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KEEPING YOUR BRAND COOL IN A CRISIS

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The name of the game is speed.

With the insanely rapid pace of information on social media, keeping your brand intact by responding to consumer issues ASAP, or even before they happen, is absolutely essential.

According to John Thomson, CEO of Saepio, "Whether it means pulling ads featuring a controversy-laden spokesperson, changing messaging that is offensive to certain cultures or not leading with a product that isn't performing at its best -- you need to react quickly and just as important, consistently."

Otherwise you might just catch the tiger by the tail. (Sorry!)

The full article is over at MediaPost's site.


(Photo by Keith Allison)

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Since the 1990's SunChips have been Frito-Lay's healthy option for their snack line.

For years, however, the brand never really seemed to take off. In fact, sales seemed to stall over time.

Then a few years back, their brand team discovered that many of the people who buy brands like SunChips also happen to be environmentally minded. In an interview with BrandWeek, Frito-Lay VP of Marketing Gannon Jones said:

"We started to see that there was an intersection of people who were concerned with their health and with the planet's health. Out of that was born the hypothesis that we could begin to connect SunChips more prominently with the environment so [the brand would become] a small step for me and the planet."

The brand seemed to take the message to heart and remake themselves - and not just greenwash their image.

* They started producing some of their chips in a Modesto, California manufacturing plant that is completely solar powered. (It's one of their eight of their manufacturing facilities.)
* They buy green energy credits to offset the electricity to produce their snacks.
* They partnered with National Geographic to launch a "Green Effect" contest, which encouraged people to submit environmentally-friendly local projects. They would fund the winners' ideas for up to $20K each.

And, if you managed to miss their barrage of ads during the Olympics, they've just developed the compostable chip bag to be release in America on (of course) Earth Day. Yes, in a mere 14 weeks, that pesky SunChips bag in the vacant lot across the street will be dust. Or plant materials, more likely. (They've retained both Ketchum and OMD to get the word out for their compostable bag).

So, how's all this greening of their brand working out for them?

According to Frito-Lay, sales grew 17.6 percent to $201.8 million in 2008 and has tripled its household penetration in the past four years.

I don't know about you, but those sound like pretty sustainable numbers to me.
 

(Photo by cogdogblog)

Linchpins

Lynch-pin.jpgThe standard definition of a linchpin, according to The Free Dictionary, is "a pin placed transversely through an axle to keep a wheel in position".  Without the linchpin, a wheel could shake off the axle, spinning into oncoming traffic, undermining the stability of the entire vehicle.  Just think of it: one small piece of seemingly insignificant metal is actually more important than it seems.

That's one idea which stuck with me after attending a lecture last night from best-selling author Seth Godin.  For companies, every person is essential to running of the business -- from the clerks in the mailroom to the person answering the front desk phone to the Vice Presidents and the CEO.  Without the mailroom clerk, incoming communications, letters and junk mail might never reach their intended destinations.  Without the front desk person, calls might not be transferred to the correct people or a potential customer may drive himself mad trying to mine his way through the automated directory.  And so on.

But simply being a mail clerk or a Vice President isn't enough.  Anyone can do those things -- another point brought up by Mr. Godin.  Since the advent of Henry Ford's assembly line, workers have become interchangeable.  To paraphrase an example from last night, the cashier at the local grocery store who scans the items, reads aloud the total, takes the money, makes change, up and quits.  For the store, it's not a big deal.  Finding a replacement shouldn't prove too difficult because most people learned those basic tasks and not much effort is required to do them.  Chances are, not too many customers would even notice the change in cashiers.

Now, take that same cashier.  As you approach the checkout, he or she greets you by name, tells you that one of the items in your cart is on sale that day, counts the change rather than simply handing it to you, wishes you a good day as you leave the check out.  None of those things are written in the company manual; the cashier decided to do something different, something outside the normal routine.  The result might be a happy customer who will return again, or who will recommend the store to friends.  Which in turn makes the store more profitable.  By doing something different, that cashier has added value to his or her position, making her indispensable to the company.

