The BIG Kahuna

I see the Volkswagen Beetles with the Geek Squad logo and I wonder? I love the Geek Squad name. It?s a negative and positive all at the same time. After all if you want someone to work on your computer a geek is the way to go.?

So far the Geek Squad branding is knocking me over, but in a good way. So the time comes when I need to re-do my wireless network. Who do I instantly think of? You got it, the Geek Squad.

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I?m actually pretty excited to see what happens next. I place the call and I get a pre-recorded message from one of the ?law enforcement? personnel. Very funny and very true to the whole branding effort. Man, I love the Geek Squad so far.??

A live person comes on and after 45 minutes of questions and answers an appointment is forthcoming and a Geek Squad Double Agent will call me. But the call never comes. ?I call back and unfortunately the 45 minutes I spent the first time around has been completely screwed up. I feel sad. I give the geeks a second chance and go through the entire process again. Presto a second appointment is set.?

My Double Agent arrives right on time, check. He?s in full uniform, black pants, black tie, and white shirt and oh, yes, white socks, check-check. I love it! Staying true to the brand identity is what it?s all about. So hopefully he?ll geek me out.?

Two hours later my laptops are secure and wireless and networked to my printer, scanner, copier, fax machine. I?m happy. While my Double Agent was working on my network he got a call. He answered the call ?Hello, this is Double Agent DaSilva how can I help you?. Wow, I want to cry?the branding is?so damn good!?

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This would have been a perfect execution of branding and identity if it weren?t for the call center that messed everything up. I?m giving them a pass because everything else was perfect, right down to the white socks.? Kudos to the Geek Squad for a masterful branding experience. Keep up the great work!

So I?m shopping for a gift for my nephew who loves soccer. I want to get something he?ll really like. My first step is to go online and find a soccer goals website. I do a Google search for the term soccer goals. The results page comes up and now I have to pick one of the top ten listings.

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The soccer goals results page is as follows:?

1. fold-a-goal.com/
2. youtube.com/watch?v=XaXz-dryqLg
3. youtube.com/watch?v=yeXoxNP8_xY
4. jaypro.com/
5. sportsunlimitedinc.com/soccergoals.html
6. soccergoals.com/
7. esoccergoals.com/
8. scoremaster.com/
9. www.soccergoalzinc.com/
10. goalsports.com/

Now, some people will say that search engine optimization is all you need. And to some degree we agree. SEO brings the horse to water but now you have to make it drink. This is where branding makes the difference. As I went through the list there was only one possible candidate I would buy soccer goals from: A company that had a brand name like Franklin Sports.?

Out of these entire listings only one sold a top brand name. That?s sad and it shows the power of branding. You could have the best soccer goals in the world but if it doesn?t come with built in branding forget it.?This is why I bought the soccer goal from a Franklin Sports distributor. How do you shop?

If I had a nickel for every time I visited a client and asked them what their brand identity and positioning was and watched blank stares I?d be rich. And we?re talking about major corporations. Now if there are say 4 people in that meeting I?m bound to get 4 different answers.?When they finally answer here?s what they say:?

1. Service ? we?re the best
2. Value ? we?re the least expensive or we?re the most expensive
3. Quality ?we strive for the best product/service
4. Reputation ? clients trust us

Then I ask them what competitor of theirs doesn?t say the same thing? That?s the point where they think I?m the man or ask me politely to leave.

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Here?s the deal. It takes somebody with guts to want to be different. Most people just want to be everything to everyone. That just doesn?t work. You need to differentiate not duplicate.?Ask yourself this:?

1. How do we want to be perceived? We call that brand identity, what we stand for.
2. How are we perceived? That?s your brand image.
3. What makes us different and better? That?s positioning.

Answers those questions and you?re way ahead of the game and most likely your competition. Want to get there??

Click here: Branding Research?

So I?m sitting here watching football when my wife gets noticeably upset. I ask her what?s wrong. She says Vera Wang has decided to slum itself and sell out by joining forces with discounter Kohl?s Department Stores.?

See the article here:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2006-08-24-vera-wang_x.htm. ?

I never thought I?d actually say Vera Wang and Kohl?s in the same sentence but alas I have.

