The BIG Kahuna

Here’s another funny post by word of mouth guru Andy Sernovitz:

“Word of Mouth Big Idea:? You can build an entire brand around one great reason to talk. Everybody’s Nuts has a great word of mouth topic built right into their brand: Find an unopened pistachio and they give you a whole bag for free.”

Apparently that’s what Andy considers a brand? Find an unopened nut is apparently THE brand. Gosh it really pains me when people who obviously know nothing about branding make these statements.

Although that’s a nice marketing tactic it is hardly the brand of the company. Least I hope not because I’ll guarantee if I interviewed California Pistachios eaters they won’t, repeat, won’t list unopened nuts as the primary reason they wouldn’t eat them or wouldn’t?purchase them.

It’s a really cute marketing tactic that may engage customers who buy the product. Matter of fact it’s very hard to even find this guarantee on their website. Go to their site and find it…How many clicks or how much time?did it take to find the guarantee?

I perceive their positioning as California Pistachios that are very healthy. They claim to have the highest levels of Phytosterols ( full of fiber, B6 and antioxidants).? There is where the real brand identity lies, not the gimmicky guarantee that Andy claims the brand can be built around.

I actually really think Everbody’s Nuts did a great job of differentiating through many tactics. I know because I eat California Pistachios daily (I love them). I may give these guys a try just based on their different, unique flavors but not because I want to hunt through the bag and find an unopened nut.

The guarantee is a great idea as it makes it fun and engaging. Here’s a letter from them to a client that found an unopened pistachio:

Click to enlarge

They’ve also branded a mascot “Stach” to bring some life to their brand. Here’s the deal, differentiating yourself and developing a brand identity is the KEY to successful branding. But banking on a word of mouth tactic to build your brand? I wouldn’t recommend it.

Here are the best of the best when it comes to branding:

Feel free to share a few on your blog?with a link back to this post.

So the Internet is buzzing over cuil (pronounced “cool”), the new search engine to challenge king Google.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Don’t make a name you can’t pronounce

2. Don’t make a name that requires you to?say “pronounced as”…

3. Oh, and if you’re a search engine trying to take on king Google?make sure the name cuil (you know, your company name)?comes up in your own search results.

p.s. cuil, Google “cuil” and you’ll see yourself at the top of Google’s results, but not your own? Ugh!

Gosh, can’t make this stuff up.

Today is the first of our monthly?BIG Kahuna interviews. I chose TigerLight because they really had a unique product. I think it’s a big secret.

We begin with our interview with President/CEO Michael Teig of TigerLight.

Michael was nice enough to send us their Pepper Spray?product called the T100:

The T100 is a pepper spray system that includes a built in eye?piercing light. The light is really blinding and also has a strobe feature which really freaked me out. Very cool stuff. Basically a woman will?blind you with the piercing light and then pepper spray your eyes. Kind of like a one two punch. The product works like a charm and is truly different than anything in the market.

But I’ve seen a lot of great products that were different fail. So let’s get into the branding a bit.

What are you passionate about when it comes to TigerLight?

To make a real difference in preventing someone from?being attacked or killed. Safety is my real passion.

What makes TigerLight remarkable?

It’s really genius in its simplicity. Attackers don’t see or expect to be pepper sprayed. The product has real stopping power.

Michael, why the corporate?name TigerLight?

Tigers are ferocious and have real muscle stopping power. It has a light and bite.

Why not a more evocative?name like “Blind Avenger”?

The real concern is that Tigerlight products are fully endorsed by professionals, like the police. We need to maintain that authenticity and quality.

The product name T100 is very?masculine to me. Since the product is marketed to women why not call it something like “Purse Patrol”? or a name that hits home to a woman?

Even though the T100 is targeted to college women we still sell the product to men. Especially men buying it for their wife, daughter or girlfriend. Although renaming the product might be advantageous to us.

Have you considered offering the T100 to women in different colors?

Yes, but we must maintain authenticity with professionals like the police.

