Marketing & Branding Blog

Book review: Celebrity Leverage - Insider Secrets to Getting Celebrity Endorsements, Instant Credibility and Star-Powered Publicity

2010-02-08T20:23:00.000-05:00

I finished reading my review copy of this book over the weekend and highly recommend it for marketers of all stripes.

Whether you are seeking to build celebrity status within your own enterprise or whether you are seeking outside celebrity endorsements for your brand this book is packed with tangible advice and is loaded with actionable ideas and references to additional resources.

From product placements, celebrity endorsements and celebrity-themed events to branding yourself as an expert resource within your own niche, becoming a celebrity author in your own right or becoming the "go to" resource for media outlets that cover your space, you will almost certainly walk away with some new ideas and inspiration.

Get the power of celebrity working for your brand. Jordan McAuley does a great job showing you how.

Is AOL a brand that can survive?

2010-01-11T22:05:00.000-05:00

If I asked you to tell me what comes to mind when you think about the brand America Online (AOL) you might respond with words like, dial-up access, email or maybe even recount the days of endless discs or CD's showing up in your mailbox urging you to try the online service or perhaps an old, familiar voice that used to inform you that "you've got mail."

According to a Washington Post article, AOL announced a reduction in force of 1,000 employees as it tries to rebrand itself as a web content publisher. The article states that AOL's target is to shed 2,500 jobs or 1/3 of its workforce. That means that AOL must think that it can survive as a web content provider with ~5,000 people which seems awfully bloated to me.

Will AOL survive? If it does my hunch is that it will be as a much, much smaller entity than 5,000 people. An even stronger feeling tells me that brand AOL will go away all together. If it survives at all it will be a much smaller entity with a much different business model. And it will most likely have a new name at that point. Something that has modern, relevant meaning and much less historical baggage.

Pepsi to Skip Super Bowl Ads in Favor of $20M Social Media Campaign

2009-12-31T00:13:00.000-05:00

I never thought that Pepsi would be the first large Superbowl advertiser to realize that spending $20M on 30-second Superbowl ads might be better spent elsewhere.

Good for them.

Policing the Holiay Inn brand

2009-12-26T22:58:00.001-05:00

InterContinental Hotels Group has been in the process of enforcing strict guidelines for its Holiday Inn brand of hotels for a while now and is requiring its individual property owners/managers to make upgrades to adhere to its brand guidelines. The chain expects to lose about 300 lodgings by the end of 2010 according the an LA Times story.

A brand represents a set of expectations and Holiday Inn guests have not exactly always known what to expect. Maybe they would check into a property with outside access rooms and a 1970's style room layout with a stale smoke smell or maybe they would get a modern room complete with comfy workspace and flat screen TV.

Holiday Inn is doing a wise thing by telling its customers what they can and should expect and then telling individual property operators to make sure they deliver on those expectations. There may be some pain in the short term but in the long run owners and customers alike will benefit by a strengthened Holiday Inn brand.

How to Plan Your 2010 Marketing Budget

2009-12-23T11:58:00.001-05:00

Many marketing professionals are currently pulling together their marketing plans and budgets for 2010.

If you are faced with making some hard choices because of a weak economy then let me offer some advice.

Attempting to spread your limited marketing investment across as many different media as possible is dangerous. Depth in media is absolutely essential to get the results you want.

All too often people spread their marketing dollars across too many different media and dilute their message and their success. They believe that "being everywhere" to create awareness is the most important thing they can do.

They are dead wrong.

These marketers would be more successful if they focused on mastering a few media first and then made the bulk of their marketing investment in those proven media rather than trying to be everywhere. Just because you test on a small scale with one medium and find a winning campaign that is ready to be scaled-up within the same media does not mean that it is time to roll it out into many different media at the same time. Different media might deliver very different results.

Concentrate on the few media channels with which you are successful. Experiment and measure until you have the return on investment solidly working in your favor and then pour most of your allotted marketing dollars into those media while testing new media on a smaller scale. Master each one of your media channels one at a time and then add them to your mix one at a time until you find the optimum mix and balance.

