BrandDigital | BrandSimple: The Blog

Come on, admit it. Every once in a while you see a television advertising spot that makes you chuckle. Maybe you even spend a few moments chatting about it with colleagues at the water cooler. Perhaps you’ve even been known to send an ad link to friends and family in order to share the laughs. The fact of the matter is that good television advertising still exists, and people still pay attention to it, despite the cluttered digital environment. Notice I said “good television advertising.” While lots of it deserves to be Tivo-ed out of the picture, the spots that succeed do so as a result of following an age-old advertising recipe: Great insight about the category, a simple and compelling idea, and brilliant storytelling. In my recent column in Forbes Online I write about the winners of the 57th International Advertising Festival in Cannes and, specifically, what made them winners – with the judges and consumers. While the digital age has certainly created challenges for television branding, those who follow the tried and always true recipe for success, still keep us tuned in.

courtesy of canneslions.com

Did you know that Kellogg’s Corn Flakes has been around for 104 years? I picked up this little bit of breakfast trivia when I picked up a newspaper and saw an ad touting the fact that the cereal has been “fat-free and cholesterol-free since 1906.” Now, I’m pretty sure folks back in 1906 didn’t pay as much heed to dietary requirements as folks today. But the folks at Kellogg’s being the great brand professionals they are, know what it requires to keep a brand healthy, including the need to keep it relevant. In my recent article in Forbes Online I write about why heritage brands are going so strong today, and why, when times get tough, marketers go back to times that consumers perceive as having been more comforting and familiar. As you dig into your bowl of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes tomorrow morning, I invite you to read what I have to say. It’s likely to be more comforting than other news of the day.

courtesy of Forbes.com

Could it be that we’re over the worst of the recession? I’m in no position to answer that question from an economist’s point of view, but indications from the brand world suggest that consumers have begun spending again, carefully. While big-box discount retailers feel secure touting the value to be found inside their big-box stores, what should luxury brand manufacturers such as Hermes, Rolex, Chanel, and BMW be doing to tout their valuables? In my most recent article on Forbes Online I recommend that, instead of positioning these lovely things as short-term purchases, they be positioned as the long-term investments they are – things that are meant to last and be appreciated by the next generation. I believe that it’s only by doing this that these companies will succeed in the new normal marketplace. Take a read. It’s valuable information.

courtesy of forbes.com

Along with a bunch of other business folks, I had to resort to Skype, emails, and video conferencing to stay connected with colleagues who were stuck in airports during the recent volcanic eruption. That we were able to stay so well connected got me thinking about the latest Cisco branding campaign and how beautifully it helps explain what the brand is all about and what relevance it plays in our lives. In a word, connectivity. This wasn’t always the case. Cisco is one of many companies whose brand names may be known, but whose purpose wasn’t always quite clear, until now. In my latest article in Forbes Online, I write about Cisco, along with two other terrific brands, that recognized that until people get what a brand actually does and why it’s relevant, there’s no amount of shouting, promoting, or any other kind of pitching that will help make the sale. Call it the ultimate branding disconnect. I invite you to read this piece and, well, connect, with any input you have.

image courtesy of cisco.com

Why should I buy this? That is the ultimate question on every consumer’s mind. Conversely, why should they buy it must be the ultimate question on any brand manager’s mind in order to make the sale.

In my newest column on Forbes.com I explore the two fundamental answers to this question. Yes, there are two. And, yes, each is based on the branding fact that you must offer something that is both relevant and completely different than any other brand out there in order to be successful. Where these two answers diverge is a matter of whether the product can sell itself – is it inherently different and relevant? Or, must the marketing team look for way to position it as different and relevant?

