The BIG Kahuna

To continue on with my series on ridiculous blog posts from Seth Godin I give you his latest blog post ?Tribe Management?.?Here?s an excerpt:

Brand management is so 1999.

Brand management was top down, internally focused, political and money based. It involved an MBA managing the brand, the ads, the shelf space, etc. The MBA argued with product development and manufacturing to get decent stuff, and with the CFO to get more cash to spend on ads.

Wow talk about stereotyping. I?ve worked with brand/marketing managers for 20 years now and I can tell you that this is not where it?s at. Just yesterday I spoke with a brand manager about setting up a blog and how they could leverage their brand identity through via internal and external branding strategies.

Let me tell you what brand managers really do and why Seth Godin is a Master Charlatan (in my humble opinion):

1.???? They develop a company?s brand identity, brand promise and brand strategy (still very chic as far as I know?so 2008).

2.???? They implement an internal branding program to get employees involved with the brand so they become brand ambassadors (probably still cool in 2008 as far as I know).

3.???? They choose the best strategies and tactics that obtain the greatest ROI and leverage their brand identity (I?ve personally never sold TV ads as we are a branding company not an ad agency). TV is so dead.

4.???? As far as I know hiring MBA?s is still a good thing. Smart people still count.

5.???? Brand Managers don?t have a predestined way of spending the budget. Maybe ads are the correct way to go or maybe search engine optimization is. They?re smart or at least should be.

The sad thing is Seth Godin doesn?t really know much about branding. He?s a word of mouth marketing guy. Don?t write about subjects that you are clearly misinformed with. Stick to your spiel about permission marketing, that?s not so bad.

Seth Godin is on a book tour right now. He makes money from selling books. Enough said.

A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage via some form of pretence or deception.?

I get a few emails here and there with people that correct my spelling or grammar on our branding blog or website. Or they?re nice enough to catch a typo. One woman was nice enough to spend the time to proof read a majority of our website. She emailed me and said:?

I would never do business with a company that doesn?t know the difference between ?its? and ?it?s?. Apparently I spelled it ?it?s? instead of ?its?. An obvious typo.?

I thanked her for catching a single typo within a 100 page website. In other words, get a life. First, why would anyone spend time with this nonsense? Don?t you have more important stuff to do?

?

Are you that anal that you need to criticize someone over a typo? Is life that boring? If so guess what? We don?t want to work with you. We are passionate people that are creative and have fun with our work. We have relationships with our clients that REQUIRE a sense of humor.??

Lighten up folks, ya only live once.

For many years we?ve developed a direct mail list. We have the list honed in to the exact customers we?re looking for. We test our message regularly and refine our call to actions.?

We hear direct mail is dead. Good news for us, less clutter out there huh? ?

I got a call last week from a person on my direct mail list. She?s moved on from the current job she had 8 YEARS AGO. So she hasn?t received a direct mail piece from us in about 8 years.?

She said ?Scott I?ve saved all your direct mail pieces in a folder. They were so well done that I knew there would be a time when I would need your services.??

That time is now, 8 years later.?

Direct mail is dead, whoopdeedoo!

There are a lot of people drinking the red cool-aid about word of mouth marketing. I?m a believer in it but thankfully I always tie it to the branding. But for some folks it seems like they think it?s the only way.

I don?t like people that just believe in a certain way. To me that sounds confined and a bit scary. These same folks will tell you TV, radio and direct mail are dead. Maybe, but I don?t think so.

Every direct mail campaign we?ve ever executed for a client has resulted in 100% return on investment (ROI). Sure the ROI for responses on average is a low number but if you execute a strategy, and correct message to the right audience the dollar return is always high.?In other?words our clients may get a 3% response rate but the sales of those 3% could be worth millions. So is direct mail dead? Nope.

