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My "Generous Brand" travelogue: Anaheim, London, Starbucks

October 28, 2011 by Mark Murray — Director, The Store Channel

As we watch the political football of healthcare being thrown at any potential voting block, the California based CareMore has marched through the goal line of delivering better care at lower costs. The game plan: Be successful by doing the right things for patients.

The November issue of Atlantic Magazine has the story, "The Quiet Healthcare Revolution." You'll learn how CareMore challenged themselves with the cost of keeping customers healthy instead of merely trying to reduce the cost of hospital care.

Could the healthcare industry be the new venue for truly brilliant brand experiences? Perhaps, but in the case of CareMore, it's about living up to their name. Regardless, you don't want to be in the room when research puts your brand ranking below healthcare providers.

The Atlantic article is an adaptation of Adrian Slywotzkey's new book, "Demand: Creating What People Love Before They Know They Want it." In one example, it chronicles how CareMore took the challenge of "a coordinated-care system that would be centered on reducing hassles and improving outcomes rather than simply cutting costs." The retail translation is "a valued shopping experience that helps customers make better purchase decisions rather than competing solely on price."

The program addresses Medicare patients. The array of patient services includes free transportation to doctor visits, wireless scales to monitor patients at home, even regular toenail trimming.

CareMore is winning on both the business and brand levels by working against the right objective.

• Hospital stays 38 percent shorter
• A hospitalization rate 25 percent below the average
• Overall member costs 18 percent below the average

CareMore's measures of positive customer/company outcomes are important things for retailers to have in mind when listening to social network pontificators proclaim the "new transparency" or promise quantum word-of-mouth reputation metrics. I often wonder if retailers realize how unattractive their business practices have become. I do know that each time my wife takes a picture she tells me how much she hates the camera I bought her and the store that wanted a restocking fee when she tried to exchange it.

Face it, for many retail brands, on-line "transparency" may not be a very good thing. In store, want-to-be-helpful sales representatives are handcuffed by "store policy." You can almost hear the brand splintering as they look at you with that helpless, pained expression. It makes you wonder if a brand reputation of "the cleanest dirty shirt in the closet" is a sustainable strategy.

So, you want to hear a way out?

Let me queue up a favorite from my Brands Greatest Hits Collection. It's "The Generous Brand" from the London based band of strategists at Fitch. You can find the playlist and videos at Fitch.com but I think this baby is headed back to the top of the charts as retailers change the mix from price to value. Beyond the insights, the good news is a "generous brand" doesn't need to break the bank. It ONLY needs to be genuine.

Here's a "Generous Brand" description:

"It is not about formulating and creating expensive ways of 'wowing' consumers. On the contrary, in a world of mature consumerism, it is usually the small, uncontrived gestures that have the most impact. Generous is a general attitude. Brands can be generous in different ways – from the tone of their communication, to the experience they provide, to the service they deliver, to the functionality they build into their products and services. Typically, a generous brand is one that shows its heartbeat by acknowledging the emotional and rational requirements of consumers."

It's a good read that puts forth the guiding principles to what they describe as "Generous Brand Behavior" as well as the solid stats and examples you'd expect of a tidy bit of research from one of the better retail design firms. That said, if you ever pulled up to a Starbucks' drive-thru to be told the person in front of you already paid for your Chai Latte, you know the feeling.

If you're asking, why did we go from patient pedicures in California to "generous" insights from London and now your local Starbucks? Here's my response.

• CareMore and each "Generous Brand" example is a powerful, emotional but simple expression of brands winning by working against a goal of "positive outcomes" for both company and the customer.
• The moral is "Doing the right thing" can be a successful business strategy.
• A more involved shopper with more choices and a heaping portion of post-recession vigilance is on the prowl – get ready.
• Our new "word of mouth" environment is quickly revealing both relationship brands and mercenary merchants – you need to pick your competitive battlefield.
• The time to take a side-by-side view of your brand promise and your business practices was yesterday.

Do everyone a favor and start this conversation in your company. I'm sure that at the heart of your business you'll find a heart.

About Mark Murray

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