The Starbucks logo

There has been much talk about the new Starbucks logo or lack thereof and I figured I’d throw my hat in the ring and give my 2 cents as well.

The concept of a brand shedding its name from a logo to make the logo stand on its own is something that has been done successfully and has its precedent in super powerful brands such as big M for McDonalds, the apple for Apple, the swoosh for Nike etc. The reason why it is a good move for super powerful brands is because removing the name and being non explicit allows people to  buy into the brand on a deeper level than if they were spoon-fed the brand with its name incorporated into the logo. . Because the consumer needs to reach out and memorize the icon, the brand ends up owning more brain space in their mind. Brand recognition actually becomes a two-step process of first seeing the icon and then attaching it to the name. While it takes greater effort on the part of the consumer, when they make that effort, they are working harder for your brand and therefore become more loyal toward it.  

Starbucks is a super powerful cultural phenomenon that can probably be deemed a cult brand with a huge fan club. Therefore, they certainly earned the right to drop their name and have the icon stand on its own. Doing so can embed their brand even more deeply than it already is into the minds of consumers.

The only issue I have with what they did is that the new logo does not visually look like the original! The mermaid wasn’t the focus of the original logo. When anyone looked at the Starbucks logo previously, I don’t believe they saw a mermaid at all. They saw a ring with the words Starbucks coffee written in it and that’s it. I bet if I had asked a room of people to describe the Starbucks logo, most of them would not have been able to tell you there was a mermaid in there altogether. So the real issue here is simply that  removing the name and ring created a visually different effect which no one recognizes or is familiar with and therefore seems awkward . This can be disastrous because people first wonder “Is that really Starbucks?”

What Starbucks should have done is very gradually shift the logo until it became freestanding, similar to Pepsi did which was a very slow and gradual change to a freestanding logo.

Brand a ritual

A brand that has a ritual associated with it is considered to have reached the pinnacle of brand positioning. It indicates consumers are engaged, loyal and emotionally attached to your brand. It means your brand is so meaningful to people that they are willing to do something slightly out of the norm for it, sort of- like they are in love with your brand.
Although you may think rituals are the natural reaction or show of affection loyalists have for your brand and can only evolve naturally, the truth is a brand can be the creator of its own brand rituals. I will show you different techniques to artificially create brand rituals, which myself and others have successfully implemented.
Before you try to create a ritual, here’s a handy checklist to keep in mind:
1. Simple : It needs to be something really simple. The more complex it is, the less likely it will become accepted.
2. Relevant : Although this is not a rule, rituals will work better if they directly relate to and are symbiotic of the features or benefits of the brand.
3. Meaningful : Customers are more likely to buy into a ritual if enhances their overall customer experience with your brand.
4. Fun : Customers should enjoy the ritual.
5. Consistent : Once the ritual is developed, the marketer must ensure that there is consistency in its promotion.
There are three types of brand rituals. We will label them “Must do” “Want to do” and “Can do”.
1. A “Must do” brand ritual is designed as part of the interaction a consumer has with the brand. If they want to use your brand, they must do the ritual, otherwise they cannot use your product or service. Examples of this include:
    A. Starting a Porsche with your left hand- Porsche designs all their vehicles with the ignition key on the left side instead of the right. Because this action is exclusive to Porsche, it is clearly a brand ritual. Legend has it that “This placement dates back to the early days of Le Mans racing when drivers were required to make a running start, hop into their cars, start them and begin the race. The placement of the ignition enabled the driver to start the car with his left hand and put it in gear with his right.”
    B. Iphone- sliding, flicking and pinching your fingers over their screen. Was this a ritual? Absolutely, when it first came out, no other phone required its users to make those strange set of hand motions. Now that others have imitated it, it lost some of its ritualistic qualities. Eventually it may become the only way to use a cell phone, but at the outset, it surely was a ritual owned by Apple. Apple, by the way is excellent at creating “must do” rituals. As a rule, any new product that they come out with has that maverick quality in that it is needs to be used in a way that is completely different from its competitors. Think about the wheel on the iPod, for example.
    C. Wearing a tag on your jacket zipper while skiing (and leaving it on for a month afterwards as a souvenir).
2. “Want to” brand rituals are rituals that someone would most likely want to engage in when interacting with the brand. No one is forcing them to do it but there are clear rewards to the customer for doing so. It is the better way to experience the brand. Examples include:
    a. Mobil Speedpass- a little wand you hang on your keychain and wave at the gas meter in order to pay. It’s fun and convenient. Although you don t have to use it, you probably want to use it.
    b. A café gives out Travelers mugs with their logo along with coffee club punch cards. The coffee club works as follows: Fill up your mug nine times with coffee and you get the tenth cup free. Every day people line up with these mugs to get their coffee. Of course, there’s the option to use paper cups but the promotion only works when you use the official company branded travelers mug- and that’s what makes using the official mug an ever deeper ritual.
    c. A fitness center offers T shirts with their logo on it for patrons to wear during their workout. Although you can get your own T shirt all sweated up, you most likely prefer to change into one of theirs before you start working out and toss it into one of the hampers in the locker room when you are done.
3. “Can do” brand rituals are rituals that “somehow” evolved around the brand and take on a life of their own. It is just the hip thing to do when engaged with the brand. There aren’t necessarily any benefits to doing the ritual and the ritual can probably be performed on other brands as well although it wouldn’t feel authentic. Examples include:
    a. Eating Sushi with Chopsticks
    b. Pouring Gatorade on the winning coach's head
    c. breaking the Kit Kat wafers
    d. squeezing a lime into a bottle of Corona beer
While “can do” brand rituals appear to evolve on their own, they are usually transmitted to the general public through the good graces of Madison Ave advertising and publicity agencies.
Rituals create a unique brand experience, which provides us with a reason, consciously or unconsciously, to want to revisit the brand experience. It imparts something personal, giving us a closer connection to the brand. The ritual also involves the customer with the brand. Acting in a unique way for a brand helps create affinity towards it. It creates a habit, which encourages loyalty. Brand rituals are also “sticky”, they help the customer remember the brand and the brand becomes iconic.

As I opined 2 posts ago, a new product needs to be routed in fulfilling some preexisting need or desire in order to succeed in the marketplace. The best way to come up with ideas for new products or services is to reverse engineer your idea. By this I mean that you should first explore unmet needs or desires and then formulate a solution for it in the form of a new product or service. This is primarily what the aforementioned Eugene Schwartz did very successfully. He spent his entire career trying to understand what desires people were already predisposed to and were already unsuccessfully trying to satisfy and then created products which he claimed (wildly) satisfied those desires. He did this to the tune of six billion dollars worth of self-help products! The focus of his marketing was never on the novel product he was selling but rather on the ability to solve an age old well identified problem or desire, in a new way.


Similarly, another method of ideation is to meditate on the products or services you already provide and think if there’s some irritation or frustration within your industry that no one has yet resolved and people just put up with. That’s exactly what David Oreck from the Oreck vacuums did. He realized that the heavy weight of the average vacuum was an irritation people just lived with and he set out to alleviate that. So instead of trying to make a better vacuum cleaner, he made a lighter one. From the outset, his entire branded position centered on the fact that his vacuums only weighed 9 pounds.

