So this is where creative juices come from.
Feed Readers Click Through for the juice.
The farmer in says, “you can’t go wrong with a good idea.”
What do you think? Will ideas alone be enough to keep advertising and marketing agencies alive?
Via: PSFK
Here we are again, in awe of and in love with the elusive and seemingly unpredictable, viral marketing.
Whether it’s a dancing elf holiday sensation, a series of movie-like mini films, or a YouTube Beauty sensation, marketers can’t help but lust after the creation of a viral phenomenon, and the rumored glory that follows.
Many have tried and failed in their efforts to create viral content, which leaves me wondering why more don’t go the route that Nike and now Weezer have successfully taken.
Back in January, I talked about Nike attaching themselves to the already successful YouTube favorite of Ok Go dancing on Treadmills. Instead of creating content in hopes that it would go viral, they connected with the band to produce a treadmill workout. The collaboration matched up perfectly to what Nike had already started with the creation of the Nike+ community.
Now Weezer has taken the same approach, connecting with past YouTube celebs to create a music video for their new single, Pork and Beans. The video looks to be successful right out of the gate, showing up on a number of different blogs Friday shortly after the release. Viral Video Chart is showing Pork and Beans as the #1 viral with 3,648,939 views. Not to shabby.
LifeLock has stirred up a lot of attention ever since their CEO, Todd Davis, started boldly plastering his own social security number across the companies Ads.
Davis says proudly,
“I’m absolutely confident LifeLock is protecting my good name and personal information, just like it will yours. And we guarantee our service up to $1 million dollars.”
That’s a pretty hefty claim considering that there were a 8.4 million identity theft victims in 2007. In fact, with such a bold guarantee and aggressive marketing tactics, the company seems to be gaining traction.
But with recent news, it looks like the whole LifeLock train could be derailed. CNN is reporting that after at least 87 different attempts, a Texas resident has managed to fool “an online payday loan operation last year into giving him $500 using Davis’ Social.”
This is obviously bad news for LifeLock. The company’s bold claims and guarantee have been smashed in a very public way.
Just goes to show that a strong brand is more than facade appearance. A strong brand is built from the inside out.
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As if this isn’t bad enough, Drew exposes LifeLock’s less than mediocre customer service.
Meet Ravi.
No matter what language you speak, there is a good chance that he can speak it (at least well enough to sell you a peacock fan).
Rohit Bhargava from the Influential Marketing Blog, points to these amazing videos. As he explains, the lesson here is
“…sometimes it doesn’t matter what you’re selling, just that you speak the right language.”
I’d also like to mention Rohit’s recently released book, Personality Not Included, which falls right inline with the Human Talk thinking, addressing the topic of building brands with personality. It’s worth checking out.
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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.
From its conception, Victory Motorcycles has had it’s sites set on becoming America’s #1 bike manufacturer. They knew it would be a tough battle, in a David versus Goliath type match up. Only this giant isn’t just one massive creature. Harley has built a culture that has formed a close-knit, and even cult-like community that spans the globe. Just getting out of the shadow cast by this giant will be a challenge for Victory, let alone finding a way to stand in their own light.
Despite the overwhelming odds, Victory has a strategy that goes well beyond fighting Harley for share of mind. In fact, the position that Harley owns in the minds of consumers, is exactly what Victory plans to reinforce, but to Harley’s disadvantage.
With a Harley bike comes a rich culture and a set of beliefs that has defined the brand for decades. But there is a new generation of riders on the horizon, and some are questioning whether the Harley culture has been woven so tight that it won’t resonate with this new and more youthful audience.
Victory is betting that the Harley culture will be seen by this new generation as a negative definition attached to the brand, and they are acting on this prediction. Victory is working hard to position itself as “The New American Motorcycle.” In 2005, they teamed up with 20th Century Fox to feature the Victory Vegas model in the movie Fantastic Four. They also partnered with custom bike builders, Arien and Cory Ness, to create the 2007 Jackpot series.
Victory may not be the only one foreseeing trouble in their future. Harley recently announced the launch of Dark Custom, a new sub-brand aimed at a younger generation of riders. Brand Elastic says this is a nice stretch.
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What do you think?
