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Relevant Reading – February 1st
Sharing the the things I found for the day: Anybody, As Long As It’s Not You The Experience is the Product Product Management in Pictures #2- Feature Requests from Sales Reps Are You Listening To Your Customers Product Manager? definition: what is a product? Setting priorities…...
Hertz Gold Members Assured: No Toyotas in Your Future…
Image by Getty Images via Daylife I really wouldn’t want one of my customers sending emails like this one I got today from Hertz. As if being on the news wasn’t enough for Toyota on this recall and major rental companies choosing to opt out on Toyota until addressed, now one...
SOCON10: Measuring Social Media for B2B: Activities Need to Drive Results
Many thanks to the folks that attended the session I lead. We had a great discussion on what’s important, what folks are doing and how organizations should focus on improving over time. There still appears to be this learning curve around social media which is awesome. SoCon10 had a bunch...
Relevant Reading – January 26th to January 29th
here you go, been slacking for a couple of days or more: 2009-2010 Pragmatic Marketing Annual Survey results published – ProductMarketing.com The career trapeze GM offers $1,000 to unfriend Toyota The history of neon why being a mensch matters in social media...
Getting Back Home – Ain’t Life Grand!
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Get Sticky with It, Why some ideas are easily remembered
While the phrase “sticky” is like so 1998, it still works. Plus what else would you say? Now that’s an adhesive concept you can’t shake. It’s kinda like that mid-January cold you get every year. <insert other made up silly thing which wouldn’t be as effective as sticky> Made To Stick – Why...
RadiantBrands Blog
Are Chain Store Brands Authentic Local Businesses?
I don’t think all multiple store chains are killers of authenticity. Fundamentally, what do they provide that’s not being served to the consumer? And is it real in how it connects to consumers’ experience?...
On Target or not? Yet another small grocery brand?
Target’s entry with P-Fresh will add substantially to the already glutted grocery store square-footage in the United States where more and more retailers are competing for the same number of consumer dollars....
The actual design of the new labels along with the methodology to change the names is a disjointed and confusing with sports illustrations that look like a collage gone bad. There are so many activities I can’t figure out what I’m supposed to be doing. The visual images are more...
Brand behind the brand: Flickr is now from Yahoo
Yahoo’s parent affiliation with Flickr prompted many loyal Flickr users to respond with negative comments about this “brought to you by” connection....
Apple’s Next Move and why it’s not a Netbook
Netbooks –they are basic with no frills make buying a computer a simple decision. So why can’t Apple jump into this market? It makes sense that they create something that appeals to their loyalists, like me, in this category, right? Yes, but it's definitely not going to be a netbook....
Smart Phone Wars, Why the iPhone Wins
With Palm announcing the new Pre, Apple announcing a new lower price iPhone 3G S, Google’s latest Android phone launch, the MyTouch 3G and the Blackberry Storm, where’s the Smart phone world going?...
The Engaging Brand
3 Ways to Tap into People's Emotions
The social in the phrase social media gives you a clue on what people are looking for....When people get their social media strategy right, they tap into the emotional element of people's lives. But how can you tap into that......
Your brand is social whether you like it or not!
The web has many conversations about brands each day. I often have conversations with people who say "I fear social media, I fear the negative aspect for the brand" What I think is important, is that brands realize that the......
Show 282 - How to manage your energy through thoughts
Show 281 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of......
Ideas - Protected species of business
Just as humans need oxygen to breathe, businesses need ideas to thrive. Ideas are the fuel, they are the heartbeat of a company. Ideas need nurturing, they need the right culture to grow in.....they need Open conversations Genuine listening A......
It is not what life does to you, it is what you do with your life. Simple concept yet more people spend time thinking about the former than the latter. I sometimes wonder why? This is what I tend to......
Show 281 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of......
Brand Insight Blog
Jargon vs. the branding power of plain english.