Kal Vachomer marketing

On a recent trip to Home Depot, I bumped in a palette of driveway sealer. They were 5 gallon buckets piled around 5 feet high and located near the spackle. The most fascinating aspect about these buckets was their description. It was described as “airport grade”. Now that caught my attention because I don’t believe shoppers at this particular Home Depot have airports in their front or backyards. I don’t even believe that any of them own an airplane! I am also quite certain that even the local, single engine airport, if they ever needed to repair their runways, would probably not send someone to Home Depot to pick up a couple of buckets of this stuff. They’d probably hire a professional road repair contractor. Wouldn’t you think? So what’s up with the “airport grade”?

I then went to the plumbing section and a looped video caught my attention. It showed a person demonstrating how his toilets never get stuffed. The person put 15 golf balls in the toilet and then flushed. Swoosh, all 15 golf balls went straight down the toilet. Quite a feat. It got me thinking though, is there anyone in his or her right mind that plans on flushing golf balls down their toilet? So, what’s the point of showing it?

Mr. Oreck was famous for showing how the suction of his vacuum can hold a bowling ball. Question- does anyone use a vacuum to collect bowling balls?

There is a logical formula for deciding questions in the Talmud called Kal Vachomer (the “ch” in Vachomer is pronounced in the guttural German “ch”). Kal vachomer means deducing the smaller from the greater and the logic goes as follows- If something can accomplish a great feat than surely it can accomplish a smaller one as well.

While in the Talmud, this is no simple matter and is given a full treatise, for marketing purposes, it is really simple. When you show or imply that your product can do much more than anything your customer will ever need it for, they feel secure that it surely do the job they need it to do as well.

Kal Vachomer marketing gives your product so much credibility, it can be the whole basis for your brand and make it quite successful. As a matter of fact, it has made the aformentioned business quite sucessful.

How to come up with new brand ideas and new products.

If you read enough branding and marketing books, you tend to believe that the best way to brand a new business is by coming up with a brand new, totally unique concept that no one has ever thought of before. We all heard of USP’s (Unique Sales Preposition) and the word “unique” is uppermost in any professional branders mind as he goes about branding a business. Theoretically, the more thoroughly unique the idea, the better chance it has of making it as a brand name.

Though this makes for great theory and ideology, reality is very different. True, there are those that will be successful in launching a totally unique concept, but they are the exception to the rule. The best proof of this is the new invention companies that you hear advertising on the radio all the time. They promise to patent your invention and make you a multimillionaire. Sounds great, but the sad truth is that less than 1% of all inventions patented through these “invention kit” companies ever give their inventors royalties that exceed the initial outlay invested. Why is this so? Remember, the inventor was positive this new invention would make him rich. So, what happened? Why do the vast majority of new inventions fail miserably? The reality is that brand new ideas or inventions don’t sell well. Read that counterintuitive sentence again- brand new ideas don’t sell well- and therefore brand new inventions don’t take off well.

The primary reason ninety-nine point something percent of all new inventions fail is that in order for people to buy a newly invented product, they first need to need or desire that product. The question is, if life was relatively good before this product was invented, why should your customer now think they need or desire it? The obvious answer is that with rare exception, they don’t, unless you create that desire. We already described “the bar conversation” which is a powerful method of discovering true unmet needs and desires. However, creating desire where hitherto there wasn’t any, takes many years and millions of dollars of education/ marketing and even then there’s no guarantee it will take off. One of the greatest copywriters of all time- Eugene Schwartz once said “Do not try to create demand, it will tire you out”. It is difficult to condition people’s minds to need and desire a product or concept they previously never imagined.

However, there is a trick to create desire even where none previously existed and that is by associating your new idea to a preexisting one, which your customer already accepted as necessary. By correlating your new idea to one already lodged in your customers mind, he or she no longer feels the idea is frivolous and unnecessary. Since the idea already exists in his mind, just in a different form, the customer simply transfers his natural acceptance of the previous need or desire onto the product you are now offering.

The difference between marketing and branding

As a branding and marketing consultant, I am often asked to explain the difference between marketing and branding. In this post I will do better than that- I will explain the difference between sales, marketing and branding, from a layman’s or small business owners perspective.


Have you ever heard the saying: “You can bring a horse to the water but you can’t make it drink”?. Well, to realte that saying to marketing, we can explain that marketing clears a path to the water. It lets the horse become aware of the water and makes it as easy as possible for the horse to get there and drink. It makes sure the water is drinkable and will actually quench the thirst of the horse. Branding makes the water beautiful and tantalizing so that the horse desires it and wants to drink it. Salesmanship takes the horse by the arm (or its mane), drags it to the water and tells it to drink. Now I’ll elaborate.
1. Sales: Simply put salesmanship is methods or tactics that guide a person to take the specific action you want him to take. By nessesity, all sales pitches end with a call to action. Salesmanship includes showing someone all the possible benefits they will get by taking a specific action and the loss they will incur by not taking that action. Proofs and tactics may be employed to signal to the client that the action you are asking them to take is correct. A direct link can be drawn between sales efforts and results. If there is no call to action or there isn’t a direct link between the effort and its result- it is not salesmanship.

2. Marketing. Marketing is one-step removed from salesmanship. It is indirect salesmanship. With marketing there is no call to action and there is at most an indirect link to the desired results. Marketing sets the stage for the sale to take place. Remember the 4 p’s of marketing- product, place, price and promotion. If you have the right product, sell it in the right place (or distribute it properly), have it priced right and promote it well- you should make a sale. And although we test all these parameters, tracking and then researching patterns and trends, there’s no definitive link between these things and the resultant sale. For every pattern and trend, a hypothesis has to be developed and hypotheses can be argued. John Wanamaker famously said “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half” (Do not confuse this with trackable advertising – trackable advertising always has a sales component with a specific call to action-it is sales, not marketing). I would argue that John Wanamaker was lying- it is impossible for him to have definitively known that half his advertising wasn’t working. However, he was correct in thinking that it was possible that half his advertising wasn’t working- because the bottom line is, there is no way to know for sure. The same could be said for all of marketing. Marketing is logical and intuitive and is based on a keen understanding of human nature. Is it measurable? Not really. Marketing definitely works- but because there is no direct call to action, there is no way to prove it is definitively working in a particular circumstance.

3. Branding is based on human laws of attraction. Try articulating why a particular person is more charming than a second. Now write a rulebook to teach people how to become charming. Well, that’s exactly what branding is all about. Often, it is not about being right or wrong, its about being cohesive and becoming a significant component in people’s lives and purchasing habits.
 Branding helps people draw the conclusions you want them to draw- but they do it on their own. It creates positive feelings in people’s minds and hearts for your business, product or service. It doesn’t push, coerce, compel or sell, rather it allows people to feel positive when identifying with you. Branding has the ability to create a fan club and fans are likely to buy, refer friends to you and even feel lucky they are able to purchase into you. Branding is based on the premise that if people have positive feelings for your business, they are likely to buy from you. Additionally, great selling skills may close a sale, but without branding to support it, people would feel like they were taken advantage of upon completion of that sale.

In an ideal setup, branding, marketing and salesmanship all work in sync to improve sales but each plays a distinct role in the process. Branding wins over people’s minds and hearts, building people’s desire for your product or service. Salesmanship closes deals and yields immediate, trackable results. Marketing bridges the two. It makes your business accessible and noticeable to your prospects so that they are impressed by the branding, which allows salesmanship to easily close the deal.

Here's what changes.

Amoungst other things, peoples desires and focus change every now and then.