In 3 words or less what is the brand identity of your company TigerLight?

Peace of mind.

In 3 words or less what’s the brand image of TigerLight?

The product is very new like when the “Club” came out. But I would say most people find the product cool and after holding it think it’s very high quality.

How do you build the brand of TigerLight?

We are getting ready for a 50 city tour of the US. We’re going to truck accross the country visiting colleges and universities. We’ll be training local police as well as certifying new trainers.

Have you considered social marketing (like a blog?or social network) as a way to build word of mouth?

Yes, we feel there is a great opportunity but we are cautious and need to evaluate it. Things like a blog could really work well for us.

What do you think TigerLight could do better when it comes to your brand?

Everything. We always can do things better but off the top of my head I would say delivering the right message is critical. Right now we’re the best kept secret.

Besides product?features what makes TigerLight different than its competitors?

Our philosophy. We solve problems based on our imagination.

What’s the one thing you want women to know about the?TigerLight T100?

Personal protection.

Please rate the following marketing tactics by importance (1 being the most important, 2 second most etc.)

TV Advertising: 1

Radio: 2

Internet Search (coming up in the top ten of Google): 3

Public Relations: 4

Word of Mouth: 6

Branding: 5

Direct Mail: 8

Print Advertising: 7

Thank you Michael Teig!

Here are my thoughts.

The product is really terrific. My wife Nicci assembled the T100 in just a few short minutes. She immediately noted how comfortable the fit was in her hand. She loved the blinding light feature. The product is different and exceptional.

Questions to our readers:

Would you?recommend a name change for TigerLight?

Would you?recommend a name change for the T100?

What do you think of the website design (click here to see it)?

What would be some good marketing ideas for TigerLight?

Full Disclosure: I emailed out an offer to write a review and conduct an interview for one lucky?member of?our e-newsletter list. Michael was one of many companies that responded to the offer of an interview. Brand Identity Guru is not being paid but Michael was nice enough to send us a product sample for testing.

Bam, they hit you in the kisser. Here’s a story you won’t believe is true. But sadly?it is.

I’m currently blogging from Old Orchard Beach in Maine. Last Night my wife and I went out to dinner at a fun place called Hooligan’s. Apparently all the bars and restaurants are owned by a company called The Pier.

We enjoyed our dinner, received great service?and asked for the bill. My wife looked at the bill and noticed that everthing?was in line except for one charge that was confusing.

ROUNDING: .21

hmm, I didn’t remember ordering any ROUNDING? If I had eaten it I think I would have remembered. So we asked what “ROUNDING” was?

The answer is so dumbfounding that you can’t believe it’s actually true. Here’s what the really sweet waitress told us.

The restaurants and bars?don’t deal with pennies, nickles or dimes. Just quarters when it comes to change. So when the bill is tabulated, presto….they round it up to the nearest quarter.

Our bill was $35.29 which quickly became $35.50. There is no ROUNDING down by the way.

Now The Pier is arguably the busiest business on the beach, serving thousands of people per day during the summer months. So ROUNDING can be a pretty?good stealing, I mean?revenue generator.

Here’s what I think:

ROUNDING = STEALING

Without question the owners (the Golzbein family)?of the famous Pier are literally stealing from customers each and every day. And people don’t even question it.

Now we’ve had a really fun time here at Old Orchard Beach but the one thing I’m going to laugh about for quite some time is ROUNDING.

Mr. Golzbein here’s a suggestion. Stop ripping people off for their change. Find another less noticeable way to steal from folks that are giving you business. Do these words sound inviting… Class Action Suit?

By the way how has Steve Rowe the?Attorney General of Maine not questioned this practice?

Here’s where to go and file a complaint if you like:

http://www.state.me.us/ag/consumer/complaints/complaint_form.shtml

Come on now, say it 3 times fast…

Husqvarna, Husqvarna, Husqvarna

With Group sales in 2007?at?33.3 billion and average number of employees at?16,000…

None of whom can pronounce the corporate name.

