The concept of “paying it forward” has been cool ever since the movie Pay It Forward in 2000 with Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment (where has he disappeared by the way?!), and Helen Hunt. So I am glad to see many coffee shops jump on the bandwagon that is suspended coffees.

If you are unfamiliar with the suspended coffee concept, it is an initiative that allows customers to buy and reserve drinks for the homeless. Now, who doesn't like the idea of the coffee shop that you regularly buy from ( the average U.K. consumer spends £393 a year on takeaway hot drinks) supporting your local community? In fairness, many companies and their employees already do great things in their communities. But it is heartening to see that some brands are beginning to understand the integral role they play in their communities.



Coffee shops are ever-present in many towns and cities around the United Kingdom. They are a fundamental social hub for the community where people gather, meet, share, interact, and engage with one another. However, the simple act of running a suspended coffee initiative can springboard the relationship between a brand and the community it operates in. Shifting the perception of being a place where people simply engage and interact with one another (a social hub), to a place that is an active and encouraging member of the local community (a communal hub).

Fundamentally, the suspended coffee concept is another great idea like Marks & Spencer’s Shwopping initiative. It is simple and encourages all to think and act with good intentions. Something brands must do more of, not only to differentiate themselves from their competitors, but also to build lasting bonds with their customers and community.

Remember that tune by Bonnie Raitt, “Let’s give them somethin’ to talk about?” It referred in its own lyrical way to word of mouth, you know, “people are talkin,’” and whatever they’re talking about is fast getting passed around.

Well, these days it’s not so much that people are talkin’ and passing stuff around but, rather, that people are viewing, recording things on their smart phones, and “sendin.’” Word of mouth, as a social dynamic, is quickly being replaced by what brand consultant Julie Cottineau recently coined as “word of eye.” We live in a culture whose technological advances have made images so simple to capture and disseminate—and in which images are fast becoming the currency of news and information—that this visual currency has become the currency of choice. As a brand professional, I don’t think words are over (I very much admire the brilliant writers in my midst), but I do think that in a world saturated with screens of every size continually demanding our attention, where events from the totally inconsequential to the wholly earth-shaking play out nonstop, smart marketers must reevaluate the importance of what people see, and then want to photograph and share relative to brands. The bottom line is that companies must ensure that their brand experiences are click, shoot, and send worthy.

If there’s any doubt about sharable photo opportunities being a key to success in branding, all one needs to do is walk down any street and watch how anyone and everyone documents everything imaginable with their smart phones, Apple, a master at using strong, beautifully crafted visuals to show how its products fit into peoples’ lives, just this week launched a new ad for its iPhone that follows the arc of a day as people take pictures of everything imaginable to share with their friends and family. It has but a single sentence of voiceover dialogue, letting the action convey the message. It's the ultimate in meta-word-of-eye branding. It’s a wonderful piece of moviemaking—and brand building.

It’s obvious that digital technology is accelerating the speed at which we learn about things. And it’s obvious that the younger generation is leading the charge in the use of pictures as the de facto way to communicate. Facebook, Foursquare, Pinterest, and Instagram are all about real time visual immediacy. I’ll send you a photo from my smart phone to document where I’ve eaten, what I’ve eaten, the store in which I bought that super cute outfit, the view from my hotel window, or the view from my seat at the concert. People want to share things they feel passionate about, that they like and enjoy, and they have the means to do so. Brand organizations must pay heed to this fierce desire to document and share all we see and use it to unlock the huge marketing potential wherein everyday consumers are willing and able (no-cost) advertisers of products and services.

When speaking to Julie Cottineau about the importance of visual communication in today's marketplace, she told me, “If your brand doesn’t have a signature, sharable image, you won’t be part of the conversation. Think of the travel industry, for example. Posting a picture of your vacation spot versus writing about it is quicker, it’s easier, and it more credibly captures the experience. You need to be able to show what your brand does, or stands for, in a way that is telegraphic and evocative of the experience. People don’t have time for lots of words. Increasingly we’re finding that it’s the visual process, the ‘show me don't tell me,’ that gets consumers hooked. Brands that want to thrive must think of their products, literally and figuratively, through a visual lens, be able to tell the brand story through pictures. It’s images that differentiate brands, whether it’s the castle in Disney’s Magic Kingdom, the fountains at the Bellagio hotel in Vegas, or the clean, simple packaging that Method uses to distinguish its cleaning products. Everything today is documented immediately, from hard news to cultural events. Images travel fast and get the point across more quickly. You’ve got to be able to figure out how to differentiate your brand through images.”

Cottineau went on to remind me how much strong visual branding is part of the success of Virgin America—Virgin’s domestic airline, which launched in 2007 as a contender to the tired traditional airlines, and in just six years has won numerous travel industry awards and expanded its routes to 23 cities. “Virgin America pays a lot of attention to the visual aspect of the experience. From the moment you walk into the plane you can see a difference. There’s purple mood lighting and white leather seats that really reinforce the airline’s promise of a Breath of Fresh Airline. You can literally hear people ooh and aah, and then watch them as they reach for their cell phones to snap a picture to share the experience with friends, all before they’ve even left the ground. Take a look at Flickr, Pinterest, and Instagram and you’ll see tens of thousands of shots and pins of the Virgin America planes. That’s word-of-eye branding at work.”

The fact of the matter is that the busier we are, the faster we need to be able to process information. Pictures are simply easier to scan. Like it or not, people don't have a lot of time, or patience, for words. That moment of truth that visually captures the experience of the brand is worth a thousand words, and thousands of dollars in free advertising for a brand. Smart marketers know well the value of word of eye and they make sure that their brand’s experience is worth capturin’ and sendin.’

First published on Forbes.com

I can’t help but observe brands when I’m traveling. I love walking the aisles in local grocery stores, examining packaging, and noticing the spaces in which brands engage with consumers. So, I’d like to share my recent experiences with the Moleskine, Nespresso, and Whole Foods brands. Each reminded me of the power of brand extension, brand experience, and brand purpose.

