THE UNLIKELY GAME OF LIKING ‘LIKES’.

March 16, 2013 by


A soldier is putting something on another soldier 's face.Like it or not Facebook ‘Likes’ have now become a shiny, new marketing tool.

Dollars and teams are being dedicated to building legions of ‘Likers’ and ‘Sharers’.

The belief is that the audience gained is actually among targeted customers and that they will at some point help build business.

The jury is still out on this, but the frenzied quest for Likes has spawned a new era of trickery and deception, all to get you to click that little button of love.

Here are some classics:A soldier is putting something on another soldier 's face.

1. Reverse Psychology.This is a fairly new trick to get you to Like/Share a post. They use a little reverse psychology to make you think you are smart by being able to answer a question easily. But before you type ‘Monopoly’ in the comments section, understand that you were just tricked into giving the host a higher SEO and page rank.

A soldier is putting something on another soldier 's face.2. If I Had A Million Likes.Sneaky! Sneaky! For those of you who have Liked one of these posts, see if any of these people are still in your Liked list. Hmmm. I don’t remember liking Bill Joe’s Auto Dealership.When did I become a fan of Willy’s Widgets? When these cute little kids get a million Likes, they’re cute page magically transforms, in the middle of the night, into a business (auto dealership, radio station, local insurance agency). These companies enjoy the launch of their new social media page with a base of millions of Likes, all gained because you wanted to help someone.

A soldier is putting something on another soldier 's face.3. The Sob Story. There are multiple fan pages on Facebook based solely on getting people to interact through sad events. They post something that makes you laugh, or cry and you click Like and Share. This puts it in front of all your friends and so on and so on, until you see the story has 3.8 million likes! What you don’t necessarily know is that there could be a company behind this hoping now to sell you, and your friends, and their friends something.

Pressing Like is similar to giving out your email address to everyone!

We at Rocket Branding do not advocate trickery for successful brand building. ‘Likes’ may ultimately be important to your brand’s growth, and if so, then we will recommend some very sound and legitimate ways to do it and win in this arena. What say you?

Visit us at www.rocketbranding.com

Filed Under: Business Book Author Branding, Business Growth Branding, career building, Global Branding, New Product Branding, social media

SKIN DEEP

March 1, 2013 by


A soldier is putting something on another soldier 's face.Beauty is skin deep, so they say. So is branding today.

Appearance is becoming the new arbiter of preference.

In last week’s Academy Awards, the actors and actresses were judged as much on what they were wearing on the red carpet as for their award winning roles.

The entire political arena is now more about how a candidate looks on the “national news” and, in a recent study, apparently if you are overweight you will have a harder time swaying a jury than if you are slim.

And check this out. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=pLgJ7pk0X-s

It’s hard to believe this great track came from this group.

No, this is not a lament about superficiality. I think it goes deeper than that. The pace of preference has quickened. With immediate, 24/7 digital access to anything and everything, single action-touch/click/swipe decisions, instant news in 140 characters, we are learning how to quickly see and judge what is most right and relevant for us. So, we at Rocket Branding are thinking about how this new behavior effects the creation and building of fast growing brands.

In some respects this actually makes branding easier.Get the visual appearance of your brand right (logo, product/package design, site, marketing materials etc.) and you are already on the road to preference. Easier said than done of course.

One tip is to use the ‘squint test’.Seeing the brand package or logo is one thing but ‘seeing’ what the brand story is another. Identify your brand’s key growth customer or consumer, have them squint their eyes at different brand presentations and have them tell you what they see.

Often they will tell you what they want to see and ‘boom’ there it is…you have your winning approach. Importantly they will also tell you what doesn’t work…the visual presentation just does not connect the dots for them and as such fails the appearance test.

Study brands like Starbucks, Apple and Harley Davidson. Icons no less, in large part, because they got the visual aspects of their brand right. Certainly they did receive some advertising support in their history but this is not what drove their appeal. No, they built visual brands that consumers flocked to and still do. They understand the power of appearance and made it a foundation for their brand.