Recently, I spent a day in the Garment district of NYC with a client of mine. As we entered the Lincoln Tunnel, I looked up and noticed a Mercedes Benz billboard ad. It showed a Mercedes on an empty beach and said something like “Tan lines fade; a Mercedes lasts forever”. I thought that was a strange and rather meaningless statement. My client pointed out that with summer on the way, everyone’s mind is on the beach and this may be Mercedes' way of tying in to that.

Over the course of our day in Manhattan, we met with the executive director of the GDIC. When he saw me, the first thing he asked was “Are you from the old school or are you new to the garment district?” I looked at him strangely, not sure what he meant by “old school”. He looked at me sadly, shook his head and said, “It’s been a long time since we had yarmulkes (head coverings that orthodox Jews wear) here”. Now I understood. There was once a time when the garment industry teemed orthodox Jews. Many Hassidic Jews worked hand in hand with some of the best-known designers. My grandfather- an orthodox Jew himself, was a textile manufacturer. He had a spinning mill the size of an Airport hangar and dye vats the size of swimming pools. I remember them vaguely. His clients included Kimberly and Zegna, amoungst others. But that all came to a crashing halt in the 80’s.

What happened? Why did things change so abruptly? Well many things changed, such as off shore manufacturing, new government regulations, government incentives to export all our raw materials, cheap labor in Asia, polyester, etc. Nevertheless, from a branding and marketing perspective, something else changed as well, that is very noteworthy.

Back in the 70’s, dry goods such as clothing were valued based on the quality of the goods. People primarily cared about how long a garment would last, how it stood up to heavy washing, the quality of its workmanship, etc. During the late 80’s things shifted. The defining criterion of a good garment was not high quality anymore. Comfort was the new benchmark. Casual Friday became vogue and whoever manufactured the most comfortable clothing was considered the best. As we moved to the turn of the century, that changed as well. The defining criterion was no longer comfort but rather figure. Whichever designer created the most figure enhancing clothing won. Currently, we are still in the Fashion Forward era and more important than longevity, function or comfort, is form and figure. What will come next? Who knows- but give it a few years and it will most certainly change.

Orthodox Jews, especially Hassidic Jews understood quality well- because all you need is common sense to understand good quality. To a lesser extent, they also understood comfort- because it is also common sense. When it came to the Fashion Forward trend however, they were totally lost. Its not something that is rational but rather intuitive. Additionally, figure-enhancing clothing generally goes against our tradition of modesty. Therefore, the orthodox Jews ended up closing up shop and are currently a rarity in the garment district.

To go back to the Mercedes Benz beach ad- while the billboard made no sense to me- the tie in to a tan certainly makes reference to the figure enhancing, fashion forward era we are now in- and that may be all Mercedes was trying to say. In some way you should imagine a Mercedes Benz to be your form and figure statement as well.

My point with this is that while principles never change and strategies rarely change, desires and purpose do change. Be cognizant of that, keep up with current and evolving fads and roll with the punches! Good Luck!

The principles never change

We live in a whirlwind, where long held beliefs and ideas are constantly challenged by today’s new realities. Until recently Google was the most used site on the web and therefore internet marketing was based primarily around SEO and PPC. Today though, Facebook outpaces Google and so everyone is rushing to Facebook to figure out how to “monetize” on it. Social networking, blogging, and Facebook in particular are taking center stage for the time being. Tomorrow something else may become the new fad and everyone will rush to that next.


We hear how the world has become inherently ADD and no one can read more than a few lines without becoming distracted (are you still reading this post or did I lose you already). We are told how with blackberries buzzing on people’s belts all day, most people cannot carry a focused thought or conversation for longer than a minute or so. It seems human nature has changed and that we have to accept the change and figure out how to capitalize on it. It’s a whole new world out there.

I am a timeless guy by nature. I like to believe that the principles of the human race and everything about us will always be the same. But I have to acknowledge that there are seismic shifts occurring daily- socially, technologically or otherwise, and if we don’t participate in them, we will be left out in the cold.

So, which rules change and which stay the same? And, is there a system to keep up with the changing rules of the game, or do we simply have to constantly question whether our efforts of today will become obsolete tomorrow?

This three and a half minute video clip from a Dan Kennedy seminar puts all this into perspective- at least for me. Enjoy!

Facts every branding person should know about copywriting

As David Ogilvy suggested in the video speech I’ve posted here, I’ve been spending much time researching direct response marketing. It’s been an eye opener, to say the least. It seems to me that although David Ogilvy never said so, he had that unique ability to bring the very different worlds of direct response and general advertising or branding together. That’s where his brilliance lay and that may be why he was so successful.




Amongst other things, I learned that Direct “responsers” loath advertising agencies and branding people with a passion. They claim ad agencies have a hundred and one reasons for producing ads, other than trying to make the most money for their clients. Direct responsers hate creativity, ingenuity and good graphics. They don’t care for branding or awareness. What they do care about, actually the only thing they care about, are results. They are madly driven to elicit an immediate purchase from their prospects and they are experts at doing that. They have a science and formula for doing it. It behooves you to learn it. Your branding and advertising would be much stronger if you understood it and incorporated at least some of their ideas into your marketing.



One of the major differences between branding or marketing and direct response is that direct response ads are “salesmanship in print”. In fact, “salesmanship in print” is their mantra. What this means is, that whereas advertising agencies are involved with attention grabbing creativity, branding, awareness, mindshare, credibility, personality etc- direct responsers are instead focused on make compelling sales pitches. These sales pitches are not very different than a car or furniture salesman except it is in print instead of being verbal.



Selling or “sales”, is the process of taking a potential customer from zero or little interest, to a burning desire for your product or service. That process has many steps because it is simply impossible to get somebody to go from zero to a hundred in a second. That’s why direct responsers and David Ogilvy talk about “long copy”. The longer the copy, the more time you have to make your case and convince someone to purchase from you. When making their case, “direct responsers” actually move their prospect in a linear path through very specific steps which are designed to build that desire very quickly. Below are the nine steps any good direct response copywriter generally takes to compel their audience to buy. Study it and memorize it.



1. Tell your prospect you understand their need,

2. Tell your prospect why your product is the best solution they can buy,

3. Offers proof through testimonials etc.,

4. Explain all the ways the product will benefit the customer,

5. Present the price in a way that makes it sound like a great deal and promote your money-back guarantee so it looks better than it really is,

6. Add bonus material to really motivate the customer to buy,

7. Make it a limited time offer

8. Ask for the sale.

9. Gain their trust again by reiterating your money back guarantee –



It would probably take a book to explain each step thoroughly but this outline is enough to get you going. With internet copywriting everything is exactly the same, except you “ask for the sale” multiple times, beginning with step 4 and in between each step thereafter. Try it out. See how it works.

Persuasion Marketing

While there is really no way to get people to starve for your product or services, there are ways to make them hungry or possibly get them to indulge, even if they aren’t hungry. Below is a list of tactics utilized by major marketers to whet people’s appetite. It is based on a seminar given by John Walker.


1. Social Proof- When people see everyone else is doing something, they are inclined to do it as well. We follow what everyone else is doing. When everyone gets off the plane, they’ll follow the people in front of them out of the airport. If one restaurant has an empty parking lot and the other is full, you will be inclined to go into the one with the full parking lot.

2. Scarcity- When something is scarce, people want it more. Create a feeling of scarcity by incorporating a deadline. Insert “for a limited time only” or “limited slots available” into your advertising. Even is something has unlimited capacity, try to create a sense of scarcity. Idea- Create “add-ons” or sales that are only for a limited time.

