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: , ,
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