BRANDING YOUR BUSINESS: KNOW THY CUSTOMER, KNOW THYSELF

Christina Veiders

In today's retail environment of savvy branding, tag lines are just one way to communicate the most important attribute any retailer wants to convey to consumers.

So how do supermarkets fare in utilizing tag lines to differentiate and deliver their message? Well, see if you can match the retailer behind the following brand statements? 1) Where Shopping Is a Pleasure; 2) Helping You Make Great Meals Easy; 3) A Unique Grocery Store of Great Values; 4) A Helpful Smile in Every Aisle; 5) Your Neighborhood Food Market; 6) Eat Well Pay Less; 7) Here Everything Is Better.

The supermarkets behind these lines were cited as some of the best operators today who have established a distinct identity. They are doing a great job in branding their business, according to the brand marketers I interviewed for this week's SN cover story, which begins on Page 12.

Tag lines are just one component of the branding process. Marketing consultant Jim Emery, president of Viewfinder Consulting, says branding is analogous to the hub of a wheel with many spokes. The goal is to get all the spokes -- tag line, advertising-marketing-promotion, word-of-mouth, in-store merchandising, employees, etc. -- aligned and spinning in the same direction. It's often easier said than done. "A lot of times the spokes are out of alignment and you get a fuzzy brand," Emery said. "You don't get a clear [image or feeling] of what it is about." He added that too many supermarkets today lack a personality.

In this day of customerization, the challenge is to know your customers. Define who you are and shout out what you do best. Let them know what you stand for and how you differ from the competition. In the current retail environment, shoppers' tastes and needs are as diverse as our ever-changing population. It doesn't matter whether it's Danbury, Conn., where retailers must more and more reach out to a growing South American influence, or major multicultural centers like Los Angeles. In order to succeed today, food retailers have to find better ways to satisfy multiple tastes as well as identify the needs and shopping habits of various consumer groups.

Look at how Starbucks has cultivated coffee lovers and found ways to serve up thousands of drink variations that satisfy every possible taste. The chain created its own world to sip and sit in, and developed its own music to enhance the environment. Starbucks even created a Customerization Tumbler so customers label their drinks so baristas know exactly what customers want. Others doing the same are Panera Bread & Cafes with its customized sandwiches, and Whole Foods with its vast variety of natural and organic foods, and it's said that Applebee's, the restaurant chain, will meet any customer request even if it's not on the menu.

At the end of the day, the customer is still king, but now they're helping to create and claim ownership in brands they support. Perhaps integrating all of those earlier brand statements into one just might make for the most powerful food retailer of all. The best of the best! It would be a mighty challenge, and no doubt a story for another day.

Now, let's see how you did in matching the brand statement with the identity behind the retailers associated to those earlier tag lines: 1) Publix; 2) Wegmans; 3) Trader Joe's; 4) Hy-Vee; 5) Harris Teeter; 6) SuperTarget; 7) H-E-B.