Have you seen the new commercials for Best Buy? A woman asks a man if she can help but before she can recommend something she has to “get to know him”.

She then proceeds to perform a Spockish mindmeld. 5 seconds later she suggests a laptop.

Now for some reality…

Every time I’ve EVER been in a Best Buy I’ve had to search down someone to help me. And when I finally found anyone I would hear things like:

1. This isn’t my department

2. I’m new here

3. All the information is written on the tag

No one has ever melded my mind. No one has ever shown enthusiasm for trying to help me. No one has ever had any real product knowledge.

Here’s what I would do if I were Best Buy:

1. Stop wasting money on TV when you can’t deliver on service

2. Train people MUCH better

3. Make service your number 1 priority

4. After that’s all done go ahead and do some TV. But as it stands now these commercials are false and misleading in my opinion.

Accounts Payable departments are the most misunderstood and un-thanked. Not anymore. We’ve developed a fun, different way to?put a smile on their face and?get people talking?with a?treat for?the people that ultimately pay us.

Every time our clients pay an invoice?we send them this giant yummy frosted?cookie?thank you (actual cookie):

It has?sayings like;

You’re Our Sugar Daddy

2% Net Sugar Rush

Want To Gain Weight? Pay Fast…

Thanks, Now We Can Both Eat

Thanks For The Dough!

We’re using this as a vehicle to get people talking that ordinarily would have little to no contact with us. Hopefully the CFO will march this down to the CMO and say “nah, nah,?nah, nah, nah”…?look what we got from BIG.

What do you think marketing and branding people? Is this a good?word of mouth marketing?tactic?

BIG thanks to Al and Peter Agbay at ?Wicked Good Cookies for a great job! They have one remarkable product.

I’ve?been secretly working?with Alltop’s Guy Kawasaki (who apparently only wants to sing)?to make an Alltop Branding Page. He’s sent me on a quest…

The Quest For the Holy Branding Feed.

In this quest I’m required to assemble the top 50 branding company/blog rss feeds for this new Alltop page.

Please do not email Guy or it will be assumed that you are made from wood and therefore a witch and hence be burned! Just post your feed as a comment. I will then assemble the list and present Guy with it and a shrubbery.

If you place your feed in the comment box please abide by the branding?holy hand grenade rules:

The count shall be 1 feed no more, no less. One feed is the number to count and the number of the counting shall be 1. 2 feeds is the number not to count, 3 is right out!??Once the number 1 being the first number be reached then enter your rss feed and hit enter.

To qualify for the branding.alltop.com page you must answers these questions 3:

1. What is your name?

2. What is your company/blogs quest?

3. What is your favorite color?

If you do not primarily focus on branding please do not apply or we will be forced to brake out the killer rabbit who will nibble your bum!

I’ve come up with a new category called BIG Kahuna Interviews. In this once a month post I’ll be talking to CEOs, Presidents, and?Owners of large, small and?very unique companies. We’ll be discussing how they have differentiated their brand, what makes them special, what strategies and tactics they’re using today?and how they see their brand.

?It should be a fun, informative post on some of the best leaders today. Check it out soon!

p.s. Write me if you want to be interviewed: swhite@brandidentityguru.com

I got an email from?Jinal Shah requesting that I take a look at her clients new branding effort. Her client is A & E Network and they’ve just made some big branding?changes. Jinal is a long time reader of my kick ass, in your face branding blog so she must know what she’s in for right? Truth, Justice and the American Way, Baby!

Jinal was kind enough to send me a press release although some inside info would have really sweetened the deal here. So here goes my initial thoughts on A & E’s new brand identity.

Taken from the press release:

The centerpiece of the new brand is the tagline ?Real Life. Drama.?

Although I think well done taglines are extremely important (read past posts on that here) I would never center a branding?campaign around a tagline. Taglines are meant to support and leverage?the overall brand identity. In this case the identity is intense?Reality TV and Drama. I think the tagline is okay but I would have liked to see something less vanilla.