A winning message in one medium might not translate into a winning message in a different medium. Don't gamble on unproven media because most of the time you will be disappointed. This is especially true when it comes to social media.

If you are just starting with social media marketing (SMM) do not assume that social media is simply a new channel or set of channels through which to push out your traditional marketing messages. Social media requires engagement, transparency and a little experimentation to understand how it works. Traditional marketing rules do not apply in social media because in social media you do not control your message or the conversation about your brand. Others do.

If you are expanding your marketing toolkit in 2010 to include social media for the first time, then it is especially important that you take your time to understand the environment and that you do not sacrifice some of your proven marketing tactics in order to shift to the perceived low-cost nature of social media marketing. You might not like the short-term results because social media marketing takes plenty of time and engagement before you'll begin to see results. It also takes plenty of experience with it before you figure out the rules and can intelligently make decisions about how to make deeper marketing investments into it.

In 2010 you must make some hard decisions about your marketing investments. Try some new things but don't try to do everything. Trying to spread your marketing dollars as far as they will go will be a huge mistake as will be shifting the majority of your efforts into social media when it is a new arena to you.

Inspired marketing?

2009-12-17T19:23:00.000-05:00

I'm glad to see that our tax money that was used to bail out the car companies is being invested wisely for truly inspirational marketing that is effective, innovative and uplifting.

Not.

Brands must help human brains

2009-12-11T17:59:00.000-05:00

Image from ClipArtHeaven.com

Humans like things that are predictable. As such, one thing that a brand must do is act as a proxy for an expected future event, reward, benefit or feeling. A strong brand is something that brains can use as a shortcut to represent a set of expectations. Each and every brand comes with a set of expectations and implies some predictable result.

Your goal as a brand builder is to fully understand what those expectations are and then deliver on them so people see your brand as something predictable and therefore something that does not require a great deal of future analytical thought. If your brand delivers on promises of value and meets expectations every time then people will simply see your brand as a highly predictable, low-involvement decision and they will choose it more often than not.

Once you do not meet the expectations, however, then people's brains will start to think analytically again and you'll have to convince them to choose your product over the competing ones all over again.

Book review: Marketing Public Relations: A Marketer's Approach to Public Relations and Social Media

2009-12-05T22:09:00.002-05:00

Great for students and marketing practitioners alike.

I bumped into Gaetan Giannini virtually in a Facebook marketing group and he graciously offered to send me a review copy of this book. I'm very glad we had that chance encounter because this book is a comprehensive guide to modern public relations and marketing that others need to know about.

This book is a textbook but it should gain traction as a modern day playbook for any marketing or PR professional. Gaetan resets the entire public relations foundation in a new landscape of online social media where you have access to the connectors, gatekeepers and media like never before.

Covering topics from the new PR model to press kits, social media, the marcoms mix, media relations, crisis management, creating and pitching stories, networking with bloggers, blogging as a PR strategy and media planning & measurement (just to mention a few), the book delivers plenty of actionable ideas that the reader needs to consider in order to function in the modern media environment in which many of the rules have changed and old media models have been tossed out the window. This book is quite literally a comprehensive course in modern PR and marketing and even seasoned professionals (maybe especially seasoned professionals!) will learn new tricks.

I highly recommend this book.

...and to return the favor of the gift of this book, ~~I'll gladly send my copy to the first U.S.-based student who contacts me and requests my copy~~. (The book was claimed within hours.)

Recall another blow to Toyota's reputation

2009-12-01T22:05:00.000-05:00

The story in the L.A. Times details Toyota's battles with quality problems and how those problems might tarnish the brand's reputation. The Toyota brand has earned a reputation as a high quality, trouble-free automobile over the years but the recent problems fly in the face of that perception.

Part of having built a strong brand, however, typically means that consumers will be more forgiving of problems when they arise as long as the brand owners acts swiftly and definitively to rebuild and reinforce what the brand means in the minds of consumers. If Toyota addresses the problems properly and assures consumers that they will redouble their commitment to quality and safety then the brand can easily be repaired and not suffer long-lasting brand equity erosion.

Will the Toyota brand recover?

My bet is that it will but only time, Toyota and consumers will ultimately make that determination.

