Brand Household Names: 7 Lessons Learned from the Best Performers

October 19, 2015/0 Comments/in Brand Strategy, Brand Values, Brand Voice, Branding, Business, Communication, Customer Engagement, Situation Analysis, Social Engagement /by Lorraine Carter

The top 200 U.S advertisers spent $137.8 billion on campaigns in 2014, an all-time high. Although this advertising expenditure sometimes translated into major returns on investment, there were other cases where a well-intentioned campaign turned into public relations nightmare at worst, and made consumers raise their eyebrows dubiously at best.

Below, we’ll take a look at some of the great household brand campaign successes and the shortcomings of others that reportedly didn’t quite deliver on expectations, plus discover the lessons that can be learned from each of them.

Best: Apple’s “Shot on iPhone 6” Campaign Apple is known for its memorable campaigns

This one was different because it focused on how creative people could be when using Apple’s products. The campaign used images and videos captured by iPhone 6 users worldwide.

This approach gave laypersons exposure in dozens of countries, [1] while high-quality imagery drove home the point that Apple has technology to help people get great results even if they aren’t “professional” photographers and videographers.

Image via www.cultofmac.com, Photo: Satoshi Honma/Apple

Lessons Learned:

The campaign scored points by highlighting the brand’s user base [2] rather than the brand itself. Also, it capitalized on inspiring people through gorgeous, captivating visuals. When working with our clients, we’ve often found the most powerful results are achieved when giving consumers the freedom to use a brand’s products to the fullest.

Best: Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty

This campaign’s messaging defied stereotypical ideas of what’s beautiful. [3] Unlike the previously mentioned Levi’s campaign, this one did use images of genuinely curvy women. One goal was to debunk the belief that only thinness is pretty. It also broke through barriers by showing women with wrinkles, which are usually shown as a characteristic to minimize, not highlight.

Image via www.dove.us

Furthermore, Dove expanded the campaign to suggest beauty should be a source of self confidence, not anxiety. Through print ads, billboards and TV commercials, the brand showed a level of realism that’s rare in advertising.

Lessons Learned:

Sometimes, it’s worthwhile to take bold steps in advertising. This campaign was undoubtedly polarizing, but there’s no denying it helped broaden ideas what constitutes beauty. Furthermore, the ad we linked to above became the most watched of all time. [4] As we often remind our clients, when you’re aiming to make an impact, do it in a way that resonates by being relatable.

Best: Patagonia’s Worn Wear Campaign

Marketing campaigns usually encourage people to buy products. This one, however, emphasized repairing clothing to avoid having to buy new items.

Patagonia also offered recycling centers and clothing exchanges [5] so other people could benefit from items once an original purchaser finished using something. Additionally, Patagonia released a short film online that was nearly 30 minutes long and contrasted strongly with the consumerism culture of Black Friday.

Lessons Learned:

It’s sometimes worth going against the grain and doing the unexpected. Initially, it may seem like the actions of the brand are counterintuitive because they offer alternatives to buying things. However, they obviously showcased the long-lasting quality that is common to Patagonia items. Through user profiles collected on a Tumblr page, [6] first-hand accounts demonstrate how some people have had their Patagonia gear for several years or more. Image via

www.wornwear.patagonia.com

This evidence reinforces Patagonia as a reliable brand that is well able to meet and indeed exceed the expectations of its primary target audience. The brand appeals to people who embrace the “rugged” lifestyle, consequently it makes sense in terms of their values that those individuals would appreciate long lasting and dependable attire, values which are intrinsically core to Patagonia’s brand values too.

When developing any brand strategy or campaign, research, develop your buyer personas and pay careful attention to your primary target audiences’ core values together with their needs, wants, loves, hates and aspirations. If you want to develop a brand solution that resonates with your core audience and they find truly compelling then you need to understand them intimately. Patagonia did this well by emphasizing the hardiness of its clothing, and making a surprising anti-consumerism gesture that got noticed during the festive season.

Best: Nike’s Just Do It Campaign

According to USA Today and Business 2 Community, Nike’s tag line was inspired by similar last words ‘Let’s do it”, used by a convicted murderer. [7] This enduring tagline has been phenomenally successful for decades because it’s short, simple and easily understood.

The campaign encapsulates an entire lifestyle and urges people to go beyond perceived limitations. Also, because the tagline is so concise yet powerful, it’s easy to use on all brand collateral.

Lessons Learned:

This campaign has stood the test of time because it speaks to concepts that resonate with people regardless of their fitness levels, activities of choice, and so on. Also, the brand enforces the idea there are many types of athleticism a person can display. Being an athlete doesn’t always mean winning gold medals.

The campaign also proves there’s no need to be lengthy when hitting your point home. In fact, the brevity of this campaign is undoubtedly partially why it has been such a powerful force in advertising for so long [8]. As we often remind our clients, having a punchy, bold tagline can work much better than a lengthier message that’s unlikely to be so easily remembered.

Unintended Outcomes: McDonald’s and #McDStories

This Twitter-based campaign was supposed to encourage consumers to reminisce about their best experiences at McDonald’s. It was only intended to run for a day, but within about an hour, executives realized the conversation wasn’t quite going as planned. That’s because it was largely hacked by malcontents who wanted to talk about why they disliked the restaurant.

However, the #mcdStories hashtag represented only two percent of the overall mentions [9] of the brand that day, so the while the campaign according to Business Insider didn’t go entirely to plan, the McDonald’s #meetthefarmers campaign also run on the same day performed much better. The Daily Mail, a UK publication, captured some tweets showing why the #mcdstories campaign resulted in some unintended consequences for the brand. [10]

Lessons Learned:

Take steps to control the conversation as much as possible, but be aware that on a platform like social media, the tone of messages can get out of control very quickly. When things start to go wrong, respond proactively. McDonald’s have good contingency plans in place and responded quickly by pulling the campaign thereby minimizing any potential damage.

Unintended Outcomes: Levi’s Curve ID Jeans

To promote its line of Curve ID jeans, Levi’s launched an advertising campaign with the tagline, “Hotness Comes in All Shapes and Sizes.” When designing the jeans, the brand analyzed 60,000 body scans and came up with three basic body types. However critics allegedly grumbled that all the models used for this ad campaign were skinny, and therefore, they didn’t think fully representative of the people who would be buying the jeans. [11]

Lessons Learned:

Since Levi’s implied these jeans were made for people of many body types, yet apparently showed pictures that indicated something that didn’t entirely reflect anticipated expectations, some consumers became discontent. This is one reason why it’s so important to create brand personas that accurately reflect your target audience so you can develop authentic messaging that speaks to the core of what makes your brand special and consequently relevant to the customers you want to attract most.

Unintended Outcomes: Groupon’s 2011 Super Bowl Advert

Social deals website Groupon reportedly got unintended outcomes when it aired an advertisement where actor Timothy Hutton began by somberly talking about the human rights crisis in Tibet, but quickly changes tact by discussing how Tibetans “still whip up an amazing fish curry,” and that Groupon makes it possible to get Himalayan food at a discount.

The advert was part of Groupon’s nationwide advertising campaign, and it was used along with other spots that spoofed causes people deemed important. According to the New York Times, it drew criticism from viewers because many argued the advert was making light of a serious problem. [12] Groupon did have a webpage that enabled people to donate to the spotlighted charities but unfortunately it wasn’t mentioned in the commercials.

Lessons Learned:

Sometimes, attempts to be funny can be interpreted the wrong way. If striving to use post-serious humour, [13] maybe consider approaching it in ways that avoid poking fun at those perceived to be vulnerable.

Key Takeaways to Consider:

In conclusion, here are some key points to keep in mind when developing the details of your brand strategy, be they large or small campaigns.

Control the conversation as much as possible, and know when to call a halt if a campaign isn’t going well

Make sure images or models used reflect the true or implied meanings of your brand messaging

Be careful that attempted uses of humour don’t appear insensitive, minimize the hardships experienced by societal groups, or try to overshadow the worthiness of causes that people care about

Experiment with giving users the freedom to ‘sell’ your products by demonstrating the things they can achieve with them

Consider boldly reshaping established stereotypes in ways that provoke thought and inspire positive changes

Brainstorm ways to go against the grain by promoting your products through methods that might seem counterintuitive — provided the strategy reflects your core brand values

Realize that being simply relatable, emotionally compelling and to the point can offer a significant return that might help your brand dominate the market for decades

As you can see results vary greatly even when advertisers have their sights set on success. Given some consideration these points should help you avoid mistakes while also helping you create brand strategies for powerful campaigns that help strengthen your brand reputation.

• Rebranding Strategy: Why Your Rebrand Must Embrace Storytelling

• Brand Strategy: 6 Lessons Learned from Tourism Queensland, One of the Most Successful Branding Campaign’s Ever

• Brand Voice: Differentiating Through Your Own Brand Language and Attitude

• Humanizing Your Brand: Why It is Key to Commercial Success

• Brand Profiling: Top 6 Components to Creating a Strong Brand Personality

• Brand Differentiation: 30 Ways to Differentiate Your Brand

So what do you think?

• How do you think the #MyMcDsStories brand strategy could have be done differently?

• Why did Patagonia’s anti-consumerism brand strategy work so effectively and how could you apply similar parallels to your brand?

• What are some actionable brand strategies you can take to ensure your brand messaging and brand tone of voice appropriately reflects your brand?

• Can you recall some instances where offbeat humour worked well to engage its primary audience and consequently helped the brand increase its success?

• Which factors helped Dove, a brand arguably most well known for soap, be able to make such a broader impact on opinions about beauty?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you.

[1] David Pierini, http://www.cultofmac.com/, “Photographers Thrilled with Exposure from ‘Shot on iPhone 6’ Ad Campaign”, June, 2015

[2] Will Burns, http://www.forbes.com/, “New iPhone 6 Advertising Campaign From Apple Puts The Focus On Our Creativity, Not Theirs”, June, 2015

[3] http://www.dove.us/Social-Mission/campaign-for-real-beauty.aspx, “The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty”

[4] Nina Bahadur, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/, “Dove ‘Real Beauty’ Campaign Turns 10: How A Brand Tried To Change The Conversation About Female Beauty”, January 2014

[5] Meagan Clark http://www.ibtimes.com/, “Anti-Black Friday Movements Gain Traction With Patagonia Clothing Swap”, November 2014

[6] http://wornwear.patagonia.com/, “The Stories We Wear”

[7] Jeffrey Martin, http://www.usatoday.com/,“After 25 years, ‘Just Do It’ Remains Iconic Tagline”, August 2013

[8] Bob Hutchens, http://www.business2community.com, “Just Do It” Turns 25: Nike & The Most Profitable Tagline Of All Time”, September 2013

[9] Gus Lubin, http://www.businessinsider.com, “McDonald’s Twitter Campaign Goes Horribly Wrong #McDStories”, January 2012

[10] Hannah Roberts, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/, “#McFail! McDonalds’ Twitter Promotion Backfires as Users Hijack #McDstories Hashtag to Share Fast Food Horror Stories”, January 2012

[11] Stephanie Soderborg, http://blog.sfgate.com/, “Levi’s Curve ID Campaign Falls Flat with Critics”, February 2012

[12] Stuart Elliott, http://www.nytimes.com/, “Groupon Ad on Super Bowl Rated a Miss by Many Fans”, February 2011

[13] Marshall Kirkpatrick, http://www.readwrite.com, “Why Groupon’s Super Bowl Ad Was So Offensive”, February 2011

Brand Recall: 8 Strategies for Building a More Profitable Brand

October 5, 2015/0 Comments/in Brand Affinity, Brand Audit, Brand Design, Brand Experience, Brand Identity Design, Brand Personality, Brand Profiling & Positioning, Brand Promise, Brand Recall, Brand Story, Brand Strategy, Brand Values, Brand Voice, Branding, Colour Psychology, Storytelling /by Lorraine Carter

82% of all high level corporate executives in the US stated that their customers had higher expectations of their companies than just three years before, 60% of executives found it difficult to please their customers, and 42% stated that consumers are using social media to shame their company into meeting increased customer demands, according to a Lithium survey.[1]

Obviously there is significant room for improvement in the marketplace amongst brand owners. Building a powerful brand is challenging, but consistently providing a great customer experience is central to any successful brand and consequently the quality of recognition, recall, referral, repeat purchase and overall brand affinity achieved amongst your primary target audience.

A positive brand exposure and customer experience is essential for developing brand trust and significantly improving brand recall, as a recent Macquarie University study has shown to be the case for durable goods. It is important to note that the study also revealed that advertising had significantly more influence on brand recall than merely personal experience for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

In order to improve brand recall in an oversaturated modern market, brand owners need to adopt highly effective and proven brand strategies. Here we share with you eight of the most important strategies, with several examples of both large brands and smaller emerging brands utilizing them to great effect.

Top 8 Brand Strategies for Enhancing Customer Recall and Affinity

1. Invest in Developing Your Brand Profile, Proposition & Purpose

The process of increasing brand recall begins with intelligent brand profile development. Your customers need to be given a reason to choose your brand over other similar options. When we work on creating a brand proposition for our clients using the Personality Profile Performer™ System, we ask them to answer a number of seemingly simple questions:

What purpose does your brand serve? What’s its Big Why?
What unique benefits do you offer that can improve your customers’ lives?
How would you define the idea or proposition behind your brand in a single sentence?
What kind of personality, messaging and tone do you envision for your brand?

