This video is only half the story.

Great content can lead to new revenue streams and high visibility. Great content on its own can work, but even brilliant brands are leaving opportunities on the table.

Glowing snowboarder

Sometimes I stumble across an artistic video that is mesmerizing and I cannot stop watching it. I find myself thinking of ways to integrate the content with brands in order to extend the story and build a brandscape.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Make sure participants act like partners

That’s a talented snowboarder in the French Alps wearing an L.E.D.-enveloped suit. Many people and products were involved in making this video a success, even including director Jacob Sutton’s dad. The L.E.D. suit was crafted by John Spatcher, and the talented snowboarder is William Hughes. Mr. Sutton used a Red Epic camera to shoot and a lot of “vin rouge” to keep warm. We hear perfectly chosen music by Shervin Shaeri @ Mutant Jukebox. But there’s no connection tying all these great partners together.

Keep the audience coming back for more

Although Nowness.com published this one video (more on them later), I find myself wanting more of this story. How was the suit developed and tested? How were the French Alps chosen? Why was this the story the director wanted to tell? Did the wine freeze on the mountain? All that auxiliary content would make the video production that much more efficient.

Tell a 360-degree story

Brands and partners need to figure out how to tell a 360-degree story. What begins as a one-off video can become a fuller, more dynamic story beyond the original intent. Nowness does not need to tell the whole story; the partners can tell it on their own platforms, linking one story to the next until the user has had enough. I think of it as those old Choose your Own Adventure Books. If I am interested in French wine, I click on that story; if I am interested in the L.E.D. suit, I choose that story. There is more than one story to follow.

Partners round out the story behind the story

When brands band together, there are multidimensional stories that emerge. Each brand needs to understand what they bring to the main story and what they bring to their more focused one. Strong partnerships create efficiencies. A brand gets more bang for the buck and garners a more engaged audience by letting the consumers choose to see what they want to see behind the curtain.

What stories resonate with your audience

Let’s talk about the stories you’ve already shared and the ways to enhance the adventure.

Nominee Danny Bowien of Mission Chinese

Read more about the importance of a hook for talent here.

The James Beard Awards were given out yesterday. Congrats to all the nominees and winners, especially to Rising Star Chef winner Christina Tosi.

We often guide talented content creators toward discovering their natural hook. It needs to be simple yet definitive. “Oh that’s the guy who blends everything. Including the iPhone.” “That’s the guy who does six-course meals in the subway and other crazy places.”

James Beard Rising Star Chefs

Since we work with a lot of different chefs, and since the celebrity chef trend is an intriguing model of people transcending one medium to another with the power of their hook, I thought it would be fun to look at the new James Beard nominees in the Rising Star Chef of the Year category. This is just a thought experiment, so don’t take it too seriously.

Do these chefs have clear hooks? Are they poised to grow their businesses into media opportunities?

In some cases it’s hard to separate these young chefs from their restaurants, so I’ll blend the two as well as possible and give it a go.

Dave Beran, Next, Chicago

Next Restaurant offers intense thematic menus based in historical periods or interesting concepts. Perusing through interviews and Dave’s Twitter feed, I suggest the hook is:

Chef Dave Beran is a culinary history detective. He tracks down and re-envisions flavors of days gone by and makes them relevant today.

Christina Tosi, Momofuku Milk Bar, NYC

Christina’s Momofuku Milk Bar is like a playground for deserts. Her approach is deceptively simple:

Chef Christina Tosi uses ingredients that people already love, to make refined yet approachable desserts that people crave. Butter + sugar + anything = delicious.

Sue Zemanick, Gautreau’s, New Orleans

Sue Zemanick is understated, kind, and seems to put others before herself, as her early exit from Top Chef All Stars would indicate. A hook doesn’t always have to be loudly assertive. An “anti-hook” can be just as differentiating in the marketplace:

Chef Sue Zemanick builds relationships with food with the gustatory intensity of a long conversation. She got booted from Top Chef for being too helpful.

Daniel Bowien, Mission Chinese Food, San Francisco

Mission Chinese is a cult favorite. It’s intriguing. I read somewhere that American Chinese food is our national cuisine. There are more Chinese restaurants than any other type. So it makes a lot of sense for someone to finally use a beat up old Chinese Restaurant to launch a whole new approach to food:

Chef Danny Bowien is the guy who turned Chinese food on its head with an infusion of new ingredients and approaches. He’s the Joe Strummer of Chinese food.

Thomas McNaughton, Flour + Water, San Francisco

Flour + Water is a homemade pasta and pizza restaurant that showcases the authentic regional variety of classic Italian cuisine. Chef McNaughton crafts every dish with a wealth of insider’s knowledge garnered from his time learning at a salumeria in Bologna.

Chef Thomas McNaughton is eight old Italian ladies trapped in a 28-year-old man’s body. He makes pasta the way pasta wants to be made.

What do you think?

Have you eaten at any of these restaurants? How would you state or refine the hooks I’ve written?

When you are full of creative ambitions, it is hard to focus on one key value that you can express in a memorable hook. Perhaps the hardest part is letting go of some of the things you like to do and focus on what you truly are best at.

Someone like Rachael Ray can do all kinds of amazing, practical things with food. But it took a special vision to say, “I help people make dinner in 30 minutes or less.” It is focus like this that helps build an audience.

Once Rachael’s audience was solidified, she was able to branch out and explore more of her talents and interests.

Hooks and brand partnerships

A hook helps brands understand why an audience connects with specific content. When talent has a strong hook, brands can more easily understand how they can align their brand values with that hook. A great example of this alignment is the long tradition of celebrity spokespeople.

The best brands find a spokesperson whose hook and accomplishments actually reflect their values, goal, and objectives. It’s a simple formula. When a brand and a talent connect on a deeper level, there is much greater potential for engagement and content creation than a mere thumbs-up in exchange for a big check.

For instance, Troy Polamalu can endorse lots of things. He’s that incredibly gifted, two-time Super-Bowl-winning football player with all that long curly hair. His partnership with Head & Shoulders is a perfect fit. Plus the fact that they insured his hair for $1M was word-of-mouth and social-media gold.

Seeing the Future

As we look at the new horizon of media plays, we’re going to see deeper alignments between brands and talent. It behooves talent to find their hook and learn how to use it.

As your brand looks for talent with whom to partner, put your unique value next to their hook. How do they match up? This will be a vital element of marketing in the years to come.

Check back tomorrow, when I’ll play around with figuring out hooks for the nominees in the Rising Star Chef of the Year category of the James Beard Awards.

This coming week, the culinary world will receive it’s newest James Beard Award winners. For those of you who don’t know, these awards mark the highest level of achievement in the culinary arts and media in North America.

The nominees read as a list of who’s who in the industry, including some we’ve had the pleasure of working with over the past year, like Jamie Bissonnette, Matthew Jennings, and Hedy Goldsmith.

Aside from the amazing talent that is represented on the list, the nominees also call our attention to valuable audience segments that are worthy of notice.

1. Southerners

A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen by Hugh Acheson Nominee for book award in American Cooking category
Southerners and lovers of southern food are very passionate about their food and they love to eat. They’re typically not afraid of some of the fattier ingredients that have gone in and out of vogue. They have a strong communal identity as well.

Brandscape opportunities: If you want to partner up to reach this audience, consider grills and smokers, cars, lifestyle clothing (think Chico’s), alcohol, packaged food brands (like Kraft).

2. Food Sensitives

The Intolerant Gourmet: Glorious Food without Gluten & Lactose by Barbara Kafka Nominee for book award in Focus on Health category
All it takes is one trip to the grocery store to realize this is a growing, trending audience segment. These folks are health conscious, whether they want to be or not. Brands have had a lot of success marketing simple, gluten-free and non-dairy solutions that make it easier for people to manage their conditions.

Brandscape opportunities: This field has a well-defined audience and some key brands who speak directly to them. But there is a lot of room for growth. Look to those already marketing to the gluten-free crowd, but also think creatively about what else is affecting their lives. Are there housecleaning supply companies that are GF? Perhaps other sensitivities come into play and you partner with a vacuum cleaner company (like Dyson). Or perhaps you find GF bloggers with big audiences and underwrite their content.

3. Kitchen DIYers

Too many nominees to mention fit this category. A couple that stand out are Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer and My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking by John Besh.

