BrandDigital | BrandSimple: The Blog

The key to winning as a technology brand is to promise a better mousetrap – and to deliver it, with all the kinks worked out. A better mousetrap has to do more than look good on paper. In its rush to wrest control of the living room from Xbox, and get its new and improved PlayStation 3 to market, Sony seems to have left a few critical kinks on the drawing board. As a result, the actual user experience of the PlayStation 3 has not met its promising expectations. Much as Sony wanted it to be, the product wasn’t quite ready for prime time playing. Not good when you’ve got a loyal brand audience ready to shell out $600 for new and improved.Nintendo, with its Wii, on the other hand, approached the gaming competition with a totally different sort of branding game plan. Change the category playing field. Literally. Get people up and off the couch. Forget what the others are trying to accomplish with their fancy graphics and go at gaming in a totally different way. Give users a wireless controller capable of detecting hand and arm motions in a way that allows them to physically control the action on the screen with more than just their thumbs. Moms are happy with the Wii because it mitigates their fears of having couch potato kids. Gaming enthusiasts are happy because it delivers the experience in a totally unique and exciting way. Nintendo is happy because it was able to get into the game on its own terms.

Nintendo, the original gaming leader, has become newly aware of the top two rules for brand success, especially in the technology world: 1) Do promise your audience something different, yet relevant. 2) Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. Nintendo didn’t set out to control the living room the way Sony wanted to. But, in meeting user expectations better than Sony did, it may have ended up winning the game.

I heard the AMA’s MPlanet event in Florida was great last week. Although I was not there, MarketingShift has done a nice job of recapping it all; see the coverage here.

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.

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.

Disney’s recent decision to take on the childhood obesity issue was a healthy move. Not just for a nation of chubby kids. But for the brand.Adding high quality food fare to its high quality entertainment fare seems the most natural of branding ingredients. We all know kids love sugar and spice and everything not so nice. We know they love the cartoon characters that cleverly market these foods. We also know kids love Disney. Kids do not always listen to mom and dad when it comes to eating their veggies, but they might listen to Buzz Lightyear.

As parents face the challenge of getting their kids to eat right, Disney is coming to the table at just the right time.

Its new nutritional guidelines for both its licensed food products and the food it sells in its theme parks are sure to put pressure on other marketers of kids’ food products to do the same. (Sesame Street and Warner are already in the game.)

In the past, if a cartoon character promoted a food you could bet it was full of sugar and low in nutritional value. Disney’s raising the bar can only add to its reputation as a responsible family brand. The Incredibles Oatmeal. Mickey-shaped organic ravioli. Fresh kid-sized produce from the Disney Garden. Healthy food. Healthy branding. Healthy kids. Great recipe.

Interesting and true what Laura Ries had to say about CEOs as pitch people. Sometimes a great notion, other times absolutely not. When advertising is one of your brand’s branding tactics it’s important to fully recognize why, when, and if to put your CEO in front of the camera. The fact that a CEO is likeable, well respected, and may even have camera presence are important things to consider. Then, of course, the CEO must be seen as genuine. The real deal. When looking at the issue from a branding perspective (the view from my window) another critical thing to consider is whether your CEO’s appearance on air will truly reinforce the equity of the brand. In other words, is it a worthwhile business strategy? One determining factor is whether the person at the top resonates “brand-ness.” Are the person and the brand personality inextricable? If this is the case, using the CEO for branding purposes makes lots of sense. Frank Perdue, for example, looked and sounded just like the finicky chicken-picker he was. We believed him when he told us his chickens were plumper and juicier and tastier. Martha Stewart is the essence of homemade perfection. She lives her brand promise, in her house and, if we pay attention, in ours. Oprah as brand is undeniable. She embodies the simple idea of personal empowerment and applies it to everything she does. James Dyson is vacuuming up mote loads of dollars because he, too, is so intrinsically united with his company’s brand identity. As for Richard Branson, his personality is as cheeky and clever as the businesses he runs. Of course, every good CEO must be the ultimate brand advocate. The person who supports the brand better and more fiercely than anyone else. The person who ensures that the brand’s promise is driven home both inside and outside the company. This doesn’t mean the CEO should literally operate on the outside. Most CEOs can talk the brand talk naturally, but they can’t walk the walk without tripping up. This means they’re best left behind the scenes to do what they do best ? run the company. Unless you are at a critical crossroads, unless there is really good business reason to do so, I’d carefully consider whether to use your CEO as branding tool. Unless your CEO and your brand have matching personas, I’d vote to keep the great and powerful Oz behind the curtain.