I had an experience in a brewpub last fall that was inspiring and insulting at the same time. Keep in mind, this Oregon, where there are more brewpubs per capita than anywhere on earth. So brands are plentiful and the competition is stiff. If you don’t like the food or the...
Disruption as a branding discipline.
The word for the day is Disruption, with a capital D. In our society there’s a stigma against all things deemed disruptive. When you’re in elementary school you learn to not be disruptive in class. Sit still in church and don’t disrupt the service. By the 6th grade it’s “don’t cause...
Back to Basics — A working definition of Brands and Branding.
Welcome to the new-and-improved Brand Insight Blog. I’m moving forward this week by going back… back to fundamentals and to the most frequently asked questions of all: What exactly IS branding, anyway? And why should the average business owner care? No doubt, the semantics of marketing and branding...
Branding in a skeptical world — Two Trends For 2k10
Magazine editors and TV journalists love year-end lists. And when it’s the end of a decade, there’s even more interest in rehashing the top 10 things in every category from celebrity scandals to the most trusted brands. I prefer to look forward, and I suspect many of you are with me...
The difference between a new product launch and the birth of a brand.
The Mt. Bachelor ski report for December 20th was delightfully promising: Ten inches of new snow, 18 degrees, calm winds. Not only that, the storm was clearing. Blue skies beckoned. It was the kind of day ski bums live for. The kind where they’re queued up before the first lift and...
Better survey questions — Avoiding the common pitfalls of market research.
I’m a big proponent of market research. I’ve seen, first hand, how it can be integrated seamlessly into the operations of a rapidly-growing start-up. (They tracked customer satisfaction every week, in every new store, and grew into a billion-dollar brand.) I’ve seen how research insight leads some brands in profitable new directions,...
The Branding Gavel
Brand’s online activities: how to get real value
Last Saturday at a meeting with one of my protégés, I was asked ‘Are you sure you are getting correspondence result in your personal brand’s effort online’? I said, it all depends on what individual is measuring or comparing his result with. Every thing that is worth doing is worth measuring. If...
Personal branding: make your efforts count
Everyday gives me an opportunity to learn and observe people around me. I learn from people who have been successful and those who are still on the radar of success as well as from a complete fool. In fact there is no one on the surface of the Earth that...
Brand marketing: the tsunami still rages
Prior to the first tsunami in Asia, tsunami is just a word in the dictionary. Most people did not know what the word stands for, how it operates. All of us could not imagine the huge impact an occurrence can have on humanity. This was followed by ‘Hurricane Katrina’ which...
Brand survival in a distressed economy
The sign of stressed economy is here today. It is obvious that little fund is being programmed to accomplish many tasks. Many individuals who have been victims of lay off may not even have enough to go round either for their families or themselves. The recession effects though seemed declining...
Brand communication: need for adaptation
Change is a constant thing in life. Any brand that refuses to change on time with trend will discover too late that it is already in the graveyard. We are in the age of adaptation. A cursory look around will show signs of this. Before, many people cherished eating at...
Many people/brands search for magic wand that will place their brands on the pinnacle of success. In my little research, I have come to understand that the obvious are not seen. Many have eyes that are not trained to spot their opportunities. Opportunity can fall on a person’s laps if the...
brandSTOKE
Electricity is a commodity. And therefore, it sells on price alone. But in 1998, local electric cooperatives from around the country, all of which operate independently, got together to distinguish the electricity they serve from that served by investor-owned utilities. A brand was born. The catalyst: energy deregulation. Since the late 1990s, many...
The rise of community bank brands
The customers of George Bailey’s “wonderful old building and loan” rallied to defend it from the money-grubbing Mr. Potter in It’s A Wonderful Life. Although the circumstances are different, small banks across the country are attempting to arouse the same kind of passionate community support. Hoping to attract consumers angry and...
Warning: Your brand is being commoditized!