There’s a growing trend of people wanting to experience the fullness of life in the home and kitchen. They like to make things from scratch and grow their own veggies and herbs (if not goats!). This audience is highly motivated and willing to experiment with new things they think may add value to their lives.

Brandscape opportunities: This audience is looking for ideas and tools to pull off great feats of food and community in their kitchens. Find talent who speak directly to this and help to build their platform by underwriting them and getting your brand attached to their messages. These folks love trends like scratch baking, nose-to-tail eating, and urban gardening. Partner with brands who are making the tools to make those trends more accessible.

But remember, DIYers also understand that less is more, so find opportunities to help them make smart decisions to buy the right products, because there is a good chance they’ll spend more for quality.

And, best of luck to all the James Beard nominees.

Image from Lori Danelle on Instagram of her Paper Cut art

How Uncommon Goods could power their brand

I got my catalog from Uncommon Goods in the mail this week. They sell “unique and creative gifts.” (Or that’s what they told me they sell anyway.) The catalog opened immediately to the profile of an artist named Lori Danelle. Lori is a paper cut artist and “maker of things.” And Lori is talented.

What they say they do

In the catalog’s introductory letter from Casey McCarthy (the company’s CTO) he says:

…We’ve stayed true to what brought me here – a great team committed to connecting artists with you, our customers. …I hope, that like me, you discover something special for the uncommon people in your life.”

- Casey McCarthy Uncommon Goods, CTO

So there you have it. Uncommon Goods connects us with artists. Except, they’ve missed the single greatest opportunity to do exactly that: connect me with the people who make the art they sell.

What they don’t do

The fact is, that in a digital world you have to do more than SAY you’re connecting me with artists. You actually have to do it.

While the catalog includes nicely written artist profiles it doesn’t really connect me with the artist. I love what Danelle does. I’m mesmerized by her work and I want a personal story to attach to the art I buy.

Why not connect – I mean REALLY connect – me with Danelle? Danelle’s on Twitter. She’s on Instagram. She’s even blogging about Uncommon Goods. She’s also got some nice stuff on Pinterest.

Connecting digital with print

Lori Danelle's profile page from the Uncommon Good's catalog

Uncommon Goods’ catalog is a gateway to artists I’ve never heard of. But it’s a superficial one. Shouldn’t you invite me to read Lori’s blog? Interact with her on Twitter? Or see her art on Instagram? I guarantee that when I’m ready to buy I’ll come back to Uncommon Goods and make the purchase. After all, I have you to thank for introducing me to an artist I now have a personal relationship with.

Ask Yourself…

How can you introduce your audience to the people that make your products possible? How can you create a personal relationship between your brand, your employees and the customers you serve?

You need to ask yourself if there’s a disconnect between what you say you do and what you ACTUALLY do. You need to introduce your audience to the people that power your brand.

What if…

What if Uncommon Goods showed the same enthusiasm for sharing their audience as Lori does on her blog?

Please go check out the UncommonGoods’ site, look around, be amazed, and be sure to tell everyone you know! (They even have handy buttons at the bottom of the page to share on Twitter, Facebook & Pinterest — hint, hint. . .)  And while you’re at it, sign up for their catalog. . . you might just see me there as well later this month!

- Lori Danelle’s blog post about her debut on Uncommon Goods.

I’m positive you’d see more customers interacting with artists that drive sales. Which is what both of you want. Isn’t it?

What if you embraced the idea that your website isn’t the center of the web world?

Talent passions must align with brand values

Brands can find talent and build meaningful content partnerships. Devin Graham, aka Devin Super Tramp, is a great example of a talented filmmaker who naturally encompasses the value of brands like GoPro, The North Face, and Red Bull with his infectious enthusiasm for outdoor adventure, great music, and high-end video.

About Vooray: “We LIVE to enjoy every minute of life. We RIDE, run, swim, work, jump, surf, bike and whatever else, because we love when our hearts beat just a little faster. We PLAY because you can’t take yourself too seriously after you work so hard to get there. Life is too short not to have fun every second.”

Show, don’t tell, your value

Our own Drew Davis had an opportunity to speak with Devin recently. Devin indicated that the relationship with Vooray happened very authentically through a friendship, and most of his brand relationships begin in the same manner. A brand sends product to sample and possibly to be included in a video. In order for it to even be considered for inclusion, Devin has to “believe 100% in the product.” Devin oftentimes even offers to create his first video for a small sponsorship fee that mostly covers travel so that the brand can fully realize how valuable his videos can be.

Selling product does not mean selling out

“I have to believe 100% in the product.” —Devin Graham

Devin is proud to align with the brands he works with and is thrilled when it leads to sales.

Because the relationship is authentic and the story is real, he is not trying to pretend the video is not a promotional tool for a product. For example, Go-Scope sent him their product to try in a video and reported back to him, the day after the video was posted on YouTube, that Devin “put Go-Scope on the map” and they “tripled sales in 1 day.” Selling is not selling out.

Making the most of the relationship

With over 275K YouTube subscribers and over 51MM video views, it is no surprise that Devin is already aligned with brands like clothing company Vooray. However, the integration is almost too seamless. I never know if a DST video is for Vooray or if a Vooray video posted was shot by DST. As a brand and as a talent, make sure the value of the partnership goes beyond the content being created. The value is in aligning your unique values in a way that exposes each of you to the other’s audience, authentically, no matter who ultimately paid for the content to be created.

Ask Yourself

How can the right talent help you tell your story? When the brand and the talent encompass the same philosophies and make compelling content it should not only increase awareness for the brand but increase sales, too. No matter whether brands hire talent and create a relationship over time or curate content that fits their brand values, it is important to make sure that there is an authentic alignment of values and stories that both want to share.

Watch the Go-Scope in action

Click here to view the embedded video.

However, not every opportunity is right for every brand.

Last year both the fashion and sneaker community were all abuzz with the beautiful collaboration between interior designer and celebrity stylist Robert Verdi and Vans Vault, the premium imprint of the classic sneaker brand. Vans created beautiful slip-ons based on the designs of his vintage Hermés scarves. You can browse through them on Flickr.

There’s clearly interest in the Vans

As I started to research these beautiful sneakers, I quickly found that there was no shortage of links. There were many fashion and sneaker blogs that were clearly excited about this small run of shoes.

And their audiences were very engaged. I found lots of comments where people were just super excited. For example on Honestly … WTF I saw the following comment:

The Hermés Vans showcase the unique values perfectly.

When partnering with other brands, you want everybody to shine individually and together. With these fashion sneakers, everyone’s truest value is on display and yet they all blend together.

Even though Vans are for the proletariat and Hermés extremely exclusive, it works. This is what design blog KNSTRCT has to say about it:

The rubber of the shoes, and the silk of the scarves, are the two materials in which society identifies these brands to be. Though Hermés and Vans are from opposite worlds, they both found their identity, and stayed true to it!

Robert Verdi is the perfect talent to pull it all together. He blends both worlds seamlessly, and is a passionate advocate for both. And he adds a sense of authority to the connection when he puts his seal of approval on the product.

Follow the great ideas, even when they pull you out of your comfort zone.

So many brands are struggling to find the same kind of market penetration they were accustomed to in the old days. It’s not as easy as just plopping your product in front of an audience and waiting for sales to happen.

The idea is to find the right audiences for your brand and connect to them. Sometimes those audiences are going to be interested in another brand or in something you’d never associate with your brand.

But when there’s a great idea that helps you reach that audience, why not go after it? Especially when the idea has proven itself in the great laboratory of the internet.

The hooks that get and keep people’s attention online are a form of meme that takes on a life of its own. It’s usually a shame to let one go to waste.

The Twist: Why this is wrong for Hermés

As awesome as this combination is, and as excited as the blogosphere and fashion world is about it, it makes no sense for Hermés to get involved. Why? Because it’s not the right audience.

The Hermés audience is the wealthy of the wealthy. Hermés doesn’t need this kind of combination to make their brand work. Their audience takes no notice of such things.

However, Hermés should pay attention to this kind of action online. They should take stock in the possibilities that the web offers in its infinite playground. Even if this brandscape isn’t right for them, it’s an interesting thought experiment that should open up new ideas and conceptions for marketing to their elite audience.

That audience is also online, and Hermés would do well to be thinking of ways to extend and enable their incredible word-of-mouth business to online channels.

A glutton for punishment

Tile mosaic QR Code at #Coverings

Maybe I’m a digital masochist, but everywhere I go I scan QR codes. It’s an experiment, really. I’m waiting to be wowed. I’m expecting to be excited, impressed, or even mildly engaged by someone’s smart use of QR codes, but I’m not.

