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    Amazing Things Are Happening Somewhere.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    I’m putting the Future of Work series on pause for a day in order to report a timely example of how brand strategy can help the creative process in advertising and content.

    Back when a brand planner for client North Shore-LIJ Health System, now Northwell Health, we had a well-healed competitor in New York City named NY Presbyterian Health System. Their ad agency was a shop called Munn Rabot.  My shop Welch Nehlen Groome was doing great strategic work for North Shore-LIJ and fine creative. Munn Rabot was doing fine strategic work for NY Presby and great creative.

    The NY Presbyterian’s brand claim was “Amazing Things Are Happening Here.” North Shore’s was “Setting New Standards in Healthcare.” As ad agents, our jobs were to prove those two claims, through communications, every day. It was a dogfight.

    Today, both healthcare systems have grown and thrived but their brand strategies have regressed. Northwell Health is still setting new standards to a degree, recently repurposing BiPAPP machines as ventilators, but ad agency Strawberry Frog is still reinventing the wheel and missing the opportunity. And I’m sure NY Presbyterian, like Mount Sinai, is delving into antibody plasma treatments for the coronavirus but they’re not sharing that or any other “amazing things,” because they are caught in the headlights of this heinous epidemic — and no longer using Munn Rabot.

    If Northwell or NY Presbyterian had marketers at the helm ministering to their legacy brand strategies instead of pumping out one-off ads and web pages, they’d be ahead of the curve sharing the amazing/standards consumers expect of them.

    (That said, props to all the heroes at all health org. doing the work no one else can do.)

    Peace.

     

     

    Future of Work Part Six, circa 2011.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    To Free or not to Free…

    The new economy paradigm:

    • Information and communication should be free. (Internet users bill of rights)
    • Tools cost money. And are worth it.
    • Content should be shared (free-ish.)
    • How should we treat Google? Let’s let them do their thing, they are already going off-piste.

                (Big question – Should service be free? SaS.)

    Implication for FOW: We need to create value and charge for it. If people are will to pay for virtual goods, they should be willing to pay for improved achievements.

    Well I’m not sure virtual goods lasted more than a few months but certainly value is still worth something. I have to admit, though, most of the apps on my phone are free. Ad supported or not the digital world is still filled with free. And I know one particular technology company that is thriving, in part, thanks to giving away IP and code. Often I argue that altruism isn’t a brand plank, but in the case of this company (and client) raising all boats is. It’s who they are — part of their mystique.

    So honestly, to free or not to free is still exists today as a business conundrum. At What’s The Idea? I offer a free day of planning to good prospects. It’s often how I get to fee.

    Peace.

     

    Adopt a Business.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    What do brick and mortar businesses do when the supply chain of money comes to a halt? Effectively it turns into a ghost town economy. No peeps, no money, no products, no services.

    There’s an old Mike Tyson boxing axiom “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Well folks, we’ve been punched in the mouth. What shall we do? Business as usual? Sit back and wait it out? Can’t do the former. Shouldn’t do the latter.

    The government believes the way forward is to keep the money supply chain running. Send out gov’t checks so we can continue paying bills. The only winners then become the banks.

    What if we were to have a bill paying moratorium? Say for 3 months. No mortgages. No electric or water bills. No credit card bills. (But also, no credit card purchases.) What would it free us up to do? It would free us up to isolate and heal. It would free us up to help one another in thoughtful, meaningful ways. It would free us up to innovate. It’s a big idea and one that only the federal government can pull off.

    But since that’s not likely to happen what can we do for our brick and mortar brethren? How about this — Let’s get everyone to adopt one brick and mortar business. Then offer them help as safely as is possible. A little money, paint, food, sweat equity – even a shoulder to cry on. Maybe, even just some new ideas.

    Isolation is great for pandemic, but it’s not the best way to innovate out of a crisis. Let’s help one another, but be safe doing it. It will free up many of the burdens of this illness. But we must do it safely.

    Peace.