Remember the old days when coffee was a commodity? We may be headed there again. Starbucks, with its expansion in 1987, revolutionized how we drink and think about coffee. It convinced us to buy whole beans instead of grounds. It familiarized us with espresso, cappuccino and latte. It introduced us to...
Imagine if every brand was as honest as Domino’s
In its new campaign, Domino’s ‘fesses up to having served “crust like cardboard” and “sauce like ketchup” for years. Then it asks pizza lovers to forgive, forget, and try its new recipe. “By doing that they are basically saying, ‘We’ve been shoveling you crap for years and now we want you...
Why intangibles are the more sustainable competitive advantages
Once upon a time it was possible to differentiate a product or service by having a tangible advantage. “Tangible” means it can be seen, heard, tasted, smelled, or touched. Like a more powerful engine. A sleeker design. A secret recipe. The problem with tangible advantages is, with today’s technology, they can...
The North Face Dilemma: Spank the Butt or turn the other cheek?
Okay, it’s a little bit funny. At least the first time you see this parody of The North Face’s familiar logo. But The North Face is not laughing. It is, instead, suing young Jimmy Winkelmann, founder of The South Butt brand, for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and unfair competition. Winkelmann isn’t subtle about...
Thomas Clifford // Narrative Media Producer // Corporate Communications
Strategic Incubator Interviews Me
I recently had a fun and interesting interview with Matthew Ray Scott, Managing Director of The Strategic Incubator, about using documentary storytelling for businesses. The interview is 43 minutes long and takes a different angle (no pun intended!) than previous interviews I've given. Here are a few things we covered: How I...
What is Our Company’s Purpose? The R-O-I Method
Have you read Daniel Pink’s new book, “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us?” If you haven’t picked it up yet, don’t wait too long; this book will forever change how you think about motivating individuals (hint: it’s usually not carrots and sticks). Pink definitely motivated me to rethink how...
Enjoy today's roundup... 1. In between frames Absolutely brilliant little riff from Seth Godin. "Consumers are too smart for the frames. It's the in-between frame stuff that matters. And yet marketers spend 103% of our time on the frames." 2. Why write a book? And speaking of Seth, his new book, Linchpin, launches today....
Impersonal Communications: 7 Costly Glitches
1. They can appear unbelievable. 2. They can feel distant. 3. They can feel unemotional. 4. They can appear uncaring. 5. They can feel meaningless. 6. They can appear wasteful. 7. They can feel uninspiring. Why not consider humanizing communications so it connects us to something beyond ourselves? Something to think about. --Tom P.S. Inspired by Daniel Pink's new book "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates...
The narrative "sweet spot." --Tom P.S. Inspired by Indexed....
Seth Godin's new Manifesto: Brainwashed
"If you've got the time, the intellect and the access to get you hands on an idea...then you have the ability to reinvent yourself." Seth Godin, "Brainwashed." Just released... Seth Godin's new (and free) ChangeThis manifesto: "Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself." Um. Need I say more? -Tom P.S. Seth's new book, Linchpin:...
David Young | Branding Blog - Marketing Advice and Advertising Strategy for Local Business Owners
Car & Driver on the Toyota Recall
There's a great editorial in Car & Driver on the Toyota Recall. I love the headline: Scandal, Media Circus, and Stupid Drivers Mike Dushane takes on the screaming media, including a jab at 60 Minutes for their coverage of a......
Web + Radio = Good Brand Strategy
For a local business, optimizing a web site to compete against your local, regional, national and international competitors can seem a bit daunting, to say the least. Wouldn't it be great if your most valuable web traffic arrived at your......
WonderBranding: Michele Miller's Marketing to Women blog praised by Forbes!
Just a quick note to congratulate marketing to women expert Michele Miller for being named to Forbe.com's list of the 20 Best Marketing and Social Media Blogs by Women. You should also check out a few of her way cool......
Kia: Telling The Truth in a More Powerful Way
"Our story began with a bicycle, back in 1951." It's the opening line of a Kia ad that has been airing the past few months. I like the ad. It makes you feel good. I like the Kia models that......
