Marketing 2.0

Branding Hall of Shame

CNN Money reports on major companies who committed branding blunders in 2005. At the top of this list is Microsoft with their dinosaur ads. There's nothing like profiling your customers as dinosaurs to get them fired up and running out to buy their 14th version of Office.

Ford is another culprit. Remember when their brand slogan was "Quality is job one?" Now they are saying, hey forget about the quality angle, we're all about innovation. Well, I've seen their their vehicles and trust me, there's nothing innovative going on. They dusted off the old Mustang design and reproduced it for aging baby boomers (like me, I guess). They copied the design of the last-generation Passat to make the Ford 500. Judging by the inventory sitting on the local dealer's lot. these "innovative" cars aren't catching anyone's attention.

Then there's GM. I really hate to pile on this dying behemoth but their brand message is "Attention auto shoppers, the blue light special is in effect for the next 30 days. Come on down and you can get the employee discount." At bargain-basement prices, GM did move some metal off their lots. Trouble was, no one checked the old price vs. cost comparison at GM and they lost $10 billion in 2005, largely by dumping their products at fire sale prices. Oops. Let's hope they don't start offering everyone pink slips.

Link: Branding bloopers and blunders - Mar. 30, 2006.

The Art of Marketing?

BMW has been an innovator in using non-traditional marketing strategies such as hiring directors to make short films that feature BMW models. This work often blurs the distinction between art and marketing. Is it art used for marketing purposes or is it marketing masquerading as art?

Their latest collaboration is with Joshua Davis, artist and designer, to promote the lovely new Z4 Coupe. The website sponsored by BMW, details this collaborations and offers limited-edition prints for sales.

Link: Z4byJD %u2013 The BMW Z4 Coup� by Joshua Davis.

Most Influential Brands in 2005

Interbrand has selected its most influential brands in 2005. At the top of the list is Google, closely followed by Apple. They also unveil regional results for Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Link: brandchannel.com | brandchannel Readers Choice Awards 2005 | Brands Rankings, Research, Lists | branding and marketing portal | brand | brands | branding .

Brand Revival

Here's some advice from Fast Company on how to revive a brand that's fallen out of favor with consumers. You might the key is great advertising or a new logo or packaging. In most cases it comes down to old-fashioned hard work - getting out in front of your customers, reconnecting with those who care about your brand and repositioning it with their input.

Link: Fast Talk: Brand Revivers.

Brand Scents

What's the next frontier in differentiating your brand? Do you smell like a winner? That's right, marketeers, creating a unique fragrance for your brand experience.

Fast Company offers this interesting article on using a signature scent as a brand identifier. While we can all visualize using scent in a high-fashion retail environment, would you believe that Samsung and Sony are using it to sell electronics?

"We wanted to add one extra dimension to differentiate our store from the rest," says Christine Belich, executive creative director of the SonyStyle stores, noting that the company is particularly interested in attracting female shoppers to its 16 mall locations.

Here's my favorite quote from an 11-year-old shopper, "I love the smell of technology," he said. "It smells stimulating."

Link: Smells Like Brand Spirit.

The Brand Called Me

Do you use your name as your brand? You might enjoy this article from Fast Company on personal brands. They interview 5 people behind the brands, including Tony Hawk, Nigella Lawson and Todd Oldham to talk about retaining control and staying true to your principles. Some good advice here, although it would have been great to get feedback from the queen of personal branding — Martha Stewart.

Link: Fast Talk: The Brand Called Me.

The Brand Harmony Quiz

Steve Yastrow has developed a short survey to assess your organization's branding strategy. Based on your score, you might be in need of a brand transplant. Take the survey and see where you rank.

Link: Yastrow Marketing - Article - The Brand Harmony Quiz.

Brands We Love

Want to inspire passionate loyalty for your brand? Take some advice from marketers at Guinness, ESPN and Harley-Davidson in this article from Fast Company.

Fast Company | Fast Talk: Brands We Love

Divergence, Convergence, and Other Marketing Strategies

The latest Wharton newsletter has a good article on branding. The article summarizes many of the key points raised in the book "The Origin of Brands: Discover the Natural Laws of Product Innovation and Business Survival", by Al and Laura Ries.

"The Rieses contend that Darwin’s concept of divergence can be applied to the process of introducing new brands and to maintaining the continued profitability of existing companies. McDonald’s and Starbucks are classic examples of new brand divergence. Diners and coffee shops were a fixture of the American scene, but McDonald’s, with its limited menu based on the hamburger, and Starbucks, with its emphasis on European-style gourmet coffees, separated their brands from the competition and created a category for themselves which they could dominate."

Divergence, Convergence, and Other Marketing Strategies - Knowledge@Wharton

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.