BrandingPost

A break in the action

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:26:53 -0700

It's that time of year when I bid you a fond "arrivederci". My wife and I spend the next two weeks in Italy, emphasis on spend: Rome, Capri, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, and Portofino -- enduring the exchange rate and celebrating 35 years of marriage -- in reverse order of importance, of course.

Hew Crane of SRI-International (formerly Stanford Research Institute): One of Silicon Valley’s under-the-radar, unsung heroes

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:06:18 -0700

A moment of silence, please, for one of the most legendary people in high technology you've probably never heard of: Dr. Hewitt “Hew” Crane, scientist and inventor extraordinaire. And oenophile. A true Renaissance Man in the best tradition, and a genuinely nice guy. Read all about him and his extraordinary career here.

When I worked in the SRI news office in the 1970s, when Santa Clara County was growing up to be Silicon Valley, I had the good fortune of knowing and working with Hew Crane. One day the CBS crew from 60-Minutes showed up to get the story about the pen that Crane invented that recognized handwriting. It gave me the opportunity to meet Dan Rather, who I brought over to Crane’s lab. For a 20-something PR guy, this was big-time stuff. I had a feeling I was walking in some pretty tall cotton. I had no idea how tall. One of Crane’s understudies at SRI -- Doug Englebart, who would bring the computer mouse into the world a few years later.

Ironically, in a region now awash in royalties and wealth, neither Crane nor Englebart would ever see much of a monetary return on their efforts, not unlike hall-of-fame ballplayers of yesteryear who would never enjoy the rich contracts written today for lesser athletes. But something tells me that Crane's legacy will transcend Cooperstown and Canton. Rest in peace, Hew. Good work.

Events such as the Wimbledon Championships don't "'brand" your products.

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:06:44 -0700

I get into this debate endlessly: Because you sponsor one of their races, will the NASCAR crowd think better of you?

Does buying spots on one or all of golf’s majors going to impress golfers at home watching on TV?

How about the Olympics, the Triple Crown, or -- Wimbledon tennis?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you’re setting yourself up for an expensive disappointment.

Don’t make the mistake of confusing a compelling value proposition with the sales venue. A brand finds its way to the venue. The venue doesn’t do the branding.

What it takes to “brand” your offerings has more to do with the essence of your product and who is already talking about it among the people you’re trying to reach.

It’s why you don’t see Viagra commercials on The Colbert Report and Justin Timberlake won’t be replacing Robert Wagner any time soon hawking reverse mortgages. The value proposition of what you’re selling dictates the branding. No amount of brand hokum will buff up an irrelevant value proposition.

What constitutes a compelling value proposition – one your targets can’t refuse? This: Knowing and shouting out the benefit they value the most, selling it a price that will please them AND sustain your business, and reducing the adoption costs to the absolute, rock-bottom floor. Not easy but eminently do-able. If you think you have a good value proposition in the absence of any of the above, better think again.

Associated Press to blogosphere: Pay up. (Fat chance.)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:08:00 -0700

You can imagine what Jeff Jarvis thinks about the assertion of copyright by the Associated Press in its effort to prevent bloggers from freeloading quotes from the wireservice. But this isn’t about Jarvis or Buzz Machine, his blog. This about the distinction between media that subscribes to the AP and the “media” that, well, uh, does not, and the ongoing clash of financial models. The question is, if big-time reporters for big-time media outlets can poach AP dispatches, why would those outlets need to subscribe?

Jim Kennedy, the AP's director of strategic planning, said Monday that he planned to meet tomorrow (Thursday) with Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association, to talk about standards for online use of AP stories (by bloggers) that would protect AP content without discouraging bloggers from legitimately quoting from it.

The watchword here is “legitimately”.

Dumb like a Firefox

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:31:38 -0700

Disclaimer: I’m a HUGE fan of Firefox (and have been since last summer when I got my MacBook and bid adieu to Internet Explorer). The Firefox phishing and spamming protection alone make it valuable. So here’s wishing them well in their attempt at a world’s record today. Read about it here.

The Firefox brand promises the ideal value proposition: clear benefits that customers value most in a browser, an optimal price point to sustain their business and virtually zero adoption costs. Irresistible. And a catchy way to get the word out, as well. These guys are good.

NBC News brand without Tim Russert suffering a body blow and mourning has only just begun.

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:23:22 -0700

Just mentioning the names floating around as so-called “successors” to Tim Russert, as NBC News Washington bureau chief and moderator of Meet the Press, reveals the meteor crater at the network after his stunning death last Friday.

