Mr. Feeney, is that the right comparison?
In a recent press release, it was announced that Belron US was changing its corporate name to the Safelite Group. In that release, Belron US CEO Tom Feeney said that he wants consumers with glass damage to think of Safelite like they think of Starbucks when they want a latte. That makes me wonder if Safelite is headquartered in Columbus or Fantasyland. Mr. Feeney, you might be able to sell that concept in an interview on NPR, but not in a press release on glassBYTEs.com, whose readers are fully aware of your company’s branding strategy.
And yes, you are still owned by Belron, a foreign corporation and your profits still flow overseas. Thank you for accentuating that fact. This change makes very good business sense. You want the American consumer to identify you as an American-owned corporation. But a wolf is still a wolf, no matter how you dress it up—a very important point to be made in a country losing its identity and in the midst of a deep recession.
I have a couple of points of contention to him making this comparison. If a customer chooses to get a latte from Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks does not interfere in that decision, telling the customer that Dunkin’ Donuts is not priced right. And Starbucks would not make an attempt to defend that interference in the name of education. Starbucks does not position itself in front of every Dunkin’ Donuts, handing them a flier which interrogates them as to their Dunkin’ Donuts experience with the Starbucks name plastered all over it. When you are at the drive-through, you actually talk to a Dunkin’ Donuts employee, not a third-party trying to talk you into going to Starbucks while the customer is wasting a tank of gas.
Starbucks certainly does not send a coffee wagon to Dunkin’ Donuts trying to persuade customers to purchase a latte from them before they can walk into the store. And I am confident that Dunkin’ Donuts does not have to provide Starbucks with the cost of its coffee beans. Therefore, comparing the branding campaign used by a company like Starbucks versus the efforts by your company, Mr. Feeney—well, there is no comparison. Starbucks became successful on the pure merits of the product it sells.
So my purpose here is to demonstrate that there are huge differences in building a brand name on the merits of what the company has to offer versus using tactics that currently are being used by Belron US or Safelite (or whatever you choose to call your company). Thus far, your branding campaign has been a big success, as independents are experiencing an explosion in windshield repairs (thanks to the Safelite commercials, I might add). Now that is an espresso that is smooth and easy to swallow.