How about getting some guts and adding words like “Gritty”, “Tough” or “Intense” in there? Something more evocative is what I’m trying to say. I’d grade the tagline a B-.

More from the press release:

?The tagline, the new logo and look emphasize A&E?s unique brand which promises our viewers honest, emotionally intense television that engages them and isn?t afraid to show life as it really is,? said Guy Slattery, Senior Vice President of Marketing, A&E.

?So let’s look at the logo

Old Logo:

New Logo:

?

So let’s get real. The new logo is bold and in your face. Strong. Muscular. I really like the entire feel. The tagline works very well with the logo and supports the “intense” TV positioning. I’m guessing they’re going for a male demographic here. I’d grade the logo an A-. If the tagline was a little more evocative it could have been a sweet package.

Next up, website:

Here’s what the press release says:

The branding creative successfully emulates the raw, visceral, and unswerving nature of A&E?s programming by infusing cutting-edge European design aesthetics.?

The website is clean and easy to navigate. You can see it here. The color schemes are muted, dull and boring. The use of grey in the logo and throughout the site is dreary. It’s really the complete opposite of the nicely designed logo. I wanted bold, and strong. Confident engaging colors to compliment the logo color. I’d grade the web design in two ways:

1. Easy to navigate and clean B+

2. Overall look and feel as it relates to the identity, A- if you’re looking for gloomy otherwise it’s a C-.

Hopefully Jinal will remain a loyal reader but everyone knows I keep it very real here. I’d grade the entire package a B so it’s not all bad for sure. I really do like the James Bondish looking logo. Damn Europeans and their Bond!

If you got some guts like Jinal?and want a tough, geniune look at your brand write me. Make sure to butter me up a bit, that always helps.

More on A & E:

Since the announcement of the new brand positioning, A&E has posted record-breaking audience numbers across all key demographics.? June 2008 was the 23rd consecutive month that A&E has landed in the top 10 with adults 25-54 in prime among all ad-supported cable networks. The month also ranked as the best June in the network’s history among adults 18-49 and 25-54 impressions.? June’s success helped contribute to the best quarterly deliveries in the network’s history among adults 18-49 and 25-54 in the second quarter of 2008.? A&E currently has the most original programming of any top five cable network and will increase original programming by 37% by the third quarter of 2008.? ?

?

Additionally, AETV.com, which has enjoyed 310% growth in video traffic in the past year, has been overhauled to take on the same new look and feel as the linear network.

Has anyone seen the new Yellowbook TV commercial?? The one where the very attractive woman wants to get another mans name (that was tattooed to her lower back) removed. She goes online to a holographic image of a laser removal service to ask questions. That’s just like what Yellowbook delivers huh? Talk about stretching the truth or in this case the product!

They have a new logo:

Wow, sleek and contemporary huh?

Now I just have one question…

If you have an antiquated service does it help to make your identity more hi-tech looking?

When was the last time you used the Yellowbook?

I’ve watched a few episodes of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. If you haven’t seen it the basic premise is they find a family in dire need of a new home. There is usually some horrible human emotional element like a parent has been murdered or someone has a terminal disease. Then they tear down the current house and build an amazing new home (wonder who pays the new tax bill?).

And here’s where it becomes bad. Ultimately this show is about branding. Bad branding. When they put the new appliances in they make sure to show gratuitous close ups of all the logos of the brands. Then they mention the vendors that “donated” to the project. Yada yada.

I’m cool with helping people in need but not at the expense of brand hell. And trust me that’s what this show is really about. Product placement. Why do companies think that by placing products in a show like this that it will build their brand? How do they measure the success of an episode? Can they track sales somehow? If they were giving these products away to be generous they wouldn’t promote them at all, right?

This weeks episode was dominated by Sears. They supplied all of the appliances and they did a breakout to show the family in need how to log onto the Sears website. It was really quite sad to see as a branding guy. Then they close the episode by saying “If you’d like to learn more about the products used go to ABC.com”.

