The Story

This weekend I stopped into a tiny record shop on Hawthorne that I had driven by a hundred times but never really noticed. A sign on the door boasting “American Roots Music” is what drew me in. What I was looking for was so specific that even the clerk in the 200 square foot store couldn’t help me: Yazoo.

Yazoo Records specializes in early American roots, blues and rural music. And by specialize, I mean specialize. Their catalog is small and extremely obscure. Even connoisseurs of early blues are hard pressed to recognize more than a few artists in their repertoire. But ever since we discovered Yazoo several years back, my husband and I have built an increasing loyalty to their brand.

The fact that they refuse to cater to a wider audience by making their catalog more mainstream impresses us. This is differentiation to the Nth degree. Nobody else puts out these ancient crackling recordings of artists that have been dead for decades, only slightly more known today than the obscurity in which they died.

But to a customer discovering this dedication in a record label, loyalty is key. So, they don’t get a lot of customers, but the ones they get are in for life. Going back to my tiny record store, I scoured the blues section with moderate excitement until I came across a gold mine. An entire little section of Yazoo records. There were 15 different compilations there and I gladly selected my purchase. I probably would have bought it no matter how much it cost.

When it comes to bank marketing, many banks promise to cater especially to my needs but they’re all saying the same thing. Have I ever found a bank that makes me feel like they understand a 30-something creative couple who are not-too bad with managing money but not-too good either? Not really. But when I do I can guarantee I’ll be going back. I know we’ll be going back to the record store for those other 14 Yazoo titles soon.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 1:16 pm and is filed under Other, Bank Branding, Bank Marketing, Branding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.