The Finch Post

Brand New Rap

2012-02-22T11:09:06-05:00

Last week two iconic couples from history went head to head in a fierce duel. Fathers of Flight, the Wright Brothers, took on Donkey Kong’s nemeses, the Mario Brothers in a truly epic rap battle.

Like any great viral video, this one grabs viewers’ attention, holds it, and then induces an emotional reaction. But it does much more than that. This video is an example of brilliant collaboration and cross-promotion.

A joint project of Rhett & Link, and Nice Peter & Epic Lloyd, this collaboration works because it follows the same principles that should guide all businesses when pursuing strategic partnerships:

The relationship increases the value of each participant
It helps all parties extend their reach

In this specific case, the comedians were able to get in front of each other’s fans in order to promote their own brand, and despite the laughs, that’s no joke.

♫ ♪ This Brand is Your Brand

2012-02-17T09:36:22-05:00

Branding is “not about what we say. It’s about what they hear.” New York Israeli Consul General, Ido Aharoni, could have been referring to any number of products or companies, but he was talking about nation-branding.

An event held on Wednesday at the University of Pennsylvania, examined the connection between marketing and global politics, using the current status of Israel’s “brand image” as the example.

Regardless of personal politics and one’s perspective on Israel, this is a fabulous example of how branding’s influence reaches far beyond the world of commerce and business.

Aharoni’s premise is that like a company managing a brand, nations must direct their own image. And like any other brand, nations must not allow competition (a la political or military conflicts) to solely define themselves. Applying this lesson back to business, if you’re managing a brand and spend a significant portion of your awareness campaigns pitting yourself against your main rivals, you may be doing yourself a disservice.

Referencing recent research that reveals a majority of Americans view Israel dimly though they’d still support it over Palestine 7 to 1, Aharoni points out a major challenge all brand managers face: people’s thoughts and feelings don’t always correspond. In his own words, people “can agree with you intellectually and disagree with you emotionally—it doesn’t have to be rational.”

The goal, therefore, for anyone trying to create a successful brand, is to achieve a head and heart harmony. So get out your tuning forks, practice your scales, and happy branding, every one!

Seafood Shanty: A Shimmering Example of Brand Longevity

2012-02-10T14:37:26-05:00

Iconic brands last, sometimes long after the companies behind those brands have closed their doors. Successful branding instills an emotional connection between populace and product that is rooted in memories and the feelings associated with those recollections. Simply put, these memory-makers nurture nostalgia.

One of our clients is such a brand. With 14 restaurants scattered throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey in its heyday, Seafood Shanty sadly sold its last shucked oyster in the early 90s. Until recently, that is. Earlier this week, the brand was resurrected, opening its doors to the cheers of an enthusiastic throng of hungry brand loyalists.

Diners didn’t need discounts as bait to reel them in, the image they had of the brand more than sufficed. That is the hallmark of powerful branding. It’s why new owner, Eddie Riegel, raised the restaurant from its watery grave.

In Riegel’s own words, the brand “brings back a lot of the great memories of my wife and me going to Seafood Shanty when we first started dating 20 years ago.” Some wondered if Riegel had lost his barnacles, but he knew that, just like him, others heard the siren song of the Seafood Shanty and shared in his enthusiasm and desire to feast on happy Shanty memories. After all, when a brand works and we’re caught in its net, it stays with us in our heads and hearts (and in this case, our bellies too).

The Falling Star of Celebrity Endorsement - Part 4

2012-01-31T10:37:05-05:00

Can You Hear Me Now, Catherine Zeta-Jones?

If you suffered a heart attack, you’d want an expertly trained Cardiologist at the helm of your recovery, not a glitzy hospital mouthpiece paid to look good while reciting medical references he or she probably doesn’t even understand. The same goes for purchasing products or services. Savvy consumers want to learn about the best and brightest from the best and brightest. Hence, the long-running success of Verizon’s “Can you hear me now?” campaign.

From 2002 to 2011, Verizon aired more than 100 TV spots featuring a bespectacled field tester asking a question familiar to many cell phone users, “Can you hear me now?” Test Man roaming across the country not only visually represented the strength of Verizon’s network, but showcased the spokesperson’s man-on-the-street appeal as well.

In stark contrast to Verizon’s employee endorser, T-Mobile hired starlet Catherine Zeta-Jones to plug the cash-saving benefits of the carrier. With her good looks, fame, and respectability, Zeta-Jones possessed all the hallmarks of a successful spokesperson. The problem, however, was that she lacked a convincing connection to the product she pushed.

In order for celebrity endorsements to be successful, consumers have to buy into the idea that their favorite actor or singer really does use that weight loss program or $5 lipstick. Watching the millionairess promote T-Mobile’s budget-friendly phone plan was as believable as Bill Gates shopping at Shoe Circus (see part 3 of this blog series), it just didn’t ring true.

Today’s audiences demand that A-listers be authentically in sync with the products they sell. This break from our star-struck tradition has celebrities nervous and businesses redefining their criteria for successful spokespeople. Perhaps Verizon should have texted T-Mobile and informed them of the importance of source credibility.

The Falling Star of Celebrity Endorsement - Part 3 of a 4 part series

2012-01-24T09:30:36-05:00

Part 3: Syntax Error

Long recognized as an industry innovator, Apple Computers placed their unique corporate identity front and center as the star spokesperson of their highly acclaimed “Get a Mac” campaign. The move paid off for Apple and was so successful that in 2010 Adweek declared the series the best advertising campaign of the first decade of the new century.

Featuring then unknown Justin Long as a Mac personified, the advertisements pitted his unflappable wit against the schlubby, corporate, has-been PC played by John Hodgman. The duo entertained viewers for years with their playful exchanges and left Microsoft in desperate need of rebooting their brand.

Who did Microsoft use to champion this ambitious undertaking? A celebrity that’s synonymous with software of course, comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Designed to reintroduce Windows to disenchanted consumers, the ensuing ads got laughs, but for all the wrong reasons.

The first commercial, entitled “Shoe Circus”, showed Seinfeld helping Bill Gates buy shoes at a discount retailer. The second installment of Bill and Jerry’s excellent adventures chronicled the odd couple connecting with “normal people” as unwelcome house guests.

Microsoft tried to play to its strengths, namely the universality of its software, by unveiling a clever new slogan: PC—Perpetually Connected. However, the campaign failed to focus on its biggest selling point: the billions of PC users Gates boasts about bringing together. Shockingly, even with Microsoft’s CEO as Seinfeld’s sidekick, audiences couldn’t connect the comic with computers.

The titans of tech finally got it right with their “I am a PC” campaign—a counterattack and homage to the “Get a Mac” commercials. Microsoft embraced the stigma Apple placed on the PC, repositioning it as a badge of honor. The renovated advertisements showcased diverse members of the global Microsoft community proudly proclaiming “I am a PC.” By using less celebrity and more reality, Microsoft positioned themselves as boundary breakers and a beloved fixture in billions of lives.

Although the folks at Apple and Microsoft fiercely differentiate themselves on and off the screen, they are both still techies at heart. Staying true to their corporate identity, they sent a clear message to appreciative audiences: we get it. With consumers growing increasingly savvy, credibility will always trump celebrity.