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    Rebranding

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    I’ve been in touch with a few tech CEOs over the past year and I know it is not easy being them; they are responsible for financing, product development, legal, the code, usability, hiring, business metrics and last but not least strategy. 

     

    The true test of a great CEO, though, is what happens after these two words pass through his or her lips “major rebranding.” “Major rebranding” is code for we don’t have a focused strategy. Sadly, most rebranding assignments often yield a PowerPoint deck filled with marko-babble, a logo (nice), tagline (generic), a visual symmetry discourse and bill for some serious money.  Most of the bill, by the way, pays for tactics.

     

    Branding is all about strategy. It is forward looking, consumer-facing, fresh, it pushes the culture (business or societal), and all the heavy lifting is done before any visual tactics or art are employed. The precursor of a branding idea is a suit strategy and it should reflect each and every element the CEO cares about (see first paragraph).  When the suit strategy talks to the CEO and makes him/her smile, the rest of the job can begin.

     

    If you run into a CEO who when commenting about a rebranding project says “I’ll know it when I see it,” give the check back and run.  

     

     

    Two Kinds of News.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    There was a time when breaking news only came from radio, newspapers and TV. Then the Internet arrived and it became immediate. Mobile phones and Twitter apps introduced us to big news events reported in seconds from virtually anywhere.

     

    News is free. It may be ad-supported but the horse has left the barn when it comes to making money on news.  Breaking news (the best kind) is no longer appointment-driven. It hits us in real-time over the closest device. Technology has made news 1s and 0s. It’s information. And free.

     

    Analysis, on the other hand, is where the money is. A well turned, well contextualized story, is worth paying for. Hearing Steven Colbert’s fun spin on something is worth an appointment. Reading Thomas Friedman’s analysis of Obama’s Cairo speech is not like hearing about it from your neighbor (not that there’s anything wrong with neighbors).

     

    As the news reporting business evolves and changes thanks to the Internet, I think we will begin to see two forms: generic, aggregated news (free) and in-depth, bi-lined, star-value analysis (paid). 

     

    Content is still king and as we mix the great content in with the chaff — and offer it for free — it loses value.

     

    See Change or Sea Change?

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    I’ve been in a number of meetings lately where I’ve referred to doubling the size of the market. Real marketer’s ears always perk up when you talk about big rather than incremental growth. Here’s an example of how one might double a market. 

     

    One fine summer day a few years ago, Mike Piazza, the much publicized catcher for the New York Mets, emerged from the dugout and walked into the on-deck circle with blond hair. Theretofore, Mike had been a brown haired man. That one moment in time gave every man in America permission to color his hair. Mike did it, not to cover up gray, but to have some fun. A fun, televised, sunny summer day. It was not planned (that I could tell) yet it was a huge and potentially market-changing moment. 

     

    If Mike Piazza can have fun changing it up, why shouldn’t the rest of us? Had a smart hair color marketer taken this serendipitous moment and run with it, the hair color market might have doubled. Most of the time marketers try to plan change — sometimes they have to sea change…and pounce. Peace!  

    A Message to Management.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Need to do an overnight category message analysis…including online? There’s a nap for that.

    Need a full-blown, 8-city market test in a week? There’s a nap for that.

    Got a back door invitation to a new business pitch in two days and haven’t cracked the consumer insight yet? There’s a nap for that.

    Need a new integrated campaign because the one you’re presenting tomorrow broke on TV last night? There’s a nap for that. It’s called good people.

    There’s a saying in advertising “The overhead goes up and down in the elevator every night.” To that I would add "overhead is much more effective when pounding out a powerful branding idea." Great people and great strategy allow everyone – especially agency management – to sleep better at night. Peace!   

     

    Snap Out Of It.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    I was reading Creativity Magazine this morning and David Nobay of Droga5 in Sydney quoted Charles Bukowski — “As the spirit wanes, form rises.”

     

    Translated, this means we fall into ruts or expected ways of doing things as our senses deaden. Mr. Nobay suggests this happens when the economy is in the shizzer. The “suits” exert more control over the “creatives” and business becomes unusually usual.  I wrote a couple of days ago about the adgorithm, the new form of statistically driven marketing, another symptom of this lack of spirit thanks to the poor economy.

     

    I’m with Mr. Nobay…and always have been. The best digital agencies are those with a high degree of creativity in their blood. The best media companies, the same. The best healthcare agencies and direct shops, ditto. Spirited people help marketers break out of ruts.

     

    I recently walked into a design boutique in a very creative part of NYC and could hear a pin drop. Smart people. Nice Mac Books. Stiff aroma of coffee. But no giggling. Little childishness. Was I listening to quiet fear?  Let’s all snap out of it. Peace!

