What do businesses like Macy’s, Colgate and Dr. Pepper have in common? To start, they all began in the 1800’s. In an article from 2016 on the site Leadership Review the author Steve Olenski of Forbes writes that brands like Macy’s, Colgate and Dr Pepper share similar traits in their longevity.
In short, he believes, these are the ways they have stood the test of time.
They make promises and keep them. Customers can trust that their experience with the brand will be consistent.
They connect with customers emotionally.
They evolve with the times but their values and promises stay the same.
They continue to stand out.
They ignore negatives.
They know the right places to reach their customers.
MACY’S
According to the site Storebrands, Macy’s is known for a “Broad selection of private brand products…in apparel and home and housewares.” Based on this description we can guess that their promise is to offer customers a wide selection and that they’ve kept that promise throughout the centuries. According to recent articles, Macy’s is currently “evolving with the times” by creating a private brand strategy to capture more millennial shoppers. In what ways do you think they connect emotionally to their consumers? How are they standing out from the competition?
COLGATE
According to an article on the site IIDE, Colgate is known for “high quality oral hygiene…at fair and affordable prices.” The brand makes toothbrushes, toothpaste and oral hygiene products. They focus primarily on their toothpaste product and watch pricing of competitors closely. They are “evolving with the times” by continually expanding their product line. Colgate stands out in the minds of consumers for their red packaging. They have used celebrities in their advertising to create a connection. Are these brand habits keeping with the longevity traits mentioned above?
DR. PEPPER
An online article on mapandfire.com shared some of Dr. Pepper’s Brand Strategy. The story hints at their promise to customers in their mention that the soft drink has a “Primary Need (Job To Be Done) to get a soft drink that breaks away from standard flavor profiles.” The brands “evolving with the times” is shown through an article on MBA Skool, which states that “they keep coming up with new taste and utility product(s) according to the needs and demands of customers.” They have reached out to consumers through motion pictures and football and have a heavy presence on social media. That sounds like they know where their customers are at.
So, which of these six traits does your brand or business share with these long-term products? Why not incorporate some of these strategies into your campaign? Will your brand still be around in a hundred years?
December 19 marked the first day of Hanukkah. To celebrate I tried to make Challah bread, but being in the mountains I didn’t take into account that there might be some issues with baking, so it didn’t turn out as well as I wanted but it was still edible.
High elevation challah bread
So, if you’re baking from a box, make sure to check the directions for higher elevations. If you’re trying your favorite recipe in the mountains, you’ll probably need to make some adjustments.
I found some websites that address this issue. It seems like most of them mention that liquids evaporate faster so you probably need to consider that. They also said that doughs rise faster in higher elevations. Still more, you may need to make revisions to the amount of flour, sugar and baking powder and soda.
An article on Epicurious seemed to explain it the best. Check the link here.
There are some other helpful articles. Click here for one on Betty Crocker’s website.
Hi there. Funding for the Hey Man and Anna Maria rag doll project with Kickstarter has increased a bit since the last time we sent out a message, but we still need more to make this project come to life and we only have four more days to go.
Please consider backing at any amount. As an incentive, we’d like to give you a free coloring sheet. It was originally created for $5 backers but we wanted to get you excited so we’re giving it away. We hope you and your kids will enjoy printing it out and coloring it in. Send Janene an email at [email protected] with the header, coloring sheet, and she’ll send you the pdf.
I know this is a busy season, so I just wanted to remind you there’s still time to get unique gifts this Christmas by sponsoring our Kickstarter-Any child would enjoy either the Hey Man or Anna Maria rag dolls, or other items like the paper doll book, or sew your own rag doll kit.
If you don’t have kids or know any young ones, you can still sponsor any amount just because you like the idea. Even $1 would help. So, go ahead and click through and bring joy to a child’s face.
Here’s just another little message I recorded while I was putting together the video.
Anna Maria ExplainedHey Man Rag Doll Kit Example Click here to orderAnna Rag Doll Sew Kit Example Click here to order
Hey, It’s Shop Small Saturday. Our new products through Cinderella Factory will incite love and joy in your kids. They will want our new rag dolls, Hey Man and Anna Maria. They are currently being manufactured and will be delivered mid-December. Check out the Kickstarter that tells you all about them. You can also order them directly from our sales page.
You’ll find the Anna Maria paper doll book and even purchase the materials to sew your own rag doll there. Thank you for supporting our small business efforts.
For a couple of Christmases we’ve hand-sewn dolls for outreaches to help children during the International Christmas Celebrations. This year we have decided to manufacture the dolls. Please feel free to let people know. Here is the press release that is going out this month.
You will find the release in our press section of this site here.
Sometimes you need a group of people to come up with ideas to promote your product or service. Throughout the years, not only have we planned and placed large and small media campaigns, but we have also helped clients come up with creative solutions for their ads. We brainstormed, coordinated production, wrote copy, got sponsors for, and trafficked ads from the creation process to scheduling.
Here is a small reel that was put together for a promotion we did with Rock Studios and includes ads for the San Diego Culinary Institute, the La Mesa Christmas in the Village, the La Mesa Antique Faire and the Haute Plate TV show.
Advertising Sample
Note: Please forgive some of the production values as the master reels weren’t available when the piece was put together.
There are a number of websites where businesses can post their press releases for potential exposure to writers and the media. I’ve found, and what you’ll see on our site, a good free site that lets you post your press releases. Other sites have fees. You’ll need to do some research to find which one might be a fit for you.
The best part of writing and submitting press releases is they have the potential to get your business free media exposure. You’ll need to find a good angle and not be too sales”y” at first to grab the media’s attention.
The site we use is PR Log. See the listing of our PRLog here. And, if you need help writing and distributing press releases let us know. Thanks.
