Where Passion Meets Business
What does an old corner shop (which is not always located on the corner!) of yesteryear have to do with branding your business today? It’s a reasonable question and the answer is probably a lot! Let me explain how I ended up arriving at this analogy.
It wasn’t that long ago that all you needed to brand your business and get it up and running was to have a good product/service. Add a logo, website, a few colors and a business name, and you were ready to go!
Remember that saying from the movie, Field of Dreams (1989), “If you build it, they will come.” That may well have been true in the past, but not so today. In the 90s, the internet was made open and free to everyone. Some of the big brands used this new technology to flood the market with advertising. They told consumers what they wanted or needed, and we went along with it. But the world has changed!
Today, consumers are becoming far more discerning and want to know more about whom they are doing business with. They want to know what your core values are, why you are different and better than your competitors, what you can do for them, what your price points are, etc.
There has been a huge increase in online purchasing and the use and number of social media platforms. As a result, consumers today have a powerful voice, and they are not afraid to use it. With the growth in digital usage, there has also been an increase in transparency through public reviews, posts, and comments across a range of media. This provides avenues for consumers to voice their satisfaction or otherwise, and expectations regarding products and services they have purchased, used or want to buy.
Read more in my blog post on “How Much Do We Use Social Media?”
The COVID-19 pandemic has ripped through the world in the last two years and has dramatically changed how we do things in our life. We have had to adapt the way we communicate and connect with our immediate family and friends and the community at large. It is highly unlikely that we will return to the way things were before the pandemic.
Here are some of the things that have changed during that time:
We have found different ways to connect with each other during the pandemic, but personal or “face to face” connection has been lost to a degree. Whilst life has moved on as we learn to live with COVID-19, our need to be more connected is now integral to our way of life.
For the most part, we all remember and still have a local shop there for emergency buys such as bread, milk and ice cream. However, for some older beings like me, the local shop played a much bigger part in our lives back then.
Up to the 1950s and 60s, almost every suburban neighborhood had a corner store. Locals of all ages were drawn to these shops for newspapers, bread, milk, tobacco, ice-creams and mixed lollies.
Before the introduction of self-serve shops and supermarket chains, these little shops sold pretty much everything, e.g. vegetables, tinned goods, bread, milk — basically all your daily essentials.
The local shop was usually run by a Mum and Dad team, and the kids often helped (particularly in the sweet or lolly section). Back in the 80s, my Mum and Dad ran Jan’s Corner Store for quite some time. Their speciality was Mum’s homemade pies, sausage rolls, cakes and her famous “breakfast” bars (my sisters used to hang around the lolly section).
But these little shops were far more than just somewhere to buy goods. They were the local community hub. You knew your local shopkeepers, and they knew you! They not only knew you by name, they knew the members of your family and if Aunt Alice was sick or Johnny’s broken arm was on the mend. They knew what you wanted and went out of their way to provide it
These corner shops were meeting places where you met your neighbors and other locals for a chat. They were social in nature and connected you with your local community.
This is a Coffee and Dining Room from the mid-1880s. Note the marketing sign to the right – Quality, Civility & Cleanliness. Some places could learn from this today!
As more cities developed and grew, so did the population of those areas. Large supermarket chains and shopping centers were introduced. They slowly eroded the role of small local shops, which could not compete with the greater choice and cheaper pricing offered by these superstores. Many family-run small shops suffered, and many closed.
Research has shown that as cities grew, so did the feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Neighbourhood and community attachments were lost, and personal relationships were eroded as we became more and more anonymous (tiny fish in a big sea).
Compounding these problems, technology was growing at a tremendous rate. By the mid-1980s, home computers were becoming a standard commodity in many homes. These first computers were mainly used for games and word processing, and I think we all know what they have developed into today. Unfortunately, this technology has increased the feelings of loneliness and isolation as more and more communications are being carried out via smartphones, etc.
Throw into this mix the massive effects the pandemic has had on the global population, including an enormous amount of physical isolation. People have lost their connection to their community, and they want it back!
What does any of this mean when branding your business? The next generation of brand building is a fully connected brand. Your customers want a brand that is connected to the three Cs:
They want to connect and engage with you. Your customers want to know your attitudes and opinions on community issues and social causes. They want your business to have a community spirit and be involved in the local community culture. No longer do they want to interact with just a business or brand. They want their old corner shop!
In other words, your brand must have a human face that represents your business’s qualities, strengths, goals, values, beliefs and personality. Your customers want to know, like and trust you.
A connected brand uses its personality and voice to represent its business, customers and community. It will share its stories and the stories of its customers.
Your brand helps shape the perceptions and build the reputation of your business. It is what makes your business different or unique from everyone else and how you will bring your brand to life.
You will need to create new opportunities to engage and excite your customers by looking outside the box through various digital channels. You need to be innovative in the way you communicate your business and your human face out in the digital world.
One of the positive things that have come out of this pandemic is the ability of people to adapt to new situations. Many people lost their jobs but started up small home businesses to get by — making homemade pickles and jams, selling plants, etc. Many cafes and restaurants started offering meals delivered to your home or picked up at their front door.
In some areas, the corner shop has been reinvented and revived! Shopkeepers are meeting the demands of their customers by providing a friendly local hub that supports all things local.
They support local charities and other small businesses and play a vital role in their community. They are tech-savvy and use social media to get their personal stories out into the community. This new generation of shopkeepers plays an important role in helping rebuild the community, trust and social interaction that has been diminished over the last few years.
This success is due to their willingness to adapt to the needs of their local neighborhood — convenience, community, and connection. Let’s not forget, they also provide us with coffee and chocolate!
It is for the very purpose of community and connection that you want to bring your brand to life (like that old corner shop).
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