Another example Mr. Godin used was the release of Steely Dan's "Pretzel Logic" album in 1974.  Releasing a mix of pop vocals and extended instrumentals (Wikipedia), the music was unlike any other sound on the radio at that time, and the album became a critical success and a classic for music lovers.  If they hadn't released that album, if they'd succumbed to self-doubt and fears, if they'd stuck to the music mold of the time, would they have been just another pop band of the 1970s that faded into history?

That's what workers should do.  Rather than sticking to the same old routine, why not look for a new way to finish a task that might use less time or expenses?  Why not take a risk and put a different idea out into the marketing or design ether?

To become indispensable is to take those risks, to ask questions, to go that little extra step even though it's not necessary.  Even though it goes against all the information that's out there.  Be creative.  Be innovative.

Image from Wikimedia Commons.
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So the much anticipated iPad got its unveiling yesterday and ... well, the jury's still out.

My first thought, it looks and acts like a gigantic iPhone. Which I'm not against. But there's no phone.

It works like a NetBook, but the user is stuck using Apple-approved applications. Unless, of course, you do everything on Google Docs.

And I realize a keyboard would be clunky, but I'm wondering how well the on-screen keyboard is going to work for anything other than typing emails.

LA Times writer Michael Hiltzik  speculates that, "It's hard to see the iPad as anything other than a mortal threat to Amazon.com's market-leading Kindle reader." (His article is an excellent read, if you have a moment.)

PC World also reports, "There's no multitasking in the OS at all, and not even multiple active web pages in Safari. You can't listen to Pandora while you surf the Web, or switch back and forth between Facebook at Twitter, or write a document in Pages while talking on a VOIP call."

Which is fairly disappointing.

So now that I'm done knocking it, I'll let you know there's a lot that impressed me in the video on the Apple site. For one, the enthusiasm from the people on screen who developed it. You can say they drank the Kool-Aid, or think they really are that excited about their product. (BTW, it's weird to listen to the really poppy instrumental version of The Cure's In Between Days on the video. Just kind of wrong.) The calendar application, the clear definition of The New York Times site, the email app. anhttp://blogs.aquent.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi?__mode=view&_type=entry&id=2273&blog_id=11d watching the Apple staff demo it, turn it upside down to show a picture to a friend, it makes the damn thing look pretty damn wantable.  

It makes me hopeful, you know?

Not that I'm going to be in line at the Apple store to buy one the instant they come to market.

But hey, it's Apple. I'm sure there will be no shortage of people dying to be first in line to get whatever they're selling.

Now that, my friend, is brand loyalty.


(Photo by mattbuchanan)

Post Script: Yeah, apparently Shelly Palmer over at MediaBytes isn't that impressed either. (Video rated PG for menstrual humor) 
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According to BusinessWeek, Apple is looking at replacing Google with Bing as their default search engine on their iPhone.

Yes, it turns out the rivalry between "I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC" isn't as strong when it comes to Apple battling Google in the smartphone sector. According to sources at Apple, now that Google has released its Nexus One, "Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy". Moreover, "Microsoft is now a pawn in that battle."

Meaning, it's okay to battle Microsoft on one front and take them out for drinks on the other.

Which is I believe how The Hundred Years' War was fought. But then again, history has never been my strong suit.

So here's my marketing question. How does Apple exactly cover itself brandwise, here? It tells its customers that PCs stink, yet uses Bing as the search engine on their phone. How do you handle that without coming off as, um, insincere?


(photo by Incase Designs)

Marketing as a Conversation: iSnack 2.0 versus New Coke

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When I was at university, my all time favourite subject was Consumer Behaviour.I loved learning about the relationship between organizations, their brands and their customers.In those days though, most marketing messages were delivered via a one-way street - broadcast from company to consumer.

Today, the dynamic growth of digital channels, and in particular social media, has truly shifted the communication paradigm. Marketing as a conversation has arrived!

