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    Marketing

    The Fruit Cocktail Effect

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Anyone who has ever eaten fruit cocktail knows it tastes like sugar…and nothing but the sugar. As I’ve said to scores of marketers who have seen my brand framework presentation “The grape tastes like the peach, which tastes like the cherry, which tastes like the pear.” When you try to do too much, you do nothing.  The fruit cocktail effect.

    Okay, not the greatest metaphor ever constructed, but it’s meme-able.

    As a younger man, volunteering on archeological digs, I troweled dirt and paint brushed away the years in an effort to uncover artifacts from prior people and cultures. Eventually all the dirt would end up in a sifter which revealed small goodies from our slow and methodical labors. 

    Brand discovery is a lot like that. We gather massive amounts of information and sift. Sift for goodies. In the case of my branding practice the goodies are called proofs. Tangible things, just like artifacts, that help construct a concrete story.  And because of the fruit cocktail effect, we know that only a few artifacts get into the story.

    Amass and de-mass.

    Peace.

     

     

    A little brand self-analysis.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Were I to conduct discovery on What’s The Idea?, my brand consultancy, and articulate its claim, it would probably be “A powerful brand idea is indelible.”  My email signature and tagline use this statement behind the words “Campaigns Come and go…”

    So that a brand strategy isn’t perceived as a one-trick pony, I employ a proof array comprising 3 support planks. This allows for pluralism in the brand story. This allows for a the claim of brand value and, hopefully, superiority to have multiple dimensions. All of which build the case and brand value. (If the claim and proof array theory isn’t working for you, please email for examples. Steve@WhatsTheIdea.com.)

    I’ve never written a brief for What’s The Idea? Amazing! It probably would be a good thought. Shoemakers children and all that.  So sans brief, what might my three proof planks be for the “indelible” idea?  Let’s think on the fly:  

    1. Indelible means Memorable. Easy for consumers to play back, either in conversation or visual imagery.
    2. Emotional. Something that is near to the heart of the buyer. I refer to care-abouts often in my blogging but an emotional care-about trumps a wan care-about any day.
    3. Optimistic. A plank should be positive – toward the category, the purchaser and the marketing order supporting the commerce. Leave bad news for the media. Good news is branding’s purview.

    There you have it, 3 proof planks for the powerful “indelible” idea. Now, off to work.

    Peace.   

     

    Too big, too fast?

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Well, Google just stepped over the line. Their recent YouTube purchase only made sense to me because it furthered Google’s franchise as the world’s best search engine. Though video hosting is not a core competence of Google, searching for those videos certainly can be. Now Google has made a deal to buy DoubleClick, the Web’s leading ad server business.
     
    Some might say an ad server uses search algorithms to find the most appropriate place to host an ad, but I’m going there. This purchase is about growing bigger and growing faster…in almost Googolplex dimension. It will prove too much food on the plate for one company to eat with elegance. Is anyone getting a Monty Python image?

    Eyeball, ads and privacy.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    I wrote in a presentation yesterday that much in the way of web innovation today is about eyeballs and ads. Ads being the way start-ups are monetized after funding.  For the past 20 years technologists have spent lots of time, effort and money helping consumers bypass advertising. It’s kind of ironic, no?  Well, in one man’s opinion, privacy, or the lack thereof, will be the new advertising. The new digital coin of the realm.

    Today’s headlines are about federal judges admonishing the NSA for “systematically keeping records of all Americans’ phone calls” which “most likely violates the Constitution.”  Yah think?  So clearly, Mr. Snowden, people are starting to pay attention,

    As this grumble turns to a roar, data collecting companies and big data will have a problem. And data collection will become opt-in. For the ability to have web apps and web features for free, many will be willing to share their data. Data is scientific and when used properly helps predict behavior and purchase. Data is worth a great, great deal. Databases know the sex of babies, often before grandparents.

    Yesterday I mentioned TV ad spending will slow due to social media. Today I suggest digital ad spending will wane thanks to the opt-in sale of personal data. Anytime smell a trend here?

    Peace!   

    A Cadillac Grows in SOHO.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    cadillac

    I saw a new Cadillac ad on TV last night.  In light the announcement to move Cadillac corporate headquarters to SOHO, NYC, I was immediately taken by the backdrop of the red luxury car as it rolled through its paces. The streetscapes were def NYC…Greene Street, in particular. As much as the environs were urban and chic, the one thing most in need of style was the car itself. This nondescript Cadillac model was, yawn, nothing to write home about. Save for a few close-ups of the grill emblem, visually there was very little compelling about the ad with the exception of the atypical location.

    Cadillac is moving to SOHO in search of style. And cachet. The first thing it needs to do is design some cars that don’t look like white collar dress shoes. I hate to use the words European styling because it suggests we Americans are not style-forward, but a little help from the continent wouldn’t hurt. Or, how about getting some of the Apple designers to lend a hand? The Cadillacs of 2-3 years ago were really, really bad. Now they are just bad.

    I applaud the move to SOHO, but nothing is going to change until Cadillac exterior and body designs are smoking hot. The product is everything. Image secondary. Peace.

