It’s damn hot down here in the South.
So hot that nearly all the folks I know spend their days and evening under the fans and soothing air conditioning.
The baseball fields are still. The bandstands are empty. The ponds barely post a ripple.
The stage is set for the explosion of sound and light with the July 4th fireworks!
USA Today ran a story this past week about the cable nets.
Here is the lead-in of the article…
“Chefs on the sci-fi channel SyFy? Cars and comics on the History Channel? A show about people with obsessive-compulsive disorder on VH1? Boxer Mike Tyson on Animal Planet?”
The lead-in then follows with this statement…
“Your TV isn’t out of whack, but your cable channel might be.”
In many ways what is taking place doesn’t surprise me.
The article posts a sub-head that reads “Formats are blurring in push for viewers.”
No question that the economy is one of the factors driving the quest.
As ad dollars decline, the nets scrape for whatever remains at the bottom of the barrel like a pack of dogs fighting for the bone.
But the economy is not the only driver.
Bring to the table the impact of online and mobile options, cable network lifescycles, next generation management and the original innovators now replaced by the MBAs.
And its not just the cable nets that deserve the limelight.
I am writing this blob at a Starbucks. Remember when Starbucks declared the ownership of the “Third Place?”
Today that “kitchen table” has been replaced by breakfast sandwiches designed to sway me from McDonald’s and instant coffee packs sold in supermarkets to sway me from Folgers.
Back about eight years ago, I leased an Infiniti FX mini-SUV that sported a completely new auto style and design.
Today when I drive up next to what looks like my old Infiniti, I see brand names like Ford, GM, Mercedes, Toyota and Kia.
And then when I get home I see TV ads for those same brands all declaring their new, novel and break-through new look and design.
Then there’s the new 4G iPhone that really isn’t any more “Mac innovative” than the 3G, but shoot, they have to compete against the 4G Google Phone.
Its like the post-innovative technology CEOs are now overdosing on Viagra.
I can go on with stories about banks all clamoring around service and hospitals all claiming the position of “we care.”
But I won’t.
Maybe it’s the Maslow pyramid hierarchy at work.
Maybe it’s about brands that have not just hit market maturity, but are now on the decline fostered further by the economy.
Out with the brand vision.
In with shedding the brand clothes and scrapping up whatever crumbs fall in the mud below.
Whatever happened to taking the risk to be brand innovative? Whatever happened to the brand platforms? Whatever happened to the brand stewards?
This past week I was again labeled as the proverbial optimist.
As much as it’s damn hot outside, I know that it will not remain still for long.
When the thunder rumbles, my heart beats faster.
A couple of weeks ago, Fine Living became The Cooking Channel, a network crafted specifically around the passion of the kitchen…not restaurants, not how food brands are made, not eating weird foods and not about travel.
When I served as the brand steward of Cartoon Network, we took a firm stand that no live programming could air on the network. Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast pushed the bar, but Space Ghost and his “studio” remained in the cartoon setting.
While MTV is airing movies and Travel Channel is airing game shows, Cartoon Network remains all cartoons.
There is hope.
When brands reach market maturity they will either Innovate again with what some may label as hierarchy or they will go out of business.
Entrepreneurs are crafting new ways to do business without the overhead of the corporations.
YouTube is now posting 2 billion views per day. Gee, wonder if those cable nets want to be YouTube?
As the cable nets elect to blur their brand lines, they may be surprised when they find themselves in the very seats that CBS, NBS and ABC sat in not that long ago.
Trust me. Get ready for the storms.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Home Grown Commerce Is Fueling Growth!
Tomorrow night is class #2.
The class is Introduction to Entrepreneurship
We are going to be discussing how to assess the marketplace, consumers and competition.
In my presentation of the course curriculum, I told the students that information access today is virtual. There is no excuse for not knowing something. The answer is accessible as quickly as you can Google it.
There were seven students in class #1…received an Email telling me that four more students have since signed up.
I have taught other marketing classes, but this class is different.
It is not about my making a difference.
I am moved by their making a difference.
The youngest attending is age 16 and the oldest is a “frontline Baby Boomer.”
It is about half men and half women.
They are basically all from the same town.
A small town.
According to the just released 2010 US Census estimates, the town has a population of 6,298 people.