     

    My Favorite Interview Question.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    One of the interview questions I used while wording at an ad agency looking to hire junior account managers was “Tell me about me.” I’d wait until the interview was well underway so the candidate had an opportunity to hear a bit from me and look around my office. Also, it let me know if they did any homework prior to the interview. I loved this question. At the time I was an account manager not a brand planner or researcher, so pinging a candidate on their powers of observation was, likely, unexpected.

    It was an out-of-left field question that really separated the wheat from the chaff. On so many levels. Are they bull-shitters? Do they pay attention? Are they multidimensional?

    The last time I used the question was with a young woman whose response made me feel I’d crossed the line. Or said something untoward. She couldn’t process it. And I spent more time explaining and justifying the question than I did interviewing her. (Fail…on both our parts.) She overreacted and I overreacted. I should have just moved on.

    I still love the question, especially as a brand planner, but putting on my empathy hat I can see how it may have been off-putting to someone sensitive to roles, power and need.

    Maybe the problem wasn’t the purpose of the question, but the question itself. Perhaps an edit is in order.

    Always thinking.

    Peace.

     

     

    Story or Proof?

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    “We have got to tell our story, said Mark Reuss, president of G.M., “The story hasn’t gotten out,” he added when talking about G.M.’s electronic vehicle business. Since December Tesla stock has doubled into the $700s. G.M. is down 25% since it’s 52-week high in July.

    Back in the 60s during the NY World’s Fair, the G.M. pavilion showed the future of the automobile. It was an experiential phenomenon the likes of which the world had never seen. And today Mr. Reuss rues the fact that G.M.’s problem is in storytelling; in public relations and Super Bowl ads.

    Where most marketers go wrong and they do so at the behest of their branding counsel is in storytelling. They rely too much on this pop-marketing practice. Ty Montague, of Co-Collective understands this and has morphed storytelling into story-doing. The fact is it’s not about telling a story to consumers, it’s about what consumer play back to you. It’s about what consumers think. Consumers are swimming in an ocean of storytelling, while they should be standing on the terra firma of reality. On experience.

    Elon Musk built an electric car. He didn’t proselytize about it. Ish.

    Proof is how one builds a brand. And proof is how one builds a brand strategy. Not the other way around.

    G.M. has been dormant for so long it has become a marketing company of storytellers. Mary Barra, may just have woken up and decided it’s time to “do.” It’s time to launch a fleet of electronic vehicles.

    Let’s hope so. Peace.

     

     

    Master Brand Strategy and Me.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    I am a self-taught brand planner. The fuel for my business was scores of exploratory interviews with high-level and executive planners from big city agencies. I honed my craft and framework with research, reading books, blogs, newsletters, and by watching interviews and webinars. I have also worked with business consultants.

    My two key discovery tools are 24 Questions, business and financial Qs used to understand how money is made and lost, and a battery of Fact Finding questions used with company chiefs, salespeople and customers.

    I do master brand planning. That is, I create the organizing principle for product, experience and messaging that governs all marketing work. Every tactic used to build sales and loyalty, no matter the channel, should adhere to the master brand strategy. But it’s a job that eats itself. Once the master brand strategy is done, it needn’t be done again. (Unless, the business model changes.) Of the thousand of brand planner around the world, only a few handfuls actually work on the master brand strategy. Most planners are focused on tactical brand insights. Downstream of the master plan. Both jobs are awesome. But there’s only one master. Hee hee.

    Peace.

    .

    Thought Monopoly.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    There has been a lot of talk lately about breaking up tech monopolies. They have too much power. They inflate prices due to lack of competition. They tilt supply chains in their favor. All true. To the winners go the spoils until the government steps in. Or unions step in. AT&T was broken up when it gained too much power. I predicted Google would be broken up years ago; I’m still waiting. Monopolies are polarizing.

    But in brand strategy, the goal of the brand planners to create a “thought monopoly.” That is, to establish impenetrable discrete values for a brand that customers want and at which the brand excels. I call them care-abouts and good-ats. At What’s The Idea? the brand values are 3, no more. The rule of three. And all brand values support a brand claim. The claim being a single idea, easily conveyed. Think of it as a tagline or tagline facsimile.

