Facebook Instagram X Youtube
    Latest

    Marketing

    Pick A Brand Claim and Earn It.

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0


    I hate to pick on Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and its ad and web agency. MSKCC does such important work.   

    It’s a brand with some of the greatest promise in all of brand-dom. Healing. And had the organization not developed a great brand promise “More Science. Less Fear,” I’d have probably let them go about their business. But I can’t.

    The thing about brand strategy is, you find a claim, then you have to prove it every day. With every ounce of marketing being. With every marketing dollar.

    Above is a screen grab of the current home page. Where’s the science? Where?

    “Specializing in you” is the most over-used service headline in the history of headlines.  

    Granted, the “more science” claim is not present on the home page, but it’s their claim none-the-less.   

    Peace.

     

     

     

    Neat strategy, “not so” creativity.

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0

    There has always been a tension in advertising between strategy and creative.  The best creative ideas, creative people will tell you, come from coloring outside the lines. Think Different, to quote TBWA Chiat Day and Apple. The creative mind flourishes without bounds.

    Strategy people like lines and organization. We love creativity, but our day job is about lines. Flexing the tension is another of our day jobs.

    Both groups know there are no absolutes. I often say “Campaigns come and go, a powerful brand strategy is indelible.” That shit flies in one ear and out the other of creative people. 

    The best strategy, though, is tempered by great creative.  And the best creative is infused with great strategy. The two create maximum advertising effectiveness and must coexist.

    Le Bernardin, the NYC seafood restaurant, garners 4 Stars because of Maguy Le Coze (a neat and order freak) and Eric Ripert, creative chef par excellence.

    Peace.

     

     

    Professional Is-Does.

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0

    My LinkedIn profile lists me as a Brand Strategist.  That’s the “Is” of my Is-Does. As for the “Does” I say “Redistributor of marketing wealth.” 

    I use redistributor of marketing wealth rather than redistributor of business wealth because one can redistribute business wealth by buying a company.  That’s business and finance, not marketing. Marketing is about product, demand creation, competitive positioning and sales.

    “Redistributing” is an interesting choice of words because it does not include creating new wealth. Or incremental wealth.  If L’Oreal doubled the hair color market by getting men to color that would be new wealth. Not redistributed wealth.  Coming up with a new product or service category would also not be included in redistributing wealth. Or would it?

    Someone smart once told me the money spent on your product has to come from somewhere. Airlines took train revenue. That’s a redistribution for sure.

    What’s your professional Is-Does?

    Peace.    

     

    Post-App World. GitHub. And Software Of Things.

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0

    Tomorrow’s technology world is a post-app world. Software yes. Individual downloadable device apps, no. The functionality of apps will reside in the cloud and be seamless. All will be powered by open software, developed by coders and engineers whose open source proclivities will live into eternity – or until some science fiction event reverts us to privatism.

    Code and software are the blood of technology, downloadable apps are the plaque.

    This all became clearer today when I read of Microsoft’s purchase of GitHub. MSFT will learn much (restraint included) by properly feeding and managing GitHub – a platform for developers to share, store and discuss code.  Together, they will populate the cloud and allow the Software-Of-Things to merge our online and offline futures.

    Software-of-things. Hmm, I like it.

    Peace.   

     

     

    “We’re Here” Video.

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0

    I write a lot about “We’re Here” advertising.  Typically these ads do little more than tell readers a product names, maybe what it does, and where to find it.  It is the lowest form of advertising.

    Yesterday, I watched a video that lasted maybe :90 and it reminded me of We’re Here advertising.  Fairly well produced, it lacked a stout claim and, more importantly, it lacked proof. Effectively, it was a We’re Here video. 

    What did the video convey? It explained a particular part of the health care industry today. It shared some trends in healthcare. And a few problems providers are facing related to shrinking fees. Then, in the selling portion of the video, it talked about services provided and benefits resulting from those services, e.g., make more money, improve efficiency.

    If “make more money” was the claim, then what the video lacked was “proof” of that claim. There was no evidence. Nothing tangible. You can’t tell a story that is all promise and no substance. All the video had to do was identity one problem, an actionable insight and an outcome.

    Consumers are tired of promise. They want proof.

    Peace.

     

    Do Better Starbucks.

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0

    Starbucks executive chairman Howard Schultz, who does an awful lot right as a business person and brand builder, issued a mea culpa in newspapers across the country today for the racially biased incident in one of his Philadelphia stores this past winter. At great expense, Starbucks will close stores today for a half day and provide sensitivity training to all employees. His letter was heartfelt and nicely coiffed, but right out of the PR play book. (No doubt, we all need to be more sensitive to race, gender and sexual proclivity… and we could all use a little training. It’s the biggest global issue of the day.)