This is the largest town in its corresponding county.
The city’s Downtown Development Authority is sponsoring the class.
The reason they are sponsoring it?
To build business. To grow their economy. To build a sense of local pride.
Trust me.
I have sat on a number of state and large city economic development and chamber of commerce groups.
Did they ever do something like this?
No.
Now they had their business leadership and mentoring programs. A number had their links to Junior Achievement. And a few put together internship programs for the local university and business school.
But did they actually help to underwrite a class on Entrepreneurship, promote it and host it?
No.
In a time when Big Business and Big Government cozy up together, the idea of a small town taking time, energy and money and fueling local Entrepreneurs is not only innovative…its cool!
The name of the town doing this is Commerce, Georgia.
No joke.
Not New York, not Washington, not Chicago, LA or the ATL… but Commerce.
How much cooler can a name of a town get?
If you are reading this…be encouraged.
The economy will improve. Business will improve. Sales will start growing again.
Maybe I am too much of an optimist.
But when I see small towns and local businesses coming together to get local people to think way outside the box, innovate beyond conventional funding routes and take risks that are way beyond the safety zone…it motivates me.
The corporations cannot change and the universities cannot educate fast enough and affordable enough.
I worked today even though it is a Holiday.
Stop the fixation on Wall Street and Washington…
Instead focus on home-grown Commerce!
The class is Introduction to Entrepreneurship
We are going to be discussing how to assess the marketplace, consumers and competition.
In my presentation of the course curriculum, I told the students that information access today is virtual. There is no excuse for not knowing something. The answer is accessible as quickly as you can Google it.
There were seven students in class #1…received an Email telling me that four more students have since signed up.
I have taught other marketing classes, but this class is different.
It is not about my making a difference.
I am moved by their making a difference.
The youngest attending is age 16 and the oldest is a “frontline Baby Boomer.”
It is about half men and half women.
They are basically all from the same town.
A small town.
According to the just released 2010 US Census estimates, the town has a population of 6,298 people.
This is the largest town in its corresponding county.
The city’s Downtown Development Authority is sponsoring the class.
The reason they are sponsoring it?
To build business. To grow their economy. To build a sense of local pride.
Trust me.
I have sat on a number of state and large city economic development and chamber of commerce groups.
Did they ever do something like this?
No.
Now they had their business leadership and mentoring programs. A number had their links to Junior Achievement. And a few put together internship programs for the local university and business school.
But did they actually help to underwrite a class on Entrepreneurship, promote it and host it?
No.
In a time when Big Business and Big Government cozy up together, the idea of a small town taking time, energy and money and fueling local Entrepreneurs is not only innovative…its cool!
The name of the town doing this is Commerce, Georgia.
No joke.
Not New York, not Washington, not Chicago, LA or the ATL… but Commerce.
How much cooler can a name of a town get?
If you are reading this…be encouraged.
The economy will improve. Business will improve. Sales will start growing again.
Maybe I am too much of an optimist.
But when I see small towns and local businesses coming together to get local people to think way outside the box, innovate beyond conventional funding routes and take risks that are way beyond the safety zone…it motivates me.
The corporations cannot change and the universities cannot educate fast enough and affordable enough.
I worked today even though it is a Holiday.
Stop the fixation on Wall Street and Washington…
Instead focus on home-grown Commerce!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Emotions Versus Attributes? I Think They Got It!
Okay.
I have blogged about this company in the past.
A lot.
Most about their service deliverable breakdowns. Some about the lack of a positive brand experience.
Maybe its because I am an ATT customer.
But... their new ATT Wireless commercials are at least a new piece of evidence that even the big corporations can experience brand redemption!
ATT Wireless, formerly Cingular Wireless, seemed to have overdosed on the attributes of their service offering.
If it wasn’t the price deals of their roll-over minutes (remember those chips?), it was the geography of their coverage or even worse yet, the strength of the signal reflected in the rising bars of the old Cingular wireless logo!
Tonight I saw one of their commercials for the third time.
It’s the one where it opens with an American president being sworn into office and back tracks all the way to a guy seeing a girl in a New York City subway station and knows he is destined to getting on the train to sit next to her.
Its not until near to the end of the spot that you see the guy take out his mobile phone and use an app to get his subway ticket.
And to be honest, you never see the phone again.