Brand extension

I was waiting at the entrance of the spectacular Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in Manhattan when I spotted what looked like a Moleskine popup store in the lobby. The eclectic and colourful window display caught my eye. Once inside, I was mesmerized by the colourful range of notebooks, bags, pens, pencils, and other accessories. Who knew that this maker of the iconic and legendary black notebook made so much more? I surmised that its core competency of designing blank space has enabled them to innovate not only with products (Moleskine Passions journals, laptop bags) but also with digital channels (myMoleksine), and events (Moleskine Portraits).

What can we learn from Moleskine’s brand extensions?

Read the full post in Campaign India.

Spring is in the air, and nothing says spring better than sipping German-made elderflower liqueur!

On a warm night in March (for San Francisco, that is) we held our second Sip ‘n Learn (this is when we ask the bar to come to us). Ron Zacapa honored Landor San Francisco with a tasting for our first Sip ‘n Learn, and for our second happy hour Pür Spirits’ brand ambassador Summer-Jane Bell welcomed us with a homemade Pür punch (recipe below). Punch is obviously one of her fortes, as it deftly combined three kinds of alcohol in a smooth, refreshing drink. 

We sampled Pür Williams (pear liquer), Pür Blossom (elderflower), and Pür Spice (blood orange, cinnamon, and clove), while perusing recipe cards that featured stylized, vintage-looking photos of Pür founder Kiki Braverman and various female bartenders, including Summer-Jane. If you missed out on them or want to see them collected in one place, you are in luck because a book is in the works: Cocktail Cult: Free spirited cocktails & pure spirited women. You can help get the book out sooner and even get your name in it by checking out their  Kickstarter campaign. 

We then learned a bit about the elderflowers that are used to make Pür Blossom: They grow like weeds in the region around Lake Constance, Germany. And we learned about the process of making the six artisanal liqueurs that make up Pür’s U.S. market portfolio (only three are currently available). Essentially, they are made by one master distiller in a small workshop, similar to the way it has been done for hundreds of years, and not unlike the legendary expert German violin makers.

After learning about weeds and provincial businessmen, it was time for more punch!

Cactus blossom punch 
by Summer-Jane Bell

Equal parts each:

• Blanco tequila
• Pür Blossom (elderflower)
• White wine (a riesling/sauvignon blanc blend works nicely)
• Ruby red grapefruit juice, preferably fresh squeezed

Add a little diluted agave nectar or simple syrup to balance the grapefruit tartness.

Add more citrus to brighten, if you like.

Serve on the rocks.

Top with a splash of soda water or bubbles if it tastes too strong (it's very boozy).

Enjoy the spring!

By now, most marketers have heard about the PR nightmare that plagued Carnival cruise lines’ Triumph fleet. What immediately popped into our minds was whether people would consider taking a vacation on board a cruise ship again, especially with Carnival. Prior to the debacle, Carnival’s “fun ship” branding strategy was great, but people cruising on the Triumph certainly did not have that experience.

Will Carnival ever recoup its potential loss of revenue, and its loss of passengers? Will it build back its brand? It is not impossible, but Carnival must take steps to regain its stakeholders’ trust.

World-class hospitality brands understand the crucial link between brand strategy and service strategy. This link always gets tested during a service failure. The recovery strategy employed by the brand determines whether it is polished or tarnished. Carnival is at present badly tarnished. In addition to the inordinate time it took to rescue the stranded passengers, the fact that Chairman Micky Arison was seen at a Miami Heat game during the crisis only added to an already grievous situation.

World-class service firms treat any service failures as a chance to showcase their brand promises. For example, when the Asian tsunami threatened the Maldive Islands, the Four Seasons Hotels hired an airplane to evacuate guests and employees, spiriting them to safety. While it may have cost them dearly in the short term, it polished the brand in immeasurable ways.

The lesson? Just as organizations must have an “in case of fire” plan, brands need a disaster recovery plan. This is especially true for service brands where guest and employee safety is put at risk. This plan must also consider the impact on the brand.

What must Carnival do to gain back its reputation? Carnival must follow three steps:

1. Passengers who endured this event must be turned into brand advocates. A mere refund and/or credit for a future cruise is not enough. Each passenger should receive a personal letter from Carnival’s chairman—and perhaps a phone call—offering an opportunity to be a guest on another cruise ­with all expenses paid. There must also be a series of “surprising and delighting” experiences on board to ensure guests experience being treated like royalty, and in turn tell friends and family about the wonderful time they had.

The key to future success is getting people talking positively about Carnival: In a transparent world, consumer word of mouth is the most powerful branding application.

2. Carnival’s management must institute tangible changes to its safety and contingency plans and procedures and make them visible. Again, in a transparent world, a brand is as a brand does. Carnival can’t simply say it has made changes—it must demonstrate them. Passengers must be able to see and experience the changes, whether through videos, onboard drills, or even a tour of the boat led by the captain.

3. The company must make communicating the changes part of its long-term branding strategy, through paid media, public relations, and real-time experience. Carnival must do everything possible to embed in consumers’ minds that it takes passengers’ safety seriously. This can’t be a one-off message, but must be seen as what the brand stands for—its brand equities. Fun will no longer be enough of a promise to keep this brand afloat.

If Carnival puts this plan into effect, it can recover. Look at how Johnson & Johnson handled the Tylenol crisis in 1982, when it discovered that some of its product had been tampered with, to see how brands can rebound from challenging situations. Ultimately the brand must communicate and demonstrate its recovery strategy. A mea culpa must be made quickly and honestly.

Affected customers must be compensated generously for their trials and tribulations. Future customers must have utmost confidence that the brand will live up to its promise of world-class service. Employees must feel proud that their brand did the right thing. Executives responsible for the situation must pay with their bonuses or their jobs. Owners must be made to feel the financial pain so there is a significant incentive to make sure events like the Triumph never happen again. This is the only way the Carnival brand can hope to regain lost trust in its brand.

First published more on MediaPost’s Marketing Daily (12 April 2013).

