Brand Strategy. Steve Poppe, Founder.

Machine Content

By

-

December 29, 2023

As a young’un growing up in advertising, stock photo books were everywhere in ad agency art departments. Lurzer’s Archive was also around for those departments that could afford subscriptions. (As a strategist, I used to subscribe to Archive and keep a few in my office; when art directors visited, they’d often ask, “What are you doing with Archive?” But I digress.)

Stock photo books were an inspiration to creatives. Idea starters. And today’s stock photo book for content creators (AKA copywriters), is in many cases going to be AI.

Faris Yakob, whom I love as a strategist and bon vivant, is known for his concept “recombinant ideas.” Quoting Steve Jobs in this video, he suggests originality is nonexistent. The only originality is the mashing up of other ideas. I agree. Some of my best ideas, creative thoughts, brand brief nuggets, come from this process. My mind works this way. It generates based on some very random principles. But it’s all original recombination rather than plagerism.

If AI is used by content creators, as more than an appetizer for clean newish recombination, but to copy and paste, we will have another downward trend in creativity. Machine marketing, as it were.

Let’s not let that happen. Appetizers good. Laziness bad.

Peace.

Brandsplaining

By

-

December 28, 2023

For quite some time now I’ve been using this blog and social media to brandsplain. I Googled brandsplain and it seems as with most good ideas it’s not an original idea. Philippa Roberts and Jane Cunningham have a book Brandsplaining. There’s is a feminist take on how misguided advertising to women has become. Bravo. But with deference to the authors I’m going to use a more unisex definition of brandsplaining. One, a little less fiesty.

When I brandsplain, I like to think I’m educating. My wish is to make brand strategy a more important, codified and healthy marketing undertaking.

Here’s my definition of brand strategy: “an organizing principle for product, experience and messaging.” (Anyone who would like to discuss this definition, please contact me via Twitter/X at @spoppe, LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/stevepoppe or email at Steve@WhatsTheIdea.com.)

Over my career I’ve met scores of brand planners and followed even more on social media. Some of the smartest planners have gotten out of the business. Others consult. A great many have turned to brandsplaining over LinkedIn. Or in meetings over coffee and beer. As a brandsplainer, I’d much rather brand plan. I’d much rather interview consumers. Talk to SMEs. Scour social media threads. Review sales info. And learn the lingua franca of the category and its buying culture. Yet instead, I brandsplain.

If you can do. If you can’t brandsplain.

My 2024 resolution is less ‘splaining, more doing.

And to the world, peace be upon you.

To Big or Not to Big?

By

-

December 19, 2023

When naming my company, I debated using What’s The Idea versus What’s The Big Idea. Donnie Deutsch used The Big Idea in his cable TV series many years ago but that didn’t really factor in. I opted out of the word “big” because it sounded boastful and braggartly. Plus, big is in the eye of the beholder. And frankly. Most barns don’t even have an idea, let alone a big idea. Plus dropping big made the URL shorter.

A brand idea doesn’t need to be big to be good. It just needs to convey the appropriate consumer value and position of the product. If it does, then it’s up to the marketing team and agencies to make the strategy big and ring the cash register.

Leave the tactics to those paid to create interest and sales. Leave the idea to the brand strategists.

Is “refreshment” a big idea for Coke or just an idea?

Is “The world’s information in one click” (Google) a big idea or just an idea?

How about “safety” for Volvo?

Or “love” for Subaru. (Just kidding, that one’s a clunker.)

There are lots of little brand ideas out there. Let’s start by crashing through that ceiling.

Peace.

Brand Strategy Freebee.

By

-

December 4, 2023

I’m hungry for brand work. Blogging’s fun but planning and talking to people about consumerism is funner. The problem is, I charge money for my work and when I’m not on a job, the planning field lies fallow.

My life is cursed with a brain that watches marketers shoot in the dark. My blood curdles when I see ads, pr, social, and promotion that lacks brand strategy. The owners of this errant marketing will tell you they have a business strategy — to make more money — yet they think by publishing their brand or company name, surrounded by some generic sales effluvium, sales will appear. That doesn’t work today. As I watch all this silliness play out in the marketplace I wonder what could be. If organized.

A brand strategy is an organizing principle for product, experience and messaging. Are you organized? Sure, you say. But tell me how. Tell me how today! I’m giving it away. I’m giving away my critique of your organizing principle.

Write Steve@WhatsTheIdea.com. It’s a limited-time only freebee. I’m hungry.

Peace.

Archives