‘Fairy Bread’ and ‘Rocky Road’ smoothies undermine two decades of investment by Boost Juice in its iconic Aussie health food brand.

I heard a radio commercial this week that took me completely by surprise, and not in a good way. The commercial itself was great and the subject was interesting, even appealing, but the organisation responsible made no sense whatsoever.

I’m talking about Boost Juice’s new Aussie Milk Bar range, apparently developed to recapture ‘childhood memories in a smoothie’. The aptly named, ‘Banana Bread’, ‘Fairy Bread’, ‘Cookies & Crème’ and ‘Rocky Road’ do indeed conjure up nostalgic childhood memories, and sound delicious, but here’s the rub. What the hell are they doing on the Boost Juice menu?

What the hell are they doing on the Boost Juice menu?

Boost Juice is the brainchild of Australian entrepreneur Janine Allis who, in 2000, saw a gap in the Australian market for a healthy fast food alternative. Her menu was developed in consultation with nutritionists and naturopaths, with the aim of creating the healthiest juices and smoothies, free of preservatives, artificial flavours and colours.

She’s built an unbelievable brand, with over 350 stores throughout Australia and around the world on the back of this health-based ideology, and it’s become a go-to destination for the fitness fraternity, with everyone from Yogis to gym junkies queueing up for their regular dose of wheatgrass, coconut water and whey protein.

And it’s not just the tights and singlet brigade who are flocking; it’s a firm favourite of the kids too. My twelve year old only comes shopping with me as he’s guaranteed a large Mango Tango Crush – he gets a real treat and, for a brief moment, I become a cool dad again by buying him something that’s actually good for him!

Boost Juice occupies rare air as a ‘permission brand’ – I’m happy for him to dash off to the Boost Juice kiosk, safe in the knowledge that whatever smoothie he returns with, will be better for him than anything he’d find at Macca’s, KFC, or even the drinks fridge at our local deli.

Now I’m not so sure.

With ingredients like Oreo cookies, Mini Flakes and marshmallows, the new range is an almost seismic departure from their brand – their health-based ideology – that made them successful in the first place.

The new range is an almost seismic departure from their brand.

Why they’ve gone down this route is anyone’s guess but it smacks a little of desperation. Perhaps they need a quick uplift in sales or their research has indicated a niche in the market they haven’t fully exploited but, whatever the reason, it’s a particularly risky strategy.

Even the premise of their campaign (and I’m paraphrasing here), that it’s OK to be bad for a bit, just doesn’t ring true. If it was Hungry Jacks saying it, I’d agree wholeheartedly as I know their burgers don’t do my cholesterol levels any good but ‘being bad for a bit’ gives me permission to indulge in the occasional Wopper Double Beef with Cheese without feeling too guilty. But for Boost Juice, it is completely off-brand.

The Aussie Milk Bar range might be just a discreet, limited time offer but, from a brand perspective, it’s the thin edge of an extremely dangerous wedge that has the potential to undermine the ideology Janine Allis has spent the last 18 years reinforcing.

 

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ABOUT IDEOLOGY

We are a creative management consultancy that brings together business strategy, brand and culture to create meaningful relationships. 

We work with ambitious B2B leaders to drive transformation and accelerate growth by unlocking competitive advantage within their businesses. We get to the heart of an organisation’s unique reason for being, its ideology, and build the brand from the inside-out by embedding it in the culture and in every customer experience.

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‘Anyone who has actually lived through a merger knows these are gruesome and traumatic experiences.’

Margaret Heffernan^[1]

From 2012 to 2017, the total value of mergers and acquisitions worldwide exceeded $27 trillion.^[2] Obviously there is a perceived benefit to bringing two different organisations together.

Yet for anyone contemplating a merger or acquisition, the statistics can be daunting. KPMG says that “only about one third of mergers, acquisitions and takeovers add value”.^[3]

The reasons for failure include lack of due diligence, negotiations errors, external factors, limited “owner” involvement, and unforeseen costs.^[4] But, according to a recent survey of  M&A professionals conducted by McKinsey, 92% of respondents said that their deals would have “substantially benefitted from greater cultural understanding prior to the merger” and 72% said that “too little effort’ was focussed on planning for the integration of two separate brands and cultures^[5] – the integration of ideologies.