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Vera says that “it has troubled” her for quite a while not to be able to offer her designs to all women. “We have been quite elitist in terms of price points,” she said. Ah, Miss Wang?that?s what differentiates you! You don?t want to be everything to everyone. The fact that regular women can?t afford you is what makes you great. We call that Brand Identity; it?s a freakin good thing.?

Do these people just not consult with anyone prior to ruining their brands? Will she make oodles of cash in this deal?yup, you betcha. Will it cheapen her brand? Oh yea, big time. And 2 years from now the movie stars will be wearing the next Vera Wang but not Vera Wang because anyone can get that can?t they.? ?

Once you?ve established your company as a premium, luxury brand you can?t sink all the way to the bottom. Why not Wal-Mart Vera? Were they just too cheap??Join the other companies of the world that try and be everything to everyone. There you can be a vanilla company that sells $99 gowns. Sounds great huh?

So I?m an official word of mouth agent for BzzAgent. Basically what it means is I?m given products to get to know and then spread the word about. So I was excited to receive my first word of mouth campaign ? Tequila!?

So I get the Hornitos Tequila package which includes a drink shaker, recipe books, memory stick and a brochure, no, I repeat, no sample of the drink itself. ?

The first thing that hits me right over the head is the HORRENDOUS brand name Hornitos. First I thought Horney, and then I thought Doritos. What the hell, Horney Doritos, YUCK!

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Ah, I?m pretty sure when I?m Horney I?m not looking for Doritos. They actually explain the name Hornitos in their brochure with the quote ?OK, minds out of the gutter?. Ah, if you have to say that then you may have a brand image problem.?Seriously, I couldn?t get past the name.

Then I ?Buzzed? my wife about it and she looked at me and said ?does that mean Horney in Spanish? I said no entiendo Senora.?So I bought the Horney Doritos and gave it a taste. Very good, yummy in fact. I like Horney Doritos! But really would I buy it otherwise? Nope. If I saw it on the shelf I?d head right for the Patrone.?

Bottom line, change the name, re-brand and you could have a winner! Call us, we can help.

I?m reading through some branding blogs the other day when I see a post from Brandon Fritz at Kolbrener Branding ? Marketing. He?s their new ?SEO? guy. So Brandon goes on to bash Brand Identity Guru about?our SEO practices and branding services. None of which have a shred of truth.

?(those colors look strangely familiar)?

What really get?s under our skin though is that Mike Kolbrener allows this type of stuff. If you claim to be a branding agency, which they are obviously not (looks like their a hyped up graphic design company at best) then why bad mouth a fellow branding company? Doesn?t that ultimately make you look bad??

So we wrote to Mike Kolbrener several emails- seems he just doesn?t want to talk about his new?employee Brandon Fritz. I wonder why? Here?s a quote from their web site on the hire of Brandon Fritz:

Hired Brandon Fritz as Interactive Services Manager. His responsibilities include Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy and maintenance, as well as managing and assisting with implementation of Web and interactive media projects.

?We emphasize the value of SEO planning, and adding an in-house SEO expert to our team enhances our ability to meet our clients? needs in that area,? noted Mike Kolbrener, the firm?s CEO.

?Beyond that, Brandon is an exceptional young man with an impressive knowledge of interactive media and a strong entrepreneurial drive. He?s a great fit for our clients and target markets, and for our growing agency.?

Well, let?s look at the statement from Mike Kolbrener:?

1.???? Does Brandon?s services also include going online during the work day and bashing branding companies about their branding capabilities? Ask Brandon to define brand equity for us. As soon as he can he can talk about branding. Brandon?s obviously not a branding strategist.?

2.???? Does Brandon?s responsibilities include lying and deceiving potential prospects about Kolbrener’s SEO competition? Because that?s what he?s done. Some may even say that?s unfair competition.?

3.???? Hey Mike, if this cats so good why does Kolbrener rank below Brand Identity Guru on every major branding keyword(s) in Google? Check them out- we dare you!?

a.???? Branding Agency (we?re #1)

b.???? Branding Company (we?re #1 and #2?ah, you?re not in the top 10)

c.?????Branding Strategy (we?re #4 and #5 ?ah, you?re not in the top 10)

d.???? Corporate Branding (we?re #4 and #5 ?ah, you?re not in the top 10)

e.???? Internet Branding (we?re #4 ?ah, you?re not in the top 10)

f.??????Corporate Internet Branding (we?re #5 and #6 ?ah, you?re not in the top 10)

g.???? Brand Development (we?re #2?ah, you?re not in the top 10)

h.???? Brand Name Development (we?re #3?ah, you?re not in the top 10)?

