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    Brand Strategy

    The Idea To Have An Idea…

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    A mentor of mine, Dick Kerr, claimed to be the world’s highest paid copywriter in the 1980s — making more than a million dollars a year.

    Dick’s famous corporate ad campaign for United Technologies was lauded as a wonderful, effective way to communicate shareholder value using simple words. Words not about elevators, jet engines, helicopters or air conditioners, just words about people and values. No pictures in this campaign, just clean type design and cleaner copy.

    Dick was a bit of a drinker. He once offered me counsel saying “The idea to have an idea is sometimes more important than the idea itself.” Huh? Did I mention drinker?

    Anyway, my company What’s The Idea? took this tipple-inspired phraseology to heart. My job is not to get clients nodding to a wealth of ideas. It is to get buy-in to one idea. That idea will frame all arguments to purchase. And those arguments are arrayed in three proof planks. All supporting he brand idea.  

    How does one get to the brand idea? Ahh, the $64 million dollar question. Well, you start with lots of other ideas. Ideas that speak the consumers language. Ideas that lead to consumer preference. Ideas that resonate with corporate decisionmakers and shareholders. H.K. McCann called these truths.  But make no mistake the best brands are built on the clarion call of a single strategic idea.

    Campaigns come and go, a powerful brand idea is indelible.

    Peace.

     

     

     

    Whistles.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Mark Pollard likes to say “Strategy is your words.” He’s right, words are crucial.  But where the rubber meets the road is in brand strategy operations.

    A lot of brand strategy ends at the ad campaign. Or the tagline. Or promotion. That’s why the life expectancy a brand strategy is 2.5 years. (I made up that data point, feel free to prove me wrong.)  A brand strategy is often no more than a guide to drive an expensive tactic or two. That is, unless it’s operationalized.  And sometimes a brand strategy never gets out of the agency creative department. Nice bells. Nice whistles. Often a compromised brand strategy.

    An architect once showed me an elevation for a home renovation. It’s looked good on paper but was not physically buildable. Brand strategy isn’t worth the paper/PPT unless it’s built out. Unless it is operationalized.

    A well-designed, well articulate brand strategy comprises deeds, systems, measurable activities and tactics.  All supporting and delivering the strategy. As FCB’s Marilyn Laurie used to say, things that make deposits in the “brand bank.”

    Strategy is a great first step. But without operations it’s just whistling.

    Peace!

     

     

    Intentional Brands.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    If I hear someone say the “intentional” again in a brand strategy meeting I am going to lose my cookies. It’s the most overused word in the space. The other day someone was talking about the word and was able to articulate it in ways I haven’t. In fact, it caused me to invent a new word. Actional. Okay, so it’s not a new word, it’s just underused.

    The difference between intentional and actional is the former hasn’t happened.  It’s just meant to happen. It’s just talk.  As in Make America Great Again.  A nice intentional saying, but the actions that result are, well, you know…

    It seems anyone who is intentional is a good talker but, perhaps, not such a good doer.

    I wrote a couple of days a post entitle “Talk about it or be about it.” Same pew. Years ago I used to argue that people who claimed to be authentic, probably weren’t. Or, car salespeople who said trust me, protested too much.  

    So don’t tell everyone your brand is intentional, just be and do the strategy. Find a claim you want to plant your flag on and act on the three ways you earn or prove it.

    A life lesson I learned early on was that talking about yourself is boring. Being yourself, that’s a good beginning.

    Good words for brand strategists.  Lose the work!

    Peace

     

     

    Talk About It or Be About It.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    A football player on a recent podcast offered up some sage advice. You can “Talk about it or be about it.”  This ladies and gentlemen, is a fundie of great branding. Don’t flood the airways and byways with commoditized claims — scorch the earth with deeds. Deeds not words.

    Humans have always searched for truth. Fire burns. Projectiles harm. Being nice to people is better than being mean. Deeds. Not words. Good brand planning begins with actions not words. Evidence, not prose. While “strategy is your words,” to quote Mark Pollard, it is actions and proof that convince customers. That’s what should drive strategy…and builds brands.

    Over the years I have interviewed thousands of consumers. I’ve printed out stacks and stacks of paper containing transcribed observations, feelings and opinions. But all I care about is evidence of value. Evidence of product superiority. It is the highlighted evidence buried in the transcripts that the drive brand strategy.

    You can tell me Memorial Sloan Kettering has the best cancer care anywhere, but if you show me the statistics of how they treat the toughest cases, that’s proof.

    Commodity claims are just that. Brains are desensitized to unsupported claims but they can process proof.

    Peace.     

     

     

     

     

    Organized Proof and The C-Suite.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    C-level executives have been known to devalue brand strategy. Politely, they nod in presentations but deep down they view it as more of a marketing thing than a business thing.  “All altruism, no profit.” 

    What’s the Idea? is 100% about making money for clients. Hard stop.  

    Here’s how:

    Let’s start with some framework background.  At What’s The Idea? brand strategy comprises one brand claim supported by three proof planks. The proof planks are organized to bring the brand story to life, both backward and forward. Proof is the secret sauce of a powerful brand strategy. Proof convinces people.  

