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    Brand Strategy

    Humanity and Branding.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    I was in a group meeting earlier this week and an ice breaker question used to loosen us up was “What new behavior have you learned as a result of Covid-19?”  Yesterday, standing on a Starbuck’s line the perfect answer hit me. “I’ve learned to smile more with my eyes?”  Most smiles behind a mask go unrecognized, so I make an effort to do my smile big – and with my eyes.

    How does this apply to branding?  Well, typical marketing is one dimensional. Convey selling information clearly and concisely before asking for the order.  Advertising done well offers a few more dimensions: maybe some music, some emotional hints, perhaps a story. But not all marketing is advertising. And frankly, most advertising is poorly constructed — infomercials in 30 seconds. 

    So if most of marketing these days is sales focused, then metaphorically we are covering up the humanity of our efforts with a mask. While our jobs are never to lose the mask, we must work hard to lets our eyes convey the humanity. Convey a smile. Inklings of humanity throughout our marketing and branding – be they search terms, packaging or naming – are worth the effort.

    Keep smiling.

    Peace.

     

     

    Consumer Experience.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    A musician is never more in touch with his/her art then when standing on a stage performing.

    A chef is never more in touch with her/his art then when watching people eat their food.

    Authors are never more in touch with their art then when listening to readers discussing their work.  

    And film makers never more in touch with their art then when sitting in a full audience watching their movie.

    So what is the moral here for marketers and brand builders?

    Watching and listening to consumers.  Especially consumers experiencing your product in real time. In situ, is best.

    Consumer experience is at least half of brand planning. Brand planners can’t process consumer experience listening marketing executives. And ad executives. And quantitative research professionals. It’s the fieldwork component.

    And, while the brand planners understand consumer experience is only half of the equation, they know it to be the most important half.

    Peace!  

     

     

    Storytelling and Culture.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Ana Anjelic is a smart, intellectual brand thinker. Her piece on storytelling and culture here is both these things. I would like to riff on her thoughts if I may. 

    I’ve been telling people for a couple of years that storytelling is the pop marketing topic of the decade. And I believe that. But I also believe it is an amazing tool if used correctly. And when I say correctly, I mean if the stories are not random but on brand strategy. Stories that are lovely but not on brand should be scuttled.  Now, not all stories are published by the brand. Some are consumer stories and harder to scuttle. It’s the brand managers job to encourage on brand stories from consumers and curate them. Not easy, but doable.

    As for culture, I partially agree that people buy brands to participate in a product culture…to wear that culture as a badge. Certainly, in fashion this is true. But I more so believe people use brands not to be a part of a product culture but rather to make the brand part of their individual being or culture. The buyer as tastemaker as it were. “I like Marmot gear because if works for me. It meets my design standards.”  It broadcasts an individual’s personal taste as opposed to being a member of a cult/culture thing.

    Stories are tactics, used to deliver strategy.  Culture is a memory map used to organize values. Both are topical and important tools when used the right way.

    Peace.

     

     

    Naming. And Breweries of Jackson County.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    I went to a brewery yesterday in Sylva, NC branded Innovation Brewing. The logo contains a machined gear in place of the O.  The good news is the beer is better than the branding. The tap room was well organized, all the beers listed by beer type. And they seemed to be in descending order of alcohol content. I liked the taproom set up, the tables were cool, the bar was well done and the outdoor seating quite fine.  

    That said, the name was just wrong — for a beer company in the mountains. Nothing inside the taproom said innovation. It was a tap room. Innovation was just a random word. And a non-endemic word at that.  Having done a ton of work in the technology space, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard about innovation as a brand quality. Is the word an inside joke? As in, it’s beer for God sake.

    Whatever the strategy, the name doesn’t work.  Not for first timers. Having never been there before, had I a choice between Innovation Brewing and Balsam Falls Brewery (not a Google result for “Breweries Near Me,”) I would have selected the latter…site unseen.

    Naming is important people. Especially for first-time consumers.

    Peace.

     

     

    Credit Card Brand Craft.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    “Something Brighter” is the new tagline for the Discover Card.  I heard it on a radio commercial yesterday. It gave the brand planner in me pause. Say what? Ohhh. It has to do with the logo. The sun, thing-a-ma-bob in the word discover. Oy.

    I like to believe that most taglines are brand claims. (A brand claim is half the brand strategy; the other half being proof planks.) But this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the company tagline is simply a line from the advertising campaign. Shoddy brand craft, if you ask me. It’s a touch lazy but something the expedient thing to do if the advertising is great.

    Something Brighter means what exactly? Better than other credit cards. That’s not much of a positioning; not when you consider most credit cards are trying to convey the same thing. Capital One’s “What’s In Your Wallet?” is an advertising line. It, too, hides the brand strategy.

    The credit card category is lacking in brand strategy. American Express used to do a good job, (Membership) but I’m not so sure anymore. Mastercard, whose ad campaign strategy “Priceless” is good, yet somewhat tired, almost has a brand strategy but it’s not an endemic card quality.