The results of this initial brand profiling process sets the foundations for all future branding decisions and communications strategies. Defining what your brand stands for may not seem complicated at first glance, but these essential questions that you need to answer play an instrumental role in determining your future success, or lack thereof.

2. Create a Strong Brand Story Which Your Primary Audience Can Relate to

The most successful brands have a deep understanding of how their primary audience thinks. They know how to entice their consumers through creative storytelling, and they do so using sophisticated story creations processes like our Story Selling System™. By telling a compelling and engaging story about the company’s history, its philosophy and core brand values, you can create a positive association between your brand and the ideals that your target audience holds dear.

To truly understand the power of a good narrative, one need only look at Apple’s success in establishing themselves as a brand for forward-thinking and discerning individuals, who aren’t afraid to go against the grain and value quality and performance above all else.

Over the years, Apple has done a magnificent job of keeping the “rebel genius” narrative alive, and has proven to be a highly effective branding strategy. The reason it works so well is that it appeals to people with a specific mindset that transcends gender, race, age and generational differences. The story of Steve Jobs – a talented young man with an idea who overcomes adversity and ultimately builds a corporate empire – is compelling enough that it saw a movie adaptation starring Ashton Kutcher.

There is yet another biographical film, aptly named “Steve Jobs”, scheduled to come out later this year. While not every brand has the budget or influence to finance multiple Hollywood movies, Apple’s masterful storytelling can serve as a source of inspiration and a valuable guide for any aspiring brand.

A great brand story is your primary means of developing an emotional connection with your audience, and a fundamental way to inspire trust through its relatability. According to a 2012 Nielsen study[2] 58% of all online consumers worldwide trust the information on company websites and other owned media, and 50% trust the information they receive in emails that they have signed up for on company websites. There is always a compelling story behind a successful brand, but it must be carefully developed and told in the right way.

3. Brand Audit, Research and Look for Gaps in Your Competition’s Brand Strategy

A brand audit health check can be viewed as a diagnostics tool, a way to evaluate your brand’s awareness, customer perceptions and the effectiveness of your current brand strategy. It can point out any problem areas, potential outside threats and new market opportunities. A thorough review of your business and marketing plans, your communications and brand collateral, your internal and external audiences helps provide your company with a clear perspective on the most effective brand strategy and business structure.

To build a powerful brand, a company needs to be aware of and tracking what their main competitors and other industry leaders are doing. Another important piece of the puzzle is developing an understanding of your primary audience. Market research is key to acquiring deeper knowledge of the preferences, needs and behaviours of your target demographic together with developing buyer personas for each of your audience types. This knowledge will enable you to develop highly tailored brand strategies and exploit gaps in your competitors’ brand strategy.

For a good example of a smaller emerging brand exploiting a serious weakness of a much larger and well-established competitor, we can turn to Made Eyewear. Warby Parker had already become extremely popular, with many smaller companies attempting to copy their products, when Made Eyewear started gaining some traction in the market.

Image via © www.madeeyewear.com

However, the emerging brand had something that their competition didn’t – they owned and ran their own lens company in China. This enabled Made Eyewear to produce quality products at incredibly low prices, which in turn enabled them to offer unprecedented customization options through which each individual customer could express their own sense of style. Made Eyewear had the ability to engrave the stems, as well as mix and match different colour lenses and stems, to create a truly unique pair of glasses – and offer customers the ability to try out multiple frames with prescription lenses at prices that no competitor could match.

By controlling the entire process from how the moment the product was made to the moment it reached the customer, they were able to find a competitive edge over much bigger and well-established brands.

4. Invest in Great Brand Logo Design

Creating a great brand logo is about much more than merely designing a small image that will feature on your products, website and promotional material. When our clients come to us with a brand logo design request, they are usually looking for an expert to help them develop their brand identity. We find a lot of companies struggle with defining and articulating their brand’s proposition and purpose together with answering the questions outlined in the first item of this brand strategy tips list. A good logo serves the purpose of crystalizing your brand’s message and its core values, and allows you to communicate these to your audience with maximal efficiency.

Your logo should be appropriate to the market and your primary audience, and it needs to be unique and highly memorable. It is the first thing that will come to people’s minds when they think about your brand, so it plays an important role in recognition and brand recall.

By simply placing their brand logo in the upper corner of their YouTube ad, Libresse managed to improve their brand recall by an astonishing 300%.[3] Even the viewers who only watched the ad for a few seconds before clicking away were noticeably affected.

There are numerous aspects of effective logo design that should be considered – things like the choice of colour and shapes can have a profound effect on how the brand is perceived. You can delve deeper into colour psychology here and here to found out how colour psychology influences brand strategy.

5. Humanize Your Brand and Engage Employees as Your Brand Ambassadors

Brands that make an emotional connection with their target audience achieve the greatest success. Despite the fact that many people believed that technology would eventually cause us to become isolated, social media statistics seem to show the complete opposite to be true – humans are social animals, and we have a strong desire to involve other like-minded people in our lives. Our brains are wired for face-to-face interactions, and consumers tend to trust word of mouth significantly more then other marketing strategies.[4]

Image via www.statista.com

The level of trust that the general public feels for companies has dwindled over the past decade, but there is a way to reach out and earn some of that trust back – engaging your employees as brand ambassadors. As this Edelman global study has shown, consumers are highly receptive to brand promotion efforts coming from company employees.

Image via www.edelman.com

You can turn your employees into brand ambassadors gradually. Making social sharing an integral part of everyone’s workday is an effective way of nurturing brand advocates.[5] Apart from this, you can further humanize your brand by being highly receptive to consumer feedback, offering various perks to your loyal customers and providing exceptional customer service.

6. Eliminate Factors that Jeopardize Your Brand Reputation

When building a brand it is also important to identify all the potential reputation risks that could undermine or destroy your hard earned reputation and nullify all your marketing efforts. We won’t cover all the details or get overly technical in this paragraph, as it is quite a vast topic, but we will provide some insight into the basics.

If we set aside things such as common security threats, e.g. corporate espionage and cyber-attacks, the number one reputation risk are social media blunders. Even the largest brands in the world, with impressive online marketing budgets, keep damaging their reputation with inappropriate comments, hashtag misuse, and attempts at exploiting tragedies.[6]

A brand must have a preventive approach to reputation risk management, i.e. companies should strive to discover and eliminate potential risks, rather than try to deal with the fallout after the damage has been done. This can be done by focusing on a thorough exploration of all factors that can jeopardize your brand reputation by high level executives, regularly scanning the internet for potential risks and enforcing a strategy of proactive reputation risk management.

7. Reach Out to Your Target Audience Through Social Media and Build Connections

We have already mentioned that engaging your employees in social media sharing can help you create a powerful team of brand ambassadors that the public will trust, but social media can be utilized in an even more direct way – to connect to your target audience firsthand.

This approach has many advantages:

Consumers provide you with useful feedback
Loyal customers are given a behind-the-scenes look at your brand
You can organize giveaways and offer additional content
You can enhance your customer service
By encouraging social sharing, your loyal customers become your brand ambassadors

Social media can be used to help you tell your brand’s story in great depth, and you can make your consumers and products themselves a part of the narrative. The British luxury department store Harrods offers excellent customer service through open social media communication, and their efforts, such as their immensely successful “Twenty Ate Days” campaign that focused on promoting each of the 28 different restaurants within their store, have yielded impress results.[7]

There are a multitude of different social media platforms which your brand can leverage to build it’s own unique online strategies for improving brand recall – e.g. posting “How to” videos and reviews on YouTube, sparking conversations with consumers on Facebook and so forth. The skill lies in choosing the platform most suited to your product or service and your primary target audience.

8. Be Consistent in Your Brand Strategy

Even though some companies revamp their brands every few years, household names like Nike have remained true to their core brand values, mission, promise, logo and slogan for a long time. They adapt their campaigns and brand strategy to suits evolving market trends but their fundamental brand DNA remains unchanged. They stay focused on the essentials – they market their shoes to athletes and pride themselves in a high level of sports performance.

Your branding must be consistent to be successful, i.e. grow from the same core brand philosophy, values, mission, promise and focus on a consistent brand voice and messaging, together with consistent quality brand collateral design across all your touchpoints, both on and offline.

• Rebranding Strategy: Why Your Rebrand Must Embrace Storytelling

• Brand Profiling: Top 6 Components to Creating a Strong Brand Personality

• Brand Sponsorships: The Best Brand Ambassadors Are Already On Your Payroll

• Brand Management: Top 10 Tips for Managing Your Brand Reputation

• Brand Differentiation: 30 Ways to Differentiate Your Brand

• Brand Strategy: 6 Lessons Learned from Tourism Queensland, One of the Most Successful Branding Campaign’s Ever

• Brand Voice: Differentiating Through Your Own Brand Language and Attitude

• Humanizing Your Brand : Why It is Key to Commercial Success

• Brand Strategy: 7 Winning Components of a Market Leading Brand Plan

So, what do you think?

• Is your brand message clear, and in keeping with the preferences of your target audience?

• Does your brand have a compelling story that connects with people on an emotional level?

• Is your brand logo a worthy representation of your core brand values and your brand message?

• Are you making an effort to humanize your brand and reach out to customers on social media?

• Do you know what factors can negatively affect your brand reputation, and do you have a comprehensive brand risk management strategy in place?

[1] Lithium (San Francisco), “Corporate America Under Pressure From Consumers’ Rising Expectations (Press Release)”, June 2015

[2] Nielsen (New York), “Global Consumers’ Trust In ‘Earned’ Advertising Grows In Importance”, April 2012

[3] Think with Google, “Libresse improves brand recall by 300% with logo placement”

[4] Kimberly A. Whitler, Forbes, “Why Word Of Mouth Marketing Is The Most Important Social Media”, July 2014

[5] Sandy Gibson, SocialMediaToday, “Cognitive Dissonance: Why Social Sharing Creates Employee Advocates”, February 2013

[6] Eric Samson, Entrepreneur.com, “10 of the Dumbest Social Media Blunders Ever”, June 2015

[7] Businesscasestudies.co.uk, “Increasing Brand Awareness Through Social Media Communications (a Harrods case study)”

Rugby World Cup Branding: 5 Ideas You Can Learn From Big Brand Marketers

September 28, 2015/0 Comments/in Brand Ambassador, Brand Leadership, Brand Relevance, Brand Sponsorship, Brand Story, Brand Strategy, Branding, Business, Celebrity Endorsement, Global Branding, Integrated Marketing, Return On Investment, Storytelling, Video, YouTube /by Lorraine Carter

At the early Olympics, every four years triumphant athletes were lauded by having sponsorships called out (family name and native town), odes written and likenesses commissioned. These ancient versions of mass media frenzy were designed to create buzz and sing the virtues of the victorious. Today, major sporting events continue to represent big opportunities for ambassadorships and sponsors, since everyone loves a winning athlete.

As the world’s third-biggest sporting event, attracting an audience of 4.5 billion, brands of all sizes have jumped on board. Three thousand years later, what can we learn from the contemporary interpretation of getting one’s brand behind huge sporting events such as the Rugby World Cup?

Note that brand strategy in 2015 requires the “softly, softly”, more authentic and transparent approach for even the most hard-core rubgy fans. Here’s what we mean by that:

1. Humanizing Your Brand (case study Duracell)

2. Developing Influencers (case study Heineken)

3. Adding Values (case study EY)

4. Thinking Locally (case study Land Rover)

5. Using How-To (case study Canon)

Humanizing Your Brand: Duracell’s Powerplay

First and foremost, you want a battery that lasts; not much else about a battery is terribly important. But, how do you know when the battery is about to die? Unlike smartphones, there’s no indicator screen — unless you’re using PowerCheck technology, uniquely found on Duracell batteries since 1996.

Duracell re-positioned #PowerCheck within the rugby event framework, capitalizing on an ideal opportunity for Duracell to emphasize both power and strength. A two-pronged approach, to put a face (and physique) to the brand, enlisted Wales and British Lions captain Sam Warburton as the muscle-bound ambassador for a digital, in-store and PR campaign featuring footage from previous Rugby World Cups.

On the 2015 World Cup rugby pitch, #PowerCheck technology is used to help to track players’ performance indicators, combining rucks, tackles, carries and turnovers won during each game, rewarding those who “stay stronger for longer.”

Image via www.marketingweek.com and www.duracell.com

Alex Haslam, senior assistant brand manager for Duracell UK & Ireland, told Marketing Week the sponsorship will continue in future years and become part of the brand’s long-term brand strategy. Haslam said, “We know we’re not going to own rugby as a brand, but we’ve created something totally ownable. No other brand is talking about power and longevity.”

Actionable Branding Tip 1

How can I humanize my brand? The Duracell brand strategy can help smaller brands because it’s totally scaleable. Community events, county championships, school fairs, local youth sport clubs, charity fun runs and tournaments all present opportunities for associating your brand with local heroes and teams. Sponsor T-shirts, donate the local juniors’ kits, donate printing services, provide snacks and beverages for break time. We can help you find a great fit for your brand message in connection to a well-respected event, just like Duracell did.

Developing Brand Influencers: Heineken’s Heads or Tails

Former England captain Will Carling is a rugby VIP. Heineken is a big beer brand. People watch the rugby while drinking beer. Everyone gets that…but, there’s more to a tie-up than hiring someone like Carling to hold up the famous green beer bottle with the red star for the camera.