3. Stories- Build stories into your product or service. Even if people don’t really desire or need your product, they may buy into it for its story appeal. Buying a product with a history or story makes them feel like they are living that story. It’s similar to the concept of people spending tremendous amounts of money on art, just for its history or story appeal.

4. Anticipation- Turn your launch into an event. Seed it: “Coming soon”, “in 10 days..”, “countdown to the greatest….”. Anticipation creates excitement, which builds desire.

5. Community- Have communities get involved in the project. Run contests where everybody participates and everyone knows that everyone is participating. Have a blog where anyone can comment. When people see everyone else involved, they become involved (this is different from social proof where others are actually buying or taking the exact steps we want the target mimic). If everyone else is expressing a desire to get involved- they’ll also get involve and hopefully buy.

6. Reciprocity- If you give something to someone, they will want to give something back to you. Give them time, a free report, a free sample etc. Let them you know you expect reciprocation in a very subtle way: You can tell them "I believe that if I am good to others, they will be good to me". "I am giving this away for free because I am certain that if it truly meets your expectations, you will buy it", “I don’t give away things because I am an altruistic person but rather because I know that when you are ready to buy, you will remember to use me” "I am giving away this free stuff because I know just how useful it is to people like you and I am sure if you had access to it like I do, you would have done the same for me." etc.

7. Commitment and consistency- People like to act in accordance with their commitment. Get them to admit they need your product on some small level and they will want to follow through with their previously stated position.

8. Controversy- controversy breeds interest. When people see controversy, their eyes and ears pick up and they want to know what’s going on. This follows with them developing an opinion about you. Once they take sides, they either love you or hate you. If they love you, they’ll often show you that love with their wallet. Even if they hate you, they will often hate you for what you stand for but admit you offer an excellent product or service. Once they do that, they’ll buy into you as well. Idea- Center the controversy around something that has nothing to do with the quality of your product or service. Ie. Support a controversial cause.

9. Proof- Show proof that what you sell works. If they really believe your promise through the proofs you show them, it usually makes logical sense to buy it and they often will. “No proof, no launch”. Show proof and more proof and more proof and then ask for the sale. Idea- always include testimonials showing your products value to be much greater than its cost.

The copywriter’s secret

Good direct response copywriters are wildly successful. They pull in billions of dollars in sales (Eugene Schwartz sold over 6 billion dollars worth of self-help books through his direct response ads). As a matter of fact, really good copywriters are not available for hire because they create their own companies to sell their own products. Rather than make others all that money, why not keep it for themselves.

David Ogilvy, in a famous speech extols the virtues of direct response copywriters. He explains that if all marketers’ had only one chance to make a sale, and the results are fully tracked -like direct response marketers are- marketing would be much more efficient and productive.

Following David Ogilvy’s advice, I set out to study direct response marketing. I discovered there’s one huge secret all direct response copywriters have -and it has nothing to do with how compelling, long or succinct their writing is.


Direct response marketing usually comes in the form of a long letter. It makes huge promises. It explains how this product can turn your life around without any effort on your part whatsoever. It then goes on to heap a bunch of add-ons included free and explains how you’re really getting a $5,000 value for only $49. It usually has a money back guarantee and leaves you thinking, “Although this sounds totally outrageous, let me give it a try. Maybe, just maybe, it is really as good as it sounds. Maybe this is God’s gift to me and it will really change my life around. I shouldn’t pass it up.”

While reading direct response copy, people are often in a hypnotic state. They’ll read through 10 pages of copy, getting more excited with each passing paragraph until they are bursting with an uncontrollable desire for the product. And while logically, a little voice whispers this is too good to be true, a thunderous urge to try the product right now, often leads to a sale.


The copywriter's secret I'm about to tell you was revealed when one famous copywriter asked a bunch of marketers: If you had a hamburger stand and you could ask for anything you can think of to generate sales, what would they be? Give me all of your ideas and I will ask for one and only one thing that I guarantee will generate more sales than all your ideas combined. So, he drew up a list of all their ideas; posters, billboards, positioning statements, advertisements etc, on the left side of a chalk board and made a line down the middle. On the right side, he wrote his one request. It was two words. They were “starving people”. “All I need is a group of starving people" he explained, "and I’ll sell out every last hamburger in my stand.”

With all David Ogilvy’s hype and accolades on direct response marketing, the real secret to direct response marketing is they only sell products people are starving for. No, direct response cannot sell ice to Eskimos or sand in the desert. They never try to. Eugene Schwartz said, “Don’t try to create demand- you’ll tire yourself out. Figure out how to channel it”. Schwartz realized people always demand or starve for, a few basic things: Beauty, Fame, Health, Wealth and Intelligence. He figured out how to channel it his way.

Although there are tactics utilized by direct response copywriters to get you all excited about their product and force you to read without letup the entire copy, the main reason you are excited is because the copy promises this product will help you attain one or more of your greatest desires. In other words, it is the food you are starving for.

How do you figure out what people are starving for? How can your product or service really be the solution that people demand? You need to listen. According to Eugene Schwartz, a great copywriter is a great listener. Listen to what average people are saying. What bothers them? What do they wish for? Position your product as the answer. Copywriter John Carlton, in his Simple Writing Systems has a method of doing this. He calls it “the bar conversation”. It basically goes like this: Picture yourself in a bar. Someone walks in, sits down and asks the bar tender for a drink. Bar tender: “How was your day Bob?” Bob: “Lousy, I …..” Stop right there. Now you need to think, what kind of problem can Bob bring up, where you can then turn to Bob and say, “Bob, I have the solution for you”. In other words, what real problem or wish do real people have, that your product or service solves? Create all your marketing, branding and copy around that and sales may just fly through the roof.

Engage the senses with the brand

As you may be well aware, neuromarketing, publicized by Martin Lindstrom in his book Buy-ology, is the scientific method of measuring the brains reaction to marketing stimulus. It is based on the assumption that people cannot really articulate the reasoning behind their purchasing decisions or desire. The way someone responds to a survey and the way their brain responds to a survey can be very different. Since the brain is not subject to an ego or theatrics, it is assumed to be the one telling the truth. Sort of like a lie detector. Taking this idea a step further, it follows that there may be all sorts of outside influences affecting our decisions which we aren’t even aware of. Those influences though, will always reach us either through logic or emotion. And, the path to emotional engagement is the senses. Will you buy something because it smells, looks, feels, sounds or tastes hits a raw nerve within you? You bet!

According to Lindstrom, sneakers placed in a room with a scent so subtle it was considered subconscious, outsold sneakers placed in a room without the smell by 84%. Additionally, people were willing to spend on average $10.33 more for the sneakers in the scented room! Lindstrom suggests using scent to evoke childhood memories. Vanilla scent is naturally found in mother’s milk and is therefore the earliest childhood memory we can evoke through the senses. Baby powder scent as well creates a strong emotional reaction, taking us back to our earliest childhood memories. Many companies specialize in scent marketing. They can literally recreate any scent imaginable.

Sound is a powerful stimulus. Consider the fact that Harley Davidson sued Honda, claiming Honda’s Shadow Ice 1,000 sounded similar to Harley’s Fatboy. Obviously, Harley felt the “potato, potato" sound of their engines was an integral part of the Harley experience.

Consider this: In 1998, Adrian North, David Hargreaves and Jennifer McKendrick ran a test in a British wine shop to determine the role of background music in purchase decisions. For a number of days they piped in French and German music, alternating between the two. The results: on French-music days, the French wine outsold the German wine by a ratio of four to one. On German-music days, German wine outsold the French by a ratio of three to one. The same team also discovered that customers are likely to tolerate long waiting times (both on the phone and in the real world), if and when the hold/background music is enjoyable and fits our expectations. [From Building Brand Value Through the Strategic Use of Sound by Noel Franus.]