There's no better example of this than the recent case of Vegemite iSnack 2.0. I'm sure there isn't anyone in Australia that is unaware of this saga but for our friends elsewhere I'll give you a quick overview:

Vegemite (http://www.vegemite.com.au) is an iconic breakfast spread that has been enjoyed by Aussies since 1922.They recently decided on a brand extension, adding a Vegemite and cheese spread.As was the case when they named the original product all those years ago, they decided to choose the name of the new product through a competition. iSnack 2.0 was the winning name but it didn't resonate well with the public. (http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1101797/Backlash-kills-off-iSnack-2.0)

The new name was revealed last month during the Football (AFL) Grand final.I was enjoying the game but also had an eye on Twitter and saw an avalanche of protests appear before my very eyes. Not long after the social media uproar commenced, traditional media jumped on the bandwagon and for days the naming of this product was headline news.

This story got me thinking about a case study we had looked at in class years before. It was the Cola Wars and Coca Cola's introduction of 'New Coke' in April 1985.Coca-Cola did the unthinkable and changed their secret formula.They too received an 'instant' backlash. Consumers wrote letters of complaints (Remember them? They got delivered by snail mail). They phoned the company and talk-back radio stations and wrote letters to newspapers. The outrage was enormous!

(http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_newcoke.html) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke)

There are a lot of similarities in these two stories. One could argue that decisions were made without enough research and consultation with their customers. Anyway, both cases required a reversal of decisions made by the marketing and management teams.The difference in the stories is the speed of reaction:

- Time to change Coke back to its original formula = 3 months
- Time to change the name of Vegemite iSnack 2.0 = 3 days!

If you're a 21st century marketer, engage in conversations with your customers! The powerbase has definitely shifted and consumers are speaking - are you listening?

PS - The new Vegemite product was renamed Vegemite Cheesybite. How was the name chosen? By an online poll :)

Rebranding: Right Or Risky?

A company rebrand is, ideally, a fantastic opportunity for businesses to reinvent and/or refresh themselves within the marketplace, to reinforce and reflect their core values and, above all, to reconnect with consumers.

In reality however, a rebrand often leads - particularly in larger, public companies - to consumer backlash and fierce debate about what a new brand 'says' to consumers.

Larger rebrands raise questions about the time and money spent on strategising, designing and then rolling out a new brand versus the perceived benefits to shareholders. In short, getting a rebrand right can be risky business.

BHP Billiton knows this better than most. When the mining and resources giant unveiled its new corporate identity in 2001 - and subsequently revealed the cost associated in the development of that new identity - the wolves were out.

The logo was popularly referred to as a 'few blobs of oil' and raised broader questions about the company's motivations for rebranding.

Then BHP Billiton chief executive Paul Anderson, speaking on the ABC's Inside Business program in March 2004, said the new identity was reflective of "how we want to project ourselves to the outside world and how we want the outside world to look at us."

Futurebrand managing director Tim Riches - who assisted in the creation of the new BHP Billiton brand and who spoke alongside Anderson on Inside Business - made an interesting point when he said, "If one of the reasons for making a change of this sort is to get people to question their conceptions about who you are as an organisation, then that really should be viewed as a positive rather than a negative."

Great point; a rebrand, whether initially received positively or negatively, does indeed lead to consumers questioning their conceptions of a brand, which is a good thing.

The danger, however, is when negative reaction about a company's rebrand continues past the initial roll-out phase and potentially leads to the bottom line being affected; think Kraft and their iSnack 2.0 schmozzle (which may or may not be one of the year's most effective publicity stunts).

In the case of BHP Billiton, we all know profits certainly haven't dipped, but it is a consideration businesses must make. Creatives and strategists may wax lyrical about what a rebrand represents but for the layperson on the street, an instant judgement is made on whether a new brand lights their fire or not. Coca Cola's botched 'New Coke' campaign of the mid 1980s is another good example; consumers decided they hated the 'new' Coke before they had even tasted it, prompting an eventual backflip by Coke.