    But it’s my belief Mr. Shultz should have used a different tactic to “prove” the company’s commitment to improving race relations and sensitivity.  He could have hired more black people. Put a race sensitivity suggestion box in the stores. Developed a new customer greeting that celebrated inclusion. More inclusive store artwork. Changed a business behavior.

    The apology letter is nice but consumers are inured to the tactic. It has become a check box. Training, too, is good but it’s a one-timer.

    This is complex shit. But a good coffee is complex and you figured that out. Do Better Mr. Schultz.

    Peace.

     

     

    Think like a custie.

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0

    I wrote a biz/dev letter to a nearby digital agency yesterday pitching them on what I hope to be an interesting digital media planning tool. I call it Twitch Point Planning. (Google it for an explanation.)  Mindful of being brief in my pitch, I chose my words carefully and toplined what Twitch Point Planning IS and what Twitch Point Planning DOES. My typical “Is-Does” frame for explain brands and new products.  

    What I neglected to do, while mired in my need to explain the product, was tell the reader what benefit accrued to them. I suspected that by making clear the innovativeness of the product, the benefit would be implicit. Wrong. I didn’t think like a custie.

    In a much less ham-handed way I should have opened my missive with a claim about “a new revenue stream” for todays digital economy or another reader-centric idea. Only then should I have explained the Is-Does. Rather than getting all caught up in my underwear, I should have planned my outfit.

    Think like a custie and raise your odds of cutting through.

    Puh-eese.

     

     

    Branding’s False Gods.

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0

    In a nutshell, my framework for brand strategy can be described as “one claims and three proof planks.”  What’s a proof plank?  It’s a series of like-minded examples or proofs. Tangible, intelligible evidence. If I make a claim I am strong, proof of that claim is me picking up 300 pounds.  When a restaurant says the food tastes good, you trot out the James Beard Award of its chef. A proof plank is tied inexorably to the brand claim and contains a list of proofs.

    This is where most brand building falls down. Lack of proof.

    Many brand nerds will tell you that brand success lies in understanding and promoting brand “Values” and/or “Attributes.”  Values and attributes are the false Gods of branding.  They sound good in meetings. Present well in analytics presentations. They are even measurable for infatuated data heads.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve build brands by doting on research report attributes. But the fastest way to positive attribute movement is through proof. The advertising business is infected with copy that is insubstantial. Copy filled with sing-songy value blather. Filled with empty adjectives.

    Stick to proof, find your claim and proof array, and then you will have a real marketing job.

    Peace.

     

    Transparency and Authenticity.

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0

    I’m reading a book by Daniel Lubetzky, the social entrepreneur who started Kind Healthy Snacks. There is no arguing with his story, his business strategy (to create businesses that unite politically disparate people), or products. Therefore, there should be no arguing with is book. His ten principles for success are just fine.  One principle Mr. Lubetzky writes about, however, is “Transparency and Authenticity.”  I spend a good deal of time railing against these two words in this blog because for me they are the price of admission in branding. If you have to use them, you are playing defense not offense.

    Then this morning I was reading a NYT piece about Donald Trump’s approach to deal making. Now I get all the fuss about “T and A.”  To be transparent and authentic one must basically tell the truth.  There should be no omission, no mis-direction. Just overt truths. Mr. Trump, who had built a global brand of some repute, does not practice transparency or authenticity. His mish mash of unstable declarations, retractions, air horn bullying and effusive staff “good doggies” makes it awfully hard to understand the man and his logic.

    So I’ve come around on “T and A.”  The words are important in politics but not in branding, where these tenets are expected.  Let’s just spend our time and money supporting truths and nothing but the truths.   

    Peace.

     

     

    The YouTube Music Brand.

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0

    YouTube Music relaunches tomorrow with one of the worst brand extension names ever. YouTube was born as a video channel — a pretty amazing brand in and of itself. Over the years it has developed into a powerhouse in the mobile music and streaming realm, yet along with YouTube Red and Google Play Music has conflated a bunch of names into a “fruit cocktail effect” of product(s).

    YouTube and Google should have launched a totally new brand this week — eaten some of their children and come out of the gate with a brilliant new music product (service.)  I don’t see Steve Jobs skeeving up his brandscape like this? (Well maybe a little.)

    First, the brand should have jettisoned the YouTube name. Spotify and Pandora are already established and have powerful brand names. Abigail Posner, Head of Creative Strategy & Head of Creative Effectiveness, at Google knows this.  In my opinion, she needs to head to San Bruno today and get the YouTube people on board. It is a brilliant opportunity. A brilliant brand possibility.

    Build the biggest music brand extant!

    Peace.

     

     

    1...171819...208Page 18 of 208
    © Newsmag WordPress Theme by TagDiv