Tom and I partnered on a pitch for a Winn-Dixie campaign (If you don’t know who Tom is, read my previous post here). It was great fun, and we won the account. Of course, a key component of our team was Frank, a renowned creative director. Frank had worked for James Patterson at J. Walter Thompson, before Patterson left advertising to purse his writing career full time. JWT was an iconic agency with a history stretching back more than 150 years.
Frank and Tom had a long history of working together. Their unified client list was beyond impressive, especially for work from a relatively small town like Jacksonville. Plus, Frank had James Patterson and his personal phone number on his supplied reference list—which definitely garnered attention with would-be clients.
There’s More Than One Way to Communicate “Why You”
The Winn-Dixie campaign stemmed from the Avis campaign, “We try harder,” I wrote about in my previous blog. It grew from the understanding that Winn-Dixie wasn’t the number one brand at the time. And, when you aren’t the number one brand, you try harder to make customers happy. This was a worthwhile approach, particularly if the organization could apply strategic focus to operationalize the brand promise.
The next objective was how to communicate this strategy. After all, there is always more than one way to communicate a concept.
This birthed the “Getting Better All the Time” campaign, which the company loved. “Getting Better” was a great message to inspire employees, operations and management. This one message could lead employees and operations in decision-making, as well as guide management in employee evaluations.
The internal brand launch included a video made for employees, with additional activities and trainings, to help them understand the new messaging and the brand promise.
Incidentally, my 3-year-old son Ben, was around a lot during those long-hours of campaign development. Much to my delight, Tom recruited Ben for the internal employee video. I was there during the filming as a proud parent. Ben had one line, which he delivered with a pretty significant southern drawl, “Winn Dixie—Getting Better All the Time.”
Imagine my enthusiasm when the company’s CEO saw Ben in the employee training video and asked him to be in the commercial. Ben’s voice is the last message you hear, at the very end of the commercial.
By the way, customers loved the message, too. There was just one single message for internal and external communications. Employees understood what they were being asked to deliver, and customers understood what they could expect.
That became another important lesson for me. When you are truly clear about “why you,” that clarity can guide decisions inside the business and make the company easier to remember in the marketplace—across social media, advertisements and by word-of-mouth. One relevant, compelling and true idea can do a lot of work.
