The BIG Kahuna

I use to own a Jeep Wrangler. I bought it because it was fun and rugged. That?s what Jeep is all about and should always be about (we call it their brand identity). It?s what makes them special and different. So when I see a TV commercial like this I get all warm and fuzzy.

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Good job Jeep, keep doing this kind of stuff!

Thanks to the guys over at the Idea Sandbox for the inspiration on this blog.

I just received another RFP today from a prospect that I?ve been communicating with for a few years now. As you know I have strong feelings about receiving RFP?s (request for proposals). My feeling is, don?t send them to us. Period.?

If you can?t take the time to meet with qualified PARTNERS concerning your branding then you?re not serious about building a brand. Seriously, you?re not buying widgets here people. You need to get to know a few companies, hear their suggestions and recommendations and then make a decision. Who knows they may even suggest something outside of your darn RFP that you may actually like. You know, thinking outside the box kinda stuff.?

Pricing up a website and a brand makeover via an RFP is wasting your time and everyone else?s. Stop wasting everyone?s time.?Branding is serious business, treat it as such.

I read a great blog article today from my friend over at Dim Bulb. He suggests giving away Blu-Ray players. You know sort of like giving away the razors to sell the blades. Great idea, check it out.?

Hey Netflix, here’s you freakin chance to control the market. Give everyone Blu-Ray players with a 24 month subscription to your service.

I Want a Free Blu-ray Player

In an article released by Yahoo today it appears that American?s can?t even be brand loyal to their religions.?

If one can?t remain brand loyal to one?s religion how can we expect people to be dedicated to a company or product brand??

Does religion have to adjust to changing times? Yes, throwing up a church or temple doesn?t get it done today. You need to start having conversations with would be religious goers.?

So Father O?Rourke, start a blog and get on Facebook. Start talking to people in your community. Learn how to use the computer??

You have a message and it?s different. Learn how to spread it through new marketing tactics.

It?s pretty funny to watch terms being made up by these word of mouth marketing?guys and people acting like sheep to use them. I mean c?mon ?being remarkable?? I think Seth Godin coined that one.??

It?s ?revolutionary? huh?

Pretty ?state-of-the-art? wouldn?t you say? Ah, how I love the old school verbiage.?

Or another one being thrown around is developing ?movements? instead of the traditional ?campaign?. Apparently campaigns have an expiration date according to some? They do? Then what will we ever do with the term ?on going campaign? er, ah movement??

Look if you need to put a new shinny name on an old approach fine. Go ahead, but don?t make it sound like you?ve re-invented the wheel because you haven?t. You?ve given it a new shinny name is all.?

I must admit after really reading Seth Godin?s stuff I?ve come to realize one thing. This guy should write fortune cookies! He?s got these great one liners stuffed inside a cardboard cookie like no one?s business.

You?ve just swung the noose over the shower curtain. As you stand on the wobbly chair ask yourself this? What can I do in this disgusting real estate market? How can I win??

Climb down, I have all the answers you?ll need. Right here in this awesomely amazing branding blog?.free of charge!?

Two steps backwards to go forward?

That?s what you need to realize first. In the 15 years you real estate people had it good some funny things happened. First you made oodles of cash for doing little to no work. Houses were selling themselves and in record numbers. I sold an investment condo in 2003 in 1 day. And I had people fighting over it. It sold for $20,000 over list price. Ah, those were the days huh??

Secondly you created the hated order takers. Because the market was so good you real estate owners went out and hired any housewife willing to drive customers around. They made piles of cash and so did you. But those order takers aren?t working out to well now are they??

It may be 10 years before you get to that happy zone again. Now you have to really sell and market. ?

Here are some tips that will propel you past the competition and ensure your success.?

1. Develop a brand identity: Be known for something. Don?t just blend in with the crowd. Be a risk taker and understand you can?t be everything to everyone. Maybe now is a good time to become a ?Buyer?s Agency? office. Sure you?ll lose out on listings but think of all those buyers who need your help (isn?t it a buyer?s market?). If you became the big bad buyers agency you could dominate your market and be focused on one thing?.buyers.

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Or you can just be the standard agency that does all the same things as everyone else?you choose.?

2. Start marketing to the right channels. Stop wasting your money on old school advertising methods, ie yellow pages, newspapers, billboards, radio?blah, blah.