This takes me to that word of mouth marketing thing again. If word of mouth is SO powerful how is it that the airlines treat you like dirt and customers keep going back for more? Customers do have options. If Delta stinks why fly them again? If you tell 100 people about your horrible experience why do those 100 people choose to fly on Delta? Low price at the right time maybe?

How about the cell phone industry? Is anyone really happy with AT & T, Sprint, T-Mobil? Nope. Everyone complains about all these guys, so why isn?t word of mouth making consumers flock to another company?

I wrote several articles on how Magellan GPS stunk:

http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress/?p=5 http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress/?p=388 http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress/?p=207

I even persuaded one of my employees?s to buy a Garmin but did that ultimately hurt Magellan? Nope. Will it? I doubt it. There are websites setup about how Magellan stinks but Magellan just keeps rolling along. Why isn?t word of mouth marketing (WOMM) hurting them?

Sure there are many examples of when WOMM works but there are just as many of it not working. Be careful not to drink too much of the red cool-aid, it can have a bitter taste.

It’s the most important thing any company can do. Here’s a case study for one company’s quest for the perfect brand identity.?

Humboldt Storage and Moving decided to get into the moving, storing and protecting of fine art. They knew they needed a brand that reflected the type of service that hit their target market of very affluent clients.

They came to us and we conducted our brand-aid research. Ultimately the deliverable was a value proposition, positioning and brand identity. The new brand identity was to deliver customization through the client’s imagination. If they could imagine it Humboldt could deliver it.?

So we named the new company “Mind’s Eye” and put that with the tagline “Imagine That”. ?

Our next step was logo development:

As you can see we played from the client’s use of their brain to imagine the possibilities.??

And finally the website was introduced:?

http://www.imaginemindseye.com/???

There is still a lot more to do. We’re currently performing search engine optimization on the website and we’ve developed a handout brochure. Next will come a blog and some social media. If they can imagine it we can help them build it.

Starbucks lowers its price to compete with McDonald?s.

You can now get a cup of commodity coffee at Starbucks for $1.00. Starbucks Chairman Howard “I know nothing“?Schultz now wins the award for the biggest branding blunder of 2008.?

Goodbye Starbucks brand, nice knowing you!

Some of you may or may not know that I own a St Thomas Villa. I both live in and rent the villa during the winter months and I?m back home in Boston for the summers. When I bought the villa I knew it would always have tremendous rental ability.

St. Thomas is a gorgeous island and Villa Nicoletta is located cliff side on the water.?

???? ????

When it came time to develop a brand identity for Villa Nicoletta I researched the competition but more importantly I talked to potential renters (my target audience). I received some pretty interesting feedback from would be renters. Here?s what they wanted:?

1. Privacy
2. Access to beaches and restaurants
3. Amenities (stuff they could use and enjoy)
4. Luxury

So I embarked on fulfilling my target market desires. I hired a landscaping company to come in and plant beautiful palm trees around the villa making it completely private. I added real world amenities to the villa like:?

1. Computers in every bedroom with WiFi
2. Web cam so people back where they live can see them (if they want to)
3. Outside music system
4. Outdoor kitchen with full Tiki Bar
5. Retractable remote controlled awning
6. Hot tub
7. Home theatre

Then I did extensive research on my competition of 4 bedroom villas. I felt they were all severely underpriced and frankly just treated as commodities. As a branding guy I knew I had to differentiate and get out of the commodity business. So I priced Villa Nicoletta about 35% higher than all my competition.?I don?t want to be everything to everyone. I don?t want to be affordable to any Joe Schmoe and their family. Villa Nicoletta is at the top of the food chain not in the middle with everyone else.?

How has it worked? I?ve had tremendous success renting Villa Nicoletta. For New Years week the villa rented for $10,000, $3,500 more than a competitor 65 feet away. Why you ask? Perception and meeting the markets demand. One look at the Tiki Bar and they were hooked.?

???? ????

Now Villa Nicoletta is not right for everyone. People looking for ?deals? aren?t going to get any. They will however get a private, luxurious stay with lots of great stuff to do.