Gravity Well: Are you giving your customers the opportunity to take baby steps?
Here's the point...if tiny steps of accomplishment will bring about YOUR goal, offering tiny steps of engagement to your potential customers will help them bring about THEIR goal...which is to have their pressing problems solved...by YOU!...
Book Review...from me?...Look Both Ways
I don't do many book reviews. Mainly because of press agents. As soon as you start talking about a book, they smell blood and a week later the Fedex truck arrives with stacks of books that you'll never read. Today,......
make the logo bigger
You’ll just have to sit through it yourselves people. It’s part of a larger effort to promote the brand in Europe. The setup of part one with a lone skier making his way down the slopes makes you think McDonald’s is going cool places. But the trailer and actual episodes...
Are you Sickofmarketingwordsasphobiaphobic?
And you thought me going all Super Bowl hypeless this week meant no gems like Roasterphobia. HA.*bangs head against keyboard r8p7fgehoruiq;lkwnac';elfm[*If someone can let me know when in 2010 we will officially do away with the releasing of inner (blanks), the need for a (blank)vention, or the cure for (blank)phobia,...
“DON’T DRINK TOO MUCH, as a man expects you to keep your dignity all evening. Drinking may make some girls seem clever, but most get silly.” These and other dating tips for women, here....
The best part of Comcast’s new logo and identity?
Is the accompanying caption under the logo:“The company announced today that the new name will be premiered next week.”Uh. You. Just. Premiered. It. Great new look—same great company! SAME GREAT SERVICE TOO! You think I enjoy pointing this stuff out? I GET NO JOY. I do it to serve and...
Where do you begin? The relentless Tom-sheep metaphors? The non-stop hammering of fiscal conservative policies that are anything but? NAY I SAY, NAY! Watch near the end sheeple, I said near the end. Oh yeah, I can definitely see how the Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow unlimited spending on...
It’s *almost* as good as a George Clooney telethon, no? Because designers design—that’s what they do—The Haiti Poster Project is looking for submissions by this March 15. It’s the brainchild of Leif Steiner and Josh Higgins, whose past projects include posters for Hurricane Katrina and the So-Cal fire relief effort...
Branding Matters
A new year always brings with it joys and challenges. 2010 will likely prove no different. But I start out this year different from years past, and I’m thrilled about some things that have already happened, and things yet to happen in the new year. I’d like to make you...
Applicious - A Brief Review of iTunes 9
I just downloaded the new iTunes 9 today after it was featured at today's Apple event. Apple made some subtle, but I believe needed changes to the interface, particularly to the iTunes store, and I just can't help but comment. This won't be a lengthy post detailing all of the...
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Facebook 3.0 - A Lesson in Usability (and what we can learn from it)
The new Facebook 3.0 mobile application went live yesterday and for the most part is very well received by its user base. The update features a lot of changes, most notably a redesigned home screen with icon navigation. But what makes an update like this to arguably the most popular...
Why Social Media Matters And How to Use It - Part 2 (Service Brands)
In the first part of this three-part series on Social Media we covered a brief explanation of what Social Media is, and why small businesses, organizations, and freelancers should utilize social media initiatives to help build their brands. In this article we'll define more specifically how to use social media...
Orange Element Insights
Orange Element is very proud to announce the start of a new brand identity for our friends and colleagues at Maryland Art Place (MAP). Established in 1981, MAP is a not-for-profit center for contemporary art that energizes encounters between artists and the public through networking, educational leadership and outreach. MAP averages...
Orange Element is very pleased to be a sponsor for a screening of the film, Lemonade, brought to Baltimore and presented by Second Shore, the new public programming series created by Slant Six and the Contemporary Museum. Also, thank you to our co-sponsors, Novak Birch and Vitamin, for their assistance...
“Start Fresh” today, tomorrow, everyday!