If you want to be a company that has a giving program make sure it doesn’t make you look like there’s something blatantly?in it for you. Because it’s not supposed to be about you.

Here’s my story of how to tie, search engine optimization, branding, service, blogging?and word of mouth into any business.

I’m going to share a bit now. About 6 months ago I was diagnosed with an umbilical hernia. I was out of the country and decided to wait until I got back to Boston.

So here’s how it all unfolded.

1. Search Engine Optimization: I went onto Google and did a search for “Umbilical Hernia Repair”. Doctors who perform this procedure may want to consider being in Google’s top ten. I used the information for educating myself about what needed to be done. Then I refined my search to “Boston Umbilical?Hernia Repair”. Surprisingly no adult doctors came up. Imagine all the business that these doctors are missing out on?? What to do now?

2. Branding:?I reverted to thinking of what are considered the best Boston Hospitals (brand image). Boston is arguably the best city for medical care. Beth Israel Hospital?immediately came to mind. So, back to Google.

3. I found Beth Israel’s website and went onto their “find a doctor” feature. But surprisingly they don’t have anything listed for hernia doctors. Now what?

4. Phone call: Yup, I actually called. And I because I did my research on Google I asked for a Laparoscopic Hernia Doctor. Presto, there are only two. I got their names and went back to Beth Israel’s website where I did a search. I finally got to Dr. Benjamin Schneider‘s main page

http://www.bidmc.harvard.edu/sites/bidmc/Find_a_Doc/doc_detail.asp?sid=41414942494543

Wow, Beth Israel really needs to get up to speed on this stuff. But I persevered because of their brand image. Ultimately it was Beth Israel’s brand image that lead me to Doctor Schneider.

5. Service: I met with Dr. Schneider and my number one priority was how I was treated? Was he going to care about me as a patient/client or was I another surgery in his rotation. I must say that he was really patient and caring. He answered all my questions, gave me recommendations and we scheduled the surgery for July 2nd.

6. Blogging: I just had my follow-up visit today?with Dr. Schneider. Once again he took the time, explained what he had done and looked after me. Now, did he know that I’m a branding guru with a pretty good size blog readership? No, not when we scheduled my surgery. But you see in today’s Internet world anyone can be a blogger and everyone can therefore share their experiences.

Doctors need to realize that a post on a blog positive or negative can affect their business, brand image and overall career. In Dr. Schneider’s case it’s a very positive experience.

7. Word of Mouth: My friend Ken and I spoke about my surgery. Unfortunately he also has an umbilical hernia. I strongly recommended Dr. Schneider. I explained the entire process to him as if it were coming directly from Dr. Schneider.

Now it would have been a whole lot easier if Beth Israel understood search engine optimization, or if doctors in private practice understood it. They could potentially increase their revenues exponentially. Furthermore internal search engines like the one Beth Israel has must work much better. I finally had to break down and call, which in my Internet world is nutty.

But if you apply a few solid tactics, you can really reap the benefits of a successful business:

1. Branding – Build a strong brand image

2. Search Engine Optimization – gets the customers to your virtual doorstep

3. Website – Professional, easy to navigate website is key

4. Service – Provide superior service

5. Blogging – ask your customers if they blog, if so ask them to blog about their experience with you

6. Word of mouth – If you came through for them this is your reward

Hat tip to Martin over at Brand Mix!

I read a great blog post today on the power of using the word FREE.

For years, advertising gurus have listed ?free? on every compilation of powerful headline words. Now, research conducted by Dan Ariely (a Duke behavioral economist, previously at MIT) shows us that ?free? is far more effective than ?almost free.? Indeed, a preference for ?free? seems to be another feature hardwired into our brains.

Click here for the remainder of the article. Very interesting.

Do you think using free is a good or bad branding element?

I started reading Andy Sernovitz blog a few months ago. I liked some of his ideas on word of mouth marketing even if they seemed very trivial to a non mom and pop business. I’m not sure of his target audience but it appears to be small business.

