What do an automobile and baked goods company have in common? The answer to this question is fundamental to a new way of driving your business.
Out of all the PowerPoint presentations, pitches and ideations I have led through the years, the one slide I would keep presents the most pivotal question for challenging your vision and team:
What business are you in…really?
An initial reaction might be, “What’s so special about this question? That’s simple. Of course I know what our business does.” Anything resembling this response reveals the real issue: most leaders focus on what their business or organization does, versus the business of which it is in. The difference is subtle; and very profound.
Volkswagen is the in the business of “expressing joy.”
The word, Volkswagen, is the German translation for “people’s car.” Volkswagen’s “beetle” was introduced to America in 1949 and would eventually become the nation’s most popular selling car, largely due to the “Think small” positioning by advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach in 1959. This simple and catchy line was the catalyst that brought back the Beetle from extinction and hot-wired Volkswagen back into vogue. The feelings conveyed in their advertising are “smiles, pleasure, fun, joy.” Thinking “small” was a fresh alternative to America’s “bigger and more is more better” offering of automobiles. This “good feeling, joy-filled” approach led to their 1959 ad campaign which ranked #1 on AdAge’s The Advertising Century: Top 100 Advertising Campaigns. Volkswagen’s “expressive” feelings continue:
#1. Think small. (1959 Beetle campaign)
#2. Fahrvergnugen (1990’s campaign: German for driving enjoyment)
#3. Drivers wanted. (Recent campaign completes the headline: On the road of life there are passengers and there are drivers.)
Cinnabon is in the business of “sensory exploitation.”
Come on, admit it; you smiled or nodded in agreement when you read the previous sentence. You have likely smelled that hypnotic cinnamon aroma while walking through the mall or airport, right? This twenty-five year old company has been luring people to their counters by leveraging a patented formula of cinnamon topping, a formula rumored to have cost in excess of $1.2 million. Cinnabon currently operates more than 700 franchised locations worldwide, primarily in high traffic venues such as shopping malls, airports, train stations, travel plazas, entertainment venues, academic institutions and military bases…to live out exactly the business that they are in: intoxicating passersby with their mouth-watering fragrance. Admit it; even though you don’t stop to buy one, you think about it.
Why this previous discussion is vital to HI Way thinking.
The easy way is to be like one of the pack, to conform to the way that everyone else has always done it and end up as just another guy on the shelf. You might enjoy varying levels of success, but you’re unlikely to ever experience the impact associated with being “The one and only” (SONY) or seeing people the world over lined up outside the door of your stores for be the first of 270,000 people to spend their $400-500 dollars for the new iPhone in the first two days of its offering. Those and similar levels of impact require taking the tougher road; it takes much more effort to take the time needed to define the DNA of your organization’s only-one-in-the-world brand thumbprint. HI Brands like the previous three and others like Apple, BMW, Nike and Google are reaping rewards, both quantitative and qualitative, from knowing, claiming and releasing “the secret of life,” the ONE THING that makes their story compel…and sell.
For more "driving" tips on the HI Way, visit us at: www.HImpact.me.
