Payment processing firm WorldPay recently released its Global Online Shopper Report, comparing and contrasting the online shopping behavior of consumers in 15 nations.

In addition to revealing significant variations by country in online shopping patterns, the report identified a notable channel fragmentation trend, as desktop and laptop purchases increasingly give way to shopping via smartphone.  According to the report, 19% of consumers have used a mobile device to make a purchase online. That’s one in five people—at a time when many companies don’t even have a mobile website, to say nothing of e-commerce capabilities.

WorldPay’s Philip McGriskin pointed out that the trend “is expanding the audience of potential consumers for merchants to target but, in tandem, presents challenges in offering the best experience for these consumers whenever and wherever they demand it.”

Whenever and wherever they demand it. That should send a chill down your spine.

A world of increasing fragmentation calls for increasing integration. And it’s not even enough to have a fully integrated marketing program—integration must extend to all aspects of the enterprise, from awareness building to transaction processing all the way through CRM.  This trend has as radically changed the way our firm serves its clients as the way they serve their customers.

Not so long ago, it was enough to have great strategy and big ideas. Today, even the best ideas have a hard time getting off the ground as consumers’ media and purchasing options—not to mention their attention spans—grow increasingly fragmented. While perfect integration is unachievable, companies that do the best job of harmonizing all of their consumer touchpoints have a decided advantage.

“If you had called it finely textured beef, would we be here?”

Those are the words of Texas Governor Rick Perry, made to the media during a barnstorming tour he took with Governors Sam Brownback of Kansas and Terry Branstad of Iowa in an attempt to defend the processing plants in their states that produce what has come to be known as “pink slime”.

You know the stuff. The this-looks-like-raspberry-frozen-yogurt-but-it-isn’t stuff. The stuff that we’ve been eating for years without a complaint and that, by all accounts, is perfectly safe. What Governor Perry was referring to was the fact that an industry that’s important to his state is now in jeopardy simply by virtue of an unappetizing nickname and an ugly photo.

I find this a rather fascinating example of the power of positioning. If you think about the term “ground beef” too deeply, it gets disturbing. But  most of us don’t think about the term too deeply–we’ve just taken it for granted all our lives. And when ground beef is ground all the way down to “finely textured beef” (the industry’s preferred label for the stuff), it’s even less of a big deal. Label it “pink slime”, however, and add a lovely image for good measure, and it’s a whole different ballgame.

Crazy, isn’t it? Nothing about the product has changed, but because we’ve been forced to think about it–and in disgusting terms, no less–an entire industry has been turned upside down. I suppose there’s some irony in the fact that the folks from which we got the term “branding” are now facing a branding problem of their own.

Unfortunately, I expect we’ll see more of this in the coming months as political candidates attempt to brand each other via the same repositioning tactics. And it’s likely to be even more unappetizing.

Today’s post is from Jonathan Lewis, an Account Supervisor at McKee Wallwork & Company. Jonathan guides stalled, stuck and stale brands through the maze of changing technology and shifting market forces. You can reach him at JLewis@mwcmail.com, or @JonathanLewis11 on Twitter.

The rise of Amazon, iTunes, and other online powerhouses has led to a dramatic shift in consumer behavior. The new online business model offers convenience and low prices for consumers and businesses like it because it significantly cuts overhead. However, the ongoing shift in how consumers interact with entertainment retailers has left most brick and mortar companies either barely hanging on or filing for bankruptcy.

Hastings Entertainment, a multimedia retail chain specializing in all of the challenged product categories (new and used books, CD’s, video games, movies, rentals) is doing its best to weather the storm. With 146 stores across much of the United States, Hastings has historically performed well by strategically filling a niche in small to midsize markets, essentially providing big city amenities in small towns by filling the gap between mom and pop shops and Best Buy.

But the rise of Amazon has taken a dramatic toll on profits and sales. An analyst at SeekingAlpha.com described Hastings’ precarious position when reporting “I am not sure one could pick a more challenged area of the retail segment than the categories in which [Hastings] competes” and further “It is unclear to me how this company has managed to survive…”

Although the market landscape looks bleak for traditional brick and mortar retailers, there are two main reasons why Hastings could be positioned to not only survive, but thrive.

