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Brandkarma: branding & social media
Here’s an interesting new initiative we’ve found called “Brandkarma”. It’s still in beta testing, but the idea of it is quite unique. Their mission is “to help everyone make better brand choices and influence brand behavior for good”.
About Brandkarma:
“Brandkarma is just like any other social media platform except that everyone here is actively interested in brands and what they bring to our world. We believe in helping each other choose wisely and that, together, we can influence businesses behavior for the better.”
3 reasons to join…
- Make brand owners accountable
- Share amplify and mobilize your opinions on brands
- Make better purchase decisions
Check it out at: http://www.brandkarma.com/
Add a commentTweedledum and Tweedledee
BigDoor is now on Twitter, find us at http://twitter.com/BigDoor_Design
Branding - a pro’s job
Communication - not at all the new buzzword, but still the one thing everyone needs and very few people seem to be getting right.
They say that you should communicate with your wife, so you say: “Honey, I won’t be home on Saturday, going for a round of golf with the guys.”
Her eyes narrow.
Her lips purse.
“That’s nice,” she says and doesn’t speak to you for the rest of the week.
You’re confused.
On the other end, you decide to rebrand and choose a new logo to represent your company. It’s flashy and makes a statement, but after being presented to the world it doesn’t have the effect you expected, at all.
On the contrary, blank stares all round. Once again, confusion. Where did you go wrong?
As far as the narrow eyes and pursed lips go, I’m staying out of it.
But branding? That, I might know something about.
Did you know that the colours you use in your corporate identity, branding or logo sends out a specific message? Each colour communicates something else about your company, and using multiple colours sends out multiple messages - sometimes contradicting ones. Most companies cannot afford this as it shoots your image of reliability right in the foot. A business’ image and core values have to be communicated accurately, consistently, and persistently for it to have any credibility whatsoever. And in the land of consumers, credibility is king.
Managing your brand is not something you can do on the side, once a year or whenever you see your business fading - it is a full-time job that includes integrated communication and branding strategies. Might I add, in the long run it is a job worth doing properly and the sooner you start, the better.
Communication strategists, brand designers, brand managers, copywriters and the like are all equipped to do this. They align your image with what you stand for, ensure that this image stays consistent throughout different mediums and even propose new advertising angles if we think it might be to your benefit.
Communication, hard as it may be, is what we do.
Creating living brands is what we’re good at.
We’ll leave the golfing up to you.
Add a commentBranded for life
Building a brand is a long and hard exercise that requires a lot of planning and work. But damaging the same brand is rather easy and requires no planning at all. I’ve sworn myself of two major brands by now, namely Microsoft computers, and Nokia phones. As little as 1 year ago both were the ultimate in their field in my world. I laughed at anyone wanting a fruit juice computer, and only looked at Nokia when picking a new phone. And then, after using both these brands for over a decade, they brought out products that got me so angry and frustrated, that I have been forced by them to change my mind.
The Nokia N series was plagued with problems, but of course the advertising forgot to mention it. And even after a software upgrade on my N73, it’s still a Ferrari with a Beatle engine. I hate it and have to live with it for another year. Everybody I know who has this phone thinks its crap, and its not a cheap phone at all. It seems like they had the ideal phone planned, but the technology at that time wasn’t quite ready for it yet. One guy I know actually threw his against the wall, smashing it. Tempting, I must admit. So, since my first 5150 when I was 18, I’ve always only had Nokia, I was a loyal customer and very verbal about my support… till my N73, of course. A phone that echoes when I talk and freezes constantly. Every basic command on that phone is an algebra equation!
Since I first played solitaire on the very first computer, Windows was computing. Never mind Forrest Gump making his millions on the computer fruit juice company, Microsoft Windows was synonymous with Computing. The years I’ve been growing up it’s always felt like Windows has matured with me, since its 3.1 stages we both found our legs and grew up in this hectic world. Becoming a young adult, XP set the standards and was a reliable operating system (modest, but it works!). Only, when I reached adulthood, I didn’t see the need to throw it all out the window. Windows Vista is an insult to every living person on this earth. A horrible operating system that nonetheless was made the only one available in store. People paying to downgrade their computer back to XP just to find that the new computers have problems running XP now! I can’t fathom why in the world they brought out that product! Someone needs to kick Bill Gates where it hurts. So my recycle bin looks all sleek and funky, but when my computer does a virus check I need to take a 2 hour coffee break, because no work is gonna get done in that time! It’s stupendously slow and so frustrating it makes your head hurt. How you could do that to a brand I have no idea! To destroy years and years of hard work makes my heart weep!