    And though it’s a thought monopoly, the charter of the brand planner is not messaging alone. Thoughts are developed with proof and action. The fastest way to a thought is experience. So good brand strategy informs the product, the experience and the messaging.

    No brand planner is happier than when they hear consumers play back to them the values they seed and plant in the consuming world. These values are the foundation of good commerce, of good branding.

    Peace.

     

     

    Endemic Proof.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Intentional is the new authentic. These two words, commonly used in brand parlance, sound important but don’t really mean much. What brand planner would try to be inauthentic? It doesn’t make sense. And then there is intentional. Intentional today means with a mission; usually one that is about the betterment of the people and planet. An often an intentional quality is not an endemic product quality.

    Today intentional is way over-used. And therefore diminished. You can’t just donate 1% of profits to a cause and be intentional. It’s not a badge marketers and branders wear, it’s an outcome of the work they do. Unless they are non-profits.

    I don’t mean to be controversial here. It’s a good thing to do good. But be successful first, put your focus on winning in the marketplace first. That’s the job. Once successful use it to start a foundation, make donations, and correct injustice. (Think Microsoft.)

    Brand strategy is one claim and three proof planks. With all the customer care-abouts and brand good-ats worthy of consideration, it’s best to leave the intention (and authenticity) in your heart. And build your brand with endemic proofs.

    Peace.

     

     

    Brand Design. The Words.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Say brand design to a lay person and it is likely to conjure up thoughts of art directors, computer design programs and logos. Say brand design in a corporate marketing environment and you are apt to hear discussions about customer journey, retail experience, digital content, advertising and user permissions. In either case you wouldn’t be wrong.

    But brand design has to start somewhere. There have to be inputs. There has to be a direction. And that must start with words. Words on paper. Words on a PowerPoint deck. Words on a Canva print out. Words in the cloud.

    Just words..no need for pictures or other embellishments.

    At What’s The Idea? brand design is simple: 1 claim, 3 proof planks. Three discrete supports for the claim, under which are arrayed existential evidence of the claim. Claim it…and prove it daily.

    With a claim and proof array in hand, art directors, makers of marketing content, and consumers are all enculturated as to a product or service’s key values. Sharing that value is the first job. Creating the art that surrounds it comes second. (Most Supeb0wl ads invert that notion.)

    This is how you build a brand. It starts with words.

    Peace.

     

    What, Why, How. The pitch boil down for startups.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    I’m involved with a group called Venture Asheville, comprising a number of local startups seeking help with strategy in preparation for funding. I attended a pre-pitch event earlier this week to prep a handful of young companies for an actual pitch to investors later in the week. Each pitch was 7 minutes. Everyone did a really good job but I noticed a varying degree of understanding about composition of the pitches. As someone in the boil-down business, here is a format I would recommend to all startups doing standup and asking for money.

    What. What is the company? Readers of What’s The Idea? know I am a sticker for the Is-Does. Explaining what a brand IS and what a brand DOES. If you can’t easily explain what your company is, the money spigot isn’t likely to flow. You’d be surprised how hard it is for some young entrepreneurs to name their children. And when I say name, I mean figure out what business they’re in. (The iPhone was first and foremost a phone…but tons more.)

    Why. Why are you in business? What is it about the market you’re addressing that suggests your success? Is it a new way to do something? A better way to do something. And why?

    How? Number three in this serial explanation is how are you going to do it? How will you to build? How does the market organize? How will you invest your funds. This can take one into tangent land, but don’t bite.

    Please don’t tell me about your passion. Or your intentional business model. Just explain in a clear, concise way what you are doing, why and how. 

    To misquote David Byrne of the Talking Heads “This ain’t no disco, this ain’t no elevator speech, this ain’t no foolin’ around.”

    Great job by Venture Asheville and cohorts. And best of luck to the pitching companies — all of which hit their marks with only a little bit of chaff.

    Peace. 

     

     

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