The BIG Kahuna

Don’t do business with a company that outsources any customer interactions to India or any other country where English is not?spoken well.

I called Spirit Airlines the other day to get a price on a flight (first time ever). I spoke with a man who said his name was “Dan” that barely spoke or understood English.

1. Don’t lie about the names of the people you are using for?outsourcing. It insults our intelligence and is offensive. We know his name isn’t Dan, you’re not fooling us.

2. We know you’re trying to save money by outsourcing but have you considered your brand and how your customers feel when having to deal with these people?

3. Americans hate, repeat…hate dealing with people that don’t speak English well.

4. I will never call Spirit Airlines again because I had such a bad experience. You’re reading this now and so are the thousands that read this blog. In the long run this lack of caring for the customer will catch up to companies that outsource.

If you don’t care about us why should we care about you?

Web regulators Thursday voted to allow the creation of thousands of new domain names, from .paris to .Pepsi, in one of the biggest shake-ups in Internet history, a French web official said.

The overhaul is expected to radically change the way users navigate the Internet and has major implications for businesses and consumers worldwide.

Under the new system, the web’s 1.3 billion users would be able from 2009 to buy an unlimited number of generic addresses based on common words, brands or company names, cities or proper names.

The popular online trading site eBay is one of the many companies that wants to have its own domain name.

Read the entire story here

Imagine the branding opportunities this will create. Looks like I’m going to have to buy:

www.brandidentityguru.marketing, www.brandidentityguru.branding etc. etc.

Sometimes you just scratch your head, or in this case your butt. This is no joke, here is a TV ad I just watched on the early news:

The actor in the TV commercial wants you to know that he and his monkey friend Richard are “riding easy”. Wow, thanks for that visual!

And you wonder why I say TV advertising is dead!

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Obama has done a brilliant job at developing his brand identity?of “change”. But what the heck does that REALLY mean? Change what and how? Even the Republicans want out of Iraq so it’s not that. What does Obama mean when he says “change”?

Ad agencies, marketing company‘s and graphic design firms?want you to believe they can build your brand through “traditional media”. Not today.

90% of TV ads, radio spots and newspaper ads?are a waste of money and provide no measurable brand improvement. 99% of those wasted tactics absolutely do not leverage the advertisers brand identity.

Web 2.0 is here, embrace it. Start building your brand identity through strategies and tactics that involve & engage your target market, you know…the customer. Stop talking at them, start talking and listening?with them.

As the economy naturally weeds out the weak what can you do for your company?

Start building your brand now. This economy ain’t getting better quick. Start thinking 5 years down the road and where your brand will be positioned. Here’s some things to keep in mind:

1. Do you have a real brand identity that everyone in your company knows and buys into?

2. Are you clearly communicating your brand identity?

3. Is your brand image aligned with said brand identity?

If not, you’re in BIG trouble in a weak economy. Smarten up or you too will become one of the weeded out.

End of rant.

Huh? What you talkin’ bout Willis?

That’s the new book title?from my friend Jonathan Salem Baskin. He just mailed me a copy for my thoughts and review.? Jonathan is one smart cookie so I really look forward to his ideas in the book.

I imagine he’s shaking things up with the title otherwise my branding?agency?may be ready for dismantling. So how can a branding guy like me read a book titled “Branding Only Works On Cattle”? Respect and curiosity.

I imagine I’ll disagree with oodles of stuff like the fact that I’ve read the phrase “branding doesn’t work anymore”?6 times already and I’m only on page 8. But I have a feeling I’m going to like a lot of his thinking. I’ve been a faithful blog reader of his for a while.

So I will give my full honest?review of the book when I’m done.

When Southwest made this commercial I think they were sort of winking at the industry, not fortune telling:

American?Airlines?now charging $15 for the first bag and Us Airways says no more free soda or water. Pony up $2 or die of thirst. Imagine paying $600 for a 5 hour flight and they can’t even give you a freakin water?