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Start having conversations with your customers instead of selling to them. Develop a blog and target it to your selling area. Then give people advice on buying a home (if you go with my buyer?s agency idea). Once you become the expert you get the sales. ?

3. Start becoming active in Social Media. Join Facebook and then start a Buyers Only Real Estate Group. I have one for branding (Branding Group). It takes about 5 minutes to set one up and then people join. Imagine all those hungry buyers looking for information, tips and tricks. And you could be the one giving it to them. On top of that you could then drive them to your blog. That?s what I do.

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4. Host Buyer only events at your office (or another location if your office is too small). Bring in buyers for an informative get together. Buyers get to interact with people they have things in common with. It will be a big hit.

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Those are 4 tips for you real estate mogul?s to get started. I know most of you are set in your ways and will want to take any listing or sale because money is money. That?s cool, eventually the smart guys will catch you and pass you.

Way back in August of 2007 I wrote a blog on WAMU, aka Washington Mutual. I award them the worst branding and advertising award.?

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The saga continues??The latest commercial features a woman asking if WAMU provides free checking for her bakery business. They then go through a poorly acted script to the payoff??WAMU gives free checking to businesses.?Split to the woman making a snow angel on top of a white cake (I think I want to throw up).??

Wow, revolutionary huh? I?ve been getting free business checking for about 5 years now from Citizens Bank. Don?t recall running out of the bank to make a snow angel though.?

?Then they finish with what appears to be a trademarked word;?Whoo Hoo???

?We want to become an iconic brand that people love,? said WaMu CMO Genevieve Smith, in a statement. ?Through ongoing brand tacking, we know we always outperform our peers when it comes to being emotionally relevant to people. [The new campaign] gives us a unique opportunity to talk about who we are.??

Let?s start with Genevieve?s own words. [The new campaign] gives us a unique opportunity to talk about who we are.? ?

Branding isn?t about you Genevieve, it?s about them. And that?s where you are 100% wrong with this campaign. First it?s unrealistic to think that a customer would go running out of a bank yelling Whoo Hoo because they just got free checking. What a horrible interpretation of making things simple for the client.

Its new ?Whoo hoo!? campaign, per TBWA/Chiat/Day,

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?The campaign creative taps into that [?Whoo hoo!?] experience and the enthusiasm of WaMu?s employees,? said Rob Schwartz, executive creative director for TBWA/Chiat/Day, in a statement.?

Here?s where the ad agency goes wrong (and this is because ad agencies aren?t true branding companies): ?

Ah, giving someone free checking doesn?t tap into the customer?s emotional appeal. It in fact does nothing at all and delivers on nothing at all. ?

I?ll bet you my weeks pay that if we surveyed 100 Washington Mutual employee?s that they themselves wouldn?t be very happy with their employer WAMU. And they certainly wouldn?t be yelling Whoo Hoo. ?

Just because you want it to be doesn?t mean it?s gonna be. ?

The new campaign brings WaMu’s brand values to life: A company that lives to simplify banking and do it with a smile.?

So the brand identity is making things easy. Okay, I get that and I?m down with it. How does this ridiculous Whoo Hoo campaign deliver on it? Wanna know a company that?s delivered on making things easy for their customers??

Staples, the Easy Button. ?

You guys have just created an unrealistic campaign that is goofy and will be forgotten by the time you switch ad agencies.?

For spending 100 million on advertising you sure do a poor job.WAMU, why haven?t you fired your CMO?

I had a heated debate last week with a start up branding company concerning taglines. They thought that word of mouth could carry a company and that if they delivered on their service that people would just ?get them?.??I firmly disagreed.??

I believe that a tagline that delivers a benefit and delivers or leverages a company?s brand identity is worth its weight in gold.??

Here?s some copy I found on SusannaHutcheson.com:

Business slogans are critical to your branding. The company tagline or slogan is an essential part of your company?s image. Slogans are sometimes called taglines or tag lines, straplines or some other name. But they?re all the same thing. It doesn?t matter what size your business is ? you need a slogan or tagline.

According to a recent article in Business Week, ?Even a small business needs to extend its brand, make it more relevant and more valuable. A good tagline can do that.??

I couldn?t agree more. But before you can start a tagline you need a brand identity. Here?s an example of what I mean.? Volvo equals safety. Ask 10 people what?s the first thing they associate with Volvo and 9 of them will say safety. That?s a strong brand identity. They?ve clearly established themselves as the safe car company.? Now let?s look at their tagline:? ?Volvo for life?? Can you see how that leverages their ?safety? brand identity and how it also delivers the benefit of ?life?? That?s a tagline done well.?

