By Michael P. LaMarca
So much goes into building your business and acquiring customers. Great food and great service are just two pieces of the puzzle that you need to constantly work on and develop to grow your business. Another piece—just as difficult—is developing and building your brand. What sets you apart from every other pizza company? What are you known for? What do you want to be known for? Do your customers know what you’re trying to portray about your brand? How will they hear about it?
Building your brand is about building your identity. The brand will most likely reflect you and your personality and extend into the culture of your organization, especially as your business is new or emerging. As you start building your team, people will be attracted to your organization by what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. This is the genesis of your company’s culture and identity.
It’s important to understand the difference between developing your brand and building your culture. Developing your brand is centered on the external commitment to customers regarding the value and experience they’ll receive, while building your culture focuses on the internal set of values, behaviors and beliefs that drive employees to deliver on that brand’s promises. Think of the brand as “what you say” and the culture as “what you do.” An alignment between both is essential for success.
Developing a well-defined vision statement and mission statement will help steer your organization. A vision statement describes where the organization wants to go and how to get there—a guiding light moving the business forward. A mission statement is what an organization uses for the immediate and day-to-day goals that help keep your team all rowing in the same direction. Let’s use my brand, Master Pizza, as an example.
Master Pizza Vision Statement:
We constantly work to earn our way to the forefront of the pizza industry by challenging ourselves to be the best leaders we can be.
Master Pizza Mission Statement:
Our mission is to become your neighborhood’s best pizzeria by winning every single order and elevating everything we do from good to great.
Pizza companies that know they’re selling more than just pizza are the companies that seem to be always busy and have a large, dedicated following. They have a cohesive visual, emotional and experience-driven brand. They understand that they’re attaching a sense of fun, comfort, nostalgia or something distinctively on-trend to their great pizza.
Think about monster brands like Red Bull, Nike, Coca-Cola, Apple and McDonald’s. Each is known for something other than their products. Red Bull is an energy drink that also sells extreme, high-adrenaline and adventure-based lifestyles. Nike focuses on athletic empowerment. Coca-Cola sells happiness and connection. Apple promotes innovation and user experience. McDonald’s uses nostalgia and retro characters to drive home their message to adults.
In addition to the products they sell, these companies focus on communicating a strong brand identity through their messaging. They want the customer to feel like an active participant in their lifestyle brand—not just someone who purchases their products. That’s how they earn customers for life rather than just attracting consumers seeking a less expensive or more convenient alternative.
A successful identity means successful messaging. You can have the best identity in the world, but if that does not get relayed to the public consistently and effectively, it won’t stick in customers’ minds. Your message must be clear, detailed, specific and immediate. All of this comes from the top and must be communicated to the rest of your organization and the public. Your message needs to be communicated internally every day through meetings, emails and chat groups.
Meanwhile, there are several vehicles for getting your word out to the public. Some of your best messengers are the people in your organization. A highly appreciated and energized staff can be your biggest advocates and ambassadors for your message. A staff that advocates for you will make sure your customers are aware of all the good work your company does.
Customers will become another group of advocates when they feel taken care of by a highly energized and appreciated staff. After a positive experience at your pizzeria, they will quickly jump on social media to post pictures of your pizzas and let everyone in their world know how amazing your business is.
And these posts always have the potential to go viral! Today, any post at any time can go viral. So it’s important to make sure your identity, your brand, your culture and your messaging are in line. It takes constant work and focus to make this happen. But this could be the difference between being a struggling pizza shop or the shop down the road that always has a line out the door.
Michael LaMarca is a veteran pizzeria owner/operator and the owner/CEO of Master Pizza Franchise Group in Cleveland. To engage with him directly, follow him at @michaelplamarca on Instagram and Facebook.