What about looks? Consider the back label of Listerine Purple: “the bottle design and purple color are trademarks of Johnson & Johnson”. Remember Crystal Pepsi? Somehow, colorless cola did not feel right. What about Heinz’s green ketchup, for that matter?

And, by the way, the smell of that new car you leased- It’s entirely artificial according to Lindstrom. Actually, it is sprayed in to the vehicle with an aerosol can right before coming off the assembly line and is designed to last 6 weeks after the purchase. What would buying a new car be like without its accompanied new car scent?

The genius of taglines

The first step in executing a brand strategy is to create a tagline. There are differences of opinion as to what a tagline is. To some, a tagline is a description of the fulfillment you provide the customer. For instance, Red Bulls tagline is “energy drink”, Gatorades tagline is “thirst quencher” etc. Others use the term "tagline" to mean a slogan- Allstate “you are in good hands”, American Express “don’t leave home without it” etc.
The difference between them is that the former has to be classic and timeless, lasting througout the entire life of the business, at least in theory. The latter may be trendy and change according to the times. Consider Coca Cola's many taglines/slogans:
1932 - Ice-cold sunshine.
1937 - America's favorite moment.
1938 - The best friend thirst ever had.
1938 - Thirst asks nothing more.
1939 - Coca-Cola goes along.
1939 - Coca-Cola has the taste thirst goes for.
1939 - Whoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may be, when you think of refreshment, think of ice cold Coca-Cola.
1941 - Coca-Cola is Coke!
1942 - The only thing like Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola itself.
1944 - How about a Coke?
1945 - Coke means Coca-Cola.
1945 - Passport to refreshment.
1947 - Coke knows no season.
1948 - Where there's Coke there's hospitality.
1949 - Coca-Cola ... along the highway to anywhere.
1952 - What you want is a Coke.
1954 - For people on the go.
1956 - Coca-Cola ... makes good things taste better.
1957 - The sign of good taste.
1958 - The Cold, Crisp Taste of Coke
1959 - Be really refreshed.
1963 - Things go better with Coke.
1966 - Coke ... after Coke ... after Coke.
1969 - It's the real thing.
1971 - I'd like to buy the world a Coke.
1974 - Look for the real things.
1976 - Coke adds life.
1979 - Have a Coke and a smile.
1982 - Coke is it!
1985 - America's Real Choice
1986 - Red White & You (for Coca-Cola Classic)
1986 - Catch the Wave (for New Coke)
1989 - Can't Beat the Feeling. (also used in the UK)
1993 - Always Coca-Cola.
2000 - Enjoy.
2001 - Life tastes good. (also used in the UK)
2003 - Real.
2005 - Make It Real.
2006 - The Coke Side of Life (used also in the UK)
2007 - Live on the Coke Side of Life (also used in the UK)
2009 - Open Happiness
2010 - Twist The Cap To Refreshness


Regardless of which definition you are working on, a tagline is the sum total of the strategy. It is also the most powerful tool in a brand strategist’s toolbox. Consider it the rudder that directs the ship. When properly utilized, a tagline will:
-drive the brands position to the specific spot we choose it to be.
-gives meaning and context to the brand.
-differentiate the brand and makes it relevant.

The way to create a tagline is to first do all the steps described in previous posts to figure out your brand strategy. Once you’ve done that, write down the strategy in as many paragraphs as it takes. After that, try to distill it into one paragraph then into a sentence and then into 1-6 words. Those one to six words will be your tagline.
Before you do this exercise though, you need to ask yourself what you would like the tagline to accomplish. If you are a master at the brand game, you can reasonably assume that the tagline can accomplish almost anything you want it to as it can literally do anything. Your only limitation is that it can only do one or at most two things, so choose wisely.

Creating branded experiences

“Marketing is 90% strategy and 10% execution” (Ries, War in Boardroom). While I certainly agree, the fact is without execution, your 90% strategy is meaningless. Therefore, once you have a strategy, you need to move onto execution. For a branding person, this means infusing your entire business with the brand idea. How does one go about this? How do you instill personality, values, and differentiation into every customer touch point? How do you create names, logo’s, taglines, advertising, websites, phone mannerisms, store layouts etc., which bring forth the brand idea as well?
Well, every person has senses. Senses are the physiological methods of perception.
There are 5 main senses: touch, smell, taste, sound and sight.
There are 5 secondary senses: balance and acceleration, temperature, kinesthetic (the ability to feel movements of the limbs and body), pain and time. These senses are the only things that create any experience within us whatsoever. The conveyance of any feelings or emotions is through these senses.
Obviously, to give anyone a true brand experience, we’ll have to examine how these senses interplay on a persons psyche and what kind of feelings we can evoke through each sense.
Take taste for instance. What kind of experience does salty food give you vs. sweet foods? What kind of mood does it put you in? What kind of feeling does it leave you with? When do you reach for potato chips, pretzels or popcorn and when do you reach for ice cream? Believe it or not, the major brands for these product categories spend millions of dollars pondering these very questions.
And so it is with all the senses. Are there certain smells that create specific moods or feelings? There wouldn’t be a multibillion dollar fragrance industry if it weren’t so. Are there certain sounds that create specific feelings and moods? Again, there wouldn’t be a multibillion dollar music industry if it weren’t so. Do specific sights create specific moods and feelings? Just look at how much money people spend on ocean view properties.
There is an additional sense though, although its not really a sense, and that is the brain.
Can you visualize things without using your eyes? Sure Just read this excerpt from Eugene Schwartz’s famous book “Breakthrough advertising”: “Colorful, fragrant roses almost as large as the most expensive Hybrid Teas, yet blooming by the hundreds at one single time . . . on one single bush! Cherry-pink 3-inch roses overlaid with tinges of red that deepen in fire and brilliance as the blossoms unfold—to reveal a dazzling gold splash on their petals! Roses that burst into living walls of blossoms that flame again and again into exquisite masses of bloom in June, July, August, September, October, November . . . and often stay in bloom weeks after the first snows have fallen! . . .”
Can you hear without using your ears? Read the headline of the famous Ogilvy Rolls Royce print ad
“At 60 miles per hour, the loudest noise in a Rolls Royce is the ticking of the clock”….. Did you hear a ticking clock?

Can you experience balance and acceleration without moving? Sure, ever watch and IMAX movie?
Can you experience a length of time without it truly passing? Sure ever sit in a Dr’s office doing nothing and waiting to be called. Did it feel like you were waiting forever? Doesn’t time go faster when you’re having fun?
Can you smell something without using your nose? Can you taste something without using your tongue? Can you feel something without it actually touching you? Sure, just watch Ogilvy’s famous Maxwell House coffee commercial Did you feel the steam? Did you smell the coffee? Did you taste the coffee as it was raised to your lips? "If you like to look at good coffee, smell good coffee and taste good coffee, brewed Maxwell House coffee..."

Engaging the senses was the true genius of advertising experts like David Ogilvy and Eugine Schwartz!

The mind is a wondrous thing. It can create experiences and feelings that are purely imaginary. Experiences are life's entertainment. They are what we live and sometimes die for. The question creative agencies have to grapple with is how do we create experiences and feelings within and possibly beyond our audiences senses. Evocation is the key here. What evokes a specific sensation? Master the art of evocation and you'll be on your way to a great career in branding and advertising!

