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Uncovering & Articulating Essence
- 9 criteria for brand essence
- Why “trusted” isn’t the brand essence
- 7 common branding workshop pitfalls
- Patagonia: They also sell clothes.
- Why so few brands get it right
- Why intangibles are the more sustainable competitive advantages
- To inspire loyalty, ask why, not how.
- You say tomato. I say Fox’s Fine Gourmet Ketchup.
- Warning: Your brand is being commoditized!
- Brand essence by every other name
- For brand authenticity, look inside.
- Table-stake attributes do not differentiate brands.
Simplicity & Effectiveness of Messaging
Other Popular Posts
- What every non-marketer should know about branding
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- Do artisan brands lose their fans when sold to conglomerates?
- So who is “the world’s greatest insurance spokesperson in the world?”
- Does Geico’s multi-concept strategy work?
- BMW uncovers its brand essence: joy
- P&G brands … itself?
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Category Archives: event marketing
The branding of tragedy
In order to be able to communicate, we must share a common language. We must agree on how to refer to things, whether tangible or intangible. Thus, to be able to talk about events, such as wars, disasters and tragedies, we give them names. The news media helps with this: “The Attack on Pearl Harbor,” “The Sinking of the Titanic,” “9/11.” At some point, the media decided simple names were not enough. TV news departments began enhancing their names for events with graphics, slogans and animation, thereby branding their coverage. Perhaps this practice started during CNN’s 24-hour coverage of the … Continue reading
Posted in cause marketing, event marketing, interactive marketing, mass media, social media
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Brand as aphrodisiac: Impotent strategy in a cynical age?
Regarding Super Bowl advertising, columnist Stuart Elliott of The New York Times said, “the so-called creative minds of Madison Avenue chose once again to fall back on familiar strategies and themes that would have appealed more to viewers during the Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan or Clinton administrations.” (Along those lines, if you think Taco Bell’s spot featuring old people acting young was funny, rent the 1985 sci-fi movie, Cocoon.) One of those familiar strategies is claiming that certain products improve one’s success with the opposite sex. Selling sex appeal is not new — one can imagine Mad Men‘s Don Draper creating … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, event marketing, strategy
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Why marketing pros should ignore the Super Bowl
During the last several months, a few advertising professionals have spent millions of dollars making commercials for Sunday’s game. They’ve paid millions more for air time ($3.8 million per slot). And during the game, 111 million viewers will watch, expecting to be amused. Yet next year at this time, few will remember the commercials. (Do you recall the Bridgestone spot from 2012? For that matter, do you remember which teams played in the game?) Super Bowl commercials are short-lived entertainment vehicles. At best, they generate name awareness, so they are best-suited for start-ups and new product launches. For the vast … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, event marketing, roi
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Top 12 BrandSTOKE posts of 2012
BrandSTOKE, like other four-year-olds, is developing greater self-control, demonstrating imagination and experimenting with independent decision-making. Thank you for continuing to subscribe, read and comment. If you have any suggestions for improvement, please let me know. In celebration of BrandSTOKE’s four-year anniversary, here is a list of your favorite posts of 2012 as well as a few personal favorites: 12 most popular posts of 2012: Scott the Scot from Scotts: Get it? Sex, OTC drugs, and rock-and-roll Proud sponsor of plagiarized taglines Only 7 men in the world permitted to drink Jägermeister In co-branding there is strength Time for Swiss watches … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, art direction & design, authenticity, brand essence, cause marketing, copywriting, event marketing, health care, identity, interactive marketing, lead-generation marketing, loyalty, mass media, packaging, public relations, retail, roi, search engine marketing, simplicity, social media, standards, strategy
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Latest ranking of bowl-game names released
Rose. Cotton. Orange. Those were the days when a bowl name was a bowl name and a cigar was a good smoke. Not any longer. Now it’s body shops, credit unions and vitamins. With the addition of sponsors’ identities, bowl-game names have become largely forgettable, not to mention unpronounceable. Management committees have chosen short-term revenue over long-term bowl brand identity. In several cases, the bowls have no independent identity whatsoever, e.g. GoDaddy.com Bowl. What will the game be called when GoDaddy goes? Following is my ranking, worst to best, of this uninspired lot of bowl names. I give points for … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, cause marketing, copywriting, event marketing, identity, promotion, simplicity
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How to ambush Olympic sponsors
Want to steal some brand equity from the Olympics? Here’s how: Shoot video of people working out. Hard bodies, kids, whatever. Include close-ups of pained expressions. Edit to uplifting music. Record a somber, authoritative voice talent extolling the virtues of hard work, discipline, etc. Sprinkle in some Olympic-like references, such as “games” and “going for the gold,” but keep it generic. Voilá! You’ve just hijacked the equity that official sponsors of the 2012 London Olympics have paid millions for. It’s called ambush marketing, and you may be hearing from the Organising Committee’s attorney soon. Ambush marketing, according to the London … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, event marketing, standards
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