Do you believe this brand called “Lend America”? Do you find it insulting how they pretend to be a newscast? In this day of mortgage crisis do you believe a bad credit score is okay?  Have you done a Google search for the phrase “Lend America Scam”? Would you be surprised to learn there are over 51,000 results? http://www.google.com/search?q=lend+america+scam&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLG_en

Your brand identity is everything, don’t blow it.

Brinks. Sorry, Broadview. Why? I know if there’s ever a problem they’ll take care of me. I’m safe.

Same thinking applies to all my shopping. Whenever I’m faced with a decision between two brands I’ll always choose the one that makes me feel the most comfortable. I’ll pay extra for that feeling. A lot of people today say feelings don’t matter. I say that’s a bunch of hogwash. They matter. They matter in each and every purchase.

If you’re not making your customer feel safe with your brand you’ll most likely be second best or at best a commodity. Who wants that? That’s not branding to me.

We all know CNN and MSNBC go way left. Liberals love those stations. They don’t have the guts to come out and say they are liberals either. You do Fox. Just proclaim your rightness and be done with it. You’ll be stronger and more focused.

Brand Identity is everything, don’t run from it. Love it. Be the ball…nah, nah, nah…nah.

Go ahead, tell me your employees will be less productive. Hogwash. They’re doing it anyway from their SmartPhones, iPhones and whoziedoozzies. Soon we will all have chips surgically implanted in our heads and we won’t need a device.

Here’s a great article on the issues, read it:

Access to social media improves productivity. According to Dave Willmer, executive director of Robert Half Technology, “Using social networking sites may divert employees’ attention away from more pressing priorities, so it’s understandable that some companies limit access.” But multiple studies prove exactly the opposite.

Read more here.

Get with the times folks or they will pass you by.

President Obama says: 

“I am both surprised and deeply humbled,” Obama said at the White House. “I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments. But rather as an affirmation of American leadership. … I will accept this award as a call to action.”

I’m sure he is surprised because he in-fact has only made campaign promises. Last time I checked we are still in Iraq (promise of peace not yet kept), Gitmo is still open for business (promise of peace not yet kept) and he’s actually sent more troops to Afghanistan. That is far from peace last time I checked.

The Nobel Committee said it decided to honor Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” What exactly has he done? What peace treaties has he signed? What cooperation between conflicting countries has he repaired? What summits has he been part of that resulted in peace? Does Iran, Iraq, Russia or anyone really think differently of the USA now?  Do they mean just because he won the election? I’m confused?

I’m disappointed that the Nobel Peace Prize is now a political tool rather than an objective achievement of someones life and dedication. To me this is now a big joke, a scam.

Shouldn’t this award gone to someone who has made a real difference and not a smoke and mirrors wish? Wasn’t there someone much more deserving of this award?

The Nobel Peace Prize means nothing. They’ve sold out. Their brand is dead to me.

What do you think? Can someone, anyone win a prize like this based on promises or should actual achievment be the driver?

Ahoy ye scallywags, taday be talken’ lyke a pyrate day. If ye agree say ayeeeee!

Change ye facebook page and posts in ye blowgs. Cash inn ye booty an hide da wenches. It be talken’ lyke a pyrate day!

Tanks ye salty dawgs!

Here’s my 2 cents. The execution of the new logo is fine if you’re just looking to make a change. Personally I wouldn’t do it just for the sake of doing it. But obviously there was some sort of strategy change because they eliminated the word “Farm”. And that’s WHAT I don’t like about it. Farm meant organic to me. It represented all that was good and different. I mean really, how many yogurt/milk choices are you faced with when they stare at you in the face at a grocery store?

To me FARM was the reason I bought Stonyfield. It meant personal touch, small and caring and fresh.

What say you Kahunas?

I happen to like Glenn Beck and I don’t seem to fit into the loon, evangelicals or terrorists categories?

So I wrote a response:

Let’s see in one week Beck got Van Jones to quit (fired) and the Census Bureau to sever ties with Acorn.

Add to that that he has the 2nd highest rated cable tv talk show. His show is so wildly popular with “terrorists” (like myself) that all the other shows on MSNBC and CNN and the like combined don’t add up to his numbers. The last time I checked ratings sort of matter.

But what you a SERIOUSLY MISSING is his awesome brand building. He doesn’t want you, he wants you to write these great articles though. Do you feel that hook in your mouth? That’s Beck reeling you in.

I sit in awe at his positioning which is clearly different than anyone out there. People (liberals) like you are never going to like him. The more you hate him the more his “right-wing loons” will dig in and defend him. So as far as branding goes he clearly eliminates liberals and makes his audience ferociously supportive. Sounds like a good plan to me.

