Introductions

by Michelle Wolf

Questions

Q1:  What  moves  you  –  really  moves  you  –  about  your  farmers’  market  and  its  work?    

                                                                         OR          What  moves  you  –  really  moves  you  –  about  organic  agriculture  and  our  movement?    

Q2:  What  do  you  love  the  most  about  a=ending  a  conference  like  this  one?    

Relationship Marketing and

Branding by Michelle Wolf

During This Presentation

•  Defining  terms  •  Why  branding  and  rela@onship  marke@ng  should  be  so  easy  in  the  organic,  agriculture,  and  direct  marke@ng  sectors  

•  The  power  of  “Why”  •  Exercise  to  start  your  own  branding  work  

Define Terms 1.   Rela+onship  Marke+ng  

– “Marke@ng  ac@vi@es  that  are  aimed  at  developing  and  managing  trus@ng  and  long-­‐term  rela@onships  with  customers”  

– A  fancy  way  of  saying  that  the  very  act  of  developing  rela@onships  with  customers  helps  you  promote  and  build  your  business  

– Examples  include  sending  e-­‐newsle=ers,  having  a  customer  loyalty  program,  serving  customers  on  market  day  in  a  way  that  emphasizes  rela@onship,  engaging  with  people  on  social  media,  etc.    

Define Terms

1.   Branding  – “The  process  involved  in  crea@ng  a  unique  name  and  image  for  a  product  in  the  consumers'  mind.  Branding  aims  to  establish  a  significant  and  differen@ated  presence  in  the  market  that  a=racts  and  retains  loyal  customers.”  

– A  fancy  way  of  describing  the  way  that  you  become  memorable  and  likeable  to  your  customers  

What Branding ISN’T •  Branding  isn’t  gimmicks,  tricks,  fancy  graphic  design,  corporate  slogans,  expensive  adver@sing  

•  Branding  isn’t  your  packaging,  your  logo,  your  colour,  or  your  tag  line  (externals)  

•  Branding  isn’t  an  external  to  your  business  –  it  comes  from  inside,  from  the  way  you  want  to  be  memorable  and  likeable,  and  the  externals  just  put  a  frame  around  the  feelings  you  are  cul@va@ng  

Branding is Based on Stories •  Farmers’  markets,  organic  agriculture,  and  direct  marke@ng  are  about  authen@city  –  of  place,  of  experience,  of  people,  of  product,  of  community  

•  Direct  marke@ng  is  where  we  can  successfully  compete  with  commodity  markets  –  not  on  price,  selec@on  or  convenience  (these  are  barriers  actually)  but  on  authen@city,  community  and  farm  stories  

•  Canada’s  organic  agriculture  and  rural  lifestyle  sectors  are  filled  with  values  and  stories  

•  Telling  them  is  where  our  “brands”  come  from  

People Don’t Buy WHAT You Do •  Think  about  a  PEI-­‐grown  potato  •  It’s  not  the  potato  per  se  that  a  person  buys  •  What  a  consumer  pays  for  is  the  taste,  the  texture,  the  sight,  the  connec@ons  they  have  to  potatoes,  the  vitamins,  the  an@-­‐oxidants,  a  rela@onship  with  the  seller,  or  whatever  combina@on  of  those  things  that  are  meaningful  to  that  person  

•  But  if  something  else  did  that,  they’d  buy  that  too  •  The  potato  is  just  the  ‘package’  for  those  results  

People Don’t Buy WHAT You Do •  People  buy  results  and  benefits,  not  products  •  3  levels  of  benefit:  

A.  The  benefits  of  individual  products  (potato)  -­‐  “product  results”  

B.  The  benefits  of  purchasing  it  in  the  way  that  you  package  and  present  it  –  “presenta@on  results”  

C.  The  benefits  of  purchasing  from  you  rather  than  from  another  potato  producer  –  “rela@onship  results”  

   

People Don’t Buy WHAT You Do •  Branding  is  a  fancy  way  of  saying  that  you  have  to  tell  people:  

