The Motley Fool – Where Brand, Core Values and Culture Drives Performance

For the past few years, I have been a strong believer that brand purpose, core values and culture are critical to an organization’s long-term success. Organizations that align these elements have been proven to be more effective in delivering financial results. Zappos and Innocent are two examples of brands who have built successful work cultures.

Many organizations have been able to develop purpose and values statements, but few brands have been able to consistently live their values and change behaviors. Enron had a vision and values statement that included lofty values such as respect, integrity, communication and excellence. In a New York Times article, James S. Kunen mentions a writer who, while struggling to draft a corporate values statement, threw up her hands in despair and observed: “Why not just come out and say it? ‘We will strive to make as much money as we can without going to prison.’”

“The writer was joking, of course. But had Enron’s leaders adopted her statement and lived by it, their employees and shareholders might be a lot better off today.”

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the Motley Fool Corporate Headquarters in Alexandria Virginia. I participated in the Foolosophy Culture Tour which is held on the first Friday of every month. The Motley Fool is a brand committed to living its purpose and values everyday through their interactions with each other and its members and subscribers.

The Motley Fool is a privately owned multi-media financial services company dedicated to building the world’s greatest investment community. The Motley Fool reaches people each month through its website, books, newspaper column and subscription newsletter services. The Motley Fool advocates for individual investors. The company’s name was taken from Shakespeare, whose wise fools both instructed and amused and could speak the truth to the king —without getting their heads lopped off.

The Foolosophy Tour is a 45 minute peek into the unique culture that makes the Motley Fool different and a great place to work. In 2013 and 2014, the Motley Fool was selected by Glassdoor as the best medium-sized company to work for in the United States. The tour highlighted Motley Fool’s core values and how the organization hires for them and fires for them. Their work environment was open and inviting. The workspace did not include offices, even for the most senior leaders. Each stop on the tour featured one of the organization’s core values. The tour guide shared stories of employees and leaders and their success and challenges in living their values on a daily basis.

One of my favorite parts of the tour was the wall outside the boardroom that featured pictures of every employee in the company. As decisions were made by the board they couldn’t help but look at the people whose work lives were impacted. The Motley Fool was one of the most human and engaging work environments that I have ever visited.

Motley Fool has a simple purpose: “To Help The World Invest Better”. The company has six core values that help guide their behavior:

• Collaborate – Do great things together.
• Innovate – Search for a better solution. Then top it!
• Fun – Revel in your work.
• Honest – Make us proud.
• Competitive – Play fair, play hard, play to win.
• Motley – Make Foolishness your own. Share your core value _____________.

The tour guide emphasized that the Motley Fool had a competitive performance based culture that was a great place to work while delivering financial results. She also admitted that the Motley Fool Culture was not perfect but that they were always working on tangible ways to implement their values.

It was an inspiring morning, but I learned an important lesson. The road to an effective employee culture is always under construction.

Can you think of other brands, that have been successful in building a values based culture?

Uber Uses Technology and Data to Create a Happy and Human Customer Experience

If you are going to disrupt an industry, it makes sense to challenge a service that doesn’t provide a good customer experience. Most people who I know have had a negative experience in a taxicab at one time or another. Hailing a cab, rude drivers, cabs that are late and never show up, dirty and poorly maintained vehicles are just some of the problems people encounter. The best innovations identify and solve a customer problem in a new and unique way. Brand Storyteller, Blogger and author Bernadette Jiwa says that “the job of every single business on the planet is to do just one thing – to make people happy. When you find ways to do that you win”.

Uber is startup ride sharing service based in San Francisco. Uber was launched in 2010.  Uber utilizes mobile apps to connect passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire. Uber arranges pickups in over 200 cities worldwide. Consumers reserve a car by using a mobile app to request a car. The mobile app can be used to track the reserved car’s location, make, model, driver’s name, license plate number and estimated pick up time.