We at Rocket Branding live this stuff everyday and would be honored to help you build your brand fast. Visit www.rocketbranding .com and buy our new book.

Filed Under: Business Book Author Branding, Business Growth Branding, Global Branding, New Product Branding, social media, Uncategorized

SNAUSAGES! SNAUSAGES! How Do Big Brand Names Happen?

February 13, 2013 by


Where do popular brand names come from?

There are strategic and creative processes that will produce the name and certainly Rocket Branding is on top of that list.

But sometimes it is just serendipity.

Snausages, one of the more successful doggie treat brands, is a prime example of happenstance.

My team, at JWT, was trying to work out how to launch this new, hot dog-like treat and, yes it was late in the day and, yes pizza and wine were being served (not beer…we were classy).

The sausage on the pizza, however, had a weird taste to me. I announced that it “was not sausage”. Unfortunately with my accent the others thought I was saying ‘snausages’ and, of course, much laughter and mockery ensued.

When the list of possible names for this new product was shown to the client, ‘LA Doggers’ was on the top, but ‘Snausages’ was also added at the bottom…almost as an inside joke.A soldier is putting something on another soldier 's face.

Dennis Yader, a young art director did not see it that way. He couldn’t let go of the Snausages name and went ahead and created a rough storyboard for a television campaign featuring a crazy frenetic dog looking for the new treat. It was thrown in testing with the other contenders and ‘boom’, it blew the top of the research.

Dennis’s original, roughly drawn storyboard not only became the launch TV campaign but it drove everything from package design to marketing tactics.

Here is that original campaign. It built the brand for many years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzIiTlCBDgE

It’s amazing what happens when talented people find something to laugh at…hopefully not always at my expense.

Read more about the Snausages story and why it worked. Go to www.rocketbranding.com and buy the book. The case is on page 171.

Filed Under: Business Book Author Branding, Business Growth Branding, Global Branding, New Product Branding, social media, Uncategorized

V8. “WOW”…. GREAT IDEAS NEVER DIE

February 8, 2013 by


A soldier is putting something on another soldier 's face.After watching the annual Super Bowl parade of ‘super’ commercials, it tickles me, that the two deemed best, were based on the same thing that has worked forever…. emotional brand stories.

Nothing works better for iconic brands in major events than ‘heroic’ stories like Paul Harvey’s rendition of the American farmer for Dodge, or the heartfelt story of the Budweiser Clydesdale.

The same is true for last year’s winner, Cadillac, and its story about saving Detroit, and who can forget the famous Mean Joe Greene, Coca Cola spot where he gave his jersey to a kid for a Coke.

Coca Cola has unfortunately forgotten this. Their Super Bowl spots used to be the showcase. Not sure their latest desert race spot did a whole lot (maybe socially?). It certainly had no emotional brand story and consequently is easily forgotten.

Sure ‘sex sells’ (Go Daddy, Kate Upton/Mercedes) and sight gags (VW) and trick effects (Doritos) will always get attention and for today—viral buzz, but they never quite work as hard or as deep as the time honored emotional stories do.

The same is true for campaigns that are not necessarily on the Super Bowl.

Some 40 years ago I wrote a tag line for V8, “Wow, I could’ve had a V8”.

This line, in fact, was a mini brand story, in and of itself, and although the emotion was not at all as heroic as for the Super Bowl, it was certainly true to the brand and the emotion surrounding it. It came right out of the mouths of consumers … with a tinge of self -annoyance on their part.

That human reaction not only confirmed that the brand was good and acceptable and worth remembering…something that has allowed it to survive and grow despite some 40 years of continuous competition from 100’s of new beverages.

So the brand tip of the day … find the emotional story for your brand and it will last forever.

For more about the V8 story, health brands and 20 others, refer to my new book at www.rocketbranding.com and let me know what you think?

