When you know it, improvise.
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This post is part of the Human Talk series.
If you would like to contribute your good or bad Human Talk examples, Email me. I’ll accept photos, stories, videos, audio, etc. and give credit where credit is due.
a new word for something new, undertaken with the right intention but which has not (yet) led to the desired result.
You only recognize a nearling when you look back, and you can always learn from a nearling.
You can be proud of nearlings because:
(Excerpts taken from Creativity Today)
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Looking at the big picture, doesn’t social media look like a cluster of nearling after nearling, leading to another set of nearling after nearling?
What do you think?
Is this why big businesses haven’t had as much success as they have in the past with traditional media? To much iteration?
“Statistics show that more consumers notice red colored products and packaging more than any other color. But they purchase more blue colored products or products in blue packaging. ” At least, that was a statement that what one of my college marketing professors tossed into a lecture on packaging, a few years ago.
Since then, I haven’t been able to find this statistic in those exact words, but I still don’t doubt the accuracy of the statement. Colors (when used right) can play a tremendous role in drawing the eye, evoking emotion, and even action.
Color may be able to aid in boosting onetime sales and marketing efforts. But when your focus is widened to encapsulate building a brand and not just making a single sale, how does color fit into the equation?
The Brandcurve’s Susan Gunelius is tackling this question and more with her spot on Color Theory Primer series. It’s definitely worth your time, and I would consider this to be a great step in ending the brand tug of war.
Bill Gammell of ÜberEye Marketing snapped this photo on his cell phone because it reminded of the sign from Human Talk: Hand Tossed.
It works because it is an accurate reflection of the Chili’s fun personality and talks in their voice. You can hear the same guy that sings the baby back ribs jingle saying this.
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This post is part of the Human Talk series.
If you would like to contribute your good or bad Human Talk examples, Email me. I’ll accept photos, stories, videos, audio, etc. and give credit where credit is due.
In a previous post, How Far Can a Brand Stretch?, I listed some comical examples of brands that had stretched too far with unrelated line extensions. At the end of that post used Mr. Clean’s Windshield Wash and Wiper Blades as an example of a “very natural and logical” line extension.
Well now Procter & Gamble are taking the Mr. Clean extensions to a whole new a whole new level as they have opened up two Mr. Clean Performance Car Washes in Ohio, and they have plans to open up more car washes around the country.
Promo lays out more of the details.
Via: Brand Mix
My boss came back from lunch this afternoon and told me how both he and his wife got to eat their lunch for free. They stopped into a new artisan bakery that just opened up a few blocks away from our office. While he was looking over the menu to see what the place had to offer he noticed that something was missing. The prices. When he asked the woman behind the counter about the prices she simply said, “It’s all free.”
The restaurant had earned one of their permits but was still waiting on one and couldn’t legally open for business. So instead of letting all the food they had already had in stock go to waste they decided to have a soft opening and give it all away, in hopes of generating some buzz.
It worked. They started the day offering three shelves full of different kinds of pastries, and there wasn’t a single one left by the time my boss and his wife got their for lunch. Both my boss and his wife came back to the office raving about how delicious the food was, and now I’m making plans to stop in there for some pastries in the morning.
If you have a special talent or ability that no one knows about, volunteer your time and talent. If you have an amazing product or service that you believe can change lives, but don’t know how to get people to notice it, give it away. If what you have to offer is as good as you think, it won’t take much more to get people talking.
The brand debate in this months issue of Brandchannel.com, poses on the question, “Do people, or does time, kill our favorite brands?”
What happened with brands like PanAm, Atari, Netscape, and Cingular? Was it the people managing these brands that are responsible for their fate, or was the inescapable force of time that did them in?
This reminds me of L.A. Gear, the brand that made a quick rise to the top in the late 80’s, ultimately becoming the third largest athletic shoe manufacturer, behind Nike and Reebok. They then made an equally quick tailspin, filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the late 90’s.
Who was to blame for L.A. Gears’ demise? Time or People?