Ideology is due diligence

Consider two companies doing the merger dance. The reasons for combining might include perceived synergies, or acquiring or blending technologies, systems, customers, real estate or even financial strengths.

The focus is all too often on the financials, the market share gains, operational efficiencies or general cost savings.

Insufficient attention is paid to whether the ideologies of the two firms (their purpose, beliefs and visions) can be successfully brought together.

Insufficient attention is paid to whether the ideologies of the two firms can be successfully brought together.

Imagine a highly successful technology-based company being bought out by a service-based, customer-oriented organisation. Here you have two very different approaches to almost every facet of business, being thrown together. The culture shock on both sides could be significant and could well cause a fracture in the merged organisation with people pulling in different directions, making it almost impossible to realise the synergies promised before the merger.

Defining the ideologies of both parties, considering how they can and should be unified, and formulating a wide-ranging systems and cultural integration exercise and, consequently, a revised customer engagement and acquisition program, will be crucial to the success of the merger. It’s not the only factor, of course, but it is one of the most significant – and often the most under-rated.

Asking questions

Because, in most cases, the merger or acquisition will be systems, asset or financially driven, the question of how the differing – and often competing – ideologies will be integrated only comes up later, once the cracks have started to emerge.

But before you even contemplate going ahead, you should ask a few basic questions:

1. Do the two organisation’s ideologies complement, compete, oppose or negate each other?
2. How will the two ideologies be unified? Possible answers include:
   • The dominant ideology (most often that of the acquirer) will assimilate that of the other company. In this case, the program needs to concentrate on educating and enrolling unfamiliar personnel into the dominant ideology.
   • There will be an integration of the two. Clearly there will need to be common ground between the two ideologies for this to happen, and without careful planning and implementation the result could be a bastardisation of both ideologies, negatively impacting the brand.
   • The intention is to bring the two cultures together and forge an entirely new ideology based on the synergies, the newfound strengths and the vision of the enlarged group. This admirable ambition will require a great deal of input from the highest levels of management, and a willingness to stay the path. You need to be sure that the chosen path is the right one.
3. What are the other contributing factors in combining the two groups – are there a lot of mechanical and systems based mergers going on at the same time? How will this affect the cultural integration?

The answer to these questions will help you determine whether or not the process will be smooth and successful, or “gruesome and traumatic”.

Getting answers

There’s no easy way to define and compare the two ideologies involved in the transaction, particularly if the question of “what drives us, and why do we do it the way we do?” has not been asked of one or both of the participating entities.

The place to start is at the beginning – defining the existing ideologies of both parties, and planning how to achieve the desired ideological and brand outcomes.

Define the existing ideologies of both parties, and plan how to achieve the desired brand outcomes.

The process should be managed by the top echelon of decision makers in the business, and will require time, effort and resources, all of which should be accounted for in the potential costs of the merger.

Practical measures may include workshops, interviews, process analyses and more – see Bain & Company’s excellent article ‘Integrating cultures after a merger’ for ideas.

It’s worth considering the aid of an independent, objective professional who understands the role of ideology in shaping the internal culture, the brand and the customer experience. Someone who can facilitate workshops, conduct interviews, knowledgably analyse systems and processes, prescribe outcomes, shape the formulation of the final ideology and ensure it’s firmly embedded within the new entity.

At the end of the day, it’s something you can choose to control or not but, given the overwhelming evidence in favour of its importance, you’d be a braver person than I to leave it to chance.

 

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ABOUT IDEOLOGY

We are a creative management consultancy that brings together business strategy, brand and culture to create meaningful relationships. 

We work with ambitious B2B leaders to drive transformation and accelerate growth by unlocking competitive advantage within their businesses. We get to the heart of an organisation’s unique reason for being, its ideology, and build the brand from the inside-out by embedding it in the culture and in every customer experience.

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[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-mergers-fail/
[2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/267369/volume-of-mergers-and-acquisitions-worldwide/
[3] https://home.kpmg.com/ca/en/home/insights/2017/01/why-most-acquisitions-fail.html
[4] https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/111014/top-reasons-why-ma-deals-fail.asp
[5] https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/a-mckinsey-perspective-on-the-opportunities-and-challenges

In recent years it has become increasingly clear that success of any company is inextricably linked to the success of its brand.

