The BIG Kahuna

Are you a branding loser? Ok, well here are my 7 all time ultimate losers:

1.??? Michael Vick in a Dog Day Afternoon

2.??? Barry Bonds in the Incredible Hulk

3.??? Micheal Jackson in a Toy Story

4.??? OJ Simpson in Fatal Attraction

5.??? Kobey Bryant in Dumb and Dumber

6.??? Mike Nifong in Sex, Lies, and Videotape

7.??? Lindsay Lohan in Drugstore Cowboy

Do we have personal brands? Absolutely! How those personal brands impact all areas of our lives and our professional branding is critical. The Michael Vick scandal is a great example of personal and professional branding.

Escorted by U.S. Marshals, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick (r) leaves the federal courthouse in Richmond, Virginia, 26 Jul 2007

Your brand identity is the soul of your company or personal brand. It?s everything you want to be perceived as. Let?s look at Michael Vick?s issues.?

I?m a strong believer in your innocent until proven guilty. The police and DA are often wrong, as seen in the Duke Lacrosse scandal. I?m also a believer in ?if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck?it?s a duck. Sure, OJ is looking for the killer and Michael Jackson just ?sleeps? with little boys. Ducks! Both proven innocent.?I believe Michael Vick has changed uniforms from being a Falcon to a Duck. He?s lost his Nike and Reebok endorsement deals which are a branding killer. The owner of the Atlanta Falcons has asked him not to return to the team this year. Why? Because the Falcons brand image is more important than Michael Vick.?

The NFL has suspended Michael Vick for the preseason. I suspect he?ll be gone for the entire year. Why? Because the NFL has the strongest brand identity of any sport and these charges are disgusting. ? Innocent until proven guilty? Not when you?re messing with PETA. The last thing you want is PETA picketing outside your front door everyday right? Here?s the deal, Michael Vick appears to be very guilty. If he is I suggest he plead out, do some time, apologize and set up a fund for stray dogs or something. He probably should make a sizeable donation to PETA as well. He made a mistake but we are a forgiving nation. Take your lumps and move forward if you ever want to continue your personal and professional branding again.?As a pet owner I would say that if he is guilty I will never, ever support any team he plays for or buy merchandise he represents. I?m not one of those forgiving people I mentioned above.

Well, the man behind the curtain is revealed. Aquafina is selling plain old tap water people. Yup, the stuff you get right from your faucet for FREE.

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?NEW YORK (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry.??Yikes, ya mean it?s not sunbathed dripping from a mountain top? With extra enzymes and nourishing treatments? This stuff isn?t cheap ya know. What?s so good about it then??Aquafina says convenience. Convenience at over $2.00 per bottle?

Now that the cat’s out of the bag how will it affect their brand image? That?s the big question. Will everyone now jump ship to Poland Springs? This is a branding question that we’ll have to follow over the next few months.

Ya know that old saying Do as I say, not as I do?

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So, Providence City Parking Enforcer, is it legal to pull up on a sidewalk and park? How about leave your parked car on the sidewalk for over a half an hour? Is that legal in Providence? I mean, is this the biggest hypocrite going or what? If it were you or I parked up on that sidewalk this same joker (woman with black hair) would be giving us a ticket and towing our car far, far away. Too bad, average Joe, you are illegally parked! Not me though. I’m the Providence City Parking Enforcer, dum, dum, dum? So, Providence, is it important to you that your employees adhere to your brand identity at all? Do you have DEA Agents selling crack on the streets? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised as a few of your Mayors have gone to prison right? Get with the times Providence. If you want to be more than a state people just drive through then smarten up!

I was watching TV last night when a Band-Aid commercial came on. The words went something like this: I am stuck on Band-Aid Brand cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me, I am stuck on Band-Aid Brand cause Band-Aid helps heal me. Wow, bummer huh? Band-Aid’s branding is so strong it’s the norm. So now they have to say Band-Aid Brand when mentioning their name. Otherwise they could lose their trademark. Doesn’t everyone call any sticky covering device a Band-Aid?

Look at their logo; they have Band-Aid BRAND right in it:

The same goes for Rollerblade Kleenex

and Xerox .

