Say Cheese

While traveling down the highway on a recent road trip with some co-workers, a billboard caught our eye. It didn’t say anything particularly thought provoking, and the visual certainly wasn’t eye catching:

Grandpa’s Cheesebarn, Exit 180

We had each seen this billboard many, many times over the years, passing through this middle-of-nowhere spot between Cleveland and Columbus. We’d all chuckled at the name, and were curious as to what Grandpa was all about. We agreed it was time to find out.

As we approached the exit, we wondered what we would find. Oh sure, Grandpa would have cheese. All kinds of cheese. Different sizes, different shapes, different flavors. Maybe even unusual shapes of cheese.

Immediately visions of cheese in crazy shapes filled our heads. Maybe there’d be cheese shaped like the Washington Monument. Or the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Or maybe there would be a whole line of celebrity cheeses – Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, The Beatles. This is a Cheesebarn after all. Ooh and maybe there might be election year cheeses. I don’t know about you, but an Obama shaped Colby sounds mighty good to me. Who knew cheese could be so fun and exciting?

As we pulled in, we discovered that Grandpa had diversified. Grandpa’s is in fact, a “Village” (which amounted to three buildings next to each other), complete with B&B suites, ice cream and Sweeties Jumbo Chocolates. Looks like someone’s dabbling in line extensions. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

But Grandpa did have some brand issues. The sign at the top of the Barn simply said “Cheesebarn”. C’mon, where's the “Grandpa”? Isn’t Grandpa the whole reason people go there? Isn’t he the draw, the charm? How can they leave the Grandpa out of Cheesebarn?

As we went inside, our hopes were dashed. No interesting or quirky shaped cheese. No Obama Colby. No Grandpa, even. Just your standard run of the mill packaged cheese. I’m sure it was tasty, but just not interesting. And isn’t that what great brands do? They draw us in, intrigue us, make us laugh or just delight us. And make us want to come back for more.

No matter how big or how small the brand, the basic rules always apply. Know who you are as a brand, know who you’re courting, and figure out how to make yourself a great catch.