A Conversation With ... Ron Marshall

Tell me about Red Crow Marketing Inc. What type of marketing do you focus on?
Red Crow is a strategic marketing management firm I started about 10 years ago. We started as an advertising agency, then we were an a la carte agency for people who needed a jingle or Web page. Because marketing and advertising is so complex, we have found we best serve our clients through developing a strategy, a strategic approach to their brand. From there, we put together the ads and TV commercials and take an analytical approach to monitor the results.

Why is company branding important?
In my early days, I thought branding was just a fluffy, lofty marketing term someone made up, but it is how you separate yourself with a promise of value. A good brand is familiar to people, which makes them more comfortable. A brand reduces risk. When you go down the street and see the golden arches on the left side and Bob’s hamburgers on the right side, nine times out of 10 you go to McDonald’s because you know what you are going to get; the risk is less.

Too often, companies get out there and start spending thousands of dollars on advertising before they really state to the consumers who they are. If you don’t have a brand, you don’t separate yourself from the crowd or elevate your value. If you look just like the company next door, in their minds, it doesn’t matter which one they choose.

Have you worked with any notable clients recently to rebrand their business or product?
I’ve got a couple interesting clients right now, like Justice Jewelers. When Woody (Justice) died, they ran into a lot of problems. Everyone knew Woody because he was nationwide, so how do you follow The Beatles? Sales started declining at Justice because people thought they were going out of business. We were hired to come in and fix that and through research of the situation we knew we could help. Woody has two daughters; I talked to them and asked if they wouldn’t mind being the spokespeople. From there, we made them a new brand and the community has really responded to it. We all felt the loss with Woody being gone, but with the family still there, we moved forward and are now setting some sales records.

I also rebranded Carol Jones, Realtors to the acronym CJR. Everybody thought Carol Jones was out of date. She did wonderful things, but it was just out of style. Another rebranding was at RGG Law. I told the attorneys, “we don’t want to remember all your names.” Attorneys always like their names out there, but we are simple people, we can’t remember that. The acronym made it recognizable. That’s what it’s all about – recognition.

What are some of the challenges business owners face when rebranding?
It’s usually frighting for them. The problems are acceptance, fear and money. In the old days, when there weren’t so many media choices, it was much simpler. Now you have to worry about companies on the other side of the globe. A brand helps protect you from substitutability. If they want you and your brand, they are less likely to substitute you for that cheap company on the Internet.

How do you keep the brand equity you have built up, but still present the company in a new light?
You don’t steer too far away from where you started, just give it a lift. The Justice brand, for example, wasn’t a start up, people just needed reassurance. We created a new jingle for the company. It still talks about Justice the way Woody would have, everything is just in a new light. When you can carry something forward, mix the old with the new, that’s the best way. If you try to get too radical and make huge massive changes in your plan, that’s where people hit the wall. It just doesn’t work.

Where is marketing headed? Will small-business owners be able to keep up?
I see marketing headed online, and I think what we can do online will continue to surprise us every year. These days marketing is so messy. There are so many things you have to know, and one person can’t do it all. Between the online and the traditional forms of marketing, the responsibility has expanded. There is a need for companies to find collaborators, experts in certain fields, and work with them to make their business, their brand better. Small-business owners probably won’t be able to keep up. The rules are constantly changing, and if they don’t go with the flow they are going to get lost.