I think you totally have this wrong. He’s not the Dems best friend. He’s their worst nightmare. He’s going to keep reeling in liberals like you who will do his bidding. Feel like a sucker?

I’m a huge fan of Glenn Beck and I certainly don’t always agree with his views. Sometimes he’s just to out there but other times I get a neck injury from shaking my head in agreement. He will play a pivotal role in unseating Obama.

I’m disappointed at the name calling and stereotyping in this article. It’s not your best moment and I’ve been a fan for a while. I think it’s also a good idea to go back to what you do best, it’s just to easy to hit the “UNSUBSCRIBE” from my Google Reader…

His response… I encourage you to unsubscribe

Years of me following and supporting his blog. Writing articles on my blog pointing to his blog. Talking on the phone and in one swift moment it all ended. He lost a fellow branding guy, friend and most of all my respect. It’s not cool to ever call Americans terrorists no matter what your political beliefs. Just throwing the word “terrorist” around so haphazedely is scary. He should apologize to a lot of hard working regular people for his statement. But that’s just my opinion.

I deceided to send him a personal email and clarify the issue and this was his response:

Sorry, Scott. I wrote about Beck’s ability to advocate extreme positions that take his followers out of the realm of real debate, and into the category of ideology and sometimes outright fantasy.  Your response to me only proved my case.  There’s no way to debate with people who can’t debate, but who’d rather make nutjob accusations.

What it comes down to is is strong belief in his own thinking basically means he can’t communicate with people on the other side. Love or hate Glenn Beck, the fact that he can’t rationalize why people do like him is again…scary. 

This is not a you like Glenn Beck debate.

What say you kahunas? Cool, uncool?

General Motors chairman Edward Whitacre Jr. appears in one of the automaker’s new television commercials. (General Motors via Associated Press)

The GM logo and the initials will not appear in the ads, however. Instead, the brands will be the focus, since consumers’ perception of GM is affected by the bankruptcy filing. See the massive brand image problem they have? The refunds are only good for the first two months. Who has problems with their car then? Not many.

I’ll say it again, who cares?

GM just can’t do anything right. I wonder who is giving them their brand advice?

Head and Shoulders is the leader in dandruff shampoo. When I was a kid I used it and it worked great. Eventually I no longer needed it but it was and probably is still one of the best dandruff  shampoo’s out there. Their brand identity is eliminating dandruff.

Now for the brand kiss of death…Head and Shoulders wants you to believe their shampoo is not only good for dandruff….wait for it…but it’s gonna make your hair all soft and pretty like EVERY OTHER shampoo on the market. And they do it with this commercial:

They want you to “rethink Head and Shoulders”. Why? It’s a dandruff shampoo isn’t it? It works on dandruff right? Why muddy the waters and loose your edge? Call me crazy but this is another case of  trying to be everything to everyone. It gets rid of dandruff. Period. Embrace it, use it, own it. Love it, be the ball…nah, nah, nah, nah.

What say you fellow kahunas?

The other day we took guests visiting from St. Thomas on a Boston Duck Tour. We hyped them up for a fun day and a lot of “quacking”. The Boston Duck Tours are known for quacking at pedestrians or other Duck Boats. It’s corny but fun. Even I do it.

The tour started with our driver “Marco the Plumber” who was dressed like one of the Mario Brothers:

Marco seemed like a very nice man and was informative. But we couldn’t have had any less fun. I actually nodded off during the tour. The people behind me actually said and I quote, “we just lost two hours of our lives”.  During the tour another Duck Boat approached us and Marco actually said, “do you want to quack at that boat (he never discussed quacking during the tour so some of the guests looked at him cross eyed)? I was thinking yea, that’s fun…let’s do it. Then Marco said, “I never tell people to quack or not, it’s up to you”.

What? It’s up to me? No Marco it’s not. It’s part of your brand and therefore your brand is only as strong as you, Marco. We should have been instructed on the quacking at the start of the tour, then visitors could have had fun quacking at people walking by. Even pedestrians quacked at the Duck Boat, although we looked at them in confusion.

Marco lacked the qualities of being a Duck Boat tour guide, mainly he was not funny and he repeated the same attractions over and over again. We drove by the Boston Garden twice and he never mentioned it. That’s sort of famous I guess?

I actually apologized to our guests as my wife and I have been on other Duck Boat Tours that have been fun.

Moral of this story? No matter who your weakest link is they need to stay on brand. They need to know and understand the brand. Then they need to deliver on it consistently. Now I’m not bashing Marco, he was a nice man. Maybe he was having a bad day? And I’ve had other tours that were great. But on this day I felt like we just threw away $140 for little to no value.

If you have drivers, delivery people, movers, customer service people…remember these could be the face of your brand and ultimately the weakest link.

