The End of Longevity?

Why brands without a competitive edge will fail.

Citing poor holiday sales, Sears Holding Corporation this week announced plans to shutter about 115 Sears and Kmart stores nationwide.

Not wishing to pile on to an unfortunate situation, but we can’t help but wonder if we’re seeing a failure of brand here — or more specifically, the failure to keep two venerable brands updated and relevant.

After all, what’s Kmart? A discount store, certainly, but what differentiates it from the world’s largest discount seller? Walmart is not only the world’s largest retailer, they sell more TVs, groceries, toys, guns and diamonds than any other company in the world. What has Kmart done to compete with that? And if they can’t compete, how do they distinguish themselves?

And Sears, founded in 1886, is one of our oldest retailers. Their history is long, storied and honorable. But are they modern? Are they competitive? When was the last time you shopped at Sears?

Longevity is enviable, but it’s nothing without competitiveness and relevancy. Lacking those vital components, longevity can cease at any time.

The C4:

1. Longevity requires a strong brand.
2. A strong brand requires differentiation.
3. Differentiation requires competitiveness.
4. Competitiveness requires a desire for longevity.

Stand & Deliver

Are you ready to do what it takes?

These days, a company's continuing existence is testament to its adaptability. If you're still standing, that means you've rolled with every technological landslide and demographic shift that recent history has thrown at you.

Which is good, because all that has just been practice for your biggest challenge yet: The fundamental transformation of the American consumer's psyche.

The Great Recession of 2007–2009 left a more pessimistic consumer. One who's holding less debt, less purchasing power and who is far more thoughtful — maybe downright adverse — to all but the most basic purchases.

Consumers will continue to demand the utmost in service and value, while things like brand loyalty will mean less and less. Far fewer dollars will be spent, and there will be economic casualties. There will be winners too, though, consisting of those players willing to beat their competition in giving the consumer what he or she wants.

That's the line we plan on being in. Hope to see you there.

The C4:

1. If you're still standing, congrats — you're a testament to adaptability.
2. Now begins the process of changing consumers' mindsets — but it won't be easy.
3. Consumers' demands are high, but their attitudes are challenging.
4. Those who want to keep standing will give the consumer what they want.

What You Should Know About Measuring Social Influence

It’s no doubt that Klout created a niche market for measuring social influence. But constant criticism regarding privacy issues and calculation methods also set the stage for a host of new competitors to step into the limelight and steal the attention of Klout’s audience.

In the above image from AdWeek, the sudden availability of many new influence measurement tools presents quite a selection of options to choose from when seeking to determine the reach of your social media activities.

Klout. Kred. PeerIndex. PROskore. SocMetrics. Traackr. TweetLevel. Twitalyzer.

Wait — we’re not done yet.

Argyle Social. CrowdBooster. Empire Avenue. My Web Career. PostRank. Sprout Social. TweetGrader. TweetStats. Twenty Feet. Twitaholic. Twitter Counter. Twylah. Who Say.

OK. Now that we have a good — but still incomplete — list going, which one is right for you?

Most of these platforms give some sort of score or idea of your reach. Some just let you compare yourself against other industry users. But each takes different bits of information into account when calculating. Past job titles. Audience size. Tweets, retweets, favorites, likes, tags, etc.

The list of criteria goes on.

But as organizations spread out over all these platforms and begin using their services, the facts and figures that come from each start to lose their importance. Does a Klout score of 54.8 (rounded up to 55) stand up against a Kred score of 548? This presents some problems for organizations that sell social media services, or for social media specialists that are required to provide metrics regarding the impact of their endeavors.

So, which influence measurement tool should you choose?

Any of them, really. Sure, some will come under fire for how they calculate social influence. They always will. Whether it’s from competition or social watchdogs, these tools will continue to be scrutinized. And they’ll continue to defend themselves because they have a product to sell.

But your role in this mayhem is to keep moving forward. Using Klout? Aim to improve your score. Engage more and share more. Using Kred? It’s the same situation — just keep building up your organization’s social presence.

And if anyone shuns your Kred score with their Klout score, just ask them what their scores or metrics are for each of the 21 influence measurement tools mentioned above. All 21 of them — one by one.

The C4:

• Many social influence measurement tools are available, and each offers scoring or measurement in either similar or vastly different ways.
• Choosing the right tool for you depends on how you're going to use it.
• You must determine the value of having a measurement tool — what does this information mean to you and what will it mean to those you serve?
• Comparing scores from different tools is pointless; instead, compare what you hear back from your audience. That will determine who's doing things right.

