Thank you Thule, thank you for making the best product on the market. Your Thule Excursion Cargo box literally saved my wife’s life.

My wife was in a major car accident and our 5000lb Infinity QX4 rolled down a steep ravine. Our Thule Excursion acted like a “bumper” on the roof as my car rolled and rolled over and ended up on it’s roof. It took 2 wreckers to crane it out.

The Thule didn’t even have a dent in it, but look at my Infinity…

If anyone has ever questioned the quality and strength of a Thule look no more. We owe you my wife’s life.

Thank you Thule!

Did anyone see last weeks episode of Undercover Boss It featured Larry O’Donnell, President of Waste Management going undercover performing tasks that the average Waste Management employee does?

It was eye opening for him. As it would be with any company.

We’ve been doing this sort of thing for our clients for over 17 years. We always find the same nonsense. Corporate makes policies and procedures that either can’t be obtained or are downright ludicrous. And those policies hurt your brand! Yup, if your company makes a stupid policy the brand will suffer.

In one example Larry uncovered that one of his plant managers was docking employees pay if they were late back from lunch by taking 2 minutes of their pay for every minute late. That’s a bad policy. It hurts morale but most importantly it hurts the brand.

I can guarantee that any company that hired us would be dramatically improved from an internal and external branding perspective by the research we do as it relates to policies and procedures of a company. Guaranteed.

Remember folks, your brand is being delivered by your employees everyday.

My wife loves both the Bachelor and Bachelorette and she MAKES me watch them. As I’ve watched these reality shows I’ve come to notice there are no minorities to speak of. None. Well maybe a token here and there.

Why? Why so white?

Here is the cast for this years new Bachelor:

And the lucky guy:

And last years Bachelorette and cast:

That’s a lot of white.

So why the obvious discrimination?

In 17 total seasons, neither show’s main role has ever been filled with a person of color. ABC representatives say they are “exploring” the issue for upcoming seasons.

How do these brands go unnoticed? Is this a branding strategy from ABC?

Whay say you kahunas, are the brands racist?

I don’t know if Felony Franks makes a good hot dog or not but I do know that this is a great example of how to build a brand.

Why do I like the branding? They’re different and they have a purpose. They give jobs to felons. A lot of folks won’t like that idea and choose not to visit Felony Franks. Great! They’ve just eliminated the people they don’t want. The customers that do come in will probably be repeat, dedicated customers….as long as the food is good

It takes guts to stand out in the crowd but when you do you win. That’s why developing a brand identity is the most important thing any company can do.

Today is an exciting day for me. One of our client’s American Profit Recovery just started to get passionate about what they do. A few months back we designed their collection agency?blog and trained them on how to use. Not much happened. Then I gave them a bit of the BIG Kahuna’s mind…I was, let’s just say forthright.

Together with our PR guy they started to blog regularly, passionately and with good content. This is their post today…a YOUTUBE VIDEO! I feel like a proud blog parent.

Good job guys, be yourself and have fun. Keep showing how you are the only DIFFERENT collection agency out there!

Sometimes you just have to stand back and say holy shite! While I was on YouTube searching around I came across a video made specifically for me (sort of). I was VERY afraid. Check it out:

Attention: Agent Scott at Brand Identity Guru Dot-Com

My first thought was, wow, I can’t believe this company CiSense made a video for me. And they never told me about it, I was supposed to just find it….very cool.? Read about the campaign they set up here:

Secret Missions for the Blogosphere

I’m now bummed that they didn’t send me the secret letter? I wonder why?

Anyway, what a great idea to get people motivated to check out your new company and service.

The service looks really interesting I’m going to read more about it but the strategy and creative was way cool. Kudos to CiSense!

Taken from my always working branding mind. Who was so different and made such an impact? Who?geniunely “lived” their brand…always??The Beatles? The Stones? Elvis? Not even close.

Only one man…

“Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don’t give up the fight.”

James Henke, author of Marley Legend (he’s also curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and one of my former editors at Rolling Stone), claims Marley’s more famous now than John Lennon.

“They had very similar philosophies,” he tells Evelyn McDonell in Miami Herald. “But the worldwide impact of Bob is much stronger. If you look at pure sales figures, Bob is a more vital artist now in terms of people still buying his music. Bob has this much broader appeal.”

Read more here

A few tidbits on the genius of the?Bob Marley brand:

Here’s the song list from Legend:

Buy the CD Here, the BIG Kahuna commands it!

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.”

