Burn In Ethical Branding of Your Store

Instill in the minds of consumers characteristics of your business that are associated with the name, logo, tag lines, and even celebrity endorsers of your store. It’s called “branding.” Do it competently and the images are indelible.
     Forbes reported last week that the “Fair and Square” branding currently used by JC Penny is indelible enough to have kindled a brouhaha: Hudson + Broad claims they were retained by JC Penny to design a display fixture in the shape and spirit of the “Fair and Square” box logo; JC Penny assured Hudson + Broad that rights to the design would not be assigned to any Hudson + Broad competitor; but JC Penny then contracted with another firm to manufacture the display fixtures.
     This fits the spirit of neither fair nor square, says Hudson + Broad. They’ve filed a $40 million lawsuit against JC Penny. The merit of those allegations will be decided in the legal system.
     What I find more significant, though, is that Hudson + Broad’s president, James Maharg, also posted a three-minute YouTube video appealing to JC Penny advertising spokeswoman Ellen DeGeneres to get involved. Remember your widely publicized commitments to honesty and to treating people the way you want to be treated, urges Mr. Maharg. Tell JC Penny to be fair and square with us.
     After analyzing all this, the Forbes article goes on to list golden rules for ethical branding. Here’s my adaptation of that list:

• Before marketing the associations to your brand, think about all the ways it impacts your business behavior. The mission, vision, and values statements apply not only to dealings with your customers, but also to dealings with your employees, vendors, regulatory bodies, and more. 
• Incorporate the branding message into your criteria for selecting and training staff. Be careful of words that might be misinterpreted. When Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center introduced the tagline “The Best Cancer Care Anywhere,” some consumers took “care” to refer to interactions with the billing clerk and even the custodial staff. This wasn’t what was originally intended, but the Center staff had to select and train for the consumers’ interpretation. 
• Make corrections as you go. Ethical branding is a process, not an event. 

     The consumer psychology perspective on all this is clear: If you waver in the ethical branding of your store, consumers may very well begin to doubt your willingness to keep all your promises to them.

Click below for more: 
Less Store Clutter, More Store Branding 
Publicize Social Consciousness 
Adjust Ethical Expectations to Surroundings 
Anticipate Ethics Slippage