BrandDigital | BrandSimple: The Blog

When I was a kid, Bass Weejuns were a “badge brand.” When you walked around school wearing these shoes, you were authentically cool. Kids whose moms pressured them into accepting another brand — similar in look, but definitely not the original — could still be in therapy for all I know. Okay, an overstatement, but here’s my point. In brand categories where brand authenticity makes you part of a cool community, there can only be one winner. In the case of music-to-go, it’s iPod. Not Zune.

Don’t get me wrong. The new Microsoft Zune is a great product. It’s got all the required bells and whistles – and then some. It lets you listen to FM radio, gives you wireless access, and lets you share music. The latter being a bell or whistle the company hopes will lead to social networking platform unavailable with the iPod. The thing is that iPod users don’t want or need a social networking platform. They’re already part of an in crowd, white earbuds and all.

From a pure brand perspective, Zune is going to have an uphill battle if it thinks it can beat iPod. The product’s features and benefits just aren’t different enough or relevant enough to win on a rational basis. Wireless is nice, but people have phones and computers for that. From a branding perspective, Zune is going to have an even tougher time. Actually, it’s going to be like a climb up Everest in Bass Weejuns. The iPod is as hip as hip gets, from its design and functionality to its status as a “badge brand.”

I wish Zune well. Microsoft is a terrific company, but when it comes to being too cool for school (even if your school days are long past), my bet is that iPod will remain on top. It’s an original.

There are two tricks to using PR in Brand building. The first and most difficult is to get the media to cover the story. The second is to make sure the story is told the way you want it told. Not the way they want it spun. As I explain in my book BrandSimple, Dove is great at getting PR to work as a powerful branding tool.

The recent rapid-movement video of a young woman being transformed from perfectly fine to perfectly fabulous through tricks of the beauty and technology trades is a perfect example of PR as branding power app. The core message of the video is, course, that models don’t really look the way we see them in ads. It beautifully underscores Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty.

Over the past few weeks the video has made the media rounds from Oprah to Ellen to Leno. It went on to become among the most-watched videos on You Tube – the latest gauge of public opinion. Dove got millions of eyeballs without having to spend millions on advertising, underscoring the power of its PR. It was able to get its tale told and retold - the way it wanted it told.

I thought Dove had gone as far as they could go using PR when they launched the real Beauty campaign last year, but they figured out how to take it to the next level and ride the You Tube wave to unlock even more PR horsepower….Wow.

Welcome to Heineken’s “newest work of art.” Heineken Premium Light. While some would consider the “art” to be the clean, refreshing brew inside, I’m referring to the art on the outside. The bottle, that is, with its clean, refreshing label. It’s branding artistry at its best. In fact, it’s a powerful expression of everything the Heineken brand stands for. The premium quality you’d expect. And, the way only Heineken would convey the uniqueness of its low-carb, great tasting new product.

The bottle transcends category norms, from its non-traditional vertical typeface to the translucent pressure sensitive labeling material. For a beer whose roots go back to 1864, Heineken is pretty cool. It’s new Premium Light is cool. The packaging, cooler still. See Eyes on Creativity for another review of the label, or lack thereof.

Heineken may say “Succumb to the smooth.” I’d suggest succumb to the power of the packaging might be an equally worthy claim.

Apple has never failed me once. In its products or in its branding. Both brilliant. The company has incredible self-awareness. It knows exactly who it is and what its brand represents in the marketplace. This self-awareness is beautifully brought to life in its most recent ad campaign which features two people - one personifying a PC, the other personifying a Mac. Basic practicality versus cool functionality. The ads are simple and focused and incredibly effective at driving home the difference between PCs and Macs. The characters playing the products embody what makes one user experience different than another. What makes a PC different from a Mac.

The Apple brand is based on a simple idea. Its products are simple to use. Its advertising is simple to understand. It’s self-awareness as a brand is simply amazing. It’s simply Apple being Apple.

Geico is literally a mom and pop brand made good. Actually, made great by way of brilliant branding. The company started out with the simple promise of being able to save you 15% on car insurance. It hasn’t wavered and, as a result, can claim ownership of this promise. Owning anything in branding today is hard.

But wait, there’s more. Geico also owns one of the most amusing branding characters on the telly. The little British gecko who has a thing for pie an’ chips. Realizing the name of the company might be hard to pronounce, this droll, green fellow was created to make it as easy as pie (an’ chips) to remember. He’s helped take the company to its leadership position.

Geico continues to employ its gecko and its 15% savings claim. But, it’s also started to expand its message beyond price with another series of ads that focus on the quality of the Geico experience. Celebrities as disparate in nature as Charo, Peter Graves, Little Richard, and Burt Bacharach add a twist to what would otherwise be stodgy customer testimonials. While the strategy behind this branding is in lock step with Geico’s humorous brand persona, there’s something distracting about it. I remember the celebrities. I don’t remember what the customers had to say. A case of cleverness trumping intention.

Clever is good. And Geico is great. But when using humor in branding, make sure the brand promise is as easy as pie (an’ chips) to remember.

Dealing with negative issues head on is as smart in branding as it is in life. In this case, I’m referring to Citgo’s recent hard-hitting print ad in which it addresses the controversy regarding alleged ties to Hugo Chavez and Venezuelan oil interests. Rather than sidestepping the issue, Citgo took the strategic high road. It stated, for the record, in black and white terms, that Chavez did not control the company, nor had any influence on Citgo’s business practices.

Branding is a long-term initiative. Stuff happens along the way, in the market and in the world. Taking on tough issues as they come up is part of the equation. Dealing with the less than favorable isn’t fun, but to mitigate loss of brand equity it’s a necessary strategy. Citgo did the right thing. If I were to be so bold as to offer advice (which I am), I would suggest that Citgo do one more thing. Hold off running any traditional image advertising until things cool down a bit. It’s hard for consumers to get two completely different signals from one brand simultaneously. They get confused. Which is not good for any brand. But, in branding, as in life, things move on. Citgo is moving in the right direction.