There is no mention of the ATT coverage zones. No mention of the brand of phone the guy uses. No mention of price. No mentions really of ATT until you see the logo at the end of the spot.
Instead the spot captures the emotions of connection! And how those connection points are part of the architecture of our life.
I cannot say any of my thoughts next are actually what took place, but I might put a fifty dollar bill on the betting table that I am not too far off.
When ATT took over Cingular and changed over the brand…those guys up in the corporate office probably got the same affect with those bars as they did with Viagra!
And if they could get the surge in the bars…well they had to take on Verizon (who did those guys just think they were!) and their coverage claims.
Then, similar to Dexter of Cartoon Network's first original program, Dexter’s Lab, the cool things those gadgets could do was a rage come true!
All the while, on the agency front, there must have been a fair share of smart account planners out there saying enough with the attributes, we need to tap into the emotional deliverables of the brand experience.
And it’s a risk…a BIG risk for those agency CEOs to sit down with the ATT CMO and say that those attributes are nice…but they are not cementing a loyalty to the AT&T brand that rises above rational thought.
I can hear the CMO now… “What?”
But after the whole fiasco with the Verizon challenge that ATT CEO probably put it simply when he called the CMO into his office… “Re-energize that brand or you will be working somewhere else!”
Isn’t it interesting how crisis can elevate change!
Whatever actually happened may remain behind closed doors, but for right now, those new ATT ads are great examples of marketing the experience and not the mechanics of the product.
I also saw a television commercial over the weekend for a past home décor client of mine.
When we first delivered their brand architecture, they actually fired us.
No joke.
They thought we were nuts.
Since then, they have internalized what we recommended and it has become the architecture of their entire brand and all of the components of its delivery.
If you watch HGTV or read Elle Decor, you have probably seen it.. "Shaw. Where Great Floors Begin!"
Over the next few weeks I have some great meetings with some top CEOs.
ATT is actually a brand I intend to talk about… positively!
I have blogged about this company in the past.
A lot.
Most about their service deliverable breakdowns. Some about the lack of a positive brand experience.
Maybe its because I am an ATT customer.
But... their new ATT Wireless commercials are at least a new piece of evidence that even the big corporations can experience brand redemption!
ATT Wireless, formerly Cingular Wireless, seemed to have overdosed on the attributes of their service offering.
If it wasn’t the price deals of their roll-over minutes (remember those chips?), it was the geography of their coverage or even worse yet, the strength of the signal reflected in the rising bars of the old Cingular wireless logo!
Tonight I saw one of their commercials for the third time.
It’s the one where it opens with an American president being sworn into office and back tracks all the way to a guy seeing a girl in a New York City subway station and knows he is destined to getting on the train to sit next to her.
Its not until near to the end of the spot that you see the guy take out his mobile phone and use an app to get his subway ticket.
And to be honest, you never see the phone again.
There is no mention of the ATT coverage zones. No mention of the brand of phone the guy uses. No mention of price. No mentions really of ATT until you see the logo at the end of the spot.
Instead the spot captures the emotions of connection! And how those connection points are part of the architecture of our life.
I cannot say any of my thoughts next are actually what took place, but I might put a fifty dollar bill on the betting table that I am not too far off.
When ATT took over Cingular and changed over the brand…those guys up in the corporate office probably got the same affect with those bars as they did with Viagra!
And if they could get the surge in the bars…well they had to take on Verizon (who did those guys just think they were!) and their coverage claims.
Then, similar to Dexter of Cartoon Network's first original program, Dexter’s Lab, the cool things those gadgets could do was a rage come true!
All the while, on the agency front, there must have been a fair share of smart account planners out there saying enough with the attributes, we need to tap into the emotional deliverables of the brand experience.
And it’s a risk…a BIG risk for those agency CEOs to sit down with the ATT CMO and say that those attributes are nice…but they are not cementing a loyalty to the AT&T brand that rises above rational thought.
I can hear the CMO now… “What?”
But after the whole fiasco with the Verizon challenge that ATT CEO probably put it simply when he called the CMO into his office… “Re-energize that brand or you will be working somewhere else!”
Isn’t it interesting how crisis can elevate change!
Whatever actually happened may remain behind closed doors, but for right now, those new ATT ads are great examples of marketing the experience and not the mechanics of the product.