How a business becomes a brand

There are four pillars to a business’s identity; when a business has these four pillars aligned, it becomes a brand. The four pillars are Personality, Value System, Differentiation and Innovation. To understand the branding process, we need to recognize that 1) Branding theory assumes customers don’t feel affection for concrete products or services per see, rather they can be attracted to the intangible, underlying character of a business. 2) A brand is not something intrinsic or necessarily natural, it is rather the outcome of consistent efforts to make a business stand for ideals beyond the actual goods or services it renders. Keeping this in mind, let us explore each pillar.



Personality: The famous advertising agency Young and Rubicam conducted a six-year study of 50 brands and found that businesses strongly aligned with single archetypes (personalities) gained economic and market values at a rate of almost double those that had no clear archetypal alignment. What this means is that in order for a business to be well branded it needs to choose one personality type and consistently align itself with it. There are different sets of archetypes that have come up throughout history. Carl Jung’s archetypes is one of them. Based on Jung, Carol S. Pearson created a set of 12 archetypes that specifically relate to brands. You need to build the personality you choose into the very fiber of the company, mimicking it in every way possible; its focus, ethics, values, disposition, temperament, creativity etc. When choosing a personality for your business, keep in mind that a brand as a personality interacts and is judged by its target audience in five ways. 1) As a friend- Do you enjoy spending time with this personality? 2) Inner feelings- What feelings do you have while interacting with this personality? 3) Trust- Do you trust this personality to generate a level of performance you expect through this purchase? 4) Personal Association- Is this a personality you wish to associate with? 5) External Association - Is this a personality you want others to see you associated with?



Value System- A brand knowingly or not, stands for some kind of value. Business by its very nature, is here to help people in some way, shape or form. It might be promoting higher quality, speed, health, knowledge, convenience etc. Instead of just monotonously going about offering whatever goods or services it sells, it needs to embrace the underlying benefit or value it gives to the world and extend it to all areas of interaction. In 1975, when Bill Gates declared “a computer on every desk and in every home”, he stood for the value of the individuals of the world utilizing technology to enhance daily life. In his own words (perhaps words his marketers told him to say), “Every day, we're finding new ways for technology to enhance and enrich people's lives.” The value your business embraces should be articulated in its vision statement.


Differentiation- Branding is about lodging your business in the minds of consumers so that your business becomes their adoptive “go to” place. This is called “mindshare”. The greater share of mind your business owns in its target customers heads, the greater the chance that they will bring their business to you. Consider this: If business A and business B are identical in every way possible, you will automatically go to the one you always went to, simply because there is nothing motivating you to change. The only way for a new business to win you over is by superimposing itself in your mind as being better or more relevant. This is accomplished by differentiating itself in a way that connects better and resonates stronger within you than its competitors. There are many ways to differentiate, some subtle while others more drastic. It is worthwhile to recall the 4 p’s of marketing: Product, Price, Place, Promotion as they are all possible areas for differentiation. Other areas are the other three pillars of branding we are discussing now: Personality, Value System and Innovation. “Different strokes for different folks” is the idea here. A variety of different targeted audiences can appreciate your product or service. Pick which one you want to target and find a differentiation factor you can assume that’s connects and resonates strongly within them.

Innovation- There is two types of innovations a business must be engaged in. First, as the world progresses, it is imperative for a brand to constantly stay abreast and follow the trends, or else it becomes irrelevant. In the past 15 years alone, the world has progressed commercially, in ways that are truly mind-boggling. 15 years ago, most people didn’t own a cell phone, forget about a BlackBerry. 15 years ago, film was costly and needed to be inserted into cameras in order to take pictures. Today with digitalization, we snap thousands of pictures without ever changing a roll of film or spending a penny. 15 years ago, we needed to carry a bag of tokens in order to drive on the parkway. Today there is EZ pass. 15 years ago, we would consult maps and atlases before taking a trip. Today we turn on the GPS. 15 years ago, data was transported via fax or mail. Today we use email, instantly getting the exact file in the exact condition and the same clarity as the original. The world keeps on innovating and unless you do too, your business will be left out in the cold. The second innovation a business needs to maintain is its own internal, goal-oriented innovations. It needs to find extraordinary ways to promote the ideals it stands for. Let’s say your business takes on a Sage personality, you should be exploring innovative ways to educate customers. If your brand personality is that of a Jester, consider innovative ways of making people laugh. If your businesses value is quick- in and out service, consider innovative ways to cut down or eliminate peoples wait times. If your business value is promoting communication between different groups of people, consider sponsoring networking events. Constantly innovating in ways that reinforce everything your brand stands for is the best way to create and maintain brand name status.

Yaacov Weiss is a brand strategist and founder of Tug branding, in Lakewood, NJ. If you’d like Yaacov to position your business, call 732-276-6432. You may also email Yaacov at yaacov@tugbranding.com.

Kodak Misapplying their market research

Kodak’s new marketing campaign being released this month is a great lesson in how marketing research can be misread.

Kodak carefully chose the words “it’s time to smile” as the tagline for its new year-long, fully integrated marketing campaign. At the heart of the campaign is the company’s commitment to strengthening and deepening relationships through sharing images. The campaign began with social media activities supported by public relations in summer 2009 and will blossom into a dedicated advertising push starting October 31, 2009.

The campaign is based on extensive research. Recognizing that relationships are struggling, Kodak commissioned the “Future of Reconnectivity” report to analyze how U.S. and European populations assess their relationships and the role that digital imaging plays in facilitating deeper bonds. Across five countries, the study found a common desire for people to reconnect with loved ones in the face of numerous barriers that prohibit individuals from reaching out to others. The study also found that digital photography and the sharing of personal images is helping to bridge this divide as 93% of respondents indicated that sharing photos make them feel closer to friends and family by serving as reminders of past enjoyable moments shared with one another.
“The Kodak brand has always been about human connections and capturing and sharing important moments,” said Leslie Dance, Vice President, Worldwide Brand Marketing at Kodak. “‘It’s Time to Smile’ represents our commitment to helping our consumers strengthen their relationships and make it easier than ever to share moments and memories with family and friends.”

The multi-faceted campaign was developed to reach consumers through both online and offline engagement, as well as a television-advertising launch, bringing “It’s Time to Smile” to life by focusing on the relationships and moments that define our lives. These 15- and 30-second spots will run through the holiday season. They have developed three new social media applications consisting of the:

Kodak Konga Line: A Facebook application allows users to create community photo albums surrounding an event or theme. Invite friends to share their images and watch the Konga line grow.

Kodak Smile Meter: Also a Facebook application. It invites users to send custom smile messages to brighten a friends’ day. The application maintains a running message total—the Smile Meter.
Kodak Smile Maker: A new free iPhone application. It allows users to paste unique smiles over existing photos, which they can then share with family and friends.

To support its relationship platform and help consumers reconnect, Kodak identified the existing cultural trend of “BrightSiding” (creating moments that bring people together and make them smile), as well as existing “BrightSiders” who were already practicing the trend. In July 2009 Kodak teamed with the “Compliment Guys,” two Purdue University students who had built a following by sharing free compliments and generally brightening the days of fellow students. The Compliment Guys spread the Kodak “It’s Time to Smile” message by bringing smiles and free compliments to 10 cities along the east coast. The Kodak BrightSide Tour was supported with a dedicated blog (BrightSideTour.com), as well as traditional and social media engagement.

