Yearly Archives: 2016

A Healthy Brand Planning Question.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

There is a battery of questions I use when doing brand discovery; questions I ask of senior executives at the client company.  One such has to do with product or service roadmap. Today I’m thinking the question should be focused to probe around “consumer health.” Past road map questions may have prompted answers about efficiency or lower cost but as many markets are moving toward healthier life choices it makes sense to ping this way.

“What are you doing with your product or service that will promote healthier consumers or a healthier planet?”

When Tyson Chicken invests in Beyond Meat, it is making a bet on healthy. When Campbell Soup Company bought Bolthouse Farms Juices, it was a bet on healthy.  When fast food companies stop frying French fries in trans fats, it was investing in healthy. These are telling moves and important investments. They undergird brand strategy and must be understood.

A brand with a conscience is a brand that sleeps well at night. And sleep is not an over-rated activity.

Peace.                                                                          

 

Buy, lift and separate.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

salesforce-logo

Salesforce should buy Twitter but keep it as a standalone company. Attempting to integrate Twitter into the Salesforce fabric, though it would offer great excitement and return, would make messy both product services.  Life’s too short not to try something like this, Marc Benioff might be thinking, but he shouldn’t do it with an eye toward an integrated platform. The puzzle pieces just won’t fit. Not organically.

Mr. Benioff should buy the company. And allow it to resurrect itself with fresh cash, time and vision. But that vision isn’t the same that has fueled Salesforce.

If you are managing a brand well, you are managing a business well. Brand management is all about staying within the lines of a business winning organizing principle. Adhere and innovate, but stay between the lines. When you merge two companies like Salesforce and Twitter, you’re evolving and adding new lines to that organizing principle. It like adding new genes to the pool. Especially for companies as large and successful as these two. Buy, lift and separate.

Peanut butter and ham do not a great sandwich make.

Peace.      

 

 

A New Definition of Branding.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I often wonder if the targets for my business truly understand what I do. Those targets, CMOs, directors of marketing and small and mid-size business owners, read “brand consultancy” and get the consultant part, but may not truly understand the depth of the word brand. Brand today is both a noun and a verb.  

Many think brand is a mark or logo. Something that, through design, helps consumers with product identity. The whole branded cattle history thing. For people who view brands this way a brand consultancy is all logo, name, style guide and, perhaps, tagline. When AT&T spun off Lucent in the 90s, the whole process, exquisitely implemented by the way, cost millions. A year later, the company had a new name, logo, building signs, stock symbol and ad campaign. But not a brand strategy. (Peter Kim’s “$14B tech startup” aside.)

The reality is, especially in today service economy, a brand is a living breathing thing. My definition of brand strategy as “an organizing principle for Product, Experience and Messaging.” Most of my targets understand this definition better. In fact, they are more apt to acknowledge needing and organizing principle that they are a brand strategy.  

So moving forward my mission it to educate my targets as to this new definition. It will be a long road but one I expect will redistribute marketing wealth in my direction. Onward.

Peace.

 

 

Brand Referendums.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

There’s a cover story in The New York Times today about political referendums. It suggests referendum results favor the sponsoring political party when that party is in favor.  The opposite is also true. The headline of the article suggests referendums are “messy tools” and the recent Brexit vote was used as an example.

I actually think brand referendums are a nice idea – a good way to gauge customer sat and affinity by allowing a vote on product and service changes. Blue Point Brewery just changed the label of its flagship beer, Toasted Lager.  With Blue Point’s purchase by Anheuser Busch InBev, it seems big brother’s marketing engine is getting more involved. I wonder how that will play out?  A simple button on the home page requesting feedback, wouldn’t have hurt.  Along with a comment box.

The marketing road is lettered with changes to products that have passed muster with modest or no research. Brand referendums (on the home page) offer customers a way to engage, feel listened to, and perhaps assist with innovations. And more importantly, gauge how customers feel about the direction of brand management.

Tink about it, as my Norwegian aunt would have said. 

Peace.

 

 

Auto Fill For Life.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

There was a story today in the NYT about the potential ascendancy of Google’s digital assistant over all others. Over Siri, Cortana and Alexa/Echo. If not Google, who?  Assistant voice recognition is getting there as is voice response. But it’s machine learning that will make or break the digital assistant business. And one can imagine Google has a leg up with all of the data it has on us.

Do you ever find yourself driving around looking for directions and wondering why your nav. assistant doesn’t know you better? I do. Or why you phone can’t make your life easier with repetitive functions? Like an auto fill life? I do. A learned (pronounced learn-ed) assistant is going to be an amazing help to us.  It will save time, energy and planetary resources. The possibilities are truly endless.

As it stands now (according to the NYT), Siri owns the phone, Echo owns the home, and Facebook Messenger rules the streets – when you’re out and about. Google’s digital assistant, which I’m sure will have a much cooler name than Google Assistant aspires to be the lone assistant. (Learn-Ed is actually kind of a nice name. Hmm, you listening Learn-Ed?)

Anyway, should be a fun ride and amazingly profitable.

Peace.   

 

 

Insights and Brand Briefs.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

One of the challenges when writing a brand brief is knowing which insight to use to fuel the claim. (The claim is the idea at the top of the brand strategy, supported by 3 proof planks.) Often in a brief there are 2 or 3 really exciting insights, all of which offer enough power to motivate brand predisposition. But which to pick, that’s the question.