So I started to engage in the conversation. I gave my opinion on one of his remarks here: http://www.damniwish.com/2008/06/advertising-wor.html

He emailed me directly and asked why I was so angry? I said I wasn’t (those that know me certainly know that this was just my opinion). But he was noticeably upset and commented that “branding” people seem to act negatively towards him. I told Andy that I was just offering my opinion even it was different than his own.

Then he made a small little, obscure post on how to make friends: http://www.damniwish.com/2008/06/how-you-can-mak.html

I made a harmless comment that his daycare facility should make the parking lot bigger (need to read the story above). So what does the Word of Mouth Marketing guy do? Censors it. Won’t even post it.

Blogging is all about being transparent and honest. If someone has a different opinion on your blog I say embrace it. Start the lines of communication. You know….word of mouth stuff. The minute you hide behind:

“It was off topic“, or “It was negative in tone” you’re just throwing your little blogging power around. And you’re basically being a coward and you’re showing that you can’t really stand up for your beliefs. I get people posting all the time on my blog saying I’m wrong or giving me their opinion. All of it gets posted whether it’s “off topic” or not.

Andy can do with whatever he wants with his shiny blog. He can censor anyone, he’s the boss. Just look at his blogging policies where he rants for 8 paragraphs of his power over potential visitors (read his tone):

http://www.damniwish.com/2007/05/comment_policy.html

Ah, he’s the only blog I read with such policies. If Andy doesn’t like what you have to say (and by that I mean another view point) he treats you like ordinary SPAM.

I have no policies because there are no rules to blogging. You want to be anonymous, so be it. You want to call me crazy…presto the approved comment button is pressed. I want to hear it whether you want to be anonymous or not. I want you to criticize me whether it’s constructive or not. I want your opinion whether we agree or not.

I’m not afraid of who I am and what my beliefs are, period. To be a truly great blogger you must embrace all the elements of transparency and honesty, not just the one’s that make things a little?easier for you.

Last night I watched the baseball All Star Game. I’m a Red Sox fan and bleed red for sure. But some fans, ah…er New York fans seemingly do strange things and act in strange ways.

Why?

Branding.

New York Yankee’s fans feel so passionate about their home team that they actually booed all the Red Sox players, even though they were playing for the American League. That’s right, they booed their own team in essence.

Furthermore they booed the wives of the Red Sox players? Last time I checked they had little influence over the game.

I’d like to think Red Sox fans wouldn’t have booed the Yankee players but that’s probably not the case. The rivalry runs deep. But actually booing your own team? Makes no sense logically. But from a branding perspective?

In the end though they cheered as JD Drew of the Red Sox hit a 2 run homer. Ultimately I think they realized that we were on the same team.

Feeling passionate about a company, product or team can make you do nutty things huh?

Last night my wife and I were watching the Home Run Derby on ESPN. We were totally engaged in the Josh Hamilton story when all the sudden Rick Reilly of ESPN said…

“It’s a?bad night for Atheists”?

I turned to my wife and said “what did he just say”? We then rewound and listened again. This idiot Rick Reilly was referring to the fact that Josh Hamilton had found Jesus. And inferred that because he did he has somehow been rewarded by being able to hit slow pitched baseballs over the wall. He also implied that if you were an Atheist that home run hitting was probably not in your bag.

What a moron. Now I guess Rick Reilly thinks?it’s no big deal to people because he insulted people that don’t believe in God. But let’s change the statement a bit and then see how it looks.

Jews don’t believe in Jesus. So what if it read:

“It’s a?bad night for Jews”?

Isn’t that the same thing? Doesn’t it somehow feel a lot worse? Look, your religious views have no place in announcing anything. Keep them to yourself and announce the freakin event.

ESPN should really offer out a formal apology to Atheists as I’m pretty sure they count as people to.

Isn’t ESPN owned by Disney? That family oriented company?

Full Disclosure: I’m not an Atheist, but does that really matter?

Here’s a very funny blog post on this issue