See story here

I wonder if the airlines will start charging a bonus fee for themselves if they land on time?

Thank God for JetBlue, if they start cutting out services or charging for?stuff just give up.

Okay here’s a real slimy, scum bag kind of story.

The Good Guys: Boston Duck Tours:

Cindy Brown has owned the famous Boston Duck Tours for 13 years. You’ve seen them, every time Boston wins a sports?title our amazing athletes ride on them. We seem to be riding on them a lot lately

Unfortunately Cindy could not trademark the company name “Boston Duck Tours” (we never recommend a name to a client that can’t be trademarked) so enter the (dum dum dum)…

Bad Guys: Super Duck Tours/Excursions, (lazy?bottom feeders?that “allegedly”?copy a company just to confuse customers into thinking they are riding on the original Boston?Duck Tours, my opinion of course). They even?”borrow” the music?from?Superman on their cheese ball website?(they are beyond unethical in my opinion). They actually put this sentence on the bottom of each web page:

(Not to be confused with Boston Duck Tours)

Their manager Dennis Kraez?sees his copycat approach as merely the American way. ?I thought the United States was founded on that type of principle: You see something that?s good, you go after it,? he says.

Read?all about this story?here

Here’s the unoriginal, copycat info if you’d like to call or email them (check out the bottom, taken right from their?strangely familiar look to Boston Duck Tours?website)

(877) 343-8257

Email: info@superduckexcursions.com

Super Duck Excursions is a new guided sightseeing tour through the city of Boston and into the Boston Harbor. Super Duck Excursions of Boston is in no way affiliated with Boston Duck Tours.

Here’s a thought, try and be original and differentiate yourself. Then you’ll have a REAL brand, not a cheap knock off that will hopefully be forgotten.

Artist’s are still trying to stop people from downloading their music…ain’t gonna happen. Instead of spending all this money on preventing illegal downloading they should find a way to embrace it.

But here’s a very funny look at what Kid Rock is doing to stop illegal downloading, check it out.

Is it okay if a Japanese company makes a really bad logo? You decide. Does that K in the logo look like two people doing something interesting? Check out their website.

You’ve all seen the Sprint ads with President Dan Hesse asking people to email him at dan@sprint.com?with comments and suggestions. Of course I was skeptical about this campaign…

My company has been using Sprint for many years with service good enough to keep us as a customer. Then last week I received a letter letting all of their customers know that they will be getting rid of Voice Command?and Sprint email. Voice Command/Sprint email?is literally my life blood on my Sprint phone. Call John Smith, call Jane Doe…you get the point. It’s especially important when driving for safety. I love Voice Command. And I can’t even fathom that they are doing away with joe@sprintpcs.com? Are you kidding me?

So I emailed Dan at his request:

Apparently you’ve made the decision to get rid of “voice command” and Sprint email.

That’s one of the best and safest features of the phone. And the reason why I’ll be switching to another provider when my contract comes due.

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Voice Command/Sprint email?is such a great feature and what you offer or don’t offer is so hard to use and set up. It seems like you’re going backwards in technology. I’ve been a loyal brand ambassador for many years but removing this feature is just a bad decision.

I received an email (automatic) that said we get lots of emails but we’ll be back in touch as quickly as we can. Two days later I received a phone call from Valarie. I was impressed with the follow-up but what impressed me more was that she actually read my email and was prepared to talk about it.

She said that many clients felt the same way and my feedback was important. After the call she followed up with this email:

Dear Mr. White,

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Thank you for contacting Sprint.

I apologize for any inconvenience you may be? experiencing due to the canceling of our Voice Command Service.? As promised, I will pass your feedback on to the appropriate group . We really do appreciate you taking the time to write us and? your voice your opinion.?

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Thank you again for contacting Sprint.

Valerie T.

757.223.3465

Once again the Dan program is in-fact the real deal and I’m impressed. Now only if they can solve this Voice Command/Sprint email?issue!