Sounds nice? Well here is what is wrong with the campaign: The campaign is focused on the front end of this smile-sharing thing, rather than the back end. “It’s time to smile” to me is another way of saying “say cheese”. It talks to and is about the photo shoot. Despite the social media apps being about sending a smile to someone, the fact that they are smile-centric, relates to the smiling that one does during a photo shoot, rather than the closeness one feels upon receiving a photo of a beloved one. The problem with that is that Kodak’s relevance in the photo industry is no longer at the photo shoot. That went out with digital cameras. The notion of a “Kodak Moment” lasted only as long as rolls of film were being used and changed during photo sessions. Today with digital cameras, the only things that have relevance at photo shoots are photo equipment and possibly props. Despite Kodak’s efforts to remain in the digital camera business, they will never be recognized as a camera authority. With the exception of disposable cameras, Kodak no longer owns any piece of the photo shooting experience. Therefore, the association between a smile and Kodak no longer exists in people’s minds. The “Kodak moment” is history.

The odd thing here is that the research Kodak conducted and its conclusions have nothing to do with the photo shoot, either. The research concluded that “sharing photos make people feel closer to friends and family, by serving as reminders of past enjoyable moments shared with one another.” Does that sound like “it’s time to smile”? No, it's about printing photo’s and making photo albums to give to loved ones. Consider this, When you pose for hundreds of pictures as you go about your vacation or whatever else you’re capturing on camera, you’re not smiling at the friend or relative. You are simply capturing good times for posterity. It’s in the days after, when life returns to normal that you may contemplate becoming closer to a friend or relative by sharing the photo’s with them. Indeed, the research does not suggest anywhere that it is necessarily a smiling pose that you will consider sending, to build or improve relationships. The key words in the research are simply “sharing” and “reminder”. Sharing a photo replaces a detached present with closeness and is achieved through a reminder of a precious moment that occurred in the past. Sharing photos is what Kodak’s theme should have been. It’s what the research indicates as a sellable moment and it’s where the Kodak brand can shine. Kodak photo processing and Kodak paper are recognized as the best in the industry. Viewing a crisp, clear, vivid picture of beloved people and precious moments, facilitated by Kodak processing and printing, can connect someone to those moments and people.

The first ad of the “It’s time to smile” campaign entitled, “Little moments,” features a personalized Kodak Gallery album with photos chronicling precious moments of a young person, being flipped through. Interestingly, there is not a single photo of someone posing with a smile for the camera. Maybe the creative’s at Ogilvy, understood the foolishness of focusing this campaign on a smile and redirected it to the back end of photo taking; sending friends and family a printed picture or album. That is the area where Kodak really can really stand for something meaningful.

Viral Marketing- A lesson from Disney

Viral marketing is a natural outgrowth of email, instant messaging and social networking. Its guidelines need to incorporate the new realities of the customer’s mindset, especially as they sit in front of their computer. Here are some things to keep in mind: With the clicking a mouse, people today are in control of the content they take in. Everything has suddenly become interactive as anyone can post comments on a news piece, post videos, share opinions, and blog about anything and everything. Social networking has also taken on a life of its own as people keep up with each other and share content via twitter and other social networking sites. A viral marketing campaign therefore needs to be engaging and fun, so that people will enjoy it and share it with others. Ideally, it should also allow the user to control its content.
Last year, Disney released a viral marketing video “the Online Virtual Storyteller”, as part of their “What will you celebrate?” campaign. It was quite successful and is worth studying as it has all the elements of a well-structured viral marketing campaign.
Building off their 2008, “Year of the Million Dreams” campaign, Disney’s 2009 “What Will You Celebrate?” campaign was a first in Disney history, allowing visitors to any Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort theme park, free admission on their birthday. Disney branded the campaign rather simply (the first sign of a good campaign) by creating a balloon with Mickey Mouse ears. The Mickey balloons were used everywhere; in the campaign logo, advertising and the theme parks themselves were decked with them. There were also floats of balloons that travel led around the park. They composed a new “celebration” theme song that was used in advertising and played throughout their theme parks. They also created a viral video labeled “the Online Virtual Storyteller”.
Throughout the years, Disney consistently stood on the branded position of being a timeless, magical, fairytale place. In explaining the viral video Duncan Wardle, Vice President of Global PR for Disney Parks, explained, “We believe that our marketing campaigns should be every bit as magical as the storytelling that takes place within our theme parks. They should be immersive, engaging and fun.”
The video worked as follows: A user would receive an email from a friend or contact that directed them to the home page of a replicated news site where they could watch a personalized video featuring a news reporter talking about how Disney’s Theme Park is being dedicated to one person for the entire upcoming year. As the user watched, they would discover that they were actually that person. They would see their name on a banner over Main Street USA, attractions renamed in their honor; food carts wheeled around with their names on it, and finally see their name featured in the Park’s nightly fireworks. The name changes appeared very realistic. After viewing the news video, the user is directed to a page where they can customize the video for their friends and family. They enter their friend’s details and then select a celebration from a drop down box. Depending on the celebration selected, the video would change messages at the aforementioned points. After entering this information and hitting SEND, the user was directed to the “What Will You Celebrate” landing page on the DisneyParks.com site where they could learn more about the actual campaign, purchase Disney celebration paraphernalia, and view special “celebration vacation” offers. The initial seeding took place within Disney as it was first sent to Disney Parks 35,000 cast members. Here are some of the main features:
· The name of the campaign, “the Online Virtual Storyteller” was an attempt to distance itself from being called “viral” which has a negative connotation.
· The customization of the video allowed a sender to show a receiver they are thinking of them and did something they’ll appreciate and feel special about.
· The sender was in control of the process, customizing the video and sending it to their friends or family.
· Seeing one’s name in a news video all over the Disney Theme Park has a “wow” factor (even though its only imaginary), crucial to facilitating viral videos getting passed along.
· The idea of having the Theme Park renamed after you ties into and reinforces the fantasy and magic of the Disney theme parks. The park named for you, in honor of a celebration, connects with the “what will you celebrate” campaign.
· Senders further engaged with the brand and a call to action was made, when they were asked after sending the video if they wanted to purchase celebration paraphernalia or begin booking their “celebration vacation”.
The results were impressive:
· More than 10,000 blogs embedded the video.
· The campaign paid for itself 18 hours and 36 minutes after its launch through direct sales in online bookings.
· E-mail click through rate averaged 80%
· T he video was viewed more than eight million times
· More than 200,000 opt-in emails collected

The lesson is that although viral marketing is a relatively new form of marketing, and requires adaptation to the realities and psychology of online marketing, it still needs to embrace the old rules of reinforcing the brand image, relating to the targets present mindset, being goal oriented and having a call to action.

Yaacov Weiss is a brand strategist and founder of Tug branding, in Lakewood, NJ. If you’d like Yaacov to position your business, call 732-276-6432. You may also email Yaacov at yaacov@tugbranding.com.