Heineken thought out some ways to get armchair fans involved with star rugby brand ambassadors to enhance the spectator experience, even to the extent of getting 48 fans onto the actual field to open matches, creating untold positive reinforcement for Heineken.

The campaign, “It’s Your Call” was created. Consumers find a unique code on the inside of special Heineken promotional packs or on a coin card given out in pubs when buying a Heineken during the promotion. Up for grabs are thousands of official Rugby World Cup 2015 merchandise prizes and the chance to flip the coin at Rugby World Cup 2015 matches.

To further emphasize “experiences, not just sponsorship,” Will Carling includes coin toss winners in video interviews with top rugby stars, while consumers are invited to live tweet at the rugby legends.

David Lette, premium brands director for Heineken UK, told Marketing Week, “The key thing for us is how we drive the association in a unique and experiential way for consumers.”

Image via www.marketingweek.com and www.heineken.com

Actionable Branding Tip 2

Can a smaller brand develop influencers? Absolutely. Heineken created evangelists-for-life by rewarding ordinary consumers and small brands can, too. Influencers don’t need to be famous. Your brand’s evangelists are your satisfied customers, and they’re happy to enter competitions, provide testimonials, attend events, sample new products, appear in videos. Just begin the conversation with them and press “record.” We’ll show you how to create effective videos within budget.

Adding Values: EY (Ernst & Young) Connects the Dots

Appointed as the official business advisor for the tournament, professional services firm EY (Ernst & Young LLP) targeted a B2B opportunity outside the consumer sphere.

Image via www.ey.com

Homing in on good sportsmanship values like leadership, motivation, performance and teamwork, EY connects the dots to resonate with their client base. Via exclusive seminars and publishing interviews with highly regarded rugby personalities, EY stays relevant while shining a light on their brand’s appointment.

Comments from proven winners in the world of rugby come from Katy Mclean, England women’s captain; Sir Graham Henry, former coach of New Zealand’s All Blacks; and Sir Ian McGeechan, former Scotland and British Lions player and coach, on topics such as “Lessons in Leadership: Rugby to the Boardroom.” It’s a perfect fit for B2B.

Image via www.ey.com

Tom Kingsley, sport and sponsorship director at EY, illustrates the tie-in, “On a daily basis we are asked by our clients about how to compete on a global stage…

Rugby World Cup affords us the opportunity to explore some of those issues because it is the coming together of 20 elite rugby teams all with one aim — to win on the global stage.”

Actionable Branding Tip 3

We’re a B2B brand, but small: Smaller business can mirror EY’s content marketing strategy by creating white papers, blog posts, newsletters, webinars, videos and other B2B marketing initiatives that deliver meaningful information and added value to clients and prospects. When there’s a trending event, connect to it through content. We’ll show you how hashtags are your workhorse and a strongly developed brand content strategy can help you punch well above your weight.

Think Locally: Land Rover Drives the Message Home

Fact: every sports hero and Olympian began as an amateur. Land Rover plucked “from the grassroots to the greatest stage” as the theme for their local-to-global storytelling campaign using the hashtag #WeDealInReal. The brand recruited 96 enthusiastic mascots aged 7-13 from 11 amateur rugby clubs around the world, representing each competing country to run out with their nation’s team.

Image via www.landrover.com

People are drawn to inspirational stories. Among the videos created to support the campaign, the biggest hit is titled, “Land Rover Rugby Ambassadors visit the World’s Smallest Rugby Club.”

“It speaks to the heart of the game and I think it also speaks strongly to the brand about being authentic and genuine,” Laura Schwab, UK marketing director at parent company Jaguar Land Rover, told Marketing Week.

Actionable Branding Tip 4

Great idea, but we’re not a global brand. Small brands are perfectly positioned to drive Land Rover’s concept forward. As a mascot for the Welsh Rugby Union, pint-sized 8-year-old Finlay Walker at Llanharan RFC and a Hampshire local rugby club were not too tiny to garner attention from Jaguar Land Rover. Every brand can — and must — tell their own authentic brand stories one person at a time. We can help you identify and create the best story opportunities using our Story Selling System™.

Using How To: Canon Says You Can

Idea #1: Spot yourself in the stands? Official sponsor of the tournament, Canon is producing a series of 360-degree images capturing the entire stadium during major matches. In a clever interactive twist, fans are encouraged to tag themselves in the crowd via social media.

Image via www.rugbyworldcup.com

Idea #2: Exclusivity rocks. Canon offers amateur photographers who post the best rugby shots to shadow a Getty Images photographer at a RWC 2015 training session. The shots get featured on the official RWC website photo gallery. Who knows what special moments might be captured?

Image via www.rugbyworldcup.com

Idea #3: How-to tips. Self-proclaimed “massive fan” Bear Grylls, intrepid adventurer, is joined by professional rugby photographer Dave Rogers to demonstrate angles, shutter speeds and more tips for capturing great shots like Rogers’ famous Jonny Wilkinson drop kick in Sydney from 2003.

Cyprian da Costa, brand communications director for Canon Europe, said that images play “a vital role in capturing the unmatched excitement and emotion of global sports.”

Image via www.rugbyworldcup.com

Actionable Branding Tip 5

How can Canon ideas help my brand? By turning your brand marketing approach on its head. Years ago, a big brand idea around a huge event would have focused on “Canon can…” rather than “You can…” Take a second look at all your brand’s content and brand collateral, adverts, tag lines and social media to re-position everything with an emphasis on your brand seen through the eyes of your audience, not your executive boardroom. We’re here to help.

We’d love to know what you think about how to scale these five big brand approaches to fit a smaller brand size.

• Have you successfully humanized your brand? Do you need to re-evaluate this as part of your rebranding strategy?

• Are you using event tie-ins in your brand content marketing strategy?

• Would you like to know more about hacking trends?

• Have you shot and posted a library of how-to videos?

• Are you telling compelling stories about your brand? This is where you might want to consider brand profiling using a system like our Personality Profile Performer™ combined with our Story Selling System™ to help you develop a really compelling and distinctively different brand.

• Is CSR part of your brand strategy? Does your brand support a school, community program or charity drive?

• Rebranding Strategy: Why Your Rebrand Must Embrace Storytelling

• Brand Personality: Is Your Brand’s Character Big Enough to Compete?

• Brand Sponsorships: The Best Brand Ambassadors Are Already On Your Payroll

• Brand Voice: Differentiating Through Your Own Brand Language and Attitude

• Video Brand Strategy: Top 11 Tips for How and Why You Need to Use Video

• Humanizing Your Brand : Why It is Key to Commercial Success

• Brand Profiling: Top 6 Components to Creating a Strong Brand Personality

• CEO Brand Leadership: How Does Your Leadership Impact Your Brand?

Millennial Branding: 6 Ways Your Brand Can Appeal to Millennial Customers

September 22, 2015/0 Comments/in Brand Strategy, Branding, Business, Millennial Branding, Social Media, Trends /by Lorraine Carter

Millennials, the newest generation of influential consumers (also known as Generation Y or Gen Y), spend more than $600 billion dollars annually with spending power expected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2020, (or 30% of US sales) according to Accenture 2013 research.

While these statistics might sound like ‘gold bullion’ for many brands, in our experience often smaller companies and organisations struggle to develop their brand strategy in a way that relates relevantly to this fast changing group of buyers.

Millennial consumers are a very fluid constantly moving target with multiple devices overflowing with content clamouring for their attention 24/7. However don’t be too daunted, once you really understand this discerning customer properly and tailor your brand to really meet their needs, you can, like many others tap into this incredibly lucrative market.

Defining the Millennial Customer

A Millennial is generally defined as someone who was born between the years of 1980 and 2000, according to multiple online sources, including an article, “Oh, to Be Young, Millennial, and So Wanted by Marketers,” by Hilary Stout for The New York Times.

Millennials, on average, have around seven electronic devices that have the ability to access social networking, the internet and even television. While there are exceptions to this statistic, as there are in any demographic, 55 percent of these Millennials are using their devices to connect to videos several times a day, where a large majority of brand engagement takes place. Six out of ten Millennials feel losing their car would have a less negative impact on their lives than losing their phone or computer.

Due to the fact that almost half (45 percent) of Millennials admit that brands are a key part to their lives, recognized brand names are very important to this specific consumer when deciding to purchase something. They are a multi-device connected group and consequently research their brands thoroughly on multiple fronts before deciding to make a purchase. Their decision-making processes are influenced by some very sophisticated criteria coupled with social proof from the opinions of their peers online.

Goldman Sachs clearly explains what a Millennial consumer is and how this demographic can potentially change the economy, in a video published on YouTube in May of 2015: “Macroeconomic Insights—Millennials: Changing Consumer Behaviour.”

6 Key Brand Attributes Important to the Millennial Customer

1. High Quality Products and Services

The number one, most important characteristic that a Millennial looks for in a product is quality. If a product or service does not seem worth the time or the money to the Millennial, they’re unlikely to invest in it. This consumer will buy high quality premium brands but only once they’ve thoroughly validated its credentials.

2. The Power of Recommendation

Word-of-mouth is still one of the most powerful marketing tools on or offline. If a Millennial is happy with a product or service they’ve used, and the brand has consistently delivered a great customer experience, they’ll share this positively on a global scale. Fifty three percent interact with brands online they care about and tell others.

Conversely if a brand has let them down or failed to meet its brand promise they’ll also articulate their discontent verbosely. Thanks to social platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Millennials are constantly sharing their latest purchase with hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of followers. This is especially the case if a Millennial owns something that is trending. These posts do not go to waste, either.

Dan Schawbel in his Forbes article states: “33 percent of millennials rely mostly on blogs before they make a purchase… [they] look to social media for an authentic look at what’s going on… especially content written by their peers whom they trust.”

3. Personalization, Partnerships and Co-Creators

Millennial consumers are vocal and speak their minds freely about products or services online. If brand owners monitor and track this online traffic it can provide them with invaluable insights and data enabling them to quickly address any issues and use the information garnered to inform new product development solutions specifically tailored to meet the needs of this very influential group.

Individuality matters to Millennials and they like to express themselves through personal style clothing. In fact 40% have gone beyond clothing to express their individuality with tattoos.

Brands offering customization and bespoke individualization are ahead of the game already. This will become an increasingly important trend for this audience, as evidenced by the success of Chipotle.

Millennials want to be treated like partners, not just purchasers, that’s why brands like Pinterest and Etsy have been so successful. 60% believe organizations should offer more ways for customers to share opinions and 40% want to co-create with brands. This provides brands, products of services, with incredible opportunities to engage this willing group and tap into them for their creativity.

4. Social Responsibility

Even with high quality products, great customer experience, good ratings and convenience, brands still need to offer more to their Millennial buyer. For this particular type of consumer, it is very important that they feel like they are making a difference and they will actively purchase brands which are seen to be ‘giving back to the community’ for the greater good in some way.

Six out of ten millennials feel personally responsible for making a difference, and because of this, an incredible 90 percent of these consumers actively purchase brands associated with a cause. More than half of the Millennial consumers will abandon a brand if they disagree with the company’s ethics.

By having the full-history of any brand available at their fingertips, Millennials collectively care about how even the smallest of their purchases can affect those across the globe. They are frustrated with statutory entities and Government and want to solve social problems through entrepreneurial solutions.

5. Life is an Adventure

Many Millennials feel that it is important to experience new things on a regular basis, as 70 percent want to travel to all seven continents, 75 percent enjoy food from cultures that are not their own and Millennials are two and a half times more likely to adapt to new technologies than older generations.

Often, this wanderlust spirit inspires Millennials to look for excitement in their everyday lives, which is why 60 percent of this generation considers themselves entrepreneurs and optimistic, creative thinkers.

This attitude is what pushes Millennials to have the desire to be not only a patron, but also a part of the brand that they are supporting. Affinity groups form within the Millennial culture, as it is a large, broad generation. Those with similar interests, tastes, achievements and circumstances often come together in order to work towards a common goal, which is what the Millennial consumer likes to see in their brand, as well.

6. Making an Important Statement

In this reenergized push for equality, inclusivity and diversity, Millennials appreciate a brand that is not afraid to make a statement against discrimination. Millennials will actively support brands that authentically make equality, inclusivity and diversity part of their brand culture.

This video, “Millennials On: What Cause Would You Dedicate Your Life To?” produced by 20 to 30 demonstrates the wide spectrum of causes that the millennial generation cares about, which coincides with social responsibility, sharing similar interests and making an important statement.

Brands Who Have Done It Right

There are many examples of brands, small and large, that have successfully made all these key Millennial attributes core to their brand culture. Starbucks is a great case in point. In this video, “Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on Social Responsbility,” genConnect lets Schultz explain how Starbucks remains socially responsible through success.

Apple is brand that has earned the loyalty of their Millennial consumers not only for their great product quality but also for their support of (PRODUCT)RED, which supports the fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and their corporate sociality responsibility programmes relating to the environment, education, accessibility and inclusion and diversity.

Other large corporations famous for their corporate social responsibility and high quality products include: TOMS, Coca Cola and Ford, all of which we’ve mentioned in previous articles.

A brand does not need to be a global Goliath either to be an attractive and successful brand targeting Millennials. Take the Lokai brand, for example. They sell one bracelet that contains water from Mt. Everest and soil from the Dead Sea to represent the extreme highs and lows in life, to remind the wearer to live a balanced life.

