Brand Autopsy

One of the more interesting scenes in the TOUGH LOVE screenplay is when Vivian Kane, Denny Williams, and John Coffey spend an afternoon talking with Galaxy Coffee customers and employees.

For Vivian, the company cheerleader who thinks Galaxy can do wrong, hearing first-hand opinions of disillusioned customers and front-line employees changed how she views Galaxy Coffee.

While enjoying beers and conversation at the Tophill Pub, Vivian and Denny start talking about the practice of branding. Vivian’s approach to building a brand is unique and steeped deep in the Galaxy Coffee culture.

Vivian Kane is a principal character in the TOUGH LOVE screenplay. She has worked in the Galaxy Coffee marketing department for over a decade and the Galaxy Coffee company culture runs through her veins. She’s a company cheerleader all the way.

There’s a scene in TOUGH LOVE where Vivian chides a former employee, Denny Williams, for criticizing the actions of Galaxy Coffee. Denny responds back that no business is perfect and the reason he is giving the company “tough love” is because he still loves the company.

The idea of “no business is perfect” is a theme we’ve discussed before on the Brand Autopsy blog. It’s also discussed in the Marketer’s Notes section at the end of the TOUGH LOVE screenplay. Here’s a snippet from the business lessons section of the script:

#13 | Marketer's Notes -- "No business is perfect."

Let’s face it, no business is perfect. NONE. Business is a game of progress, not perfection. No business will be perfect. It's an impossibly unattainable goal. But while that goal is unattainable, the most endearing and enduring businesses seem to always aspire to reach perfection. They always make progressive steps to improve their business and how their business connects with people. Sure, they will stumble along the way. But the true measure of a company is how it recovers and forges ahead making progress along the way to overcome its mistakes.

source: Business Lesson #13 from TOUGH LOVE

In SAVE THE CAT! STRIKES BACK, Blake Snyder, accomplished screenwriter, shares “seven warnings signs” a writer has a great idea for a screenplay. It’s a good list and with a little massaging, Blake’s list also works for marketers. Here's my twist on Blake's list:

You know you have a great marketing idea when...

#1. You love talking about the idea with anyone, anywhere.

#2. You have no fear someone will steal your idea.

#3. You feel giddy knowing others view you as a smart marketer.

#4. You know the more you work on the idea, the better it gets.

#5. You poke at potential flaws in the idea, knowing it’s an opportunity to make the idea stronger.

#6. You have researched the idea and know no one has done it like you plan to do it.

#7. You know the idea is tactically doable and strategically reliable.

---

Seth Godin writes a lot about Resistance in LINCHPIN, but he refers to it as one’s “lizard brain” creating fear which prevents us from actualizing our aspirations.

Steven Pressfield first defined/articulated what Resistance is and how it acts as a self-sabotaging power in THE WAR OF ART. (We’ve talked a lot about this must-read book before on the Brand Autopsy blog in 2005 and 2008.)

This past Sunday at Gateway Church, Ted Beasley gave Pressfield’s concept of Resistance new light.

In the WAR OF ART, Pressfield writes. “Most of us live two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands resistance.”

In his Sunday message Ted Beasley quoted from Romans 7:18-20 ... “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.”

[As a point of reference, Ted Beasley is a teacher at the very entrepreneurial-minded Acton School of Business and serves as an executive coach. He has business chops. He also has spiritual chops, having served as a full-time pastor in the past at Gateway.]

Ted outlined three ways Resistance gets in between our aspirations and actions.

First is Homeostasis, the unseen but always felt force that keeps us under the gravitational pull of not doing anything different.

Perfectionism is the second way Resistance resides within us. By setting our expectations so high that it demands perfect design and perfect delivery, we crater and quit at the moment we fail to be perfect.

The third way Resistance lives is through the Flesh. When self-gratification (ego, lust, revenge, or something else) rises within us, the self-sabotaging power of Resistance erects a barrier between our aspirations and actions.

Ted’s talk on Resistance is worth watching and learning from. Watch below or click here to view the video. Enjoy.

I recently read the Howard Schultz interview in the July/August issue of the Harvard Business Review. The interview details the drive, decline, and resurrection of Starbucks. It’s an informative read that touches upon many business themes dramatized in my TOUGH LOVE screenplay about “Galaxy Coffee.”

Interesting quotes from Howard Schultz and TOUGH LOVE correlations include:

“Being the CEO of a public company over the past couple of years has been difficult. And lonely.” — Howard Schultz

David Pearl, the fictitious CEO of Galaxy Coffee, experienced the same difficult feelings of loneliness as he fought to reverse the decline of Galaxy. To help overcome those feelings of loneliness and self-doubt, David, during a few pivotal scenes, recites a saying his father instilled in him as a child, “Get up. Head up. Never give up.”

“The issues of social media, digital media, and getting smart about the rules of engagement emerged as a tremendous weakness for the company.” — Howard Schultz

Similar to Starbucks, Galaxy Coffee wasn’t smart about social media. Internal memos and videos were leaked and used by detractors to belittle the company. On numerous occasions, a Galaxy Coffee Public Relations Executive failed to properly coach David Pearl on the new rules of engagement when talking to the media about the company. The result was Galaxy’s reputation suffered greatly and the company was positioned as being out-of-touch.

“Everything we did more or less worked. And that produced a level of hubris that caused us to overlook what was coming.” — Howard Schultz

Galaxy suffered the same fate of egotism and neglect. The company never knew losing and when the losses started to mount, Galaxy didn’t know how to react. Worse yet, because of hubris, Galaxy didn’t realize how disconnected the company had become with its customers and employees. Ultimately, egotism led to the decline of Galaxy Coffee. (What exactly happens to Galaxy Coffee? Gotta read the TOUGH LOVE screenplay to find out.)

“The marketplace was saying, ‘Starbucks needs to undo all these company-owned stores and franchise the system.’ That would have given us a war chest and significantly increased return on capital. It’s a good argument economically. It’s a good argument for shareholder value.” — Howard Schultz

This is exactly the argument made by activist investor Conner Langley as he amassed Galaxy stock in hopes of gaining a position on the Galaxy Board of Directors. The “Langley Plan” called for turning 1,500 Galaxy locations into franchised stores. In the end, Galaxy’s Board of Directors decided not to pursue the “Langley Plan.” Instead, Galaxy went in a different direction, which increased shareholder value much more substantially and quickly. (I can’t reveal the specific direction Galaxy chose because that would spoil the TOUGH LOVE story for you.)

I riffled though CONSUMED: Rethinking Business in the Era of Mindful Spending today. Would have read it, but couldn’t get into enough so I riffled through it. As the title/sub-title suggest, this book identifies issues and the consumer/business sentiment with overconsumption.

Even though I riffled through the book, this tasty quote from British philosopher G.K. Chesterton made a lasting impression with me. Perhaps it’ll linger with you too...

[NOTE: I received a free copy of CONSUMED to review from the publisher.]