bullseye

Think of a brand of bleach. What’s the first name that comes to mind?

If you’re like more than six out of every ten Americans, it will be Clorox.

That’s no coincidence. Clorox has been “top of mind” for decades and, despite a plethora of name-brand competitors and store-brand generics, its dominance has remained unchanged.

The irony is that chemically, Clorox is the exact same as virtually every other brand: 6% sodium hypochlorite and 94% water. Yet Clorox outsells all of its competitors combined.

There is an important lesson here for dentists when it comes to the marketing of their practices: Clorox knows exactly who its customers are and what its brand should mean to them.

How many dentists can say the same thing?

Lindsay Pedersen worked in brand management at The Clorox Company, where she was specifically responsible for increasing the value of mature products, including Clorox Bleach, Armor All, and Brita.

Chemically, Clorox is the exact same as virtually every other brand: 6% sodium hypochlorite and 94% water. Yet Clorox outsells all of its competitors combined.

In an interview with Incisor, Pedersen, author of the bestselling book Forging an Ironclad Brand: A Leader's Guide, points to Clorox bleach as a stellar example of an “ironclad” brand.

Author and Brand Expert Lindsay Pedersen
Author and Brand Expert Lindsay Pedersen

Pedersen explains that an ironclad brand embodies the answer to many important questions, including: Why are we here as a practice? What is the value we provide? And, how do we reinforce that with everything we do?

Pedersen advises targeting a specific customer or client—the bulls-eye of their ironclad branding efforts—and optimize all the related marketing choices with that customer in mind.

“Know who are the people to whom you bring the most value, and who brings the most value to your business. Focus on them,” she recommends.

For many DOCS Education members, the bulls-eye is fearful and anxious patients who hesitate to visit the dentist. However, Pedersen suggests that dentists consider even a narrower target—for example, specializing in fearful patients who require specific types of treatment, or even zeroing in on one particular demographic group.

Pedersen advises targeting a specific customer—the bulls-eye of their ironclad branding efforts—and optimize all the related marketing choices with that patient in mind.

Such targeting, she adds, doesn’t preclude serving other patients who don’t fall dead center in a practice’s crosshairs.

Author and Brand Expert Lindsay Pedersen

Ironclad brands, with Clorox Bleach being a clear example, can charge more for their products and services and consumers will cheerfully pay the price. Even during recessions, ironclad brands—counter-intuitively—perform better versus store brands and generics.

That’s because, when money is tight, Pedersen says, consumers become especially risk-averse. Brands like Clorox and Glad (which is a Clorox Company brand) not only do well, they’re actually able to increase both price and market share.

Hear an exclusive Good News Dentistry™ interview with Lindsay Pedersen by clicking below:

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