I started using Uber as a result of a promo code that a friend shared with me this summer. A key lesson for content marketers is that good and useful content is easy to share. I downloaded the app on my iPhone, requested a ride and the driver arrived within 5 minutes. I had dinner that night with a friend in the Fells Point section of Baltimore. After dinner, I requested my ride from Uber and the driver again arrived in five minutes. The driver was polite and the during the 20 minute ride home we discussed basketball and the Baltimore Bullets. My experience was great. Following that experience, I have recommended Uber to several friends. I love Uber’s tagline “Everyone’s Private Driver”. In 2013, the USA Today named Uber its tech company of the year.

For me, Uber, is more than a tech company. Uber is a brand that utilizes technology and data to create a great customer experience. Startup’s like Uber are very unique. They connect buyers and sellers through a unique business model. They use data to make sure users have a great experience. Data is also used to continually learn and improve the service. Consumers are able to rate their experience with drivers building trust in the Uber Brand. Uber is powered by technology but delivers a unique, human experience.

Have you used Uber and if so how was your experience?

MISSION BBQ Has Created a Unique Brand With Meaning, Purpose and Great Food

I am always on the lookout for entrepreneurs who are creating new businesses and unique independent brands. If it involves food it is even better. Last week I attended a reception for Shoot Out For Soldiers, a 24 hour lacrosse game benefitting wounded soldiers. More on Shoot Out For Soldiers in another post.

The Shoot Out For Soldiers event was catered by a company called MISSION BBQ. The food was donated. The barbecue dinner was outstanding. I instantly asked the question, What’s the story?

MISSION BBQ was founded by Steve Newton and Bill Krauss, a couple of 50 something friends who shared a passion for great barbecue and a desire to build a business with meaning and purpose. The pair opened their first store on September 11, 2011 in Glen Burnie, Maryland, ten years after 9/11. Their idea was to serve good old-fashioned American barbecue while giving back to the community. A portion of their profits go to the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps veterans and their families. It was a way to thank soldiers for their service.

MISSION BBQ and its employees are inspired by the following beliefs which are posted on their website. “We believe there is nothing more American than BBQ. And nobody more American than the brave men and women who have sworn to protect and serve our communities and our country. We do what we do for the love of our soldiers, firefighters, police officers, first responders – all our loved ones in service”. What a great focus. Mission BBQ knows who their customer is and who they want to serve. Each day at noon, they stop for a minute and play the national anthem through the loudspeakers at each location. They have create a unique brand and customer experience.

MISSION BBQ is an inspiring story of two entrepreneurs who followed their passion and created a business with a purpose of giving back and thanking the hard-working people who serve our community.  I wish them will.

Have you eaten at MISSION BBQ?

 

 

Amore Breakfast Serves Excellent Food and Creates a Great Customer Experience in Ogunquit Maine

My parents took our family to Ogunquit, Maine for vacation when I was a child. Some of my best childhood memories occurred on the rocky coast of Maine. Fortunately, my wife and children share my love of Maine. We try to visit southern Maine every 12-24 months for a long weekend. It seems that every trip we discover a special place that we can’t wait to visit again.

One of our favorite traditions on our trips to Ogunquit is starting our day at Amore Breakfast on Shore Road. It is easily the best breakfast I have ever had. The food is excellent and the service is outstanding.  At Amore, “Love is the Maine ingredient”.

Leanne Cusimano opened Amore in 1994. Leanne’s background was in teaching and furniture sales. When she founded Amore, her goal was to create a place of her own where people could enjoy good food and feel at home. Leanne believed that “food is love”, thus “Amore”.  This year, Amore is celebrating its 20th year in business.

The menu features a number of signature egg and omelette dishes.The home fries are the best I have ever had. Each item is uniquely prepared with a slight twist that makes it special. The coffee is also excellent. The black and white interior creates a warm and friendly environment that reminds you of the 50’s.

In addition to great food, Amore has a warm and friendly atmosphere. This starts when you are greeted by Leanne and continues throughout your meal. Many of the waiters and waitresses have worked at Amore for several years. It is obvious that they love what they do. Amore Breakfast provides great service and the employees create a great and memorable customer experience. Amore creates an emotional connection with every customer who walks in the door. We eagerly await our next visit to Amore and are never disappointed.