Creating and managing your personal brand has become an increasingly popular and valuable skill over the past few years. The Internet and the resulting world of social media have made it easier to find information on anyone, which, like any tool, can help or harm you.

Self-branding has become an especially essential skill set for millennials who, unlike the generations preceding them, are no longer defining themselves by one company or career. Priorities are shifting from their employers to their own skill sets and brand.

The principles of branding yourself are much like the principles of branding a business. They are simple and timeless, and when successfully executed, will add significant long-term value.

STEP 1: Conduct a personal inventory


Slow down and get to know yourself.

Your brand is what you stand for, your core meaning. Ideally, it should remain similar across all target consumers, whether potential employers, potential friends, or potential sweethearts.

An effective brand will have relevant points of differentiation. This breaks down to two things:

• How are you different?
• Why does it matter to your target consumer?

Figure out your points of relevant differentiation like this:


Only I deliver [unique relevant differentiation] to [target consumer].

STEP 2: Sharpen points of relevant differentiation


Find opportunities that will develop and sharpen your points of differentiation. 

Don’t wait for opportunities to come up; actively find or create them. Want to hone your writing skills? Start a blog. Want to improve your interpersonal communication skills? Volunteer with others. You don’t get better from doing the same thing in the same way every day.

For example, Tina Fey knew she was interested in comedy at an early age so she did an independent study project on the subject in eighth grade and sharpened her points of relevant differentiation.

STEP 3: Always be authentic


Stay true to yourself.

I know some people like to have different faces: a work identity and an outside-of-work identity. I don’t believe those iterations of your brand should be mutually exclusive. I think it’s possible to be both personable and funny at work and professional and ambitious with your friends—it’s just more like a sliding scale.

Your brand should be a reflection of the real you. This will make it easier to keep your brand identity consistent, which is important so people know what to expect.

Is your identity that you’re extremely professional? Always, dress, act and speak (online and off) like it. Are you more on the creative side? Feel free to veer from strictly professional then; Mark Zuckerberg did. Just be authentic.

Jeans and a t-shirt work for some people.

STEP 4: Communicate benefits


Promote yourself.

As sordid as it sounds, promote yourself. Branding is how you signal or communicate your brand to your marketplace.

Let others know what you are working on. Get them excited about you and your work. Open yourself up to mentors. Get people thinking that you are the go-to person for X because of your points of differentiation.

This is where social media could come in. I’m not going to prescribe LinkedIn or Twitter or even face-to-face communication because honestly, different things work for different people. Figure out what works best for your purpose. Communication methods come and go, but branding is timeless. Just make sure all of your outlets are on-brand.

Again, these principles can be adopted and adapted to fit anyone’s needs. So here’s to building and maintaining a very important brand—you!

Tina Fey image courtesy of jtbrennan (flickr); permission being requested.
 Mark Zuckerberg image courtesy of  Robert Scoble (flickr); permission being requested.

Move over IQ, EQ, and even SQ. Today it’s about CQ or your creative quotient. Every knowledge worker, whether in a creative profession or not, is tasked with being creative. This means solving problems, generating ideas, and adding value on a daily basis. If you’re a manager, the pressure to demonstrate creativity is even greater. Did you know that a 2010 survey by IBM of 1,500 CEOs highlighted “creativity” as a management skill more valuable than operations and marketing? Yet very few of us are formally trained in creativity or even have any exposure to it in school or university. All is not lost though. Bruce Nussbaum, author of Creative Intelligence, says that creative competence is like a sport. You can train for it and increase the capacities of yourself and your organization.

Inspired by Bruce’s call to action, I started researching the topic to find practices that I could put into action and increase my levels of creativity. While I found ad hoc techniques that seem to work for others, the light bulb only went off when I read The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry. I discovered a potentially lifestyle changing, long term approach to systematically improving the daily odds of creative success.

Read the full post in Campaign India.

Fact: One out of every seven people on earth is on Facebook (at least, as I write this). Fact: Facebook is the largest social network in the world today. Fact: Mark Zuckerberg knows how to get people connected. Opinion: Facebook Home, the new “Facebook Phone” is a really, really smart branding move, in perfect alignment with the brand and all it stands for, but it is not a game changer in the mobile phone industry.

There. I gave away my bottom line in the first paragraph. Give me just a couple more paragraphs to explain my thinking. First of all, for those of you who have not yet been on Facebook today, or on CNN.com, Forbes.com, or any other news site, here’s what you missed (other than there’s something going on in North Korea): Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, took the stage at the company’s headquarters in Silicon Valley to unveil Facebook Home, a new launcher that the social network behemoth will offer for Android phones. As Zuckerberg told his audience, “You're going to be able to turn your phone into a great social device. Our phones today are designed around apps, not people. We want to flip that around.”

Seems that Facebook Home, which is not new hardware per se, but an app integrated into an existing model of the HTC mobile phone, will put Facebook updates right on the home screen via a feature called Cover Feed. In other words, Facebook content takes up the entire screen. Lest you be concerned, all your other apps are still there, accessed through a launcher that is accessible by swiping up. Equally novel, a funky feature called Chat Heads lets you easily manage conversations with friends without leaving any other app or mobile activity you might currently be interacting with. But, I’m getting into too much technical detail.

Suffice it to say, Facebook Home is the must-have phone of the moment—if the major part of your day, life, universe revolves around contact with your friends. In other words, it’s a killer branding app for Facebook to build a deeper, stronger relationship with its core customers—kids, teens, tweens, and those of similar mindset. For this, I give Zuckerberg and his team kudos for all the smart brand-thinking associated with this new product. First of all, look at the name: Facebook Home. It’s simple and sticky and, most of all, evocative of the primary product attribute. It brings you home and keeps you in touch with all the important people in your life. (Hey, look at the ad campaign, which speaks directly to this notion: “We carry our phones with us wherever we go. More than this, we use our phones to connect with the people we care about. This is Facebook. And this is Facebook Home.”) It’s a name and a product that are relevant to the primary audience, those most likely to gravitate toward it and use it. And what’s the first rule of smart branding? Know your audience and give them something that’s relevantly different. As for Chat Heads, equally cool and evocative of the audience. At once funny and charmingly self-deprecating.