Millennials love the brand story, sentiment and authenticity of the bracelet as evidenced by the almost one million followers it has on Instagram alone. The brand’s website also demonstrates its CSR credentials too in that they donate ten percent of net profits to their charity partners, thus encouraging Millennial consumers to purchase their brand on multiple levels.

Image via www.mylokai.com

Millennials Advocate for Their Favourite Brands

When a Millennial consumer loves a brand, their loyalty is clearly evident. They are great brand champions actively engaged on their multiple social platforms.

If you get a Millennial customer onside, consistently meet and exceed their needs, deliver on your promise with a great brand experience they will become some of your best sales ambassadors.

A good example of this is when both the Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One were released at the same time. Millennial consumers who are also “gamers” had already decided, long before the release of the consoles, which one they would be purchasing because they were loyal to either Sony or Microsoft’s brand.

Debates broke out across the internet over the PS4 versus the Xbox One because the consumers were so loyal to their respective brands. The day the consoles were released, each company sold an outstanding number of units, thus causing Millennial gamers to flood social media with photos and posts about their latest purchase, proud to be a part of a group of people with similar interests.

Brand Loyalty with Millennials

I think once you’ve reflected on some of these key brand attributes mentioned you’ll agree Millennial consumers have such a formidable, and largely growing buying power, that it’s critical to integrate all the elements mentioned, amongst others, if your brand wants to harness the dollars/euros/pounds of this lucrative audience. Take the time to really research and understand your Millennial customers both in terms of their needs, challenges, loves, hates and aspirations.

3 Actionable Tips for Your Millennial Brand Strategy

Consider using some of these tips to integrate into your Millennial brand strategy:

1. Develop really strong buyer personas for each of your different Millennial customer types and their relevant affinity groups. You need to know your audience intimately if you want to tailor your brand for success.The outputs from this work will then provide the much-needed direction for developing your brand profile, using a system like the Personality Profile Performer™. Collectively the outputs from both of these will then provide the direction for the development of your brand strategy, brand collateral design briefs, integrated marketing strategy and so forth.

2. Tailor regular communications with your Millennial customers using the platforms most preferred by them for your brand. For example they like regular email provided it includes really high quality, useful information, which is individualized to their specific needs. Remember even if they don’t immediately buy from you their opinion counts amongst their peers, family and friends.

3. Develop opportunities for collaborative input from your Millennial customers. They want to be involved and a brand strategy developed to include their co-creator spirit provides brands with incredible opportunities to develop unique solutions, be they products or services, which their audience really wants. You might never find out or come up with these NPD ideas unless you include their early input. Make sure you test your prototypes, product or service, with Millennials too.

• Rebranding Strategy: Why Your Rebrand Must Embrace Storytelling

• Millennial Branding: Creating Brands to Appeal to Teens and Young Adults

• Humanizing Your Brand : Why It is Key to Commercial Success

• Brand Profiling: Top 6 Components to Creating a Strong Brand Personality

• Brand Voice: Differentiating Through Your Own Brand Language and Attitude

• Creating New Brands: Top 10 Tips for Brand Success

• Brand Audit: Tips for Determining Your Brand’s Health – Can it be Improved?

• Rebranding: How to Make it Through a Rebrand and Emerge Stronger

• Brand Audit: When the USA Took the Branding Bull by the Horns

• Brand Naming: Top Ten Methods for Brand Name Creation

• Brand Differentiation: 30 Ways to Differentiate Your Brand

• CEO Brand Leadership: How Does Your Leadership Impact Your Brand?

So what do you think?

• Does your brand personality and profile appeal to what is most important to the Millennial consumer?

• What aspects of your brand strategy can you improve on to attract more loyal Millennial customers?

• Having read these facts about Millennials, does your brand need a complete revitalization or rebranding strategy to ensure its long term success?

• Can you re-evaluate your brand using a brand audit and consider how best to contribute to the causes that are most important to the Millennial customers?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, we’d love to hear from you.

Video Brand Strategy: Top 11 Tips for How and Why You Need to Use Video

September 16, 2015/0 Comments/in Brand Champions, Brand Strategy, Branding, Business, Video, YouTube /by Lorraine Carter

The Romans said, “Veni, vidi, vici,” meaning “to come”, “to see”, and “to conquer”. Two millenia later we say, “Video, video, video” in conquering digital marketing frontiers. Your brand’s one, three and five year brand strategy plans should reflect the fact that video content is an increasingly a powerful, indeed essential tool for both small and larger businesses.

Image via Google / YouTube

Orabrush is a great example of how a small start up brand can capitalize on video to achieve outstanding results. They’ve built a small brand from humble beginnings to worldwide distribution using YouTube videos exclusively. In fact they’ve had more online viewers then P&G Crest and every other brand in the oral healthcare sector combined!

If that’s peaked your curiosity then you might want to checkout some more of our key insider tips and brand strategies below for promoting and growing your brand using video.

1. Video is Increasingly Essential for Search Rankings

Remember, Google owns YouTube, so YouTube videos rank high in Google search results and help your brand’s authority for better positioning in internet searches. Smaller brands and newer websites can rank higher on YouTube than on Google, which is no small thing, since YouTube is the world’s second biggest search engine, above Bing and Yahoo.

At the same time, YouTube is the world’s third largest social network, behind Facebook and Twitter. Bottom line, YouTube is an awesome boost for your brand’s profile on the web and an essential part of your brand strategy.[1]

The icing on the cake? Seven in 10 people said they view brands in a more positive light after seeing interesting video content.[2]

2. Long Live Video!

Among the knock-your-socks-off statistics in circulation, research from Salesforce[3] indicates that:

The average consumer spends 88% more time on content with video

People are five times more likely to click on content that contains video

Video is shared 1200% more times than links and text combined

A landing page with video gets 800% more conversion than the same page without video

Video will be 74% of all consumer internet traffic by 2017, up from 59% in 2012

The average lifespan of a video is four years

More than 50% of smartphone video viewers use video to help them make product decisions[4]

Image via www.salesforce.com

3. Social Media Platforms Support Video

Done right, video can be accessible, fun, fast, distinctive, different, memorable… and affordable… as a way to reach new and existing customers. In short, the research indicates that video drives engagement, and we already know that engagement drives sales.

A proliferation of startup platforms dedicated to video have sprung up: Snapchat, Vimeo, Vine, Meerkat and Periscope. Older platforms once devoted to photos have now enhanced with video capability; Instagram and Pinterest make it easy to post and share, allowing smartphone users to record video, upload it or stream it live. Other established platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have introduced video content to their publishing capabilities.

The video leader is indisputedly YouTube. As of 2014, 900-plus YouTube channels had at least a million subscribers each. While the video sharing giant has already turned 10, there’s no question it will be a sensation in its second decade.

4. Yes, Video is ‘Affordable’

The key ingredient of great video content is authenticity, not expensive production techniques. When business owners and their enthusiastic customers speak directly to audiences, the personal authentic connection a brand makes outranks flashy filming, casting and costly voiceovers.[5]

5. Best Practices for Small Budgets

We collected 5 top video tips from a few experts:

Timing is critical and 60-120 seconds is ideal. – Filmmaker Peter Bragiel, In Transit, Los Angeles

Create a bank of photos and videos — they don’t evaporate as quickly as some content does. – Andrew Smith, Chief Funster for Tourism Australia

Don’t be intimidated by the process; you don’t have to be an expert. – Susan Wilson Solovic, best-selling author of “It’s Your Biz”.

For inspiration, look at your top 10 Google searches and answer those questions with your video. – Shaun Aukland, Google, San Francisco

Too much to cover? Break it up into several bitesize videos. – “It’s So Miami” by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau

6. “How To” Videos are the Most Popular

Perhaps you recall the old jokes about pitches and promises made by used car salesmen. Now, the rules of the game have changed and hard selling is a car crash waiting to happen. Today’s best practice in content marketing is to bring your brand to life, be authentic, tell a story and share inside tips. Avoid a sales pitch. Explain how to do something.

Searches for ‘How to’ videos went up 70 percent in the first quarter of 2015, according to Google.[6] They’re the best way to share useful information with viewers, which they will be more likely to share with others. Imagine if the used car salesman were to create a video explaining the best way to wash a car or to maintain interior leather seating…that’s the kind of video that will attract views, interest followers, build your reputation and increase customers.

Case Study: How To Tie a Bowtie

When Columbia, South Carolina wanted to promote to holidaymakers, they targeted the destination wedding market. Instead of featuring brides and grooms in wedding venues, the visitors bureau created a how-to video on bow tie instructions that has attracted more than 3.1 million views on YouTube. As the number one instructional video on the subject, they have produced an evergreen video with an astronomical return on investment, and never ending shelf life.

7. Aim for Shareable Videos

You want people to share your video for the widest possible reach, so knowing what to put in and leave out is important.

What are the top three factors that make a video shareable?

Creative directors say:

1) The Unexpected – Show the audience something they didn’t fully plan to see. ‘Surprise and delight’ isn’t new, but it is golden.

2) The Cool Factor – What does sharing this video say about the person who shares it? Does it make them feel like an insider, does it make them come off as a boring professor or does it show them off as the life of the party?

3) The Emotional Quotient – Pulling at the heart strings works, but funny is far more shareable.

Image via Google / YouTube, Think with Google

Case Study: Volkswagen Passat Old Wives’ Tales

When Vokswagen wanted to overcome objections to diesel vehicles, they came up with this brilliant campaign of six falsehoods shot down by three octagenarians. Here’s one:

8. Bring Testimonials to Life

Those written testimonials on your website are great. Turn them into a video by inviting customers to upload videos of themselves using your product or services. Alternatively, interview people at your place of business. There are lots of directions you can take this idea for brand evangelists-in-the-making, which has the built-in benefit of shareability by all those you feature.

9. Take Viewers Behind the Scenes

Film ‘A Day in the Life’ or introduce staff members or take a sneak peek into your warehouse. If you serve coffee, have the barista demonstrate making a cup. If you operate a nursery, make a video about propagation or seasonal window boxes. If you sell furniture, explain how to spot quality construction. Add the personal touch and help potential customers decide they’d love to do business with people like yourselves.

Case Study: It’s So Miami – South Beach

When the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau wanted to show off their city, they decided on locals for a look around. You won’t find a hotel lobby featured in this series covering real people in real neighborhoods. Take a moment to watch and listen to Morgan to experience what a day in the life of a South Beach local feels like. A caution to viewing audiences: it will make you jealous.

10. Position Yourself as an Expert

Use video to provide commentary on news or information about your industry to build your reputation as a thought leader in the space. Are you an estate agency? Talk about tips for selling a home. Are you a grocer or a restaurant? Demonstrate some great-tasting, nutritional recipes. Are you a fashion boutique? Illustrate the hottest trends for next season or how to update looks in your current wardrobe.

Image via Google / YouTube

11. Incorporate Music

Audio is 50 percent of your presentation, so use music to convey the mood you want your audience to feel so you sound as good as you look. We’ll help you with obtaining royalty-free music clips ready for use by small businesses. There’s no need to spend a bundle.

Case Study: Volvo Trucks Epic Split Feat by Jean-Claude Van Damme

As much as we admire this video, and with the deepest respect for both the feat and the 80 million views since 2013, this is precisely what your small to medium-sized company does NOT have to achieve. Watch it and marvel.

“Within five years, YouTube will be the biggest media platform of any, by far, in the entire world.” – Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation at VidCon in December 2014.[7]

We’re here to help you with your video branding strategy and content creation.

• Is video a part of your short-term and long-term content brand strategy?

• Have you already created a YouTube channel for your brand?

• If so, does it need additional content and better attention for search engine optimization?

• Does your website have a video on the landing page, or one that needs a refresh?

• Would your staff love to get involved in a brand video and become one of your brand champions?

• Would you like us to show you how to create affordable video?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, we’d love to hear from you.

[1] Juan Jose Mendez, “How to Make Your Video Rank Number One on YouTube (Case Study)” on JeffBullas.com

[2] Axonn Media (London), “Video in Content Marketing”,

[3] Salesforce, “7 Ways to Incorporate Video Into Your Marketing Campaign”, June 2015

[4] Google/IPSOS MediaCT, “Brand Building on Mobile” study February, 2015

[5] Chris Trimble, Axonn Media, The Guardian, July 30, 2015

[6] “I Want-To-Do Moments: From Home to Beauty”, Think With Google, May 2015

[7] The New Yorker, “Hollywood and Vine”, Dec. 15, 2014

Brand Sponsorships: The Best Brand Ambassadors Are Already On Your Payroll

September 8, 2015/0 Comments/in Brand Ambassador, Brand Champions, Brand Partnerships, Brand Sponsorship, Brand Strategy, Business, Customer Engagement, Online Marketing, Social Engagement /by Lorraine Carter

What is a Brand Ambassador?

Not everybody can be called the greatest tennis player of all time. However, with 17 Grand Slam trophies in a professional career beginning in the last century, Roger Federer has the most impressive endorsement portfolio in sports.

Image via www.moet.com ©Moet

His grace under pressure and winning smile positions him well for a brand ambassador role adding exponentially to his USD 93 million in prize money for hitting the ball. Luxury names like Moët & Chandon, Nike, Rolex, Wilson, Credit Suisse and others align their brands to Roger Federer’s brand for a win-win providing USD 40 million annually to the tennis star.