GM- The Anti Brand

“Buy a new General Motors car. Don't like it? Return it and get your money back”. By applying the familiar “money back guarantee”, to something as expensive as an automobile, GM’s new “May the best car win” campaign takes this proven concept to a completely new level. In addition to the high price for handling returned vehicles, GM risks tremendous loss as their vehicles decrease approximately 30% when leaving the showroom. To be safe, GM has purchased insurance in case there are too many returns.
As part of the campaign, GM is releasing advertisements comparing its vehicles to German and Japanese models. Ads also highlight GM’s 5 year, 100,000 mile power train warranties. GM’s “chairman”, former AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre stars in the initial commercials. He explains to the audience that like you, he was originally skeptical about GM but "I liked what I found, and I think you will too." The ads end with a “may the best car win” signature.
According to GM vice chairman Bob Lutz, the new campaign “is a way to try to break through and get over some of the negative perceptions of General Motors and actually get people more comfortable about coming in to a GM dealership, trying a car, comparing it to competition. And, of course, the 60-day satisfaction guarantee is also combined with our five-year 100,000-mile power train warranty”
The new campaign has been criticized as being a poor imitation of Lee Iacocca’s famous “If you find a better car, buy it." ads. Experts question the campaigns focus on GM, instead of emphasizing the individual brands like Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac more. Laura Ries, partner of the branding firm Ries & Ries wrote on her blog that the campaign is guilty of “implication of the opposite”, explaining that “GM thinks the money-back guarantee says it believes so strongly in its cars that it is willing to give you your money back if you’re not satisfied. But it is the opposite message that gets delivered. We are so unsure of our products, we’ll give you your money back.” She goes on to explain “The biggest problem with GM is that they don’t lead in any category. Ford is the leading truck brand. Toyota is the leading car brand. Lexus is the leading luxury car brand. BMW is the leading driving car brand. Mercedes is the leading prestigious car brand. What is a Cadillac? What is a Chevrolet? What is a Buick? What is a GMC? None of these brands lead in anything nor do they stand for anything.”
The truth is this ad campaign is complex, well researched and being micro executed. Here are the facts: There’s a long negative history that’s been hurting GM for years and that’s that people feel their cars are poorly built. Additionally, as Ms. Ries put it “GM does not stand for anything”. It can't, because the brand is too broad and unexciting. If Aveo, Suburban and Corvette are all under the Chevrolet brand, what can Chevrolet possibly stand for? To further complicate matters, GM was just bailed out by the government with your tax dollars and its Chaiman Ed Whitacre is Government appointed. It’s no wonder Americans have deeply negative emotions about it.
With this ad campaign, rather than glossing over the issues, GM chose to own up to 2 out of 3 of them. Using the government appointed chairman in its ads, messages that this company is going to run as a capitalistic, opportunistic business rather than like the Post Office. The chairman, although government appointed, is taking an vested interest in its success, to the point that he is willing to expose himself by starring in the advertising. The fact that it’s a poor imitation of Lee Iacocca tells everyone that although this man is no actor, he will do whatever he can to turn it around. Note that GM only plans to feature him in their initial ads. Their money back guarantee and car comparisons do a fairly decent job at tackling the issue of poor quality head on. They are not avoiding the subject but rather delving right into it. It emphasizes how they are aware you are skeptical about GM and you have a right to be, but give us a chance “I likes what I found and you will too”.
Brand wise however, they are doing nothing. That’s because a brand is not created through an ad campaign. A brand is intrinsic. It is the sum total of all customer touch points. An ad campaign can’t do it, so at this point they aren’t even trying. Rather than appealing to consumer’s emotional side, which is accomplished through branding, they are appealing to people’s logical side or rather to the minority of car buyers that make logical purchasing decisions. Logical car buyers are likely to read “Consumers Report” and do comparison shopping. Nuts and bolts type advertising appeals well to this segment. Comparisons to Japanese and German cars work well since GM vehicles can stand up to their foreign counterparts, item for item. “Money back guaranteed” gives GM an additional 1-up in comparison shopping. It also helps the logical decision maker feel secure in their decision to drive a GM vehicle. “May the best car win” is GM's final request to you: Judge GM on its quality rather than its brand appeal.

Yaacov Weiss is a brand strategist and founder of Tug branding and marketing, in Lakewood, NJ. If you’d like Yaacov to position your business, call 732-276-6432. You may also email Yaacov at yaacov@tugbranding.com.

If a brand were a bouquet of flowers…

Two of the buzzwords circulating the brandosphere are “convergence” and “divergence”. Simply put, convergence means the merging of two or more ideas under one banner or offering. Examples include the blackberry-phone, Wawa-Gas Stations, calculator- watches, etc. Sears is a master of convergence offering multiple categories such as clothing, appliances, sporting goods, tools, furniture, camping supplies, home improvement, automotive supplies- and the list goes on- under one roof. Divergence on the other hand, means isolating a piece of a larger offering and making it stand on its own to perform a single function. Examples include Starbucks coffee, Dell computers, Just Tires, Jiffy Lube, Rita’s Ices etc. Procter & Gamble is the king at maintaining divergent categories by never merging any of its hundreds of companies or offerings together.
As businesses attempt to create new offerings (without actually inventing anything new), the question of whether to converge or diverge, constantly arises.
Convergence is logical. “Two is better than one.” From a consumer standpoint -If two ideas work well separately, wouldn’t it be even better to have them come together in one neat package? On the business end, if businesses anyways have the space, equipment and personnel, why not double dip and use it to generate multiple revenue streams? “Kill two birds with one stone.” Divergence, on the other hand, is illogical. From a consumer standpoint, why would someone purchase an item that performs a single function when they can purchase one that offers multiple functions? Why would you go to a specialty store that only sells one product type when you can go to one that sells many different things, including that one item? On the business end, why should a business limit itself to sell only one type of item when it has the capability of doing so much more?
Unfortunately, however, people don’t make purchasing decisions nor do businesses operate well, based on logic. Spending is a function of the heart, routed in emotion and intuition. Whichever offering type appeals to the heart best gets the order. A well run business needs to be seamless and systematic. Cohesiveness should be the objective rather than logic. What needs to be figured out is if convergence and divergence ideas resonate strongly and connect well with customers or not, and do convergence and divergence ideas enable businesses to run smoothly, or not?
Based on the brand theory that people think in categories (See previous article: Own the category, at tugbranding.blogspot.com), it seems that both convergence and divergence can work well, as long as they result in forming one single, complete category.
As an analogy, consider a bouquet of flowers: To one extreme, a dainty vase with one rose and some baby breath, make a small, nice, complete bouquet; appropriate for certain settings. On the other end, a banquet bouquet can be huge with hundreds of matching flowers, perfectly synchronized and laid out. As long as each one is a complete nice looking bouquet, people connect and there are takers. However if a bouquet is incongruent, either because it is overstuffed with mismatched flowers and resembles a mini wild forest, or because it is missing flowers and looks empty, no one at any level of the buying spectrum will connect and buy it. People’s feelings connect with complete offerings, however large or small. So too with convergence and divergence; as long as the sum total of either offering fits within one complete category, whether it be a single item or multiple item category, they can appeal to the potential buyer and be successful. Similarly, when businesses have one central goal in mind, falling under one category banner, they can run like well-oiled machines.
Does Starbucks, a single product type offering, make up a complete category? Sure, it owns the “premium coffee” category. Does Wal-Mart, that sells thousands of different items, make up a single, complete category? Sure, it owns the “household” category. Wawa-Gas Stations are “convenience stops” (or rest stops); BlackBerry-phone is a “communications device”. A Cd/tape/radio is a “listening device”. What category is Sears? Or a calculator watch? Beats me. And that may be why they are less popular than you would have imagined.

Yaacov Weiss is a brand strategist and founder of Tug branding and marketing, based in Lakewood, NJ. If you’d like Yaacov to position your business, call 732-276-6432. You may also email Yaacov at yaacov@tugbranding.com.