Q: Are there warning signs you’re stretching your brand too far?
Yes. Once you put it out there in that space – and you have to find creative ways to put it out there these days – and people just don’t like it, support it, or against it or are appalled by it.
The days of focus groups where you bring people into a room and pay them $100 and you look and see what they say are over because you have the Twitters of the world. These people don’t owe you anything. You’re trickling it out there and putting out test balloons and seeing what happens.
You can’t have thin skin. People fall in love with their brands and ideas and don’t want to listen to anyone else and hear that they do have an issue. There are a lot of people who haven’t been able to do that in life or business. Egos have taken down way too many companies.
Q: When a brand or reputation becomes impaired or damaged, what are some ways to repair it?
We are in such a different time. You can attempt to repair it through transparency. Just stand up and say it. If Tiger Woods had just come out and said it immediately, it would have been a very, very, big bullet to bite. But it’s going to come out nowadays. There aren’t the days when reporters or brands had these understandings. The world is an open book. I think that you have to be honest, as quick as possible, to respond.
That really is the easiest way. Look at when it could have ruined Madonna’s career when the naked pictures came out. In the beginning, she was at the Lady Gaga stage of her career, and here this came out, she had these naked pictures. Madonna was asked about them and she said, “Naked pictures. So what?” That just stopped everything. The rumors were over and she moved on. It’s really about transparency.
Q: Is a complete rebranding worth the effort or can you take the same brand and just re-market the way people think about it?
It depends on whether you feel the brand you have has run its course. Generally, it works when you’re dealing more with a luxury item. I’ve done it several times with FUBU. FUBU had run its course and the price points were coming down, so I went and acquired a license for Fat Albert and I named it Platinum FUBU, and all of a sudden it shot back up. Now, that’s run its course and I’m naming it FB Legacy.
It’s like Mercedes. They have the 600. Then they come out with a higher number. It works with luxury brands. The insiders know the core of the brand is the same – the same FUBU guys, the same Mercedes – and they have an understanding of running the business.
But the trendsetting person comes at it from a different perspective – they see it as an improved brand: I don’t wear regular FUBU but I wear that new thing they have. I don’t drive the Mercedes because everybody had them and I started driving Bentley’s, but now I’m driving something else. This works well in the luxury product or service space.
Q: What should be done when a brand becomes tired in the marketplace?
You need to either pull out or reinvigorate it. Sometimes you pull out and give it a rest. That’s sometimes the best thing. The good thing about having a brand is that no matter what, when you come back, you already have millions and millions of dollars worth of advertising and marketing. It creates a vacuum. You actually become missed in the marketplace, and when you return you resonate with a lot more consumers than you might have resonated with before. It can be a very good thing when you pull out for a while.
Q: What trends are you seeing that affect the way people look at branding?
The two biggest trends right now are social media and product integration. Product integration is important because we’re in a world with TiVos, iPods and downloads and people aren’t seeing commercials that much. When they do, it’s become like wallpaper and you know it’s a paid advertisement.
So in order to promote your brand, you find smart ways to integrate products within the world, such as within music and television and art and entertainment. It doesn’t cost as much as advertising. It doesn’t look
staged. And it resonates with the consumer because you’re placing it in something that is important to the consumer. Imagine integrating your product in other things that have a powerful effect on consumers. When you do that you can quickly grow your brand.
Q: What’s the one thing CEOs need to keep in mind when thinking about their corporate brand?
Does the brand get captured in three words? What are your three words? Figure that out and then communicate it throughout the organization. In corporations, you sometimes have to clean the slate and think differently, then start over. It becomes your mission statement and everybody needs to think along those lines.
Q: You were named a regional Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year a few years ago. Tell me about the experience of winning such a prestigious award?
I was the 2003 Retail Award winner in the New York City region. I was actually a national finalist and beat out by the JetBlue guys for the national Entrepreneur Of The Year Award. It was a great acknowledgment. When I went out there it was an impressive room of people and I was happy to get to that point. You meet a lot of great people out there and can learn a lot.