Brand Champions in the Workplace

The beauty of this strategy is its scaleability for small and medium-sized businesses. You don’t need a big budget to gain endorsements. As evidence, look around in any downtown — people are wearing T-shirts, caps and carrying totes emblazoned with corporate brands and college names.

Image via ©Stanford University Catalogue

The best and proudest brand ambassadors don’t cost millions; they’re on your staff. Frankly, no one is more invested in seeing the company successful and the brand well-liked than the people who work in its name.

Managing Brand Risk

The flip side, of course, is managing risk. Businesses of all sizes know that the impact of social media on a brand’s reputation is an everyday reality. As employees are sharing more and more online, the divide between our personal and working lives becomes ever more narrow. That’s all the more reason to nurture and protect your brand from the inside out.

You can probably name a handful of ways that you already strive to ensure that your employees are fully engaged as champions of your brand. It’s not too difficult to think of new ways all the time…in fact, your employees can probably make great suggestions, too.

Sharing is the Key – 5 Tops Tips to Developing Your Brand Ambassadors

Here are five no-cost and low-cost ideas borrowed from big brands for developing your employees as brand ambassadors. We think they go a long way for small- and medium-sized businesses. Training and sharing is integral to every brand strategy for developing and supporting your employees as the stellar brand ambassadors they should be — and would like to be.

1. Sharing Your Brand Story

Follow the example of Nokia in ensuring that new employees are onboarded with a welcome to the company that presents its proud history. Every brand has an inside story, even if it’s a newly founded enterprise and staff want to know about that history, rather than find it out at a trivia quiz night.

Nokia employees can answers questions like these:

Q: What is the first thing that Nokia manufactured? A: Rubber boots.

Q: When did Nokia sell their billionth mobile phone? A: In 2005 in Kenya.

Image via www.twitter.com

We realize that no customer will ask a Nokia employee for these random historical facts. Yet, they’re representative of the mindset at Nokia. Management educates employees about customer service policies, provides notifications about product rollouts and then shares the logon to Nokia’s customer-facing Twitter accounts as part of the company brand culture.

2. Management Shares Internal Communications

Engaged employees build strong brands. An employer who does a good job of keeping employees informed is one which deepens employee activism in a positive way, say 81 percent of employees surveyed by a leading global public relations agency, Weber Shandwick.[1]

Image via www.webershandwick.com

Employee brand activists defend their employers against criticism, they visibly engage, they lean in both online and off. This is nothing new; it’s human nature. In a 2006 whitepaper produced for the Society for Human Resource Management, Robert J. Vance, Ph.D., states, “The greater an employee’s engagement, the more likely he or she is to ‘go the extra mile’ and deliver excellent on-the-job performance.”[2]

3. Employees Share External Communications

Ivory towers are so yesterday. The Weber Shandwick survey indicates that 21 percent of employees in companies of 500+ employees are brand activists. We can imagine how much higher that percentage may be in smaller companies. And importantly, customers like it that way.

As Eric Nystrom, director of social media and community at Dell points out, “customers are really interested in connecting with empowered employees who are the subject matter experts, not brand spokespeople or brand marketeers.”

Image via © www.dell.com

Even big brands with thousands of employees like Dell and Adobe are providing employees with a voluntary certification program to recognize them as qualified to engage in social media and community activites on behalf of the brand. The Dell Social Media and Community University creates brand ambassadors out of staff through value-added training courses leading to enhanced confidence and a consistent voice for the brand. What happened at Dell?[3]

• More than 16,500 Dell employees enrolled in 28 unique courses

• Since 2010, 8,800 employees in 55 countries have become certified

• Online negative comments about the brand dropped 30 percent

• Every day, 25,000 conversations about Dell take place

4. Sharing Between Personal and Corporate

Buy into the principle of personal plus corporate, not personal versus corporate. Your employees may wear a uniform like those working at the Apple Genius Bar and at Ritz-Carlton Hotels — but the individual must not be stripped of their own personality. “Think consistency, not conformity,” suggests a Forbes contributor to the leadership series.[4]

When it comes to making exceptions for outstanding employees, make them. And share that decision.

When Rocky Mountaineer head office found out that 19-year veteran train manager Janice Bondi was about to depart on a cross-Canada rail journey which meant missing a Mother’s Day tea at school with her 4-year-old, this is what they did about it.

5. Share the Two-Way Street

It’s great when you have incorporated these tips into your company brand culture. Remember, it’a a two-way street. What do your employees think? You’ll want to gather their suggestions — keeping in mind that a company-wide meeting in a formal setting isn’t necessarily the best way to do that. Consider a suggestion box, develop other channels, create an open door policy, recognize employees of the month, have a company day out and look into other ways that positively reinforce. There are lots of ways to develop and reward your brand ambassadors, beginning with asking what will resonate for them.

Image via ©Lindsay Bremner, flickr CC 2.0

• Humanizing Your Brand : Why It is Key to Commercial Success

• Brand Management: Top 10 Tips for Managing Your Brand Reputation

• CEO Brand Leadership: How Does Your Leadership Impact Your Brand?

• Rebranding Strategy: Why Your Rebrand Must Embrace Storytelling

• Brand Profiling: Top 6 Components to Creating a Strong Brand Personality

• Brand Voice: Differentiating Through Your Own Brand Language and Attitude

• Brand Differentiation: 30 Ways to Differentiate Your Brand

• Creating New Brands: Top 10 Tips for Brand Success

• Brand Audit: Tips for Determining Your Brand’s Health – Can it be Improved?

So, what do you think?

• Have you developed a first-day brand welcome and induction programme for your new staff?

• Do you have an employee recognition programme in place as part of your brand strategy? Is is congruent with your brand profile and culture?

• If so, is it one that employees are happy with or does it need brand revitalisation or tweaking?

• Are your employees empowered to use social media on behalf of your brand? Have you given them the requisite training and developed your brand policy and risk management strategy?

• Do you offer employees and family members cool looking branded T-shirts or other appropriate brand collateral they’re proud to use or wear?

• Do you have a suggestion box for employees and is their input actively encouraged?

[1] Employees Rising: Seizing the Opportunity in Employee Activism, Weber Shandwick, 2014.

[2] Employee Engagement and Commitment, Society for Human Resource Management, 2006.

[3] www.slideshare.net/dellsocialmedia/infographic-social-media-and-community-university-at-dell-24818308

[4] Three Steps for Transforming Employees Into Brand Ambassadors, William Arruda, Forbes

Limited Edition Packaging: How to Use it as Part of Your Brand Strategy

September 1, 2015/0 Comments/in Brand Design, Brand Differentiation, Brand Premiumisation, Brand Strategy, Limited Edition Packaging, Packaging, Packaging Design /by Lorraine Carter

Store aisles and eCommerce pages are packed with products sold in limited-edition packages that are intended to drive increased sales. However, industry data publicized by Nielsen indicates that as much as 90 percent of new limited edition packaging designs don’t have the desired effect—and in some cases, may even hurt brand equity.

On the other hand, to a faithful collector of a favourite DVD series or dedicated brand loyalist, limited-edition packaging can be a compelling reason to purchase a new or alternative version of a much desired product as soon as possible. Indeed, it could be argued that the entire concept of limited-edition packaging is meant to urge consumers to open their wallets on the spot. Waiting too long could result in disappointment.

Below, we’ll look at several case studies, along with the associated benefits and downsides. This information could help you decide whether limited-edition packaging is a great brand strategy decision that will lead to outstanding results—or whether it’s likely to incur more costs than benefits.

Limited Edition Packaging that Promotes the Concept of Scarcity: Special Monopoly Sets Offer Real Money

Sometimes indicating that a product is a limited-edition item only available for a short period of time is enough to stimulate sales. Interested buyers can quickly recognize that there’s a relatively small number being made, and that fact makes them want it more.

Those items are frequently prized by collectors, and in other cases, people just desire them for the novelty value. Hasbro, manufacturer of the popular game Monopoly, successfully used this concept of scarcity to market the game via a specially packaged limited edition version.

To celebrate the game’s 80th anniversary, 80 versions of the game that were sold in France came with real money. In most cases, the genuine currency was mixed in with fake bills. However, one of the packages came entirely with spendable real euros. The benefit of this approach is that it appeals to people who might already want to buy the game for nostalgic reasons to reminisce about their childhoods by playing this classic game. Plus, since only 80 game sets of this sort were made, the scarcity factor drives up the perceived brand value.

For many hopeful customers, the act of opening a Monopoly box to see if it came stocked with real spendable money was probably something akin to when Charlie Bucket of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory anxiously ripped open the candy bar wrapper to see if it contained the coveted golden ticket that allowed him and a select group of others admittance into Willy Wonka’s magical candy-making site.

Limited Edition Packaging Designed to Leverage Core Brand Messages: Scotch Magic Tape

Scotch’s Magic Tape is very popular because of the way it seems to disappear onto paper after applied. The brand has even developed a dispenser so people can only use one hand to put the tape in place.

A few years ago, German company Kolle-Rebbe designed packaging that contained mirrored panels inside to create the illusion that the Magic Tape package was empty, even though it was holding five rolls of the adhesive. The special tape package even won a CLIO Award, which is the equivalent of an Academy Award in the film industry, but instead honours design, advertising, and communication professionals.

The box design promotes the brand’s “invisibility” benefit, and is an unconventional idea that makes people take notice when surveying available adhesive choices. That’s true even if they are not already familiar with what makes the tape stand out from competitors. The branding message indicates that Magic Tape makes paper tears “disappear”, because it patches them up so clearly. Plus, as already mentioned, the tape’s material is made to blend into the paper after it’s applied.

Image via www.packworld.com and ©3M

Furthermore, it was said that the decision to include green as the primary colour in the box’s design was a nod to a commitment to environmental sustainability. While that may be the case, it can also be strongly argued that the vivid green shade is already well-known to consumers.

There are many varieties of Scotch products, but the Magic Tape always has a green packaging design. Choosing to use any other colour when designing the “invisible” box could possibly have caused unnecessary confusion, and perhaps meant shoppers would have mistakenly overlooked the product when visually scanning store shelves.

This is a great example of how a limited-edition package can reinforce the brand message in a way which is both aesethetically ‘on brand’ and functional in its delivery, and we’ve had similarly favourable results when helping our clients combine aesthetics with functional benefits and practicality.

Limited Edition Packaging that Relies on Star Power: Michael Jackson Pepsi Cans and “Bad” Album 25th Anniversary Campaign

People around the world were devastated when Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop,” passed away. Pepsi had been a long-time partner of Michael Jackson, and that loyalty continued after the pop star’s death.

In 2012, the beverage brand launched its first global campaign to honour the artist, releasing limited edition Pepsi cans in over 20 countries. The packaging retained the brand’s usual blue background, but featured Jackson in a range of typically dramatic poses that were highly recognizable, consequently drawing instant attention from consumers.

Image via www.marketingmagazine.co.uk ©Pepsi

To further stimulate demand, Pepsi also tapped top music stars of today to pay tribute to the artist in relation to the 25th anniversary of the Bad album. That piece of work was the seventh studio release from Jackson, and is repeatedly cited as a major influence on today’s artists. The performances were heavily viewed online and served to reinforce the concept that Jackson is one of the few artists who can boast timeless appeal across generations.

This campaign had value to music collectors, and also helped stimulate the desire in diehard fans to buy products relating to the deceased artist. Because Pepsi had to strike a deal with the managers of the late artist’s estate, the campaign undoubtedly required a significant amount of logistics. However, the challenges paid off, especially in terms of brand visibility.

Limited Edition Packaging That Supports a Charity: Bottle Green’s Stylish Drink Bottles to Fight Breast Cancer

Bottle Green sells unusual flavours of sparkling water and thereby caters to a niche market. In 2011, it developed a set of limited edition bottles that were available in the UK. The containers supported a charity called Fashion Targets Breast Cancer and featured images of stylish women. The bottles had strong onshelf impact, and were atypical to the category, which undoubtably drew the attention of their primary target audience.

Image via www.packagingoftheworld.com ©Bottle Green

More importantly, that effort was part of the brand’s dedication to corporate social responsibility, and reflected a continual effort to support causes that fight breast cancer. Research indicates that when customers are presented with two similar brands in the same category, the one that supports a clear CSR activity, charity or ‘gives back’ in some way for the great good, will typically be the preferred purchase and have higher sales than the one that doesn’t. Similarly the Bottle Green CSR campaign likely helped to strengthen awareness of the brand’s charitable heart. When working with our own clients, we tend to strongly agree that a target audience feels more compelled to buy something if it aligns with a charitable cause.

Interestingly enough, unlike some brands that are sold in connection with fighting breast cancer, the range doesn’t feature a dominant pink hue. However, the arresting design of the women’s faces is very powerful. Presumably, it was more than enough to encourage customers to pick up the containers and read them more closely to get the story behind the aesthetics.

Limited Edition Packaging That Leverages Premiumisation

Luxury brands often use limited-edition packaging as part of their premiumisation strategy for adding perceived value. Oscar de la Renta is one strong example of a brand that has done this successfully—but in this case, so-called “brand evangelism” is just as important, or even more so, than actual sales numbers.

In 2011, Oscar de la Renta launched the first-ever sales initiative that was completely contained within Facebook. The brand offered a solid perfume variety of its scent Esprit d’Oscar, which was packaged inside a wearable ring and sold with a price tag of $65. After a consumer bought a ring, he or she was encouraged to share that news via Facebook. Therefore, in the space of a few seconds, awareness of the product could theoretically spread to thousands of people or more, plus make a person feel special about being among those select few who were able to snag a ring before it was too late.

