Monthly Archives: April 2018

Will Facebook Last as Long as The Masters?

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The Masters golf tournament began about 84 years ago. Before Tiger. Before titanium drivers. Before World War II. It has become the most famous golf tournament extant. The brand management of The Masters has been impeccable, with the exception of the diversity issues surrounding membership in the Augusta National Golf Club.  I’m told candy bars have to be packaged in green wrapper in case one accidently blows into the view of TV cameras. All wires are buried underground. Jim Nance. As much as the technology changes, as much as people change, The Masters remains the same: a venerable sports institution.

Consumer products Pilsner Urguell, Coca-Cola, and Tide Detergent have stood the test of time as brands – all through great brand management. It is yet to be seen, however, if tech companies will learn how to last. Bell Labs, perhaps the first (American) tech company, is still around but seems, to me at least, on its last legs. Bell Labs began as AT&T, then went to Lucent, which was bought by Alcatel and is now owned by Nokia. Not great brand management.

If Facebook wants to me more than Netscape and MySpace, it needs to put in play a long-term brand strategy.  People can’t live without Facebook. Now.  Brand strategy is important for service companies and tech companies. Facebook needs to step up.

 

Peace.

 

 

 

 

Epigrams.

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I make paper for a living.  People pay big paper (money) for my paper, brand strategies.  Brand strategy is what my mentor Peter Kim would call a “selling idea,” an idea that predisposes consumers to a product or service, e.g., “the world’s information in one click” (Google), “refreshment” (Coca-Cola), “for doers not browsers” (ZDNet). 

To get to the idea one has to process a lot of information, typically presented on paper in the form of a brief. Briefs are my output to clients. But they are buying an idea. That’s the honeypot.    

I attribute my ability to craft good briefs to the proper creation and use of epigrams.

ˈepəˌɡram/

noun

plural noun: epigrams

  1. a pithy saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way.
synonyms: witticism, quip, jest, pun, bon mot; More

saying, maxim, adage, aphorism, apophthegm;

informalone-liner, wisecrack, (old) chestnut

“a collection of humorous epigrams from old gravestones”

o   a short poem, especially a satirical one, having a witty or ingenious ending.

My briefs are filled with them. Hidden in a narrative, serial story. Clients find meaning and inspiration in my epigrams. They are word plays about them, about their products. They are memorable. It’s how I sell the idea. It’s how I come up with the idea.

The secret sauce. Epigrams.

Peace. 

 

 

Proof in Advertising.

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Google Cloud is running a pretty cool advertising campaign these days.  Ironically, they’ve always done good advertising; a good deal of it coming from BBH. And BBH cohorts. What I like about this campaign is that they are serving up proof along with claim.  Without proof in branding and advertising there is nothing.

In their New York Times ad today, Google Cloud is furthering the notion that data analytics are the key success.  Be it business, sports, other.  Everyone has heard the term “artificial intelligence” and everyone knows about statistics and data analytics, but most people’s eyes glaze over when those thjiongs are discussed.

Google’s ad used proof to gain our interest. The ad is about the teams participating in tonight’s national championship basketball game. Rather than blather on about the cloud plumbing and intelligence, it states that Villanova connects on three point field goals from 2.178 inches farther away from the basket than does Michigan. Also, ‘nova has more successful 3-point shooters than most teams. The implication for Michigan (if they don’t read the ad) is that they are less likely to defend said 3s. Proof over claim. Proof of data. Proof of cloud. Nice advertising tradecraft.

Peace.