Well… we’re just about a month into the new year and we want to ask ”how have you started off your year?” This year at Orange Element we have kicked off 2010 with the theme of starting fresh. A fresh year, a fresh decade, a fresh attitude towards a year full of fresh...
Happy Holidays and a Fresh New Year!
From everyone at Orange Element to you:...
If you are in Baltimore tonight, be sure to attend Shag’s screening of Gary Hustwit’s Objectified. Gary, the director of Helvetica, covers the world of industrial design in this feature-length documentary. ande www.orange-element.com...
Penguin Classics has created a series of clothbound novels, designed by Illustrator Coralie Bickford-Smith. Each book in the series is a true work of art, and is bound in an elegant colored bookcloth and stamped with a one-color foil stamp of a pattern inspired by the work within. Penguin is...
Ruth Mortimer - Brand & Business Blog - Marketing Week
A couple of weeks ago, we ran the Marketing Week/Ball & Hoolahan Salary Survey, which presented a comprehensive study into how marketers are paid and rewarded in 2010. (My particular fact of choice from the survey? A female marketing director earns £17,000 less than her male counterpart. So much for equality.) Now...
This is a lovely little piece of packaging for milk. Designed by Ashley Linnenbank, this udder-shaped design brings back the link between the source of the liquid and the end product to consumer minds. Not sure we’ll ever see this make it to the shelf as this seems to be...
Tesco buys into the movie business
Supermarket Tesco has moved into movie-making (sort of). Not content with opening its Fresh & Easy shops in California, it appears that a little of Hollywood has rubbed off on the firm. The retailer has formed a joint venture with US media firm Amber Productions to create a range of straight-to-DVD...
The 10 brands to watch over the next decade
Design consultancy Further has released its predictions for which brands will be the ones to watch over the next decade. It nominates: 1. United Breweries Group. The Indian conglomerate markets everything from Kingfisher beer to Scotch brand Black Dog and bought Whyte & Mackay back in 2007. Headed up by Vijay Mallya,...
Kraft and Cadbury: the chocolate war begins to melt….
So it appears that Kraft Foods has finally achieved its takeover of British confectioner Cadbury. Some say the price – nearly £12bn – is at the low end of what many financial analysts felt the brand was worth. We should not be surprised, however, that Kraft seems to have got...
The Marketing Week editorial team got a nice little letter promoting an agency called the New Adventure Group today. Now, we get hundreds of press releases each week about why certain agencies are different/more skilled than others/doing the best work around/cost-effective/more creative and so on…..but this one actually made us...
Damien Basile
Are you willing to be laughed at?
There's a certain amount of chutzpah that a trailblazer needs. Innovators, entrepreneurs, activists, creators - they all regularly put themselves on the line to be critiqued....
Routines don’t give rise to revolutions (Albert Einstein’s bold move)
Why did something happen? How did you get to where you are? You ultimately decided to allow it to happen. You may have not forced the circumstances that led up to the decisive moment but you did let it into your life. On the micro level Albert Einstein is wrong. You...
What If Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi Didnt? What If You Didnt?
What if Martin Luther King Jr. never visited Gandhi? He may have not been affected “in a profound way, deepening his understanding of non-violent resistance and his commitment to America’s struggle for civil rights.” [1] What if Gandhi never faced discrimination in South Africa? (being thrown off a train, beaten by...
Sign-in to Facebook with Multiple Social Networks
Click on “Settings”, scroll down to the bottom to “Linked Accounts”. Click on crap. Boom. You’re now able to access Facebook when you’re signed in to other services. You’re welcome. See and download the full gallery on posterous Posted via email from db’s digital branding database For branding and social media...
Facebook promotes email connect because of slow growth?
Is Facebook promoting Google’s Gmail Connect service as a way to get more users onto Facebook? Or is Google taking out ad space to promote their connect tool? More than likely it’s an internal Facebook effort as the logos of Yahoo, AOL, Windows Live and Gmail are all represented in...
