In the movie “Get Shorty,” loan shark Chili Palmer (John Travolta) gets stuck with the worst rental car possible (after requesting a Cadillac). To keep up appearances, a loan shark should be driving a Cadillac, not an Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan. When confronted by one of Hollywood’s superstars (Danny DeVito), Chili says the van is “the Cadillac of minivans.” Subsequently, DeVito and half of the Hollywood elite purchase “the Cadillac of minivans” for themselves.
The moral of the story: Perception is reality. They wanted to drive the best, or at least what is perceived as the best. They want to be like Chili Palmer.
Earlier this year, at the NATSO Show, I found one speaker to stand out among a roster of great speakers. Ken Schmidt, former director of communications for Harley-Davidson, started off with: “I will say, until my face turns purple, that there is nothing you are selling that I can’t get from someone else, for less money. Our world is commoditized.”
Sound familiar? We sell gasoline, something to eat and something to drink. We sell commodities, but to stand out in the crowd, you have to offer more to your consumers. What is it?
Consumer Buy-In
For Harley-Davidson, it was customer relationship and experience. Schmidt went on to say that there was little visible difference between a $24,000 Harley and a $12,000 Honda Shadow.
While I may not be a motorcycle guy, in my dreams, I ride a Harley—a thunderous, ear-splitting, spine-rattling, cool Harley-Davidson. Schmidt talked about the $24,000 Harley that nobody ever bought. Consumers came in looking for that $24,000 bike but, by the time they added the special chrome, saddlebags, specialty handlebars and custom paint, that barebones bike had a $35,000 to $40,000 price tag and an ecstatic paying consumer who got exactly what he or she wanted—even though they didn’t know what they wanted when they walked in the dealership. Upgraded accessories are not limited to the motorcycles. Harley-Davidson took customization a step further with assorted branded accessories in the physical establishment.
Schmidt talked about the company’s brand transformation from the times when consumers bought Harleys in the same store that sold chainsaws and lawn tools. To differentiate, Harley began creating architecturally distinctive brick-and-mortar stores that helped further establish a recognizable difference between its brand and competitors.
It also began looking for the best properties. Instead of chainsaws being sold alongside the bikes, Harley-Davidson sold thousands of Harley accessories, attire, T-shirts, leathers and koozies.
Due to a successful 360-degree branding campaign (involving brand colors and logo, message and culture, stores and the brand ambassadors we call employees), Harley-Davidson overcame its 1970s-era near-bankruptcy and enjoys the fruits of that endeavor today. Its campaign worked.
As proof, imagine showing up at Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in the fall or Myrtle Beach Bike Rally in the spring on your new 1000cc Japanese-made bike. You might as well be riding a Schwinn!
Applying the Concept
You are probably thinking, “I’m not selling vehicles; how can I apply this to my c-store(s)?” Ask yourself: Wouldn’t you like to be the Harley-Davidson of c-stores? What does it take to be the store that everyone talks about? Wouldn’t you like to have a brand that embodies excellence and has its own following? It all starts with deciding who you are and how you are different from the competition. Then you create a distinctive look, brand and offering that stand above the rest. If you need a little help getting there, we might know some folks to help you.
Experts can help you do it right the first time or step in if you get in over your head, but ask yourself these two questions: When was the last time you updated your mission statement? What do you stand for? If your answer is “cleanliness, service and quality,” then you just defined the “generic” brand—the same as all your competitors. You should be asking, “What separates you from the rest? What is your unique customer experience and relationship? When was the last time you updated your image, brand and store(s)?”
Separating your store from the “generic” can be hard to think about when other operational details may seem more pressing. Look at the best of the best and you will see that these companies are likely working on their next-generation store while their current store is still thriving.
One of my customers won a store award last year, and it is adding 2,000 square feet onto a year-old 17,000-square-foot store. Why? Because the store owner knows that the secret of success is to give the consumers the experience they want, even if or when they don’t know what they want. By putting into practice the same principles as those of Harley-Davidson, you could be the Harley-Davidson of convenience stores.
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