ANZ are the latest company to walk the tightrope. Initial reaction to their $15 million rebrand has been mixed, with their new logo supposed to present ANZ as a less 'fragmented' bank and designed to focus on its three main markets of Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Their new strap line is 'We live in your world'; time will tell whether that truly is the case!

It's Fontastic (Or Not)

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It seems the favorite affordable store of Designers all over the world IKEA, has just stepped down a notch in they eyes of many of their fans.

Yes, they've switched their font selection for both print and Web materials from Futura to Verdana.

Designers everywhere have gone ballistic with pages of column space devoted to the cause at CreativePro.com, Time, The Guardian, and yes, The New York Times.
 
It's enough to make you throw your Kamprad right out the window, I tell you.

If you've already heard enough of this argument, maybe you would prefer to visit a site where you can have your name generated as an IKEA piece of furniture.


(Photo and silkscreen by Mat Honan)

On Spec

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There's a heated argument raging, and we've heard it before, about the reality of both spec work and crowdsourcing creeping their way into the design community.

At the CreativePro site, founding editor Pamela Pfiffner writes that "Spec Work and Crowdsourcing" are "Gambles that Don't Pay Off".

(The whole thing does remind me of that John Cusak and Tim Robbins movie, Tapeheads, where the guys always doing everything on spec and never getting paid for it.)

True enough, you won't find a lot of members of the AIGA huddling around a table at their local watering hole going on and on about the New and Wonderful Age of crowdsourcing. I'm guessing the majority of them would agree with Steve Douglas, from The Logo Factory, who was interviewed for the article: "According to [crowdsourcing site CrowdSpring's] home page, designers have submitted over 219,000 entries" as of this April 2009. "If we average each entry out to an hour's worth of a designer's time, and that's a hugely underrated figure, that equates to 25 years of unpaid designer labor."

In full disclosure, I do admit that Matt in our Marketing department ran a contest on a crowdsourcing site, mostly as a lark, not realizing how much Designers hated them. We all realized it was a boneheaded idea and ended up giving all contestants the prize money and apologizing profusely. Though we never intended to use the work, as suspected, the work we saw was not what we'd expect from Designers who met with the client to actually form a relationship, not just pop out a logo.

But you should do yourself a favor, if you're in the design world, and give the article a read and weigh in here or on the CreativePro site.

Or just read the comments on their page.

Believe me, there are plenty.

(Photo by cote)

Is Facebook a Vice Worthy of reLENTing?

s1316244339_3883.jpgAs a 2-year-removed college grad, an adherent to no particular religion (other than The Religion of Non-Stop Awesomeness), and a relative newcomer to the Facebook scene, I was surprised to hear the WSJ report that giving up Facebook for Lent was all the campus rage last year and has since spread to include the equally hapless older demographic (i.e., parents).

It's incredible to me that Facebook's has achieved "vice" status and that abstaining from it for little over a month now qualifies as honoring Jesus' 40 days in the wildernes. I mean, dude didn't eat, practiced strict abstinence, and resisted temptation from the Devil himself all in the name of his faith. And what are we doing? Why, 40 days without Facebook, of course!

Wait a minute. None at all? Cold turkey? Just like that? Does that mean I can't update my status hourly to tell all my 360 "friends" that "Alex Weaver is super psyched for the Snuggie Pub Crawl!" or throw a virtual snowball at some kid I went to kindergarten with?

Clearly I am not nearly as hooked as most. But I still find it ironic - nay, downright hilarious - that by abstaining from Facebook for Lent, college kids everywhere are basically freeing up time otherwise spent poking strangers to partake in activities that, piously speaking, they'd probably be better off giving up instead. (I've seen people driven to the bottle for less.)

Whatever the case, I can't find a more convincing proof of the power and persistence of social networking in today's society than the fact that people, both young and old, feel like giving it up actually means something. My question now is...

Do you consider Facebook a vice worthy of giving up for Lent?

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