Those are the homeruns of branding terms, but I don?t see you in the top ten on almost any of them. Where are you in Google and what exactly does your SEO guy Brandon Fritz do????

Question: How and why would potential clients of Kolbrener branding buy your search engine optimization services if Kolbrener marketing can?t even rank for their own top phrases??

I had to laugh, chuckle even when I saw the 50 searches that were done on the term kolbrener online marketing. Here?s where it gets comical?we?re #1 over Kolbrener on their own freakin phrase.Hey Brandon, you?re really not too good at SEO are you? Good hire Michael!

Check it out here, that is if you want a nice chuckle:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2006-18,GGLG:en&q=kolbrener+online+marketing

Maybe Brandon can concentrate on your own SEO campaign and less on the competitors that are kicking?your ass up and down the internet. Just a thought. But since you haven?t responded to our emails I can only imagine you just don?t care?.?Now that I think about it you’re really not our competition are you? If customers want to hire an SEO company they’d choose us over you all day. If they wanted a TRUE branding agency they’d choose us over you as well.

As you may or may not know I have a hard time with bad advertising. My number one pet peeve is an owner doing their own advertising like Bob’s Discount Furniture and Ernie Boch Jr. These guys are just cheese ball owners in monkey suits. But?

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WB Mason is a bigger offender. They actually have an ad agency doing their stuff (I don’t know who they are but I’m sure WB Mason calls the shots on that account). I wouldn’t be proud of or take credit for the WB Mason campaign. Their commercials (positioning and identity) are all about how they are the lowest price.

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Done in 1930′s style (as detectives) they compare themselves to the office supply superstore (aka Staples) and how customers are getting soaked in high prices (as a woman is carrying out a box of copy paper). First off those boxes are heavy!

How sad. It’s pretty pathetic when the only promise you can make to a customer is price. Basically you are a commodity at that point. Why even advertise WB Mason? You’re already the lowest price. If I’m a cheapo customer and I buy solely on price then you’re for me! Trust me I’ll find you, they always do.

Check out their cheesy commercial:

Personally I’d like to build a strong brand like Staples. One that offers value added services, education, and of course… The Easy Button! Now that’s some real branding. WB Mason, take notice of how it’s supposed to be done!

People actually buy the Easy Button.

What would anyone buy of WB Mason’s? Ah, nothing because customers don’t have a true connection with them.

So for those owners and so called marketing executives that position on price I say good luck and good riddance. You are closed minded and unfocused on the big picture.

Give me a client that wants to make a customer feel part of something like those Easy Button people of Staples.

And have you looked at WB Mason’s website? It looks like my 14 year old nephew designed it. That really represents their true positioning….cheap!

Soon, Casinos will bring in vanilla restaurants or chain restaurants that will imperil the local restaurateurs. Proponents of this say increased traffic will enhance business volume in local establishments but?the reality is that the casinos make it so customers don?t leave the building.?

Although casinos may put in top grade restaurants soon your local Italian restaurant owned by Salvatore will be on the unemployment line.

Let?s not ruin all the local branding of restaurants.?Tell us what you think.

We established an ongoing list of brands we hate and love. You can see this total list here:?Brands We Love/Hate

But we?ll start with the brand we hate the most:?

???Magellan GPS Navigation?

Magellan is one of the original creators of automobile navigation so they should be the brand leader. But Magellan is one of the most poorly managed companies in the history of poor management. ? Magellan just named a new CEO, Nelson Chan, who apparently is not a branding expert. Let me tell you why, Nelson Chan you are?committing branding suicide.?

“Magellan has already made a significant mark on the GPS market as an early innovator and a reliable provider in segments ranging from auto navigation and outdoor recreation to land survey,” said Chan. “I’m looking forward to taking Magellan into a new era of market leadership based on product innovation and operational excellence that will excite customers and the market.”