     

    Find or Form

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    In brand planning there are typically two approaches.  Find  the brand Idea, which is a bit like a truffle hunt or form the brand idea, more akin to gestation. They are both fun and both hard. 

    Find usually takes the planner through the grasses and woodlands of the brand’s past. Readers know I’m not a rearview mirror planner, but the past contains many clues. Hard and soft.  It helps to know where you’ve trod in order to know where you are going. But going forward you are. Understand the product, people, place, price and promotion fore and aft – and those of competitors — and you should be able to locate a brand idea that suits your business strategy.

    Form focuses on new products and services; those that have never seen the light of day. Form brand ideas require mad context.  Who, with what, and where will this new product be competing?  If in a completely a new category, what person, place or thing will this new product replace?  A rich new rich jungle tea might, for instance, compete with coffee not other teas.

    And remember be it find or form, your idea needs organized support planks — planks that prove the idea.  Lastly, do not confuse a brand idea with a campaign.  As we all know, campaigns come and go. Peace!

    Poster Hall Of Fame.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Kandee Johnson is a supratypical “Posters.”  Different than a Paster, a poster is an original content creator on the web.

    I first ran into Kandee while researching an assignment on Plus White teeth whitener, a national consumer brand out of New Jersey.  Kandee was a blogger and vlogger with an amazing following of young women. She had an innate sense of style but her “go-to pitch” was her ability to share clothing and make-up tips for the budget-conscious.

    For those interested in teeth whitening, rather than buy the whole $18 Plus White kit, Kandee suggested buying a $2 lacrosse mouth guard and the $6 bottle of gel. She also taught young ladies how to clean makeup brushes in olive oil along with an assortment of other creative cost-saving tips. That was Kandee’s motivation; her brand claim, if you will.

    Kandee’s online persona is wrapped in an amazingly smart and videogenic package, but beneath the surface is a caring, thoughtful and self-actualized women. The fact that she is drop dead gorgeous may actually have hurt her initially with her base, but it is something she has overcome.

    Kandee will be on Kelly and Ryan this morning and her star continues to rise. This women who gave of herself online for years – opening her heart and talent to thousands of young women, making them laugh and cry along the way – is a web superstar. And should be nominated to the POSTER Hall of Fame.    

    Peace.

     

    New Washington Post Tagline

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is the new tagline of The Washington Post, now found under the masthead. It’s being lauded as a wonderful brand idea. I must agree. It’s poetic, memorable and few papers can wear it as can The Washington Post. Bravo.

    Critics might say it’s a little generic. Not exclusive. But this isn’t the Amityville Record we’re talking about it’s one of the top two or so newspaper brands in the U.S.  One famous for breaking stories from the darkness.

    When I think about the word democracy these days, the tweak toward president Trump that is this new tagline makes me wonder about the roots of the words democrat and republican. Is a republic different from a democracy?

    The dictionary suggests a republic is “a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.” The latter part of the definition “chosen indirectly” by them, may set a republic apart from a democracy.

    This tagline positions democracy a left leaning concept, then, which most people will agree is a foundational paper POV. As smart as the tagline is, I’d hope we don’t begin to politicize the word democracy as a blue concept.  Nice tagline. I hope it doesn’t create a hint of darkness on its own.

    Peace.              

     

     

    VR agencies are a’ coming.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    I’ve had my NYTVR (New York Times Virtual Reality) cardboard box for months but never used it until I bought an Android Phone two days ago. To say the experience was mind blowing would be an understatement. I watched the beginning of “All who remain” a VR film about the conflict in South Sudan and initially didn’t know what to do.  Watching the screen for a few minutes it seemed just an average movie, albeit with very interesting subject matter and landscapes. Then I turned my head. And realized I could look up down and all around and see my full environment. Talk about Wow out loud.

    The experience was a bit trippy and the definition far from high, but the marketer in me actually saw what my brain foresaw in theory years ago.

    Robert Scoble has been a fan for a while; now I see why.

    Brand strategy is about creating an organizing principle for product, experience and messaging. The experience part of the equation just opened up as never before.

    This is going to be some ride. Remember when 200 social media agencies open in NYC 5 years ago. We ain’t seen nothing yet.

    Peace.  

     

     

    Simple. Loveable. And Inspiring.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    I scraped this screen grab from Jen van der Meer’s website.

    van der meer slide

     

    I’ve never met Jen but after reading these two quotes feel we’re sibs from another mother.

    In my approach to branding at What’s The Idea? I take these two truths to be self-evident. And many would agree…yet these guiderails are rarely practiced. Was I to add another ingredient it would be “inspiration.” Inspiration creates feelings and action. Ms. Van der Meer is a data analyst.  It seems to me complexity is the domain of the data analyst. And in my mind’s eye they are all a little ADD.  But when Ms. van der Meer speaks of simplicity and “love of craft” it makes me believe she’d be a great marketer to work with. And a great data analyst.

    I often tell clients “I’m a simple man.” It’s a way to self-deprecate and also set the stage that this brand strategy stuff, when complete, is organic, understandable and easy to follow. It’s an organizing principle for product, messaging and experience. Done well it is simple, loveable and inspiring.

    Peace.

     

     

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