becoming iconic brands. Once a brand has established a core loyal consumer
base through “iconic availability,” it can then more freely move into mass channels without being crushed by the onset of competition.
Non-iconic brands tend not to look for unique and special places to sell their
brands, and end up in generic and commodity channels mostly because they
hope to make a quick buck, or fear the cost and effort of building new routes to
market. Jatar feels it is important to keep in mind that the capability and infra-
structure built around the “route to market” is what enables an iconic brand to
reach its target consumer in a manner consistent with its true purpose. “Let your
future core consumer meet your brand for the first time in a place where your
brand’s values shine brightest,” he says. “You wouldn’t take your prospective soul
mate on a first date to a local convenience store, would you?”
Coke created the fountain-dispensing model to enable people to enjoy refresh-
ment within an arm’s reach of desire. Red Bull created a night-club distribution
system to help “give people wings” in that channel. Apple sells primarily through
an iconic environment called the Apple Store. In the organic industry, companies
like Straus Creamery created soft serve ice cream to work with food service venues
that share the values of sustainability and can help tell the company’s story.
Jatar explains that the fear of not
being the first to achieve mass distribu-
tion is unfounded. Apple’s iPod was
launched five years after the first digi-
tal music player. He says, “Being first to
be ubiquitously available is not as im-
portant as to be the first to create a
core loyal user group that’s based on
shared purpose and authentic
experience.”
One company that is growing
through shared values is Gaea, which
makes Greek organic and natural olive
oils and other traditional Greek spe-
cialty food products. The company first
launched its “Green Rev’oil’ution”
campaign featuring the first carbon-
neutral, organic olive oil through natu-
Researched over twenty years, Organic Marketing Technology
was developed to offer a science of how to most effectively
reach target audiences, in the way they want to be reached, to
create lasting relationships and increased impact while upholding
and promoting the company’s dreams and values. Here are a few
tips and ways that this approach can be applied.
• Understand who you are: Define
your dream, values, and purposes. Stay
true to this when analyzing your growth
strategies, distribution, investment opportunities, branding, and marketing.
• Live your values: Integrate your values and purpose into your communications, branding, collateral, and growth
strategies. Communicate out of authenticity, respect, integrity, and vision. Do
not dilute your message or sway who
you are to fit what you think you must
do to grow or in reaction to what your
competitors are doing. This is like using
genetically modified seeds to maximize
yield.
• Be consistent: Understand that your
brand is more than your logo. It is every
interaction with your company, from
the person who answers your phones to your packaging, your
website to your sales teams. Your values and character are the
DNA of your company—weave this through every touch-point of
your brand.
• Know and respect your audience: Take time to get to know
your audience through grassroots outreach, one-on-one market
research, and talking with customers, retailers, and brokers to find
Marketing Organically
out what they need and how to most effectively communicate to
them to build brand awareness and market demand. They are individuals who deserve respect.
• Market organically: Use a holistic approach that aims to
avoid wasting resources and effort, such as defining the message,
key media, and outreach channels precisely through consumer
market research to prevent waste of materials as well as waste of
the audiences’ attention. Marketing is a philosophy as much as a
technique or process. By using ethical practices in developing
your messaging, your audiences are able to hear you and take action because your message is authentic and customized for them.
• Don’t inundate your audience: Toxicity relates to mental pollution as much as environmental. Educate your target audiences
through researched and substantiated information rather than
barraging them with overwhelming data and scare tactics.
• Tailor your messaging: Organic Marketing is not a “
one-size-fits-all” approach. Each message should be highly customized and
designed with specific personal, logical and emotional profiles in
mind. This goes for branding, packaging, and sales strategies as
well as media outreach and advertising.
• Listen: Get feedback. Ask questions. Optimize processes to
reduce waste, address inefficient systems, and ensure the best
product and experience possible. People like to be heard and the
human connection is even more important when people are
overwhelmed with information coming at them from their cell
phones, email, social media, iPods, and nearly every other surface
that meets the eye.
• Build your grassroots community: Online, in person, and
through effective public relations.
• Persevere: All success takes persistence, hard work, and maintaining the dream and values. Iconic brands are not born
overnight, but are the result of longstanding trust in your dream,
confidence, surpassed expectations, and at the end of the day, a
sense of humor!