It’s good to aim your brand at the moon, but when you miss - you miss… you don’t land among the stars! In both these cases it seems that the companies wanted to achieve too much too fast and weren’t really up to the challenge yet, thus causing remarkable damage to their amazing brands - and losing clients along the way…
Add a commentThe Hard Question
Humankind is facing a lot of hard questions these days. Serious stuff like global warming and who to vote for on Idols. The Great W. once said “I’ll be glad to reply to or dodge your questions, depending on what I think will help our election most.” But there are some questions we can’t dare to dodge, and today I decided to take a stand… and ask the hardest question of them all… who is the coolest Barney?
Yeah, you read that right. There are many Barney’s around us. Which one of them embodies everything that the name represents? I will list and evaluate some of the top contenders, and then I’ll leave the ultimate question up to you… and no, the answer is not 42 – the answer is BARNEY!
Here is the contenders, for your consideration
Barney the Dinosaur
The Purple Monster all kids love and all adults hate have surely made its mark on popular culture. With his everlasting grin and catchy tunes he has brainwashed many a child… and to what end? Is Barney the Anti-Christ, Michael Jackson in disguise – or just a poor actor with a stupid suit? It saddens me, but at the mention of the word Barney, this is this first mental image most people will bring up – and they will cringe in fear!
Memorable Quote: “I love you, you love me.”
BarneyMeterScore:
Coolness: 0/10
Barneyness: 10/10
Barney Rubble
Alas it is true this Barney might only be a mere sidekick, but he is still worthy of the name. Barney Rubble is the long time chum of Fred Flintstone in the “Flintstones”. He’s a sporty man and married to the cartoon-hotness that is Betty and father to Bamm-Bamm (adopted). This loving family man is the Ying to Fred’s Yang and always the sober mind to look at a situation with his trademark laugh.
Memorable Quote: “Yuck Yuck Yuck”
BarneyMeterScore:
Coolness: 2/10
Barneyness: 5/10
Barney Gumble
Ah, everybody’s favourite fictional alcoholic is long time friend and drinking buddy of Homer Simpson. He is always hanging out at Moe’s Tavern and never seems to do anything else than drinking. Although on the few occasions Gumble did sober up it is clear that he is an extremely intelligent guy and even almost became an astronaut. Still we much more prefer him as a man of beer than a man of science. Bernard “Barney” Gumble is a proud carrier of the Barney name!
Memorable Quote: “Buuuuurp”
BarneyMeterScore:
Coolness: 8/10
Barneyness: 8/10
Barney Stinson
The latest edition to the Barney clan is the very popular Barney Stinson from the hit TV show “How I Met your Mother”. Stinson is the self-proclaimed best friend from the main character “Ted” and has introduced many catchphrases into our everyday lives – the best know of this being his trademark “legendary” one-liners! Stinson is a womanizer and his constantly scheming his diabolical plots, mostly getting laid is the aim of these plots. He is rarely see not wearing a suit and is an amateur magician. A late entry, but my personal favourite for being the Best Barney!
Memorable Quote: “Suit up!”
BarneyMeterScore:
Coolness: 10/10
Barneyness: 10/10
Selling cars or design
I have always compare the power of design to cars. Most people don’t want to buy a car that doesn’t look good. Some of us can’t afford the car we really want, but we all aspire towards owning that special car that makes your hart go warm.
I wont buy a car that performs in speed, acceleration, braking, handling capabilities, fuel efficiency etc. but does not visually appeal to me. If the car is ugly it’s ugly and I don’t want it! I will rather buy the car that has less performance but makes you go WOW when you see it.
With today’s technology and access to information and resources, car manufacturers produce cars with similar capabilities in a certain price range, but what sets them apart is design and the emotion they create through there branding campaigns.
A good example of such cars is the “Spyker” series of sports cars. Most Formula1 supporters know this brand because of there participation in 2007 F1.
The Spyker cars don’t have the best performance and you can probably buy a Porsche for far less that out performs the spyker in all aspects.
So how can they charge 3 to 4 million Rand for the C8 Spyder? Well it’s quite clear, just look at it!
http://www.spykercars.nl
They are selling design, and one wonders just how many of those millions you pay is actually just for the design?
Another great design piece I stumbled across is a must have for any designer, car lover and artist.
It is the book “Cosmic Motors” by Daniel Simon an internationally established car designer that has worked on projects for brands like Bugatti and Lamborghini. It is a 176 page book filled with over 200 sketches and 130 illustrations of futuristic vehicle designs from a faraway galaxy.
http://www.cosmic-motors.com/thebook/thebook.html
Just because you put it on a poster… doesn’t make it true
The thing is, I hate standing in a queue, always have and always will. But like flossing, you’re just not going to get away not doing it. There’s always a queue, and in South Africa queuing has become a national past time. Seeing 1 poor underpaid lady at Ster-Kinekor try to service 3 jam packed queues of people eager to get popcorn stuck in the back of their teeth, is just a everyday occurrence. Don’t even get me started on queues at Public Service establishments.