If a tagline is off target it hurts you and?if you don?t have one it hurts you. A tagline can be powerful and actionable.?

Let?s play a little game. Which taglines do you know and associate with? If you know them and the company they belong to then they?ve done their job. Does your tagline measure up??

Tagline?Trivia

What brands are associated with these taglines?

1. You deserve a break today.
2. Be all that you can be.
3. Just do it.
4. It?s the real thing.
5. Where?s the beef?
6. It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.
7. We try harder.
8. Oh, what a feeling?
9. You?ve come a long way, baby.
10. Mmm mmm good
11. It?s where you want to be.
12. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
13. Don?t leave home without it.
14. A different kind of company.? A different kind of car.
15. The Uncola.
16. Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.
17. When you care enough to send the very best.
18. Have it your way at?
19. All the News That?s Fit to Print.
20. Put a tiger in your tank.
21. Snap! Crackle! Pop!
22. We bring good things to life.
23. It?s not just a job ? it?s an adventure.
24. The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat.
25. Nothing beats a great pair of legs.

Can you guess them all? ?

Is it me or are ALL these car insurance companies saying the same thing??

GEICO: Could save you over $500 with butta and gella

Progressive: We?ll show you who?s the lowest

Nationwide: Save Up To $500 by Switching

AIG: Save up to $300 by dealing direct

State Farm: If we?re the same price or lower why wouldn?t you switch?

Allstate: People Who Switched Saved Average of $338

Esurance: Save on Auto Insurance?

Help me out here. Is anyone of these companies differentiating themselves? People, if you?re selling on price you?re now in the commodity business.??

Here?s what I want from an insurance provider. Someone that looks out for my interest. A company that?s not looking to stiff me for just anything. A company that calls me back.?You know? good service.?

Take your savings and shove it right up your tail pipe!?

Somebody step out and be different for God?s sake!

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… Alltop.com

Specifically you can find our top 5 branding blog postings at http://smallbusiness.alltop.com/. Here?s why this is a kick-ass idea from Guy. They take all the top stories from the web and put them in one place. It makes it so easy to find great articles, tips, advice, etc. ?

Some of the categories you can read from are small business (this is where we can be found), environment, photography, science, celebrity gossip, fashion, gaming, sports, politics, automobiles, and Macintosh. At each Alltop site, they display the latest five stories from thirty or more sites on a single page ? they call this ?single-page aggregation.??

What a great freakin idea. Why didn?t I think of this? ?

Now what do I have to do to get us moved up to the top of Alltop? Do me a favor, send an email to Guy, kawasaki@garage.com and ask him to move Brand Identity Guru up on the board! C?mon, help a brother out.

With new marketing on the rise we find blogs from companies we?ve never heard of talking about Brand Identity Guru. Because we?ve been a mainstay in the branding arena for 20 years we?ve become the source for all these young whipper snappers to, for lack of a better word attack.??

There is one such company in famous Franklin Tennessee called Ivey McCoig Branding and Advertising who has come at BIG twice. ?Check out our first response to this fledgling company: Ivey McCoig Bad Branding and Blogging.??

The setup:?

I was responding to another companies blog post on what I thought would benefit a company called USAA. I didn?t see a tagline so I suggested that a well thought out, strategic positioning line that delivered a benefit would help.

This is Ivey McCoig?s response:

?As a brand professional for more than 20 years?? Ugh. I love how you remind us of that with almost every post. It?s like you are begging us to believe. Don?t beg. As a branding professional, you should know that it?s not very becoming. Just be.Perhaps USAA doesn?t boast with taglines and mantra statements and ?brand discovery paragraphs? because they don?t need them. Their audience already believes.

1. I?m proud to be in business for 20 years and our experience shows.

2. Can you imagine that he actually believes that a company doesn?t need a tagline (actually he calls it boasting, which a tagline is not)? Tell me, what?s the downfall of Nike?s ?Just do it? or try some of these on for size:

You deserve a break today.

Be all that you can be.

Where’s the beef?

It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.

Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.

It’s not just a job? It’s an adventure.?

I bet you know who all of these taglines belong to right? They work.

Would you want to hire a firm like Ivey McCoig who actual take the stance ?if it ain?t broken, don?t fix it? approach?