Another astute move on the part of the Facebook folks—both from a branding and business perspective—was not trying to compete in the hardware category. Their brand DNA is in social media, not machines. Brands that stick to what they know best and do best are brands that, well, do best. Yet another interesting dimension of the whole branding thing is that Facebook decided to go Android, not Apple. Why? From my branding perspective I think it’s because Android is an open system, and Apple is not. Brands are known by the company—the partners—that they keep. Doesn’t it make sense that Facebook would want to associate itself with a brand that is “open” minded?

So, back to my bottom line. For heavy-duty Facebook users, Facebook Home will be a home run for the company. For light and moderate users of the social network, probably not so much. With the launch of Facebook Home and with a focus on features that will appeal to its core audience, the company will win at the game it knows how to play better than any other in the category. More to my initial point, it will further strengthen its brand by doing something that resonates perfectly with its core users. That said, I don’t believe Facebook Home will change the dynamics of the phone business, in general. That’s OK. The smart move for Facebook is doing whatever is necessary to own the social media space, and the most ardent users of social media around the globe. If you’re the parent of a teen or tween, get ready for the ask.

From Forbes.com

When I came upon a “bunny mix” of M&Ms for Easter, how could I possibly resist reviving the M&M series, if only for this one post? This time we have two different variables to chart, so it’s even more exciting than before. And yes, I only used one bag so this isn’t exactly science protocol, but that one bag had 425 candies and heck if I’m going to count higher than that. 

Overall color distribution

Look at that! So much pink and yellow (and I think you can guess how much us Landorians love yellow. Hint: A LOT!). Could we hypothesize that the low number of blue and green M&Ms means that the mix is more targeted towards girls? Or perhaps the distribution is based on the strength of each color’s association with the season? If that were the case, I would think green would appear even more—I somehow associate Easter with that plastic grass stuff that always filled my basket in the mornings as a kid. But, maybe that's just me. 

Overall character distribution

The fun thing about the “bunny mix” of M&Ms is the presence of characters on some of the candies: lambs, chicks, and bunnies (the others feature a traditional M&M mark and are represented in the charts by the lightest gray).

One thing you might notice in the charts below that look more deeply at said characters is the absence of blue. Well, that’s simply because not one single blue M&M had a cute little animal stamped on it. I have no idea if that was intentional or purely accidental, but it seems pretty strange either way.

Character distribution within each color

Color distribution within each character

Conclusion

Bunnies win!

“Past performance is not an indication of future results.” Anyone who’s invested, or thought of investing, in the latest hot stock or mutual fund is familiar with these words of warning. As a branding guy, I have to tell you that the same words of warning should be heeded by any company thinking of linking its brand with a particular athlete or Academy Award winner, or any other celebrity. The idea that the endorser’s current winning streak will provide positive borrowed interest for the long term is not guaranteed, and it’s not smart branding.

I bring this up, of course, given the latest social media brouhaha resulting from Nike’s online ad showing a picture of Tiger Woods overlaid with his quote that “Winning takes care of everything.” Some of the thousands of Facebook and Twitter respondents think the ad is just fine, thanks to Tiger’s recent superior performance and re-ascendency to the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer. Others, well, not so much. They think that, given Tiger’spersonal track record, the quest by Nike to put a Tiger back in its branding tank is misguided. As I told a reporter who asked for my take on the topic, Nike is looking at this and saying, “Time has passed, he’s winning again, it’s time to turn up the volume on our association.” But, the fact of the matter is that associating with a celebrity, athlete or otherwise, based only on his or her current rise to the top of the leaderboard is risky business.

Performance, especially current performance, is only one of the criteria for those in search of a successful celebrity brand match. Sure, whether someone is a winner in the actual game is a must-have attribute. But so is whether they’re winners in terms of total character and, most critically, if this persona is an appropriate fit for the brand in question. Companies that are most successful in their endorsement efforts ensure that there is a natural relationship between the image of the celebrity and the image of the brand. Those who do the best job know exactly what this person—the whole person—stands for in the minds of consumers, whether the linkage will pass muster, and whether the brand has a similar persona.

As a result of the transparent nature of our world, consumers have become very interested in a brand’s personality, not just “what” it does, but “who” it is, and “why” it’s motivated to do what it does. Consumers are forming relationships with brands and, as in any relationship, they want to feel comfortable before opening their hearts or their pocketbooks. More than this, it’s becoming more and more evident that consumers want to do business with brands that share their beliefs and values. To be seen as authentic, and to be believable, the way a company expresses its “who” and “why” must be seen as a natural extension of its corporate culture. And celebrity endorsement is about as close as you can get to this natural extension.

Now, celebrity endorsement is nothing new in brand building. In fact, using a well-known face, and the well-known character behind it, can be a great way to jump-start or reinvigorate a brand and the associations you want consumers to have with it. For example, who doesn’t remember the lovable, sweater-wearing, barrier-breaking Bill Cosby and his association with Jell-O pudding snacks? He became synonymous with this family-friendly brand. And what about all those fascinating people who hid behind those Foster Grant sunglasses, from Raquel Welch to Woody Allen, Cindy Crawford to racecar driver Jeff Gordon? The intriguing personality of the wearers added volumes to the long-term, successful, personality of the brand. Of recent note, how about Giada De Laurentiis, longtime host of the popular Italian cooking show on the Food Network, who makes unquestionably believable use of her culinary expertise to endorse her line of pastas and sauces? It’s a perfect match between endorser and brand. And, as for (another) pro golfer’s endorsement, Phil Mickelson, perhaps the world’s most beloved golfer, and his endorsement of Enbrel, a drug used to treat psoriatic arthritis, is, in my estimation, a smart branding connection.