The Amore Breakfast story has spread through word of mouth and positive reviews on Trip Advisor, a feature on Rachel Rays “Tasty Travels” and part of a New York Times article on “36 Hours/Ogunquit Maine”.

Amore has created a branded experience that customers crave. There are some great branding lessons to be learned from Amore Breakfast:

• Great Brands start by building a culture first, the culture and employees drives the business and the brand experience
• Make the product great and distinctive
• Create an emotional experience that builds a long-term relationship
• Sweat the details and create a great customer experience where people feel at home

Have you eaten at Amore Breakfast in Ogunquit Beach Maine?

Can Fitbit Sustain Its Rapid Growth?

90 million Americans are classified as obese. Many people can be described as professional couch potatoes. A study led by kinesiology researchers at the University of Tennessee, found that the average adult takes just 5,117 steps per day–barely half the daily steps recommended by the U.S. Surgeon General.

Gym memberships increase right after the holidays but by mid-March attendance is down. Many people start fitness programs but lack the willpower to make it a regular habit. Can technology help? Wearable devices that monitor every footstep and exercise milestone allow people to keep track of their own fitness activities like never before. The devices track steps, distance, calories burned and sleep. Companies like Fitbit, Nike and Jawbone are enhancing users’ workouts through analytics, encouragement and the ability to share your accomplishment with friends through social media. These devices try to make fitness fun and interactive. It is the intersection of health and technology.

The Consumer Electronics Association says the sports and fitness category is a $70 billion annual business in the United States. Fitbit has emerged as the leader in the fast growing digital Health and Fitness category. The NPD Research Group says that Fitbit has 77% of the market for full activity body trackers and 50% of the market for digital fitness devices. Most experts predict rapid growth in this category over the next three to five years.

Fitbit was founded in 2007 by Eric Friedman and James Park. Friedman and Park realized that sensors and wireless technology had advanced to a point where they could bring amazing experiences to fitness and health. The company’s initial product, the Fitbit, was released in September 2009. It was the first wireless wearable fitness device for the mass consumer market. Fitbit’s offering has expanded to include several products including the Flex, Zip, One, Force and Aria. Their products are stylish and available in a variety of colors. Fitbit is sold at Best Buy, Dicks Sporting Goods, Sports Authority, Target and REI to name a few.

Fitbit’s mission is to empower and inspire people to live a healthier more active lifestyle. Their goal is to design products and experiences that fit seamlessly into your life so that you can achieve your fitness goals whatever they maybe.

Can Fitbit sustain its amazing growth? Wearables have become part of many people’s daily lives. Are these products a passing fad or a product category that will grow for years? Will smartphones through apps add this functionality and kill the category?

Have you tried Fitbit or another wearable fitness product?

Simple Bank was Developed to Help People Better Control Their Finances

People are dissatisfied with banking. A recent study from the Rassmussen Report reveals that American Consumers hold a grudge against banks who they hold responsible for the great recession. Many consumers believe that banks don’t have their best interests at heart. Bank fees are often confusing and hit your checking account when you can least afford them. People feel like idiots when they are hit with a bank fee. Most people, at one time or another, have had a nightmare customer service experience with a large bank. Large banks have some of the lowest customer experience and customer service ratings. People feel powerless to change things. Banks talk about being customer focused but very few of them empathize with the needs of their customers. Banks make money by keeping people confused. 

Like many people, Josh Reich got fed up with his bank after it charged him overdraft fees and he lived through a painful customer service experience. This motivated Reich, a software engineer from Australia, to come up with a better more human way to bank. 

Reich created Simple, an online banking company that was founded in Brooklyn and relocated to Portland, Oregon. Simple offers customers free checking and data analysis of their transactions and spending habits. The company, which began signing up customers in 2012 now has more than 80,000 accounts and has processed transactions worth more than $200 million. Simple does not have retail branches.

