PRODUCTION
by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey
It’s hard to believe that your own team can damage your brand, but most brands are killed from self-inflicted wounds, not murdered by the competition. As you start out the New Year, be vigilant that your own people don’t take action that inadvertently hurts your...
MARKETING
by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey
We learned a lot about building an international brand during the two decades we grew Barefoot Wines. Most of it we learned the hard way, and that is why today we share our lessons in this blog devoted to brand building. Although we were successful, we nearly failed...
Renew Your Brand Promise for the New Year
by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey
This is a great time of year to renew your brand promise. Just like renewing vows in marriage, you recommit yourself to your brand promise. But unlike marriage vows, the promises are not yours. They’re the sum of your customers’ perceptions, expectations and beliefs...
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey
It was storming that night in 1996 when Michael slowly drove up the long dirt road that lead to his humble farmhouse in the rural hills of western Sonoma County. He was careful not to spin out in the mud nor get grabbed by the treacherous ditch that had consumed so...
DON’T PLAY HARD TO GET
by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey
We are often asked, “What was the biggest challenge you faced growing the Barefoot Wine brand?” People are always surprised by our answer, “out-of-stocks.” It’s the biggest problem facing any new brand. Some purists try to make a distinction between brands and...
WHERE AM I GOING AND WHY
by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey
We’ve often said that entrepreneurs are brand builders. Unlike sole proprietors, or even those creating a legacy, most entrepreneurs, sooner or later, want to have a capitalization event. That may take the form of a merger, IPO or cash infusion by a new partner, but...
KNOCK! KNOCK!
by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey
We often hear, “Follow your passion” as the universal prescription for happiness and success. But we say “Follow your opportunity, passionately” as a more plausible road to success. Opportunities abound! The key is to find a way to take advantage of them using your...
SEND MORE MERCHANDISING MATERIAL!
by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey
The best brand building signs and merchandising materials we ever saw were in the dumpsters of the very distributers who were expected to use them to sell the products of the brands they represented. What were they doing there? Because the distributers only had a...
NORWAY IS THE CLEAN WAY
by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey
We are posting this blog from Norway where we came to support and present at the annual “Mixer” which supports entrepreneurialism at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. This is the largest technical university in Norway and has a...
THE GENIE IS OUT OF THE BOTTLE!
by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey
A non-profit called Environmental Working Group (EWG) has recently unveiled “Food Scores,” a soon-to-be-released app consumers can use to scan bar codes on packaged food items with their smart phones. Beyond the mandatory labeling on the package, consumers can, for...