???? ????

Tell me why do auto makers consistently advertise they have safe cars? There is only one safe car company that I know of?Volvo. Volvo owns safe. So why do these other car companies spend all this money to be like Volvo??

Why would you want to be like a competitor? It really makes no sense. Why not be different? That?s what I would want. Instead of chasing behind Volvo why not be innovative in your products and or service. Take Lexus for instance. Sure they?re a luxury car but they own the service space. You want exceptional service buy a Lexus.?

This is why developing your brand identity is so critical. You get to set the benchmark for how you want customers and prospects to perceive you. Then you need to go out and execute that through your brand promise. Most companies I visit have absolutely no clue what their brand identity is. But they sure know what their brand image is. And most times they don?t align.?

With all the new ways to spend your marketing dollars you would think a company at least took the time to understand who they are and how they want to be perceived. This is by far the number one mistake in marketing today. Avoid this pitfall at all costs or you?ll end up in no brands land?.a commodity.?

Take this short simple test and see how you do on the branding test:?

Branding Test

Last year over 100 talented bloggers contributed chapters to The Age of Conversation. Unfortunately I did not contribute but I?m on the roster for the 2008 version! This year has a different theme – you get to select?via an online vote and, of course, there’s another chance to become a published author by contributing a chapter.

I?m ready to Pump Up?Your Brand!

Click here: Drew McLellan’s blog for more info.

I?ve decided to keep a running tab on Seth Godin and respond (with my humble opinion) to some of his most ridiculous blog articles (since he does not allow comments ? I wonder why?). A lot of word of mouth marketing people admire Seth Godin so I?m sure I?ll piss some people off. But some of the snake oil this guy is selling??

A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage via some form of pretence or deception.??

In my humble opinion Seth Godin is a Master Charlatan.?

Blog Article 1 in response to Seth Godin?s ?The Problem with Perfect??

???

In this Seth Godin article he claims that companies that obtain ?perfection? like FedEx are over looked. He claims that delivering on one?s brand promise consistently can actually hurt them because no one will spread word of mouth (ie. snake oil). Think about that one for second.?

FedEx, one of the strongest brands in the world consistently delivers on their brand identity and brand promise but somehow that?s bad? He claims that by not being ?interesting? that perfection (great service) will be a downfall. Really? Yet in another blog article Seth talks about making promises and under delivering: ?

??

Hypocritical??

Well then Seth make the switch to UPS or the US Mail for 6 months and then tell me how interesting FedEx is. FedEx delivers, period. I don?t want them to be interesting I want them to be perfect. Because I need that package there when it?s suppose to be there. Not in 2-5 days, maybe, probably or most likely.?

He?s right when he says people don?t talk about FedEx because they?re perfect. Yup, no buzz going on there. But a lot of people ARE talking about that UPS package that was promised to be there tomorrow but instead got there 3 days late. Lots and lots of talk about those ?other? companies not living up to their promises. I know I?ve been one of the people talking.?

He then goes on to say the reason he stays with FedEx is because the delivery girl is ?interesting?. I wonder how interesting she is??

Here?s a quote from his article:?

As the quality of things go up, and competition increases, it’s so easy to sell people on perfect. But perfect rarely leads to great word of mouth, merely because expectations are so hard to meet.?

Yes and those remarkable companies that do meet them (insert FedEx) have a unique competitive advantage. They deliver on their promise day in and day out. ?

Here?s the deal. Word of Mouth Marketing is nothing but a branding tactic. Sure we want word of mouth. But it should all be part of a bigger integrated branding strategy. These word of mouth guys like Seth Godin are all drinking the same red cool-aid. What they fail to realize is that the brand identity is where it?s at.?

A company like FedEx has done the work to get their brand identity in line with their brand image. They deliver. Volvo is the same way, they?re safe. That?s what you want to obtain. Being interesting and receiving word of mouth all comes from the development of one?s brand identity. That?s what makes you different and unique and that my friend is what makes you interesting and remarkable.?