    And while a small proportion of What’s The Idea? brand claims might come off as altruistic, mark my words the executional planks proving the claim are hard-as-nails selling points. Think of the brand claim as the strategic packaging surrounding tangible slam-dunk reasons to buy. By themselves brand claims — which may never be seen by a consumer– are headline-like. Sometimes pithy, sometimes boring, they are ideally poetic and memorable. When CEO’s, CFOs and Chief Marketing Officers, people steeped in the business fundamentals, hear the claim, the feel it and they get it. It speaks to them. Especially when brought to life by the proof planks.

    Proof sells. Organized proof is branding.   

    Peace.

     

    Brand Stalker?

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    The metaphor is a critical tool of the brand planner. It creates context, clarity and often gives creative people a source of inspiration. Brand planners ask a lot of questions and do a lot of research on their brands.  Planners — the good ones at least — are like dogs on a bone. We immerse ourselves in a category and have a hard time letting go. Even when sleeping. It’s stalker-ish.

    Dare I say, for a one- or two-month paid engagement I often find myself a brand planner for life. Always on the hunt for proof of brand claim. It’s no way to run a business yet it is part of the planning life.

    Strategy is timeless. It never really stops. In as much as I need to dump the cache on past clients, I just can’t. Unhealthy? You decide. But it’s part and parcel of the curiosity that is the brand planner’s world.

    So, me droogies, stalk away on your brands. Find a good strategy and prove it.

    Peace.

    Poster, Pasters and Posers.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Back in the aughts, working at a social media startup, I created a meme Posters and Pasters. Posters were original content creators and Pasters were people who curated and posted others’ content. A ZDNet newsletter dude Jakob Nielsen (I think) thought 93% of the web’s content was the work of Pasters.  My qualitative thinking agreed.

    As a brand planner I love studying Posters: Smart, committed writers and thinkers who share their topic-love on the web – mostly for free. They inspire me. They delivered great grist for the brand planning mill.

    I grew up in the business (ad agencies) reading trade press and insider looks at their respective category. One trick was to religiously read the most respected and talented journalists on a given beat. It helped with sources, interview leads, data and trends.

    We’ve come a long way since those days.  Trade magazines have moved online. Journalism has changed. Influencers have sullied the waters. Some Influencers might even be called Posers. Be careful with Influencers.

    Still, I seek out Posters in my work and you brand planners should as well.

    Peace.

     

     

    A Strategic Welcome To Burger King.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    I’m a big Burger King fan.  Flame broiled has long been one of my favorite brand strategy elements. It’s visual. It’s olfactory. And it is an inherent (endemic) product quality. Flame-broiled differentiates Burger King.

    When you drive by a Burger King, even sight unseen, you know you’re nearby. BK has made a wonderfully smart and experiential change to its stores that reinforces its flame broiled strategy – it has replaced traditional door handles with replica BBQ spatulas. With every visit you can’t help but be reminded of the flame broiled advantage.

    This is genius brand management and genius brand strategy stewardship.

    If anyone knows the originator of this idea, please the name.  Big move.

    Peace

     

     

    Starbucks New Dress Code

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Building a brand is about everything. Everything a company spends money on.  And if done well, everything employees touch. If done perfectly, it extends to consumers who share brand love and value(s) with other customers. The latter two behaviors are free.

    I read today that Starbucks, in an effort to strengthen brand and bottom line, has instituted a bit of a dress code tweak for baristas beginning May 12th. Under their green aprons, baristas must wear black or dark colors. 

    Starbucks rationale:

    “By updating our dress code, we can deliver a more consistent coffeehouse experience that will also bring simpler and clearer guidance to our partners, which means they can focus on what matters most, crafting great beverages and fostering connections with customers.”

    This is certainly a brand building effort. Consistency of “product, message and experience” is a smart brand-building strategy. Hence, the green apron. And hence the more controlled uniform. As for allowing baristas to focus more on crafting great beverages and fostering connections with customers, that’s a bit of a stretch.  

    One of the best ways to demonstrate commitment to brand values is through deeds. Remembering names, engaging beyond the order (small talk?), discussing the product are process deeds. These are behaviors Starbucks should suggest to baristas if connection is the goal.  

    Brand strategy in “an organizing principle for product, experience and messaging.  This dress code thing is smart. Behavior change is also smart.

    Peace.

     

     

     

     

    Brand Naming is Critical.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Naming is important. It’s central to proper branding. If a brand is an empty vessel into which one pours meaning then a name is the most common representation thereof.

    Way back when, geographical location relied on names to convey information. Delaware Water Gap. Great South Bay. Summit, NJ. Iceland.  My advice for brands is to create names that convey information about the product, E.g., Coca-Cola (as in coca bean), or to a lesser degree convey something about the product’s inherent value. I worked for an owner who named a social media startup Zude because it rhymed with Dude.

    Like naming children, naming a brand is not easy. But as difficult as it is, the best brands convey. Not just in the real estate sense, but in the communication sense. Of course, likeability and pronunciation are critical. (McCann-Erickson once presented a campaign to AT&T in a new business pitch with the tagline “Go Live.” But rather than live, as in live-wire, some pronounced it live as in live your life. Conveying, perhaps, “Get a life?”  Hee hee.

    The chicken and egg problem with naming involves creating meaning out of a new thing; something with no product history. That requires lots planning. But planning is what we do, yes? 

    Naming should be existential.

    Peace.  

     

     

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