Foursquare continues event branding with exclusive Boxee badge
It’s been a while since Foursquare had new proprietary event badges. In fact, the last time I remember a special badge was for NY Internet Week. Foursquare took a break to focus on expanding to tons of global cities to strengthen their worldwide userbase. Now that that’s out of the...
The Brand Show
Advertisers change the playbook for Super Bowl XLIV
Derek Rucker will lead the Sixth Annual Super Bowl Advertising review on Monday, Feb. 8.Over the last two decades, the Super Bowl has become the holy grail for brands willing to shell out millions of dollars for a 30-second spot. With a projected 100 million viewers worldwide, Super Bowl XLIV...
The can with the can-do brand: WD-40
The WD-40 social networking site lets brand loyalists share stories, photos and videos of the multi-purpose product's 2,000+ uses.More popular than dental floss and more ubiquitous than Kleenex, WD-40 can be found under sinks and inside toolboxes in four out of five American homes. Not to mention the other 160+...
Eco-luxury redefines an industry
Laura McHolm's company turns moves into moving experiences for individuals as well as brands, including NBC Universal Studios, The Jim Henson Company and Soho House.Laura McHolm, packs a punch as she packs up the lives of the NorthStar Moving Corporation's diverse clientele. As founder, chief executive officer and chief marketing...
Donald Trump: The Man. The Myth. The Brand
Cathy Hoffman Glosser leads product licensing for the Trump Organization.Real estate tycoon. TV star. Brand mogul. Donald Trump seems to be everywhere. And, if our guest has anything to do with it, his next stop is your house.Cathy Hoffman Glosser, Executive Vice President of Global Licensing for the Trump Organization,...
Jack Trout on Marketing in an Era of Competition, Change and Crisis
Jack Trout is president of Trout & Partners, an international marketing consultancy with offices in 13 countries.Recognized as the world's foremost marketing strategist, Jack Trout has brought us groundbreaking books such as Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind and In Search of Obvious: The Antidote for Today’s Marketing Mess. He...
The Next Evolution of Marketing: Connect with your customers through marketing with meaning
Bob Gilbreath champions a better way to connect with customers called Marketing With Meaning.Underwriting restrooms in Times Square. Teaching customers how to avoid banking fees. Creating a mobile cold and flu alert service. These are just a few examples of how pioneering brands like Charmin, Bank of America and Vicks...
Momblebee Blog
Who Is Afraid Of The Big Bad Lawyer?
There was a recent discussion on Copyblogger, about the importance of spreading the word when you have an idea. The point of the article basically was that instead of hoarding your great ideas in a file on your computer, you should share them with anyone who will listen to spread...
The Domino’s Effect: Is Being Bad Good For Business?
Domino’s Pizza has recently launched a new TV ad campaign which not only announces attempts to improve the quality of their pizzas, but incorporates the negative feedback from consumers about their product. Now, I know that transparency, listening to your customers, engaging with them and responding to their needs...
The Lawlessness Of Twitter’s Wild West
What to tweet or what not to tweet, the rules of behavior and usage for Twitter abound on the internet. Most humans desire some rules to live by, whether it’s through religion, government, family, workplace, or self imposed ethics, most people get a certain level of comfort from knowing...
Just wanted to post a message to all those who have been reading, commenting and connecting with me over the past months since I started this blog. I really do appreciate you stopping by, reading, re-tweeting, subscribing and joining in on the conversation. Watching my readership grow, conversing with you,...
A similar question was recently posed in an online discussion. Some people answered this question quickly by saying that ideas are worth absolutely nothing until someone puts money down on the table for them. I wholeheartedly disagree. Value is not just about dollars and cents. Value can be about potential...
What The Grinch Can Teach About Brand Integrity
Every year about this time since 2000, the Jim Carrey/Ron Howard interpretation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas rears it’s ugly head. It’s dark, it’s loud and there are words and images in it that Dr. Seuss would never have used. I’ve heard it referred to as an...