Can the Harley brand endure across multiple generations the way Coke as done? Or is the culture surrounding the brand so strong that it won’t allow for a new generation of riders?
Today’s Human Talk comes straight from a Chris Brogan rant:
Dear companies providing customer service:
Yes, I know it’s cheaper that I use your website, and I’m really smart, so normally your website might even be a viable option, even though it’s laid out like crap, and it’s not exactly intuitive, and it doesn’t answer questions the way I wish they would be asked.
Yes, I understand that you’d MUCH rather I go through 400 steps on your Interactive Voice Response Unit and decide which chute to traverse, and sometimes, I can navigate that and get done what needs doing (best in class for useful IVRs, in case you’re wondering, is American Express), but sometimes I cannot.
PLEASE DON’T MAKE IT HARD FOR ME TO TALK TO A HUMAN OR I WILL BE MIGHTY ANGRY.
This morning, this means T-Mobile. Don’t make it hard for me to get done what needs doing. Don’t hide stuff on your site. Don’t make me BEG for humans.
Customer service NEEDS to evolve. Because just as Google is your *real* home page, Customer Service are your *real* best opportunities to keep me happy with you, NOT a bolt-on cost center.
Sounds like a passionate call for Human Talk to me.
What about Live Chat?
This has me wondering what the general consensus is on Live Chat as a form of customer service. In this instance, I’m talking about the websites provide a form of in-site chat as a form of customer service. (Although, I’m a believer in seeking to provide help to consumers on their turf via Twitter, Blogs, etc.)
My experience with live chat has been consistently pleasant. It seems that I usually get the answers I’m looking seemingly fast, especially when you compare the method to the usual customer service phone call. And if a portion of a companies customer service has been outsourced, I’ve found that Live Chat can take some of the language and cultural barriers off the table. Most of us are used to shorthand methods used when texting and chatting online, so what can sometimes come across as broken English on the phone, may seem like the norm via Live Chat.
One downside to Live Chat is the lack of emotion that this communication method provides. Where a customer service rep on the phone could detect emotions through the tone and volume of the conversation, this can be hard (if not impossible) with Live Chat.
What are your opinions on Live Chat?
Phone or Live Chat, which one do you prefer?
Chris Brogan, I didn’t see any option for Live Chat on T-Mobile’s website. Would you have used this method if T-Mobile offered it?
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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.
Comunicadores has put together some humorous logo mashups. (Via: ToddAnd)
I don’t know about you, but even though I find these funny, I feel a slight bit of uneasiness and tension as well. It’s like the left side of my brain is telling me that something isn’t right.
These logos have passed The Swap Test.
In The Brand Gap, Marty Neumeier introduces a simple test to check out the effectiveness of your logo.
Swap part of your icon the name or the visual element with that of a competing brand from another category. If the resulting icon is better, or no worse than it was, your existing icon has room for improvement. By that same token, no other company should be able to improve its icon by using part of yours. A good brand icon is like a tailored suit it should only look good on you.
Does your logo pass the test?
When it comes to long trips, I’ve always been better at sleeping than driving. There’s something about a moving vehicle that rocks me to sleep. I’m almost certain that my parents must have used the “strap the kid into their car seat and drive them around the block until they fall asleep” method when I was a baby (despite their adamant denials).
Now whenever it’s time to head out on a road trip, my wife is usually the one behind the wheel a majority of the time. This is something that our parents had trouble understanding at first, because in their time the man was always the one behind the wheel, in control.
In the last 20 years, the role of women has been rapidly transformed. Sadly though, many misconceptions are still exist about women, and missing the mark.
Mark Penn is credited with the discovery of the “soccer moms” demographic during the 1st round of Clinton campaigning years ago. More recently in his book Microtrends, he points out that these soccer moms have evolved and are taking on more decision making roles in families, calling them “car-buying soccer moms.”
Michele Miller drove this point home yesterday, with Four Fallacies About Female Consumers, some statistics further proving the new role of women.
When it comes consumer electronics, women just don’t get it.
In 2007, the Consumer Electronics Associated reported that women outspent men on wireless gadgets and gizmos – $55 billion vs. $41 billion.Women don’t purchase real estate unless they part of a couple or have a family.
