Max Brenner, the bald head behind the international Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Man Restaurant chain, does one thing really great…chocolate.

With chocolate boutiques in Israel, Australia, Philippines, Singapore and the United States there is no question that his brand stands out in the consumer mind for providing an extraordinary chocolate experience. The chocolate menu includes chocolate waffles and crepes, fondues, ice creams, hot chocolate drinks, smoothies and chocolate martinis. His chocolate pizza was even featured in a February 2011 segment of Food Network’s The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

Max Brenner understood the value of owning a single element and its relevance and perceived value to the consumer. When you are able to focus on one thing, the better you get at it. You can automate and innovate and discover tricks that put you ahead of the competition.

What is the one thing you do really great? In a world where specialization and focus can often be the driver to success, can your brand become synonymous with a single benefit?

Grocery stores are stocked with choices galore but shoppers are looking for more! They want ways to serve themselves and to serve a greater cause. Consumers want their purchases to mean something and the tie breaker between choices is often the chance to support their local communities. The economy is still flat-lining and buying eco-friendly “Local” gives consumers the idea that they are helping to fix things, even if it’s just a little.

Whole Foods has a history of supporting local farmers and their “I’m a Local” campaign is an easy way for people to contribute to their local community and the economic recovery. Only products that have traveled less than a day (7 or fewer hours by car or truck) can even be considered for “local” designation, and most stores have established even shorter maximum distances.

This trend goes beyond just food and beverage as well. American Express has a new “Small Business Saturday” campaign and fashion brands are following suit. Thread, curated indie design and fashion, is a local hot-spot for people in San Diego, Seattle, LA and San Francisco. At a recent show in L.A.’s Garment District, featuring mostly locally made jewelry and clothing, over 2,500 shoppers showed up.

How can your brand support the local community?

Consumers are looking for brands that help them out in some way; brands that support what they are trying to do and empathizes with them, fighting the good fight. In a time when diabetes and obesity are at all time highs, giving people a way to eat a little bit healthier and look better naked is how Greens and Proteins is showing their consumers they understand them. It also helps that they are located right next to the biggest gym in the Las Vegas (smart targeting).

Greens and Proteins is a modern, family friendly café offering all your favorite foods with a healthy twist. Health conscious but affordable, they allow you to make that one “better-for-you” decision each day. Just one good decision instead of three bad ones.

How are you showing empathy to your consumers?

Tide has been an iconic, trusted brand for 60 years. Now, the power of the brand has lent itself to a new chain of franchises and a brilliant new way for Procter & Gamble to expand the Tide name.

Tide Dry Cleaners illustrates the power of a brand and its ability to expand into new channels. Its the same Tide you’ve trusted at home now blended with the service of a neighborhood dry cleaners. Not only do they make your clothes brighter, as their website puts it, they now make your day brighter.

How can your brand promise extend in to new channels?

Consumer’s know when you’re selling them. Putting things on sale, making a direct attack on your competitor; consumers are getting tired of the same old approach and it doesn’t create a true relationship with the consumer. How can you take selling to a different level and really engage your consumer?

Instead of a typical jewelry sale, Stephen Webster created an in-store experience. With a Murder She Wrote theme Stephen Webster got people in to the store through an event with the primary purpose being engagement.

There was the appearance of foul play (a gentleman with a stiletto wound to the heart) and all sorts of clues. There were also several potential perpetrators (all attractive) that invited guests were asked to interview in order to discern who the culprit might be. It was fun, engaging and paid off the jewelry lines intent and sold quite a bit of jewelry, in that order.  The event said something about the Stephen Webster brand, it’s sense of humor and play.

What’s your brand saying at point of sale?

Krispy Kreme is of course known for their doughnuts and if I told you they sprinkled a little crack in them, you couldn’t argue with me—because they are SO delicious – well – They don’t.

They are also known for their decor which was standardized in the 1960s. Their green roof and red-glazed brick exterior are iconic but the centerpiece of each store is the large viewing window which reveals doughnuts in production.  

As consumers watch the doughnuts travel along an overhead conveyor belt, they become a part of the doughnut-making experience. It becomes more than a retail store; it becomes a destination, food theatre and an experience you can share with others. Take my word for it – even though it is an automated process, your doughnuts are fresh and amazing!

Is your business conducive to showing off? What’s your theatre?

Consumers are keeping a closer eye on their finances this year as we head in to the holiday season.  They will do anything for deals these days and that doesn’t necessarily mean waiting until Black Friday (or Cyber Monday) to purchase all those presents.

Holiday shopping is now a year round online endeavor for a lot of people. According to Google over 1/3 of consumers started their e-holiday shopping in May. Free shipping and prompt delivery services are helping consumers feel more confident about online purchases. It also helps consumer buy immediately instead of waiting in line and hunting for deals at different stores.

As results are coming in for Black Friday sales, we are also seeing that online shopping was just as strong as any other day, “Despite some analysts’ predictions that the flurry of brick-and-mortar retailers opening their doors early for Black Friday would pull dollars from online retail, we still saw a banner day for e-commerce with more than $800 million in spending,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

So, did your consumers skip the lines this year? How did your Black Friday sales compare to years past?

A lot is getting thrown at today’s consumer – new products, constant messaging and new promotions. How can you break through the clutter?

Consumers are looking for products and experiences that mean more and push their personal boundaries and expectations.
Apple pushed consumer boundaries with expression-enabling in our tech devices.
Pull-In engages consumers in the process of picking out underwear.
And the Mario Andretti Racing Experience offers consumers an experience they’ll never forget and maybe more than that, a memory they thought they’d never experience.

Companies that offer these experiences and push the boundaries of consumer expectation will create surprise, an emotion that when positive and repeated over and over will keep consumers coming back, again and again.

How does your brand surprise consumers?

A great example of breaking thru by offering less and staying true to a simple mission. All of Help’s solutions are made with single active ingredients, the fewest possible coating and dyes and each product is titled after the specific symptom it is meant to solve.

We have to imagine that this is only the first of many consumer categories that will see simplicity becoming the antidote to the “choice exhaustion” often being experienced in stores right now.

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Shared by Christi Helsel

In todays economy we all need small wins, little things that get us through the day. Sometimes that means consumers are looking to associate with someone, with something, that evokes the way they feel, the way they live and think.

A great example happened over the weekend, the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight. The third of two previously contested matches.

I was lucky enough to be at the weigh-in, the MGM auditorium reached capacity and had to close the doors, that’s never happened before and it was for one reason, there were a lot of Filipino and Mexican fans there to cheer on Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. Partly because each come from the respective countries of the representative fans but both are also amalgams of the fans themselves.

Each fighter comes from extreme poverty and has become the best on the planet at something special. Each carrying their countries on their backs, fearing defeat more from the perspective of letting their countrymen down than from their personal egos.

I realized that the fight represented more than just the competition between these two fighters. It represented pride, nationalism and hope.

Are there brands out there that rally consumers emotionally and genuinely understands their consumers plight? How do they show it? Does your brand show it?