Image via http://wwd.com, © www.oscardelarenta.com

On the day of its release, one extremely eager evangelist found she was not able to access Facebook while at work, and was so concerned that she contacted the brand to inquire about the likelihood that the rings would be sold out before she could get one. Ultimately, a brand representative agreed to put one aside for her.

Image via http://wwd.com, © www.oscardelarenta.com

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this case study is that people were not able to access the purchase page for the limited-edition product without first liking the brand’s Facebook page. Before offering the limited-edition ring, the brand tested that strategy by offering free samples of the perfume to people who liked the Facebook page. In just one week, the number of likes grew by 40 percent. Furthermore, 5,000 people agreed to fill out feedback surveys.

The limited-edition ring created a win-win situation: customers got the chance to order something that had built-in exclusivity, and the brand’s marketers built their databases of interested consumers.

**Limited Edition Packaging Compromises Product: Halo 3 Video Game**

Early versions of limited-editions of the Halo 3 had faulty hubs in the packaging that did not consistently hold the discs securely in place. This meant many people opening the packaging with the intention of starting to play the game, found that the discs had become loose during shipping and consequently were scratched, resulting in the brand owner Microsoft having to offer replacements to its customers.

Image via http://www.dailytech.com ©Halo3

Despite this initial issue, Halo 3 ended up being the top-selling title of its time. It sold a total of $170 million on release day, and more than 1.7 fans decided to splurge on the $70 limited-edition version.

This is a good example of how limited-edition packaging must be properly tested to ensure they are fully functional as well as aesthetically eye-catching. The brand’s reputation didn’t really suffer as a result of the packaging problem, and neither did early sales. However, it’s important to remember that many brands don’t have the built-in advantage of such a large and dedicated fan base.

Those players were so eager to become immersed in the latest Halo release that the faulty packaging might have momentarily frustrated them, but it almost certainly wasn’t enough to cause the consumers to think twice about buying another Halo game or recommending them to friends. In this case study, the other inherent benefits of the game outweigh the issues with the packaging.

**Packaging That’s too Bulky, Which Makes Storage or Merchandising Difficult: The Simpsons Box Sets**

Boxed TV series sets are perpetually popular gifts, and great ways for TV fanatics to indulge themselves by being able to watch favourite episodes at any time. It’s not unusual for boxed sets to have holographic portions, fold-out sections, and other embellishments that aim to add aesthetic brand value. However, in the case of boxed sets for FOX’s animated hit, The Simpsons, the quest to dazzle perhaps went a bit too far.

Image via http://www.tvshowsondvd.com

The DVDs were packaged in boxes with three-dimensional facial features from popular characters. However, this limited edition packaging feature made the DVDs very hard to store because the more bulky packaging required extra shelf space when stored alongside other DVDs. Eventually, the manufacturer announced it would also be possible to buy a version where the three-dimensional parts could be removed, making the front of the box flat for easier storage.

The Simpsons brand has a very strong established fan base so it’s very unlikely that viewers would elect not to buy the DVD sets just because they had a bulky design. However, by making the decision to also offer a version where the three dimensional facial features could be removed, the manufacturers had to incur extra overheads, which potentially cut into increased profits.

We frequently caution our own clients that it’s crucial to perform a brand audit or extensive research around the feasibility of a limited-edition packaging strategy from multiple perspectives before proceeding to brand design or production. A lack of research, proper prototype testing or unchallenged assumptions can incurr unexpected costs which eat into a campaigns profitability, or worse, cause it to run at a loss, so please do your homework before your invest in your limited edition packaging!

**Limited Editions Packaging Delayed Shipment of Product: Batman: Arkham Knight Game**

A special YouTube channel was created to stimulate demand for the Batman: Arkham Knight serial superhero game. However early adopters didn’t get entirely what they expected when they enthusiastically purchased the game online following a teaser campaign with video clips from scenes of the game.

Gamers who pre-ordered the limited edition of the Batman: Arkham Knight game from Amazon UK received an e-mail saying there was an unspecified problem with the packaging, which meant those shoppers would get their physical goods nearly three weeks later than expected.

Because many people specifically pre-order limited-edition goods to get them on or before the official release date, this announcement undoubtedly caused some disappointment. To compensate, Amazon UK said it would provide download codes so people could play the games on the release date, even without having their physical goods.

Unlike the above instances of packaging issues, this example probably caused more logistical headaches than financial ones. The availability of download codes meant that even though buyers couldn’t immediately enjoy the tangible goods they were promised when pre-ordering the limited edition, they could at least play the game on time—which was probably a sufficient compromise for many customers.

What’s unique about this case study compared to the others we have examined is that the limited-edition packaging not only caused hassles for the manufacturer, but also for a retailer.

What We Can Learn From These Case Studies

As the above examples demonstrate, there are many advantages to using special edition packaging as part of your brand strategy. Specifically, it usually works best when:

The limited-edition package is produced in extremely small quantities. This helps give items exclusivity and inceases desirability as consumers make dedicated efforts to buy them.

The packaging leverages and enhances the product’s branding, but still has design elements that are familiar to consumers thereby strengthening brand affinity.

Unusual packaging design details are integrated, but not at the expense of outweighing functional use or practicality or by becoming excessively costly or difficult to ship, store or merchandise.

Pop culture references and/or celebrities are leveraged through brand collaboration or joint venture to increase the perceived value of a limited edition package.

The special edition packaging is designed in support of a charitable cause. It’s especially helpful when endeavours like these align with a company’s already-established commitment to corporate social responsibility.

Items featuring limited edition packages are sold solely through social media, and people can only make purchases after first interacting with the brand’s social media page in a designated way. This approach can theoretically help a brand gain traction on social media, connect with people who might not ordinarily use social media except to buy the products, and assist with building a database that’s populated with customer feedback and contact details.

However, limited-edition packaging can also be very cost- prohibitive, to the point where profitability is undermined if not properly researched and tested. That scenario is more likely if:

Proper testing is not carried out in advance to ensure the elements of the limited-edition packaging performs well functionally and aesthetically. That should include taking steps to see if the packaging can withstand the rigors of being shipped around the world.

The limited-edition packaging is too ‘ordinary’, so it doesn’t resonate strongly enough with its primary audience. In some cases, this may mean the packaging only seems valuable to people who have proven that their brand loyalty is so deep that they’ll buy a limited-edition package even if it’s not really all that special or very eye-catching.

Packaging details are very complex and overly elaborate. Sometimes, focusing too much on the artistry can mean practical and functional needs get overlooked or undermined.

It becomes evident that the production time for a limited-edition packaging will be longer than expected, meaning the products won’t be distributed on time to meet customer expectations or launch timelines.

The Final Limited Edition Packaging Brand Strategy Takeaway

If you decide to use limited edition packaging as part of your own brand strategy then its important to ensure you blend all the functional brand essentials with the brand aesthetics, while remaining true to your core brand values and positioning.

You should also ideally conduct research, not only to test your prototype but to ensure there is actually a market for your limited line that will be attracted to your special limited edition packaging, and if you aren’t sure, weigh up the costs of doing a very small batch test of special packages. These precautions can help make your limited-edition packages much more successful instead of turning into marketing decisions that eat up profits, undermine your brand and frustrate customers.

• Packaging Design: How to Make it into an Irresistible Customer Brand Magnet

• Brand Differentiation: 30 Ways to Differentiate Your Brand

• Rebranding Strategy: Using Premium Repositioning To Increase Profitability

• Brand Personality: Is Your Brand’s Character Big Enough to Compete?

• Creating New Brands: Top 10 Tips for Brand Success

• Brand Management: Top 10 Tips for Managing Your Brand Reputation

• Humanizing Your Brand : Why It is Key to Commercial Success

So what do you think?

Do you agree with the claim that the Scotch Magic Tape packaging was green to promote environmental sustainability, or was that message just being broadcast to urge eco-minded shoppers to buy the tape?

Is the approach of offering a limited edition product solely on Facebook, as Oscar de la Renta did, a worthwhile brand strategy, or do you think it might be missing an opportunity with interested customers who’d perhaps like to purchase the items, but don’t use Facebook?

Do you think it’s more effective to showcase corporate responsibility by using packaging design that’s very obviously made to support a charitable cause, or is the “less is more” tactic used by Green Bottle a clever one?

In cases where smaller brands want to use pop culture references for broader brand positioning, but don’t have the resources to consider global stars like Michael Jackson, what other possibilities could they explore?

While developing limited edition packaging, how important is it to get input from consumers about the features they would like to see? What do you think is the best way to acquire that information? Should you reward participants in return for their feedback?

Baby Boomer Branding: How and Why to Market to this Lucrative Demographic

August 24, 2015/0 Comments/in Boomer Branding, Brand Design, Brand Health Check, Brand Relevance, Brand Strategy, Branding, Business, Market Demographics, Market Insights, Market Research, Marketing, Return On Investment, Revamped Design, Revitalized Design /by Lorraine Carter

Although there’s a lot of talk about millennials and their desire to engage in consumerism, it’s important not to overlook the baby boomer generation, born from the end of World War 2 up to the early 1960s (roughly between 1946-1964). After all, Baby Boomers hold 70 percent of all disposable income in the United States.

Also, government data indicates that the baby boomers outspend other generational groups’ spending on consumer products and services by an average of $400 million.

Branding Strategies for Baby Boomers: A Unique Process

If those statistics have stimulated your curiosity and made it clear that to overlook the baby boomer demographic is potentially a very costly mistake, keep in mind that you can’t just retool most of your brand concepts currently used to reach out to older target markets.

For starters, baby boomers are usually very loyal to brands—and as shown by the opening statistics, they have disposable income. Also, don’t assume that this demographic will settle for less as they get older, or even that they’ll settle down.

When looking at the specifics associated with marketing to baby boomers, experts have found that this group prefers living in comfortable homes surrounded by the latest amenities. Also, they generally want to maintain very active lifestyles. Those findings align with what we’ve discovered when developing brands to meet the needs of affinity groups within this demographic.

Misconceptions about Baby Boomers are Common

Even marketers who are guided by solid research and good intentions sometimes miss the mark as they attempt to resonate with the baby boomer generation. Often, that’s due in large part to some pervasive misconceptions.

Earlier, we mentioned how baby boomers tend to be faithful to the brands they love. That’s true, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that baby boomers are set in their ways. According to Nielsen research from 2012, only five percent of advertising budgets were geared toward baby boomers, but some experts believe baby boomers are not as brand loyal as millennials.

There’s another prevailing assumption about baby boomers, which some of our clients have expressed: the belief that baby boomers are not tech-savvy.

Although baby boomers were not early adopters of technology, they tend to use tech devices more frequently than you might expect. However, they do so differently than their younger counterparts.

Whereas a younger person might primarily use social media to connect with friends, baby boomers may feel more compelled to do so because that’s the way their kids and grandkids share updates and photos. The shift over to technology, in many cases, probably wasn’t primarily out of desire, but because boomers realized social media was the quickest way to keep in touch with younger generations.

Additionally, apps that are related to health services frequently get built for cross-generational appeal. Some boomers have shown interest in using an app that might help them check in faster for a hospital appointment or enjoy easier access to medical records, for example.

Finally, some marketers seem to forget that the baby boomer generation encompasses anyone between the ages of 51 and 69. It’s not sufficient to believe that certain branding strategies will universally connect with everyone. A younger baby boomer might prefer very active vacations, while one who’s nearing 70 or older may want to go on a cruise instead.

Of course, that’s a very broad example. The point is, marketers should try to focus their brand strategy on reaching baby boomers of certain ages, through developing affinity groups as a tool for profiling them or at least recognizing that older baby boomers have different needs and desires than younger ones.

Examples of When Multi-Generational Branding Strategies Can Work

Even though you’ve now learned how there’s a fine art to baby boomer branding, don’t get discouraged and think it’s necessary to do away with every tactic you use to appeal to younger generations. In fact, research has shown there are some valuable commonalities. In fact, some of our clients achieved the best results with cross-generational approaches.

Specifically, both boomers and millennials love bargains, and a high percentage of them (more than 80 percent for either group) are very comfortable shopping online. Also, 75 percent of boomers and millennials are more likely to purchase something if it’s associated with a perk, such as a loyal discount or a coupon.

Now, let’s take a look at some actionable strategies, and case studies of companies that have used them well.

Case Study: J. Jill and the Uncomplicate Clothing Line

As discussed above, baby boomers don’t want to settle for less when they get older. The clothing brand J. Jill took that into consideration with its Uncomplicate collection, which is marketed toward baby boomers.

Image via www.jjill.com

The goal is to show that like younger generations of females, older women also deserve wardrobe upgrades. With this clothing line, they can look forward to clothes that are equal parts fashionable and comfortable.

Focus groups held before the new line kicked off found that women prefer attire they can easily dress up or down. When analyzing details of the Uncomplicate line, marketers realized that baby boomers wanted to look their best, without wasting time that could be used for more important pursuits. J. Jill also embraces a mix-and-match style with its Wearever line. These proactive steps reflect the brand’s realization that baby boomers have just as many reasons to enjoy new clothes as younger generations.

No matter how you market to boomers, we’ve found that customers respond best when you make it easy for them to meet their identified needs.