This week at the Coverings trade show in Orlando I finally hit my limit. At not one, but two, tile trade show booths they’d put a huge amount of effort into creating QR Code displays using tile mosaics. Genius, I thought. Genius. This must be good.

I opened my phone and found my scanning app. I tried to align my camera with their mosaic. It wouldn’t scan. I tried a different app. I tried taking a picture of the code and then using the picture as the source for my QR code app. Nothing. I tried standing back and moving forward. After, quite literally, five minutes I gave up.

When I asked one of the booth monitors if anyone could get their QR code tile mosaic to scan, she simply shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I can’t get it to work.”

When they do work

@SchwarzenbachB In front of a Slow Response Code

A year ago I attended a trade show with Brad Schwarzenbach. In the middle of the busy trade show aisle was a giant QR Code mounted on a sign that read, “Visit us at booth #147.” Brad directed traffic around me as I took the time to scan the code. As I waited for the scanning app to launch a browser, which launched a web page, which painstakingly downloaded an image I almost screamed out loud.

The QR code led me to a digital image of the EXACT sign I was standing in front of. The very sign I had just scanned. I don’t need a QR code to get a picture of your sign. My blood boils just recounting the story.

Ask Yourself…

QR Codes are a novelty. Not because they couldn’t be useful, but because marketers use them so terribly! Not one of the QR codes I’ve scanned has really been worth the effort. You need to ask yourself if you’re using QR Codes because you think you should or because they’re actually adding value to the consumer’s experience?

If you’re going to implement QR Codes you need to ask yourself whether the content on the other side of the code is worth the effort to get it? You need to ask yourself why you’re using QR Codes?

The truth is, I can type a URL faster than I can successfully scan and experience a QR code. QR codes aren’t Quick.

What if…

What if QR Codes were actually valuable?

P.S. The QR Code Bradley is standing in front of has been updated for 2012 (go ahead take the time to scan it and see if it’s a ‘rewarding experience.’)

The open kitchen

The Open Kitchen - People were literally this close...

This morning I had breakfast at a diner. I sat at the bar facing the open kitchen.

I had an omelet, a cup of coffee, and some hash-browns. The food was fine. The open kitchen was not.

The people working in the kitchen weren’t happy. They never smiled at me, let alone said hi. They were only two feet away.

The wait staff wasn’t friendly either. I listened-in as they argued about who got the last table.

Meanwhile on Twitter…

This diner happens to be in a hotel. As I waited for my food to arrive the hotel tweeted:

“Today is National High Five Day! If you could #highfive anyone in the world, who would it be?”

I can be certain I wouldn’t #highfive your restaurant staff. Maybe this hotel should start building an internal social strategy before they focus on an external one? Or, maybe not.

Ask yourself…

You need to ask yourself if your external social presence is a reflection of your customer’s real-world experience?

You need to decide if you’re putting a superficial veneer on an otherwise poor experience? Maybe you should ask yourself if you can use your social media stream to change your internal culture?

What if…

What if everyone at the hotel had started the day with a #HighFive? I bet the diner staff would have been happier.

What if you made sure every single one of your employee’s also read your social media stream? How might it shape your business and your customer’s experience?

2000+ Home Depot videos on YouTube

Many brands have been creating content and have an arsenal on various social media platforms. Those brands should now be looking to evolve that content or the platforms on which it resides to maximize the investment and realize its potential.

Home Depot has spent a lot of time creating and posting over 2000 videos to YouTube generating more than 25MM views both on and off the Home Depot channel, not a small feat. However, all that content can make each video a needle in a haystack when on the channel itself. The content is disparate, challenging to find, and lacking a unified voice.

If Home Depot were looking to maximize the value of their content investment, I’d suggest they segment the videos by interest and use their great merchandising partners to expand on the content in a meaningful manner.

The in-store aisle strategy can work online

Imagine walking into Home Depot and not having an aisle structure that allows the consumer to know where to go for flooring or sinks? What if Home Depot just put the most recent products delivered in the front of the store regardless of product type? That’s basically what they are doing with YouTube. They have not done a sufficient job making playlists or segmenting their video content.

If Home Depot deployed an aisle-like strategy for their YouTube content, they’d service the needs of their viewers much better. In addition to playlists, they should consider the fact that their audience needs these videos at different stages of their home improvement projects. Some may need information only about planning improvements for the outside of their homes from roofs to gardening, whereas others need information on a leaky faucet or installing a thermostat. Revising the organizational structure can benefit Home Depot whether the visitor starts on the YouTube channel or if they end up there through a video link or search, and it will be especially useful for loyal channel subscribers.

Reaching viewers when they are at pivotal moments in their projects is key to maximizing the investment of the content. What about setting up different Home Depot YouTube channels based on projects? Nike has a YouTube channel with about 28,000 subscribers and a Nike Football channel with about 200,000 subscribers. They have exponentially more subscribers for niche-focused content, because those subscribers know they are only going to see content related to football. The strategy works, and Home Depot could greatly benefit from a segmentation strategy.

Maximize offline relationships online

We recently wrote about maximizing offline partners online, and Home Depot could easily employ the concept. Many of the videos on the YouTube channel feel very commercial. In addition to posting their :30 second commercials, the brand has also created and posted content for specific product lines like GE Water Heaters. However, it feels a bit sales-y and it is not entertaining. This presents a great opportunity for the Home Depot to work more closely with GE to create more meaningful content about water heaters, content that is less overtly advertisement and more concretely helpful.

Home Depot should also consider how to best repurpose all this video content. Black & Decker could choose to add a video tip to the end of each YouTube Home Depot video with an expert from Black & Decker sharing a relevant example of the best do’s and dont’s of the “How To” the user just viewed. These adapted videos can appear not only on the Home Depot channel, but then could be shared by Black & Decker for greater audience and subscriber development.

Brands should think like DIYers – what’s next?

Seeing brands commit to a robust content creation initiative is always encouraging. However, brands that fall short when mapping the user experience will not realize maximized return on investment. If Home Depot reorganized their channel based on interest and thought of ways to add more value to their 13,000 loyal subscribers, they’d start to see opportunities for their own self-improvement projects.

Should they have a channel dedicated to the craftsman, the tradesman, the green DIY consumer, the seasoned DIYer, etc.? Could each of those channels work with a merchandising partner to underwrite, support, and contribute to great content specifically for that niche audience? Could Home Depot assign one expert per channel to become the voice of flooring, the voice of tile, the voice of decks?

Yes, they can. That’s the power of Home Depot.

Stare Wars

If you want to stand out and attract attention in the marketplace, target an audience where no one like you is participating.

I went to #PAXEast last week. For the uninitiated, it’s an amazing, intriguing and exciting exposition for all things gaming. From video games to board games – they have it all.

The trade show floor is a cacophony of collaboration: people from around the world playing games with their friends. They’re playing the pre-release versions of the greatest games from the biggest manufacturers. They’re playing board games and card games you’ve never heard of. They’re staring at computer monitors and cards trying to beat their opponents.

Standing out

But one booth at the trade show stood out from everything else. One little booth had attracted a group of ten people standing around amused and bewildered. They weren’t selling video games or joysticks. They were selling eyedrops.

Rohto Eyedrops to be exact. Now I’m sure Rohto goes to lots of pharmaceutical trade shows and retail events, but at those shows they’re just another beauty product manufacturer. At PAX, they were an anomaly.

Sure they were giving out free samples, but they were also conducting a competition called “Stare Wars.” For a bunch of gamers who stare at a computer monitor for hours without blinking this was a matter of pride. Who could stare longer? After three days the winner was a gamer named Maxwell Morin. His stats: 54 matches, 3 hours 1 minute and 55 seconds total staring time. What does he win? A $1,500 gift card and a trip to PAX Prime in Seattle to defend his title.

Rohto isn’t trying to be the eye-drop for everyone. They showed up at PAX, embraced the audience and stood out from the crowd.

Ask Yourself…

Why are you going to trade shows where everyone’s selling the same thing to the same audience?

What’s your Stare Wars?

What if…

What if you got outside your comfort zone and went to a trade show where you forced yourself to be relevant?

Being audience-centric is what makes crossovers work, and the web is all about the audience. When done well, your internet presence should work as a giant retail funnel, helping your audience find your products and services. So crossing over and sharing audience with other brands is a vital way to build and strengthen your relationship with your audience.

