This past week, at a conference in Las Vegas, I heard a fabulous speaker, Ellen Looyen. Ellen is a personal branding expert and a motivational speaker. She has coined the signature phrase “charismatic branding” which she describes as a brand that “energetically communicates uniqueness, value and integrity and causes your market to feel emotionally connected and confident, even if they never heard of your company before!”

She gave a few stellar examples. When asking the class, comprised of 150 people (mostly women) what European car is synonymous with “safety”- in total unison the entire group said “Volvo”. (Well there was one Mercedes Benz, but there is always one in every crowd.) Why this crowd knowledge? Because the company’s targeted, on the spot branding efforts have positioned the Volvo, in the minds of consumers as being safe, if not the safest car in the market today.

Interested? Read more now. »

The Bourbon Ball is a Louisville tradition. For some reason, I never realized how much bourbon is an item that Louisville uses to market itself. There is a Bourbon Trail, an Urban bourbon Trail, and bumper stickers with “BRBN” in black block letters in a while oval like a European license plate with a” Just Add Bourbon” URL on it. The brochure for the Bourbon Country/Bourbon Trail is a colorful Life Magazine type collage of family in Kentucky fold out that plays My Old Kentucky Home when you open it. Dynamite. All so focused and targeted and really a good marketing job. Someone good in strategy and branding has been hired by the Kentucky bourbon makers to bring ‘em on home to Kentucky and do some sippin’ while here. Mt favorite? Old Pappy Van Winkle.

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Targeting a Specific Demographic Group Means Getting Inside What Resonates With That Group

Someone sent me this simple test this week, and it is perfect for targeting folks born between 1935 and 1955.

Questions: (Answers are at end. Don’t peek!) Interested? Read more now. »

Everyone knows the restaurant business is competitive and challenging. New eateries are always opening (and closing) and trying out new cuisines packaged with different gimmicks. Every now and then, one comes across a solid eatery that has smartly determined its ideal demographic…and then serves them well and royally. The Houston Inn in Cincinnati, Ohio is one of these restaurants. I had the pleasure of dining there recently with some older friends.

Catering efficiently and effectively to a specifically targeted middle income population the casual, down home cooking at the Houston Inn has kept it open and popular for almost forty years. One finds affordable, solid American fair served in a comfortable setting. The Houston Inn has specifically picked its targeted market well—older Americans with time on their hands, retired persons who like to have choices, and who love a bargain to boot.

Interested? Read more now. »

The Cumberland Inn, in Williamsburg, Kentucky is about a 3 hour drive from Louisville and a 3 hour drive to Asheville, NC, a trip that I take pretty frequently. A few weeks ago I stayed there having left Louisville late in the evening. On my bed was this message, “In ancient times, there was a prayer for ‘The Stranger within our gates’. Because this hotel is a human institution to serve people and not solely a money making organization, we hope that God will grant you peace and rest while you are under our roof.

Interested? Read more now. »

Leveling the Field: How Freestanding Agencies Compete with Hospital-Based Home Health Agencies | By Merrily Orsini

Freestanding Agencies need not be intimidated when hospital-based home health agencies emerge in their service area. This informative article describes how freestanding agencies may just have the upper hand, and notates information for developing relationships with key types of referral sources.

To purchase the article, visit http://hhc.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/21/2/137