Pancakes and The Art of Brand Leadership

>I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I can’t. On Christmas Eve, one of my clients, Sykora Family Ford, held their 10th Annual Pancake Breakfast. More than 1000 customers and friends attended the breakfast on Christmas Eve morning. Sykora’s pancake breakfast has become an important social event in the community.

It is a perfect example of how to build brand leadership.

First, take a look at the YouTube video and then join me for a discussion on the other side.
(Video Link: Sykora Family Ford You Tube Video)

If you will remember my riff on The Psychology of Brand Leadership, the big takeaways were:

1. The new psychology of leadership suggests that effective leaders must understand the values and opinions of their followers, rather than assuming absolute authority, to enable a productive dialogue with (customers) about what the group stands for and thus how it should act.
2. No fixed set of personality traits can assure good leadership because the most desirable traits depend on the nature of the group being led.
3. Leaders who adopt this strategy must try not only to fit in with their group but also to shape the group’s identity in a way that makes their own agenda and policies appear to be an expression of that identity.

As you can see, the pancake breakfast has evidence of all three.

Rather than trying to shape the opinion of their customers, Sykora connected with the values of customers and created an event that lets people express those values. By giving customers the opportunity to express their family values and desire for sincere social interaction, Sykora has helped shape the identity of the group.

Comments Heard From Customers During the Event

“I haven’t seen you since last year at the breakfast.”

“Seems like this is where we get together every year.”

It’s important to note that Sykora Family Ford did not try to become the leader of the group, they are just part of the group. However, just by attending this event, the community is saying “we identify with the values of Sykora Family Ford.” So rather than feeling leadership is being forced upon them, customers assign leadership to the Sykoras.

Let’s take a look at some pictures of the event and see how the Sykoras, while leading the event, really just take on the role of facilitators. (RSS & feed subscribers click on the “view” link below)

It’s not charisma that creates leadership. Ed Sykora is one of the most humble men you will meet. He doesn’t talk like a carnival barker and flail his arms about. What he has done, is raise a family he is proud of and brought them in to the dealership.

Family pride, social interaction: Those are values that customers can grasp, and it’s a formula for brand leadership.

The Secret of Brand Leadership
Give your customers a social identity. The Sykora pancake breakfast now serves more than 1000 people each Christmas Eve. It’s a social event. People go there not to go see the Sykoras, but to see everyone else who will be there.

Sykora Family Ford is just the social identity broker. And that’s how they achieve brand leadership.

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