What I love about the brief I use, borrowed from McCann-Erickson’s Peter Kim 2 decades ago, is that it has a serial framework. One section leads to the next. Like puzzle pieces, they don’t always fit, but fit they must. Until they fit, you need to keep working. Until there is a linear story you are only bumping along the cobble stones. Chank a chank.

As I work the brief, key insights find their way into the story. But some must be let go. What’s funny is the outcome of the story – the claim – is often not known until the story plays out. Insights float in the back of the mind as you work toward the end, some more strongly than others, but the big finish is often a bit of a surprise.

There can’t be two endings. Enjoy the ride.

Peace.

Start charging for Twitter.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Twitter needs to start charging for its service. I don’t like to pay for anything but Twitter is something I’d happily go to the old dusty wallet for. Especially if it keeps out some of the riff raff. Twitter should not sell to another ad-focused company with an intent of getting bigger. It should charge and be more profitable. And stay smaller.  (As if 300 million custies is small.) And with a smaller, paying customer base, the advertising product would likely be better and extract more margin.

So then the next question is “What would people be willing to pay for Twitter?” How about $20 a year? That’s two chicken wraps with cheese per month. Say 40% of users drop out — you’d still be booking $3.6B in fee revenue.

Twitter is part of our media world. It may not be for everybody but it is a world-flattening necessity. Don’t sell it off like some underperforming service company. That would be crazy short-sighted.

Massifying free web services is only for low-value properties. That certainly doesn’t describe Twitter.

Peace.

 

WhatsTheIdea.com Announces Expansion.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I have decided to work on the What’s The Idea? website, expanding it to include a number of offerings, real and in Beta. Here’s a list of the first few offerings to be included — some of which are also memes on the web.

Return on Strategy (ROS). Unlike return on investment where expenditures on tactical marketing dollars or project dollars are measured, return on strategy links revenue and value to strategy.  With ROS, attitudes, perceptions and dispositions are weighed against behaviors and sales to determine drivers of market success.

Brand Strategy Tarot Cards. In the brand strategy tarot card reading, client companies come to the meeting with 5 pieces of content.  Serially and in real time each piece of content is turned over and read.  Learnings and gleanings are shared with the marketing team until all five pieces are revealed. The reading ends with a summary of brand strategy and a view into the brand future.

Brand Strategy Workshop. This three part workshop walks attendees through the key stages of the What’s The Idea? brand strategy development framework. This hands on, participatory workshop allows attendees to more fully understand brand strategy by experiencing the discovery, boil down and synthesis process that results in powerful brand ideas.

Posters Vs. Pasters. Born out of social media research, Posters vs. Pasters is a quick-draw research tool used to arrive at consumer and market insights. It is a wonderful early stage brand planning discovery tool. At last count the market was make up of 92% Pasters, 8% Posters.

Twitch Point Planning.  A Twitch Point is a media moment during which a consumer changes his or her media consumption in search of clarification or greater meaning. Often changing devices or apps. Understanding, mapping and manipulating these twitch points in a way that moves users closer to a sale is the goal of Twitch Point Planning. Think customer journey with real weigh points.

Stay tuned. And all inquiries are welcome.

Peace.

 

 

Apple and Drivables.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Apple hasn’t always been the darling it is today. And the slowdown of the iPhone sales was predictable. Factions in the company focused on preserving revenue versus those who want to blow it up in search of a replacement device (watch?) are impeding things. But, hey, that’s the price of progress and free enterprise.

lit-motors-car

But don’t bet against Apple. Some smart Apple people are looking into the next BIG thing – self driving cars – and kicking all the right tires. An investment in McLaren, a tech forward company, would be a good fit and take the average revenue per customer up from a slim handheld to large, large drivable.  Every person has a phone and nearly every person has a car. Do the math.  Apple’s look into Lit Motors, a motorcycle company, is genius too.  Ever look around a highway? Nothing but single car drivers surrounded by empty space. Making smaller, safer drivables into self-drivables is a trillion dollar bet. And with boomers aging, caregivers won’t have to take away mom’s car keys. Good for the planet too.

Don’t let the iPhone 7 thing cast a pall over your perspective on Apple. Those dudes and dudettes are boogying.  It won’t all be pretty (Did you see the movie?), but it will be spectacular.

Peace.

 

 

We’re Here Advertising

By
Steve Poppe
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0

There is a type of advertising that really rankles me. I call it “We’re Here” advertising. Effectively, it’s nothing more than a banner with a brand name and logo. We’re Here advertising conveys what is being sold and, hopefully, where to buy it. Unfortunately, We’re Here advertising is not uncommon…and it has even been known to work. The logic goes, by just showing up and reminding consumer you’re there, you’ll garner consideration. It’s such a waste.  

Real advertising contains reasons to buy. A claim or two. Logic that supports a buying decision. Back in the day when there were 3 TV channels, showing up in a tutu beneath a lyrical song may have been enough. Today, image is important, style is important ,  but reasons to buy are exquisitely important.  And above all, reasons to buy must be memorable and evidence based.

If you spend any money advertising to savvy American consumers, you need to look at your ads and make sure they’re not We’re Here ads. If they are, fix them.

Peace.

 

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