Next they go on to say:

I have family in Boston and Braintree and Stoneham? and even a few folks just over the border in New Hampshire. None of them have heard of you or your ?branding firm.? Not a single one. I?ve checked (And this includes the second cousin who has proudly, but not beggingly been a marketing professional for more than 20 years). I?m not being negative. I think it?s awesome that you are successful. I think I can speak for many when I say that we are ultra-impressed with your longevity in the biz.

I guess you can read into the sarcasm there huh?

More here:

But USAA is great, because they are great. Just ask the people they serve. They don?t have to capture all the reasons they are great in a sentence that follows their logo or appears over and over on collateral materials, websites and direct mail. They have customers and clients and REAL LIFE HUMAN BEINGS already telling their story for them. They might not have told you yet, but what do you care?If you?re good, just be good. If you?re cool, don?t tell me how cool you are? just be cool. If you?re brilliant, don?t try to make me feel less-smart by reminding me of your SAT scores every time you pass by. JUST BE, and sooner or later we?ll believe.

Listen, if you believe word of mouth marketing will carry a company then why do any marketing at all? As you say, ?just be?. Why does Ivey McCoig even have a website if this is how they feel? If they ?just be? it should happen automatically right?

Er, no. Sorry it doesn?t. You need to be great and you need to COMMUNICATE with your customers and prospects.

Gosh, they?ll just let anyone start up an advertising, design and branding collabrotive dedicated to the creative application of research and imagination.

Wait, doesn?t that sound like a long winded tagline? Maybe it?s one of those ?mantra statements? they hate so much huh?This coming from the agency that copied the Marvin the Martian logo.

Ivy McCoig Logo:

?Marvin The Martian:????

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

The funny thing is that design on the web is almost the opposite. Winning sites on the web almost always have terrible design and terrible logos. Unless I define terrible as ‘not working’. In which case the design is not terrible. In fact, it works so well it now seems to be clear that clunky, engineering-built design might just be the secret to success online.?

Why do people even buy his books? Terrible web design and terrible logo design seems to be the secret to success online? Seriously, taken right from his site.?

This is a guy people refer to as a ?marketing guru?.?

What works is developing a clear brand identity and positioning. It has nothing to do with design. Once that is established then and only then can designing take place. But to say that clunky, engineering sites fare better is just plain ludicrous.??

Personally I think the design should be professional and leverage the brand identity. Here?s an example of what I?m talking about. Say you?re looking to rent a villa in St. Thomas. You go online and these two sites come up.??

http://www.bolongobay.com/? or?

http://www.caretbay.com?

Which site seems more trustworthy? Or more professional? Or more appealing? Don?t judge the sites by price or amenities, just by the way they look and make you feel. Be honest.?

Let me know.?

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 was surfing through the TV stations yesterday and landed on ESPN. I watched 7 minutes of the Roger Clemens debacle. First let me say this. It?s pretty sad that these Congressmen have nothing better to do than ask Roger Clemens what color bikini his nanny was wearing at Jose Canseco?s house. Seriously, that was a question.

Times are tough when?our elected officials want to know what kind of chicken was served at a BBQ. Sad, I?m disgusted by this entire situation. Does anyone really care if Roger Clemens shot up HGH? Not me!

That said Roger Clemens has effectively killed his brand. First it?s almost a certainty that he did inject HGH or Steroids (just an assumption). Instead of just admitting it and asking for forgiveness he?s done a 180. Why would he even go and testify? Has he learned nothing from the Barry Bonds escapade? Bonds may end up in jail over this nonsense.

So now Roger will be deemed a liar and an idiot check this article today. Not sure who Roger is getting his advice from but it?s going to cost him something bigger than HGH and his career?.

His name. ?

The Roger Clemens brand as you knew it is way back, back, back?.gone!

I truly think we avoided an official recession but let?s face it the economy is shaky. Luxury brands such as Coach and Burberry have taken a bit of a hit. ?

But and here?s the but?taking a hit is okay if you have a strong brand. Strong brands weather through a recession. Weak brands go out of business. That?s the power of branding and specifically a strong brand identity.?

Those brand identities that meet their target market requirements and fulfill their needs (think Volvo and safety) will slip right through a recession. Sure sales will go down but that?s par for the course. They WON?T go under, like millions of other companies.?