The retailer understands that they get more value by touting each brand and helping them establish their presence in the minds of their larger, more general audience.

Interestingly enough, we find that sort of crossover working really well in traditional retail channels and their online extensions. Because smart retailers understand how to build their brands by leveraging the brands of their partners and vice versa.

 1. Learning from the brandscaping of department stores

We’re all familiar with the layout of a department store. But if you think about some of the bigger chains like Macy’s and J.C. Penney (now jcpenney), they actually have branded sub-departments. When you go shopping for jeans, you shop brand by brand through Lucky Brand and Levi’s and 7 For All Mankind. This is a crossover or brandscape. Each brand has its own personality represented in varying degrees. I assume these degrees are related to their investment in their section.

There are different consumer audiences for these different brands, and the retailer understands that they get more value by touting each brand and helping them establish their presence in the minds of their larger, more general audience.

The crown jewel of this approach is the make-up and skincare department, where beautiful ladies represent the values of the brand they represent and try to sell you both on benefits and on lifestyle. The ability of these branded talents to tell the right story in an authentic way is what drives sales at the point of purchase.

2. Going super niche with Bianchi and Gucci

Gucci creative director Frida Giannini recently designed two bicycles in collaboration with Bianchi bicycles. They retail at Gucci’s London store for $14,000 and $5,000 dollars respectively. There is also a really cool helmet that retails for $890.

The buzz that this crossover has created would indicate that it is a success. Sometimes the crossover itself can drive the story. But there is more to this combo.

Both Gucci and Bianchi realized that leveraging the power of both their brands together is a powerful way to upsell an increasingly vital portion of urban living. Gucci’s audience has high expectations, and Bianchi is the right partner to deliver on them.

Is it the best, most amazing bike you can buy? No. Does it deliver on the brand expectations of Gucci’s audience, while adding to Bianchi’s quality and performance story? Absolutely.

3. J. Crew and Vintage Sneakers

Finally, J. Crew has teamed up with some top sneaker manufacturers to create and repurpose vintage designs for men that fit their audience profile perfectly. J. Crew wasn’t going to beat Nike, New Balance, or Vans at selling sneakers. So they partnered and created a new retail channel for these brands with a built in loyal audience.

The aesthetic fit between these shoes and the J. Crew brand is tight and seamless. J. Crew actually serves as a publisher in this arrangement as well, since their editorial understanding of their audience and their broadcast reach to their audience is so strong. And, of course, the partner brands build on that affinity while adding even more credibility to the J. Crew brand.

Your logistics teams is a unique and powerful resource.

Your logistics team has a ton of data and intuitive knowledge about your consumers. They are also  responsible for key communications when your consumers are at their most enthusiastic — when they arrive at their door. Since the essence of today’s (and yesterday’s) marketing is all about knowing your audience, your logistics teams is a unique and powerful resource.

1. The Gateway to your consumers

When a consumer orders your product online or registers a product, they are happy to provide you with a wealth of information about themselves. The same data you may be working hard to capture in other ways, might be already available. Talk to your logistics team about this. Find a way to use this valuable data.

And even though your logistics team, might only be a part of fulfilling orders after a purchase is made, much of the data they possess can be used to help streamline the path to purchase online. Since your logistics team knows your consumers so well, their knowledge can help you make buying easier for your consumers.

2. Harnessing consumer momentum

Your logistics team has access to your consumer at that anticipatory peak of excitement as they see it on their stoop. And let me tell you, it doesn’t matter what it is, people get excited to get something delivered.

The phenomenon of ‘unboxing videos’ demonstrates how universal this excitement is. It doesn’t matter how mundane the product is. Don’t watch this whole video, but check out this guy’s engagement with these crappy game cubes:

The stuff doesn’t even come in a box, and he’s making an unboxing video! This is a huge opportunity. The best review is going to come right in this moment.

What can your marketing and logistics teams put together to encourage and build off of this momentum? Can you encourage sharing or reviews? Can you offer discounts on accessories or referral discounts?

Can you partner with other brands who can supply something related to your consumers’ needs and interests? For example: if you’re selling exercise equipment, can you provide coupons from partner brands for juicers or sneakers in your packaging?

3. Messaging at key points

Involving your logistics team in your process is not just a one way street. You should also be thinking about how you can help them message to your consumers during the process of fulfillment and delivery.

Consumer enthusiasm is not without its risks. An excited consumer is also a sensitive consumer. How can you help keep the consumer happy?

Talk with your logistics team about common concerns, problems, and bumps in the road. Create a singular experience and voice across the whole interaction with your brand. Craft messaging that comforts and nurtures their excitement.

Photojojo does a good job with this. This is an excerpt from an email a coworker received when an order was delayed:

Hey there Friend-o!

As you may have noticed, those awesome Magnetic Cell Phone Lenses you ordered didn’t ship out yesterday like we said they would (ruh-ro!) and they didn’t ship out today either (yikes!)

These lenses were crazy popular – like Prom Queen popular. We ran out of ‘em so so fast and it has taken a bit longer than we had planed to get more. What were we thinking?! We should have known! [hangs head] [weeps bitterly]…

This was followed by a discount code and some more friendly silliness. This may not be the right voice for your brand, but that’s not the point. This is an extremely important moment in the consumer journey.

What are you doing to make sure your brand uses it to build rather than lose your consumers’ dollars and attention?

Ace Hardware advertising on the Weather Channel App

In a marketing universe that is constantly evolving, sometimes exciting opportunities are staring you right in the face — or dripping through your leaky roof. You just have to think outside of the traditional structures you’re used to.

Ace Hardware and the Weather Channel

Home improvement and weather. They are linked in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health — for all time.

So it made a lot of sense for Ace Hardware to buy targeted mobile ads at highly trafficked times on the Weather Channel app. People are going to check the weather before starting any project, great or small.

But did it make sense for the Weather Channel to be selling that ad space? What I mean by that is, since the two product offerings align so closely, perhaps there are larger opportunities for both parties here to reach new audiences and offer high value.

Targeting consumers at just the right time

Ace’s marketing needs were undoubtedly served well by their ad buy. They were able to reach potential customers on the weekends. They are obviously taking advantage of the fact that the Weather Channel app owns many people’s time as they are preparing to make home improvements. That is some smart micro-dayparting.

But doesn’t the Weather Channel also have a need to grow their audience of people who could use their service at just the right moment? And if one of those valuable moments is defined as the time people are planning to make home improvements, then perhaps Ace has some valuable audience to share as well.

Rethinking what it means to be a publisher

If the Weather Channel were to view Ace more as a publisher, it would be easy to see that there are fantastic opportunities to share info about their app in store and at points of purchase. The app can drive traffic to the store, but the store could also be driving traffic to the app.

The Weather Channel and Ace could partner in creating content to help people learn about upcoming weather. In some stores, Ace has actually paid a vendor to send out text messages to alert their customers to upcoming weather. Why not build  a strategic partnership with a world leader like the Weather Channel instead?

Ace could also build Weather Channel capabilities into its website and retail locator. Both parties could look to a talented home improvement expert to make videos with weather-related home improvement tips that take the relationship deeper. This would build up trust and a sense of authority for all the partners in the eyes of consumers.

Traditional ad buy limits opportunities for Ace Hardware and the Weather Channel

The traditional path of merely buying placement may create a momentary splash, but it doesn’t build relationships. With mobile devices so widely proliferated, it’s important to be constantly finding new opportunities to drive loyalty and bring in new users.

YYou have to think about user experience not merely as funneling people towards what they need or what you want them to do on your web properties. Rather, their entire experience of your brand online and offline is important. That is why it makes sense to re-envision the physical environment of Ace as a publishing opportunity. You have to go beyond traditional endcaps and POP placement and think about the whole consumer journey.

The traditional ad-buying model is rooted in the fair weather of the old days of media monopolies. Finding new opportunities to build content partnerships will protect your brand from even the harshest of marketing climates.

Can your brand apply this and gain exposure?

Big brands often pave the way in marketing, and smaller companies try to ride the wave or emulate on a smaller scale. Recently there have been examples of marketing initiatives executed on by big brands that are easy for a small brand to replicate and build upon. The Gap Styld.by campaign is a great example, as is Neiman Marcus’ outreach for a fashion photographer at SXSW.