My friend Jonathan Salem Baskin (Brand Behaviorist)?just put out a new YouTube video. I loved it. I’ll tell you why after you watch it:

Now why did I love it? Because most of these icons make no brand identity sense. For an effective mascot to work it must leverage the brand identity. For instance is Volvo (safety brand identity) decided on a mascot a swashbuckling pirate would be bad, but a?police officer?would be good. See the difference?

Sock puppets, Kool-Aid jugs and gecko’s mean nothing. I do happen to like the caveman mascot only because it does leverage “ease of use” which makes sense, hence “so easy a caveman can do it”.

Jonathan is a branding guy. He’s just a different kind of branding guy. I’ve coined him the Brand Behaviorist and it suits him well. Now if only I can get him to at least consider that brand identity and perceptions help drive a brand…

p.s. Jonathan, you haven’t made a comment on my blog in quite some time. The BIG Kahuna is angry!

Cnn IS the most trusted name in news, at least with me. I watched CNN throughout the conventions and all the hurricanes. I was glued to the TV as news reporters were holding onto poles as hurricanes Ike and Gustav?hit.

I’m really not sure what keeps me watching but I do. I can’t stop. Now I have the shakes because nothing is happening. Anderson Cooper has come along way since The Mole.

I love CNN and when there is trouble in the world they’re the first place I turn. Period. Why? Because they seem to offer the most comprehensive coverage. And it never stops. Coverage upon coverage upon, you guessed it…coverage.

My wife, Nicci asks me why I keep watching the same stuff over and over. I’m addicted I tell you! I can’t stop watching.

As I write this post now I’m wondering if OJ will go to jail?

CNN is my favorite news brand. And they consistently deliver the news. I’m a CNN News crack addict.

Laura Ries just wrote an awesome post on the McCain branding representing Coke and the Obama branding representing Pepsi. Here are some excerpts:

McCain is Coca-Cola. As part of the incumbent party that has dominated the White House for the past fifty years, he is the real thing. He embodies courage, duty and honor. As part of a legendary Naval family McCain?has a long history serving our country, his fighting in Vietnam and?years spent as a POW are legendary.?His reputation has always been as a maverick. McCain’s strength is his experience.

Obama is Pepsi-Cola.Obama is the choice of a new generation. Pepsi said, “You don’t want to drink what your parents drank. You are the Pepsi Generation!” With a?whole new taste and look, Pepsi stormed into the cola aisle just as Obama stormed onto the political stage. Obama is new, young, different and embodies the idea of change and hope. Obama’s strength is that he represents the choice of a new generation.

Read the entire story here. Hop over it’s really a great read.

Wanna make your vote count? Click the VOTE FOR ME button below. Why? Cause we kick slacker butt!

I’ve written on Geek Squad a few times but I have to just they are really kicking some branding?ass. I see their cars and vans all over the place and it reminds me of what a great internal branding strategy they have. It’s a coveted job in their industry.

I’d love to hear from some Geeks? Comment as to why you love Geek Squad and what makes them special to you. Our branding readers would love to hear it right from the Geeks mouth!

My Kahunas (your version of Geeks) are livin’ quite a life, vote for us below if you think we’re cool enough for you Geeks!

The other day I asked our readers, customers, friends and family to help us in the startupnation.com virtual business competition. One of our clients Humboldt Storage and Moving (one of United Van Lines largest movers) sent me a quick?email.

The email from President Jim Sullivan was addressed to all 100 plus employees of Humboldt. It said let’s help out our partner in this competion. It’s important to them.

Wow, that’s some cool beans.

Humboldt has always taken a deep interest in BIG and we truly have a real partnership. I’m fortunate to have them as a partner!

Thanks Humboldt!

And for those that haven’t voted, c’mon help a brother out. Click VOTE FOR ME below. You can vote once a day.

Readers of my blog know (in my humble opinion)?I’ve been critical of word of mouth marketing companies as I think most of them miss the boat on branding. I see lots of gimmicks and smoke and mirrors. Then I came across this post:

Keller Fay/OMD Study Finds Offline Word of Mouth More Positive and Credible than Online Buzz

Here’s a quote:

On average, there are 3.5 billion word of mouth conversations that occur daily in the U.S. Offline WOM accounts for 92% of conversations (75% face to face; 17% by phone), and email, IM/text messaging and chatroom/blogs account for 7%.

What does this research tell us? I perceive it as word of mouth marketing?is directly tied to and dependent on how one feels about a brand. The more positive you feel about a brand the more one talks. And according to this research people are talking offline.

