Heart & Sold

The good news: Smaller brands can overcome the tried-and-true by using Share of Heart. AriZona (iced tea) and Mistic (juice beverage) have achieved success in the face of intense competition from megabrand soft drinks like Coke and Pepsi. Both AriZona and Mistic have created a counterculture image. It looks cool to carry them around.

A reverse Share of Heart scenario is happening with Snapple beverages. Snapple was created by a trio of marketers from Long Island. Their beverage developed cachet among trendies, encouraged by clever advertising and the constant introduction of new, offbeat flavors.

Then the business was [sold] to Quaker. This corporate monolith was totally out of touch with Snapple's consumer base. Sales plummeted, and now the brand will never be as powerful as it [once] was.

It is the totality of the buying experience that will keep your customers coming back for more. That is your Share of Heart. And Share of Heart is something special. It's marketing magic--especially to the bottom line.

This excerpt is printed by permission of Amacom Books from Marketing Straight to the Heart by Barry Feig, (c)1997 ($24.95, cloth). Published by Amacom, a division of American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. All rights reserved. To order, call (800) 262-9699.

This article was originally published in the May 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Heart & Sold.