Your products don?t work. That?s right; you have a serious quality control problem. Are you aware of this? I?ve made the mistake of buying 3 different GPS units from Magellan and ALL have failed to work for more than 1 year. What are you doing to solve the quality control issues??

If you go online and Google ?Magellan GPS?quality? you?ll see what I mean. The phrase itself can be either positive or negative but you?ll find the negatives severely outweigh the positives.??

But why? Well Nelson Chan let me tell you because you are obviously uncaring of your current brand image or just completely out of touch with your customers.?

Reasons why Magellan GPS brand is bad:?

1. Poor Quality ? Ah, your stuff doesn’t work
2. Poor Service ? Ah, you outsource to India (thanks for that, Americans love to chat with people that barely speak English).
3. You scam us ? Sorry, the device doesn?t work. Buy a refurbished one for $299 or we?ll fix that one for $150 otherwise piss-off!

So let?s delve into why Magellan GPS Navigation has the worst service in the world.

Magellan GPS Navigation outsources their customer service to India. And folks they do that because they appreciate you Mr. Joe Customer so much. Outsourcing to India sends one message only: Magellan GPS doesn?t care about the customer.??

As customers we have a say. Start spreading the word to friends and family. Let them know that Magellan Navigation stinks and if you ever have a problem have fun talking to someone with a name like Jawaharlal but who calls himself ?Larry?. No kidding I?ve been through it. They barely speak English and follow-up is not in their vocabulary.??

Next you scam us. If it doesn?t work you bill us a fee of $150 or sell us another paperweight for going retail price. Huh? You really just don?t care about your branding at all.?

Nelson Chan you are a bad CEO. Because trust me when I say that there is nothing more important than your brand identity and brand image.?And if you don’t know that then you should resign as CEO of Magellan.

Hopefully this will become viral so that other would be purchasers of Magellan GPS units will avoid your company at all cost.??

Readers, help spread the word about Magellan GPS Navigation. Let your friends, associates, collegues and family know that they?should avoid buying their products.??

Let?s teach these big companies a lesson!?

This is the first piece of junk I bought from Magellan:

I mailed this to Magellan to be fixed and they actually lost it. It took me 6 months to get a replacement from them which they charged me $150 for. You’d think it would be a no cost “sorry we lost your unit” but nahhh, you still pay us even though we waited 6 months to replace it. Go Magellan!

About Magellan

Magellan is a leader in the consumer, survey, GIS and OEM GPS navigation and positioning markets. Recognized as an industry innovator, the company is the creator of the Magellan RoadMate series portable car navigation systems, the Magellan eXplorist outdoor handheld navigation devices, the Hertz NeverLost car navigation system and ProMark, the single frequency GPS survey product line on the market. The Company is privately held and headquartered in Santa Clara, California with European headquarters in Carquefou, France.

There are thousands of marketing, advertising, branding and naming companies out there to help you with a naming project.? Naming is not easy. It?s not easy because a client has to give in to the agency that is performing the work. You can?t all the sudden become a namer and start ripping out ideas.?

And this is what always seems to happen.

Clients start adding to the process and things get muddled and stray off strategy. Obviously as the client you have input and we are a team?but remember why you hired a naming agency in the first place.? Because they are the experts. We know what we?re doing and it should be left in our hands.?

I see this for all the creative we do. Suddenly everyone?s a web designer or brochure designer etc. This is frustrating for the agency because we are the experts.

Think of it this way;?If you needed brain surgery would you ask the doctor to hold up a mirror so you could see what they were doing and then offer suggestions on possible repairs of your brain? I know a few clients that would say yes, but most of us would say hell no.?

Have faith in your agency after all you hired them. If you?d like to check out our naming services click on the link below:?

Brand Name Development

Branding.??

Sure it?s super fast, but there are other cars that go that fast. They only made 20 of them and at 1.4 million they sold out in 4 hours. Why??

Branding.?

This is a great example of how you can differentiate yourself and develop such strong brand identity. ?Let?s face it, no one needs a car like this but there is a real reason why typically men buy these cars. Prestige, power, and excitement. And Lamborghini does this like no other. ?