In a marketplace deluged with brands and branding channels, each is a challenge. Take a look at the article and see which marketers are meeting this selling challenge and winning

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How many minutes of advertising were there per hour of Olympics coverage? An article in the Times confirmed for watchers of the events that they weren’t t imagining things. The ads were as plentiful as the questions to Julia Mancusco regarding her feelings about Lindsay Vonn. For what’s worth, as a marketing guy I watched the commercials with an eye toward appraising how companies position their brands these days. Given the state of the world it was interesting to see which companies were really tapped into consumer sentiment, relevance being one of the key metrics to brand’s success. In my latest article in Forbes Online I explain that the most powerful brands keep their top-of-category positions by ensuring that, even as the marketplace changes, their promises to consumers remain both distinctive and genuinely meaningful to peoples’ lives. It’s a tough challenge, but take a minute to read the piece and see which brands are doing it best.

Image courtesy of Forbes Online

There is no shortage of opinion on how Tiger handled his mea culpa and what he can do to restore his brand’s image. As for Toyota, the other brand in the news these days up against public demand for answers to less than stellar behavior, there is still some room for commentary. In fact, I had the opportunity to weigh in on the topic in a recent interview with CTV during which I suggested that the company’s biggest mistake, in terms of brand repair, is not having gotten ahead of the story quickly enough. While it’s always easy to play armchair quarterback and offer up solutions that are simple in theory, putting them into place in such a large and global company like Toyota is another thing. However, I believe there are some actions that the company can take at this point in time which will help restore its brand’s equity before it’s too late. I invite you to watch the interview here.

Image courtesy of Canada AM

Do you know the best way to get white lime deposits off a stone wall? Fill in the ever-widening hole around a pipe leading to the air conditioning unit? Get mice from settling permanently into your garage? I do. Well, actually, the folks at my local Ace Hardware store in rural New York do. I’ve become a regular Saturday morning customer and I have yet to stump them with my questions. They’re always happy to answer and, better yet, patiently explain to this city slicker how to go about personally administering whatever new house and garden ailments arise.

I bring this up, not because I want to brag about my knowledge of muric acid as a stone wall cleaner, but because as a surveyor and conveyor of all things brands, it’s become increasingly clear that in this digital marketplace it’s often the personal touch that can differentiate a brand from its competition. That’s right, human interaction. In a recent article in Forbes Online, I write more about the companies like Ace that get this point, and those trying to achieve the right balance between real and virtual branding. Take a read. And in the meantime, if you have a problem with mice in your garage, take a ride to your local Ace Hardware store. They’ll know what to do.

photo courtesy of OldOnliner via Flickr

It was with great interest that I read a recent article in the New York Times about how Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are turning away from tradtional PR to spread news of their newly-hatched companies and turning straight to the tactics likely to make them richer entrepreneurs – digital technology and, in particular, the technology that facilitates word-of-mouth. You don’t have to be an entrepreneur, or even a Silicon Valley resident to understand the innate capabilities of digital technology to spread news, be it good or bad, truth or heresay. The reason for my great interest in this Times article was how it echoed the sentiments in a piece I just wrote for this week’s print edition of Brandweek magazine about GM’s “Reinvention” campaign. In it I explain that while this once-mighty brand set forth its new promise to become a more efficient company in a series of television ads, this top-down pronouncement isn’t going win any friends or influence people. It’s only when people start tweeting, blogging and spreading their experiences under the digital magnifying glass that proof of its promise will be validated – and credible.

Most of us have heard about Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs – you know, the need to gratify hunger, thirst, shelter before moving up to less elemental things. But a hierarchy of human needs relative to our digital life? Absolutely. People divide online pursuits into several tiers, the bottom, or most elemental, being the utilitarian stuff like checking emails, looking up addresses, chatting with friends, and the higher tiers being the more diversionary, like watching favorite shows on Hulu. It’s become apparent to me and many other branding professionals that when trying to engage people online, it’s critical to understand where they are on this hierarchy of digital behavior. In my most recent article in Forbes Online, I explain in greater detail why timing in marketing messages is everything and what some of the best brands are doing – with very gratifying results.

(Image courtesy of Shannonpatrick17 via Flickr)