Some stores have managed to lessen my anger by keeping my mind occupied, like Woolworths that make you walk by all the yummy candy and the pretty ladies on the magazine covers before you need to pay, thus making it a less horrible experience.
Let me get to the point then… Pick & Pay has put up a poster for me to look at while waiting to pay for my jar of pickles and pizza bases. The poster tells of the aim to never make me stand in a queue. Naturally, on reading it the first time I could not have been more delighted and swore an eternal oath of loyalty to the knight who will free me from the evil teeth of the queue. Only to find to my own dismay, that it’s basically just a poster, nothing more. There intention of living up to it is the same as mine going to the gym, I really, really want to… but its not gonna happen.
Why put up a poster then? I can’t figure it out. I’m always there over lunch time, and I assume that must be one of their busier times of the day… I’m always standing in a queue, watching the closed lanes all around me and reading the poster, and most of the time still packing my own groceries into the bag… when I pay for a bag I expect someone else to pack it… snobbish I know.
I’m a regular Pick & Pay shopper and visit the store numerous times a week. I’ll probably continue to do so in the future… But please Pick & Pay… just take down the poster.
inspired indeed...
Loading ...Marketing in difficult times
Marketing in difficult times
The man who stops advertising to save money, is like the man who stops the clock to save time.
Marketing budgets are probably the first to fall under the hatchet in an economic downturn, mostly because it is seen as a luxury or something you spend money on when you have some change to spare. Historically, this point of view has been proven wrong over and over again. Studies focusing on past recessions have all come to the same conclusion:
Businesses that continue to advertise regardless of economic times have a competitive advantage over businesses that trim their ad budgets.
(www.americanbusinessmedia.com/images/abm/pdfs/committees/ValueofAdv.pdf)
Increased share of voice and mind
Advertising drives awareness.
Awareness, in turn, drives purchases.
During a recent study conducted by Yankelovich Partners and Harris Interactive, a majority of executives agreed that seeing a company advertise during slower times makes them feel more positive about the company’s commitment to its products and services.
(www.signindustry.com/management/articles/2002-10-31-JL-AdvertInDownEconomy.php3)
Another study by the American Association of Advertising Agencies in 2004 found that increased advertising in an economic downturn or recession has greater benefits than increased spending in a period of economic expansion. These benefits can be accredited to an increased share of voice (SOV) among consumers, a consequent increase in share of mind (SOM) as well as enhanced perceptions from stakeholders.
(blog.empowermm.com/2008/02/22/investing-in-advertising-during-economic-downturns)
The performances of 600 industrial companies were evaluated following the 1980-1982 recession. A study by McGraw-Hill found that business-to-business firms that maintained or increased their advertising expenditures during the recession grew their sales with 275% from 1980 to 1985. In comparison, sales of those firms that cut their ad spending averaged only 19% growth during the same period.
(www.marketingprofs.com/2/greymatter1.asp)
In spite the current economy, this is an opportune time for any savvy marketer to identify the gap and step up to the plate.
The IBM personal computer and the iPod are examples of brands that were birthed as a result of savvy marketing during a recession. Another firm favourite is the story of Kellogg’s.
During the Great Depression, Post was the leading cereal brand.
Although sales were falling, Post reduced advertising because they ‘owned’ the cereal market and needed to cut expenses. Kellogg’s saw the gap, created a positive ad campaign in the midst of troubled times and doubled their ad budget. Since then Kellogg’s has sustained the lead in the highly competitive breakfast cereal market.
(www.inetinteractive.com/blog/why-should-you-increase-your-advertising-budget-in-a-recession/)
The simple facts
- During an economic downturn, a strong advertising/marketing effort enables a firm to solidify its customer base, take business away from less aggressive competitors, and position itself for future growth during the recovery.
- Maintaining a strong advertising presence while competitors cut their budgets will automatically increase your ‘share-of-mind’, and maintaining ‘share-of-mind’ costs much less than rebuilding it later on.
- Advertising through economic ups and downs sustains the necessary brand recognition and your market position.
- Maintaining your advertising presence in various economic conditions gives the image of corporate stability within a chaotic business environment, and gives you the chance to dominate the advertising media.
- Advertising is never a drain on profits, much rather a contributor to it.
(www.americanbusinessmedia.com/images/abm/pdfs/committees/ValueofAdv.pdf)
The idea is not to go around recklessly, throwing money at every advertising opportunity that presents itself.
To ensure that marketing is effective AND cost-effective, advertising should be aimed specifically at the target market – now more than ever. You, as the advertiser, have to be absolutely sure that the message you pay to have delivered, reaches the necessary people, and has the necessary impact.
Advertising is not money thrown in the water. It is an investment in the company’s future image, stability and income.
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