Keep it real

I love you, Clif Bar.

They just seem to "get it". Their food philosophy: "Good food provides health, joy, and energy, and is a delight to the senses. And food, made right, can make the world a better place." YES! Finally!!! Someone gets it!!! And the best part?...you don't have to dig around on their website through a bunch of "we're committed to wellness" and "we love nutrition" sections to find this message. It's right there, ingrained in everything they do: products, packaging, culture, sponsorships, donations. They don't have to host a fake PR event to talk about "living well", you know what the brand stands for. Boom. Brand equity.

My lovely girlfriend, Susan, has said about Clif Bar, "I'll buy anything that Clif makes, doesn't even matter what it is." Yeah, me too. I've thrown down $2.29 for a Clif Bar at the airport before and I'm not ashamed of it. I've raided a Target end cap that had a special 7 bar pack for $4.79. I stocked up on every flavor of Clif Quench at Kroger before trying a single one (and was DELIGHTED to find that they are all clear colored - why should a lime flavor have to be neon green?). 10 for $10, watch out.

Do I love semi-solid, organic health bars? Eh, they're pretty good. I mean, the holiday flavors are down-right heavenly...but I guess I get a little tired of the usual suspects (Crunchy Peanut Butter, Blueberry Crisp). But to know that I'm putting something truly GOOD into my body (unlike popular "healthy" or "nutritious" food-like products) AND feeling good about supporting a company that sources organic ingredients, donates 1% "for the planet", recycles like crazy, AND resists the cost-cutting temptations of high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, and ingredient lists longer than this blog entry...(deep breath)...Ahh...loyal forever. Could they take another $.50 in pricing? SURE! Could they launch a line of frozen Clif Popsicles? SURE! See...as long as they don't mess with their brand equity. Say they decided, "Eh, what the heck, let's use genetically modified soybeans...it's cheaper!". Hmpf. I'd probably look elsewhere.

Lesson learned: Brand Equity is powerful. You are what you stand for. TIDE - keep being clean. APPLE - keep making ridiculously cool new gadgets. BMW - keep making zoomy cars.

CLIF BAR - keep it real.