How do you get people to feel a certain way? Well a remarkable product or service is a good start. And of course proper positioning and brand identity development are crucial. You need to differentiate your company or product and focus. Apple products are not for everyone for a reason. They do a great job of excluding people and selling into their core target market. I am not an Apple brand ambassador. I own an old iPod, that’s it. But my graphic/web designers all use Mac’s and would NEVER switch to a PC, ever. they are part of the Apple cult.

So if you’re considering word of mouth marketing remember one thing. It’s part of branding, treat it as such.

**Show us some clicky-love,?mouse up and VOTE FOR?ME?in the big green box on the upper right! Help us win -?you can vote once a day**

There are some pretty great brands out in brandsland today. What is your absolute favorite? The one you talk to your friends and family about. Or on your blog. The brand you’re in love with. The one brand you would never give up??

My?wife’s favorite?is Oil of Olay.

My absolute must have and favorite brand?is Diet Coke.?

C’mon my fellow branders, what’s your favorite?

This is a cool video that has a chance to go viral:

It’s certainly a fun way to get people to visit your site. Is it real? Who cares, it’s fun and I was immediately engaged. Will it result in sales? Good question.

Here’s a chance to get your company and its message in front of over 2000?executives a day.

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I’m going to be scheduling once a month?BIG Kahuna?interviews with top companies across the?globe over the next 12 months. The interviews, including promotional materials, will be a major part of?our branding blog.

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Here are some of the benefits of being one of the lucky chosen:

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1. High exposure to other CEOs, Presidents and Owners of fortune? 500 companies.

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2. Tremendous exposure to prospects and the trade.

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3. Our blog stories get?picked up?by other bloggers. If your article is newsworthy watch it get picked up by the thousands of RSS subscribers we have. This means hundreds or thousands of other bloggers picking up my story.

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4. You’ll be able to link to the article in your news section. Nothing beats great blog PR. Nothing. Especially from the Guru.

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The blog post will remain on the site forever.

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So how much will all this cost? Nothing, bupkis, zip-o, nada….ZERO

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Here’s what you have to do. Email me at swhite@brandidentityguru.com?and tell me why I should interview your BIG Kahuna.

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The interview must be with your President, Owner or CEO.

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So here’s your chance to make you and your company?look good by getting some blog love from the premier branding blog in the country.

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So c’mon folks, I need ?interviews. Write me ASAP.

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As my loyal readers know I often disagree with things Seth Godin says. I haven’t purchased any of his books but do read his blog. For the most part his blog has been pretty mundane as of late?but then he posted an article on being lucky. This caught my attention immediately.

The name of the article is “The Difficult Choice”. Check it out.

Sit back people because everything Seth says in this post is solid and the truth. If I had a nickel for every time a poor boy like me was referred to as lucky, well…I’d be even richer than I am today.

It’s funny how someone like me can be SO lucky all the time. Look folks, it ain’t luck. I’ve been responsible for all my luck but sometimes it’s easier for people that haven’t accomplished what they want to call other people lucky. Seth’s not lucky.

Like Seth I take big time risks. Some fail miserably (no one ever calls me lucky then) and some pay big dividends.

When 911 came we lost 75% of our business. Almost all our clients got laid off from their companies. What did I do? I closed down the office and gave everyone the opportunity to work virtually from their homes. This saved me tremendous capital expenditures and it made the employee’s who stayed much happier. Was it luck? It was a big risk for sure that paid off. I made my luck. and in return my employee’s are the happiest they’ve ever been.

So the next time you question someone’s success whether it be a company or individual remember one thing. It’s a lot easier to call someone else lucky than take the chance at making your own luck.

I’ve never shopped at Baby Genius. I’ve never heard of them until yesterday. So why the mad props?

My best Friend Scott (yea, same name) told me about a story that I thought was fantastic. One of Scott’s co-workers had twins. So Scott originally went to Amazon to buy a couple of baby gifts. But, unfortunately none of the Amazon suppliers provided gift wrapping (hard to believe).

So Scott found Baby Genius and orderd two of the same gift. A day later Scott had a message to call Baby Genius regarding his order. When he touched base with them the man told Scott that one of the products was not as good as the other and didn’t want to ship it out as he thought they might be for twins (how cool is that?).

So instead he offered an upgrade at no additional cost so that both babies would get the same toy, both in good shape.

Now although I’m a big Amazon fan I’m pretty sure that type of service would have never happened.

More on Baby Genius here:

Tom just released a cool YouTube vid on marketing and magic. Check it out:

I said that in my post here with Best Buy. Look don’t say one thing and do another folks. In today’s blog world you will be found out. Just be honest, thanks Tom!