I also saw a television commercial over the weekend for a past home décor client of mine.
When we first delivered their brand architecture, they actually fired us.
No joke.
They thought we were nuts.
Since then, they have internalized what we recommended and it has become the architecture of their entire brand and all of the components of its delivery.
If you watch HGTV or read Elle Decor, you have probably seen it.. "Shaw. Where Great Floors Begin!"
Over the next few weeks I have some great meetings with some top CEOs.
ATT is actually a brand I intend to talk about… positively!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Surge Of The Millennial Entrepreneur!
Some say that 2010 will be a watershed year.
I agree.
There are some profound changes happening in 2010.
For example, in 2010, a population shift is taking place in which for the first time ever in American history, families…households with kids…will represent less than 25% of the population!
Other changes are less dramatic in the numbers, but equally dramatic in their impact on the marketplace.
I got a chance to witness one of those changes first-hand.
This past week, I met with a young entrepreneur. Actually…a Millennial Generation entrepreneur to be more precise!
Rebecca is a young woman in her late 20s who I met at a local small business group event. The evening of the event was her first time coming to a business group meeting…of any kind.
Rebecca graduated from college with a degree in non-profit organizational management. She is passionate about cause-related groups – some eco-environmental…others advocacy and outreach…nearly all idealistic and change-oriented.
No question that Rebecca is a Millennial.
As passionate as Rebecca is about her cause missions…she is also beginning to come to grips with realism of earning a living, sinking down some roots and keeping the cabinets filled with food and drink.
While Rebecca has explored some job opportunities, she quickly has reached the conclusion that there are limited openings out there…especially in areas of personal interest.
As a result, Rebecca has elected to start up her own business…a personal holistic wellness management advisory practice that she can also balance with her being part of a grass-roots indy music group.
She met with me over a cup of coffee because she learned that I teach entrepreneurship and wanted to find out more about how to get her business up and running.
Rebecca asked some great questions, took extensive notes and later requested a copy of a business plan outline.
Rebecca is passionate about her causes and groups… she is also passionate about making her business a success.
In 2010, the vast majority… like over 80% of Millennials will be out of school and firmly anchored in the workplace. Many of them will have experienced the harsh realities of business and the economy.
The Millennials are the most college-educated generation to date and the most entrenched in online and mobile interaction and networking.
More and more of the Millennials will be doing just what Rebecca is doing in starting up new businesses and introducing new passionate brands.
In addition to running BrandVenture, I also serve as an adjunct college professor.
I teach the students in my classes that the “build it-buy it” philosophy of business is dead and I receive little to any question or debate.
There are nearly as many Millennials as there are Boomers. The current president of the United States got elected into power thanks to the Millennials.
Innovation and change is what is going to move the economy forward.
The Millennials will be the fuel and drive behind it.
I agree that 2010 will be a watershed year.
If change is stressing you out… you might Google Rebecca and I bet she can help!
I agree.
There are some profound changes happening in 2010.
For example, in 2010, a population shift is taking place in which for the first time ever in American history, families…households with kids…will represent less than 25% of the population!
Other changes are less dramatic in the numbers, but equally dramatic in their impact on the marketplace.
I got a chance to witness one of those changes first-hand.
This past week, I met with a young entrepreneur. Actually…a Millennial Generation entrepreneur to be more precise!
Rebecca is a young woman in her late 20s who I met at a local small business group event. The evening of the event was her first time coming to a business group meeting…of any kind.
Rebecca graduated from college with a degree in non-profit organizational management. She is passionate about cause-related groups – some eco-environmental…others advocacy and outreach…nearly all idealistic and change-oriented.
No question that Rebecca is a Millennial.
As passionate as Rebecca is about her cause missions…she is also beginning to come to grips with realism of earning a living, sinking down some roots and keeping the cabinets filled with food and drink.
While Rebecca has explored some job opportunities, she quickly has reached the conclusion that there are limited openings out there…especially in areas of personal interest.
As a result, Rebecca has elected to start up her own business…a personal holistic wellness management advisory practice that she can also balance with her being part of a grass-roots indy music group.
She met with me over a cup of coffee because she learned that I teach entrepreneurship and wanted to find out more about how to get her business up and running.