We never worked together but became “friends” on Facebook. Shannon is HIS brand, so what your about to read may or may not change how you feel about brand Shannon Briggs (I only have his comments and others that joined the conversation, I was “defriended” after I divulged I was Republican):

“So now Bush is Ancient history? Meanwhile we are still fighting his 2 fabricated wars that’s costing hundreds of millions a day. Meanwhile we are still feeling the affects of his unregulated banking laws which lead to the housing collapse. And the oil prices being sky rocketed at any given time. Or the terror he instilled in the people about 9/11. The Arabs the Muslims! The enemy. The terrorist. Scott I travel the world and most if not all countries laugh and have disgust for America and it’s ignorance. Only now that Obama is in office and this country could elect a black president do they see hope for us. Who’s feeding you this false info on who Obama trust. The dude is trying to fix ole George’s mess. You have no clue or care for what Bush as done to this planet. Twilight Zone. Rod Sterling was an intelligent man.”

“Amazing. None of this was an issue when Bush ran the country in the ground. This has nothing to do with politics it’s fear that a black president means some sort of loss of power. I guess it’s called culture war? LMAO. You guys serious?”

“Scott we got attacked? By Muslims with box cutters that where skilled enough to fly 4 planes around the United States without being detected right? And then we attacked them in Iraq because Saddam was behind it right? And by the way he was stockpiling weapons for them right? And then we attacked their other country Afghanistan because that’s where the leader Bin Laden is right? In the mountains right? Although we can send men into space we can’t get a terrorist in a cave. Right. Wow. This all adds up to you? Does it make any sense to you Scott. Do you not see where you any so many like you are what Rod Sterling made so many episodes about? Fear. Playing into what people fear and using it for profit. This is some sad shit. Rod Sterling may you rest in peace.”

“Get over myself? What is it to get over? Oh the fact that when Bush caused all of this madness and a blackman was elected to step in to try and ‘HELP” he’s being attacked like it’s his fault. I’m actually pissed Obama is president. It’s giving fuel to the Twilight Zone and I hate to see so many “real American” people afraid of losing “their” country. And their taxes go up. LOL. Meanwhile they’re broke as hell and can’t afford healthcare and most get medicare which is socialized medicine. Sheeesh.”

“@ Scott should Bush not have been crucified? Should he not be in prison? People are dead because of him. Innocent people Scott. it was all for big business. I know that doesn’t register and it seems inhumane but that’s the sad case. 9/11, Bin Laden, attacks, Saddam, all set up to create an enemy. Their has to always be an enemy. War is money Scott. So guess what this drummed up fantasy enemy was created so bullets and bombs could be used. If not they stockpile like Saddams right?”

“It’s easy to call me names on here or say rude comments about me being knocked out Scott. In fact it’s the easiest thing you can do on the internet. Talking major shit has become popular. Backing it up has become near extinct. Watch your choice of words. I’ve never posted on your wall nor would I in any disrespectful manner. Once again you’ve proved that being a republican in this day and age is a disease. A bad one. There is nothing to back up anything you say besides ignorance. For you to call yourself a republican proves your clueless. The party of racism, fear and hate. And simple minded easy to trick ass retards.”

At this point another person enters the conversation:

Myron Luzniak also commented on Shannon Briggs’s status:

“With all do respect, Obama isn’t “black”. I love how people forget his caucasian mother Ann Dunham. So the race card doesn’t apply here, since he’s of mixed race. My fiance is a minority, so for anyone to imply that all republicans are racist is plain ignorant. 9/11 was not a conspiracy, and those that think so, are also ignorant. The world has some fanatical people in it, and we were too big for our own good and got caught with our pants down. You may not like Bush’s politics, but he kept us safe for the last 8 years and didn’t go around apologizing for us like our current leader. At least Bush led with conviction and did what he thought was right, and wasn’t on TV every other week selling himself to us like Obama is. Do we have a leader, or a talk show host, or maybe a reality star? We need a president, not a media whore. Have a great weekend all. Cheers!!!”

“Myron. Please never post on my wall again. I said please. And I’m only asking once. Thank you. “

“I’m so not interested in having republicans as fan of friends. Call it what you want but if your political views is that of that party it was nice being associated with you and no disrepect but you more than likely won’t like a super liberal like me. I’m for affirmitive action. I don’t care if gays get married. I love immigrants becuase they have the courage to try and escape to a better life. I hate Bush. I’m not religious. I’m for socialism I you want to call it that. I’m against guns. I’m against war. I’m for free healthcare and for more taxes. And Im getting taxed heavy. I make hundreds an sometimes millions. So go in peace. Defriend my blackass.”