Brands should be inventive and find a way to “fit in”

The SXSW festival is an annual music, film, and interactive conference and festival held in Austin and has become a preeminent event for social media, emerging trends, and the arts. With “indie-classical” bands like Mother Falcon, indie films and sponsors like IFC, it’s ripe for a brandscape that can live beyond the show itself. However, as a more traditional brand, Neiman Marcus had to invent a way to be relevant and provide value both at the show and beyond:

Calling all street-style photographers! You could join us at SXSW, in Austin, for a week of music and style. Check out our Facebook tab, NM@SXSW, to learn more details and enter!

Although SXSW is not about fashion traditionally, artists and filmmakers and many of those in attendance do have style. And when Neiman Marcus sends a photographer already well-versed in street photography to the event, they become tuned in to the audience and create an opportunity for making a statement without having to sponsor the show or invest huge dollars. NM also has built in a way to potentially reach a new audience.

Can a non-comic brand have relevance at Comic‑Con

Smaller brands can learn a lot from the NM@SXSW example. Comic-Con is one of those events that reaches a niche audience, and if your brand does not seem related to the comic industry, the event may not be considered for inclusion in marketing initiatives. However, Comic-Con is all about vibracy and color and individuality and fun, and certainly those values have wider applications.

Enter Superhero Chef

Chef Jason Santos, with his blue hair and his talents in molecular gastronomy, is a superhero in the kitchen. Sure, he’s been seen on Hell’s Kitchen, among other food-related shows and events, but he encompasses vibrancy and color and individuality.

Finding an expert who marries with the values of an event is a great way to find relevancy. Perhaps a food brand like Kitchen Aid with their line of colorful stand mixers wants to sponsor an event featuring Chef Jason Santos at Comic-Con. Chef can certainly make a superhero-worthy meal.

Enter Superhero Makeup

A big part of Comic-Con are the costumes and makeup. A fun, young, cutting-edge makeup company could benefit from having makeup artists on site, helping people get ready to enter the show. I don’t know anything about Sugarpill Cosmetics, but a brief look at their website reveals vibrant colors and an already established relationship with Hello Kitty.

Perhaps Sugarpill could come out with a line of makeup specifically for superhero chics who want to be bad-ass but look pretty while doing it. Who was better at doing that than Linda Carter?

Enter Superhero Paint

I came across Superhero paint splatter art, and I immediately thought that a paint company could set up a blank wall in a booth at Comic-Con and invite people to come in to do graphic and street art in their booth.

This is a fun and interactive way to integrate home decorating tips at an event not typically about home design at all. Bring in the paint splatter artist Arian Noveir and you’ve got a booth that will attract the most loyal comic fans.

With a little creativity, any brand can find a way to be relevant yet stand out with a niche audience.

Bloggers want to remain editorially sound, which means that brands looking to create meaningful relationships with bloggers need to have a definitive strategy and dedicated resources who are focused, disciplined, and track against concrete goals. Recently I’ve seen a few examples of how blogger and brand relationships have evolved and become more meaningful.

Build the right blogger outreach tools

OXO is a brand that I would argue is omnipresent in many homes but not top of mind in most. Their ergonomically correct kitchen tools like can, bottle, and jar openers and inventive kitchen organizational tools make it easy to be efficient in the kitchen. In a competitive and somewhat commodity-driven market, they strive to be the best in product development and design. And they take it a step further by soliciting feedback from those who use their products most.

Our goal of making products more usable forces us first to identify problems and inefficiencies in existing products (including our own), not just in terms of comfort, but in terms of performance as well.
– OXO Blogger Outreach

OXO developed a Blogger Outreach strategy for “bloggers to test and review new and existing products, receive exclusive video content, get behind-the-scenes access to the OXO product development process, attend exclusive OXO events and much more.” Arianna Bastianini leads the initiative, and I had a chance to speak with her at the Housewares Show to learn about her approach to building these personal relationships.

In addition to spending a week in Chicago this month, Arianna is headed to the Food Blog Forum event in Orlando to participate in a panel entitled PRspectives, an inside look into the process of working with brands and forming beneficial relationships. For Arianna, the keys are authenticity, dedication, and a keen understanding of the goal of the blogger initiative. Because of her focus, OXO has learned a lot about their products in practice and how to increase their value to consumers.

On your mark, get set, brandscape

On March 13, Boston.com editor Matt Pepin solicited qualified Boston Marathon runners who would be interested in reviewing Polar USA products during the final 30 days of training. Chosen applicants will be able to “test-drive” the new RCX3 G5 Optimized Training Computer before it launches but are required to:

• blog about their experiences with the brand and
• share the data captured by the devises, especially on Marathon Day.

Much like the OXO strategy, the brand is looking for authentic and usable information that may help improve the product or the product launch strategy. Polar is relying on a trusted media source, Boston.com, to find their advocates. Partnering with a publisher that already has credibility and audience reach is a key tenet of the Tippingpoint Labs brandscaping model.

Using the publisher to audit the responses can be tricky unless the brand and publisher are very well aligned in the exact goals of the blogger strategy. Boston.com may find one applicant more credible because they write well, but Polar may appreciate the runner who runs 10+ miles a day and therefore has less time to write comprehensive reviews. The brand / publisher relationship needs to be well established in order for the Polar blogger campaign to be effective.

Taking the relationship one step further

I think OXO and Polar USA could learn a lot from one another. Polar USA should not be afraid to reach out and develop their own blogger strategy much like OXO. However, both brands could do a better job of aligning with other complementary brands in order to expand their reach and audience participation. Polar USA and Boston.com could easily align with Gatorade or Nike or Camelbak to gain more momentum with superior athletes and gather information beneficial for all brands. OXO could align with Nestle’s or Quaker or Real Simple to broaden their blogger outreach strategy and develop a honed group of elite bloggers who take their kitchen and cooking as seriously as OXO takes product design.

Bottom line: there are limited bloggers who add value to a brand relationship. Brands should not compete for those valuable bloggers. Partner and win loyalty through better blogger strategies and complementary brand alignments.

Just in case…

…the Boston.com article is removed, here is a screenshot of how Matt Pepin solicited runners to participate in the Polar test-drive.

Boston.com Polar Blogger Solicitation Article

The Mercedes SL and Lara Stone

One question many people have when we bring up the topic of brandscaping is, “How can my brand partner with other brands without our message getting lost or diluted?”

Can you take two or more different brands with different products and values and unite them seamlessly? A great example is the latest Mercedes online cinematic video, Icons of Style. It’s branded as Mercedes but it also features Calvin Klein.

The talents of Calvin Klein’s newest flagship model Lara Stone and the Women’s Creative Director for Calvin Klein Collection, Francisco Costa, are also featured. Icons of Style successfully highlights all the values of each partner while establishing something completely new and exciting and new.

So even with a host other influences on the video, Mercedes still wins.

Mercedes as the anchor brand

Director Alex Prager described the video as Mary Poppins meets The Wizard of Oz meets James Bond. But it is also luxury car brand meets fashion brand meets fashion model meets filmmaker/photographer meets creative director meets fashion week.

That is a lot of elements to swirl together into a tornado of effective online video. But Mercedes doesn’t lose anything in the mix. In fact, their message is enhanced by the partnership.

Mercedes is the key brand on this project and the apparent key underwriter. They are launching their new SL roadster, and they are sponsors of fashion week, and they recently showcased their safety features in a video showing people suspended in air.

Making the Mercedes SL Roadster look even better

The SL looks absolutely stunning in the video. It has a smooth luxurious appearance that is unaffected by turbulence (or tornadoes). The presence of Calvin Klein reinforces the glamor of the car.

It’s not just some convertible in the middle of the desert. The roadster makes a beautiful model look even more beautiful and vice versa.

A deeper connection between Fashion Week and Mercedes

The fashion week connection is very important. This video is a way for Mercedes, a longtime sponsor of many fashion weeks worldwide, to forge an even tighter connection with the world of fashion.

Cinematically, both the fashion and the car styles are portrayed as being in the right place at the right time. You don’t ride your tornado if you’re a second late. This psychologically reminds people that fashions and car designs are about the present moment, the here and now.

It gives a deeper logic and connectivity to the sponsorship. It reminds people that Mercedes and CK are on the cutting edge. It also reminds them that style is fleeting, so you better buy while the getting is good.

Mercedes and flying through the air

The third element is a very subtle connection to another key element of Mercedes’ branding — safety. The inexplicable motif of  Lara Stone being taken up by the tornado, matches the vibe of the recent airbag commercial.