Kudos to Sprint for actually taking the time and making the effort to improve their customer service. But getting rid of Sprint email and voice command is a killer for me. I’m off to AT&T for a new phone!

Don’t buy a product from a company that inadvertently misses a critical element in its design of said product.

If they can’t take the time to make the product look right how good do you think the product will be?

Here’s a great example…What do these gummi candies look like?

If you said “lighthouse” you’re correct! Anyone want to eat some of these?

So Mini, a car my wife and I own is now going big. They recently introduced the Mini Cooper Clubman:

See the thing is people love Mini’s because, well, they’re mini. How do you think people will react to a bigger Mini? Will it affect the Mini brand? Will the Mini branding change?

Owning a Mini is pretty cool.

What do you think?

Can an?American icon?go against its own brand image for the?profit of its stockholders?

Here’s the scoop:

Belgian brewer InBev wants to buy Anheuser-Busch. Good ole, American Budweiser, Michelob and Bud Light. InBev has offered a 10% increase in it current stock price….but Americans aren’t thrilled about a foreign company owning Bud.

This quote comes from a new website:

“Like baseball, apple pie and ice cold beer (wrapped in a red, white and blue label), Anheuser-Busch is an American original“. Read more here?or visit http://www.saveab.com/?where you can sign a petition against the sale of Bud (http://www.saveab.com/register.php).

What do you think, can an American icon like Anheuser-Busch be sold to a foreign company?for profit?

Read more here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=amslUCLeKLYo&s=polyhoo

If a company does not provide their telephone number on their website don’t buy from them?or use their service.

I’m a big fan of taglines, when done correctly they can propel a brand. When done incorrectly they can be a disaster.

Massachusetts just came out with their new tagline and a pile of cash to drive tourism. Here it is folks:

I wonder how much that cost?the Massachusetts Travel and Tourism Agency? It would literally take me hours to write all that is wrong with this tagline so I’ll just ask a question?

1. What’s all here?

The absolute biggest mistake any company/brand can make is trying to be everything to everyone. This tagline is the epitome of that. Massachusetts is rich in tradition and culture. What the heck does “It’s all here” mean to a tourist? What’s the benefit? Come to Massachusetts we have a high crime rate (isn’t that part of being “all here”). Everything can mean “all here”.

It pains me to see this stuff get approved and then implemented.

What do you think? Is it a good tagline? Let them know:

Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism
10 Park Plaza, Suite 4510
Boston, MA 02116 U.S.A.
Phone: (617) 973-8500
Toll-free: (800) 227-MASS (U.S. & Canada)
Fax: (617) 973-8525
email: VacationInfo@state.ma.us

Here’s a state doing it right:

We have this great outdoor arena in the town next to me. Originally the name was Great Woods. It holds about 15,000 people and is home to all the major summer?concert acts. The name was good because, well, it was in the woods.

Then a big retailer (Tweeter)?came in and bought the naming rights. Tweeter sells higher end audio/video merchandise so at least they leveraged the music theme by buying the naming rights. As we went to see concerts at the “Tweeter Center” we would always refer to it as “Great Woods”.

Then Comcast came in and bought the naming rights from Tweeter. Now it’s the Comcast?Center. Unfortunately for Comcast?we still say we’re going to Great Woods. Check out how they describe the Comcast Center online:

Comcast Center (Great Woods) in Mansfield, MA Shows on JamBase??

They actual put (Great Woods) in the title. And here it is when it was the Tweeter Center:

Tweeter Center (Great Woods) in Mansfield, MA – Zvents??

Look familiar?

Tell me, do you think you’ll buy more from Comcast now that they own the naming rights? I won’t…to me it’s still Great Woods.

I found a great image of branding today over at David Armano’s blog. Check it out:

The worlds first Holographic Video Conferencing technology is a reality. That’s right, you can now beam yourself anywhere and have a “face to face” meeting via holographic images. Soon every home that has broadband can have this technology.

This is way to cool! Think of the branding?

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