources or rising insurance premiums, only when faced with direct consequences (e.g., watching a husband lose his legs to adult-onset diabetes) do consumers believe that obesity has any real effect on their own life. In part, this explains our curious finding that consumers can be at once concerned about obesity (as a social problem) while being quite content with their own obesity conditions.

The implication for marketers here is clear: If you want to reach out to the consumer in the name of the brand, somehow touching their life in a manner beyond that generated by your saleable product or experience, you're going to have to find a way to connect with the consumer's life and not the more traditional "at large" American experience.

The history of recycling presents an even more straightforward case of the self-centered nature of community expression in American society. For many years, folks from academic and policy circles were hard at work trying to figure out how to get Americans to recycle. They tried everything. Slick PR campaigns, 5 cent rebates on glass bottles, linking recycling to local fundraising efforts (e.g., save your newspapers for the local Boy Scout troop), newsletter reminders, bumper stickers, whatever. In the end, all of the high-minded academics settled on the one key motivator of recycling behavior that actually works: make recycling as easy as possible for the consumer. Forget inspirational advertising campaigns or creative strategies, the only thing that gets consumers to recycle on any significant level is when the city offers to pick up the recycling at the consumer's house.

Want to make the world a better place? Engage the consumer in action that is meaningful - meaningful not to some social agenda or abstract notion of community or society, but meaningful to the consumer.

Implications for action: what if the best way to drive community outreach is to look within?

Here goes another controversial proposition: The most effective strategies to extend the brand vis-à-vis community/outreach may require you to focus your efforts within your own organization, to understand how your organization's actions impact consumers on a personal level. That's right, in a move eerily similar to psychoanalysis, we are suggesting that in order to achieve success on the outside, you should first consider looking deep within.

Solving global hunger may get you a lot of attention in Time, but it doesn't mean nearly as much to consumers as the way you treat your employees or the way that your organization responds to mistakes. Those things have real, tangible effects upon consumers' lives, not to mention their hearts and minds.

We present below a collection of community/outreach branding efforts - some traditional concepts, others less so - organized by their overall relevance to the consumer. Notice a pattern here? As we move up the relevancy scale, the focus of the ideas/activities shifts from abstract to specific, from social to individual:

Of little or no relevance to the consumer:

Big Idea: Sponsorship of local professional sports franchises
Details: Scoreboard banner for Orlando Magic
Outcome: When consumers sit down at a professional sporting event, feeling fleeced by skyrocketing admission prices and concession charges, do you really think they take comfort in the knowledge that your brand is a willing participant in this financial mess?

Big Idea: Sponsorship of macro-level environmental programs
Details: National reforestation via Earth Day
Outcome: These programs, as well as the accompanying publicity and promotional materials, fall on deaf ears because the results are, practically speaking, invisible. Knowledge alone is not enough. Unless you plan on planting a tree in the yard of every consumer, or personally cleaning out their gutters or creeks or wetlands, choose another strategy.

Of moderate relevance to the consumer:

Big Idea: Funding and sponsorship of local parks and/or beautification efforts
Details: The local Taco Bell franchise purchases land and donates a park to your municipality.
Outcome: Consumers recognize the financial limitations behind these possibilities, but nonetheless would love to see something tangible from community branding efforts such as a local park or an infusion of recreation equipment. Sure, it's expensive, but it has the advantage of being concrete and, you know, real.

Big Idea: Outreach activities with local schools
Details: Volunteering to stage and staff a gala fundraising auction/dinner for the local middle school.
Outcome: Anyone can donate unwanted product or a little cash, why not up the ante? Walk the walk. Roll up your sleeves and give the locals a real reason to be indebted. Success here depends on one's ingenuity, with those able to engender themselves within local community organizations enjoying the greatest ROI.

Big Idea: Relinquish control of your facilities to the locals
Details: Local Burger King franchise allows nearby senior citizens to convene in the restaurant for bingo games every Wednesday morning.
Outcome: Sure, the penny-pinching seniors may not spring for much other than a cup of coffee, but your retail space is now ground zero for authentic, local community.

Of significant relevance to the consumer:

Big Idea: Ensure yours is a desirable workplace.
Details: Garner a spot in the Fortune annual Top 100 places to work.
Outcome: Your employees also happen to be your consumers' friends, family members and peers - treat them with all of the care and respect you would accord your own son or daughter. After all, where do you think disgruntled employees turn to vent their frustrations? (Insiders Tip: With all the talk about experience these days, try devoting as much attention and detail to the employee experience as you do the retail or brand experience.)

Big Idea: Take responsibility for your mistakes, even if they aren't your fault.
Details: BBQ grill manufacturer personally visits and compensates victims on a case-by-case basis after their propane tanks start exploding.
Outcome: Forget the warnings from legal, get your backside on a plane and start caring for your consumers. Responses like this generate voluminous community support for many years to come.

Don't panic, it's easier than you think

And before the anxiety that accompanies the realization that it may be time to "do things differently" sets in, note that much of the work required to implement the Big Ideas above may include competencies that your organization has already mastered.

Want to make yours a great place to work, why not take what you've learned about generating compelling customer experiences and apply that knowledge to your workplace in the form of employee experiences. Don't forget, the same benefits of compelling customer experiences (e.g., price premiums extreme loyalty) apply equally well to employee experiences. In other words, the most compelling employee experiences (a) need not require margin sacrifices (e.g., higher wages) and will generate long-term employee retention (loyalty). Something we believe can lead to long-term customer retention.

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