But instead of being literal like the above commercial, Icons of Style is dream-like, which is appropriate for a car described thus on the Mercedes site:

Developed as a racecar, coveted as a sports car, the SL has always been, above all, a dream car.

Icons of Style is truly iconic

Mercedes loses nothing in the brand partnership. In fact, they gain much. What’s even better is that the whole thing was shot in one day, including fashion stills. They were also able to extend the value with behind-the-scenes content and interviews with those involved. It’s on brand, on target, and wholly efficient.

Not only does the brandscaping model allow brands to pool their resources, but the convergence of different values can add a focus that wouldn’t normally be there. By looking carefully at the intersection of brands and talent, you set parameters that will inspire whole new avenues of creativity.

So ride the tornado.

Colorful displays prevailed at the 2012 IH+HS

As a first-time attendee of the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, I was immediately enthralled by the breadth of offering from inventive manufacturers looking to build diverse product offerings at retail.

Spending most of my time in the South and Lakeside buildings, which both focus mainly on kitchen solutions, I learned a lot about what consumers will be seeing in retail starting this Fall.

Color is Big

What makes a trend? I’m not going to wax philosophically on the meaning of this colorful culinary trend. (“Last year’s black matte trend was indicative of the country’s concern over the grave state of the economy, while the rebirth of color this year shows a return to optimism, a belief in a brighter future.” — Oh look! I just did.) Cambria Bold from The Kitchen

A few years ago, the trend in housewares was very monochromatic, with black and stainless the clear winners. With home architecture and design recently more stark, modern, and minimalistic, kitchenware color and accessories followed suit.

2012 sees the return of the retro and neon color. Orange, green, berry, blue prevailed on the shelves of the booths and made for a vibrant show floor. From accent accessories like mixing bowls from OXO, or the classic Le Creuset launching a new Marseille Blue, color is sure to pop more dramatically in 2012.

Many Chefs in the Kitchen

KitchenAid, Wilton Brands, Robinson Home Product, and Whole Foods sponsored The Cooking Theater at the Housewares Show, which featured a different Chef and cooking demonstration almost every 30 minutes of the 4-day event.

The marrying of brand and Chef is becoming more and more prevalent as Chefs bring credibility and excitement to a product line. Each of these chefs is involved in product development and promotion, aligning their names to the brands in an authentic manner.

The list of Chefs reads like a Who’s Who of the industry today, with Ming Tsai, Curtis Stone, Michael Symon, Chris Cosentino, and Michelle Bernstein to name a few. Each Chef brought their own flavor (no pun intended) to the salivating audience. And each demonstration had a specific brand presenter, like Kyocera Advanced Ceramics for Ming Tsai or Calphalon for Chef Symon or Fagor America for Chef Bernstein.

The Chef demonstrations were not limited to The Cooking Theater. Top Chef contestant Fabio Viviani conducted an enthralling session at Bialetti‘s in-show booth, and Guy Fieri held court at an impressive multi-level booth display at Lifetime Brands.

Kids are in the Kitchen

As families cook together more and more, and the kitchen is the heart of the home, it makes sense that kids are becoming included in the process with products specific for them. Many brands are looking to fill various audience segments with a line that reaches younger cooks. For example, Baby Cakes, makers of cupcakes and cake pop appliances, is looking to build on its success. “The line will have all different kinds of treats. There will be baked treats in different configurations from Baby Cakes, so we can go to market with a brand segmentation story,” says Bill Endres president Select Brands in an interview with HomeWorld Business.

We fell in love with Lifetime Brands’ Kizmos easy-to-use kitchen products that are geared for college kids, although we think they are just as fun for the younger cooks, as well.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Even infants are being catered to with brands like Baby Brezza, making formula and baby food prep a cinch. Product diversification is a key strategy for these brands that want to be able to service the range of ages in the kitchen and appeal to retailers who are looking for product depth from key partners.

With the proliferation of product at the show this year, and the low attendance numbers, standing out to consumers at retail will be a key success factor for any of these brands — colorful or not. Thanks to all who shared their product innovation and marketing thoughts with us at the show. We look forward to following up and to seeing these items come to life on the shelves of our favorite retail stores.

Blu Homes 3-D Configurator

Consumers spend a lot of money when buying a home, so how can brands get into their consideration set right from the beginning of a home build or purchase project?

Deciding about tile, paint color, trim, appliances is way more fun than mortgage rates, water heaters, insulation, and septic. Can companies offering these services get closer to the consumer earlier? They can if they partner with home builders.

Blu Homes Unique Values

Blu Homes designs and builds modular homes with a focus on the environment and healthy, sustainable materials. Their home designs are incredibly modern and chic and not the boxy, boring modular homes of the past.

Their focus on modern living, environment, customization, and design make them a perfect partner for many brands who want to take advantage of the money consumers spend in conjunction with their home purchase.

Blu Homes 3-D Configurator is a Great Asset

Blu launched a 3-D application that allows the user to design homes from various model types. The user selects what they want, and as easily as buying a book online, they buy a home and have it delivered to their property.

The configurator gets as granular as offering 4 different types of kitchens featuring different appliances and brands, depending on the level selected. The inclusion of brands like Sub-Zero, KitchenAid, and Whirlpool is a great tool for matching consumer’s needs with the right kitchen design.

For a niche company, this tool is a real differentiator. It also could be their greatest marketing asset.

Kitchens and Baths Sell Homes

Why stop with offering a variety of refrigerators and dishwashers? We know kitchens and baths sell homes, and consumers spend a lot of time considering those rooms, both pre- and post-purchase.

Getting to a consumer during key buying moments is a key to success.

What if Whole Foods – wholly committed to core values shared with Blu Homes, from sustainable products to healthy living – could deliver a fully stocked pantry and fridge upon move in to a new Blu home? Add a component to the Blu Configurator for various types of food and a budget, and Blu takes care of the rest. Whole Foods may then choose to promote this to their 2.2 million Twitter followers and expose Blu to a larger audience.

Pottery Barn has an entire organic bath line of products. If the Blu user could select a certain color scheme for their bath, could Blu’s tool also suggest matching towels? With 770,000 Facebook fans, Pottery Barn could give Blu greater reach. While, in turn, Pottery Barn could reach an audience of people using the Blu Configurator who are directly in the market for a new bath.

Capitalize on Consumer Spending Patterns

Weddings and new homes or renovations are peak spending stages in consumers’ lives. Could Blu Homes offer Dwell Magazine, a publication all about “At Home in the Modern World” (in which modular homes are often advertised), to all new homebuyers as a welcome gift? Dwell’s advertisers could then benefit from greater reach to a highly targeted market, and the consumer gets a great resource for their home planning.

They wouldn’t have to stop with kitchens and baths. Think Prius, think Energy Star or CFLs, think cloth diapers, but just think.

Even big retailers like Target are trying to determine how to reach customers before they have babies to capitalize on pre-baby spending and build lifetime value.
Read Charles Duhigg’s New York Times article

Aligning brands together who share values and audience is win-win. Blu has a captive audience of people, certainly smaller than that of Whole Foods or Pottery Barn, who are spending a lot of money at a time in their lives when they have a budget for new home items. Getting to a consumer during key buying moments is a key to success.

Something to Think About

Who in your market attracts your consumer before you do, and how can you insert yourself earlier in buying decisions?

Impress.js lit up the Internet in early January. Early adopters and the geekiest of the geeks were sufficiently “impressed” with the creators’ ability to match its competition Prezi, feature-for-feature, and add more. Impress.js is certainly impressive, but is it impressive enough?

HE: SEAN BOICE: TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECT

What is Impress.js?

Full disclosure: we love Prezi, here at Tippingpoint Labs, and use it as our primary presentation tool.

Impress directly targets the linear presentation platform, Prezi, while managing to add a feature or two, like 3D text. Prezi set itself apart from the typical slide bore-fest by creating a linear landscape that allows for close-up zoom, mapping across different buckets of content, and easy image and video embed. Impress’ step forward seems to be both in the addition of some new “neat” nice-to-have’s and also in the fact that it is open source.

The use of the web’s latest and greatest standards, such as HTML5 and CSS3 Transforms, without the need to subscribe to a software-as-a-service platform like Prezi, is a benefit for sure. Impress.js was released as an open-source toolset comprised of a Javascript Library, CSS file, and minimal HTML file  that you can download and implement in your own projects.  The fact Impress.js is open-sourced is likely its coolest feature that Prezi can’t compete with.  Days after Impress.js was released, someone else created a new version implemented with the wildly popular jQuery Javascript framework.