So folks the next time you say that people buy on price think again. Price is almost never the answer when it comes to branding. Because branding eliminates the price dilemma from the equation. Branding makes a consumer feel a certain way. Like glamorous or wealthy or wholesome, you get the picture. What price can you put on making a person feel good?

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And that?s why building a strong brand identity is the most important thing any company can do.?Kudos to Lambo for breaking all the records. Personally I think they should make the first 5 million dollar car!

We?ve just released a hi-def video on our site. Click here: Boston Search Engine Optimization to check it out. Then if you?re interested request a free SEO analysis. It certainly can?t hurt and we actually spend some time on them.?

SEO is by far one of if not the best branding and marketing tactics today. If you?re not optimized you just can?t be found. SEO solves all that. Check it out here:?

Welcome Starbak! BIG has been contracted to develop a new brand identity strategy and positioning for the market leader in video communications. BIG will begin the project by developing a new positioning line (tagline), logo and corporate identity system. ?

A website, trade ads, newsletter and new product rollout will follow. BIG will also be developing a new brand identity for the rollout of this new product line. Starbak is aggressively trying to build a new brand image in the marketplace and will be unveiling its new brand positioning in the up coming weeks.

Check them out.

?Look for Starbak to crush its competition shortly!

So we all pretty much know what word of mouth is but now it?s gaining some momentum with the help of the internet. I must say that the phrase word of mouth can mean different things to different people. But let?s jump into it shall we?

Here is Wikipedia?s definition: ?Word-of-Mouth Marketing, or WOMM, is a term used in the marketing and advertising industry to describe activities that companies undertake to generate personal recommendations as well as referrals for brand names, products and services.?

That?s kind of what I thought. But really isn?t word of mouth marketing just another tactic in marketing? I believe it is. Sure, you set up a WOMM campaign and then hope that the strategy and execution work. Sounds like marketing to me. We?re definitely not a word of mouth company?in the sense that we focus our efforts on promoting just that one tactic. Of course we’ve executed word of mouth campaigns through branding strategies.

And that?s ultimately where Word of Mouth companies fall short. Putting your eggs in one basket is not a good thing. I don?t care how great that tactic is you need a multi-tiered approach when you work for a client. Word of mouth?marketing only gets you so far and is not the be all-end all.

For instance we are a branding company. That?s the big picture to us. Part of building a brand could be word of mouth campaigns. But it could also be search engine optimization, direct mail, trade advertising, newsletters, blog etc. etc. Why would we limit ourselves to say identity and word of mouth?

There?s a place for all types of marketing tactics but think big picture first and then work down to the strategies and tactics. Maybe word of mouth won?t work well for you; maybe it will but give me a balance of tried and true tactics as well.

So be leery when talking to Word of Mouth companies or any company that really only self promotes a single type of service. Ask yourself what is their motivation. Ad agencies want you to buy media. What do word of mouth companies want?

I know at Brand Identity Guru we match the right tactic to the client?s budget and overall strategy. If someone has a $50,000 budget I?ll make sure they get the best possible return on investment and choose the best appropriate tactic(s). Another words we don?t play favorites when it comes down to what vehicles to use. I certainly won?t always think word of mouth is the most appropriate tactic.

On a final note I do like what WOMMA is saying. It?s some cool thinking and I like their approach. I?m going to research them a bit more.

I must say over 17 years I?m pretty frustrated hearing the same old question. Do you have experience in my industry (fill in the blank)? Because my industry is like no other. We are the most complicated business in the history of the world.?

When meeting with a major restaurant chain they asked us if we had experience designing menus.

I politely said no. But I?m pretty sure we?d approach it the same way we would any other job. We?ve done this countless times. We are experts.?

We didn?t get the job. I?m glad. Let me tell you why. Brand Identity Guru does not specialize in any industry on purpose. We enjoy being creative. We don?t want to be stuck in a repetitive industry. And we certainly don?t want to regurgitate any work. ? We bring a fresh look and perspective to any industry.

We?ve worked in Healthcare, Accounting, Engineering, Architecture, Sporting Goods, Service, Foodservice, Landscaping, Travel and dozens more. I?m pretty sure we could have designed the menu.? ?

