November 12, 2009 | Category: Success Stories | Tags: Small Business Success Stories

The Taste of Success: What Every Small Business Can Learn from In-N-Out Burger

In-N-Out burger began as a burger stand in sunny California. Soon, however, it spread to locations all over the Golden State, then to even more far-flung locations. Now with locations in four states amd more slated to open in the near future, In-N-Out is a true American success story. In-N-Out is not just a great place to have a burger and fries; it’s a great place to learn about branding as well. Here are a few of the branding lessons that took this tiny fast food joint from a small business to a thriving chain.

Your brand is not just a logo. In the case of In-N-Out, the logo is less than the brand. The logo is a typical fast food logo, with a classic red and yellow scheme and an arrow to suggest movement. However, the brand also includes happy employees, delicious food, fresh ingredients, and a fun restaurant logo ambience. Identifying your brand and knowing how to make every customer experience a branding opportunity is one of the keys to finding success in the small business market. In-N-Out’s success can be attributed to the brand more than to the logo.

Let them pay you to market. In this case, In-N-Out skips the expensive national campaigns used by the big guys and instead focuses on selling products such as hats, t-shirts, bumper stickers, and plants. These actually earn money for the company, making this a true win-win situation.

Create a company culture. For In-N-Out, the culture includes a series of codes that let ordering customers like women and cooks express their preferences in the least amount of words possible. Having these codes also gives customer a sense that they are part of a secret club, and that there are variations they haven’t tried because they do not even know about them yet.

Choose your target audience. It does no good to market if you don’t know who you are marketing to. In the case of In-N-Out, the target audience isn’t so much a gender or an age group as it is a type of person. The typical In-N-Out customer has a good sense of humor, a love of kitsch, and likes being ‘in the know’. Knowing this makes it easier for the owners to market their restaurant accordingly.

Set yourself apart. In-N-Out must have an innate understanding of its customer base, because it has done a stellar job of setting itself apart from the competition. First, it doesn’t market itself or its culture through traditional avenues such as television and radio. While the secret ordering system would make for a fascinating commercial series, the owners are loyal enough to their client base not to take advantage of it.

As you can see, there is no magic formula when it comes to branding. The secret is to know your customers and conduct your campaign in a way that builds their trust of your brand rather than alienating them. In-N-Out is one example of a brand that found its niche; your small business could be the next.