Monthly Archives: February 2017

Search Share Learn. (A rip off of “eat love pray”.)

0

I was reading a story this morning about ResearchGate a social media community for researchers. It’s a place where they can get together online to share ideas, sources and projects – the end game of which is to accelerate project completion. If Facebook is the 800 lb. gorilla, social media plats (short for platforms) are smaller more discrete communities where people can commune and learn. Edmodo is one such for educators. Houzz is one for home remodelers.  And Etsy for people selling their home made crafts.

These category-specific social media plats bring the world’s resources to our fingertips. I remember talking and thinking about this while in a strategic role at (start-up) Zude in 2006.  Then, a few years later, while working for JWT on a “future of work” project for client Microsoft, the topic came up again under the guise of something I named the “logged and tagged workforce”  — an idea where was the project was more important than the workers.

The web opens up worlds of information and data to everyone. Google’s ability to search this information has transformed our lives. But as search matures and we pull back in search of better ways to get stuff done, I’m realizing how random and mis-organized is the Google sphere. Smaller learning and sharing communities are the future. And they won’t be free either.

More to come, once I dump the cache.

Peace.

 

 

New Cadillac Spots

0

I wrote Friday about the new Cadillac campaign, sight seen. My qualm was actually with the quote by Publicis’ CEO who intimated image, not car sales, was the point of the work.  I get image. It’s an important got-to-have, but it’s not the primary reason for advertising. Image and an on-brand strategy message are imperatives. Not, however, at the cost of selling.

The Cadillac ad I watched last night on the Oscars was lovely. Of the time. Its heart was in the right place. The product manager/client made the agency show, at least, some old Cadillac cars. But how hard would it have been to show a new model at the end of the spot? Even grayed out a bit? As mentioned Friday, Cadillac’s challenge the past couple of years has been inelegant car designs. Not showing the new model car almost makes me feel, it’s still a challenge.

Then Cadillac ran another ad introducing the Escala. (Watch the second commercial on YouTube link above.) It’s product first. Product forward. And the car design is huge. Exhilarating.  These two execution could have ben combined a la the “Imported From Detroit” spot from years ago. That would have been some ad craft.

Peace.

 

Cadillack of Sales.

0

The kiss of death for any advertising campaign is when the power brokers at the ad agency and client say “selling product isn’t the goal of the advertising, elevating the brand is.” Ouch. Double ouch. This type of defeatist attitude is so transparent. Something’s wrong — either with the product or the advertising.

These were the paraphrased words of Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun in today’s NYT, when discussing the new Cadillac campaign.

Cadillac advertising has actually been pretty good the last few years, even with the churn in ad agencies. But it has been product design – the boring and sometimes ugly cars – that has kept sales down. I love new campaigns. And the one launching on the Academy Awards Sunday is likely to be topical, political and powerful. But if some metal doesn’t start leaving he showrooms the brand won’t elevate. People need to buy, drive and talk about the cars. Not the advertising.

Peace.

 

Politics, Brands and Focus.

0

I have borrowed heavily from the political ranks for my brand strategy framework – referring to brand support as “planks.”  Planks are the keys to the organizing principle that is What’s The Idea’s secret sauce.

Smart politicians understand that their day job is to be all things to all people, but brilliant politicians know they must be a few big things to all people.  “It’s the economy stupid,” was one such plank of Bill Clinton’s 1992 election, coined by James Carville.

Ask most politicians or political runners today for their key messages, I’m sure you will get back at least one generic statement like “serving our constituents to make their lives better.”  As well-intended as this may be, it’s not a discrete plank.

Politicians and brand runners need to focus. Find a claim, find your three proof planks, then live your life in their duty.

Peace.

 

Long Live Twitter

0

Yesterday I posted on the subject “Twitter Blather Be Gone.” I suggested not using Twitter solely as a business tool to promote oneself…ad nauseam. Yet I post Twitter promoting my blog. Am I breaking my own rule? Nah. If all I did on Twitter was promote myself with 20 tweets a day, that would be different.

I look at all social media channels differently. Facebook is for friends. LinkedIn for work. Instagram for the art director/photographer in you. A blog for your keen interest. And Twitter – as the representation of your total personality. A little bit of everything. I say stuff to on Twitter I’d never share on Facebook.

Twitter can be the best representation of the whole person. As an outbound vehicle, Twitter is the most freeing. The most important. It reflects the daily earthly cosmos, if that’s not a contradiction. Blather be gone. Long live Twitter.

Peace.

 

Twitter Blather be Gone.

