When you think of frozen yogurt it is likely that stores such as traditionally established TCBY, or hip, metro-focused Pink Berry and Red Mango come to mind. Enter Sweet Frog: a relatively new addition to the suburban fro-yo submarket, where it is making a splash and putting itself on the fast track to the top of your list.

Sweet Frog differs from other players in the frozen yogurt game in several ways. At the most basic level, all yogurt products at Sweet Frog are self-serve, which means that the customers dispense their own yogurt from of a typical selection of 16-18 flavors, and add their own toppings from a communal set of choices, many of which are often locally procured. For instance, one of their stores is located near a strawberry farm, and not only does Sweet Frog buy the local farm’s produce, but they actively promote each other as well, providing for a deep level of community engagement and participation not seen with its competition.

Sweet Frog’s success is part of a larger trend of growth and increased popularity within the fro-yo market. Frozen yogurt shops are springing up all over the country, from Orange Leaf in the Midwest, to Yogurtini in the Southwest and Yogurt Mountain in the Southeast. While competition is fierce, it is Sweet Frog’s cheerful, family-oriented atmosphere which really makes it stand out. With its bright colors, cute mascot, and store environment reminiscent of a child’s bedroom, Sweet Frog has positioned itself to provide a counterbalance to the more trendy chains. And seeing how plans are in the concept phase for both a Sweet Frog themed TV show and entertainment complex, it’s likely that the fun won’t stop with frozen treats.

Through their commitment to providing a family environment, Sweet Frog has been able to cater to a relatively underexploited suburban niche in a category that has increasingly been characterized by more upscale, urban yogurt shops marketed towards adults. For founder Derek Cha, it’s paid off, with over 60 stores being opened in just the past three years alone, and plans to raise that number to over 200 by the year’s end. So regardless of whether or not a kid-friendly, self-serve shop is your cup of yogurt, one thing is certain, Sweet Frogs are swarming suburbia.

Customer is Always King

Who knew that the battle for the everyday grocery store customer would come down to the amount of time it takes to get through checkout and whether you have to bag your own groceries or not?

Having shopped at Safeway for years, I had become accustomed to their stores and liked them. However, as time progressed their checking service have become slower and slower. In addition, it used to be that having a bagger to help you out of the store was par for the course, now getting bagging help has become like winning the lottery, it never happens.

I guess grocery stores think that location is the only thing that matters, but in my opinion, they are wrong.

Much like how SouthWest Airlines began letting bags fly free in response to the backlash people had regarding paying for bag checking, King Soopers has now focused their entire ad campaign on how they offer faster checking and bagging. King Soopers understood that people don’t have time or desire to wait in line to get out of the grocery store, nor do they have any interest in bagging their own groceries. It sounds pretty simple doesn’t it?

Yes it is simple, but in my opinion very affective. My last couple of times getting out of Safeway had become a nightmare, and one that I honestly dreaded. My wait just to get through checking had averaged 15-20 minutes, which seems absolutely absurd to me. No wonder King Soopers went after Safeway’s loyal following. With Safeway asking every customer to wait and waste a ridiculous amount of time just to pay for their groceries, there was a huge opportunity for King Soopers. It was time to take it to the competition and position themselves as the leader to a customer base who was dying to be served. Way to stand out King Soopers! Way to show that service still does matter, especially to those customers who don’t have time to waste in a ridiculous line.

This is a perfect example of branding yourself so that your competition doesn’t do it for you. Don’t let your company be the next Safeway, instead champion your brand and be the King Soopers of your space.

Tickets are on sale now for Brand Iron’s upcoming “Accelerating Growth Through Technology and Branding” seminar at:  http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3396152985

Don’t miss this seminar on how to utilize technology to champion your brand. You will leave knowing more about how to turn technology from a barrier to a catalyst of growth. Learn how to capitalize on the renaissance of the technology industry, including cloud computing, CRM systems and social media. This seminar will teach you how to use your brand and technology to get your business to the next level.

The panelists include:
• Michael Doyle- CEO of the top-national branding firm, Brand Iron
• Jon Hokama- Principal and Founder of Jon Hokama and Associates, LLC
• Jonathan Senger- Business Technology Strategist at JTS Consulting

The seminar will be held on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 7:30 am at the Glenmoor Country Club, which is located at   110 Glenmoor Drive, Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113

If you’re like most people who a.) own a smartphone or b.) follow technological trends, then you have probably become aware of a popular mobile application called Draw Something. For those of you who are not familiar, Draw Something, which was recently acquired by social-game giant Zynga, is a Pictionary-like game where players pick a word from a list of three, and then create a drawing depicting that word so that a Facebook friend can try to guess the word and award you points.

Seeing how Draw Something has managed to amass 50 million downloads in five months, it is clear that Zynga has already figured out a successful formula to draw in users, and now they are incorporating a marketing model that is bringing brands into the picture as well.

With the Stanley Cup playoffs underway, the NHL decided to take advantage of this opportune time and become one of the first advertisers to buy terms related to their brand, terms such as puck, hat trick, and slap shot.