The Simple Bank Brand was developed to help people better control their finances. All employees in the company are unified in support of this common purpose. Their goal is to make banking more human by putting customer service at the core of everything they do. Simple is targeted to people who are dissatisfied with their current banking relationship. A Simple account empowers customers with powerful budgeting and savings tools built right into their account. These tools show customers how much money they have to spend and help people save for specific goals like vacations. Their website and mobile apps are clean, simple and easy to use. Simple gives people tools to help themselves, while still making sure knowledgeable, friendly people are there to help when you need them.

The company’s biggest challenge is customer acquisition. Despite their current dissatisfaction, it is difficult to get customers to change and leave their current bank. Changing banks is a lot of work.

Would you leave your current bank if a better more human option was available?

 

Difference – Its The Story of How to Create Difference for your Customers

For the past year and a half, I have enjoyed reading Bernadette Jiwa’s Brand Marketing Blog “The Story of Telling”. Bernadette’s blog focuses on the importance of storytelling in brand marketing. Her posts are short, simple and inspiring.

Bernadette is a brand storyteller and strategist who challenges traditional approaches to marketing. She recently published a new book titled “Difference”. I highly recommend “Difference”. It’s a must read book for innovative marketers. Difference challenges you to re-think your approach to marketing. Many people view marketing’s role as creating demand for existing products. Conventional wisdom advocates developing a product and then creating a big marketing funnel in order to sell it.

Difference redefines how successful brands will be marketed in the future. In Bernadette’s view marketing is not a department, it’s the story of how we create difference for our customers. The businesses that succeed tell a better story because they have learned to recognize what’s true for their customers and then create solutions that matched their worldview. As Bernadette points out, “the truth is that people don’t fall in love with ideas at all. They fall in love with how those ideas, products, services and places makes them feel”. People don’t buy features they buy promises.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when Bernadette shares her story of growing up in Dublin, the storytelling capital of the world. Bernadette describes how her little brother Johnny never greeted her by saying “hello” or “how are you?” The only question Johnny ever asked was, “what’s the story?” This is a common way to greet people in Ireland. It’s an open ended question that asks people to tell everything that’s important right now. Many great stories flowed from that simple greeting.

Difference thinking is more than the ability to connect the dots, though. It’s about seeing the truth, recognizing the opportunity in that truth and then acting on it. It isn’t the person with the best idea who wins; it’s the person who has the greatest understanding of what really matters to people.

The Difference Model outlined in the book flips product development on its head. Instead of starting with the idea, it begins with an examination of people’s current reality and explores what’s possible in a world where the problems and desires of those people are solved and met. A fundamental premise of the difference model is empathizing with your customer and asking questions to better understand your customer.

The Difference Model is consists of the following elements:

• Principles – What’s the truth about us, the industry, the market and the people we want to serve.
• Purpose – Why do we exist?
• People – Who are the people we want to serve? What do they value? What’s their current reality?
• Personal – How can we change how people feel?
• Perception – What do people believe about you? What would you like them to believe about you?
• Product – What do people really want?

Difference cites examples of many brands who have taken this approach to solving customers needs. Examples include Apple, Uber, By the Way Bakery, Warby Parker, Airbnb and The Rubix Cube.

Bernadette has created a Difference Map to help guide you through the process. You can download the map at Difference.is. It is a wonderful tool for planning innovation.

Read Difference and experience a new way of thinking about marketing.

Dove’s New Film “Selfie” Helps Redefine Beauty

Ten years ago Dove set out to widen the definition of beauty. In 2004 Dove commissioned a research study called “The Real Truth About Beauty” to more deeply understand the relationship of women, beauty and well-being. The results of the study were very surprising. Only two percent of women interviewed considered themselves to be beautiful, while the majority placed themselves in the average or below average category. The study found that women felt disconnected from the way culture describes beauty. The study found that women held different criteria for beauty than popular culture. Women see emotional qualities, character and individuality as equally expressive of beauty as the narrow physical aspects of beauty that currently dominate popular culture.

