Being all things to all people can lead to death of a brand

By George Haldeman

Knowing who you are as a person helps people to be confident and successful. People who know what their strengths and weaknesses are can spot opportunities where they can be successful and how to avoid pitfalls that play into their weaknesses.

Companies sometimes seem not to be able to create this same situation. It can be hard to pass on a segment of the market especially during times where we are desperate for revenue. We try and create products and services that appeal to any potential customer.

Far too often, that means we start competing on our weakness instead of our strengths. If a football team had a great offensive line and  fast running backs and were playing with their backup quarterback, they should probably not throw the ball very much.If a casino has great food and reasonable prices but mediocre entertainment, they should probably not focus their advertising around entertainment especially if their competitor has great entertainment.

Only pick fights you can win and only use weapons that are effective. If you can’t win the battle in paid media, spend your resources in the Public Relations area. If you don’t have the resources to properly execute an online or email strategy, focus on direct mail.

Focusing on the right customer is the key. Get a customer satisfaction study done and determined what your customers like most about you and what they say you don’t do well. Once you are enabled with this knowledge, you can create targeted and impactful messages that speak directly to customers who value what you have to offer.

If the customers hear a scattered message that talks about things that are not relevant to them or your message is not believable, it will not resonate and you have wasted your money and the opportunity to drive visitation to you property.

If the goal is to build a brand that drives visitation and engenders loyalty, we need to determine our strengths and weaknesses. From there, we can create messages that resonate with customers and ultimately drive vistiation to our property. The alternative is to try and be all things to all people. This means not having a target market and therefore a scattered and disjointed marketing effort.  

George is a Principal in Strategic Gaming Advisors