Faster than the speed of…

David Sneed //June 5, 2013//

Faster than the speed of…

David Sneed //June 5, 2013//

Jimmy John’s has it figured out.

I’ve never had one of their subs and probably never will, but I know who they are and I associate them with the answer to the increasingly common question: “What can I eat in the next 20 minutes?”

They’ve labeled themselves as fast, but they didn’t have to. They could have made taste or freshness or courtesy their brand. Instead, they chose speed.

I wonder why?

I think it’s because “fresh” was already taken and Subway doesn’t deliver. They trust you already know they won’t make a stale sandwich — but you didn’t know that they’ll bring it to you before the ambulance gets there.

Now you know.

But I’ll bet it isn’t actually faster than any other food delivery. As if it matters. They got their point “We deliver!” across without just tacking it on after the same old claims about how the tomatoes just fell off the turnip truck. 

You know what they couldn’t do?

Brand Jimmy Johns as fast AND fresh. The message would be too confused. They took just one attribute and made themselves that.

A lot of companies, especially new and smaller companies, try to be too many things. They want to be everything to everyone.  Well, if you bite off too much it can’t be chewed—let alone digested.

I’ll be thinking about this at my fence company. I’m not sure we even have an identity.

One thing I wouldn’t push is “quality.” Not because we don’t have it, but because it’s a meaningless word in today’s marketplace.  Usually it’s code for “We’re cheap and not very good. We certainly aren’t creative.” At a good company, quality is assumed.

Speed won’t sell fences, will it? Doesn’t matter. We aren’t particularly quick. Next appointment: six weeks.

But I’m thinking about it.

What would be the one word or phrase that describes what we offer or sell or provide? Is that attribute assumed? If so, I don’t need that listed in my brand. I need customers to know X.

I want to solve for X.

Jimmy John’s did, and so can we. So can you. 

Jimmy Johns is selling speed, not sandwiches. What are YOU selling?