FedEx is not interesting (but the delivery girl is), so says Seth Godin Master Charlatan.

??

The opinions on this blog are my own and not necessarily the same as Brand Identity Guru?s

I?m a huge Journey fan. I?ve followed them since the early 80?s and regularly go to their concerts. My wife Nicci and I have met them (see picture below), cool guys. Over the years and most recently we?ve seen lead singers come and go.

?

(from left to right fan, fan, singer Steve Augeri, behind Steve is Bassist Ross Valory, my wife Nicci, me, fan, fan, and pianist/keyboardist Jonathan Cain)

We really liked Steve Augeri as a replacement for Steve Perry. He looked and sounded just like the original but of course there is only one Steve Perry. Augeri was replaced with Jeff Scott Soto after an illness (we think he got fired) who we absolutely hated. We swore to stop going to Journey concerts. We want a BIG Mac not a Whopper. So if you?re giving us a guy not like the original?

Where am I going with this as far as Word of Mouth Marketing? Well it seems that a little known band called the Zoo has a lead singer Arnel Pineda who has a strong fan following. So much so that they regularly video the band and put them on YouTube. There are hundreds of videos of Arnel singing Journey songs as well as Air Supply, Survivor, Heart,?on and on.

Here?s a quote from Guitarist Neal Schon of Journey: When it was time for JOURNEY to look for a new lead singer, the internet came to their rescue.? Guitarist Neal Schon wanted someone new to the music business, so he turned to YouTube.? After finding Arnel singing ?Faithfully,? he knew he had found the perfect frontman.

?I was frustrated about not having a singer,? explains guitarist Neal Schon, ?so I went on YouTube for a couple of days and just sat on it for hours.? I was starting to think I was never going to find anybody.? But then I found The Zoo and I watched a bunch of different video clips that they had posted.? After watching the videos over and over again, I had to walk away from the computer and let what I heard sink in because it sounded too good to be true.? I thought, ?he can?t be that good.?

I must say that this new cat Arnel sounds a lot like Steve Perry although looking like him will never happen since he?s from the Philippines. But who cares what he looks like with a golden voice.

Check out his videos here:

?

And here are all the singers

Neal goes on to say:

?I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him that night, but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an imposter.?Arnel Pineda picks up the story:? ?My friend Noel picked up the message on YouTube and told me it was from Neal.? I thought it was a hoax so I ignored it.? Noel said, ?what if it really was Neal and he wanted to offer you the chance of a lifetime??? So I e-mailed Neal back and the rest is history.?

I guess Word of Mouth Marketing can really pay off. Can?t wait to see Journey soon!

I?ve read Seth Godin?s blog from time to time. The Word of Mouth Marketing folks kneel at his feet. I think a lot of his ideas are really great. Some I definitely have issues with. Here?s one I don?t get??

Seth talks about permission marketing, a lot. He?s done some trailblazing in this subject. Of course make no bones about it it?s to sell his books. That?s cool, it?s all about sales. Kudos to Seth for differentiating and building a strong brand identity. In our opinion that?s what it?s all about.?

But have you been too his blog? Sure the articles are on topic and he?s got a ton of readers. But try and comment. Sorry, Seth doesn?t allow comments. Why? So I emailed him. This is the response I received (it was obviously cut and pasted):?

Scott ?

Thanks for your note about comments. I’m delighted that you’re interested in my blog, and commend you to:??http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/06/why_i_dont_have.html for my post on this topic.?

seth godinsethgodin@yahoo.com?

So I visited that page. Here are some excerpts:?

?I feel compelled to clarify or to answer every objection or to point out every flaw in reasoning?.?