1. Strong Foundation
Hastings has continued to defy traditional stock value analysis through conservative management, smart market strategy, and loyal customers; essential qualities needed if Hastings is going to make the uncomfortable changes needed to adapt to the new marketplace. For Hastings’ to survive, it will need to use its conservative management style to increase efficiency while it manages long-term brick and mortar decline. At the same time, it will need to activate and engage its loyal customer base in a way it hasn’t attempted before, using the passion so many feel for the brand to keep it afloat as it evolves with the industry. The question remaining for the management team will be how to leverage the unique niche it has carved out in the market as it ventures into new territory.

2. Brand Idea
The key to adapting to a changing market lies in the entire company rallying around a single, focused, compelling brand idea. Hastings isn’t just an entertainment retailer. Hastings is a thriving community, an organic marketplace, a place where authentic creativity intersects with authentic people. Hastings is an idea. Hastings is the place to find offbeat indie bands, niche movies, and local authors. Hastings could represent the last bastion of what is real in the industry; that intangible quality one can feel when flipping through a paperback or looking through album notes.

As the industry moves from personal touch to impersonal clicks, communicating that intangible quality could be the key to growth. If Hastings can stand for something larger than it’s current business model, it can continue to stay relevant to its customer base while making significant (read: profitable) changes to the way it does business.

Winning the Future

“…when you’re in trouble, the worst path is indecision.”
- Anne Mulcahy, CEO, Xerox

Anne Mulcahy’s wise words represent one of many responses a company can have when faced with an existential threat. Having a strong operational foundation and brand better positions Hastings to navigate the changing landscape than competitors. But in the end, it will be the company’s collective attitude that will make the difference. If Hastings can embolden employees to rally together, embrace change, and pursue innovation like the company’s existence relied on it, Hastings’ future can be as bright as its past.

But if Hastings is struggling with any of the four key internal dynamics identified in When Growth Stalls; lack of consensus, loss of nerve, loss of focus, and marketing inconsistency, then the paralysis of indecision will lead it down the same path of so many brick and mortar giants before it.

During a recent client engagement the conversation turned to the meaning of branding, and we talked quite a bit about brand as expectation.  While there are many ways to characterize a brand, an expectation is as good as any—a point which was brought home to me after the meeting as I waited to board my plane, gazing through the plate glass window at the activity on the tarmac.

As I saw a contraption roll past my gate similar to the one in the photo at right,  I thought about how glad I was that I would be boarding a real plane. After all, who among us hasn’t had just a bit of trepidation when we learn we’re flying on something…well, so small?

But I couldn’t help but chuckle as I reflected on a flight I took on a corporate jet a few months ago—a jet like the one pictured here. Knowing I would avoid the typical airport hassles I was glad to have been invited along, but when I laid eyes on the plane I was even more delighted.  “Look how big it is,” I thought to myself.

You know the punch line. The first jet is actually bigger (thus presumably safer) than the second. Yet my perceptions of the dangers I would be facing in boarding each plane were different–and entirely situational.

I expect a commercial jet to be big. I expect a private jet to be small. Should that expectation be unfulfilled in either direction, it will lead to trepidation on one hand or delight on the other. The fact that it’s irrational makes it no less true.  Or less common.

Expectations are why we’ll part with three bucks for one cup of coffee (or scoop of ice cream) and only seventy-five cents for another.  They’re why we’ll pay ten thousand dollars more for a vehicle that’s all-but-identical to its sister brand other than the badge on the hood.  And they’re why while we might avoid the Golden Arches at home we’ll welcome the sight of them in an unfamiliar place.

What expectations do customers have of your brand? How well are you fulfilling them?  It really doesn’t matter what they are as much as that they are, and that you consistently meet or exceed them. If you don’t, you may find people are hesitant to fly with you.