I say people. With such a short-lived success, it would be illogical to say that time lead to the brand’s death. This is especially true when you look at how long L.A. Gears’ former rivals have been in business. Nike was founded in 1972, 36 years ago. Reebok has been in business for over a century, founded in 1895.
A closer look at L.A. Gear’s history reveals a large number of brand management decisions that were ultimately the cause of the brands extinction.
Here are some highlights from the companies brand blunders:
Teaming with Michael Jackson
With their quick rise to the top, they too easily lost their focus when they paid pop singer Michael Jackson to be their spokesman. If though the company was known as the fashionable basketball shoe, this alliance alienated their core audience. More problems arose when the specially designed black, heavily buckled shoes were a tremendous flop.
Multiple Lawsuits
The companies copycat designs lead to them being slapped with a number of lawsuits filed by competitors Nike and Reebok. In one instance, they had to cut a licensing deal with Reebok in order to continue selling their core product offering.
Quality Problems
Concerns with product quality arose after the company sponsored the Marquette University basketball team with Catapult shoes, and one of the players tripped on the sole of his shoe as it peeled apart during a nationally televised game.
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It’s your turn.
Do people, or does time, kill our favorite brands?
If you’ve been following this blog from it’s beginnings then you might remember a short little quiz testing your ability to identify the font Arial vs. Helvetica.
Well now that I’ve given you a little over a year to hone your font identification skills, it’s time to take the challenge to the next level. I present to you, The Rather Difficult Font Game.
Via: Marker
I ran across this image in an old Presentation Zen post that I had previously starred in Google Reader.
Whoever placed this sign knew that no one likes to be barked at (Stupid pun, I know). They also knew that if you want to be listened to, you have to talk in a way that shows you understand what it is important to your audience.
Garr has a nice take on what makes this sign so nice:
Another great example of “emotional intelligence” that produces “a smile in the mind” for all those who pass by (and it may lead to greater compliance as well).
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This post is part of the Human Talk series.
If you would like to contribute your good or bad Human Talk examples, Email me. I’ll accept photos, stories, videos, audio, etc. and give credit where credit is due.
As we move further and further into the digital age, we continue to push towards, a connected way of life.
A Connected Way of Life
In the future every aspect of our lives will become fully connected. There won’t be much thought about the connection itself, because it will be a constant driver and connector of our everyday activities. No matter how connected you think you are right now, in the future there will be a more integrated and complete connection than anyone can experience right now. It doesn’t matter how many times you check your email, how many bills you have automatically paid online, or how often you are on Twitter. We have only scratched the surface of what’s possible with a connected way of life.
For example, this is how a simple grocery list might function in a totally connected world: All the items added to a running grocery list can be seen and contributed to by everyone in a family. With the push of a button, any member of the family can signal the grocery store telling them they will be dropping by to pickup the groceries at a certain time, or even better yet, what time the groceries need to be delivered to the family’s home. Continuing this futuristic grocery shopping vision even farther, a totally connected world might even include a refrigerator that signals the grocery store and the family when the milk is almost out.
One of the biggest things that a connected way of life will bring is a converged sources for media. Television shows won’t come out of a box that sits in a certain location. In fact, TV probably won’t be called TV anymore. Media will be on demand. We will watch it, listen to it, experience it, when we want to, where we want to.
Driving this Connection
Fully loaded and connected devices such as smartphones, PDA’s, ultra-thin notebooks, and easily other easily transportable forms of technology are driving this movement towards a connected way of life. The ability to connect with these devices from anywhere is the first step towards moving the online experience from something we do in one location (sitting at the computer) and turning it into a constant pulse that is integrated with our lives.
Brands Must Adapt
As we enter into this connected way of life, brands will have to adapt. Consumers will start expecting brands to bring more and more touchpoints into their connected circle, and if a brand doesn’t become a part of the circle then it might as well not exist.
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What do you think a connected way of life will look like in the future?
Comfort is the enemy of innovation.