Building a powerful brand takes a long view, and a view of what’s right for the brand in question. Building a brand that gains—and keeps—its edge takes a clear understanding of what branding initiatives are on-brand, or off, and not just “what,” but “who” your brand represents to consumers. It takes ensuring that your branding is consistently in brand character, is brilliantly executed, and delivers as promised. I get it that Nike’s ad signals that the company believes it’s time to get Tiger back in the spotlight promoting its brand. He is, without any question, a super athlete. But the folks at Nike should also think about what its brand has long stood for. It’s not just about being the winner in a marathon, or on a basketball or tennis court, or on the golf course. It’s about “just doing it.” The brand has pushed our inner athlete to get into the game and feel good about ourselves, no matter what the outcome might be. Said a different way, it’s not how you play the actual game, but how you play the game of life.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Keith Allison.

Brand Aid gives non-profit causes a clearer purpose to help them reach their full potential. Entirely pro bono, Brand Aid runs on the enthusiasm of our New York employees. Our NY office votes to select the non-profits we want to work with, and then a team of volunteers donates their time and talents to help them reach new heights. Past Brand Aid projects have included FriendFactor and Global Health Corps.

We are currently in the midst of the 2013 Brand Aid selection process. Over the last few weeks, three incredible Brand Aid finalists presented to the New York office. These finalists sent their board members, founders, programming leads, and chief communications officers to give us an overview of what their organizations stand for, where they are going, and how Brand Aid can help. Below is an overview of this year’s finalists.

• The Water Trust focuses their work on the importance of WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) in underdeveloped countries, where over 780 million lack clean drinking water, 2.5 billion people do not have access to a proper toilet, and a child dies every 20 seconds from a water or sanitation-related disease. The Water Trust has completed 133 WASH projects, with a total of 50,550 lives impacted. Watch this inspiring  video about The Water Trust’s work.
• Little Kids Rock truly rocks! This organization works with under-funded schools across the country, providing music classes in schools that lack music programs, and giving teachers the tools to teach kids how to read, write, and improvise different forms of popular music. They currently serve a total of 100,000 kids in underprivileged schools across the United States. They also have support from some rocking celebrities such as  Slash and  Bruce Springsteen (click for a little musical interlude). Check out this  great video, which was created for their 10-year anniversary.
• Community Word Project harnesses the power of art to allow students to express themselves, work in groups, communicate clearly, and practice critical thinking skills in creative ways. Community Word Project works with at-risk youth in classrooms across NYC, and has helped over 14,000 youth since it started in 1997. Click on  this video to learn more about Community Word Project.

After their presentations, the NY office votes on which non-profit they would like to transform. We will announce the Brand Aid 2013 winner this week. Stay tuned!

Our team will be building a Brand Aid toolkit so that other Landor offices can launch their own Brand Aid programs. We believe there are many more in the Landor network that will enjoy helping non-profit organizations climb to new heights.

In the last few years, I have been involved in two high-profile brand launches: one for wealth management giant, AMP, and another for the less well-known but equally anticipated, Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO). As we prepare for several launches this year, I thought it timely to remark on role of public commentary in the passionate and ruthless judgment of design.

Seasoned designers know the feeling. For anyone who doesn’t, this should give you an idea.

As designers, we attempt to separate ourselves from the task at hand. Effective solutions are, after all, grounded in the preceding strategy and assessed according to it with an objective eye. However, as designers, we also understand how often good and bad branding can be confused with personal opinion. The creative industry is under a constant spotlight, for judgment by both our colleagues and our clients. We are always putting ourselves out there, so we should be used to it by now….right?

The AMP logo launched amidst much anticipation and media scrutiny. I prepared myself for the floodgates to open.

Rebrands that reflect radical change are judged quickly, and on limited information. The logo in isolation is often misleading, taken out of context with little or no explanation. A brandmark is the metaphorical tip of the iceberg—a synopsis to the entire story. The true nature of it isn’t apparent until set alongside the various applications.

Frankly, I was both surprised and disappointed by the initial reactions to both brand launches last year. People—experts and bloggers alike—were quick to offer negative and unconstructive comments on AMP’s new logo. The reaction to AYO’s identity was more positive but still, people were quick to judge the brand on its mark alone.

Similarly, the London Olympics 2012 logo by Wolff Olins met seething criticism for its unusual form and garish colour when it first launched to the public. An organisation close to the heart for many, the logo was widely and openly cut down by forums. After the identity rolled out at the Olympics last year, critics changed their tune.

The vibrant and dynamic scheme brought a fresh and energetic element to the event, and it aptly mirrored the attitude of London during that time. Eventually, the public conceded: Wolff Olins had indeed envisioned the future.

These days, anyone can comment online, irrespective of experience, industry or talent. And while I love the idea of public forums, sparking conversation amongst peers on a global scale, I hate the thoughtlessness these forums enable. Online platforms make it easy for us to praise, critique, take the piss, “like” or “dislike” other people’s work. Twitter has been especially impactful in the design industry, widening the audience’s hunger for creative debates and their thirst for the next best thing. With over 200 million active users, it’s easy to get lost (and confused) among all the clutter that is posted in 140 words or less.

Since the world opened its digital doors, the line between personal and professional opinion has become increasingly blurred. What most mainstream social media platforms lack is the credibility to deliver intelligent, interesting, and enlightening commentary for us all to learn from. Knee-jerk reactions and uninformed opinions from “cyberjon43” take precedence more for their outlandish insults than their insightful strategic theory.

In contrast, professional publications, online or print, are offered with an understanding that the writer or journalist meets certain qualifications, and therefore carry weight in their opinions. Negative feedback is more often constructive—it resonates and we all take something away to consider next time.

So what does this all mean for us designers?

It’s the old saying: never judge a book by its cover… or a brand by its brandmark.

Next time you’re online and feeling passionate enough to comment on something, ask yourself a few key questions:

• Do I understand the background and challenges involved?
• Have I seen the big picture?
• Are my comments original, unique and insightful?
• Am I encouraging others to get involved in the conversation?

If it’s your brand that’s launching next—good luck! And don’t bother reading feedback until the livery is released.