Top 10 Brands

2009-11-25T22:05:00.000-05:00

The latest annual Interbrand report on the Best Global Brands says that ideas like trust, loyalty, familiarity and innovation matter more -- not less -- in an economic brown-out.

Here are the Top 10 brands according to Interbrand:

1.Coca-Cola
2. IBM
3. Microsoft
4. GE
5. Nokia
6. McDonald's
7. Google
8. Toyota
9. Intel
10. Disney

It is better to build your brand than to tear down others'

2009-11-24T21:39:00.004-05:00

I thought this was a meaningful quote in a BrandChannel.com article about comparative advertising.

"Tearing down other brands is not brand building. When a brand begins to define itself by its competition, it loses some control, and can easily suffer the consequences when that competitor brand updates, improves or proves it false."

Comparative advertising definition: An advertisement in which there is specific mention or presentation of competing brand(s) and a comparison is made or implied.

Please welcome and patronize my new affiliates

2009-11-23T22:44:00.000-05:00

Sony unwittingly teaches us a lesson about branding

2009-11-21T22:16:00.006-05:00

There is an article at BrandChannel.com entitled, "Will Sony's Brand Revival Salvage Its Reputation?" that discusses Sony's tarnished reputation and diminished brand equity. The company has experienced some hiccups and problems while its competitors have come on strong. Amazingly, the article quotes senior executives at Sony stating that they are ready to "reinvent [Sony's] marketing" and that "[Sony] cannot just rely on the brand to sell products."

I find that statement amazing.

Great brands are not built on great marketing. Any brand equity built upon mere marketing will fade quickly. Great brands are built on real benefits delivered to customers.

Consumers want superior products and services and prefer brands that evolve and continue to keep promises...and consumers want those promises to be meaningful to them. In a day and age where just about every product category is crammed full of competitors who are pushing all products into a fast slide toward commoditization, it is more important than ever to build your brand on very real differences that matter to consumers over the long term. Sure, people might buy your product once but once they've experienced it that product had better live up to their expectations of the brand if you are hoping they are willing to pay a premium for it and make a repurchase decision.

Marketing is not going to solve Sony's problem. And what about this "can't rely on the brand to sell products?" Excuse me, the brand IS the problem in this case and if you cannot rely on your brand to sell product then why not just take your name off of it and OEM the product for somebody else?

Once a brand stops delivering on its promises then it will go into decline. If you promise leadership (however you define it) then lead. If you promise innovation then be truly innovative. If you promise quality then you darn sure better have higher quality than everyone else in your category.

Once people have set expectations about your brand you cannot relax. You must go about understanding what those expectations are and then deliver on them every single time. Falling short on customer expectations and then just tweaking your marketing isn't going to fix anything unless your new marketing goal is to lower those expectations. And if this is where Sony's is heading then they are further devaluing their brand and accelerating its demise.

New FTC social media endorsement law kicks in on Dec. 1, 2009

2009-11-19T22:08:00.006-05:00

Starting on Dec. 1, 2009 all those who are paid to blog or promote a product or who receive products or other considerations for their testimonials or endorsements must clearly disclose the relationship. If you blog, are involved in social media or write reviews or recommendations you need to familiarize yourself with the new law.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

More info. at ftc.gov or read the actual guide.

Is Social Media a Fad?

2009-11-17T11:00:00.002-05:00

Social Media has changed the way your customers communicate, shop and do business.

Will you meet them where they are, or leave it to your competitors to build brand loyalty with one-to-one relationships?

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And from The Onion, Pepsi to stop advertising: "You can't taste an ad, anyway"

2009-11-16T21:31:00.003-05:00

Pepsi To Cease Advertising
'We Know It's Good, And That's Enough' Says CEO

September 28, 2009 | Issue 45•40

John Tantillo To Kick Off Brand For Breakfast On November 18

2009-11-14T23:08:00.002-05:00

John Tantillo, nationally known marketing and branding expert and Fox Forum columnist, has announced the first event in his Brand For Breakfast series for small business owners and professionals. According to Tantillo, the aim of the breakfasts is to show non-marketers the necessity of marketing their brands and their businesses and to equip them with the tools to make immediate and lasting changes to their operations.