Another new person comments:

Dave Wilcox also commented on Shannon Briggs’s status:

“wow Shannon I respect your opinion but to say you dont like all rebublicans is a bit wierd imo. Have you met them all? Im not even republican but that is the type of thought process that turns into discrimination. I agree about gay marriage and I dont like Bush either, but we need to keep an open mind i would think. I think anyone would agree Bush was a bafoon….Im pretty sure there has been a Democrat or two that did bad things as well. I like to judge people on their actions, not by the color of their jacket. (Red or Blue) with respect..Dave”

“Dave I’m over the birthers the tea baggers the socialist the facist all of the bullshit. It all inciting a riot. And calling on the death of the president. Bringing guns to speeches it’s all asking for the asassination of the president. Me as an African american that has risen from poverty I see this as an attack on a man of color who is only trying to help. And this is the thanks he gets. Bush was an oil man. Look at what he did. He invades Iraq for oil. Sarah Palin quit so she could make money. The party is Wack. I don’t need them. And they don’t need me. I know quite a few resumplicans and they have to common sense nor compassion. “

The moral of this story? In today’s digital world be careful how you use your words in social media because it may affect your personal brand. I’m guessing right now some people may be offended? What say you kahunas?

You go the doctors and find out you need surgery. Once there do you instruct the surgeon on what size scalpel to use? How to make the cuts? How to stitch you up properly?

Let’s take it down a bit. You go out to dinner with your family. Do you order then head back to the kitchen and help the chef prepare your meal? Do you tell him what spices he should use? How much garlic should go in?

Then why the heck do our customers in our industry do this to us? When did they become “design” experts. When did they become “font” experts. “Oh, that blue is too dark, let’s go with grey”. WTF!

Here’s a tip to anyone working with a creative agency. You don’t know what you’re talking about, that’s why you hired them. You’re not and will never be experienced enough to know the answers, that’s why you hired them. Let them do what you hired them to do and shut your pie hole. And if you need further clarification watch this very funny video:

Rant over.

Doctors are complaining that the negative reviews are hurting their image and apparently they think that there are only a small percentage of people that complain. They are now learning what we have known for 20 years. And here it is, provide great service and someone might tell 10 people, screw up and they tell 100.

Welcome to the real world Docs!

That entire spot is one huge advertisement for Fios. Does anyone really think that Fios is like that? We know Comcast is like that:

Comcast, instead of wasting time and money on Fios why not spend that time and money making yourself better? Providing great service? Not making customers wait 40 minutes on hold? Things like that? Just sayin’.

GM is coming out with their Volt EREV soon. You’ve all seen the horrible advertising over and over again:

I was reminded by this when my friend Mr. Baskin blogged about it here. He brings up some really great points. But here’s my beef with “going green”…

It’s unaffordable and makes no financial sense. Period.

The cost of this car is $40,000. The car is rumored to get 230 miles a gallon. So what’s the payback period for this car?

Let’s say my current car (a Mini Cooper) gets 30mpg. If I drive 20,000 miles a year at a rate of $2.60/gallon my cost would be $1733 a year in gas.

The same math for the Volt gets me spending only $226 per year for a yearly savings of $1507.

The Volt is $20,000 more than my really sporty, fun, hip Mini. The Volt contains none of those adjectives.

The payback period to ride in this bland car will be 13 years. Please someone correct my math, I really suck at math.

And there’s the rub with all “green” cars. They jack the price up so much that it’s just not worth it. Sure you’ll have your really earthy crunchy people who will buy it but these are the same people that bought the Yugo!

Americans have proven time and time again that small cars that get great gas mileage is a small niche. Ever wonder why there are so many SUV’s?

What say you kahunas? Are you racing out to drop $40K?

RadioShack has been out of touch with consumers for about 15 years. I just recently visited a store, one of their flagships in Braintree Massachusetts. They’ve remolded but nothing has changed. Except their name…sort of.

In an obvious effort to become more relevant they’ve dropped the “Radio” from their advertising and communications but left the name “RadioShack“. I can already see the board meeting that took place.

Some smooth talking, wanna be hip CMO says hey, we need to get rid of radio in our name because no one uses radios anymore. Then the President says, but what about all the brand equity we have in the name? The CMO wobbles and says how about we keep the name but call ourselves something hip, like The Shack. Presto, case solved. Brilliant.

No guts no glory folks. First off I’m pretty sure any brand equity RadioShack had is long gone now. So changing the name to The Shack would have been a better move. But just changing a name really doesn’t mean anything. What is RadioShack’s brand identity? What makes them better and different than say Best Buy? How does RadioShack stand out? The answer is they don’t.

So the half assed attempt to look cool really isn’t going to work. Soon they will fade off into oblivion, like Circuit City.