0

You’ve seen Twitter personalities with an inordinate number of follower. Or those with 100,000 tweets. Are these serious and effective business people or subject matter experts?  Often, no. They are all about creating churn on Twitter. And if they do it on Twitter they’re apt to do so on Facebook as well.

When I see these people, unless they are Kardashian, I know they’re in the business of social media; trying to make a living selling their social media expertise. Twitter is best when it’s not overtly commercial. When the important stuff floats to the top. Not when the important stuff is buried under a bunch of promotional blather. Once something good is under the fold, it’s pretty much gone.

We need to do a better job of filtering out the Twitter blather from our feeds. I plan on removing some Tweeps beginning today. I love Twitter. I follow smart business people, strategists and thinkers. When I hide them among the weeds, it’s a problem.

Peace.

 

 

 

Tactics-Palooza.

0

A growing industry is taking hold in the marketing world fueled by one-off new media helpers.  Packaged as consultants, they offer social media, website, email marketing and online advertising tactics to those interested in spicing up marketing returns.  Check your Twitter feed for 140 character posts that contain primary numbers such as “7 steps to, 5 surefire rules, 3 critical digital mistakes…” to easily identify these tactical helpers.  People crave this stuff and it sells.

But I giggle at these tactically focused sales pitches. Tactics-palooza only works if the basic groundwork of brand strategy is set. Brand strategy must be in place for any tactic to be maximized. It’s my experience, especially with mid-size companies, that this is just not happening.  Mid-size and small businesses are studying content marketing, mobile ad buys, Google AdWords, responsive design and the like, without understanding how best to position their companies for maximum result.

It’s a tactical shit show. A shiny, not-so-new thing that has captured marketing dollars with little, if any, effectiveness. It’s ingredient buying without the recipe.

Peace.

 

Brand and De Facto Brand Strategies.

0

It’s debatable how many companies actually have brand strategies.  They have brands, products, services, mission statements, taglines, marketing plans and ads. But brand strategies? Organizing principles for product, experience and messaging?  No so much. Many marketers have de facto brand strategies, not codified as “one claim and three proof planks.” They may take the form of a big “idea” with some provable supports. Or a de facto brand strategy may come from an ad, or highly effective promotion. Perhaps a marketing document drawn up during a peak sales period. But often, as can be the case with real brand strategies, de facto versions drift away.

I do a lot of training and it’s my belief that the root cause of powerful brands is training. Everyone at the company needs to know the brand strategy. Not just the brand managers. Geo-technical engineers need to know their brand strategies.  Kitchen remodelers need to know it. Truck drivers who deliver the goods, cardiothoracic surgeons who work for the system. Everybody.

When everyone is trained on brand strategy, when management spends time and money reinforcing it, a brand takes on a life of its own.

Peace.

 

Coke. Care-Abouts and Good-Ats.

0

Coca-Cola’s key good-at is “refreshment.” There are few, few things better than a cold Coke on a warm day after a workout.  And when the consumer care-about is refreshment, a great product choice is Coke. Remember, brand strategy is about good-ats and care-abouts. 

Refreshment, rather than, longtime advertising attribute “happiness,” is an experiential, product-based proof. It’s a product reality. Coke’s current advertising tagline (brand line) is “Taste The Feeling.” An amalgam of cheerleading and emotion.   It is not a product based care-about or good-at. It’s advertising based.

Don’t get me wrong, I love advertising. Dave Trott teaches me the way to do it well it to connect. But connecting with the art is not the same as connecting with the product. Of course it’s harder to create compelling stories and poetry around products – but that’s the job.    

Brand planners need to focus the work on product-based care-abouts and good-ats. Coke should know better.

Peace.          

 

Product Naming Fail.

0

In my brand strategy presentation to prospects there’s a slide on the “fruit cocktail effect,” what happens when you try to be too many things as a brand. Nobody would argue, in fruit cocktail the pear tastes like the peach which tastes like the cherries, grapes and pineapple.  One boring, sweet syrupy mess.

I was in a BJs yesterday and noticed this little device.  It is a multipurpose snow removal tool.  But who could name it? It offers a brush, ice scraper, squeegee, ice chipper, telescoping handle, detachable handle and a few other odds and ends.  To accommodate all the functionality and utility at a price point attractive to most consumers, the thing is make of cheap plastic. If it lasts two snow storms I’d be surprised. But what should one name this thing so it has a slim chance to live on and evolve into a viable product?  Good names follow the Is-Does rule (what a product Is and what it Does).  There just no way to name this thing. Swiss Army Brush?  Everything starts with the product.

Peace.