In 2004, Dove launched the “Campaign For Real Beauty”. The campaign was designed to change the conversation about the need for a wider definition of beauty. This campaign has had a positive impact on women, changed the conversation and generated strong sales increases. Dove produced one of the best ads of 2013 in “Real Beauty Sketches”. 

Last week Dove premiered “Selfie” an eight minute film that challenges young women through social media to take an honest selfie and to encourage their mothers to do so, too. “Selfie” premiered at the Sundance Institute in Park City, Utah. This marked the 10th anniversary of Dove’s “Campaign For Real Beauty”.

Selfie is directed by Oscar Winning Documentarian Cynthia Wade and produced by Sharon Liese. “Selfie” captures the journey of multiple generations of girls and their mothers in the western Massachusetts town of Great Barrington as they create a new type of selfie that celebrates their unique beauty. In the film, the girls admit that they adopted many of the insecurities that their mothers also felt. The girls are seen getting together with their moms to create a new type of selfie that features what they perceive as their least desirable physical features.  

A decade later, Dove has uncovered through a major study in the U.S. that 62% of women feel they are responsible for influencing their own definition of beauty, nearly triple the number from ten years ago. Women believe the definition of beauty has evolved to become more inclusive and have taken on the role of defining the standard for themselves and each other.

Social media has emerged as one of the most powerful influencing factors in how women define beauty. Social media offers women the opportunity to create their own media, personalize beauty and influence the conversation. More than half (55%) of women believe social media is playing a larger role in influencing the beauty conversation than traditional media.

“Selfie” is an excellent short film. Dove has done a great job promoting self esteem. As a father of teen age girls and a husband, I applaud what Dove has done. Once again they have redefined the notion of beauty. Dove has stayed true to their brand purpose of celebrating women’s unique beauty.

What do you think of Dove’s short film “Selfie”?

The Rise, The Fall and The Repositioning of The Restoration Hardware Brand

Restoration Hardware has repositioned itself to be a luxury lifestyle brand. It has a great story.  The brand was founded by Stephen Gordon in 1980 in Eureka, California. The idea for the company came while Gordon was restoring his Queen Anne style house. He had great difficulty finding period hardware. He recognized a need in the marketplace. The brand was initially about addressing the need for authentic period hardware. The initial store was founded in Gordon’s house in Eureka. Over time, Restoration Hardware expanded product offerings to include 1920s-themed lighting, bathware, curtains and furniture. Fifty percent of the business was novelty type items. The company expanded rapidly and went public in 1998. By 2001 Restoration Hardware was close to bankruptcy. Its stock had gone from $37 a share to $.50. It problems could be blamed on the lack of a focused merchandise assortment. In 2001, Restoration Hardware did not have a clear point of view.

Gary Friedman, former President of Williams Sonoma, stepped in and over time saved the company. He spent six years remaking the business, slowly and methodically getting rid of the novelty items and bringing in furniture, linens and lighting. He made Restoration Hardware relevant. Restoration Hardware repositioned itself as a retailer of luxury home furnishings. Restoration Hardware’s sofas, chairs, tables, bureaus and other products are largely modern updates of classical designs. Its target market: households with incomes above $200,000 or “aspirational” customers trading up from department stores and other retailers.

The company struggled when the housing bubble burst in 2008. The company was forced to restructure, close stores and went private in 2008. The company lost money from 2008 to 2011. The company went public again in 2012.

This year it announced plans to transform itself from a high-end brand in home furnishings to a luxury lifestyle brand. The brand has evolved to become RH, which is positioned to curate a lifestyle beyond the four walls of home.

Not only is the company branching into “curated” collections of contemporary art, antiques and kitchen ware, it also plans to launch RH Atelier, a luxury brand of apparel, accessories, footwear and jewelry. Key to Restoration Hardware’s ongoing transformation will be the opening of much larger stores called Design Galleries to better showcase all of its products.

