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A Burger Fit for The King

Posted by Chris Wilson May 8th, 2008

The Burger King

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?

CATEGORIES: Advertising, News, Marketing

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What is a Brand?

Posted by Chris Wilson April 1st, 2008

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?

CATEGORIES: Design, Advertising, Branding, Marketing

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Marketing Monkeys: Why Change is Hard

Posted by Chris Wilson January 22nd, 2008

Marketing Monkeys

Why does all the monkey business keep hanging around?

Ian McKee presents an analogy/theory as to why so many brand are still sinking budget bombs into old and ailing mediums.

CATEGORIES: Advertising, Marketing

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Nike’s Viral Attachment

Posted by Chris Wilson January 11th, 2008

OkGo, Nike Treadmill Workout About two months ago, iTunes and Nike gave away a 30 minute treadmill workout mix featuring the band Ok Go. The recipients of the mix were the 400,000+ members of the Apple Students group on Facebook.

You probably best know Ok Go from their viral sensation in which they created a music video of one of their song while dancing on treadmills. (It’s a must see if you haven’t seen it already.)

Ties to infamous treadmill viral are pretty obvious. Workout instructions are given by Ok Go’s Damian Kulash and Tim Nordwind, along with their sarcastic comments like, “we are treadmill gods…and well..you are not.”

When I first saw the Ok Go and Nike collaboration I thought it was a cool idea, but I didn’t see it as anything more than a quick way to capitalize on a viral trend to bolster their brand a bit.

But that all changed when I was pointed to (via Pure Thinking) a recent article in the Times, The New Advertising Outlet: Your Life.

The article explores Nike’s ongoing efforts of providing “an experience” opposed to a sales pitch, and in turn, their departure from traditional advertising mediums. Nike has found that connecting with customers on grassroots level, much the way Nike started in it’s beginning, is becoming more and more effective.

Stefan Olander, Nike’s global director for brand connections, describes Nike’s strategy:

Nike executives say that much of the company’s future advertising spending will take the form of services for consumers, like workout advice, online communities and local sports competitions.

We want to find a way to enhance the experience and services, rather than looking for a way to interrupt people from getting to where they want to go. How can we provide a service that the consumer goes, ‘Wow, you really made this easier for me’?

With that in perspective, what better way to connect to college students (and beyond) at a grassroots level than through viral? And they aren’t trying to push products, they are adding something value to an existing experience.

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We all know power of the viral. And we also know that it’s virtually impossible to intentionally create something viral.

So should we take one out of the Nike playbook and find a viral success to attach our brand to?
Would this approach even work for other products or brands?

CATEGORIES: Buzz, Advertising, Marketing

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Banksy Inspired: Find the Truth and Cut the Clutter

Posted by Chris Wilson December 13th, 2007

While rummaging through English graffiti artist, Banksy’s website, I came across this video. Like most of his work, it sends a simple message identifying a complex problem.

(Feedreaders click through to see video)

This act of vandalism speaks volumes about one of the biggest problems that we face in our industry, clutter.

Consumers are constantly being bombarded (especially this time of year) with what are largely unwanted and irrelevant ads. For many consumers advertising has gone from being annoying to just plain offensive.

So what’s the solution? How does a product or brand rise above the clutter without becoming clutter itself?

Here are some words of wisdom from “The Father of Advertising” himself, David Ogilvy, which I believe will begin to shed some light on a solution.

A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.

Ninety-nine percent of advertising doesn’t sell much of anything.

What Ogilvy is saying here is to cut the gimmicks. Don’t do what the 99% of the advertising is doing. Find truth, the story, the bedrock of your product or brand, what it’s all about…..and then speak. Don’t shout. Just a whisper will do.

Better yet, start a conversation.

CATEGORIES: Advertising, Marketing

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How to Create Puzzling Interest & Buzz

Posted by Chris Wilson November 27th, 2007

Crossword Puzzle

Are you boring customers? Are you having trouble generating the interest that you used to? Has the Forrest Gump-like crowd that used to follow you around long decided to return home?

Part of it could be that you are filling in too many of the blanks.

There is often a tendency to feel as if we have to spell everything out about our products or brands. After all we wouldn’t want consumers to get any of the facts wrong. Somehow we feel that for each consumer there is that one benefit or selling point that will tip the scales in our favor. This mindset leads to one thing….boredom.