“'Brand for Breakfast' is a way for me to share with a smart, engaged and select audience marketing as marketing is meant to be —not gimmickry, but something founded on the reality of your business that will build your business if you learn and follow its rules,” Tantillo said.

Tantillo, known as The Marketing Doctor, holds a PhD in research psychology and is credited with coining the term “The O’Reilly Factor,” used as the title for the Fox commentator’s show. Tantillo is regularly called on by the media to apply his experience in psychology and marketing to everything from politics to celebrity brands. He has a reputation for identifying early trends and shifts in the political, cultural and corporate marketplace. Tantillo was one of the first commentators to draw attention to the recent trend of creating an advertisement for the sake of generating controversial coverage and ensuring many more impressions than a typical media buy. He named the phenomenon “adpublitizing,” since it harnesses traditional advertising to publicity.

For Tantillo, the Brand for Breakfast series is the next chapter in something of a personal crusade to rescue marketing from what he sees as its chronic mis-representation.

The Brand for Breakfast event will be held between 8am and 10am at Etcetera Etcetera, 352 West 44 Street, New York, New York on November 18, 2009.

Register online at http://blog.marketingdoctor.tv

The cost of the seminar is $75 and may be paid to the Marketing Department of America Ltd. through PayPal when registering online.

For any questions, contact Rolf Graber: 212-679-5700, rgraeber[at]mdaltd.com

# # #

Does the hard sell work on social networks?

2009-11-10T21:56:00.002-05:00

According to Brian Morrissey at Brandweek I think the answer might just surprise you.

Small Business Branding Tips

2009-10-23T22:20:00.001-04:00

Branding is a key way to set your company apart from the competition, and there are some simple ways you can achieve this. Small business owner Rachel Bitan talks about the importance and mechanisms of creating a strong and memorable company brand.

http://video.about.com/sbinformation/Small-Business-Branding-Tips.htm

A good Twitter primer

2009-10-15T08:04:00.000-04:00

Jason Davey has put together a 24 slide presentation that covers the basics of how to use Twitter for business.

My favorite tip?

Don't sell. Share.

Twitter Tips for Business - August 2009

View more presentations from Bullseye.

Twitter is spam

2009-10-13T21:02:00.003-04:00

I still have a bit more research to conduct, but I'm pretty sure that Twitter is nothing but a spam facilitator for businesses.

The only difference between tweets and regular spam is that people are slightly more likely to read your spam on Twitter because they "opted in" in the first place and they at least know that each spam message will be very brief.

Oh, and just because somebody opted-in to your list? That doesn't mean that relentlessly attacking their email box isn't spamming.

The Great Twitter Project: How To Make Money On Twitter

2009-10-10T11:41:00.005-04:00

It's time to put your money where your mouth is.

What is it?:
A project to learn how people are making money with Twitter. Participants will be sent a short survey to explore their stories on how they are using or have used Twitter successfully to make money. Some participants will then be selected for more in-depth interviews. All stories, case studies and data will then be compiled and written into a special report that will be shared with all participants. The result will be an exclusive report packed full of tips describing how to successfully integrate Twitter into your marketing activities to increase your sales.

When?:
This project started on October 10, 2009 and new participants will be accepted until June 30, 2010. At that point the final surveys and interviews will be conducted and the final report written and sent to participants. The report is anticipated to be ready in late July, 2010.

Why?:
To learn how people are using Twitter to make money and to share your success stories with others so best practices may be developed for those who wish to integrate Twitter into the marketing mix for their business. Also, the final report will list many participants by name & URL and contain ample footnotes. As such, this is a great opportunity for successful Twitter users to raise the visibility of their brands and further enhance their online Twitter success. Progress reports and other gems will be shared along the way.

Where?:
Anyone who has access to the internet and who has an email address can participate. International, broad-based participation is encouraged.