Rebecca asked some great questions, took extensive notes and later requested a copy of a business plan outline.
Rebecca is passionate about her causes and groups… she is also passionate about making her business a success.
In 2010, the vast majority… like over 80% of Millennials will be out of school and firmly anchored in the workplace. Many of them will have experienced the harsh realities of business and the economy.
The Millennials are the most college-educated generation to date and the most entrenched in online and mobile interaction and networking.
More and more of the Millennials will be doing just what Rebecca is doing in starting up new businesses and introducing new passionate brands.
In addition to running BrandVenture, I also serve as an adjunct college professor.
I teach the students in my classes that the “build it-buy it” philosophy of business is dead and I receive little to any question or debate.
There are nearly as many Millennials as there are Boomers. The current president of the United States got elected into power thanks to the Millennials.
Innovation and change is what is going to move the economy forward.
The Millennials will be the fuel and drive behind it.
I agree that 2010 will be a watershed year.
If change is stressing you out… you might Google Rebecca and I bet she can help!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Stripping Naked For All The World To See!
I met with the interactive team of one of the regional newspapers last week.
Their person heading up sales said that most of the companies they call on have already spent their budget on another medium.
And you know what that medium is?
Outdoor billboards.
I am not kidding. Outdoor billboards.
I hear that the billboard companies are cutting some great deals. I hear from businesses we meet with that they are really trying to justify their advertising dollars.
Seeing your advertising on a big board that you drive by several times a day probably reinforces that CMO who wonders every day if they are the next in line to be cut.
Outdoor billboards are not a bad medium.
Many advertisers can target them right in the heart and the daily driving course of their “rifle-defined” audience groups.
However, to this day, there are few marketers, designers and advertising agencies that understand the mechanical requirements of a billboard.
Sometimes if I am stopped at a red light and there is a billboard in front of me and I get a chance to see it up close and look at it longer that just a few seconds, I will finally get a chance to read what it says and see the nice pretty design.
One of our past clients that spent a good share of money with us is running a billboard campaign right now.
(I have to quickly say that we are not their ad agency nor are any of the ad agencies with whom we partner!)
It features a balloon in the shape of a heart and our client’s brand name is listed right on the center of the balloon. There is a three-word headline (they get credit for keeping it limited to three words!) and then an entire sentence of copy underneath.
It looks nice up close. Like when you are smack on top of it at a red light stopped.
Any time you are further back or driving past it, you cannot read the name of the client nor read the copy line.
And I promise that I am not making this assessment after a few happy hour drinks!
They are not alone.
Billboard after billboard after billboard is designed to look nice with whole sentences. Others have not one, but several pictures.
So many billboards look like newspaper ads when the paper is right in front of a person and they have some time to read the copy.
I remember one of my college professors saying in class that all that belongs on a billboard are five words or less.
That’s it.
When I think back on billboards I remember, I quickly remember the “got milk?” boards developed by Goody Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993 and later licensed for use by milk processors and dairy farmers.
My college professor would have given the agency an A+ on that project.
Since then, I would wager to bet more than 1,000 different companies and brands have pirated the idea and used it for their advertising.
One of the first account supervisors I worked with understood outdoor advertising.
Before we could take any outdoor ad layouts to the client, we had to take the layout boards and walk across the room, tape them to the wall and then walk back and see if we could read what was on the design board.
If we couldn’t, the layouts were sent right back to the creatives to re-layout and the copywriters to edit down.
BrandVenture is neither an ad agency nor a design firm. However, we do have to deal with top management teams that will quickly conclude that marketing really does not work…and worse yet, they have to do another agency review to find a shop that “gets it.”
A month ago I wrote about how so many companies are building their cocoons to dwell among others that (God Forbid) rock the boat, challenge the strategy and try to do anything innovative with the brand.
What I write about in this blog-logue is actually an extension of the same desire to tell it all in the nicest, prettiest way.
Shoot. And saying that all that belongs on a billboard are five words or less is like stripping naked and holding up the brand for all the world to see.
My oh my… that’s risky isn’t it?
Psst… spending all those marketing dollars on those nice designed, copy intensive, pretty billboards and tracking their returns may be actually be much more risky than you think!
Their person heading up sales said that most of the companies they call on have already spent their budget on another medium.
And you know what that medium is?
Outdoor billboards.