Have you ever met a business person who wasn’t interested in finding “creative solutions?” Neither have I. Creativity, when it involves the production of something both novel and useful, is a key factor in giving a company or, in my world, a brand, the competitive advantage. Have you ever met a business person who didn’t want to be credited with giving their company a competitive advantage? Neither have I. While most people don’t fully understand creativity, the process, that is, most appreciate it when they see it, especially those who know how very challenging it is to come up with a new product or service that is not only both novel and useful, but has the ability to get people talking and sharing and advocating (and, oh yes, buying.). I recently had the pleasure of hosting an American Marketing Association event that focused on how creativity gives brands an edge in the marketplace and, as one might expect, it became evident that one size or style doesn’t fit all. The way in which nifty and innovative ideas come about and are brought to life can vary from one company and one category of brand to the next. Creativity happens in myriad, unexpected ways. Having said this, what creativity has in common from one company or brand to the next is that if it catches on with consumers, it can have a turbo-charging effect.

For Kraft’s beverage division, creativity-led success took the form of a cute pocket-size bottle of flavor enhancer for water called MiO which it launched about 18 months ago. As Kim Bealle, former Director of Advertising for Kraft foods told the AMA audience, the introduction of MiO started, as it always does at Kraft, with a business problem. The company had a well-developed portfolio of beverages for kids, including Kool-Aid and Capri Sun, and it had a great portfolio of products for women, Crystal Light and Maxwell House, being among the most popular. What Kraft didn’t have was a beverage for the younger adult generation and, in particular, males: A gap in the market just waiting to be filled. And, as Kim explained, the company did not want to fill it with yet another powdered drink mix, especially given the unique character of the target audience, a generation accustomed to personalizing and transporting everything possible.

Tapping into the personal, portable mind-set, the innovative team at Kraft came up with a quirky little egg-shaped bottle that contained a liquid water enhancer in an assortment of sugar-free, calorie-free flavors like berry pomegranate and mango peach that enables the user to “add a little or a lot” depending on an individual’s taste preferences. Beyond the proprietary shape of the bottle, the Kraft team knew it had to come up with a name that signaled the intrinsic nature of the new brand. MiO, which sounds like “me” and actually means “my” or “mine” in Italian and Spanish fit the creative bill, as did the wonderful design structure of the “M” logo with the drop in the middle. (In her remarks, Kim did share that  Landor was Kraft’s strategic and design partner on the project, which I, too, will share in the spirit of transparency.) In this particular case study in creativity, it started with a business problem in search of a “creative solution.” The MiO brand has been steadily building market share and has recently launched two new products, MiO Energy and MiO Fit, increasing its presence and popularity in the beverage category.

As I said earlier, creativity happens in unexpected ways and it was a design movement that started organically as a result of a real product and business need that was the genesis for the introduction of the totally fresh-looking Microsoft Windows 8 family of products. Michael Megalli, Senior Director at the mega-brand was very honest in his assessment of how the biggest change to Microsoft’s operating system since Microsoft 95 came about. “People don’t think about Microsoft and design,” he said in his opening remarks at the AMA marketing event. “It is in the process of becoming a more design-led company, but this all started with designers who were part of the product team developing the phone. It was not a mandate from above.” As Michael explained, Microsoft had been in the mobile business forever but “our product was not a compelling product.”

After the decision to move beyond its less than successful product Michael went on, a small team of designers got together and decided to try something completely different with the Windows 7 phone. Without specific guidelines and working off a few very simple design principles, the designers went back to what Michael referred to as Swiss classical graphic design but adapted it for the digital environment, which meant adding things like motion and animation effects. The Swiss are keen on typography, Michael explained, and a typographic system happens to be incredibly effective for something like a digital platform. As a result of this, Microsoft has overhauled all of its major programs and services, from Office to Xbox to Skype along with adding the new Surface tablet to its line-up. I don’t think there is a company that has had as many significant changes to as many products in such a short period of time all launching concurrently. It’s too early to tell whether Microsoft’s major remodel will win over those who previously berated its design aesthetics. But this overhaul, sparked by a small team that developed and pushed for the new interaction model, a model with profound impact, is a perfect example of a big company being able to see, appreciate, and embrace creativity when they see it, and from wherever it might emanate.

The third speaker to address those assembled at the AMA event represented–by far–the smallest brand of the trio on the podium. Peter Kaye, Vice President of Marketing at Honest Tea, made that point immediately, but just as quickly made clear how creativity and innovation from the get-go allowed Honest Tea to gain an edge in its category. For those who may not know the story, Honest Tea was founded by Yale MBA student, Seth Goldman, and one of his professors, Barry Nalebuff, who saw an opportunity to create a delicious healthy beverage alternative to the tons of either too sweet or too bland options on the market. Peter explained that from its ingredients to its marketing programs, the company strives to live up to its name in the way they conduct the business. To that end, for the past few years Honest Tea has been conducting a Candid-Camera-like social experiment to determine which cities were the most (or least) honest. Initiated on a (creative) whim by a couple of ingenious Honest Tea field marketers, the company placed unmanned kiosks in various public locations around the country and asked people to deposit a dollar for each beverage, using the honor system. Through digital tracking, Honest Tea monitors who is actually paying for the tea and who isn’t. The campaign has garnered tremendous social buzz and earned media, giving the brand an immense marketing bang, all with relatively modest investment. (By the way, the two most honest cities in the latest tracking were Salt Lake City and Oakland.).

As the participants at the AMA conference agreed, as all smart business people agree, creativity is as necessary as it is elusive. You never know exactly where and how that “aha” moment will occur, but when it does, you’ve got to be able to know it when you see it and act on it quickly. It’s a factor, a critical factor, in how companies gain and keep their edge. Cliché or not, creative solutions, no matter in what guise they appear, are linchpins to competitive advantage.

Often limited editions are brought into existence for the sole reason of introducing new variants or flavors. The reason for this is simple and can lead to two outcomes: either the product is a success and will be adopted in the permanent offer, or it is a failure which is ok, as it was a limited edition anyway.