Five full-line Design Galleries have opened since 2011 in Los Angeles, Houston, Scottsdale, Ariz., and most recently Boston and Indianapolis. With an average of 21,600 square feet of selling space, they are about three times the size of the company’s legacy stores, not to mention more productive.

The Boston outlet is the largest at 40,000 square feet. Besides displaying new product categories such as tabletop goods and “objects of curiosity,” the four-story historic building features a wine bar, beer pub, billiard lounge, library, club rooms and conservatory.

One strong point is the brand’s positioning. It’s above mass-market players such as Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn, but below top-end designer showrooms used by decorators.

The jury is still out whether the company can make a go of all of its ambitious undertakings. However recent results have been very positive. In the last quarter same store sales increased 26% and earnings jumped 48%. Its stock price has more than doubled since its IPO last year.

Have you shopped at a Restoration Hardware Store?

FarmieMarket Utilizes Social Media and Content Marketing to Connect Consumers with Local Farmers

Yesterday I attended a Social Media Tech Valley Breakfast event at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, New York. It was an excellent event. It was my first visit to the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, which is a wonderful venue with a great story and heritage. It is notable for having a music hall constructed on the second floor above the bank itself. The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall is world renowned for its near perfect acoustics. In another post, I will tell the story of the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, one of the gems of the capital region.

I was impressed by the presentation given by FarmieMarket founder Sarah Gordon. Sarah had a great story to share about the founding and growth of FarmieMarket, an online farmers market.

Sarah is a third generation farmer who grew up on the family farm in Knox, New York. She lived first hand the struggles and simple pleasures that come with a family farm. After college she knew that she wanted to do something that promoted sustainability and paid tribute to the knowledge she picked up on the farm. Living in downtown Burlington, Vermont, she was inspired by the prevalence of active farmers’ markets, local foods restaurants, and the agricultural community in the urban environment. Burlington was the first place she had ever been where the small farmer was King, and she knew she wanted to replicate feeling back home.

Sarah had two unique insights that has helped build her business. Consumer’s were hungry for fresh, local food but often too busy to visit the farmer’s market every week. Most families with active children fall into that segment. Sarah also understood that small local farmers were time constrained. Local farmers were too taxed by the day-to-day challenges of farming to market themselves.

In January 2010, she began marketing her family farm’s products online, using social networking tools. The concept caught on. From there, she began talking to other farmers she knew and offered to help them to market their products by building synergy amongst local farmers in a central, internet-based market place.

In June 2010, Gordon founded FarmieMarket, an online farmers market where Capital Region consumers could order fresh produce, eggs, meat and more from local farms and have them delivered directly to their door. Catering to the needs of time-strapped consumer and farmer has proven to be a good business model.

The goal was to help family farms make their businesses viable by expanding their access to a broader customer base. The small farms she works with have limited resources and often cannot take the time away from the farm to go sit at a booth at a farmers market (especially not knowing how much they may actually sell).  By marketing on behalf of family farms online, farmers save time and money and reach a broader customer base than may be at a traditional farmers’ market.

The concept is simple and convenient. Local farmers list what items they have in stock on the FarmieMarket website, where shoppers can order online. Once a week, Farmie Market makes deliveries to consumers, while also marketing products on the website to help farms attract more business. Farmers set their own prices and Gordon adds her own operating costs on top of that. Shoppers only have to place a minimum delivery order of $25, plus a $5 delivery charge.

FarmieMarket’s mission is easy to identify with and support:

• Improve small family farms profitability and economic sustainability.
• Provide naturally grown, organic and local food to families and individuals.
• Offer local customers a modern, convenient service.
• Improve rural and regional economies by recycling customers’ food dollars with local farms and small businesses.
• Create and maintain jobs on farms, in small businesses and amongst entrepreneurial local food leaders.

FarmieMarket is a great example of an entrepreneur following a passion who understood the jobs that consumers and farmers are trying to get done. Sarah has done a great spreading the word about FarmieMarket through content marketing and social media. I wish her continued success.

Have you purchased farm fresh vegetables online?