Here’s a tip: Let the consumer solve the puzzle.

There is definitely something to be said about keeping it simple. In fact, keeping it simple is the best way to create a puzzle for consumers. By not writing that lengthy block of text describing your product you will be leaving room for consumers to explore your product or brand and keep interest alive.

It’s not what you say. It’s what you don’t say that creates the puzzle.

People love puzzles. That’s why you still find crosswords and seek and finds in newpapers and magazines—they are some of the most popular sections.

It just feels good to solve a puzzle. According to Richard Maxwell and Robert Dickman in their book The Elements of Persuasion, solving puzzles gives your brain a shot of endorphins. Maxell and Dickman say,

“A side effect of endorphins is that they make you a little talkative, so you want to tell your friends what you just did.”

If you want to create buzz about your brand, product or promotion, turn it into a puzzle. Consumers will go out of their normal boundaries to figure out solution, and once they figure it out you can be sure that they will tell their friends about it. Who doesn’t like to look smart? Especially all of us ego driven bloggers.

CATEGORIES: Buzz, Advertising, Branding, Marketing

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The Age of Conversation Bum Rush on Dec. 14th

Posted by Chris Wilson November 20th, 2007

Lets Bum Rush the Social Media World!

Over 4 months ago The Age of Conversation, a collaboration of 103 authors from 10 different countries from around the globe was launched, with all of the proceeds going to Variety, The Children’s Charity. In a little over 90+ days, the goal of $10,000 in charity money was raised.

But now, as Drew points out, sales are slowing. It’s time to hit high with a serious spike in social media activity. I’m talking about bringing even more clout than we saw with the initial launch of the book. I know we can do it!

The idea is one that I am borrowing from Joseph Jaffe, who used this technique to send his book skyrocketing up the bestseller’s list at Amazon. I won’t feel bad about taking the idea from Jaffe though, because he borrowed the idea from the band Black Lab, which held an iTunes “bum rush” launching their single Mine Again up the charts. Both were very successful efforts.

So what exactly am I proposing?

I’m calling for a “bum rush” all of the social media you can get your hands on. Since The Age of Conversation isn’t listed on Amazon we will have to “bum rush” another outlet, and with most of the AoC authors (if not all) being bloggers, mini launch pads are sitting and waiting to give the book the push it needs.

With the infinite amount of social sites and connections on the web, this is a huge undertaking. That is why I came up with this plan of action list with the highest priority items at the top. The idea is to generate as many touch points around the web as possible so that it will be hard not to the Age of Conversation activity.

Just start at the top and work your way down the list as far as you can:

If you have a blog write a post about AoC and/or this Bum Rush. Make sure you have a prominent link to http://stores.lulu.com/ageofconversation so that readers can easily purchase the book.
Trackback or Comment on the post that I will leave here on Dec 13th at 6:00pm CST, so that everyone can follow the conversation and help promote exposure on social sites (Digg, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, etc.)
Digg your post & send emails and shouts to friends requesting Diggs on your post.
Stumble your post & tell friends to do the same.
Bookmark your post on Del.icio.us
Join the Facebook AoC Contributors and Friends Group
Become a Facebook Fan of AoC
Add your post to other social media outlets ( Technorati, Ma.gnolia, Furl, BlinkList, Newsvine, Facebook, etc.)
Send an Old Fashioned email to your friends about the Bum Rush for AoC.
Create a podcast or video and upload to Youtube or other streaming video site (Maybe David Brazeal can do a special edition). Again be sure to share the link so everyone can give the video views and mark it with a high rating.

(I will re-post this plan of action again with the trackback/comment post on Dec. 13th.)

What Should We Expect?

It’s like a human pyramid. If we can get everyone carrying their weight then it should be easy to reach new heights!

Here’s what Greg Verdino had to say after Joseph Jaffe’s Amazon Bum Rush:

“there’s nothing to stop pretty much any marketer from applying these techniques to garner attention for their own new product launches and spur on-demand sales. Nothing, that is, if that marketer takes the time to build their own community, fosters meaningful relationships with the members and then makes a coordinated effort across a variety of conversational channels to connect with the community at just the right time to move the needle. None of these things happens overnight — they take quite a bit of effort and long term commitment.”

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Did I leave anything out? Second Life? You fill in the blank ________.

CATEGORIES: Buzz, Social Networks, Events, Advertising, Books, Marketing

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