2009 March | brandSTOKE

Archive for March, 2009

Mar

Taglines: from the idiotic to the unforgettable

By Kirk Closed

Categories: advertising, brand essence, copywriting and strategy

Too often marketing taglines or slogans are irritating (“Ring around the collar,” Wisk), inane (“We’ll get you there,” Delta), or thankfully forgettable (“Creating value through excellence in innovation, quality and people,” BF Goodrich).

Bad taglines are easy to spoof. Anyone can do it and everyone does.

And no one, either marketers or consumers, believes a purchase decision is made based solely upon a slogan. No wonder taglines are sometimes held in disdain.

Yet, when strategic, a tagline can be a valuable communications tool. Here are some famous examples:

Some taglines help build name recognition:

Tastes so good cats ask for it by name. (Meow Mix)
With a name like Smucker’s … it has to be good.

Some define the brand’s category:

When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. (Federal Express)
Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh, what a relief it is! (Alka Seltzer)

Some highlight a brand attribute:

Please don’t squeeze the Charmin.
Does she or doesn’t she? (Clairol)
Finger lickin’ good. (KFC)
When it rains, it pours! (Morton Salt)
It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. (Timex)
So easy a caveman can do it. (Geico)

Some promote repeat brand experiences:

Reach out and touch someone. (AT&T)
Look, Ma, no cavities! (Crest)
When you care enough to send the very best. (Hallmark)
Betcha can’t eat just one. (Lay’s)
Got milk? (California Milk Processor Board)
Don’t leave home without it. (American Express)

Some build affinity with customers by inspiring them:

Just do it. (Nike)
Be all you can be. (U.S. Army)
It’s everywhere you want to be. (Visa)
Breakfast of champions. (Wheaties)

Some position the brand vs. its competitors:

We try harder. (Avis Rent A Car)
The ultimate driving machine. (BMW)
Have it your way. (Burger King)
Nothing runs like a Deere. (John Deere)
The Uncola. (7 Up)
Think small. (Volkswagen)
Where’s the beef? (Wendy’s)

For a perspective on how to develop effective taglines, read brand-positioning guru Al Ries’ list of four “glues” that make taglines “sticky.”

Which taglines do you think are effective? And which ones ill-conceived?

Mar

Fear of failing and the courage to be different

By Kirk 2 Comments

Categories: brand essence, research and strategy

A client showed me a competitor’s ad. “Why aren’t we doing this?” he asked.

“You want to promise the exact same brand experience as your competition?”

“If it works,” he said.

His question was driven by fear that somehow his competitor was gaining the upper hand. By matching the offer, he reasoned he would be eliminating any advantage the competitor may have gained. This is playing not to lose, instead of playing to win.

Copying the attributes of competitors leads to sameness within the segment. Is anyone able to distinguish between banking, insurance, gasoline, car rental, or health care brands these days?

Brands that don’t differentiate themselves fail to give customers reasons to choose them (other than cheapness or convenience). In the eyes of consumers, they become commodities.

Everyone knows this, yet few brands do anything about it. It is easier to copy than to innovate.

True brand differentiation is based upon intangibles — the emotional connection customers feel toward the brand. Intangible attributes build loyalty and compel customers to choose the brand regardless of other circumstances.

Here are some ideas to help identify a brand’s intangible differentiators:

Talk to customers. Learn how they perceive the brand and why they prefer it. Then emphasize their perception in the marketing and delivery of the brand experience.
Do some soul-searching to identify the brand’s essence and how it is manifested within the brand experience. (See the 9 criteria for brand essence.) Once identified, enhance it.
Keep the delivery of the brand experience on point. Having no focus weakens the brand in consumers’ eyes.
Study competitors’ offerings and look for unfulfilled gaps in the experience. Fill them.
Study successful models of uniqueness: e.g., Southwest Airlines, Celestial Seasonings, Ben & Jerry’s, Whole Foods, and Harley-Davidson.
Think niche. It is easier for a boutique than a monolith to be unique. Trying to be all things to all consumers usually results in blending in, not standing out.
Before duplicating a competitor’s offering, make sure the change is in alignment with your point of differentiation and doesn’t distract from or soften it.
Once a point of differentiation is identified, claim it publicly and “own” it.
Reward the practice of thinking differently within your organization.

Please share your ideas about how brands can fight the epidemic of sameness.

Mar

Why rfps often result in the worst hires

By Kirk 4 Comments

Categories: client-agency relationships and new business

istock_000003292097xsmall I know several marketing professionals who love to pursue new business. They enjoy the prospecting, the networking, the strategizing, the problem-solving, the pitching. Yet I know absolutely no one who likes responding to RFPs (requests for proposal). I don’t even know any clients who like RFPs (and they originate them!).

Why are RFPs still around? It’s because they are perceived as:

fair (Everyone has a shot, including the unqualified.)
nonpolitical (Absolutely not true)
economical (The finalists are often asked to discount their fees to win the business.)
empowering (C’mon, it’s entertaining to watch these overpriced consultants jump through hoops, isn’t it?)
defensible (There is, after all, lots of process, paperwork and meetings to back up the hiring decision. This is why publicly funded organizations issue them.)

