“10 Musts" To Building New Brands And To Rebuilding Dormant, Undeveloped Brands

I. The cornerstone of every brand - its point of difference

The problem - Too many products fall down in the differentiation department. There must be a unique selling proposition (USP)!
If a brand doesn’t have a USP, find some creative hook!

II. Must make product stand out

Must build brand identity through:

Single-minded vision: For Gold Bond, to become the gold standard in medicated skin care for itch relief.
Regular and consistent advertising.
Dynamic package design—so when consumer walks down the aisle, the product shouts out to the consumer, “GRAB ME!”

III. Must listen to consumer and then listen more slowly!

Brand Research Cards taught us:

How to improve creative advertising.
To target Gold Bond creative against the J&J consumer (>1/2 of 1st time users of Gold Bond coming from J&J franchise!) J&J Baby Powder users wanted a product that did more than absorb moisture; they wanted medicine to relieve itch and discomfort.
To target Gold Bond against those who thought they had athlete’s foot but really had our newly coined disease, “everyday foot itch.”
To develop a new line extension—Gold Bond Medicated Foot Powder---The BRCs showed us that the number one part of the body where consumers were using GB was the feet! So why not develop a product specially formulated for the feet!
To target Ovaltine creative against hot cocoa drinkers – Ovaltine consumers in the winter were coming from the hot cocoa market -- Carnation and Swiss Miss. Our new creative--“Ovaltine Hot is creamier than ordinary hot cocoas, because it’s made with milk, not water; plus Ovaltine has vitamins and minerals, Carnation and Swiss Miss don’t.”
To develop Gold Bond Medicated Anti-Itch Cream--Consumers’ number one reason for using medicated creams- immediate itch relief; leading brands could not provide. So they came to GB Powder.

IV. Creative Advertising Must Strike a Responsive Chord with consumer

To us, the only thing more beautiful than a good ad is an excited consumer passionate about our products. And we spend a lot of time with our consumers and consumer testimonials and commercials based on consumer feedback have been the strength of our creative advertising efforts.

V. Control commercial production costs to maximize funds for media

As advertising plays such a critically important role in building brand equity, we have always been vertically-integrated in the advertising creative function, and have handled that part of the business in-house, on our own (writers, producers,etc.). That’s how we are able to keep production costs down so there’s more money available for the media buy!

The problem with the outside advertising agencies is that they push television commercials, the most expensive media day-parts, extremely high production costs, directors’ fees, creative and talent fees. The average cost of a 30 second national television commercial is in excess of $360,000 (according to the American Association of Advertising Agencies).

During the five years we owned Gold Bond, our average cost of a television and radio commercial including the buy-out of talent was under $5,000!

VI. Heavy investment in advertising (Key to top of mind awareness - Dominant SOV)

There is a direct correlation between the level of advertising spending and market share, consumer loyalty, the ability to resist price competition and leverage with the trade.

VII. Frequency of advertising messages

Message repetition is critical to generating trail of your products. That is why we advertise 52 weeks/year, without flighting. Over the last 46 years, every brand we have ever owned has been advertised 365 days a year! Yes, we could afford to advertise on the Super Bowl but that would not be consistent we our frequency of advertising goals. By spending our media money efficiently throughout the year we maximize the frequency of our advertising messages.

VIII. In-house media buying company to maximize cost effeciency and impression level delivery

Like advertising creative, we have always been vertically-integrated in the media buying function. That is how we have been able to achieve significant efficiencies in media buying. Himmel has dealt directly with all the major media properties for over 50 years. Our internal organization negotitates, plans, implements, purchases,traffics, and monitors every commercial spot that Himmel buys.

IX. Live in a state of paranoia

Always be one step ahead of your competiton.

Himmel believe the best defense is a good offense. When regular strength Gold Bond was introduced nationally and became a successful brand, we anticipated that retailers would introduce their own store-brand knockoffs at a significantly lower price. In order to counter this threat to our brand before it happened we introduce Extra Strength Gold Bond and began to convert Regular Strength users to the new more effective line extension.

Himmel has also taken a very proactive position in the area of creative for Ovaltine. Since 1992 Himmel Creative Strategy for Ovaltine has continually evolved to maximize the brands growth.

X. Discipline to follow the "Musts"