As Martin Roll puts it: “Branding as discipline has evolved over the last couple of decades from being just an addendum to advertising campaigns, fancy ideas of the marketing department, optional function of the elite few to finally being recognized as a boardroom discipline that not only contributes to the top and bottom line of the company but also aids in enhancing shareholder value contributing to the market capitalization of the company.”^[1]

In other words, responsibility for defining, developing and propagating the brand has moved to the CEO’s office. The traditional role of the marketing department in creating the corporate identity, the campaigns and the associated mechanics of brand dissemination remain crucial, but more than ever the direction needs to come from the very top.

If the CEO doesn’t have a brand purpose, the brand will have no foundation. If the CEO is not a committed brand evangelist, it will have no voice.

If the CEO is not a committed brand evangelist, it will have no voice.

It begins with a purpose

Every powerful brand begins with the organisation’s purpose: what Simon Sinek calls its “why”.^[2] This should be clearly and simply enunciated in just a few words that hold the key to the motivation behind everything the company says and does.

Great examples include:

• Nordstrom – ” … to give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible.”
• Sony – “To be a company that inspires and fulfills your curiosity.”
• Sweetgreen – “To inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food.”

A compelling purpose is not necessarily about what the company does, but why it does it. And it can only come from a genuine belief. It can’t be formulated by a committee – it needs to be inspired by a deeply held conviction. Without that solid foundation, a purpose is merely an artificial construction that is unlikely to gather any followers.

Every great purpose begins with a single believer. A “messiah” whose belief is so powerful and so communicable that from the very beginning it enlists, inspires and empowers followers. Who could this be in any company but the CEO? Because if the company’s principal doesn’t originate and lead the ideology, no one will.

It would not be overstating the case to say that being the brand messiah is the CEO’s most important task. In so many examples of successful companies, the success stems from the evangelical fervour and abilities of the leader more than anything else. Often the greatest brands are linked to the names of individuals – Jobs, Gates, Branson, Disney, Musk, and even Trump.

Crucially, the underlying ideology of all of the brands connected to these names is at least as strong as the personalities involved.

A great personality can emerge from an undeniable ideology, but even the most charismatic person cannot lift a weak ideology into believability.

Even the most charismatic person cannot lift a weak ideology into believability.

Turning a purpose into an ideology.

A purpose can be inspiring and motivating, but it lacks true potency until it has become an ideology. That is, backing the deeply held conviction with a supporting set of beliefs and prescribed behaviours.

An ideological foundation gives people a reason to believe and a way to live their beliefs. It makes the purpose concrete and achievable, and provides a means of evangelising to each other, to customers and to the world at large. It gives people a reason to ‘buy in’.

Again, the development of the ideology is not something that can be delegated. It isn’t something that the CEO can sign off on, but a process in which she or he must be closely involved. It is the articulation of their vision, and should therefore as much as possible be in their own words. It can be a difficult creative process, and it may need revisiting at times, but it is crucial to the growth of the brand.

Turning an ideology into a culture.

Developing a potent ideology and formulating the beliefs and behaviours that underpin it creates the basis for evolving the organisation’s culture. If the ideology is sufficiently appealing and engaging, the retinue of followers will multiply – and this in turn strengthens the attraction of the ideology. It turns a group into a ‘tribe’ that other people want to join.

People who feel that they are part of something that is genuinely making a difference become evangelists for their tribe, and they build a culture around it. They are proud to live the idea and they safeguard its credibility and ensure it delivers on its promises.

That’s the secret to a great brand.

 

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ABOUT IDEOLOGY

We are a creative management consultancy that brings together business strategy, brand and culture to create meaningful relationships. 

We work with ambitious B2B leaders to drive transformation and accelerate growth by unlocking competitive advantage within their businesses. We get to the heart of an organisation’s unique reason for being, its ideology, and build the brand from the inside-out by embedding it in the culture and in every customer experience.

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[1] https://startwithwhy.com/
[2] https://martinroll.com/resources/articles/leadership/leadership-and-branding-the-role-of-the-ceo/