The latest statistics from the National Board of Realtors show that in the last two years, 22 percent of all home purchases were made by single women.Women aren’t into sports cars.
60% of BMW Z4 drivers are women.Women can’t stand video games.
World of Warcraft, the mecca of global online gaming, reports that 30% of its ten million members are women.
Do you know who’s driving your brand?
Burger King is rumored to have plans in the works to introduce a “premium burger” in select London upscale neighborhoods and suburbs. The sandwich will be made from top-quality Kobe beef from Japan and topped with foie gras, a French delicacy, and a gourmet blue cheese.
Here’s the kicker. The sandwich will cost a startling £85 (or $170).
Even though the proceeds of the sandwich will be donated to charity, the burger is not likely be a hot seller. It’s probable that he offering an attempt to enhance the brands’ overall perception of quality.
Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational, thinks that the high-priced burgers could also increase customers willingness to spend money on the usual low-priced offerings.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out (if it turns out at all).
I know exactly what Jack Trout is saying about Burger King right now, “Sorry Marketers, You Can’t Go Up.”
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What do you think?
Premium idea, or premiumly ludicrous ploy?
As the old adage says, “Fake it till you make it.” If you want to position yourself to move up the chain, you first have to move up mentally before everyone else will let you fill that role. Act as if you have truly reached that next level and the world around you will start to align to make the goals that once eluded you a reality.
This technique might just give you the confidence and charisma necessary to move up. In fact, there seems to be a lot of legitimacy to this idea when it comes to personal branding and setting yourself up to succeed.
The Debate
But does this method of thinking hold any truth where a brand is concerned? Should a brand try to “fake it until they make it” or is it just setting itself up to break promises to customers?
What if it’s a new brand beginning it’s launch into the marketplace? Does that change the about of “faking it” that should be allowed, if any?
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What do you think?
Let the debate begin!
Seth shows us how we’re sucking all the juice out. I’m attracted to this idea, not only for the obvious citrus connections, but because it matches up perfectly with the underlying concepts behind the Human Talk series.
Almost everything you do has some sort of copyediting filter. It might be the legal eagle or the graphic supervisor or the customer service police. They’re excellent at making round things fit perfectly through round holes.
Boring and ignored is fine with them, because no one complains.
Consumers are changing the way they want to interact with their brands. They want brands with personality, not some boring, watered down, run and hide when the party starts brand.
Don’t squeeze out all the juice. We want brands with flavor.
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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.
Does your brand have a smell?
I’m not talking about how many of your employees shower regularly (lets hope all of them), or the woman on fourth floor that no one will get on the elevator with because her perfume (or the amount she wears) has a way of removing all the oxygen from the air in a 6ft radius.
I’m talking about the touchpoints of your brand. When consumers come in contact with your brand, do they smell anything? If they don’t, should they?
Chances are you haven’t given it much thought unless you are selling home and beauty products or you’re competing in the food industry (taste and smell go hand in hand). But what about if you’re brand consists of consumer electronics or home appliances? Does it scent matter? Or better yet, what if you are an accounting firm, beauty salon, home builder, or any other business competing in the service sector, smell surely doesn’t matter to you. Or does it?
Martin Lindstrom, author of Brand Sense, writes,
Scents evoke images, sensations, memories, and associations. Smell affects us substantially more than we’re aware of. We underestimate just how large a role it plays in our well-being… Smell can alter our mood. Test results have showed a 40 percent improvement in our mood when exposed to a pleasant fragrance particularly if the fragrance taps into a happy memory.
Dennis Syracuse, senior vice president of consumer retail sales, was quoted saying,
“From research, we found that scent is closest to the brain and will evoke the most emotion, even faster than the eye.”
Scent not only ties into our memories, but also into our emotions.
So maybe it is time to start giving smell some thought. Should smell become part of your brand mix?
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To find out more about scent marketing be sure to check out the recent additions to Brand Strategy Insider by Harald Vogt, a guy who knows smell for a living:
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What brands do you closely associate with their smells?
This afternoon I asked myself this question and immediately thought of Jamba Juice (which is one of the reasons for the graphic above) and the strong citrus smell in all of their stores. This is interesting since I haven’t been there in well over a year. This was followed with a craving for one of their fruit smoothies.
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