Their brand identity is so strong they have to now use the word Brand in their marketing and advertising. I guess it’s worth the price to pay to have that type of brand recognition. But the flip side is you don’t want people calling your brand name their product name. When someone goes to the copy machine the last thing you want to hear is that they are making a Xerox while they push the button on an Ikon!

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Have you noticed a change in your movie viewing experience? Does it seem like more and more of the movies you go to see are part of a trilogy or even more? Want to know why? Large studios have decided that branding can lead to a lot of sales. And that good branding is better than releasing 10 new movies. Let?s take a look at some of these gems:

Star Wars has one of the best brand identity and brand image in the movie industry. The last three movies were filmed all at once. The same goes for Pirates of the Caribbean, and Lord of the Rings. These movies were filmed in advance because of their strong brand loyalty. Look at the Harry Potter series. Eventually there will be 7 in the series grossing billions of dollars.

Some brands are being brought back to life after a 20 year absence. Take Die Hard and the Transformers. The Transformers is sure to be adding multiple follow up movies as it was a huge success. That?s how strong the Transformers brand was and is after 20 years.

Don?t forget Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Indiana Jones, being brought back to life after 20 years and the list goes on and on. Branding and the movies go together like popcorn and butter. So the next time you head to a part 4 remember that it was successful brand development that brought you there!

I?m the first to blast a company when they don?t deliver on their brand promise. Or do things that negatively impact their brand to save a penny. But when someone does it right they need their props. So a big time thanks goes out to Tweeter in Dedham, Massachusetts and their employees. Let me tell you why they do a good job and deliver on their brand identity and promise.

First off let me say that my perception of Tweeter is this:?

* They sell higher end merchandise than your average store like Best Buy and Circuit City.

* They actually provide service and expertise compared to same the same bums above (did I say bums out loud?).

* They stand behind said products and services after 30 days unlike the same rip-offs from above.

That said I?ve invested a lot of money with Tweeter. They always deliver for me. They know me by first name and they treat me great. I?ve bought multiple home theatre systems from Mike (the Captain), car audio systems from Patrick (the River) and Adam and I?ve had multiple installs from Eric (he pimps my ride).

One day I brought my wife?s Mini in to have a new car audio system put in. Adam and Eric had gone to lunch so I had to wait for them to get back. I decided to go to lunch instead of standing around and ended up at Bugaboo Creek. Strangely enough Adam and Eric were just finishing up their lunch when I walked in. They said ‘Hey Scott, how?s it going’ and then asked how my FJ Cruiser was doing (Eric had just completed an install on that a few weeks prior). I said great and that I was actually waiting for them to look at my Mini.

They recommended that we go out to the parking lot to take a look. After inspecting the Mini Eric (professional car pimper) said he needed to look at it at the shop. I said take it back to Tweeter and look. They did. Imagine that? That?s some service!

Then they actually recommended speakers that were less money than the ones I was going to buy. Why you ask? Because they would provide the best sound in the limited space we had in the Mini. They are also building a custom trunk to accommodate the amplifiers. They know their business and what will work for you. And that?s the key, what will work for the customer. That?s delivering on your brand identity. That?s how it?s supposed to be.

You won?t ever, ever, ever get that at Best Buy or Circuit City. And that?s why I shop at Tweeter in?Dedham.

Thanks Guys!

See how properly positioning your brand identity can leverage your branding!

Boston Eye Group came to us a short time ago with a concern that their current brand identity and positioning was not what they intended or wanted. We brainstormed with the owner, Dr Melki and the marketing team to uncover what brand identity would be appropriate.?

Problem: Brand Identity and Positioning out of alignment with goals of Boston Eye Group and their new division Boston Laser.?

Here is Boston Laser?s Current Logo, with no supporting tagline:

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As you can see it shows an eye with cut out to represent laser surgery. This logo and positioning was wrong on many levels:?

1.???? It?s not about the laser ? It?s about the customer?s vision

2.???? The cut out could be interpreted as ?cutting out? the eye, this is untrue

3.???? Lack of tagline to properly position Boston Laser

BIGaction: Brainstorming session to uncover brand identity and positioning.