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Business Book Author Branding, Business Growth Branding, Global Branding, New Product Branding, social media, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

THE SOCIAL MOBILE BRANDING DILEMMA

January 1, 2013 by

A soldier is putting something on another soldier 's face.

With over a billion users, ‘social media’ was certainly the media buzz in 2012.

2013 will be no different. Can it grow to 2 billion users?

Why not…new users of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram etc. are signing up and instantly sharing everyday. And even more interesting is the addiction to checking updates on mobile devices.

All those people you see hunched over their cell phones and tablets on the bus or train or coffee shop are more often than not checking into their social networks.

That’s all great but as everyone knows these sites are largely based on personal not commercial interactions. It’s tough to find a vibrant social community committed to discussing and sharing the latest toilet paper brand let alone accepting brand advertising on their smart phones.

So should you ‘rocket’ your brand on social media? Absolutely! As a brand marketer you cannot afford to disregard a behavior that in the next 2-3 years could involve 50-60% of your consumers or customers for as much as 20 -30 times a day. It is not just a question of trying to get attention here but it is also about being integrally involved in new habits and behaviors that in many cases will lead to all kinds of new products and experiences.

Trust me if you do not learn how to engage your brand in this new set of digital experiences your competitors will, and by doing so, leave you several chapters behind in the learning curve.

Ok smart guy, how? Actually the answer is a lot simpler than you would think.

1. Forget the medium and think about the behavior. The only difference with social media is that it is personal and the sharing is about stuff that is interesting or relevant to a particular group. So forget about trying to place an ad. Create interesting content. Provide relevant knowledge. A colleague used to create one-page novels and one-minute movies around a brand story. He was ahead of his time.

2. Find the ‘what’s in it for me’

YouTube cracked the code on this by allowing you to share an outrageous video or laugh with your friends. The big daddy question is what is in it for your consumers and customers that they would want to share with their buddies and cohorts (and you).

You are not creating a brand message but a brand currency… something that your brand target would find interesting and relevant enough to get you invited into their world and shared with their connections.

‘Save the world’ causes sponsored by your brand and special deals are oft used example of getting branded traction among a certain community of consumers or customers. We’d say go further and really dig into what about the brand category if anything has real ‘what’s in it for me’ potential and social significance to your brand target.

So for even the toilet paper brand, maybe your target is ‘soccer moms’ and they are becoming more afraid of public soccer field restrooms and want some advice and maybe even a discussion forum on making them safer. They may want an app that shows the cleanest/safest facilities or would even be open to sampling a new portable, discreet spray product that they advocate to others? Whatever, again it’s about the behavior insight not about finding an advertising opportunity in the medium.

We at, Rocket Branding, have built an entire new discipline around gaining Social Traction for your brand in this brave new world. Let us help you compete here. Visit www.rocketbranding.com or call 312 951 5178.

Filed Under: Business Book Author Branding, Business Growth Branding, career building, Global Branding, New Product Branding, social medai, social media, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

YOU and a BILLION-DOLLAR BRAND

December 1, 2012 by


A soldier is putting something on another soldier 's face.Want your career (and life) to take off?

Everyone is a ‘brand’.

Let us rocket you just like we would a successful, fast moving billion-dollar brand.

Rocket Branding has helped built six so far with a few in the works.

 

 

The same principles apply… grow, focus and simplify, and four questions:

1. Where do you want to be five years from now?If you know where you are going it is a whole lot easier to get there. Dream, ponder and go for it. A scrappy, 22 year old in Sydney, (down under) decided he needed to get to the USA and run a world class ad agency. I did with a series of 5-year rocket plans that took me through London, Hong Kong, and tons of client meetings and ad campaigns to get there.

2. What are the three key actions that have to take place?Focus on what has to happen when? Not a laundry list, just the three critical ones.

3. What key decision makers do you need to influence to accomplish the five-year goal? Employers, bosses, influencer etc. Again, not a laundry list, just the critical ones.