Case Study: Harley Davidson’s Tricycles

Baby boomers don’t like to be given the hard sell. They want to see the benefits of a product, but not in an intrusive way. Sometimes, brands have enough of a built-in following that people of all ages understand there are inherent advantages to choosing them, so there’s no need for a massive marketing campaign.

Image via www.harley-davidson.com

Harley-Davidson has released a three-wheel motorcycle called the Freewheeler that’s made for great stability, but still reaches impressive speeds. The Freewheeler is an improvement on a previous model of a three-wheel model, which was called the Tri Glide. In comparison, the Freewheeler is less bulky and features a lighter weight than its predecessor. Reviews of the Freewheeler trike are generally favorable, and the brand’s press release boasts, “Riding on three wheels has never been cooler.”

Going back to what you’ve read about baby boomers wanting to stay active, this trike is a perfect example of that principle. Sometimes it’s not necessary to reinvent a product so it caters to baby boomers, but to just tweak the details while preserving the familiar aspects that attracted consumers in the first place.

Case Study: Spirit 50

Across the world, there have been concerns that as baby boomers get older and require more medical attention, there will be an increased demand on the healthcare system. One forward-thinking Canadian entrepreneur named Erin Billowits is trying to keep baby boomers healthier as they age by marketing a fitness program that lets her demographic work out at home. The program, Spirit 50, combines instructional videos with step-by-step instructions. Users can even purchase consultations that take place over Skype.

Image via www.spirit50.com

In her research, Billowits found that a majority of baby boomers want to improve their health, and many are willing to make small, proactive changes without being prodded.

When designing her fitness program, Billowits looked at possible technological barriers. As you can see from the format of this YouTube clip, the exercises are explained in a straightforward way that’s not patronizing. Also, because the videos aren’t lengthy, most browsers should start playing them right away.

If you plan to market something to baby boomers that’s technological in nature, it’s important to do the legwork beforehand and make sure your concept doesn’t come across as overwhelming. Billowits identified that a need was there, but she recognized that some of her clientele may not be willing to embrace her exercise concept if it took them too far out of their comfort zones.

Furthermore, to sign up for a fitness plan, users only have to submit usernames, passwords, and e-mails. That’s simple enough even for baby boomers who aren’t accustomed to filling out a lot of online forms.

Case Study: Japanese Convenience Stores

In Japan, convenience stores are doing whatever they can to appeal to an older demographic. Executives have realized that a growing number of people from the baby boomer generation are stopping into Japanese convenience stores to get what they need without delay. A few major brands are branching out by offering a home delivery service of nutritious and easy-to-make meals, including bento boxes. This strategy appeals to boomers who aren’t willing to sustain themselves on sodium-riddled frozen dinners of low nutritional value.

Some stores stock attire that’s marketed toward an older demographic, but others focus on more practical things, such as healthcare items that baby boomers might need. Others have thrown their hats into the ring and aimed to meet needs that are a little more obscure, but still have merit. Two examples are health advice counters, and karaoke equipment that turns convenience stores into social gathering places for baby boomers who want to have fun among their peers.

These kinds of purpose-based approaches make sense. If baby boomers feel alienated due to a perception that most of what’s available to consumers isn’t relevant to their lives, they’re less likely engage with a particular brand or shop at a particular establishment, no matter how convenient it claims to be.

Case Study: Ford Motors

As Ford Motors has discovered, successfully marketing to baby boomers starts during the engineering process. The company makes some of its auto engineers wear “aging suits” that mimic what it’s like to be an older driver. Dubbed the Third Age Suit, the device is designed to make a person physically feel approximately 30 years older. Using a corset and orthotic devices, the suit causes stiffness in the hip region, knees, shoulders, and feet. Earplugs simulate being hard of hearing, and special goggles mimic vision-related disorders that are common in older adults.

Although this case study doesn’t represent an example of direct marketing to baby boomers, it demonstrates an effort made by engineers in the early phases to understand how aging affects driver capabilities and comfort. This could eventually influence baby boomers to choose certain makes and models of vehicles over others.

A Worthy Venture

Clearly, the baby boomer generation is not to be overlooked when it comes to ensuring that your brand gets noticed by those with a great deal of purchasing power.

Although it’s necessary to tailor your branding strategies using some of the methodologies discussed above, the ultimate payoff could be a major factor in helping your business stay competitive and indeed become more profitable in a crowded marketplace.

You make also like:

• Millennial Branding: Creating Brands to Appeal to Teens and Young Adults

• Rebranding Strategy: Why Your Rebrand Must Embrace Storytelling

• Brand Profiling: How to Use Emotion to Make Your Brand More Profitable

• Brand Audit: Tips for Determining Your Brand’s Health – Can It Be Improved?

• Brand Strategy: 6 Lessons Learned from Tourism Queensland, One of the Most Successful Branding Campaigns Ever

• Packaging Design: How to Make it into an Irresistible Customer Brand Magnet

• Brand Personality: Is Your Brand’s Character Strong Enough to Compete?

• Creating New Brands: Top 10 Tips for Brand Success

So what do you think?

• Have you used brand profiling and positioning is when marketing to baby boomers?

• Do you think a brand name that alludes to the baby boomer market, such as ‘Spirit 50’ is an important part of the brand strategy for connecting with a target audience?

• Rebranding strategy was crucial for J.Jill when realizing, during a brand audit and through market research studies, that the fashion needs of baby boomers weren’t being met. Have you had a similar moment that has made you discover that baby boomers may be an untapped market?

• In Japan, several convenience stores have incorporated the needs of an older generation into the brand identity design. Do you think that will eventually mean that the majority of convenience store shoppers will be much older than in preceding generations?

• Brand positioning was a crucial aspect for marketing the Harley-Davidson trikes to a market that was already likely cued into what makes the brand worth following. Do you think that the brand strategy was comprehensive enough, or should it have been more extensive?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, we’d love to hear from you.

Rebranding Strategy: The ABCs of Rebranding Google

August 18, 2015/0 Comments/in Brand Audit, Brand Auditing, Brand Audits, Brand Expansion, Brand Health Check, Brand Leadership, Brand Name Creation, Brand Name Origination, Brand Personality, Brand Profiling & Positioning, Brand Relaunch, Brand Relevance, Brand Reputation, Brand Revitalisation, Brand Strategy, Branding, Business, Rebrand, Rebranding, Sub-Branding, Sub-Brands /by Lorraine Carter

Google made us uncomfortable!

When the third most valuable brand in the world [Forbes, 2015] announces a surprise rebranding, people notice.

On a recent midsummer Silicon Valley afternoon, the Co-founder and CEO of Google morphed into the CEO of Alphabet before our eyes. What’s Alphabet, we wondered?

Larry Page opened his official blog post saying, “We’ve long believed that over time companies tend to get comfortable doing the same thing, just making incremental changes. But in the technology industry, where revolutionary ideas drive the next big growth areas, you need to be a bit uncomfortable to stay relevant.”

Image via https://abc.xyz

“Uncomfortably excited” is a state of mind that Googlers are well familiar with; they say it comes up frequently during internal meetings. When Larry Page addressed the graduating class of the University of Michigan in 2009, he counseled, “Always work hard on something uncomfortably exciting.”[1]

“We Do Search”

With the perspective of a few days and hundreds of pieces of content produced by Google observers, the picture came into focus. People realized that Google wasn’t disappearing (audible sigh of relief), but rather that Alphabet was born to give Google the space to be Google. The bottom line is that from a consumer perspective, it’s business as usual!

Google is a search engine and an advertising platform. And clearly, it’s a cash cow — which has everything to do with funding the next big breakthrough and nothing to do with Google’s (um, Alphabet’s) next passion project, whatever it may be.

As an obscure campus startup, Google’s mission was “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Two years on, Google AdWords launched with 350 customers.[2] Overwhelming success has been declared in the blink of an eye, in about one and a half decades.

The authors of “The Google Story” discussed the profound impact of the founders’ vision to make all web-based information searchable via PageRank algorithms, comparing it to the first mechanical printing press in 1440. They wrote, “Not since Gutenberg…has any new invention empowered individuals, and transformed access to information, as profoundly as Google.”[3]

“We do search,” was the core of Google’s philosophy as expressed in its original “Ten Things We Know to Be True”[4] document. However last winter, Larry Page said, “Google has ‘outgrown’ its 14-year-old mission statement.”[5]

So, on second thoughts, no one should have been surprised by Google’s big announcement. In October 2014, Page laid it out in an interview with the FT,[6] expressing his desire to step away from daily chores at the colossal search engine. “The world’s most powerful internet company is ready to trade the cash from its search engine monopoly for a slice of the next century’s technological bonanza,” is how the FT put it.

Spelling it Out

Alphabet is about brand innovation. When Larry Page titled his announcement “G is for Google,” the implication is that it leaves another 25 letters for Alphabet to dream big.

Several of the spaces on the virtual Scrabble board have already been filled in: Life Sciences, working on the glucose-sensing contact lens; Calico, focused on longevity; Nest for smart-home products; Fiber for super-connectivity and whatever words are played next, sometimes via acquisition.

Google X is the think tank for moonshots, artificial intelligence, robotics, longevity, health advancements, biotech, self-driving cars and smart glasses. Google Ventures re-invests.

It’s all about staying “uncomfortably excited” and attracting the best minds for collective ideation.

Brand Architecture : A House of Brands

Alphabet is now an umbrella for one of the largest brands we’ve known. From a brand architecture perspective, Google bucks the trend of the last decade which has seen large brands consolidate toward a single ‘brand house’ approach e.g. Unilever (2004), P&G (2011), Coca-Cola (2015). Google is doing the opposite by creating a ‘house of brands.’

The scale of Google’s size and scope demands a more efficient approach for managing multiple brands with different cultures, complex mergers and acquisitions, innovation, brand sub-cultures whilst satisfying Wall Street demands for accountability.

As an article published in the Harvard Business Review points out:

“…the financial returns of the search engine and advertising business could not be observed separately from the investments in all of the new businesses. The new structure ensures that there will be, at a minimum, independent accounting numbers produced for the Google business, and perhaps for the others as well.”

The Alphabet umbrella brand also reduces risk in terms of brand reputation management, with risk being ring-fenced around each individual brand and its own CEO within the ‘house of brands’. Alphabet will be much less vulnerable to major scandal or irregularity and it will also not be a consumer brand.

The point of a ‘house of brands’ structure is that the corporate brand becomes essentially invisible to the outside world, only relevant to senior employees and investors. How clever is Google?

What are the Branding Takeaways?

For smaller businesses, it’s more advantageous to manage a single brand or ‘brand house’ with one budget, one culture, one organisational structure, one employer, one leadership team and so on.

At first blush, the immediate branding Alphabet/Google learnings or takeaways from their initial announcement, for any size company or organisation, are as follows:

1) Continually evaluate your core business, product or service and re-evaluate ancillary revenue streams, products and services to remain properly focused. [Note: Apple’s Steve Jobs used to tell Larry Page that he was trying to do too much. Page told Jobs that Apple wasn’t doing enough.]

2) Secondly, re-visit your mission statement. It doesn’t belong in a box file in a drawer, but in a frame on the wall at reception and in the lunch room. Dust it off and discuss it, make it the heart of your business, a living breathing, authencitic expression of who you are and what you do and the true reason why you do what you do.

Image via http://www.gapingvoidart.com, Hugh MacLeod

3) Not every hiccup or even a crisis requires a rebrand, sometimes a brand health check is one of the most useful tools to protect your most valuable asset. Talk to us.

4) Does your existing brand name properly represent your business today and into the future or has it become something of a misnomer as your business has grown and evolved? Do you need some help re-evaluating your brand name relevance?

Larry Page explained the decision behind their new name.

“We liked the name Alphabet because it means a collection of letters that represent language, one of humanity’s most important innovations, and is the core of how we index with Google search! We also like that it means alpha-bet (Alpha is investment return above benchmark), which we strive for!”

Rebrands happen. For a number of reasons, they can be an exceptionally good move at the right time for the right reasons. We’re here to help.

• Brand Audit: Tips for Determining Your Brand’s Health – Can it be Improved?

• Rebranding: How to Make it Through a Rebrand and Emerge Stronger

• Brand Renaming: Name and Tagline Change Considerations

• Brand Audit: When the USA Took the Branding Bull by the Horns

• Creating New Brands: Top 10 Tips for Brand Success

• Brand Naming: Top Ten Methods for Brand Name Creation

• Rebranding Strategy: Why Your Rebrand Must Embrace Storytelling

• Brand Differentiation: 30 Ways to Differentiate Your Brand

• Brand Profiling: Top 6 Components to Creating a Strong Brand Personality

• CEO Brand Leadership: How Does Your Leadership Impact Your Brand?

Are you getting uncomfortably excited about your own business? Or just excited? Let us know what you think about these questions that pop into your mind as we ponder the changing Google landscape.

Something’s gone wrong. How do I determine if my entire brand is in trouble or if there are other solutions?

What are the signs that a true rebranding strategy is in order and where do I begin?

How can I know whether a rebrand will help or hurt my business and its reputation?

What’s actually involved in a rebranding beyond a new name?

How can I budget properly for all that a rebranding entails?

Are there potentially moments in the life of a business when a brand health check or rebrand is the right strategy, even when the company is performing well, like Google?

[1] Larry Page’s University of Michigan commencement address

[2] http://www.google.com/about/company/history

[3] Vise, David, and Malseed, Mark. The Google Story, Delta Publ. (2006)

[4] http://www.google.com/about/company/philosophy

[5] Samuel Gibbs (November 3, 2014) The Guardian.