Don?t you want to differentiate yourself? Then why penalize a firm if they don?t have experience in your industry? We all know there is a learning curve but sometimes if you take a step back you?ll take two forward.?

Have faith in a firm with little or no experience in your industry. As long as they are smart thinkers and have a good process you?ll do well. Trust me we know. When we started we didn?t have any experience in any industry.

Thanks to Spike over at Brains on Fire for inspriring me to write this article. A lot of my articles come from other blog articles I read and then put into my own words and life experiences. In this case Spike has had the same experiences as I have and probably thousands of other branding companies.

Here?s a list of consumer brands that I absolutely will avoid at all costs (and most likely never will sign as a client). Mostly these brands offend me in some way or make me feel bad. And we all know that branding boils down to making people feel good.?

Copyright: gapingvoid.com

The Bad!?

Ritz Carlton Service is now average at best. Restaurants are above average but not worth the cost. Rooms are horribly overpriced for what you receive. There is no value at the Ritz Carlton. Furthermore their antiquated Internet policies are mind boggling. In a world where everyone has a blog and?converses about experiences, the Ritz Carlton has a policy disallowing 3rd party links. My wife had a link from her St. Thomas Blog to the Ritz Carlton St. Thomas and was asked to remove it as it violated their 3rd party linking policy. Hey Ritz Carlton…get with the times! Bloggers, YouTube, it’s all going to happen whether you like it or not.?

Wal-Mart: Service is pathetic, I feel dirty, besides a low price what?s their value proposition??

Southwest Airlines: I?ve never even given this brand a chance, enough said.? Covering up safety tests?

Northwest Airlines: Employees truly hate working there, over priced fares, mechanical issues and the worst service of any airline.?When I?asked why I had to buy a Redbox (snack box)?on a flight I paid $1400 for from Boston to Minnesota the flight attendant replied; “Do you think you’re on Jet Blue?” Apparently not!?

American Express: Very hypocritical, poor service and I feel they truly could care less. You are a number with them no matter how much business you do with them, and trust me we did over 1 million dollars per year with them. Arrogant.?Citi Bank loves our business though. One more reason we hate American Express – They now outsource customer service to India. Yet another slap in the face to their customers!

Burger King: The redheaded step child of fast food. They follow and never lead. Make some good fries already.?Who’s their target market? I think it’s teenagers but can’t tell. Every 4 months they have a different campaign. Here’s an idea. Determine who you are and what you want to be and then develop a campaign that sticks around.

Magellan: I’ve owned 3 different navigational devices from these clowns. None of them ever worked properly. Apparently oodles of other people feel the same way. So there is a serious brand image problem with quality. Now comes the worst part about Magellan. They don’t care! Call customer service and you’ll get “Larry”, only problem is “Larry” and “Martha” are from India (they outsource to India for your pleasure…yippee)?and barely speak English. Magellan only cares about their bottom line. Hey Magellan, I’m spreading the word. You suck!

New York Yankees: I’m from Boston so this is a given. But, they really do suck! They are so poorly run and mismanaged. The only reason they win all the time is because they can outspend everyone, another reason everyone hates them. Once the Boss kicks the bucket they may….may be able to turn the brand around.

StarBand Internet Service Provider: I’m forced to use Starband but if I did have a choice they’d never see another red cent from me. Read all about why I hate Starband here.

Here?s my list of consumer brands that I absolutely love and adore (please call us). These brands give me a sense of joy, pleasure and value.??

The Good!?

Tweeter: Knowledgeable staff, higher end products, installation and service impeccable.? I’ve personally spent well over $100,000 at Tweeter. Struggling financially and I have to think it’s a management thing.

Amazon: Great selection, follow-up, service and pricing, overall great value.? One of the best if not the best?online brands ever. When shopping online I check Amazon first, what does that say?

iRobot:I?m in love with my Roomba vacuum cleaners. I sit and watch them dance around the room. What really impressed me was their commitment to the customer. After a year one of my Roomba?s malfunctioned. They replaced it free of charge.? Service, service, service, you had me at “can I help you”.????

Target:The complete opposite of Wal-Mart. What a stellar job they?ve done branding.?I love Target.

Jet Blue: I?m?anxious to fly, but not on Jet Blue. Thank you so much! Best service, value and employees.?The employees all speak the same lingo. That’s called brand identity. Jet Blue is the master of the sky.