You raise your eyebrows. You shrug your shoulders. You wink. You drum your fingers on the table. All human reactions. All very subtle reactions clearly visible via Cisco Systems teleconferencing products. But in promoting this enhanced capability, Cisco doesn’t tout the technology, the features, the bells, or the whistles. It touts the fact that you’ll be able to see the nod of the person sitting at the head of a table 2,000 miles away. The person who agrees with your idea. Seeking affirmation that you’ve got a great idea is human. Cisco knows this. And it knows what it’s doing with the introduction of its new brand campaign, “The Human Network.” Building a brand on the end benefit is nothing new. It’s been done a hundred times before. What makes Cisco’s use of an end benefit in its rebranding efforts so powerful is how delightfully simple a brand idea ‘human network” is. Cisco has long been a leader in its category, but in going for a brand identity beyond its wares, it’s given its well-respected brand name a strong emotional base on which to build for the long term. Cisco’s “human network” branding communications don’t mention shared port adapters, interface processors, or integrated service routers. They beautifully integrate stories of what was made possible for people as a result of this technology. Eight-year-old leukemia patients whose fears are calmed through interaction with specific Web sites. Budding entrepreneurs who can easily link to online mentors. Fifteen-minutes-of-famers who want help filming and downloading their YouTube masterpieces. Big business MIS managers who don’t have to worry about getting all the right puppies in the box for the annual board meeting. “On the human network, anything is possible,” states Cisco’s newly designed Web site. Its products and services may be smartly engineered to enable a human network, but its new brand identity is just as smart. Cisco identified something new, yet as old as time for its refreshed brand identity. It’s not about the stuff you make, but the people who use it. What they use it for. And why they’re better for it. To brand well is not necessarily human, but in Cisco’s case, it is.

Go to www.join(red).com, click on Manifesto, and you’ll read that “(RED) is not a charity, it’s simply a business model.” I agree. It’s a terrific business model. (RED) is also a terrific example of what makes for a powerful brand. Why? First and foremost, the most powerful brands on the planet are based on ideas that are simple to understand. (RED) products save lives. What could be simpler than that?

Buy (RED) branded products and you’ll help eradicate AIDS in Africa. More than this, when you pull out your (RED) American Express Card, your (RED) iPod Nano, your (RED) Motorola cell phone, when you don (RED) Converse sneakers or an item of (RED) Gap or Armani Exhange clothing, you’ll be recognized as someone who supports this incredible initiative. People want to get credit for supporting good causes. (RED) allows them to do so in a practical and very meaningful way. Second, when a brand is based on a simple idea, it leads to brilliant branding ? the things that convey what a brand stands for. (RED) branding is brilliant. Start with the name. It’s a color. What could be simpler than that? The brilliance was in imbuing this color with emotion. Giving the word red, itself, a topspin. Colors have been associated with brands for eons, but not in the way it’s been achieved with (RED). Along those lines, wrapping (RED) in the warm “embrace” of the parentheses makes the name iconic, gives it personality beyond the name. Then, there’s the actual color, which serves to emotionally connect the idea to everything associated with the (RED) brand, from advertising to products.

The speed at which (RED) has taken off is proof of its inherent power as a brand and the brilliance of its branding. (RED) has created an instant community, one of the most difficult things to achieve in brand building. The fact that companies are “embracing” a brand not their own is also huge. The Gap has done a particularly good job aligning with (RED), most notably with the folks who model the (PRODUCT) Red Gap clothing in its beautifully produced advertising spreads. While most of the people and companies teaming with (RED) are inherently cool, or hot, this only adds to the desire to take part. Driving the AIDS message into the mainstream mindset through commerce is as brilliant as the branding. While pink and yellow have done a good job in branding causes, Bono and Bobby Shriver in creating (RED) have taken color as a branding tool to an even higher level. They’ve turned (RED) into a money making business model that benefits both the companies that sign on and, more importantly, those suffering the ravages of AIDS. They’ve done it by adhering brilliantly to the most basic laws of building a powerful brand. More power to them. Let’s save more lives.