It initially appeared that players of the game welcomed the insertion of brand terms. After testing recognizable brands like KFC and Doritos, it appeared as though “people loved to draw the Colonel and bags of Doritos,” according to Dan Porter, Zynga’s VP of Mobile Operations.

However, as more brands come aboard, it seems as though more users of the mobile app are being turned off. According to App Data, Draw Something’s monthly active users have declined in recent weeks, and daily users have dropped by an estimated 4 million in the last month alone.

Could it be that the inclusion of these brands into Draw Something is actually leading to its demise? Some people certainly seem to think so. A recent online discussion on the social news website Digg included posts by Facebook users complaining that the once renegade social networking site, founded by a college kid in a dorm room, has become a giant, corporate marketing tool. One user writes that Facebook is becoming uncool because the people in charge are too stupid to realize that the online community doesn’t want to be “lied, sold, and marketed to, everywhere they go.”

It will be interesting to see if the minds behind Draw Something buy into this rhetoric. After all, since going public late last year, Zynga has reported that 9% of its $311.2 million fourth-quarter revenue came from advertising, and they have announced plans to introduce a system where brands will underwrite rewards for advancement within their games.

While it might be too early to tell whether or not brands are killing the cool-factor of social technology, what is certain is that the wheels of social branding have already been set in motion.

Kevin Systrom of Instagram- Instagram Co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom has taken the mobile software industry by storm. The free photo sharing program has changed the way that we snap, edit, and share the photographs taken on our mobile devices. Facebook has taken notice as well, recently purchasing Instagram for a cool $1 billion. Know of a Brand Champion in your company, or want to know what it takes to become a brand champ? Visit our nationally recognized site: http://brandchampion100.com/

Reuters- “Branding agency recognizes top brand champions in business, politics, sports and entertainment”

Bloomberg Businessweek- ”Brand Iron Launches ‘Brand Champion 100′ List”

Business Review USA

MarketWatch 

Denver Business Journal 

PR Newswire 

The Street 

What are we to make of Facebook’s Timeline? Ever since its inception in 2004, Facebook has routinely introduced new changes, some which have been well received, some which received criticism, but most of which were eventually accepted by the general social networking community and eventually forgotten. Timeline, on the other hand, seems to have shaken up the online community in a more profound way than ever before.
Facebook Timeline, for those of you who are not familiar, is a revolutionary new user interface which Mark Zuckerberg introduced in September, 2011. Timeline aims to “Tell your life story with a new kind of profile”. Just as before, Facebook’s new creation essentially seeks to share your stories, and highlight your most memorable posts, photos, and life events, the difference being that now, all of that content is neatly arranged by chronological order, making it easy and convenient for you to see what exactly you had to say to the social networking community in, say, June, 2008, or any other time for that matter. You may be thinking, “that sounds great!”, and initially many people did, and still do. The main concern is that this new method of delivery included an entirely new method of presentation, which didn’t sit well with a significant portion of Facebook’s users.  In other words, to some people, it just didn’t look or feel the same.

While it is to be expected that any change which affects an estimated 845 million people will be met with at least some level of initial resistance, the drastic shift to Facebook Timeline really seemed to rub some people the wrong way, resulting with some users threatening to part ways with the online giant, and many other actually following through.
Most users, however, complained for a day or two, and then moved on with their lives, and many have now come to prefer Timeline to some of the older formats. As one user said, “At first I didn’t really care for Timeline, but once I got used to it on my personal profile I switched the business page over and have adapted to it quickly.” Hopefully, more users will come around as time goes on, because Facebook currently has no plans to switch back to its older format and it appears that Timeline is here to stay.

What does this mean for marketers and businesses using Facebook to communicate to their customer base?

Many people wonder will this layout transition be more of a Myspace trap or will it increase business engagement? The switch to a graphic focused page may take away from the clean, streamlined look that many users have become accustomed too. Consistent feedback on Timeline for businesses sites that it feels more “pushy” and like users are being bombarded by the brand instead of interacting with the information. It will be interesting to see how businesses and users receive the switch after it becomes mandatory for all businesses this coming week.

A Company’s greatest asset is its brand. But without a true Brand Champion emanating your brand, brand success can be elusive. Brand Iron just launched Brand Champion 100 (www.brandchampion100.com) identifying the Top 100 Brand Champions of 2011, including Brand Champions, Rising Stars, Legends and Brand Chumps. The BC 100 list is comprised of individuals who truly understand and embrace the power of a brand (the Brand Chumps list is comprised of those who clearly don’t.) This list features such people as: Steve Jobs (Legend), Tiger Woods (Brand Chump), Aaron Patzer, the founder of Mynt (Rising Star), and Daniel Hesse, the CEO of Sprint(Brand Champion). Whether leaders of an organization or individuals managing their personal brand, they take responsibility for developing a brand that effectively communicates who they are.

Do you have an effective Brand Champion in your organization? If so, submit them to our site by clicking here, and they could be recognized on our list of top Brand Champions.  To learn more about developing your brand and your internal brand champions, please give Brand Iron a call.