Image Source: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/million-little-klouts-137032

Physics, Cigars & Marketing

What happens when two brands attempt to occupy the same space? 

An elemental explosion, probably. We'll find out if the U.S. normalizes relations with Cuba. Will different groups of companies attempt to lay claim to the same brand identities?

Well-respected international cigar brands like Montecristo, Cohiba and Romeo y Julieta were established long before Castro came, then split them into separate entities after the fall of Batista.

Sixty years later, and all those sets of separated twins have grown their own way, on either side of the Caribbean Iron Curtain.

The forced separation could end at any time — at the stroke of a political pen.

Then somehow two organisms must vie for the right to sell you your Cohiba. Will this be the mother of all copyright battles, or will we witness some Berlin-style reunifications?

Aficionados of stogies and lovers of courtroom drama should stay tuned.

The C4:

1. Your unique position will help your brand occupy that space — alone.
2. If you're not assertively copyrighting and protecting your intellectual property, someone else will.
3. Politics and marketing are sometimes intrinsically and inextricably interwoven.
4. A brand is a brand, but a cigar's a smoke.

All About Process #1: Listen Intently

Certainly, you’ve been in a situation where your ability to articulate something important to you, to another person or group, has been put to the test. You want this expressed in such a way that it does justice to or captures the passion behind it, but wonder if those being presented to will “get it.”

Apprehension may then decide to take residence within you, as whatever you are trying to get across may be well laid out in your mind but when it comes time to transform those ideas into words, some of them get lost in translation.

As if the internal struggle of expressing something wasn’t enough, this inevitable question may arise: “Are they even listening to me?” Surely, your audience may be nodding in agreement or seem to be engaged, but a part of you most likely wonders if they really care about what is being said.

You’ve put a lot of time and effort into creating what you want to say, so it would only seem natural that the audience would be actively engaged in what was important to you. However, this assumption can prove to be false more often than not, and not because of malice or disregard for your time, but simply due to a lack of active listening.

This scenario is not solely reserved for an individual, as organizations can be subject to this when dealing with an agency. An organization may be passionate about their identity but enlists an agency’s help to better express it. While the agency likely has the organization’s best interest in mind, they might unknowingly don a set of ego-laced earmuffs that muffle what is being said, so they can present what they’ve already decided was best. They may be aware of the ideas the organization has, but remain steadfast in what their vision is, and instead of listening they only hear enough to seem engaged.

Fortunately, the Caler&Company team lends far more than just an ear — we provide the undivided attention a client deserves. It is not a coincidence that our process of delivering client service begins with the phrase Listen Intently, as this is where we distinguish ourselves by becoming an extension of our clients rather than a separate entity.

We listen first and then act accordingly, harnessing client’s passion as the driving force behind everything we do. Need someone to listen? Contact us today.

Huh?

"Walk with me. You've gotta meet this guy with the LMK. He's kinda this entrepreneurial social guru — thinking outside of the box in the green/sustainability space and developing concepts around sort of Web-based social media platform, and he's way past the AI crowd and now in a round two capital raise in the 501(c)(3) space with the people at NDPA sometime in Q1."

How many times have you scratched your head after hearing something like — no — precisely this sentence?

Let's say you miraculously navigate through the first part of the sentence. (You won't, but let's say you do.)

You're still in a brain freeze when you get to that last NDPA acronym. You're thinking NDPA...let's see...National Decorating Products Association? North Dakota Pschological Association? National Diploma in Performing Arts? National Drowning Prevention Association?

This might be amusing if it weren't true. Some business people just don't make sense anymore.

Why not gain credibility, become more productive, make those around you more efficient, and get more joy in your work life by simply looking someone in the eye when you hear one of these verbal log jams and anti-communications assaults and simply state to the perpetrator, "I don't have a clue of what you just said to me."

Steady at The Helm

A tsunami in Asia can bring us to the brink of recession, and a rumor of agreement among European financiers can send our markets soaring. An odd side effect of our global interconnectedness is that so much of our economic fate seems beyond our control.

Maybe so. But that's no excuse for us, as businesspeople, to take our hands from the tiller. Fair winds or foul may blow from beyond our horizons, yet we remain captains of our own ships.

Or how about a landlubber's metaphor: go ahead and see the forest for the trees, but remember the trees still matter. Tend to your basics: take care of your customers; buy low and sell high.

Global markets will bring the unexpected. Temper that by controlling what you can, and by always applying your best business practices.

Distant gales might still rock your boat, but you'll be better prepared than most to ride them out.