1.  The  results  and  benefits  your  products  and/or  services  offer  

2.  Present  it  in  a  way  that  is  meaningful  to  them  3.  Enough  about  your  values  or  personal  story  

that  they  want  to  be  part  of  it  /  likeable  •  In  direct  marke+ng:  Sales  =  product  +  presenta+on  +  producer  

   

Branding – It’s all about WHY •  If  people  don’t  understand  why  you  do  what  you  do,  the  benefits  of  buying  from  you  are,  the  benefits  of  your  product,  then  you  are  simply  offering  another  commodity  in  the  commodi@es  market…  and  that  means  you  are  simply  compe@ng  based  on  price  

•  Consumers  use  price  to  compare  when  the  benefits  and  rela@onship  are  absent    

Competition is an Illusion •  Two  people  can  be  given  the  same  recipe  and  the  same  ingredients…  and  they’ll  make  two  different  loaves  of  bread  

•  They  can  stand  at  the  same  market  selling  their  bread  for  the  same  price,  and  certain  people  will  buy  from  person  A  and  other  people  will  buy  from  person  B  

•  Same  is  true  for  meat,  produce,  value-­‐added  commodi@es,  body  care,  coffee,  etc.  

Competition is an Illusion

•  Our  energy,  our  personality,  our  ‘vibe’,  it  speaks  to  people    

•  Whether  we  are  trust-­‐worthy  or  likeable  varies  according  to  who  you  ask  

•  You  can’t  manipulate  who  will  like  you,  it  just  is  

•  No  one  can  sell  to  everyone  •  Sales  =  product  +  presenta@on  +  producer  

The Power of a ‘Winning’ Personality •  The  single  biggest  asset  to  your  biz  is  YOU  •  Are  you  likeable?  Are  you  nice?  Are  you  warm?  Are  you  real?  Do  you  genuinely  like  people?  

•  Are  you  nervous?  Are  you  withdrawn?  Are  you  burnt  out?  Are  you  aloof?  Are  you  passive?  

•  No  brand  can  compensate  for  a  business  owner  or  a  salesperson  who  is  miserable,  insincere,  too  bizarre,  can’t  look  you  in  the  eye,  seems  disinterested,  too  cool  to  care,  lacks  all  confidence,  etc  

Early Adopters & Innovators

•  Simon  Sinek  –  Start  With  Why  •  Model  called  The  Law  of  Diffusion  of  Innova@ons  

•  Suggests  that  not  everyone  is  as  open  to  any  par@cular  product  or  idea  or  social  movement  as  another  person  –  follows  a  bell  curve  

•  For  every  new  product  on  the  market,  there  is  a  small  segment  of  the  popula@on,  about  16%,  called  Early  Adopters  and  Innovators  

Early Adopters & Innovators •  We  all  fall  somewhere  differently  on  the  bell  curve,  depending  on  the  idea  or  product  or  technology  (standing  in  line  for  an  Iphone?)  

•  These  people  will  pay  a  premium,  go  out  of  their  way,  and/or  suffer  some  level  of  discomfort  in  order  to  have  your  product  or  service  (think  Harley  Davidson)  

•  They  will  also  be  your  ambassadors,  telling  other  people  about  you  and  championing  your  business  (push  the  ‘@pping  point’)  

Branding •  This  is  why  branding  is  about  telling  your  story  •  Values  ma=er  in  the  marketplace  •  Think  about  Apple,  Whole  Foods,  MEC,  or  your  favourite  store  or  farmers’  market  

•  The  product  ma=ers,  but  the  stuff  you  buy  from  them  (a  computer,  an  orange,  a  backpack,  a  radish)  you  could  get  elsewhere    

•  You  purchase  those  products  from  those  par@cular  retailers  because  those  companies/organiza@ons  have  a  story  or  set  of  values  or  vibe  or  social  currency  or  quality  level  or  customer  service  or  [other  factor]  that  you  want,  or  want  to  be  aligned  with  

Early Adopters & Innovators •  Share  your  values  and  story  •  You  can’t  brand  or  market  generically,  you  can’t  compete  with  how  corpora@ons  adver@se,  you  need  to  be  strategic  and  market  to  the  people  who  share  your  values  and  love  your  story  

•  Your  best  customers  have  a  natural  affinity  for  your  ‘why’,  your  brand  