I am not kidding. Outdoor billboards.
I hear that the billboard companies are cutting some great deals. I hear from businesses we meet with that they are really trying to justify their advertising dollars.
Seeing your advertising on a big board that you drive by several times a day probably reinforces that CMO who wonders every day if they are the next in line to be cut.
Outdoor billboards are not a bad medium.
Many advertisers can target them right in the heart and the daily driving course of their “rifle-defined” audience groups.
However, to this day, there are few marketers, designers and advertising agencies that understand the mechanical requirements of a billboard.
Sometimes if I am stopped at a red light and there is a billboard in front of me and I get a chance to see it up close and look at it longer that just a few seconds, I will finally get a chance to read what it says and see the nice pretty design.
One of our past clients that spent a good share of money with us is running a billboard campaign right now.
(I have to quickly say that we are not their ad agency nor are any of the ad agencies with whom we partner!)
It features a balloon in the shape of a heart and our client’s brand name is listed right on the center of the balloon. There is a three-word headline (they get credit for keeping it limited to three words!) and then an entire sentence of copy underneath.
It looks nice up close. Like when you are smack on top of it at a red light stopped.
Any time you are further back or driving past it, you cannot read the name of the client nor read the copy line.
And I promise that I am not making this assessment after a few happy hour drinks!
They are not alone.
Billboard after billboard after billboard is designed to look nice with whole sentences. Others have not one, but several pictures.
So many billboards look like newspaper ads when the paper is right in front of a person and they have some time to read the copy.
I remember one of my college professors saying in class that all that belongs on a billboard are five words or less.
That’s it.
When I think back on billboards I remember, I quickly remember the “got milk?” boards developed by Goody Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993 and later licensed for use by milk processors and dairy farmers.
My college professor would have given the agency an A+ on that project.
Since then, I would wager to bet more than 1,000 different companies and brands have pirated the idea and used it for their advertising.
One of the first account supervisors I worked with understood outdoor advertising.
Before we could take any outdoor ad layouts to the client, we had to take the layout boards and walk across the room, tape them to the wall and then walk back and see if we could read what was on the design board.
If we couldn’t, the layouts were sent right back to the creatives to re-layout and the copywriters to edit down.
BrandVenture is neither an ad agency nor a design firm. However, we do have to deal with top management teams that will quickly conclude that marketing really does not work…and worse yet, they have to do another agency review to find a shop that “gets it.”
A month ago I wrote about how so many companies are building their cocoons to dwell among others that (God Forbid) rock the boat, challenge the strategy and try to do anything innovative with the brand.
What I write about in this blog-logue is actually an extension of the same desire to tell it all in the nicest, prettiest way.
Shoot. And saying that all that belongs on a billboard are five words or less is like stripping naked and holding up the brand for all the world to see.
My oh my… that’s risky isn’t it?
Psst… spending all those marketing dollars on those nice designed, copy intensive, pretty billboards and tracking their returns may be actually be much more risky than you think!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The Myth Of Cocooning And Throwing The Spear!
How many people know the answer to this question…
How does the story end that features the caterpillar, the cocoon and the butterfly?
Oh, I already know what many of you said. That caterpillar goes and spins a cocoon, hibernates and emerges as a beautiful butterfly.
Am I right?
I’ll admit that some of those butterflies do ultimately emerge out of those cocoons, but not all of them do… and in a moment, I will share with you the rest of the story.
But first, why am I talking about caterpillars and cocoons on a blog about building brand strategy to achieve brand success?
Last year was not a nice year for anyone in business. Market categories shrank, companies went out of business and lots of folks lost jobs.
And the loss of jobs took place out their on the “assembly line” as well as “up there in the office tower.”
Shoot, even if you survived the cuts, you still can’t sleep because you wonder if you are the next in line!
Well here we are 30 days into the year 2010 and what is taking place is becoming more and more common and amplified.
Those that survived the cuts and those that made them are all cocooning!
The walls around the business are getting higher and higher and thicker and thicker. Any thoughts or ideas that might be considered new, novel and different are scorned.
Sources outside of the organization and their historical alignments are considered too high risk.
The ads that are running feature headlines and bullet points that reinforce who the company is, not translate their product or service offering into what it means to you.
There is no question what those CEOs are preaching… It’s the time now to cocoon.