What should you do in a recession if your brand identity isn?t particularly strong? Advertising and marketing. Yup, now?s the time to get in front of your target market and tell them your story. If you don?t have a story you most likely don?t have a brand identity. No brand identity and you most likely will become a casualty.?

Get focused and make sure your brand identity is different and compelling.

It?s as easy as that. When you try and be everything to everyone you can?t focus. This leads to a watered down brand identity and a disjointed marketing effort. Too many companies try and be everything to everyone. Why??

I see it all the time, a company says ?yea but what about this vertical?? If we say we only sell blue widgets the red widget people won?t buy from us. Yup, you?re right, but you?d be focused on the blue widgets. You?d be the blue widget leader. You would sell more to the blue widget customers than if you sold to both red and blue. ?

But they don?t understand that. Instead they make green, yellow and tan widgets to try and increase sales. WRONG!?

I have prospects call me all the time asking if we do TV and radio advertising. The answer is always no. Why? Because we focus on brand identity. That?s what we do. If you want advertising go get an ad agency. We only sell one color of widgets here.?

Focus?

I don?t usually share my political views on our branding blog but I?m bummed Mitt Romney dropped out. As a registered Republican I think he would have been a great President and one that truly brought change.

I think he failed at developing his own brand identity. This caused?Republican’s to fall back on who they knew, McCain.?Trying to be everything to everyone is a killer. I hope we see Mitt again!

I got a call today from a prospect who wants a viral marketing campaign. I told him I?d call him back when I checked our viral marketing inventory in the stock room.

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We do marketing for the net in hopes that it will go viral people. But alas ?going viral? is up to the people. Just because you want viral doesn?t mean you?ll get it. Just like we can?t guarantee a direct mail piece, ad, word of mouth marketing etc.

Maybe this will go viral? Then I could add it to our extensive inventory, you know in the stock room.

I recently came across this very funny test to determine whether or not your client is a jerk.

??Check it out here: ACHE

Just received this email today from this guy:?

Scott,

OK, I love your amazing site and company and whatnot; allow me to pick one teensy little bone with you:

“Southwest Airlines: I?ve never even given this brand a chance, enough said.”Huh?? Southwest is one of the greatest brands I have ever experienced.? Sadly, they don’t fly directly into Boston, so I could understand a bit of the disdain on your behalf.? But where else can I get an on-time, friendly flight from Phoenix to Denver with leather seats and snacks and tons of leg room for $50?

They aren’t winning on price alone?they reinvented the game: short haul, non-stop flights; no seating assignments; and on.? If one were to miss their flight (or just decided against going, and instead chose to drive to San Diego in order to play volleyball at Mission Beach), their ticket is automatically banked?the price of the ticket is redeemable online, in full, for the following 12 months.

What’s more, they have posted profits for over two centuries in an industry that has brands hitting Chapter 11 quicker than a tween with a new Harry Potter book.

Regardless, you are absolutely brilliant.? I love your site, your wit, and your wisdom.? I am originally from Minnesota (though I live in the much warmer city of Phoenix now), so I love your Kevin Garnett, too.? Suns/Celtics in the NBA finals?? Wouldn’t that be something?

Thank you for the inspiring work!

Cheers,Ben Bacon
Chief Brand Officer, Principal
Resol?t
benbacon@resolutfocus.com?

Website: http://www.resolutfocus.com ?

Well Ben, thanks for the note and your thoughts! I guess I don?t like Southwest because they had that reality show and I thought that it was tacky and it portrayed them negatively. That coupled with the fact that a flight for $50 is un-nerving. Who?s flying these planes for $50 a ticket, it?s scary to think about it. So I?ve never given them a shot and I have bad feelings towards them.

But that?s an image thing with me. Thanks again for the kind words and note.

I can?t tell you how much I hated the E-Trade Super Bowl commercials. What was the brand strategy behind the baby? It?s so easy a surfer baby can do it? That?s the brand identity of E-Trade, they?re easy to use?

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Well here?s a news flash. People loose lots of money because they don?t know how to trade stocks correctly. Because you make it easy for them to do so is like giving an alcoholic a drink. Stocks are serious business and a puking baby talking like a ?surfer dude? is not on target. That?s some really pukey branding!

I actually traded futures and commodities on a regular basis. I can tell you this. I won?t even consider E-Trade after those ridiculous spots. Funny? Maybe to some. Stupid and off target, definitely. E-Trade goes right to the branding blunders of 2008!