Marketing 2.0

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Plot the Graph.

As marketers, we all want to ignite passion for our brands. One challenge is to convince CEO's and finance managers that spending a lot of money to build an "emotional relationship" with customers is the way to go. While it may sound okay in principle, the pesky CFO is likely to ask, "how do we quantify our success?"

Fear no more faithful marketers. There is a new tool jointly developed by global ad giant Saatchi & Saatchi and British firm QIQ International. It measures the emotional power of a brand, specifically respect and love. Measuring love? Apparently the computer-based survey measures sensuality and intimacy among other factors.

Via Fast Company - a good article with some nice examples of building emotional brands that resonate with consumers.

Fast Company | How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Plot the Graph.

Coke tops 2004 brand league; iPod boosts Apple

What's your brand worth? The latest Interbrand rankings of brand equity are out and the tech companies are moving up. I'm not sure how they arrive at these figures but their formula is said to be both complex and comprehensive.

One finding that caught my attention — companies that built "cult brands" or communities around their products and services moved way up on the list.

Coke tops 2004 brand league; iPod boosts Apple - Jul. 23, 2004

The Tyranny of the Tagline

Michael Beirut provides an engaging rant about corporate taglines. His primary example of taglines gone crazy is the new brand effort for the YWCA, in which the tagline "eliminating racism, empowering women" becomes the new brand identity for the organization, superseding the name itself.

There are effective taglines that resonate and endure - "Just do it", "Think different" and "See the USA in a Chevrolet" come to mind. For every good one, there seems to be a baker's dozen of corny or just plain obtuse slogans.

I must admit that I love creating taglines for products and organizations. Like any other communications strategy, there are good and bad examples. Without giving it too much thought here's a quick list of clunkers that don't work for me:

"Where do you want to go today?" (hint: not down to the software store for the 47th iteration of a word processing program). "Get the feeling" (Toyota builds great cars but they are efficient appliances, not objects of desire. They got it right with their Lexus division, though, by using "The relentless pursuit of perfection"). "I'm loving it" (McDonalds might be a good choice when you are traveling or really pressed for time but I can't recall anyone saying they loved the food).

What are your favorite hits and misses for corporate taglines?

Design Observer: writings about design & culture: The Tyranny of the Tagline

Six design lessons from the apple store

Jesse James Garrett from Adaptive Path, provides six good tips on retail branding that he observes at the San Francisco Apple store.

adaptive path six design lessons from the apple store

Rules for Off-Roading at Work

Seth Godin offers insight into going "offroad" with your strategy. Most marketing executives are conservative when it comes to new products — testing with focus groups, gaining consensus within the organization and just generally covering their behinds in case the product doesn't sell. Godin encourages companies to go "offroad" and cites the example of Dyson vacuum cleaners.

Although it's always easier to embrace revolutionary and risky strategies as a paid consultant rather than a senior manager, there are some good suggestions here.

Fast Company | Rules for Off-Roading at Work

The role of identity in marketing

Here's an interesting article from Wharton on the role of identity in forming our opinions and brand allegiances. I recommend that you sign up for this newsletter as they always have interesting content in a number of different categories.

"Why do so many smokers keep smoking, despite decades of health warnings? Why do Harley Davidson motorcycles and Ralph Lauren clothing engender such loyalty among very specific types of people? Why do teens and parents always seem to fight, and never seem to hear what the other is saying? Wharton marketing professors Lisa Bolton and Americus Reed have found through their research that judgments linked to a person's identity - from teenager to Republican, environmentalist or businessman - are virtually immovable. That has crucial implications for brand identity."

Your Boss Won't Agree? Might Be "Identity-Induced Stickiness" - Knowledge@Wharton