In no particular order of inadequacy, this piece in today's New York Times lists the following lightweights:

Keith Olberman. Crown Prince of Pompous.
Katy Couric. Katy Couric??? (Cue Howard Dean’s Iowa screech in 2004.)
Brian Williams. See William Hurt in “Broadcast News”.
Chris Mathews. Makes Bill O’Reilly look like Eric Sevareid.
David Gregory. Gravitas-free.

Andrea Mitchell? Definite maybe. Along with Gwen Ifill. Hey, can Brokaw be coaxed out of the pasture?

Russert's death makes Cronkite’s retirement at CBS and Johnny Carson’s exit from the Tonight Show look like a non-events in terms of vacuum-creation. What’s NBC News’ brand promise now—Watch us 'cuz we’re not Fox? MSNBC’s already taken that one. And Fox is burying them. God rest Tim Russert’s soul. We’ll not see his like again and we're all the lesser for it. NBC News most of all.

NetApp's Levinson knows marketing. And she's the CIO.

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:31:19 -0700

Our new book, NET Value: How to Create a Winning Value Proposition for Marketing in the Digital Culture, will soon be available online for free, but you can read something about one of the key messages right now, right here.

She’s not a featured case study in the book, but Marina Levinson is a marketer’s dream CIO (chief information officer). Why? She understands that what her employer, NetApp (Network Appliance), does for a living is what she does for living. Namely, sell network data storage gear. Yes, she’s a marketer even though her business card says CIO. She intuitively understands that getting the right information to the right parts of the company at precisely the right time is fundamental to selling more storage more profitably. It’s not about information technology (IT) for its own sake and taking orders from the rest of the company. It’s about staying aligned with the company’s strategic direction, collaborating with the business, and seeing to it that IT resources are invested in the right projects.

The book’s message? Each member of a company’s management team, the CIO as much as anyone else, is a stakeholder in the success of marketing, which is all about selling products people can’t resist at prices that will sustain the business. Each has responsibility to contribute to marketing success. Information is power. The right information (em)powers marketing. Just ask Marina Levinson.

The best value propositions: Apple, Toyota, Disney. The worst? Too many to list.

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:46:40 -0700

Saw a great sign around the neck of a San Francisco panhandler the other day: “I need spare change I can believe in.”

Too bad the presidential candidates won’t see it. Although San Francisco is natural habitat for Sen. Obama. Still, there’s a slim-to-none chance that the old boy will be exposed to this streetside socio-political commentary.

So what does all this have to do with marketing and branding? Everything. Change is, indeed, all around us. Your brand will wither and die if you don’t change in step with the technology that’s accelerating all the changes. In the era of Mad Men, it was a monologue. Sponsors did the talking through a one-way channel. And there were only three (NBC, CBS and ABC). Today? Hundreds of channels, yes. But no live drama written by people such as Rod Serling, Neil Simon and Paddy Chayefsky. However – the customer talks back to you. Dishes dirt about you to other customers. Trashes your ratings online. It’s as important as ever to give customers benefits. The change today: you better be sure the benefit your selling is the one that your customers value the most and will pay the most the get. If it isn’t, it’s not the benefit that will sell the product most profitably and sustain your business. Next thing you know, you're panhandling.

Apple's recession-priced iPhone: more evidence that American business needs more CEOs like Jobs

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:05:18 -0700

With one office in San Francisco like mine that’s a short walk from the Moscone Convention Center, it’s hard not to have all things Apple thrust in your face a couple of times a year: Mac World in January and the Developers Conference in June. On both occasions, the company wields its brand cachet with a vengeance and enjoys it both ways: what it doesn’t push, the local media outlets will obediently pull in the masses to see and hear. To wit: the recession-priced iPhone ($199), unveiled by monochromed Steve Jobs this morning and dutifully chronicled and trumpeted by Apple-watchers worldwide. And why not? These are consistently cool products that are rarely off the mark even slightly. I’ve never seen or heard of a brand as true to its promise as Apple since Jobs returned, MacArthur-like, to company he conceived and birthed. Give the dude his propers. He practically re-invented the value proposition. Give us more CEOs like him.

Even if Big Brown loses, Brown (UPS) wins.

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:25:32 -0700

As it turned out, Brown did a lot for Brown: win, place AND show. Even if it's none of the above, which is unlikely.

The third and final race in the quest for the Triple Crown, still looking for a champion after 30 years, gets underway Saturday afternoon at the Belmont Stakes. The hype’s been underway for weeks, however, to the marketing delight of UPS who made a big branding bet months ago on the favorite, Big Brown, winner of the first two jewels. We opined in this space right before Big Brown’s big win in The Preakness, which followed his Kentucky Derby victory.