Everything about the RFP process is wrong and guarantees getting the worst candidate for the job hired.

Think about it. The firm that successfully navigates the process and “wins” the account:

had lots of free time on its hands
filled out all of the forms correctly
was more than willing to tap dance
shared ideas for free
worked all of the political angles
buckled to the compensation demands

The firm that did not respond:

was too busy being productive to participate in a cattle call
would rather talk strategy than fill out forms
prefers not to play politics
believes it offers fair market value without negotiating
would not staff with juniors after the award
gains business primarily through referrals

Here’s how to get a smarter hire minus the RFP:

Start by knowing what you are asking for. Know your objectives, your budget, your criteria, and who is making the hiring decision. Be willing to share all of this with candidates upfront.
Don’t limit your selection by geography or size. Limit instead by capabilities and experience.
Start a short list. Ask businesses whose marketing you admire to refer their firms.
Don’t waste the time of firms of who don’t meet your criteria, even if they beg.
Set up casual get-acquainted no-pressure meetings. Get to know the candidates. Learn how they think.
Visit their shops. Review their case studies. Get a feel for their culture.
Select a couple of them and give them small projects to find out what they’re like to work with. Kick their tires. Maybe you’ll find a good match without conducting a formal review.
If you decide to conduct a review, only invite 2-4 firms. Not 37.
Keep your review quiet or you will invite calls from non-candidates wanting in.
Don’t ask for speculative creative. Think about it: how could a firm that barely knows you make an intelligent recommendation?
Instead of asking for spec, ask how they might approach a problem strategically. Give them a reasonable amount of time to respond. Provide background research if they ask for it.
Accept that good work will come through partnership. Hire the best collaborator–not necessarily the best idea.

What other hiring tips do you recommend?

Mar

“Less” isn’t just more — it’s omnipotent

By Kirk 1 Comment

Categories: art direction & design, copywriting and strategy

istock_000006340991xsmall Generally, when communicating, using fewer words and images demonstrates focus and clarity. Using lots of text and visuals demonstrates the opposite. Being succinct is not just a more effective technique. It claims category domination. It says game-over.

Example: Ever notice that the more famous someone or something is, the fewer words are needed to identify them?

Consider the one-name celebrities: Cher, Elvis, Marilyn, Sting, Bono, Ringo, Beyonce, Eminem, Liberace, Madonna, Oprah, Pele, Prince and Shaq. One word is all they need. Same with the monogram celebrities: JFK, YSL, FDR, LV, OJ and LBJ.

The stronger the brand, the fewer letters needed to conjure the image.

Same with companies. Most names follow this formula: (brand name) followed by (category). Example: Campbell’s Soup, “Campbell’s” being the brand and “Soup” being the category.

Once brands are household names, they can drop the category designation. “Ford” doesn’t need to be followed by “Automobiles.” The name “Ford” says it all. Any doubt as to which category the following brands compete in–Kellogg’s, Nikon, McDonald’s, Disney, Gucci, Yahoo!, Rolex, Ben & Jerry’s, Visa and FedEx?

As brands grow stronger, they may go by even shorter nicknames: Coca-Cola by Coke, Kentucky Fried Chicken by KFC, Budweiser by Bud, Caterpillar by Cat, and Giorgio Armani by Armani. Lengthy law-firm names are shrinking nationally, usually to the first name on the letterhead. Example: San Francisco’s Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe goes by Orrick and markets itself using the letter “O.”)

Acronyms are essentially nicknames. Generally they are a bad idea because they are difficult to remember. However, once a company is well known and long established, consumers tend to accept them, such as IBM, GE, AT&T, BMW, UPS, BP and KFC.

The ultimate swagger is to forgo letters and words completely and use symbols to communicate. Who doesn’t recognize the ubiquitous Nike, Apple, and Shell logos? The Superman “S” and the McDonald’s “M?” And the Red Cross’ logo is reportedly the best known brand symbol in the world — a simple red cross.

Say less. Be more. Agree?

Mar

Big budget not required for a strong brand

By Kirk Closed

Categories: budgeting and strategy

Flexing Occasionally, I hear a client complain about the size of their marketing budget vs. those of larger brands (budget envy). “Well, of course, they’re successful. They spend millions!”

There’s more to it than the allocations.

A successful brand is doing a number of things right besides spending money on marketing (See my nine criteria for the brand essence.).

Strong brands deliver a unique and meaningful experience … consistently. This requires operational excellence, not marketing.

A great steakhouse with no marketing budget is still a great steakhouse.

A bad steakhouse with a huge marketing budget is still a bad steakhouse.

The role of marketing is to articulate the sizzle, not grill the steak or clean the restrooms. Marketing can influence customer behavior, but only if the steakhouse is great to start with.

Need proof? The landscape is littered with big-budget brands that have fallen or disappeared:

Their big marketing budgets didn’t save them from bad operational decisions.

Now the good news: For every one of these highly publicized train wrecks, there are thousands of brands getting it right, with or without big budgets. You know them–they are the businesses you reward everyday with your patronage because the experiences they deliver are both special and dependable.

The better the customer experience, the higher the return on the marketing investment. Whatever the size.