Material Retail Dumps

My special guest today is Bubba Graham. Bubba is an expert in branding, um, and I'll let Bubba introduce himself.
Thanks Elliot. And thanks for having me today. Of course. Uh, it's a pleasure to join you on the pod. So thanks for having me, um, an expert that is, uh, that's a great introduction. I have been helping build brands for the last 10 years, big marketing agencies, small startups in my own consultancy, helping, helping brands of all sizes and shapes try and find their way and navigate, uh, how they can engage their customers in a way that's impactful for their business.
Awesome. That's very exciting. So I'm gonna ask you a few questions, um, and uh, we like to keep, um, short and sweet get right to the meat of the topic. Um, so branding's a very intimidating word. What's your advice for someone getting started from scratch?
Great question. I think people can get lost in the sauce, a little bit of what a brand is and what it isn't, but I think the most important thing that business owners should be asking themselves is why do we matter, right? What do we stand for? Why do we matter? Um, how do we present to the world? I think the best brands are ones that are authentic to, uh, why a company, a shop, a brand was started in the first place and finding that and making sure you have a really clear idea of who you are, what you stand for and why you're important to your customer is the basis of any strong brand. And that allows you to focus your business on why you created it in the first place. And that goes a really, really long way with customers and customers. They pick up on those things. They pick up on authenticity really, really quickly. So my challenge people is always to break down brand and think about what's authentic to us. What do we offer? Why does that matter? And sticking with that path.
Nice. That's awesome. That makes a lot of sense. Um, so how would you make your mark and become relevant in your community?
Well, if I was a shop owner, let's say, and I wanted to engage my community, I would think about what is my brand like we just talked about and also think about what is the extension of that brand into the community. Why do I matter to my customers, right? If I'm a mid-size shop in a coastal community, you know, what kind of product do I have? What do I say about who we are? How do I create an experience for my customers? I think that people see brand as, um, a creator of community and you can create a tribe around brand. So identifying what is that and behaving in a way with the community that's actually meaningful. And I would say a lot of stores and a lot of shops, uh, can be kind of a meeting place, uh, for that community, for that tribe of people.
Um, depending on what your brand values are, you may decide that there is a give back component to your business and you can be a catalyst for that, those initiatives, uh, those gatherings of people. Those are ways that you can drive engagement in your community that are really authentic again, to who you are that also inspire people to engage with you outside of transacting with you. And I think that's really, really important looking at customers who are part of your family versus somebody who's going to just open their wallet for you and the shops, the owners, uh, that do that well, tend to have a higher rate of retention and engagement. Um, in particular, when they're giving back into the community and seen as kind of a value add, not just any store on main street,
Right? I love that, that that really makes a ton of sense. So now, uh, going deeper on that, what are the best ways to use my brand experience to get repeat choppers?
Well, I think it's an extension of just that, right? I think it's, uh, people shop, people vote with their wallet, right? This is true. Columbia business school has done a lot of studies on this. Uh, this is the Berkshire Hathaway way. Uh, right. This is the, if you buy something at a place, um, you are voting with your wallet. And I think to create retention, to create, repeat customers is to continue to kind of entrench yourself in the authentic authenticity of your brand. Give customers a reason to engage with you. That's not just what you Assor and stock on your shelves. That's deeper. Um, they will come back to you if they believe in your mission, they will come back to you as an example, one of my favorite brands and one that I think is really strong is Patagonia. And I always joke with my friends, I say, take my money, just take it.
Uh, but that's how I feel about Patagonia, cuz I believe that they align with who I am as a person, my values initiatives, I support places that I want to spend my money, represent that. And they have me on the hook. And I think that business owners can learn a lot about creating that level of engagement. That's just a few layers, deeper and more meaningful than just transactional, like we talked about and I'll come back and spend my money all the time. Um, there's also a service element, right? Being treated like a human being treated like you're part of the tribe. The family is a great feeling. Um, and there's kind of a service element that think shop owners can lean into that. Help people come back through the door, um, and become customers for life.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Right. That's great. And I love the, uh, Patagonia example. Um, they're always so on brand. Um, so what does it mean to be on brand and how does it go deeper than just a logo and a name and a sign on the door?
yeah, I think brand commonly gets MIS construed and miscategorized as just a logo or as a name or as a color way. And it's not, uh, a brand is a living thing. It's a human emotional construct. Right? Um, those are part of it, but those are just, uh, an extension of what a brand is. I think a brand is an emotional reaction that customers have about a business. Um, a brand is what our customers say about our business, why we're important, why we matter to them and as shop owners, it's really important that we understand what that is so we can repeat it. We can go deeper, we can create events and activations and the service that represent that and reflect it. So when we try and build a brand or think about breaking brand down in, let's just say a brand building exercise, we really try and get to the core of what we do.
We actually call the brand core. Um, and this is kind of that central point of focus for any brand to start thinking about what matters to them and does that matter to my customer too. And, and is that aligned and finding that alignment is really crucial for finding something that is scalable, authentic, relevant, uh, and that you can create that community on. Right. Um, and that is always the starting point. There are a lot of great ways to figure that out and to challenge your business. Uh, one of them is, uh, an article by Harvard business review called the brand, the brand matrix where you really ask about what your brand stands for. And you can go through this kind of nine point process of just asking yourself questions about your business and really coming up with answers around that, that brand core, that center point in the matrix that is really, really powerful and helps you focus.
Nice. That's awesome. Thank you so much. I think, um, I could go on for an hour with you, so, uh, sucks to have to cut it shortly. Thanks again.
I look forward to doing that. Thank you, Elliot. Thanks for having.