Viva’s Blog: Groupon’s latest great deal

Groupon recently unveiled a service that features premium deals on high-end brands and restaurants. Groupon Reserve has dining deals and will add travel, entertainment, and luxury products. It also offers a free online reservation service at top-tier hotels, salons and restaurants and offers diners discounts of up to 40%.

The move demonstrates smart brand thinking as Groupon adhered to these important branding principles:

Solve a problem.
Groupon needed to grow beyond deals on massages and automotive services and add more value to merchants and consumers. Groupon Reserve helps restaurants fill empty tables instead of providing any time discounts that can be used even when they are busy. Consumers benefit from an online reservation system with embedded discounts. No need to print a voucher or present an embarrassing coupon as the discount is discreetly and automatically applied. Great branding starts with adding remarkable value, and then later getting good at talking about it.

Be true to your Brand.
Stop ten people on the street and ask them what comes to mind when they hear “Groupon,” and what will you hear? “Daily deals.” How did this young company get to own a phrase that’s been in our vernacular for decades? By using it consistently and frequently in every communiqué.

Searching for a new and desirable audience, Groupon is staying true to its Brand by offering daily deals but now on premium goods and services. They expanded their market but remained true to their core strengths.

Pick a name, not a mission statement.
Groupon simply added “Reserve” to its umbrella brand name, and voila, Groupon Reserve was born. They didn’t start from scratch and create a newfangled name, nor did they create an overly complicated, long name like “Groupon Premier Discounted Reservations”. Reserve is the perfect complement to Groupon as it adds an upscale flavor to the brand name. Reserve wines are from the best grapes, and the name hints that it involves reservations.

Groupon was a declining Brand, and its shareholders had lost 90% of their initial investment. In recent months the company and stock have begun to recover. Groupon Reserve demonstrates the company’s effectiveness at leveraging their Brand to improve results.

Read more Viva’s Blogs at www.vivalabrand.com

Editor’s note: Laura Sheridan, President of Viva La Brand, was asked to join other national marketing experts and speak at the Legal Marketing Association of Ohio’s annual Legal Practice Development Institute in Columbus, OH on October 23.