At present, neither version offers much more than Prezi and, in fact, without the streamlined interface Prezi employs, it’s a lot harder for non-developers (i.e., presenters) to really embrace. One thing Impress has proven, however, is that today’s web technologies are going to put more pressure on application developers and service providers to continue to add value to their offerings and not to rest on their laurels.

Is it the tool or the story that makes the presentation?

SHE: REBECCA GARNICK, VICE PRESIDENT

If I understand it correctly, Sean, Impress.js was released as an open-source Javascript library for any web developer to consume, modify, extend, and build upon. It is not necessarily meant to be a tool for presenters to be able to pick up and use today. I still have trouble in Keynote and Prezi, so forget about Impress for me!

If presenters have not become better story tellers … should the focus be on the tool or the way in which we present?

Certainly the utility of Prezi makes it a winner, and I do like how intuitive it is. With no coding experience I could not use Impress without a real tutorial. But, I find myself asking, why are we improving the presentation tool?

If presenters have not become better story tellers, if the amazingly well-done Prezi presentation at a conference is followed up with a 100-page slide show that goes on and on, then should the focus be on the tool or the way in which we present? Can we improve the ability of presenters to read an audience and understand when they drift off? Can we create better stories and perhaps not even rely on a visual to back us up?

I keep thinking about Minority Report and wondering, until we get to this level of presentation style, I may find myself simply sticking with Prezi!

What do you think?

How will Impress evolve and shape the presentation landscape?

D&G Spring 2012 Women's Collection

There are many avowed “lifestyle brands” out there today. Many are also quite exclusive; but in today’s world, are they being too exclusive? Are they missing opportunities to build themselves up into media empires that drive the whole lifestyle?

D&G experiments with music

Dolce and Gabbana recently conducted an exciting experiment with a new outlet: D&G Music. Ostensibly, music, especially dance music, seems like a perfect extension for the brand. It fits their aesthetic and audience to a T. They also had a fabulous concept to drive it together.

They created an album that features 17 remixes of a single song written by brand founder Stefano Gabbana in the late ’90s. In order to promote the music, they created a contest to submit user-generated video to their site, so fans could star in the video. The contest is on their site, but it doesn’t even link out to the rest of the album. Nor, does it mention the connection to Gabbana as musical artist.

It’s a good start, but it could have been so much better.

Rethinking the Dolce and Gabbana Music Strategy

Dolce and Gabbana have a large and diverse marketing universe. Check out their Facebook page for a quick glimpse. They have an incredibly savvy, branded blog called Swide. Nearly everything they have going on feels fresh, urban, and extremely hip. But the D&G music approach felt like a disappointing whimper rather than a roar of effective promotion. Perhaps there is a good reason for this, as they are preparing to close their lower end D&G line of clothes.

Instead of building a home for the clubbing scene and the lifestyle that ties seamlessly with their brand values, they went real small and traditional with their initial splash. So what are some ways they could have proved the concept better?

Weave it into the fabric of the D&G marketing universe

With this album offering, they have the capability to sonically reach out into the clubs where the people who wear their clothes go out dancing.

That club presence alone is an incredibly powerful idea for strengthening their customer loyalty. If I am wearing my D&G out, heck yeah, I am going to get my groove on when those tracks come on. But that sense of loyalty and involvement could also be nurtured online.

It is a smart tactic to seek out user-generated video. But it would have been far more compelling for users if D&G had made more of the story available. They could have incorporated the director and editors of the video into the call to action. Or perhaps they could have had tips from a choreographer. They could have shot video where those creatives explained just what they are looking for in their talent — the fans and consumers.

The promotion only showed up once on their heavily trafficked Facebook page. Why didn’t they make it an ongoing and fun part of the conversation back and forth with their fans, sharing bits and pieces of the story each week. They have lots of fashion oriented videos on their YouTube channel. They could have used the mixes from the album and had clever calls to action at the end of their other videos.

The lesson: synergize all your marketing efforts. Allow your different teams to communicate. Use everything you have to cross-promote everything else to drive greater interest.

Lead with Gabbana the songwriter

It was very hard to find out that the song “D&G is Love” was written by the brand founder. This is a real missed opportunity. I would be much more likely to send in video if I thought the founder of my favorite brand was personally invested in the results.

This could have been a major driver of interest. But instead, it felt like they didn’t even have a strategy for why they were distributing music. Brands need to think like publishers and media producers. Build the story and the content.

The lesson: Figure out the unique value of this promotion and lead with it. Let that value permeate the whole thing. Don’t just make the content, sell it with great storytelling.

Luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana should partner

Dolce & Gabbana has an established vibe. They should be comfortable enough in their own identity to play nicely with other brands who fit their lifestyle. This could be as simple as telling the stories of the DJs who remixed the song.

Partnering isn’t just about sharing resources, it’s about growing your audience. With their unique, high-end, urban feel, they could find partners who reach the same types of people and grow the exposure for their brand and for the music campaign.

To this end of catching more eyeballs, they should consider creating a branded music experience that far exceeds anything their competition is even thinking about. They could be pumping out D&G music videos or branded cinema featuring BMW cars that BMW also has the ability to promote. They could have a specially curated Pandora or Spotify channel that both they and the platforms would cross-promote, giving them an increased reach into the ears of new audiences

They could grow into creating more original music with bands and DJs that have Gabbana’s stamp of approval — similar to what Converse is doing. They could be generating lots of music with amazing artists and then licensing it to partner brands, making a soundtrack for the D&G lifestyle.

The lesson: When you have a great idea, increase exposure by partnering with brands that share your target audience.

Opening up is exclusive

There are a million ways D&G could open up their approach that would paradoxically drive the sense of exclusivity they already own. If you’re going to bother publishing music, think like a entrepreneurial record label and increase your exposure as much as possible. The best way to accomplish this is to borrow the ears of other brands that match and overlap with their lifestyle.

It’s the lifestyle that is exclusive. Brands need to use digital to let their audience feel like they’re invited into the club. But they don’t need to be the only brand at the club. Everybody dance now.

Original intro to Adventures of Superman

An important angle of our brandscaping formula is that brands get maximum exposure by attaching themselves to quality content through underwriting.

This isn’t a new approach. If you haven’t thought about it before, it’s probably because seamless integration hasn’t generated the same kind of attention as interruption advertising enjoyed during the years of media monopoly. That’s about to change, because underwriting works.

It also provides an alternative stream of both revenue and audience for advertisers and publishers (very broadly defined) that meets the demands of the increasingly niche orientation of media.

Underwriting great content is not only a successful business model, it continues to have a lasting impact on our culture.

1. The Grand Ole Opry

Before Gaylord Entertainment owned a vast empire of media properties around the Grand Ole Opry brand, and before TV existed, and before Nashville was Music City USA, the National Life and Accident Insurance company started the WSM radio station. WSM stands for “We Shield Millions,” their slogan at the time.

Thanks to their forward thinking, National Life and Accident Insurance was able to create a platform on which musicians could be heard far and wide. They identified a real need with their audience and, in doing so, essentially created the country music industry.

They paid for the development of significant (now legendary) talent which continues to drive value and culture in Nashville and beyond to this day.

2. Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom

What do you get when a talented zoologist and the CEO of a major insurance company hit it off? You get the invention of nature programming as we know it. Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom ran for 25 consecutive years, from 1963-1988, establishing a coherent voice for nature and conservation.

Mutual of Omaha owns all rights to the show and was able to leverage and re-purpose many episodes over years of syndication. The content brand was so strong that a new version was started up in 2002 and has aired on Animal Planet ever since. They also have created an interactive website to engage their new, younger viewers.

3. Adventures of Superman

We all know the Man of Steel. But things may have been different if not for Kellogg’s. From 1940 to 1951, Kellogg’s was a major sponsor of the Adventures of Superman radio show. They contributed to well over half of the 1300 episodes that aired.

The show faltered in production as it tried to transition to TV but was saved when Kellogg’s agreed to underwrite it.

The TV show ran for 6 years, until 1958, with Kellogg’s prominently displayed in the title credits and otherwise integrated. It was a perfect match of sponsor, talent, and broadcaster with an adoring and captivated audience.