BIGresults: Dr Melki is the premiere Lasik surgeon in the country. Lasik surgery is becoming a commodity to some and unfortunately consumers are treating it as such. This is not true and these are YOUR eyes. Dr Melki charges a higher fee for masterful service and the value proposition reflects that. The result is safe, painless, clear vision at a premium price.??

The new positioning of focusing (pardon the pun) on the customer?s vision through Dr Melki?s expertise was born.?

Here is the new Logo, Tagline and Corporate Identity System:

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As you can see the new logo promotes a clear concise vision incorporating the pupil into the name. We?ve also created the tagline ?Your Eyes. Our Vision?, this differentiates Boston Laser from the commodity type eye surgeons he competes against by saying your eyes are important and I?m an expert, price matters.?

Keep in mind; your logo and tagline represent your brand. If your logo and tagline don?t represent your brand identity and positioning then you?ll be off the mark. A logo should not be designed to be a ?pretty picture? but instead offer a strategic differentiator. This is what separates good logos from bad logos.?

Gosh I wish I could have Geico car insurance! Unfortunately I live in Massachusetts which is a price regulated state; hence there is no competition in our fine state. How crappy is that? Isn?t our entire country built on competition? Imagine not having the ability to choose based on value, service and price. Hopefully Massachusetts will wake up and change that because good drivers like me (yea, perfect driving record) get penalized.

But on to Geico and their perfect flawless branding campaign and brand identity. They are a great example of how to build a brand identity. Okay so Geico says we want to be perceived as an insurance company that provides great customer service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and we want our clients to be able to do business with us in an easy fashion. Sounds simple right?

But now you have to execute internal branding efforts that support this positioning. That?s where most companies fail miserably. They say they?ll do one thing but deliver something else. That?s where you have a gap between your brand identity and brand image and where most companies ending up call us for help. People, don?t forget to brand internally!

Geico has pulled this off masterfully. They are the champs and now the most recognized car insurance company because of it. Sure their TV commercials are funny and entertaining but they deliver on the positioning. It?s real easy to use their web site and you get great customer service.

Branding is just that easy, say what you mean and mean what you say.

Kudos to Geico for a branding job well done!

Why do business owners do their own commercials and branding? Is it to save money? Is it because of their massive egos? Explain to me why someone, who is clearly not qualified, attempts to become an actor and be creative? I’m just puzzled at the horrendous TV commercials I am forced to watch on a regular basis. I mean really, c’mon already, stop torturing us!

Of course there are exceptions to the rule. Every once and awhile they get lucky and hit the mark. But it’s very, very rare isn’t it? So let’s talk about some of the bad one’s shall we?

?Culprit #1: Bob’s Discount Furniture, C’mon Down!

?Good ole Bob in the same Jeans and sneakers he always wears…you sharp dresser you!

The name says it all doesn’t it? Don’t you think they just sell crap-o-la? Well if you’ve been forced to watch them on TV 12 times a day and then have to listen to them 30 times a day on the radio you’d know what I mean. I actually get upset when one of their overused commercials comes on. Their advertising budget must be massive! Of course they save a ton by not using professionals or attempting to build any type of brand identity. They absolutely have the worst messaging any one company could ever dream up. You couldn’t pay me to even walk into a Bob’s discount furniture. So if annoying people is what Bob’s is going for then kudos, c’mon down!

Culprit #2: Boch Auto, C’mon Down!

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This guy loves to put his mug wherever he can (class act huh), like how he’s ripping off Coppertone?

Boch Auto?is one of the largest car dealers in the country, they are massive. Yet the owner, Ernie Boch Jr., does all his own commercials. Again, he looks like a complete idiot, making a fool of himself spot after spot. I honestly think he’s a nut job every time I see him on TV. And this guy has mucho dinero. So why do this? My guess is he has an ego as big as his bank account. Strangely enough he has a lot in common with Bob’s Discount as they have both ripped off the phrase “C’mon Down” from the The Price Is Right game show. Original huh? Keep up the good work Bob and Ernie! Imagine how much?more?successful they would have been if they branded themselves properly. They are successful in spite of themselves.