One of the biggest hangups I see with marketers working in the online space, is thinking that they must have newest and hottest technologies in order to meet their online goals with their website. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with web technology trends themselves. In fact, with as fast as the online industry changes, the ability to spot trends in the space is priceless.
The problem arises when this thinking leads to a web strategy that spends most of its time chasing the coolest trends on the web. This leaves the company persona to the mercy of technology, instead of bringing that personality to the web and bringing it to life with technology.
A better strategy would be to look for ways to make the online experience less of an interaction with technology and making more of an experience with the human qualities of the brand.
Amazon does an amazing job of this by personalizing my experience, and talking to me like a human being. They could have just as easily said, “You are logged in” instead of greeting me with a hello.
The Redbox is not only my favorite place to rent a movie. I’m in love with their website and computer kiosk screens because of how much thought has been put into every message. They have taken every opportunity (even if they are just confirming that the rental process is complete) and use it to give the company a voice and personality.
Human talk goes further than just making sure your website copy is written with a human voice. Talking like a human also means understanding what your visitors are looking for and organizing them in logical way, making the whole website easy to navigate.
Take the American Airlines website for example. Why are there so many choices under the “travel information” section?
JetBlue does a much better job, by taking the time to understand what their visitors want, simplifying the whole process, and then making it easy to navigate to.
Lets not forget about 404 pages, and the lack of attention these neglected pages receive. It’s page that usually says something like, “Page Not Found”, and it often looks nothing like the rest of the website.
This is a place you hope visitors don’t show up at, but should take the time to make sure that even this page shares the same voice as the rest of the website.
Smashing Magazine compiled a list of 404 pages with personality. Technorati has one of my favorite 404 pages, because even as it is informing you that the page you are searching for can’t be found, it is subtly telling you that Technorati is a powerhouse when it comes to blog tracking.
Here’s the Fresh Peel custom 404 page.
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What other ways can a website create an experience with the human qualities of the brand?
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This post is part of the Human Talk series.
If you would like to contribute your good or bad Human Talk examples, Email me. I’ll accept photos, stories, videos, audio, etc. and give credit where credit is due.
Get out pad of paper, something to write with and all the BLING you own.
This is probably the only rap that will give you the simultaneous urge to throw it down old school and take detailed notes at the same time. The Poetic Prophet (AKA The SEO Rapper) lays down the rules for web designs and coding that increase page rankings, and conversions.
See more from The SEO Rapper
Via: Marker
My background combo of advertising, design, and marketing often puts me in a somewhat unique position when it comes to any of points of intersection in these three areas (which should happen all the time). It’s no wonder that I’ve been led into the world of branding. I’ve found a great passion in branding, because it is the ultimate convergence of these three areas + the consumer.
With that said, I’d like to start writing more on the subject of a branding, and what a better way to start than by taking a look at how some of the industry’s gurus define brand.
A brand reflects the special relationship and bond we forge with our customers. It is a constellation of values that goes beyond physical attributes to include intangibles (that have tangible value) and, importantly, customer perceptions. It is what distinguishes Starbucks from the commodity coffee, Gillette Sensor from razor blades, and American Express Platinum Card from credit cards.
– Richard D. Czerniawski & Michael W. Maloney, Creating Brand Loyalty
A brand exists in your mind. It’s a collection of associations or feelings people have about a particular product, service, or an organization. It’s what makes Evian pure even before you read the label. It’s why a FedEx envelope gets opened before anything with a postage stamp.
– Allen P. Adamson, BrandSimple
A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or organization. That’s my short definition. The brand isn’t what you say it is. It’s what they say it is.
– Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap
A brand is an expectation of someone or something delivering a certain feeling by way of an experience.
– Tom Asacker, A Clear Eye for Branding
My definition of brand is pretty short: A brand is a short-cut that connects the consumer-mind to a product, service or company.
It’s that first, quick, burst of emotion that’s stirred up when a person thinks about a product, service or company.
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What’s your definition of brand?
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