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“9 Criteria for Brand Essence” Deck
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
- When to hire vs. when to outsource
- 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?
Industry News
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Category Archives: strategy
Chipotle takes a stand
It isn’t easy standing for something. For a brand, taking a strong position may attract some customers while repelling others. It may mean being satisfied with a niché. Benetton, for example, has long taken a controversial stand on social issues in its marketing. Its new campaign, “Unhate,” invites the world’s leaders and inhabitants to oppose the “culture of hatred.” Another apparel-maker, Patagonia, vigorously supports environmentalism. Whatever most fast-food restaurants stand for, it isn’t healthy eating, despite their token salads and fruit cups. Chipotle is an exception within the category. According to a post at SustainableBusiness.com, Chipotle “pioneered the use of … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, authenticity, brand essence, cause marketing, health care, retail, strategy
6 Comments
Best Buy’s smart Super Bowl play
A few weeks from now, the Super Bowl commercials featuring dogs, babies, sex and celebrities will blur together. Was it Doritos or Bud Light? My nominee for most likely to succeed in the long run is Best Buy’s spot. (Watch it below.) Best Buy borrowed equity from the innovators of smartphone technology, a strategy likely to appeal to its tech-savvy customers. Geek celebrities who implied their endorsements, included: Philippe Kahn, creator of one of the first camera phones Ray Kurzweil, the inventor of text-to-speech Neil Papworth, the person who sent the world’s first SMS message Paul and David Bettner, creators … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, retail, social media, strategy
6 Comments
Is YouTube the new Super Bowl?
Remember when, in order to see the much anticipated Super Bowl commercials, you had to actually watch the game? Not anymore. Acura unveiled its Super Bowl commercial on Monday. On YouTube. Six days before the game. “In previous years, Super Bowl commercials were single-day lightning,” Suzie Reider, head of industry development for the global video team at Google, told The New York Times. “Now, it feels more like rolling thunder.” Social media has changed the strategy. “The reason social media is becoming so important is the price tag,” Derek Rucker, associate professor of marketing at Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, promotion, social media, strategy
3 Comments
Chobani starts Greek war, wakes giants
Usually, niché players are satisfied to pull small shares away from the category leaders. And usually, category leaders overlook the incursions. Only rarely does the niché grow to challenge the entire category, but this is exactly the case with yogurt. Until recently, yogurt sales in the U.S. have been dominated by Dannon and Yoplait. Now, Greek-style yogurt, hardly a presence four years ago, dominates. And New York-based Chobani is the niché-turned-category leader, having launched only four years ago. Greek company, Fage, also led the revolution. It began importing its product in 2000 and opened its U.S. plant in 2008. Thicker … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, retail, strategy
7 Comments
Claim a niche. Rule your world.
It’s the holiday season. Allow me to go biblical: “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” – 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 This may have worked for Paul, but it’s not an effective strategy for most brands. Many try so hard to appeal to all, they ultimately disappoint almost everyone. Only a few brands understand they can achieve success by doing one thing well for a segment of the market. It’s called niché marketing. I enjoy discovering brands that have identified under-served nichés and staked their claims. Here are a couple … Continue reading
Posted in health care, simplicity, strategy
2 Comments
Most popular posts of 2011
This month BrandSTOKE is three-years-old. At the upper end of the toddler years, it enjoys improved motor and language skills. Though still developing emotionally, BrandSTOKE is growing more confident while exploring its environment. Thank you for continuing to subscribe, read and comment. If you have any suggestions for improving the blog, please let me know. In celebration of reaching this milestone, here’s a list of some of the most popular posts as well as a few personal favorites from the last twelve months: 12 most poplar posts of 2011: Pandora and the certainty of commoditization 7 common branding workshop pitfalls … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, art direction & design, authenticity, brand essence, budgeting, copywriting, health care, identity, loyalty, packaging, promotion, public relations, research, retail, roi, simplicity, social media, standards, strategy
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