The BIG Kahuna

Return on Investment, ROI. It’s very difficult to show how being on twitter or facebook directly caused a sale. And this is the major thorn in the side for most businesses jumping into the social media scene.

At best ROI is very unscientific for either tactic. If you have 100 people talking positively about your product or service how can we really measure sales?

What are you doing to prove ROI in either of these tactics?

Are you a blogger? If so chime in to this conversation:

http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress/2009/07/the-problem-with-using-the-word-never/#comments

What are your thoughts?

Blog reviews are becoming a big business and have put a lot of bloggers to work. That’s a good thing. But then you get someone like Andy Sernovitz, self proclaimed word of mouth marketing guru who says this:

“Never pay for posts or reviews.  Do it even once, and you break the trust forever. Everyone will assume you pay for all reviews.”

That’s the biggest pile of crap I think I’ve ever heard and here’s why. Paying for someone to review your product or service has been going on since the beginning of capitalism. As long as the review is UNBIASED it’s kosher. Period. End of story. Bloggers are allowed to write whatever they want, good or bad.

Now, if you put restrictions on the blogger then you are indeed violating that trust.

So Andy, think twice before using the word “never” because there are a lot of great, ethical bloggers out there who like to work and write good honest reviews.

What do you think kahunas?

As you listen to all the word of mouth marketing zombies praise social media be cautious, very cautious. Social media is not for everyone! You don’t have to have a blog. You don’t have to be on twitter or facebook.  Really, I’m not kidding, it may not be right for you or your business.

As social networks grow watch as things become overwhelming. Sort of like the advertising world that word of mouth marketing people seem to despise so much. They say the average Joe sees too many messages. They’re interrupted too much. Blah, blah, blah. Well that’s what you’re getting right now through social media.

Everyone on facebook is starting a fan page (advertising in disguise), group or something. You can join a group for green tomatoes: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2441452809.  Soon there will be so many fan pages and groups it will become too much to handle. What to do then?

Branding.

It’s still the gold standard. What will differentiate one group of green tomato lovers from the next? They’ll need to differentiate and position their fan page, group, twitter account etc. Branding is the only thing that will and always will work.

I challenge and word of mouth marketing guru to prove my statement wrong. What do you think kahunas?

I’m not a banking expert but I am a branding expert and I must say I love the name Ally Bank. It says it all doesn’t it? They’re on your side. You can count on them. And in an industry where names are so conservative and boring this name mixes it up.

I also like the transparency that they seem to be positioning themselves as. “No minimum deposits, no monthly fees, no minimum balance, NO SNEAKY DISCLAIMERS”. Nice, really like it especially since general opinion of banks is pretty low right now.

It’s nice to see a bank step out a little and be different. Heaven knows most of them are the “me too” type of organization.

Now, will they follow through on their brand identity? That’s the million dollar question. If they don’t their name will be meaningless.

Read all about their story here: http://www.ally.com/ally-story.html

I was supposed to review the book  Pow! Right Between The Eyes by Andy Nulman way back in March but I was travelling outside the US and couldn’t get it done in time. So I’m a day late and a dollar short…

Here’s the surprise:

It’s not that SURPRISING?

Let’s start with some positives. It’s well written and I loved Andy’s sense of humor. It does have some nuggets of fun, creative ideas.

Here are some negatives. Gimmicks are gimmicks. Nowhere in the book is there any strategy relating to leveraging brand identity or branding at all. One of his own examples included Maxim models. Gimmick.

He’s obviously on the word of mouth marketing train, which is fine. But unless it ties back to your brand identity it’s all short lived, like a bad drug. Gimmicks. I don’t like gimmicks.

Here’s what I mean by tying to a brand identity. Volvo’s brand identity is “safe”. They own it. IF they had come out with this promotion it would have been a Pow moment that leveraged their brand. The “double whammy“:

But Volkswagen beat them to it. Was it a POW moment according to Andy? Maybe, did it do anything for Volkswagen? Doubt it. For them it was just a gimmick. People aren’t running out and buying Volkswagen’s because they are “safe”.  Volvo owns that.

So, I do think that surprise marketing can be VERY effective but it needs to be more than just the first giant gorilla baloon at a car dealership. It needs to leverage the brand in some way. Then it becomes doubly effective. And twice as memorable.

Here’s a recent viral campaign from Evian with over 4.5 million views.

Probably a POW moment. For me this is one big gimmick. Will it increase sales? Will it make people drink Evian water more? Doubt it. It’s certainly cute and funny. How does it leverage Evian’s brand identity? Is there a “double whammy”?

Trust me you can be surprising and strategic at the same time. Like this example from Andy’s blog:

http://powrightbetweentheeyes.typepad.com/pow_right_between_the_eye/2009/06/ski-season-in-june-well-here-at-least.html

I’d like to see more of that.

Here’s a link to Andy’s blog:

http://powrightbetweentheeyes.typepad.com/

I don’t think there are enough “double whammy” moments for me to recommend his book but I would recommend his blog if you want to pull out some really great nuggets.

Today I read a blog post from self proclaimed word of mouth marketing guru Andy Sernovitz. Here’s what he has to say about advertising:

It’s not scalable. The problem with advertising is that you pay for each impression, regardless of how successful you are. It’s not genuine. For enough, you might buy a little attention; but no amount of advertising can establish true love — the kind that makes fans line up for your new products, drag their friends in to see you, or defend you from the naysayers.

How ridiculous. I particularly like this statement: “regardless of how successful you are“. Huh? Advertising is a tactic to get people interested in your product or service. It sparks a flame. Then it’s up to you to provide the product or service that will make people become brand ambassadors. Proclaiming it doesn’t work and that everyone should run out and start a blog, get on twitter and facebook is even more ridiculous. Those tactics aren’t for everyone either.

Social media is a tool that can be used very successfully but it’s not for everyone. Just like certain advertising tactics are not for everyone. But to make statements like Andy does makes me question his knowlege of marketing all together and those that follow him.

What do you think kahunas?

Here’s what I think of instantaneously when I hear the name Brinks:

SECURITY

Apparently they’ve spun off some divisions but could have kept the name Brink. Here’s what the CEO had to say:

Broadview CEO Bob Allen said the company would have been happy to keep the Brink name, but licensing and taxation regulations would have been too pricey.

This name change is costing them 120 million dollars….

Too pricey Bob? Are you nuts? Keeping the name Brink is invaluable. It took generations to get to the point of a brand identity that Brinks had. It’s priceless as far as I’m concerned.

So what did they name the new company….wait for it….this cost 120 million…

Broadview Alarm Systems

Say it out loud a few times, because it gets funnier each time you say it…

What say you fellow branders, good choice?

Look at Bridgestone Tire’s Tagline…

How generic can this be? What’s the benefit to a Bridgestone customer? What company doesn’t strive for excellence? Imagine a company the size of Bridgestone with all their uniqueness coming up with this for a positioning?

This is what fuels marketing people to say a tagline is not necessary. Yet when done right it works masterfully.

A tagline is a company’s one chance to differentiate themselves from the competition. To stand out and apart. It should leverage your brand identity. What’s Bridgestone’s brand identity?

Here’s how to do it right:

Volvo – For Life

You see how Volvo leverages their “Safety” positioning? Can ANYONE else in the auto industry claim safety? They all say their safe but Volvo OWNS safety. What does Bridgestone own?

If you’re going to be vanilla and generic don’t bother having a tagline.