So all you business owners out there contemplating doing your own stuff…please spare us. It’s very rare that it works. For every one of these guys that gets lucky there are thousands that fail. Hey if you needed brain surgery you wouldn’t let your wacky uncle Ernie do it right? Hire a professional branding agency and do it right.

Maybe we should change our tagline to….dum dum da dum: C’Mon Down!

Follow-Up: I just read a post online that Boch is actually in a trademark law suit over the use of the words “Come On Down” with Bob’s Discount. Maybe Boch should sue the Price Is Right Gameshow as well. Oh and don’t forget the THOUSANDS of cheesy companies that also say “Come On Down”! You couldn’t pay me enough money TO use that tagline. I’d be shocked if they won that suit seeing how they are in completely different industries. I mean really what does he think…people will head out for a BMW and?change their mind and go?with a living room set? But as usual the only one’s who will make out in this ridiculous law suit are the lawyers!

I guess when you have that much money it really doesn’t matter…

Why do companies still over promise and under deliver? It’s a sure way to kill your branding efforts and make customers shop elsewhere. It breeds frustration, anger and finally someone with a very popular?branding blog and owner of a well respected national branding agency to set them straight. So Herb Chambers of Boston Massachusetts, “We’ve Got It!”

I happen to be an influential branding guru, I know lots of peeps. Furthermore we have over 5000 visits a day to this blog and folks kinda like what I have to say (most of the time). So here’s what I gotta say about you and your lack of understanding for branding: the sale goes beyond the customer driving off the lot. Who knew? That’s right, you should take care of the customer every step of the way. Not just until you got their cold hard cash. In my case I bought a Mini Cooper for the wife. She was so happy! That meant I was so happy!!! Ian Miller, imiller@herbchambers.com, my internet sales rep was very pleasant all the way through the sale in early June. Krissy was happy to provide a cheerful financing experience. I even paid for and signed the loan before the car was delivered (3 weeks later) because you, Herb Chambers, asked me for a sign of good faith.

Loan Signed, car on the way, everyone’s happy, until…..dum dum dum (scary music for the dreaded Herb Chambers of Boston MA) you actually have to live up to those tiny promises.

Promise 1: “Hey Scott, buy these extra add ons to make your Mini look cool” says Ian. Okay, I’m in. I bought the extras (lights for the nose of the car, side mirror caps, rear view mirror cap, shifter knob, license plate holders, more expensive carpeting, racing stripes, door handles, blah, blah blah). Since the car is being shipped from Puerto Rico we can order those now for delivery in 3 weeks. That sounded reasonable I thought. Promise 2: We’ll have all those extras put on when the car arrives so you can zip it off the lot. Wahooooooo, sounds fun to me!

Promise 1 and 2: Ah, Scott, the mats you ordered came in wrong. You got the rubber one’s but they are better anyway (they are?). Yeah, those door handles, shifter knob, mirror cap and?license plate holders?never came in. They’ll be in next week though so drive all the way in here (20 miles one way)?and we’ll put ‘em on for you. Okay, that’s a real bummer. But hey Scott, we get graded on a survey so when someone calls you make sure to give me 5′s because anything below that is baaaadddd. Well Ian, if my stuff comes in I will….2 weeks go by and nothing. Where’s my stuff? Hey Ian, help a brother out here. “Ah, I’m no longer handling this you’ll need to speak to service”.

Service? What about those 5′s big guy? Sorry, it’s out of my hands. Forget service I’m going to speak to the manager.While all this is going on we realized we’ve never received anything from the bank. I call Krissy; you know the real cheery one whilst I was buying the Mini. Hey Krissy, help a brother out here, where’s my loan stuff? Ah Mr. White once the loan is done it’s out of our hands you’ll have to waste your time calling the bank because I’m not going to do it for you. Actually she said, you need to call the bank, I threw in what she really meant. So now I’m wasting my day on hold with the bank only to find out that they don’t even have my loan. Yep, never sent in by the dealer, you know her as cheery Krissy.So I speak to the assistant manager Rich, who says he’ll take care of everything and assures me that the loan was sent in and that they have the FedEx to prove it. Great, show it to me.? Would you believe I never heard back from Rich???