Why? It?s you blog Seth. I don?t answer every comment or clarify how I feel. You?re a big boy now don?t be such a coward. The real deal is you don?t want people disagreeing with you. That may hurt book sales. Isn?t that all part of permission marketing though? If I sign up for your blog shouldn?t you want and care to ?converse? with me? Having a conversation with a reader (insert book buyer) is pretty important I think.?

?Second, it takes way too much of my time to even think about them, never mind curate them?.?

Well at least your honest about it. And that?s good, but c?mon are your readers that burdensome? Make time for those that are dedicated to reading your blog. They are of course your customers and prospects.?

And finally, and most important for you, it permanently changes the way I write. Instead of writing for everyone, I find myself writing in anticipation of the commenters.?

Huh? What? Are you for real on that comment? I love how he says ?and most importantly for you?, nice turnaround. If you believe this I got a bridge to sell you. That?s a load of crap IMHO.?

So I emailed him back and said I thought it was cowardly by removing comments. Here is his response:?

Proud to be a coward ?

if you want your money back from my blog, send me your address and I’ll send you a refund. ?

but hypocritical? I don’t think so. Permission marketing has nothing at all to do with comments. It has to do with delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to the people who want to get them. If I was spamming folks, then you could call me a hypocrite.?

There’s certainly a school of thought that says blogs MUST have comments. I’m a lot more catholic than that.?

Well you can insert sarcasm into a few spots huh? Look I?m cool with doing your own thing. But if I take the time as a reader to ask permission for your blog articles then you Seth Godin should care and take the time with me. ?

That?s just my opinion. I think Seth Godin is doing a fine job of talking out of both sides of his mouth. I?m sure book sales are up, congrats!?

One of our friends has a job opening, check it out.

We can?t get to all of the companies that could do business with us so we need to bring on a new team member to reach out to IBM business partners in the Lotus market space. As a key member of the vendor sales team, you will identify companies that want to generate sales leads, improve brand recognition, and boost revenues, by advertising on our highly popular Website, exhibiting at our ?must attend? trade shows, placing ads or articles in our widely read publications. Our integrated marketing programs maximize the client?s investment while maximizing your commissions.? In a very well established market, you will qualify and close new as well as existing clients. The ideal candidate will have strong communication and organizational skills, and be driven to make a serious contribution toward the business.?

Some key things to consider:?New sales opportunity based on company growth

Existing client base waiting to do more business with us

High earnings potential ? no limit on commissions

Well established brand ? lots of large clients already work with us

Well established metrics of success – clients are very happy and they work with us year over year?

Previous advertising sales experience required, ideally in selling web advertising, or sponsorship and exhibit opportunities to large companies.?

International sales experience a plus.? Candidates must have strong written and verbal/phone communication skills. The successful candidate will be well-organized, self-motivated, energetic and entrepreneurial, and will be able to work on multiple assignments in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment.?

Candidates must be proficient with MS Office applications. The position is based in Massachusetts, but candidates must be able to travel.?

If you are the qualified candidate, email your resume to Scott.Treggiari@wispubs.com

I just read a great branding blog article here about Xerox and their new logo.

Here is Xerox?s new logo:

?

Old logo:

?

My question is how does this new logo leverage whatever Xerox?s brand identity is? Say Xerox?s brand identity is being customer centric. What the hell does this ball mean?? Why do big companies invest hundreds of thousands of dollars on these ridiculous logos? Can someone tell me what Xerox?s brand identity is??

Here?s what Xerox says:?

?We have transformed Xerox into a business that connects closely with customers in a content-rich digital marketplace,? said Anne Mulcahy, Xerox chairman and chief executive officer. ?Our new brand reflects who we are, the markets we serve and the innovation that differentiates us in our industry. We have expanded into new markets, created new businesses, acquired new capabilities, developed technologies that launched new industries — all to ensure we make it easier, faster, and less costly for our customers to share information.??

Please explain the new logo then? Is it follow the bouncing ball between business units? How does this make you look ?customer centric???