The fractured media landscape may feel like Kryptonite to your marketing goals, but in reality it is the Earth’s yellow sun ready to supercharge your brand with new and exciting opportunities to save the day.

We can help you explore your content underwriting options — whether you have an audience or you’re looking to advertise. Get in touch!

NFC Technology at Retail Image

Near Field Communication (NFC) is the latest in technology for enabling commerce at retail through your cell phone. However, with the dependance on a human interaction at the register, is it a technology that currently saves time or provides the convenience it promises? Also, how robotic are we getting with our in-store customer service, and don’t we still need a human to monitor the transaction anyway?

HE: SEAN BOICE: TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECT

What is NFC?

NFC holds a lot of promise in the hearts and minds of the Geek Elite. If you haven’t heard of NFC, maybe you’ve heard of and even used its predecessor, RFID. If you’ve used a Mobil Speedpass to pay for gas or suffered the always embarrassing blaring security sensors on your way of out a store, then you’re familiar with RFID. Both RFID and NFC allow for a powerless, tiny transmitter to communicate with the merchant for commerce purposes, and NFC chips are currently embedded in the latest and greatest smartphones running Android and are expected to be included in future iPhones, although their omission from the last release has fueled speculation about the technology.

NFC Applications

Google has already developed the most obvious and well-supported use of NFC, the Google Wallet. Google Wallet allows you to link your credit card to your cell phone and complete transactions with your cell phone. It’s expected that soon consumers will be able to utilize NFC for check-ins (foursquare), highway tolls, parking meters, and much more.

Merchant participation and consumer adoption are always the metric of success with these technologies, so, merchants and vendors are forced into a chicken-or-egg puzzle. Fortunately, supporters of NFC are the biggest and boldest industry players in the world, including partnerships with MasterCard, making the adoption rates grow and making the technology very viable.

SHE: REBECCA GARNICK, VICE PRESIDENT

NFC in practice

I agree with you, Sean, that the technology behind NFC and its predecessors is viable. Especially as someone who spent time in a grocery line this weekend waiting as the customer in front of me painstakingly wrote a check. And certainly there are retailer benefits, like lower transaction fees.

However, I worry about its implications in basic human contact and transactions. The NFC technology depends on a human interaction, and as anyone who has tried using SquareUp to pay for a cup of coffee can attest, the hassle may not be worth the time. The merchants who sign on for these programs often forget that they have high retail sales associate turnover — training is secondary — and therefore the benefits of the technology are lost in translation.

Even if the technology works seamlessly in action, I also worry about what this does to make us all feel like a number. Will NFC allow for my Chai Tea Latte to be ordered when I enter my favorite coffee shop, and will it know I like non-fat milk? And do I want that? Or will NFC simply be a payment tool that depends on us consumers thinking it is a huge hassle to pull out our wallets even though we must still carry them for ID purposes?

Until the technology can be applied quickly and can prove beneficial to the user, I wonder about consumer adoption rates, even if merchants are on board. And does this technology reduce staff needed at retail or cut costs for merchants in any way? If not, what is the true benefit?

What do you think?

Have you used a mobile payment tool and, if so, was it a positive experience?

On January 26, I wrote about the importance of great partners when building a campaign or brandscape. I was encouraged to see a group of brands aligned to literally rebuild a community in an authentic manner, while also finding a way to help themselves.

ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover, along with Crate & Barrel, The Land of Nod, and the Red Cross, worked to rebuild the homes of people impacted by the catastrophic tornado that ravaged the town of Joplin, killing approximately 160 people and destroying nearly 8,000 houses back in May 2011. In addition to rebuilding 7 homes in 7 days, the team put in a playground and a memorial, and CVS even donated survival kits should this ever happen again.

Charity and commerce are not mutually exclusive

On the Crate & Barrel website, it is clear that they not only support the Joplin cause and have dedicated quite a few of their pages to the effort, but they also are capitalizing on the commerce aspect of the partnership. Sure, they can donate product to the families in need, but if someone else likes the decorating, why not make it easy to purchase?

It would be great to build a case study about this so that other communities or charities or brands could know what it means to rebuild after devastation and could use this as a learning opportunity.

On the makeover pages, Crate & Barrel has call-outs on their products — click on them and consumers see more detail and pricing for the selected item. This does not mean that their charity efforts are simply to benefit their own top line, but rather shows that they can authentically align charity and commerce.

Big charity feels authentic

One of the reasons the campaign feels altruistic is that a real charity organization is participating. Joplin had started a fundraising site, but certainly it is not going to get the same national exposure as the Red Cross.

Though brands often turn to charities to help promote their own cause for events or promotions, often the alignment does not feel right. Why are there $1000 dinners to raise money for charity — why not just donate that money? I understand the people who can afford the dinner will then pay a lot during auctions and fundraising that night, but still it feels at odds with the mission.

However, in the case of Extreme Home Makeover, the inclusion of the Red Cross feels right. I only wish that if I bought the items highlighted on Crate & Barrel’s website, a portion of the proceeds would also support Joplin. (If it does, I apologize for not seeing that.)

The reveal is more than the makeover

As encouraged as I am to see these complimentary partners working together, I would have loved to better understand the metrics and numbers involved. It would have been great to partner up with IBM (already a Red Cross supporter) to create some compelling stats about the campaign, similar to this and this. 13000 volunteers were needed for the Joplin endeavor. How much money or product was donated by the partners? How much was donated by manpower? How much was raised? How much was needed? It would be great to build a case study about this so that other communities or charities or brands could know what it means to rebuild after devastation and could use this as a learning opportunity.

Is Google being evil?

Google recently announced their new privacy policy stating that when consumers search or enter information on any Google platform — including within their personal Gmail account, YouTube, Google Maps, etc. – it’s captured for their use. This data can now be used outside of any one particular Google property and on a different Google property. This allows Google to personalize the user’s experience.

A great benefit, but at what cost?

HE: SEAN BOICE: TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECT

Google is omnipresent

Google’s updated privacy policy informs the consumer that from now on, the data that Google was already collecting can and will be shared with all other Google properties. Previously, if I received a Gmail email about tomato seeds, I might see an ad within Gmail’s web-interface offering me an online retailer of seeds. This customization and personalization was all on the same Google property and was controlled by those who spent the most on ad words.

I fully expect that eventually I will receive an email about tomato seeds and that same day search for directions to my brother-in-law’s house, only to see a map filled with local Burpee seed dealers — paid for by Burpee.

But now, this information about my apparent interest in tomato seeds will be shared with YouTube, Google.com, Google Maps, etc. From a technology standpoint, I’m surprised it took this long. Consumer information used for targeting online advertisements is Google’s cash-cow, and it just got much, much larger. Google now is really tracking consumer habits, not spending habits, but really our thinking habits! This is a game changer.

SHE: REBECCA GARNICK, VICE PRESIDENT

Data is king

Data has always been the game changer, Sean. Walmart relied heavily on data to make themselves a success and make the brands they carry, who have no POS information, rely on them for information. In fact, Walmart still captures and shares data and recently signed a deal with NPD making that data source even stronger. Is Walmart evil? Is Google doing anything different than Walmart by capturing our search queries?

Almost every major retailer, from grocery chains to investment banks to the U.S. Postal Service, has a “predictive analytics” department devoted to understanding not just consumers’ shopping habits but also their personal habits, so as to more efficiently market to them.
–How Companies Learn Your Secrets

Influencing at the right time in the consumer decision journey

Email is so personal, as is search, and so capturing this information and sharing it across platforms in order to sell ads to brands seems more intrusive to the consumer. However, to brands and advertisers, it is brilliant. One of the toughest marketing codes to crack is who to target and when. If Kohler knew that a consumer was receiving emails about kitchen construction, then it would be obviously beneficial for them to reach that consumer before she is even considering purchasing appliances. To plant the “tomato” seed, so to speak, Sean.

As a consumer, what if the advertising messages you saw each day actually related to your needs that day? What if this invasive data gathering felt like a benefit? We are slammed with so many messages each day and so many are irrelevant. Might be nice to be reminded of what I need to do today by seeing the right advertising. You can edit your Ads Preferences, but I’m not convinced it is as far along as it could be. In the meantime, I wonder if I would pay for Gmail and other properties not to capture my data. How much is it worth?

What does Google think about you?

Sean Boice Google Ad Preferences

Interested to see what Google Search and Gmail’s Ads Targeting system thinks about you? Tell us if they were deadly accurate or woefully misinformed.