Finally I call the BIG Kahuna, Melissa the GM. Hey what’s up with you and your people? Everyone’s lying to me, please, I beg, help me. 30 minutes later Rich’s boss Kerry calls me back and finally the truth is revealed……whew…..Scott, the parts were never ordered and I just ordered them. This meant that Ian and Rich were both liars (how sad, especially that a manager would lie). Secondly the paper work to the bank was never sent in (that meant Krissy and/or the dealership was now an offender). Here’s what I’m prepared to do (taken from her email to me):

Hi Scott, I wanted to apologize again for the experience that you had here.? Per our conversation, I have ordered the rear view mirror cap, red shift knob, carpeted mats (they are here) and license plate holders.? Once they arrive, I will drive a loaner car to your home and pick up your car to bring it here for installation.? Additionally, I will refund you $294 for the accessories that were not installed at the time of delivery. My cell phone number is _________, so feel free to call me there if you need anything.? I will be out of the office Wednesday and Thursday of this week, but will be on Friday. Have a wonderful night!

Kerry

Kudos to Kerry for not becoming a liar like the employees that work under her. If they were my employees they’d be looking for a new job today! There is nothing more important than your brand image and you never know who you’re potentially messing with. In this case it was me and now I’ve told all of my readers about the type of service and response I’ve received from one of the “leading” car dealers in Massachusetts.

Personally I would never ever again buy another car from them and they will never see a penny of car service from me. If they had just been honest I would still be a happy customer but alas they were not. Kerry did a fine job trying to fix the problem but by then it was just too late. Maybe in the future they’ll try a little honesty as it goes a long way.

Here’s the Herb Chambers mission statement:

The mission of The Herb Chambers Companies is to provide the highest quality service to our customers in the sale and repair of their motor vehicles.We will operate professionally managed dealerships committed to be the leader in the market areas they serve.Additionally, we will provide all our employees with the opportunity to receive above average compensation and opportunities for advancement, within our organization, limited only by their ability and performance. In all instances, the highest level of integrity is to be maintained with customers, automobile manufacturers, and employees.

Remember folks, when you get great service from a company you may tell 5 people but when you get bad service you’ll tell 25 people or?in my case, 5000 people per day. Your branding is everything, don’t mess it up.

Sprint sent letters to 1000 customers last week with one message: You’re Fired! That’s right buddy, we don’t want your business anymore. Go somewhere else,?and go now. Sprint evaluated customers that constantly called customer service, we’re talking 50 times per month on average. That’s a lot of calls from one person with complaints right?

?So do you think this will be a positive or a negative to Sprint’s brand image? If Sprint has a belief that customer service is important and you believe them when they say these customers actually took away from providing good service to other clients then they have an argument right? If it’s part of their brand identity to provide that service then getting rid of pain in the butt clients that waste their time is okay right?

Hmm, I think Sprint is in the right here. I never though I’d be saying that! If I take them at their word then I could see how these 1000 customers could take away from other Sprint customers. I know this because I’m a Sprint customer who has called customer service. I must say, everytime I’ve called customer service they’ve been VERY helpful. My problem has ALWAYS been resolved.

So Sprint, kudos to you for believing in something that you feel is important enough to actually fire clients. I believe that is a positive branding decision and one that takes guts. Personally I’ve had to say goodbye to a few clients that just couldn’t be pleased or took away from other customers. It’s a tough decision but every business has to do it. You just can’t make everyone happy and your brand is too important to sacrifice.

Good luck to Verizon and AT&T with those castoffs!

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We’d like to welcome Agar Supply??to the?Brand Identity Guru?family. Agar is the leading independent food distributor in New England. With over 100 trucks and thousands of clients Agar’s growth has led them into a new direction.

?Brand Identity Guru will be re-focusing their current brand identity?to differentiate Agar en route?to them?leading their industry. BIG will develop a new branding strategy and apply tactics such as search engine optimization, web design, truck design, corporate identity design and icon design.

Karen Bressler, President of Agar supply has a vision that will propel Agar into an area that her competitors can’t imagine. Through brand identity and brand image building Agar will become the leader within their market space.