Who?:
This study is being conducted by Dave Dolak, a U.S.-based marketing professional. Dave is tired of hearing so much hype about Twitter and his aim is to cut through the hype and uncover the cases in which people are actually using Twitter to contribute to commerce in some way. Unless a potential marketing tool like Twitter causes money to change hands at some point then it is just a fad, an electronic diversion, a way to waste of great deal of time and effort and not actually a real marketing tool at all. This project aims to uncover those people who are using Twitter as a true marketing tool and to share their methods with others. Learn more about Dave at www.DaveDolak.com or Twitter.com/davedolak_va.

How?:
Become a participant in this project right now by subscribing via the “Add to cart” PayPal button below. The cost to participate is merely $2 and that buys you the final report at the end. 6 months after the report is released it will be made available to others outside of this project at a much higher price.

The great Twitter Project: How To Make Money On Twitter participation. $2.00 (USD)

Enlightened Stupid Marketer

2009-10-02T17:14:00.003-04:00

The value-centricity of this video cannot be overstated. "I'd prefer someone to be aware of my product than to not purchase it."

Somewhere, somehow Spinal Tap must have gone back to business school.

Book review: Buying In

2009-09-29T22:59:00.001-04:00

In "Buying In", Rob Walker explores how modern consumers interact with brands and why you are less in control of what your brand means than ever before.

Consumers understand marketing because marketing has been coming at them from just about every direction since the day they were born. Much "stealth" marketing, manufactured or fertilized word-of-mouth marketing and sponsorships are easily spotted and identified by consumers as exactly what they are. Nobody is fooling anybody anymore. That's OK Walker tells us because consumers will willingly become part of the process if you allow them in the right way. Welcome to the world of "murketing."

This book has lengthy case studies that sometimes seem to ramble off-point but hang in there because they all make a larger point.

The big point is this:

The art of modern commercial persuasion allows people to become part of your branding process and allows them to co-opt your brand in order to enable them to weave and express their own personal narrative through their individual expression of your brand and others'.

You might not always understand how they are defining your brand and personally identifying with it, but if you leave enough of your brand open to interpretation then you should allow high reach influencers to co-opt your brand and then watch what they do with it and where they go with it. Then strive to embrace it and build upon how they define it because ultimately consumers define your brand, not you.

Consumers reflect and project themselves through brands. You must allow them to do this by not tightly and narrowly defining your brand. Leave enough open to interpretation so that people have some flexibility for personal interpretation. This is a very important concept and Walker strongly supports it with research and case studies.

I highly recommend this book.

What are your promotions really doing for you?

2009-09-21T22:03:00.003-04:00

Definition: Sales promotion - Sales promotions are short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service. Sales promotion includes several communications activities that attempt to provide added value or incentives to consumers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational customers to stimulate immediate sales. These efforts can attempt to stimulate product interest, trial, or purchase.

An interesting article appeared recently in the Boston Globe that talked about the aftermath of the "cash for clunkers" program that saw our U.S. government offering up to $4,500 as an incentive for people to trade in their old clunker automobiles for newer, more fuel efficient vehicles. After spending nearly $3 billion on the program, what lasting effect is it having on U.S. auto sellers? Nil. Nada. None. The recession is back in full force at auto dealers across the country.

Sales promotions are by definition short-term programs. Their aim is to spur purchase of your product or service.

Before you run your next sales promotion try to answer a few questions first.

1) If the promotion works and it increases sales in the short-term, will that have any negative effect on long-term sales?

2) Will I simply be moving the purchase time frame for somebody who would have purchased from me anyway?

3) Will I be conditioning my customers to wait for an incentive or discount next time such that they will forever more be less likely to pay full price?

4) Is my brand suited to sales promotion which in one way or another is really a discount?

5) Will I be damaging my brand in the long-run?

See also:

http://www.getelastic.com/how-much-is-your-coupon-code-box-costing-you

http://mktsci.journal.informs.org/cgi/content/abstract/13/1/23

http://books.google.com/books?id=o_mIiLQrNnsC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=sales+promotion+brand+value&source=bl&ots=rdH8FlIEXA&sig=tqAzicEKHpqibqKJLIbz3_ukMzE&hl=en&ei=eza4SrD9NsbllAfC9OzJDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8#v=onepage&q=sales%20promotion%20brand%20value&f=false