Mom, apple pie and how to tout a family business
First, review your stereotypes. The corner bakery does not define family business.
More than a third of the Fortune 500 companies are family-owned. Family businesses account for nearly 80% of all new job creation, 60% of employment and a staggering 50% of the gross domestic product. Three of the country's top 10 billionaires owe their wealth to a family biz — Sam Walton's kids at Wal-Mart.
So when it comes to marketing and growing a company, the decision to put the family front and center is serious business. It's a strategic marketing choice, not a way to save money or resources.
Connect family values and work ethics to a product or service and — boom! — you announce to the public that an honorable leader is in charge. There's a mama or a papa at the helm who takes responsibility. There are hard-working offspring or relatives who care passionately about success and service — after all, the future of the family depends on it. Customers applaud that.
"The family-ness factor works well in marketing," says Ira Bryck, who directs the Family Business Center at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. "Just as long as the business is treated like a business and the family is treated like a family."
Family marketing success stories
In this demanding climate, building strong customer relationships is once again in vogue — very simply because keeping loyal customers is a lot cheaper and smarter than trying to acquire new ones. And when the name of the game is "trust the brand," the image of a family business is an immediate winner. Customers and stakeholders see family-run shops as nurturing and more ethical, especially in these Enron-ized days. They become emotionally invested in its success.
In the early 1980s, Columbia Sportswear owner Gert Boyle, then in her 60s, began appearing as "Mother Boyle" in ads for the Portland, Ore., sportswear firm, which was founded by Boyle's parents in 1938. Aggressive and humorous, the campaign pitched the notion of quality, emphasizing Gert Boyle's exacting matriarchal standards: "One tough mother" ran the tagline, and later, "Don't forget who makes the pants in the family." Though the company went public in 1998, Boyle, still chairwoman, remains Columbia's face.
Likewise, Frank Perdue appeared in TV commercials during the 1970s with his own tough bird message: "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken." That worked, too. Shoppers began asking for roasting chickens by the producer's name — unheard of at the time.
"Marketing the family is an enhancer," agrees Peter Tourtellot, managing partner for a Greensboro, N.C., corporate turnaround firm and the former chairman of the Turnaround Management Association, a 4,800-member group for corporate renewal and turnaround. "When the family has been in business for years, you're saying the firm can be trusted."
Family biz family values
Just don't let the face of the family get in the way of developing value for your wares. As Tourtellot puts it, "People don't buy a product for its family standing. They buy a product because it's priced fairly or not. You have to market on the merits and you need a well-thought-out marketing plan, family or no family."
With that in place, there are many ways to harness the good you will garner from publicizing the family name. Different kinds of firms — and different cycles of business — require varying tactics and promotions.
For instance, emphasizing family history can make the company stand out. "In California lots of family businesses came out of historical events, like Prohibition or the '89 earthquake or discrimination law suits. It may not seem like marketing to highlight the history, but it is. The story implies ongoing support and continuity," says Eugene Muscat, senior associate dean of the Family Business Research Center at the University of San Francisco.
You can boost recognition and market share by showcasing the firm's heritage in these ways:
Publish a company biography and sell or mail it to customers.
Put the story of the founder, with photos, on brochures and sales material.
Design an online channel about company history. "Listing the cultural biography makes visitors spend more time on the Web site," Muscat says.
Create a tourist attraction or a historical society that honors the pioneer times of the founder. For instance, check out the mileage gained for the automaker by the Walter P. Chrysler museum. There's even a program that "allows" customers to volunteer as tour guides.
The downside of putting the family out front: If a scandal erupts or some family scion prominently misbehaves, the brand equity built up over time may be destroyed.
When problems arose for Ford Motor Company and Firestone, for example, new family CEO, William Clay Ford, Jr., began appearing in a series of TV commercials to reassure customers that the values of his great-grandfather, American icon Henry Ford, still matter. That may be risky business for Ford if the ads don't work.
Young family businesses
Young firms rely on other tactics, of course. For example, at the Pollack Marketing PR Group in Los Angeles, which serves a range of clients from Santa Barbara wineries to sprinkler manufacturers, Stefan Pollack works with his mom, owner Noemi Pollack. The family tie, says Stefan Pollack, is a great icebreaker to pitch new clients. "They always want to discuss the agency and ask how we came to work together," he says.
Over time, mother and son have also learned how to argue ideas in front of the client — as creative teams must do. "Our disagreements tend to be more emotional because we are mother and son," Stefan says. "But we find the client likes that. It makes us seem more vested in his business — that we care more." By now, after working for his mom for 13 years, he says, the duo has polished the family pitch.
Building on a family foundation also helps expansion. At the J Sisters Salon, a tony New York City boutique with clients such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Vanessa Williams, seven Brazilian sisters have created an internationally recognized style shop that grosses about $4 million annually. The sisters, whose names all begin with "J," are now putting the J Sisters name on a line of nationally distributed beauty products, the Total Body Care line.
Fernando Marques, brother of one of the J Sisters' brothers-in-law, came on board a year ago to develop the line. "The Estee Lauders and Revlons are really like big labs," Marques says. "We've created a family line that we stand behind. And the J Sisters will definitely be the face on it. That builds our image of responsibility and enhances our chances for success." For a service business, like the J Sisters, the family name carries great promise. "The warm, fuzzy feeling of a family spills over into customer service. It says the firm is hands-on," says Tourtellot.
By creating an image of family service and heritage, you send the message that your company is committed to quality and long-term growth. No one cuts corners when they must answer to Mom and Pop.