BrandSimple Stories

Here’s a sampling of the stories you’ll find in BrandSimple. An engaging, interesting read, BrandSimple was written to provide ideas and information you can use immediately.

… As Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry David might say, “It’s pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty unique.” And that’s exactly the idea Eric Kessler, President of Sales and Marketing at HBO wanted to get across in taking on both regular and cable television networks. He knew exactly what he did and didn’t want HBO to represent in the market. (Page 83)

Bose is the brand that took on those mega-ton Rolls-Royce engines, along with a few other things that other brands had overlooked. In fact, the history of Bose’s success is filled with examples of how it looked at things no other brand had thought to look at. (Page 67)

Although Pixar has extraordinary technology, it doesn’t allow this extraordinary technology to overwhelm the story line. It keeps the stories inventive but simple, credible, and familiar. What parent hasn’t been awakened at 3 A.M. by a child who thinks there’s a monster in the closet? What kid hasn’t fantasized about toys coming to life? And who says a superhero can’t be an insurance salesman who needs a few weeks on the Atkins Diet? (Page 87)

… the photographers spoke to us and expressed the depth of what the Nikon brand meant to them. Telling the story about coming back from a mission, a photographer said, “We were hanging onto the truck’s roll bar with one hand and our cameras with the other and realized that the only piece of equipment with us that wasn’t a Nikon was an M-16 rifle.” (Page 92)

If you were asked to think of a brand that didn’t need help in clarifying its message to anyone it might be the NFL. It’s football. It’s an idea even a seven-year-old can understand. It’s Sunday afternoons and Monday nights. It’s an all-American passion. Everyone gets football, don’t they? The fact is, up until a year or so ago, everyone didn’t get football. (Page 142)

Very little advertising was required to get the message of Baby Einstein across. Moms did it for them. Word-of-mom is a very credible branding signal. Moms trust other moms. This continues to be among Baby Einstein’s most powerful branding signals. (Page 163)

Imagine arriving at work one morning, getting into your voice mail system, and hearing this message: “Good morning. This is Donald Trump. I just wanted to tell you that you guys at Genworth are sensational and I think we make really great partners. I encourage you to watch The Apprentice tomorrow night.” (Page 114)

One of the most enjoyable aspects of writing BrandSimple was the opportunity it gave me to talk to the people directly responsible for building and managing some of the world’s most powerful brands. Their first-hand accounts of the challenges they faced and the solutions they brought about are much more compelling in the telling than I could make them.

Given the on-going issues brands face in a fast-changing world, I decided to dedicate a section of this site to conversations I continue to have with the best and the brightest in the business. These conversations deal with topics anyone responsible for a brand can relate to. Check back on a regular basis to see how the best brands keep it simple and succeed.