?Our brand is one of our most prized assets and the value it brings to our business is immeasurable,? added Ursula Burns, president, Xerox. ?Our customers, our employees and our shareholders connect the most with what the brand stands for — quality, innovation, customer-focus and a values-rich culture. Today, we?re strengthening all our attributes and giving our brand a contemporary look that is more relevant for business today ? a bit less formal, a lot more lively with links to our heritage and a nod to the future.?

Another words you got tired of the old logo and wanted a new one?.makes sense.

?(this photo was found on the Brand New site)

Xerox,?take your ball and go home you?are awarded the first branding blunder of 2008.

I don?t like Unions. ?Not a single one of them. They?re like big bullies and they ultimately screw things up for everyone. There I said it!?

Waaaayyy back in the day it used to be that companies treated employees unfairly. This is a fact. But we?re not even close to that day anymore. Now companies all compete to acquire employees and generally care. The days of abuse are long gone. Now if you don?t like your job just leave it for a better one.?

Enter the latest big bully strike that?s screwing up my life. I like TV. I like to DVR all my favorite shows and watch them when I have time. TV is a pleasant release from reality for me. I love TV.

The Writers strike like all strikes not only hurts the company/industry but ultimately it hurts the customer, that?s me and you. That?s who really pays for a strike. In this case I don?t get my TV fix. When UPS when out on strike I didn?t get my packages. Why do I have to suffer? Why is it the customer is made to endure the wrath of a union strike?

?

The Office? You?re killing me with this strike! When these damn greedy writers eventually come back maybe the customer should stay on strike and not watch.?Unions should be illegal and I despise not seeing Pushing Daisies.

I recently read an article in Adweek that I thought was pretty cool. It talks about the different ways companies are starting to practice word of mouth marketing. It use to be back in the day that a buddy said ?hey, I just bought this great hammer from _________, this things is great.? Not anymore??Now companies are hiring ?branding ambassadors? to do their bidding. They sometimes pay them or give them stuff for free. Then these ?brand ambassadors? must blog about a company (like Sony) on a regular schedule. They also go on Myspace and Facebook and when they?re out they pass out free coupons etc.?

People use to do this for free because they liked a company/product. Now they get something in return. Good, bad, indifferent? Here are my thoughts on this:?If these ?brand ambassadors? can give an honest opinion (which could mean a bad opinion) then I?m alright with it. This has been going on for years. But if the ?payment? entices them to always give good opinions then there is a problem with it. But it won?t matter. Here?s why:?Say I tell my friend Spike over at Brains on Fire (these guys put together a campaign that ultimately pays people to be ambassadors ? see their Fiskars program) that Fiskars scissors are great. But then Spike buys the scissors and they stink. Will Spike believe me the next time I give an opinion? Probably not. By the way Spike wrote a spirited article about this. He goes on to bash companies that hire consumers or require them to take action yet he admits that the program Brains on Fire set up for Fiskars is a paid ?brand ambassador? campaign. Hypocritical? I think so??

So if you?re in the market for a ?brand ambassador? program and word of mouth marketing think long and hard about it. You?ll want to partner with a firm that walks the talk, not talks out of both sides of their mouth. You?ll want to be honest and forthright and most of all you want your ambassadors to be honest and forthright.?

Ultimately this all falls under the branding umbrella so remember?whatever you do ask how it will leverage your brand identity.

It use to be that a clear way to differentiate your company was service. Back in the day service meant something. Companies took pride in the fact that they genuinely cared about their clients and delivered not only a product but service.?

Those days are horribly gone. The airlines? They spit on you now (except the JetBlue?s and Virgin?s of the world). Electronics? Have you been to a Circuit City or Best Buy lately? They certainly don?t care.?

How about automotive? You think Ford, GM or Toyota care (maybe Lexus)? The days of good service have ended. Now companies outsource their customer service to India to save money. If that isn?t a slap in the face to their customers I don?t know what is.??