Rebranding - French Fries with Sea Salt

I recently stopped at a Wendy’s.  I like Wendy’s French fries, but now I was faced with a big sign staring me in the face telling me that the fries now have sea salt. First off, I think most guys like me don’t really know what that means and how it compares to table salt.  Secondly, my exposure to sea salt is probably limited to when I accidentally gulped ocean water and nearly gagged on the salt. 

Yet nevertheless I was intrigued by trying the fries with the sea salt.  So the little slick branding worked.  I wasn’t going to get the fries because it is usually a choice between the Frosty and the fries and I usually go with the Frosty.  But the allure of sea salt sucked me in.  It was a real coup to rebrand their fries.  Rebranding commodities to differentiate them in business sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.  Where it doesn’t work is when it sidetracks an already good thing.  When you have a dominant position in a brand, why change?  You simply end up diluting your brand.  I think marketers are an antsy bunch and they have to change something just to prove a point.   However, commodities that are hard to differentiate?  Brilliant!  Whether it is real chicken breast vs. the chicken parts McDonalds uses.  Or the value of sea salt, making the brand stand out can be really effective. 

Ultimately, I could not tell the different between the sea salt and the table salted version, but it got me thinking that these fries have to be better.  After all, they have sea salt.  

Steve Jobs and the “OutFront” Guy

Sorry for a long delay in publishing a new blog post.  Was taking a much needed break in Tucson visiting my dad.  Of course the weather was cool and it even snowed.  But it was still a lot better than the weather in Cleveland.  But anyway that is my lot in life.  I will try to do better about posting for my legion of fans out there.

Last week, the new iPad was announced.  Apple pulled a surprise by having Steve Jobs do the announcement.  As you know, Steve Jobs is on another medical leave.  So of course this continues to fuel speculation about what is exact status is and how he is involved with the company.  Apple continues to be Steve Jobs’ company. 

There is no question that Steve Jobs has been the face of Apple since its resurgence a number of years ago.  There is also no question that he is the face of the continuous innovation at Apple.  However, no individual lives forever and Jobs and the board are doing Apple potential harm by not parading a different face of the company.  It should be the goal of every CEO to make themselves irrelevant.  Your goal is to build an engine, not showcase the driver.  I do not know what is happening internally at Apple as far as succession, but to the outside world, it is still Steve Jobs.  A number of years ago, Bill Gates formally handed the torch to Steve Ballmer at Microsoft.  Now Gates is certainly still involved, but the face of the company is Ballmer.  Jobs needs to do the same thing at Apple. 

Recently, the Central Laborers’ Pension Fund of Jacksonville, Illinois, put a proposal on Apple’s proxy asking the company to more specifically spell out its succession plan.  The influential shareholder advisory service, Institutional Shareholder Services, backed the proposal.  It was voted down by a 2-to-1 margin.

My understanding is that Apple has a very capable management team.  What drives a company to allow so much control to go to one man?  When that man exerts the kind of control and experiences the type of success Jobs has had.  It is really up to Jobs just like it was up to Gates.  Icon’s must remove themselves, they are not typically removed.  Since Apple must outlive Jobs, he must take the initiative to kill his ego and his expectation of living forever (poor choice of words) and make his successor known.