Coca Cola: What can I say? I don?t drink Pepsi, that?s for sure. It?s almost like I?m programmed. Diet Coke please.? The leader of all leaders.

Google: They will eventually own the world. Their culture is second to none. Truly dedicated to their brand identity.?

Apple: Pure genius. Products are terrific and corporate culture is phenomenal. One of the strongest identities in the world. They truly understand the value of differentiation and building a strong brand identity.

BMW’s Mini Cooper:Mini commands sticker price and resale is extremely high. My wife owns a Mini and we love it. It’s truly a lifestyle and great feeling that you get behind the wheel of?a Mini. There is nothing that competes with it. Furthermore Mini’s constant matketing is fantastic. We receive great emails, kits and offers for Mini ad ons. Mini is in a class by itself.

NetFlix:They own the movie to home space. BlockBuster is making waves but ultimately NetFlix will remain the heavyweight champion.

ESPN: The original all sports network. They dominate their brand space and deliver day in? and day out. The ultimate Man channel.

I waited a long time to make this post. Finally a beer company really digging deep into the soul of their brand identity. It?s an awesome campaign by Crispin Porter + Bogusky/Miami. Miller High life has drawn its line in the sand and positioned properly. Miller High Life is for the average Joe working man. Not the Sam Adams man, Heineken man, Bud man?.a man who values his bank account and family.?So here’s?the latest campaign:?

A Miller High Life deliveryman tells a bistro waiter to “step aside, mon ami.” He’s there to take back delivery of the beer because this restaurant charges $11.50 for a hamburger. “Mess with the High Life and the High Life will mess with you.”

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The preface of this campaign as I see it is that a Miller High Life man doesn?t find much value in a place where a burger cost $11.50. Nope, he?s all about being realistic and making ends meet. He cares for his family and is a stand up guy. That?s how I see it.? If I were that man I?d drink nothing but Miller. In all truth I don?t even drink beer anymore, now I?m a whiskey man. But back to Miller.?

They have clearly differentiated their product not by quality, price, service or any other ?standard? junk you normally see. They differentiated by making Miller a lifestyle. How do the other beer companies in their space compete with that? They can?t. This is exactly what we preach to our customer?s day in and day out.??

When you’re differentiated you become the brand champion. It?s really that easy.?Kudos to Miller and their Ad Agency for realizing this!

I often ask myself that!??

I’m a shit stirrer to some…

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…and a rebellious idiot to others. I have a deep strong passion for helping my clients. I take great pride in developing long term business and personal friendships.?

I grew up in Massachusetts in a huge, tough city called Brockton. Home of Rocky Marciano, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and some other famous dude that I?m obviously forgetting.??

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I graduated Brockton High School (you know you’re in a tough city when the first thing they mention about Brockton High is that it’s “safe”) in 1984 with a senior class of over 1500 pimple faced troublemakers. That?s a lot of 17 year olds.?

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I attended the University of Massachusetts (UMASS)

Where I majored in beer consumption and snooze button control (I excelled at this). During my non hangover days I minored in marketing. That?s where I fell in love with my future profession. I was drawn in to how some products could sell for a far greater price than similar products. Back then they really didn?t call it branding. They had another name for it?integrated marketing.?

When I graduated from UMASS in 1989ish I hit the road and took a job with one of the World?s largest printers, Wallace Computer Services (now owned by RR Donnelly). There I honed my sales skills and ability to work with senior executives. This was not my dream job but I was a young whipper snapper and had to pay my dues.?

I then bounced around a few small ad agencies for a few years and learned the ?business?.

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All the while I knew that working for someone else was not my calling in life.?I made the move out on my own in the early 90?s and have never looked back.

I started the business as a graphic design firm; elevated it to a marketing communications company in the mid 90?s and then made the full transformation to branding about 1997.?

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Copyright: gapingvoid.com

Branding and specifically brand identity are the most important?weapons a company can employ. So I’ve positioned Brand Identity Guru as the leading brand identity company. We often hear that brand image is everything. Wrong! Brand image is a reflection of your brand identity. Therefore everything starts at the brand identity.?