•  Powerful  brands  come  from  powerful  stories  

Branding •  Work  of  small  business  owners  is  to  embody  your  brand,  to  ooze  it,  to  infuse  every  part  of  your  business  with  the  values  that  you  are  a=emp@ng  to  express  through  your  brand  

•  What  I  find  is  that  people  aren’t  clear  about  what  their  brand  is,  or  how  to  ar@culate  it  

•  And  this  is  why  their  businesses  struggle  –  if  you  don’t  know  your  brand  (your  why,  your  story),  you  can’t  find  the  people  who  want  to  buy  from  you  in  order  to  be  in  alignment  with  what  your  brand  represents  and  what  your  story  suggests  about  them  

•  Lack  of  biz  success  is  rarely  a  ‘produc@on  issue’  

Features Tell, Benefits Sell •  Example:  Bunch  of  beet  greens  •  Features  Tell:  freshly  harvested,  baby  greens,  heirloom  beet  variety  

•  Benefits  Sell:  – Fresh:  higher  vitamin/mineral/an@oxidant  profile  (more  nutri@ous),  keep  longer  (be=er  value)  

– Baby  size:  more  tender,  easier  to  cook  – Heirloom:  novelty,  different  flavours,  ‘heritage’  is  hot  

Benefits Sell

•  We  say  things  like,  “My  product  is  local,  my  product  is  organic,  my  product  is  homegrown,  my  product  is  homemade,  my  product  is  natural,  my  product  is  handcraned”  

•  There  are  values  and  benefits  and  results  hidden  behind  these  words  –  what  are  they?  

•  Don’t  make  people  guess  the  meaning  –  some@mes  they  don’t  know,  and  worse,  they  can  get  it  totally  wrong  

Benefits Sell •  So  figure  out,  what  do  you  really  mean  by  ‘local’  or  ‘farm-­‐grown’  or  ‘fresh’?  

•  Which  means…  “My  beet  greens  are  freshly-­‐picked  late  yesterday  anernoon,  which  means…  [higher  nutri@on,  keeps  longer,  be=er  value  and  less  waste,  nicer  texture,  etc]”  

•  “Freshly-­‐picked”  is  the  feature,  but  it’s  the  benefits  of  something  being  “freshly-­‐picked”  that  represent  the  results  for  the  consumer,  so  make  sure  they  know  what  those  benefits  are  

•  Words  are  powerful  for  marke@ng,  but  only  when  we  own  them  and  when  people  understand  what  we  really  mean  by  them  

Branding Exercise

1. What  are  your  core  values  as  a  person?  2. What  reasons  do  you  have  for  having  started  

your  business?  3. What  stories  or  thoughts  or  ideas  have  you  

shared  with  your  customers  that  seem  to  get  the  most  response,  that  they  seem  most  curious  or  intrigued  by?  

4. What  would  you  say  is  your  WHY?  

In Small Groups

•  Explore  some  of  the  reasons  and  values  and  concepts  that  underlie  the  following  words:  

 LOCAL   FRESH   HAND-­‐MADE  

•  How  can  you  move  away  from  FEATURE  language  and  start  using  BENEFITS  language?  

Summary •  Brands  tell  our  customers  why  they  should  buy  from  us  by  telling  them  our  core  values;  the  results  and  benefits  of  our  products;  and  the  stories  we  have  

•  Brands  come  out  of  our  stories  about  who  we  are,  why  we  are  in  agriculture,  why  organics  is  our  passion,  what  our  products  do,  and  why  they  ma=er  to  people  

•  Market  gardens,  farmers’  markets,  and  rural  communi@es  are  filled  with  the  stories  our  ideal  customers  long  to  hear  and  be  part  of  

Summary

•  Rela@onship  marke@ng  takes  those  brands  and  makes  them  the  currency  that  we  exchange  with  people,  over  @me,  to  build  rela@onships  

•  You  keep  in  touch,  you  share  stories  about  stuff  that  ma=ers  to  them,  you  form  a  rela@onship  

•  Think  of  it  as  a  strategy  for  marke@ng  that  not  only  builds  your  business  but  puts  lots  of  really  cool  people  into  your  life,  closer  than