A limited edition brand or product can create buzz and bring more brand awareness and higher shelf impact. In 2012, we partnered with Mondelēz International to design the highly successful Easter Eggs 2012 edition for Toblerone, Suchard Imagine, and Milka.

We followed that initial success with a similar offer for the same four chocolate brands last Christmas. Just before the season, Mondelēz International launched the Limited Edition Christmas Balls. Inspired by Scandinavian knitting patterns, we were able to create a distinctive pack for each brand that tells a full 360° story on pack due to the integration of smart design elements, such as side seam labels and size indicators on the backside.

The Dieline showcased the designs, and the Christmas balls alone brought an increase in sales volume of 8% compared to the year before (in an overall flat market). Now that is what I call Christmas!

By now, most of the debate about why “Lincoln” and its venerated director, Steven Spielberg, didn’t take home Academy Awards for Best Picture and Directing has subsided. Don’t worry. I’m not here to bring it up again, at least not from a cineaste’s point of view. Yes, I thought it was a very compelling movie and I’m glad it did as well as it did at the box office, especially given the diminishing attention span of most of the American movie-going public. What I am here to say relative to the movie derives not from any inner film critic inclination but, rather, from my branding professional’s point of view on life. Specifically, what I’d like to put forward is that I think Steven Spielberg and his rock-solid star, Daniel Day-Lewis, offer up a good learning opportunity for what it takes to transform a brand today. Lest you think it sounds a bit, well, dramatic, let me explain.

A brand is not a product or service, per se, but an image in your head. Brand anchors are points of consumer experience that lock down this image. They are those unique and unambiguous associations we link with the brand that give it shape and substance and meaning. McDonald’s and its fast burgers and golden arches. Southwest and its friendly fares and flight attendants. Kellogg’s and its snap, crackle and pop. Zappos and its extensive array of shoes and no-hassle return policy. Reinforcement over time–intentional or otherwise–at particular points of interaction with the brand set these anchors deep into the cerebral matter. Once a consumer has grabbed hold of these associations it’s incredibly difficult to unmoor them. In fact getting people to think about your brand in a totally different way is one of the most demanding challenges in the arena of branding. This means that if your brand is in need of a transformation due to any number of reasons, from loss of differentiation in its category to, equally hazardous, loss of relevance, you’ve got a tough road to hoe.

And, from my branding professional’s point of view, that’s exactly the road that both Blackberry and Barnes & Noble are staring down. Blackberry, which used to be the standard bearer PDA for the business elite, is dealing with (getting pummeled by?) stiff competition from both Apple and Samsung. That it has a keyboard that lets you type easily and do your emailing effortlessly is no longer a differentiating factor. What else is new? Barnes & Noble, facing both a struggling Nook business and questions about what to do with its retail business is also in a position to think about a repositioning opportunity. If you’re the Barnes & Noble brand and you’re anchored as “book store” in peoples’ minds, how do you transform your brand into something that goes beyond stacks of books and magazines to browse through? This is no longer all that different or relevant a business model now that consumers can get their reading material from myriad other sources, many more readily accessible.

I posit that what you do to transform your brand is take a page out of the Spielberg-Day-Lewis script. It’s not easy, mind you, and requires lots of effort and planning, but done well it’s bound to lead to success, albeit not necessarily an Academy Award. To begin with, and most obvious, you need to know what you want your brand to–now–stand for. A definite idea of how you want your brand to be perceived.   In Spielberg’s case, he had a clear vision of what would distinguish and set his “Lincoln” apart from any other rendition.  Second, he knew exactly what associations would be necessary to get people to cut their current anchored images of the 16th president and take hold of new ones.  To that end, he had to create powerful and believable proof points, or branding signals, to cement the transformation in viewers’ heads.  The world of the Lincoln-era Washington he created was incredibly accurate and realistic, from the White House with its dim lighting, to the Senate with its waist-coated and bearded men, from the wallpaper to the rugs, and everything in between, no detail was spared in the cause of authenticity.

Then, in terms of the characterization of Lincoln, it was the Oscar-winning Daniel Day-Lewis who took it upon himself to the man, from his voice to his mannerisms and behavior. On a segment of “60 Minutes,” just prior to the film’s release Day-Lewis told correspondent, Lesley Stahl, that he actually stayed in character both on the movie set and off during the entire filming period so as not to lose the spirit and disposition of the eponymous part he played. Transformation, he understood, is not really transformation if you've only scratched the surface and haven’t delved into those deeper regions that influence actions, deeds, and personality.

Any brand that wants to transform itself must do the same. It must create proof points beyond merely the cosmetic that tangibly demonstrate that something is not merely different, but different in a way that really matters to people. These proof points must be, without fail, catalytic experiences, strong enough and believable enough to break the long-anchored associations that consumers have regarding the brand. This is one of the reasons Blackberry is having such a hard time. Sure, it changed its formal name, and sure, it had a super ad during the Super Bowl proclaiming that it was a whole new brand of Blackberry. But, it hasn’t yet shown enough solid enough evidence to allow people to have absolute faith in its transformation. The brand experience hasn't shown, to date, it’s not the same as it ever was.

In terms of Barnes & Noble and the anchors holding its brand in place, transformation will mean moving away from being seen as a distributor of books to something of a totally different nature and, perhaps, in a totally new environment. What if you walked into a Barnes & Noble and instead of just rows of books and a café in the corner, for instance, you saw a warm and inviting auditorium along with a list of the visiting professors who would be lecturing that month, or an eHarmony area where first-daters could be assured of a cozy, yet safe place to meet up. When you walked through the door of a Barnes & Noble, in other words, there would have to be a significant and tangible signals that indicated this was not the brand it used to be.

It is really hard to transform brands. It takes much more than just a well-written television advertisement or even some extreme make-over of logo. You have to take the brand’s positioning to a whole new place, free yourself from the anchors that hold it steadfastly in place, and replace them with a new set of anchors. People are skeptical. To believe that a brand is truly transformed they need to see it and actually experience it. Whatever you may communicate on the outside must appropriately reflect what’s going on inside. Appearing to be something different is not the same as being something different. As Spielberg and Day-Lewis recognized, you have to know where you’re going and you have to create signals that tell the story not only in a new way, but are authentic right down to the last detail. If you haven’t seen “Lincoln,” go see it. I’d enjoy your opinion.