This one on Saturday should pay off handsomely for UPS, the “Brown” beneficiary of Big Brown’s racing glories. It was a marketing tie-in that dreams are made of. He’s a 2-5 favorite. Smart money’s on him, as will be countless pairs of eyes. This is a big deal. Still, the smartest money may have been the bucks invested by the other Brown, UPS, in sponsorship and promotional consideration. Smart branding, smart marketing. Smart folks.

A hybrid Hummer in GM's tortured-brand future?

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:16:17 -0700

If Brand GM was more like Brand Toyota, would it be jolting the automotive world this week with plant closures and model meltdowns?

As a response to rising gas prices and the plummeting market demand for big gas slurping vehicles, GM announced it is closing four of its plants that make SUVs and pick-up trucks over the next couple of years. This will affect up to 10,000 employees. Whither the Hummer?

Toyota launched the Prius years ago. Today? Eco-chic wheels like nothing in recent memory. Where was GM? When’s the last time you heard of Toyota losing money, ground, marketshare, or anything else? Nothing new here. GM cars were late to the party a generation ago, too, during the first energy crisis. Detroit consciousness blinded the exec suite to the Rising Sun of Toyota, et. al. Smaller, sensible cars in which you wouldn’t have to pump full of expensive (and, at the time, scarce) gas. Fuel might not be scarce today, but money for gas is – for millions of drivers. Are they anticipating a hybrid Hummer?

YouTube Watch: the question isn't whether it can make money, but if it will ever have to.

Fri, 30 May 2008 11:59:24 -0700

Since YouTube crawled under Google’s sprawling wing, it’s become the dominant video site brand in sheer numbers. Almost two of every five videos watched online are on YouTube. The rest is porn. Just kidding. The financial results don’t reflect this brand dominance. TechCrunch speculates the Google property may be biding time and waiting for the precise moment to pull the trigger on a big earnings push. Still, how much is this brand worth in terms of real income generating power? Maybe time will tell. Like next year, maybe?

Sidney Pollack's brand promise: that there's no such thing as a "Pollack" film

Tue, 27 May 2008 12:00:32 -0700

Sidney Pollack’s genius was that he consistenly transcended stereotype. There are Capra movies, Hitchcock movies, and Ford movies. But a Pollack movie? Try to find the common stylistic theme of “Tootsie”, “Day of the Condor”, “The Firm” and “Out of Africa”. Other than rip-roaringly great yarns. Film historian Janine Basinger’s comments about his keeping in step with the times are instructive. Not just social and political, but stylistic. He advanced and changed approach with changing times. All free of polemics and preaching to choirs. That’s the promise of a Pollack film. You get a window on the era. See “Day of the Condor”. It’s a 70s movie just as “Tootsie” is a 80s flick and “Michael Clayton” is all about right now.

Google creates its own weather. Especially on its pristine homepage.

Tue, 27 May 2008 11:42:37 -0700

How big and powerful is Google right now? So big and powerful that just about anything it does builds its brand as a “users first” promise. Check out its latest pronouncement. Put me in the camp with the the “Florida Economist”, below:

“Google is very smart at utilizing free opportunities to build its brand and its users first image. By confronting the NAI about this particular issue, it further markets itself as the premier “user’s search experience comes first” player, without really lifting a finger. Everyone knows that putting a privacy link up will have not even a nano sized impact on its usage. But, by fighting this it keeps its users first perception going.

“This move is not about privacy at all.

— Posted by John Brock (Florida Economist)

The late Bill King, legendary sportscaster and the voice of the Oakland Athletics for many years, had a saying that was an old baseball version of the “nothing succeeds like success” saying: “When you’re goin’ good, you’re goin’ good.”

Yes, you can say that Google’s goin’ good. In the words of Kermit the Frog, “Sheesh!”

We're American Airlines doing what we do best: make you feel our pain.

Wed, 21 May 2008 14:51:29 -0700

American Airlines today announced that passengers are going to taste the bitter pill the company is swallowing these in the wake of high-altitude (and ascending) cost of fuel. Look for the other airlines to follow suit soon.

On June 15, AA will start charging its customers $15 for their first checked bag. Additionally, they will retire 45-50 planes and cut domestic flight capacity by up to 12 percent in Q4 2008. As if travel wasn’t already an experience enjoyed more and more only by sado-masochists.

Who needs Al Qaeda when there’s an oil cartel bringing this country to its economic knees? They’re redundant. Flying, especially the kind associated with pleasure travel, is rapidly becoming a luxury that more and more people will cut or just eliminate. This is NOT good for anybody, let alone the battered brands of the carriers. Wish I had an answer. What we get from our leaders amounts to maximizing demand, minimizing supply, and buying the rest from the guys who hate us the most. Think the new resident in the White House next January is going to bring relief? Dream on.