We are pleased Glenda Shasho Jones recognized Crutchfield as having a strong brand (“Does Branding Come at the Expense of Sales?” Feb. 11issue of DM News). We smiled reading her article, feeling both reassured and amused.
As a direct marketing company, we have long struggled with what “branding” means for Crutchfield. In our creative department, of course, we are assiduous about consistency in our logo, design and writing. In our marketing department, however, we are loath to advertise anywhere we cannot track success. (And when we experiment with general advertising, more often than not we encounter costly flops.)
Our growing realization is that the lion’s share of our brand resides in our operations department. The Crutchfield brand rests on the great folks answering the calls, shipping the boxes and providing post-sale support. The tenets of our brand – providing top-notch information and top-notch service – remain unchanged since Bill Crutchfield founded the company 28 years and 3 million customers ago. And keeping the company focused on these two tenets is still one of his primary goals every day.
Branding doesn’t mean firing gerbils from cannons or buying Super Bowl ads. A wise consultant once told us, “Your brand is what you do every day.”