4. What basic emotional connections do I need to have for my ‘brand’ to gain accelerated acceptance among these key decision makers? Really important. How should you be perceived? Life is often a series of snap decisions. Put your self in the shoes of the decision makers above and remember most people decide based on what’s in it for them and, often from what they see in front of them. So don’t dress and act like a low level salesman if you want to be a high level president.

Yes, I know you may have heard some of this before and yes, at times we hear it from brands…. a lot of ‘but this’ and ‘but that’ – but trust us and really try it. The billion brands are still thanking us for forcing them to follow this type of rigor.

We have helped rocket many individuals and through our Traction Training process based on the above. So contact us and we’ll get you flying high fast, www.rocketbranding.com.

Filed Under: Business Book Author Branding, Business Growth Branding, career building, Global Branding, New Product Branding, Political Branding, Uncategorized

ROCKET BRANDING CEO’s

November 6, 2012 by


Have had the good fortune to work with several groups recently on the concept of leadership and, in particular, as it relates to the kind of CEO that is likely to lead rocket growth over the next decade or so.

Of these, working with MIT’s Gordon Engineering Leadership program was perhaps the most enlightening.

They have a world-class program with serious commitment to teaching leadership qualities and capabilities especially in terms of innovation, invention and implementation.

A soldier is putting something on another soldier 's face.

This is critical.

CEO’s are facing an increasingly competitive world. Most categories are maturing and becoming saturated with mirror-like competitors who have basically taken the margin they can out of operations, sales and service just to compete.

I believe that rocket growth for a company will come from creativity and in two areas – innovation and branding. The two weapons that will differentiate and fuel accelerated growth in both revenues and margins.

The successful CEO will need to be the CCO (Chief Creative Officer) with both a CIO (Chief Innovation Officer) and a CBO (Chief Brand Officer) reporting directly to him or her.

They will need to direct the strategies, plans and resources to create relevant new products and services and drive their early and ongoing success in the marketplace.

As I looked over the groups of MIT engineering students in the program and as much as I am a brander at heart, I could not help feel that I might be looking at the CEO crop of the future. What say you? Visit www.rocketbranding.com

Filed Under: Business Book Author Branding, Business Growth Branding, Global Branding, New Product Branding

ROCKET BRANDING MURDERERS and EMPLOYERS

October 31, 2012 by

If you want to grow a brand’s business FAST, have an extra hard look at language and context.

You can accelerate a brand’s acceptance and action if you understand the languagethat defines the context and messaging for the brand . “Just do it” defined Nike, “Where’s the beef?” defined Wendy’s, “We bring good things to Life” defined GE and so on.

And while we are in the midst of elections, I am constantly miffed at how politicians miss so many good language opportunities to rocket their ‘brand’.

Here are two examples:

In the last Presidential Election the incumbent party had to support a war…always a tough thing to do for an incumbent regardless of how necessary the war was. To his credit candidate Obama took the opportunity to present a fresh view on ‘global peace’ and ‘collaboration’. And in this case his “Hope and Change” theme was exactly right and indeed worked for the context and his brand message.

The Republicans may have had a chance to even the playing field somewhat by reminding all of why we were at war in the first place. Our enemy had become known as ‘terrorists’. This seemed at the time to be a good explanation for these new style combatants. It also for some implied a cause or some kind of rationale for these individual’s actions…maybe they are not so dangerous after all.

The McCain/Palin ticket could have changed the language and possibly restored some support for their party. Instead of using the term ‘terrorist’ they could have boldly begun referring to them as what they actually were and that is MURDERERS. They murdered American civilians and vowed to do so, every chance they get.

Now I am not saying that this could have been the basis for their campaign theme but in spirit I do believe that if they had begun using the term ‘murderers’ they might have built a more meaningful rationale and emotional support for their side.

The second example is timely.