     

    Same old GM.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    There’s a new General Motors TV spot created by Deutsch breaking tomorrow that is, amazingly, the same old-same old.  More freaking upbeat music, more “moving forward” imagery, no remorse, no apology, no mention of chapter 11, though the spot does spin the word “chapter.”  It’s pretty much like watching any GM corporate spot over the last 20 years. (In fact, I’d love to pair some old voice overs with this film just for grins.)

     

    The new GM according to copy will be “leaner, greener, faster, smarter.” Blah cubed.

     

    The most powerful image in the entire spot is a huge sculpture of a metal fist suspended in air paired with the voice over “and fix it we will.”  Very USSR. It happens, though, to be the only emotional point in the spot that resonates.  

     

    Here’s what I want in a chapter 11 spot. Leadership. I want acknowledgement that the company was out of touch and I want to hear what it is doing to stay in touch. I want a demonstration that the new company has good judgment, not blather about reinventing itself. Whenever I screw up I’ve found the best way forward is to admit it. To myself… then to those I’ve let down. I don’t do a song and dance about it and a God damn plié. PEACE!

     

    Adgorithm

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    The adgorithm is the new breed of online advertising that is driven by statistics rather than media and creative professionals.  The adgorithm allows testing of online ad units in seconds to see what words, colors, pictures and ideas click through at the highest rates. The adgorithm is also a media testing approach where data hounds (be they agency-based or in-house) employ ad exchanges to let the adgorithm predict performance and make media placement choices.  Soon the machines will even replace the data hounds. You listening Sarah Connor?

     

    I’m a big science guy when it comes to marketing, but science needs a creative baffle. The greatest, most nerve-wracking part of working at an ad agency is the conflict between creative and logical minds. It’s where “new” comes from. As statisticians and data nerds become more important in the marketing business, I’m afraid we’ll have an even further melt-down. We’ll lose serendipity. We’ll talk ROI even more than we do now.  Strategy isn’t something an adgorithm can create. Marketing strategy is about future sales, it’s predictive. We really must temper the adgorithm before marketers start getting addicted. Then all will be lost. Peace!

     

    Bing, bing, bing.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Microsoft Bing, a new search engine going live next Wednesday, has set its sights on Google.  Word on the Avenue is that Bing will be supported by over $100 million in advertising and with preloaded Bing search bars on new HP and Dell computers the communications spend will go way beyond.  I like the product name and from what I’ve read I suspect Bing will have some good traction, but two things I anticipate will get in its way: over-engineering and a feisty ad campaign. 

     

    Google started out simple and people loved it. Bing will start out rich in features, with more feature creep on the way, and the masses may balk.  Can you say Mahalo?  

    The advertising, which I’m assuming will come from Crispin Porter, should be good. But it will be a bit competitive towards Google and will be the wrong approach. I would go just the opposite and use my Microsoft Bing dollars to tell everyone how great Google is. Be nice doggies. Unexpected with praise. At the end of the spots, don’t zing Google, tell people the message was brought to you by Bing and ask people to give it a try. That, in and of itself, will signal it’s different. The end. Peace!

     

    Brand Planning and the Future.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Being a brand and marketing planner is exciting because in order to be good you need to be a futurist.  I often rail against rearview mirror planners who only look to the past to develop product and brand strategies.  Certainly you need to understand the past to formulate hypotheses about the future, but watching film of swimming and understanding its mechanics is not like jumping into the water for the first time. You may feel better prepared but it is still scary.  

     

    So why is brand planning fun? Because predicting the future, though hairy, can be  lucrative and change the marketing world. Steve Jobs comes to mind.  

     

    Here’s an exercise in predicting the future: Car dealerships across the U.S. are closing.  Many Ford dealers have shuttered their doors and the wave of Chrysler and GM closings is almost upon us.  In 12 months time drive down the highway in your town, where all the fast food restaurants are, and you’ll see abandoned care dealerships aplenty.  The economy is awful, but should be showing signs of life by then. What business or business category will move into those fallow real estate sites?  If you had Zuckerberg money, what would you build? Peace!

    Kindle and Kindling

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    I’m riding the train to the city (sorry, New York) and a gent next to me is reading the new Amazon Kindle 2. I interrupted him to ask about its performance and he was not even miffed. He loves it. When I ask how many books he’d read he told me with the Journal (sorry, Wall Street) on screen that he is reading more than ever before. “I always have something with me.” The wireless works fine, he added.  

     

    The idea that people will read more than ever because they always have material close by is intriguing and, if correct, suggest better grades for kids, better erudition for adults and, dare I say, a more informed populace. Ahh, the future.  

     

    This dude was so Zen-ed out, in fact, that after I returned it to him and apologized for the newsprint smudge on its pretty thin frame he smiled and gave me a knowing nod. Enough said. This thing is going to take off like dried kindling on an arroyo. Peace.

     

     

     

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