What’s the rest of the story?
It is true the caterpillars that survive cocooning do emerge as charming butterflies. They have glowing wings and they fly and flutter adding color to the landscape.
But… nearly all die in just a few days. That’s right. Dead.
This past week I highlighted examples of television ads that moved beyond communicating rational benefits and embraced the emotional chords of the brand relationship in one of my class lectures.
One of those spots was the Apple Mac ad that ran only once during the broadcast of the 1984 Super Bowl.
The business climate leading up to the year 1984 wasn’t dramatically different than the business climate today.
During that recession, many companies were cocooning, shielding themselves from change and paying homage to the past mantras of the brands.
The star of that ad was a person brave enough to throw a spear right into the heart of the cocoon.
And when she did, there was a tsunami wave of innovation that tore down the walls of protective conventional thought.
Whether you use an Apple computer or not, you cannot deny the fact that Apple has changed the history of how we all communicate, process information and access entertainment.
The Apple ad illustrates what needs to happen today with companies both large and small.
I’m brave enough to throw the spear…anyone want to join me?
How does the story end that features the caterpillar, the cocoon and the butterfly?
Oh, I already know what many of you said. That caterpillar goes and spins a cocoon, hibernates and emerges as a beautiful butterfly.
Am I right?
I’ll admit that some of those butterflies do ultimately emerge out of those cocoons, but not all of them do… and in a moment, I will share with you the rest of the story.
But first, why am I talking about caterpillars and cocoons on a blog about building brand strategy to achieve brand success?
Last year was not a nice year for anyone in business. Market categories shrank, companies went out of business and lots of folks lost jobs.
And the loss of jobs took place out their on the “assembly line” as well as “up there in the office tower.”
Shoot, even if you survived the cuts, you still can’t sleep because you wonder if you are the next in line!
Well here we are 30 days into the year 2010 and what is taking place is becoming more and more common and amplified.
Those that survived the cuts and those that made them are all cocooning!
The walls around the business are getting higher and higher and thicker and thicker. Any thoughts or ideas that might be considered new, novel and different are scorned.
Sources outside of the organization and their historical alignments are considered too high risk.
The ads that are running feature headlines and bullet points that reinforce who the company is, not translate their product or service offering into what it means to you.
There is no question what those CEOs are preaching… It’s the time now to cocoon.
What’s the rest of the story?
It is true the caterpillars that survive cocooning do emerge as charming butterflies. They have glowing wings and they fly and flutter adding color to the landscape.
But… nearly all die in just a few days. That’s right. Dead.
This past week I highlighted examples of television ads that moved beyond communicating rational benefits and embraced the emotional chords of the brand relationship in one of my class lectures.
One of those spots was the Apple Mac ad that ran only once during the broadcast of the 1984 Super Bowl.
The business climate leading up to the year 1984 wasn’t dramatically different than the business climate today.
During that recession, many companies were cocooning, shielding themselves from change and paying homage to the past mantras of the brands.
The star of that ad was a person brave enough to throw a spear right into the heart of the cocoon.
And when she did, there was a tsunami wave of innovation that tore down the walls of protective conventional thought.
Whether you use an Apple computer or not, you cannot deny the fact that Apple has changed the history of how we all communicate, process information and access entertainment.
The Apple ad illustrates what needs to happen today with companies both large and small.
I’m brave enough to throw the spear…anyone want to join me?
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Out With The New York Designers And In With Main Street Millennials
When I read it, I was shocked. Even depressed.
Metropolitan Home Magazine closed up shop.
The announcement appeared in the editor’s page of Elle Décor Magazine. Metropolitan Home and Elle Décor are both published by Hachette Filipacchi Media US.
Metropolitan Home premièred 28 years ago just about the same time I got out of college and moved into my first apartment. Just about then, a good number of my fellow Baby Boomers were purchasing their first houses.
The closing of Metropolitan Home is not a simple stand-alone.
The editor of Elle Décor cited the bigger picture of the change.
As Margaret Russell, the editor-in-chief, commented, “Truth be told, I too sorely miss House & Garden, Domino, Southern Accents and Cottage Living – as does anyone who is passionate about interiors and design.”
Add to that list Country Home, O At Home (Oprah), Home, Gourmet and Hallmark magazines.