[6] Richard Waters (October 2014) Financial Times.

Brand Management: Top 10 Tips for Managing Your Brand Reputation

August 11, 2015/0 Comments/in Brand Personality, Brand Profiling & Positioning, Brand Reputation, Brand Strategy, Brand Voice, Branding, Communication, Customer Engagement, Facebook, Google+, Linkedin, Online Marketing, Pinterest, Social Media, Twitter, YouTube /by Lorraine Carter

Got a brand? Just like a person, your brand has a reputation to establish and uphold. The identity of your brand, of course, begins with its name. Your product or service is your brand’s body and mind, and you must use all five senses to reach out in appealing ways to old and new friends (customers). Your brand lives, breathes and grows via its brand personality, which has simply got to be consistently appealing, authentic and dependable.

That’s all wrapped up in what brand marketers refer to as a brand’s tone of voice. It reveals a style reflected across everything your brand says and does online and offline, both written and visual.

Leverage Your ROI

Smaller businesses can punch above their weight without a string of zeroes in the budget when they get their branding basics right. Why? Because brand loyalty, sharing, peer recommendations, transparent feedback and brand ambassadorship are stronger than ever in the digital age. We’re passionate about working with brands every day, large and small, to make this happen, so they can leverage their ROI to the maximum.

Image via www.google.com

See and Be Seen Where Your Brand Belongs

Even the most popular person can’t be — and shouldn’t try to be — everywhere at once. Decide where you want to be seen and heard depending upon who your customers are and where the circles of your brands’ look-alike audiences (as Facebook Ads have named this tool) are found. That’s why you don’t go to a convention for lovers of African violets to network with extreme adventure travelers and vice versa. Nor would anyone switch on a television shopping channel to buy heirloom Tiffany & Co. gems.

Online and On Brand

Apply traditional channel and networking logic to online platforms to determine where you belong. An anti-aging cream on Snapchat represents wasted effort in the same way that a traditional print advertisement for wrinkle cream would be absurd in the pages of Seventeen magazine. If you need some brand strategy support our team can steer you through your social media distribution decisions, specific to your brand, to get the most from your investment.

To see the big picture, AdWeek[1] has published infographics providing some insights about the expected growth in online audiences of 180 million by platform and age group worldwide through the end of 2016. We can take your brand on a deeper dive into your brand’s affinity groups and demographics to pin down your best placement.

Image via www.adweek.com

Lights On, Always Open for Business

Since your consumers (all consumers!) are online, let’s go there first to discuss building your brand’s online personality in sync with your offline one. Importantly, they require fine-tuned alignment.

The days of turning out the lights and locking up the shop for the night are over, as you’re open for business 24/7 online. In the hearts and minds of your primary audience, the digital brand is indistinguishable from the bricks and mortar brand. Your clients don’t separate the online and offline personality of your brand, and you shouldn’t either.

Claim Your Free Real Estate

1. Claim your free real estate from these main social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr. Google+ and Google Places for Business are must-dos for everyone wanting to be found 24/7 by customers online. You can easily edit your contact information, business description, hours, website URL and photos. Not being on social media at all is not an option; you cannot manage your brand reputation if you’re invisible.

2. Add to your brand’s online presence by completing your business profile on free aggregate platforms pertaining to your business sector, such as TripAdvisor for travel and hospitality providers or Realtor.com for real estate. Your competitors are doing likewise.

3. Make sure your website is 100 percent mobile responsive; this is no longer optional. From April 2015, Google’s algorithms began penalizing search results for websites that don’t provide the best user experience on mobile devices.

According to Search Engine Watch[2], Google says that “near me” mobile searches have grown 34 times over since 2011. With 73 percent of the world’s population using mobile phones, we can be certain that mobile wallets are poised for exponential growth. In other words, brands that don’t optimize their online presence by paying attention to their appearance and brand tone of voice are leaving heaps of money on the table.

4. Develop the right tone of voice for your brand with brand profiling, using a system like our Personality Profile Performer™ and use it consistently across all content, all visuals and all devices (desktops, laptops, tablets and mobiles for all operating systems). You need to think of your brand as a humanized entity with a richly developed brand personality with key character attributes much like a real person e.g. likeable, friendly, sincere and genuine. Corporate-speak really doesn’t fly.

5. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. There’s no point in signing onto a social media platform other than to drive business to your website or to your door. So, once you create your online personality, brand reputation management has only just begun. As the old scouting song goes, “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.”

Answer comments and questions promptly and sincerely. An honest response to a negative review sets you up for an even better review.[3] Remember, online you are speaking to two audiences — the person who make the comment and the rest of the world! Brand authenticity and honesty pays!

Visuals Are Vital

6. Upload original quality photos and videos. You simply cannot have too many. Visually appealing content needs the same attention as bricks and mortar appearances such as clean shop windows and display shelves free of dust.

The impact of visual is enormous. According to Social Media Today[4], 63 percent of social media is made up of images and 50 percent of users have shared online images and videos. On Instagram and Pinterest, you’ll inspire users and gain followers by creating hashtags and boards, translating in to more free real estate for your brand.

Image via www.socialmediatoday.com

Twitter indicates[5] that content with a relevant photo gets 313 percent higher engagement, good news for small and medium-sized businesses. Make sure your brand personality and brand tone of voice is consistently expressed through your chosen images as well. Are you a fashion shop showing dresses, a utility provider showing friendly staff, an animal shelter featuring pets for adoption? Have fun with who you are to drive engagement.

Get it Right From the Start

It cannot be over-emphasized that getting your brand tone of voice right for your online brand personality is essential. Once you’ve taken control of that voice, it’s all yours for as long as it works effectively. We can help you with everything from developing your brand personality through brand profiling, or auditing your brand to give it a health check to creating your brand name, to re-branding (if and when that becomes necessary) and developing your brand strategy.

New and Improved Offline

7. Protect your brand’s reputation. One of the 10 commandments of effective leadership applies directly to brand reputation management, “Thou Shalt Not Over-Promise and Under-Deliver.”

Meeting and exceeding expectations is classic business strategy and the risks associated with getting it wrong fill volumes of business manuals. It comes straight back to the pillars of reputation management: authenticity and dependability. Your successful business has likely been handling this properly all along, or you wouldn’t be where you are today. However it’s always a good time to dust off and revitalize through refreshing, reminding, re-enthusing and re-training your staff — they are your brand ambassdors and consequently a really important part of your brand strategy.

8. Authenticity is everything…and the moment it’s lost, you’re damaged goods. Your strong and clear voice is required wherever your brand touches, in both your digital presence and offline, too. Always consider as a minimum the four ‘Ps’ of Marketing 101: Product, Promotion, Place, Price — which lead the way on the path to Profit.

9. Listening is good, conversation is even better. Wow, WOMMA! The Word of Mouth Marketing Association is a real thing…it has even has its own annual conference. Of course, before the internet, one-by-one sharing via word of mouth was the prevalent means of unpaid advertising. And it still works, more powerfully than ever. We can help you engage with customers in more dialogues for wider and deeper reach, always maintaining the critical overlay of brand authenticity.

10. Satisfy every customer from entry to exit. Imagine your brand once again as a real personality and recall these two tenets, “First impressions count” and “You only have one chance to make a first impression.” Both statements are true, but there’s more. We believe that the entire customer experience is integral to perceptions about your brand, from the moment your client walks in or first engages with your brand, until they depart, and your follow up in-between and later on. Your core brand values and what your brand stands for must shine through consistently in all your brand communications be they online or offline. Own it and win.

You may also like:

• Brand Voice: Differentiating Through Your Own Brand Language and Attitude

• Rebranding Strategy: Why Your Rebrand Must Embrace Storytelling

• Brand Profiling: Top 6 Components to Creating a Strong Brand Personality

• Creating New Brands: Top 10 Tips for Brand Success

• Brand Differentiation: 30 Ways to Differentiate Your Brand

• Brand Personality: Is Your Brand’s Character Big Enough to Compete?

• Humanizing Your Brand : Why It is Key to Commercial Success

• Packaging Design: How to Make it into an Irresistible Customer Brand Magnet

Feel free to get in touch and let us know how you’d like us to help you with building your brand and establish a strong brand reputation online and offline:

T: +353 1 8322724

E: [email protected]

• Is your current brand personality and tone of voice hitting all the right notes for your brand? Is it truly reflective of your core brand values and what your brand stands for?

• Do you know how to craft an authentic, humanized brand voice through brand profiling to get people raving about your brand to all of their friends?

• Has your brand strategically planned for the changing social media landscape? Are you thinking differently or are you winging it with occasional assistance from an intern?

• Is your brand in the right places at the right times and talking to the right people to realize the most bang for your buck?

• Do you know if you are getting more than your fair market share, and if not, what to do about it?

• How well do you know your customers? Have you developed your buyer personas? Have you organized channels for customer feedback for continual improvement?

[1] AdWeek, Jan. 12, 2015 http://bit.ly/1SRJM4D

[2] John Schepke, Search Engine Watch, June 25, 2015 http://bit.ly/1Stzlt1

[3] eTourism Summit interview with Andrew Wiens, TripAdvisor, Nov. 20, 2014 http://bit.ly/1KIsWU3

[4] David Hall, Social Media Today, April 6, 2015 http://bit.ly/1fTDxk7

[5] Jane Stecyk, TweetTip, Small Business Content Team, January 28, 2015 http://bit.ly/1JEq0ZL

Best: Apple’s “Shot on iPhone 6” Campaign Apple is known for its memorable campaigns

Lessons Learned:

Best: Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty

Lessons Learned:

Best: Patagonia’s Worn Wear Campaign

Lessons Learned:

Best: Nike’s Just Do It Campaign

Lessons Learned:

Unintended Outcomes: McDonald’s and #McDStories

Lessons Learned:

Unintended Outcomes: Levi’s Curve ID Jeans

Lessons Learned:

Unintended Outcomes: Groupon’s 2011 Super Bowl Advert

Lessons Learned:

Key Takeaways to Consider:

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Top 8 Brand Strategies for Enhancing Customer Recall and Affinity

1. Invest in Developing Your Brand Profile, Proposition & Purpose

2. Create a Strong Brand Story Which Your Primary Audience Can Relate to

3. Brand Audit, Research and Look for Gaps in Your Competition’s Brand Strategy

4. Invest in Great Brand Logo Design

5. Humanize Your Brand and Engage Employees as Your Brand Ambassadors

6. Eliminate Factors that Jeopardize Your Brand Reputation

7. Reach Out to Your Target Audience Through Social Media and Build Connections

8. Be Consistent in Your Brand Strategy

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Humanizing Your Brand: Duracell’s Powerplay

Actionable Branding Tip 1

Developing Brand Influencers: Heineken’s Heads or Tails

Actionable Branding Tip 2

Adding Values: EY (Ernst & Young) Connects the Dots

Actionable Branding Tip 3

Think Locally: Land Rover Drives the Message Home

Actionable Branding Tip 4

Using How To: Canon Says You Can

Actionable Branding Tip 5

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Defining the Millennial Customer

6 Key Brand Attributes Important to the Millennial Customer

1. High Quality Products and Services

2. The Power of Recommendation

3. Personalization, Partnerships and Co-Creators

4. Social Responsibility

5. Life is an Adventure

6. Making an Important Statement

Brands Who Have Done It Right

Millennials Advocate for Their Favourite Brands

Brand Loyalty with Millennials

3 Actionable Tips for Your Millennial Brand Strategy

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Top 11 Video Tips: How to Use Video to Promote Your Brand

1. Video is Increasingly Essential for Search Rankings

2. Long Live Video!

3. Social Media Platforms Support Video

4. Yes, Video is ‘Affordable’

5. Best Practices for Small Budgets

6. “How To” Videos are the Most Popular

7. Aim for Shareable Videos

8. Bring Testimonials to Life

9. Take Viewers Behind the Scenes

10. Position Yourself as an Expert

11. Incorporate Music

Case Study: Volvo Trucks Epic Split Feat by Jean-Claude Van Damme

What is a Brand Ambassador?

Brand Champions in the Workplace

Managing Brand Risk

Sharing is the Key – 5 Tops Tips to Developing Your Brand Ambassadors

1. Sharing Your Brand Story

2. Management Shares Internal Communications

3. Employees Share External Communications

4. Sharing Between Personal and Corporate

5. Share the Two-Way Street

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Limited Edition Packaging that Promotes the Concept of Scarcity: Special Monopoly Sets Offer Real Money

Limited Edition Packaging Designed to Leverage Core Brand Messages: Scotch Magic Tape

Limited Edition Packaging that Relies on Star Power: Michael Jackson Pepsi Cans and “Bad” Album 25th Anniversary Campaign

Limited Edition Packaging That Supports a Charity: Bottle Green’s Stylish Drink Bottles to Fight Breast Cancer

Limited Edition Packaging That Leverages Premiumisation

Limited Edition Packaging Compromises Product: Halo 3 Video Game

Packaging That’s too Bulky, Which Makes Storage or Merchandising Difficult: The Simpsons Box Sets

**Limited Edition Packaging Compromises Product: Halo 3 Video Game**

**Packaging That’s too Bulky, Which Makes Storage or Merchandising Difficult: The Simpsons Box Sets**

**Limited Editions Packaging Delayed Shipment of Product: Batman: Arkham Knight Game**