I recently got married (March 2007) to my smart, lovely, hot, sexy wife Nicci (I have to cover my bases just in case she reads this). We live south of Boston (in the burbs)?in a town I don?t want you to know and own a second home in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands (Villa Nicoletta) that we rent out and spend lots of time in. We are beach bums by heart so choosing a destination that has Magens Bay in it was a no brainer.?

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We have 3 parrots, Rodney, Lucy and Dice (all named after some pretty funny comedians). They are a handful and keep us amused on a daily basis.

Rodney (right)?is an African Grey and has a vocabulary of hundreds of sentences. From September through January you?ll often hear him screaming at the TV ?run, run, run?.touchdown!? Then comes the Whohooo.??

Lucy (left)?is a beautiful female Eclectus and frankly can be pretty bitchy at times. She is one of the prettiest parrots on the planet. Unfortunately she?s not much of a talker but she loves to play catch.?

Dice (ah…middle)?is a smaller bird called a White Bellied Caique. Caiques are the most rambunctious parrot in existence. He loves to run, play, wrestle and fight with Nicci and I. He tries to beat up the other birds but doesn?t realize he?s just a little guy. He says things like ?what?s your name? and ?how you doin?. He?s the coolest bird alive.?

If you?ve read this far God bless you. Now you know all about the man behind the curtain.

Risk is the price you pay for opportunity…

Scott White

First off you couldn?t pay me to fly on Southwest; it?s like shopping at Wal-Mart for me. I won?t walk into a Wal-Mart and I?ve never flown Southwest. There?s just something about paying $49 across country that concerns me. Like whom are they hiring to fly the plane when I?m paying $50 from Boston to wherever?

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But now they take the cake. Southwest is kicking people off of flights for dress code violations. Huh? They don?t think you dress appropriately you need to change or get off the plane. This morning I was watching The Today Show and they had a college girl on that was just asked to change her mini skirt or get off the plane. Really? You want to make a hot college girl change out of her mini skirt? What the hell is the world coming to??

Then I read about a woman they actually kicked off because they didn?t like her political t-shirt. What the hell is going on Southwest? Are you crazy? Do you want to just kill any and all branding you?ve ever done??Here?s a thought; Don?t fly on Southwest!

We?ve been around for almost 2 decades and have been asked to do spec work thousands of times. For those who don?t know what spec work is; it?s free creative/strategy ideas or concepts that agencies do to win potential business.???

Why is it good? Those who ask for it feel it gives them a sense of security. That way when a decision is made they?ve done their homework. But all they?ve done is set their company up for failure.

Let me tell you why??

1. Spec work is never, ever correct or on target. When we engage a client we get intimate with their business, employees, customers, prospects, lost customers, industry professionals etc. How could you possibly do this providing spec work? So what you really get with spec work is just a bunch of pretty pictures and some half assed strategies.?Sorry, not for us. If you want to work with Brand Identity Guru then you really need to understand the type of value we bring to the table.

And it?s not free work. We are truly your partner in crime. We enjoy your success because it makes us feel good. Not because you pay us. Don?t you want someone like that??

2. It makes the agency a vendor. You might as well get a rope, throw it over a beam and jump off a chair when your client refers to you as a vendor.??

3. Without question they?ll expect free work after they have selected you. This is all part of the ?You?re lucky we chose you? mentality. ?

We build strong brand identity and or close the gap between your identity and brand image. We can?t do that with a few creative concepts and a box lunch. So if you?re looking for spec work call a desperate ad agency, they love to do them!

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So the next time a prospect asks you to do spec work turn the tables. If they sell clothing (substitute their product or service) ask them for a wardrobe in your size and tell them you want to wear it around for 6 months to see if the quality and style suits you. If the clothing is good enough for you tell them that you?ll buy future clothing from them but you?ll be keeping the clothing you?ve been wearing for the last 6 months.???

See how many of them want to give stuff away??

My next two articles will be on why we never participate in RFP?s and make guarantee?s.

Thanks to NoSpec.com and Spike over at Brains on Fire for inspriring me to write this article. A lot of my articles come from other blog articles I read and then put into my own words and life experiences. In this case Spike has had the same experiences as I have and probably thousands of other branding companies.