All closed those doors and stopped the press in 2009!
While the economy and the growth of Web publishing has a lot to do with the doors closing, there is indeed a bigger factor impacting housing as we know it.
It can all be summed up in one word… Millennials!
Sure, aging Boomers are more focused today on saving whatever is left of their retirement funds. Gen Xers are more focused on cocooning with the kids and getting those kids off to college.
But, it is the Millennials that now are driving the housing market.
If you have your doubts… go look at the stats of just what segment of the housing market is showing some positive growth...houses in the $150k-$200K ranges.
Furthermore, go tune into HGTV starting at 8:00pm and watch My First Place and Property Virgins that now dominates Prime Time. And by the way, those Millennials are also representing a growing share of the folks on House Hunters.
Dwell Magazine and ReadyMade Magazine are still selling strong showcasing everything from the eco-green small space home to the trendy changes you can make in a “mid-century” 1960s tract home.
And if you skim through the pages of Better Homes & Gardens, you will see a bunch more Millennials than Boomers whether decorating their home office, renovating their “man rooms,” planting their first gardens or showcasing their favorite quick-cook recipes.
If you are still in doubt, tune in this weekend as HGTV premiers the new show The Antonio Treatment hosted by the tattoo, multi-body pierced, street-talk 2009 HGTV Design Star winner.
I just can’t see Antonio showcasing well in Metropolitan Home or House & Garden Magazines.
Several of the trends we cited in the 2010 Trendcast are all here at work.
Whether driven by “Mid-Century Suburban Rehab” or “The Family Value of Couplehood” or “Grassroots Stardom,” the New York-to-Paris-metro-chic-country-estate-designer space is a now history.
Get ready to embrace the Millennials…they are coming on strong in 2010!
Metropolitan Home Magazine closed up shop.
The announcement appeared in the editor’s page of Elle Décor Magazine. Metropolitan Home and Elle Décor are both published by Hachette Filipacchi Media US.
Metropolitan Home premièred 28 years ago just about the same time I got out of college and moved into my first apartment. Just about then, a good number of my fellow Baby Boomers were purchasing their first houses.
The closing of Metropolitan Home is not a simple stand-alone.
The editor of Elle Décor cited the bigger picture of the change.
As Margaret Russell, the editor-in-chief, commented, “Truth be told, I too sorely miss House & Garden, Domino, Southern Accents and Cottage Living – as does anyone who is passionate about interiors and design.”
Add to that list Country Home, O At Home (Oprah), Home, Gourmet and Hallmark magazines.
All closed those doors and stopped the press in 2009!
While the economy and the growth of Web publishing has a lot to do with the doors closing, there is indeed a bigger factor impacting housing as we know it.
It can all be summed up in one word… Millennials!
Sure, aging Boomers are more focused today on saving whatever is left of their retirement funds. Gen Xers are more focused on cocooning with the kids and getting those kids off to college.
But, it is the Millennials that now are driving the housing market.
If you have your doubts… go look at the stats of just what segment of the housing market is showing some positive growth...houses in the $150k-$200K ranges.
Furthermore, go tune into HGTV starting at 8:00pm and watch My First Place and Property Virgins that now dominates Prime Time. And by the way, those Millennials are also representing a growing share of the folks on House Hunters.
Dwell Magazine and ReadyMade Magazine are still selling strong showcasing everything from the eco-green small space home to the trendy changes you can make in a “mid-century” 1960s tract home.
And if you skim through the pages of Better Homes & Gardens, you will see a bunch more Millennials than Boomers whether decorating their home office, renovating their “man rooms,” planting their first gardens or showcasing their favorite quick-cook recipes.
If you are still in doubt, tune in this weekend as HGTV premiers the new show The Antonio Treatment hosted by the tattoo, multi-body pierced, street-talk 2009 HGTV Design Star winner.
I just can’t see Antonio showcasing well in Metropolitan Home or House & Garden Magazines.
Several of the trends we cited in the 2010 Trendcast are all here at work.
Whether driven by “Mid-Century Suburban Rehab” or “The Family Value of Couplehood” or “Grassroots Stardom,” the New York-to-Paris-metro-chic-country-estate-designer space is a now history.
Get ready to embrace the Millennials…they are coming on strong in 2010!
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