    There’s a saying in advertising “If you don’t have something to say, sing it.”  Well, this is not the case for brand strategy. They have to be meaningful and product-centric.

    Something brighter needs to happen in the credit card industry and it’s not the advertising.

    Peace.

     

     

    Jab, Jab, Jab.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Brian Morrissey, former editor of Digiday, when guest editing newsletter Why Is This Interesting recently wrote:

    “Brevity is more important than ever. There is simply too much content let loose on the world these days. During early Digiday, we did some kind of personality exam that advised people dealing with me to “be brief, be bright, be gone.” Many publications could stand to heed that too. 

    I hope this next interaction of digital media becomes more concise. Removing the unnecessary to get to the essence improves products and shows respect for the audience. “Engagement” is too often confused with time spent. The measure is actually just an imperfect gauge of value. Saving people time is always a good product strategy.”

    I agree completely with Brian. Tight is might. I recall reading that blog posts, in order to be found by the search engines, need to be at least 400 words, ideally closer to 800. Hell no! Not at What’s The Idea?  This isn’t The New Yorker. I’m not in the click bait business. I’m looking for readers. And it’s tough out there.  I’m hoping they will come back every day or at least weekly, so I need them to think. I don’t need to show that I can think.  And you can’t get there by pontificating and being verbose. Jab, jab, jab.

    Peace.

     

    Movements, Demonstrations or…

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Strawberry Frog likes to tout its brand and advertising strategy “Creating Movements.”  Movements are a slow burn – so, some might argue it would be more expeditious to “create mobs?”  Well, the difference between a mob and a movement is virulence and no marketer wants their followers to be hostile or spiteful.

    The business of branding is to influence in a positive way. To build value appreciation through customer care-abouts and brand good-ats. Research even suggests introducing an element of danger in advertising can cause consumer unease making them less likely to purchase. Sunny day anyone?

    Physics reminds us movement from a standing still position causes friction.  And brand people love to talk about tension. They uncover competitive tensions for breakfast.

    Most will agree creating mobs around brands is wrong. Stop gun violence. Stop the war. Better pay for nurses. All three of these examples offer the potential for anger but I wouldn’t call them mobs. Yet I also wouldn’t call them movements. Demonstrations might be a better word. Legal. Careful. Pointed.  Plus, I love the word demonstrations. Demonstrations also support the “claim and proof” framework which is the backbone of What’s The Idea? It works two ways.

    There is probably a good word between the passive movement and the more animus-infused demonstration. The search is on. Thoughts?

    Peace.

     

    A Thought On Corporate Culture.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Much in branding has been written about corporate culture. Most believe it to be a good thing. I would respectfully disagree.

    A company does not need a culture.  In fact, it can be a detriment and lead to group think. Every organization needs outliers, obstructionists and contrarians; otherwise, it can become stale, even boring. Change is good and an overbearing culture may resist change. It may even keep good employees away. That said, what mustn’t be diluted are business objectives. And the brand strategy designed to meet those objectives. Of course, brand strategy (the organizing principle for product, experience and messaging) can change if the product or market changes, but it has been my observation that done right brand strategy can live on for decades.

    As for corporate culture, it’s overrated. Our great country was built upon diversity: of thought, religion, culture and political background. Culture cannot be prescribed. It can and should grow organically and change. It must remain fluid. Don’t color by numbers.

    Peace.

     

    The 3 Ps…Levels of Brand Strategy.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    First and foremost in brand strategy is the Promise.  I have also called it the claim.  I prefer claim because you can willfully break a promise, whereas a claim is a claim  not made to be broken. But let’s use Promise as it’s a nice branding word, both warm and fuzzy. A promise is bound by an objective. The right promise in branding is tied to a business winning value – and that value is either a brand good-at or customer care-about. Ideally, both. Coca-Cola’s brand promise is refreshment. Something the brand is good at and customers care about.

    Proof, the second P, is something I write and talk about all the time. It is the evidence of the claim. Proof that a restaurant is good is a Michelin Star or a James Beard Award for the chef. Proof is what consumers tell other consumers to get them to believe recommendations. Proof organized into three planks is how you create memorable brand values and memorable brands.

    And lastly, there is Persuasion. Persuasive delivery of the promise and proof is an accelerator to brand building. Often, this takes the shape of creative. Brilliant brand-building creative delivers the promise, with proof, in a emotional and rational envelope that sticks to the ribs and brain. Persuasion leads to action. There can be persuasive creative that doesn’t deliver promise or proof yet that is just advertising art. Good for the agency, bad for the business.  

    Use all 3 Ps in your brand strategy and it will be hard to fail. This, of course, providing you have a good product. Someone once said the fastest way to kill a bad product is with good advertising. The fastest way to make good advertising is with the 3 Ps.

    Peace. Or is that Ps.

     

     

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