The key election issue now appears to be jobs…or the lack there of. With some 23 million people out of work and a lagging economy both candidates and their parties are building their case for getting more jobs. The Democrats seem content to just muddy the water for the Republicans by continually talking about how the Republicans are only pro rich and can’t be trusted… powerful maybe but not necessarily a ‘get more jobs’ stance.

The Republicans are trying to focus on ‘small business owners’ and how the Democratic policies make it difficult for them to prosper and hire. Why doesn’t the Romney/Ryan team change the language from small business owners to talk more about EMPLOYERS and just cut to the chase?

Simplistic I know but in this way they can force the right context for the biggest issue and not let it get lost or minimized by the side issues of size and wealth. Believe me if you are either looking for a job or want a robust economy then really who cares how big or small companies are… a job is a job especially if you do not have one.

Now Rocket Branding does not pick sides but clearly at least for this area there were good opportunities for the Republicans that they missed.

So look carefully at language when you are rocketing a brand. What do you think? For more on Rocket Branding and how it can help you visit www.rocketbranding.com.

Filed Under: Business Book Author Branding, Business Growth Branding, Global Branding, New Product Branding, Political Brandi9ng, Political Branding Tagged With:

Rocket Branding a Romney win.

October 14, 2012 by


Again Rocket Branding is not judging who should win the 2012 Presidential Election and, again from purely a branding view we still believe that Obama has a strong ‘brand‘ following that he can use to regain momentum and win. (Please see my last Blog,” Rocket Branding believes the Obama brand is staged to Win,” Oct 9, 2012)

 

Arguably Romney’s recent debate success has boosted his chances and by all accounts his running mate, Paul Ryan, did well enough in the VP debate to keep momentum on their side for now.

 

With a few weeks to go and a close race, next week’s Presidential debate could be the decider. If President Obama can regain the emotional ‘brand’ connection with his base (and particularly like minded ‘undecided’ in the swing states) then Rocket Branding would still give him the edge.

 

So what can/should Mitt Romney do to win?

 

Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts,...

Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, 2008 US presidential candidate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Ok so let’s ‘rocket’ the Romney ‘brand’.

 

Apparently according to the polls and pundits, there are some 5% or so of voters yet undecided who will most likely decide the election. Let us appoint them our SOB target (source of business or source of vote target in this case) and let’s look at what can make them fall Romney’s way over the next two weeks.

 

Rocket Branding is about creating emotional beliefs for a brand. So what emotional belief do we need to build among this SOB target?

 

‘Likeability’ is clearly a driving factor for creating emotional belief in elections and although Governor Romney has improved on this measure, the Obama brand still wins here across most voters.

 

‘Likeability’ though can be trumped by ‘trust’…especially if the stakes are high. Just because you like some one it does not mean you automatically trust them to do the right thing by you and here the results are mixed between the two.

 

The SOB target surely by now has heard all the arguments, gaffes and narratives. So why are they are still undecided?

 

The key may well be in whom they think they can trust? And again all Obama has to do is push the ‘rich’ button and trust becomes an issue for Romney and Republicans in general. Romney’s 47% gaffe only pours more fuel on this fire.

 

So there it is. Romney must create a belief among the SOB target that they can TRUST him. If he can stand tall and focus his passion on relevant issues and answers (jobs, jobs, jobs, security) and respectfully withstand the ‘rich/47%’ body blows from Obama then he has a chance. The secret for him is to be clear, substantive and human on the issues and importantly stay on the high Presidential plain and not get into ‘small ball’ with the petty gaffes and zingers. This is not unlike what he did in the first debate and what Paul Ryan did to a degree in his debate with Joe Biden.

 

Two heavy weight emotional brands going at it with nothing less than the leadership of the free world going to the victor. Such great theater!

Even Honey Boo Boo must be eager to watch.

 

Which brand do you think will win? Lets chat about all the Rocket Branding possibilities.

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Business Book Author Branding, Business Growth Branding, Global Branding, New Product Branding, Political Brandi9ng, Political Branding
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