The first known evidence of branding dates back to the ancient Egyptians in 3000 BC. While the world has changed at an increasingly rapid pace since then, some fundamental principles remain constant: there is still no substitute for a strong brand idea that can be executed regardless of channel or circumstance.

There is no doubt that we are experiencing a new wave in branding. Technology provides an unprecedented level of transparency that is placing power back in the hands of the consumer. Companies are required to act ethically and in an environmentally responsible manner. They also need to offer products and experiences that are more customized than they have ever been before. All of this has resulted in a shifting paradigm for branding agencies, which has changed the industry in a number of ways.

Contemporary brands need to be fluid and dynamic. Conventionally, the idea of consistency and standardization has been seen to be the hallmark of a great brand. Agencies are now searching for branding solutions that provide clients with the ability to adapt to multiple channels. Landor’s work for DC Entertainment is a good example of a flexible brand identity that can work in different environments: a conventional comic brand has been redefined as an omnichannel identity that works as comfortably in movies, smart phones, and physical environments as it does in comic books. The brand evolves to its circumstance and maintains relevance irrespective of occasion.

The digital landscape has forced branding agencies to place innovation at the heart of their solutions. There is now a need to reconsider not only the role of the brand but also that of the client’s business. A good brand holds onto a strong central idea that allows its business to work across purposes and categories.

Red Bull consistently holds to the central idea of “extreme energy,” moving beyond its core beverage offer to become a content provider. The Red Bull Stratos project saw Felix Baumgartner fall from outer space to earth in spectacular fashion. In just a few months, his jump received over 32 million views on YouTube and the stunt was included on lists globally as best practice in transmedia campaigns last year. Red Bull’s current ambition is to grow the content and media business to be even larger than beverages, essentially reinventing its business to pursue further relevance and growth.

So what does this mean for branding agencies in 2013? We must evolve in the same way our clients are. We need to look beyond our core offer and become innovation partners who can guide clients in creating dynamic and relevant brands within a fluid environment. Digital is not a division within an agency—it sits at the heart of modern day problem solving. And we must always remember: there is no substitute for a strong brand idea that can stand the test of time.

This column was first published in B&T (15 February 2013). bandt.com.au

On Monday, 4 February 2013, Captain Morgan himself landed on the decks of the Klamath in Landor’s New York office to officially recognize Richard Brandt as one of the 10 most Influential People in the History of the Captain Morgan Brand.

This award, commemorated by a surprise visit from the Captain and a hand-delivered, engraved silver tankard, was created and orchestrated by our client Diageo to recognize 10 special individuals who have been responsible for building the Captain Morgan brand over the years. These 10 people were selected out of all the people who have ever worked on the Captain Morgan brand—either at Diageo or on the agency side, whether still in their role or not—because they have played a significant role in turning it into one of the most powerful and iconic brands today.

This award is being given on the occasion of Captain Morgan becoming only the sixth premium spirit brand to reach the milestone of selling 10 million cases globally in a 12-month period. Richard Brandt, executive creative director at Landor, can indeed proudly say that he and his team have been steadfast drivers of this success over the course of the past decade.

“The only other Captain I would have been more surprised to see today in the lobby would have been Captain Kirk,” said Richard Brandt. “This is an incredible honor, and I am humbled by it. Working closely with the Captain for most of my adult life has been an amazing journey, but one that I could not have navigated without the immeasurable talents of my team, led by Lee Arters. I gratefully share this award with them.”

Over the years, Landor has worked closely with Diageo to reposition the Captain Morgan brand, starting with a refreshed icon (the famous and beloved Captain himself), a system-wide brand architecture, the branded drink Captain & Cola, a new, hand-crafted package design (structure and label), and expansive point of sale materials. Landor has also led concept-driven innovations, such as  Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum, that have contributed greatly to Captain Morgan’s recent success. 

As an added surprise, the Captain personally awarded Sonya Fridman with the Golden Skull, because she has tirelessly created spectacular work for the Captain in recent days (photo below).

Many thanks to the whole Captain Morgan team...now and throughout the years! And remember, “Drink responsibly. Captain's orders.”

After a long hard day at work it is nice to hit the bar for happy hour. But it is even nicer, and more relaxing, to have the bar come to you! This is the concept behind a new office initiative that I launched at Landor for 2013. I call it Sip ‘n Learn™, and I think the title says it all.

It's great to drop by the local bar with some co-workers, and it's nice to have occasional internal happy hours, but I wanted to offer something more—a high quality cocktail experience presented in a salon format. Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to do away with the usual drinking options. Company-sponsored happy hours are great. Hey, who am I to turn down free drinks of ANY kind?!? And nothing beats the local bar for hobnobbin’ after hours with like minded souls. What I have done here is added to the arsenal of imbibing!

Now, at Landor San Francisco, you can experience a spirit with minimal effort that maximizes your enjoyment. Here's how.

Almost all liquor brands have brand ambassadors. Brand ambassadors are experts of the brands they represent. They know the history, the making of, the tasting notes, and how to mix it. And it is their job to impart that knowledge to a thirsty public. Normally they travel from bar to bar or to national and international expos and competitions trying to get their brand into your mouth, or a judges mouth, but who's judging? I arranged for an ambassador, Robert, to join me and my co-workers and impart some knowledge while we emptied a few bottles of his brand.

To kick off the program I chose my favorite rum and one of the best rums in the U.S. in its price point—Ron Zacapa (to dispel a common misconception, Ron is not the name of the maker, Ron means rum in just about every non-English speaking country, and Zacapa is the name of the town where it is distilled in Guatemala), also known as Zacapa Centenario, aka Zacapa 23 because they blend some of their 23 year old rum. The actual age statement is 6–8 years, and typically an old rum is 15 years. So to state that you have a 23 year old rum is pretty impressive, no matter what percentage makes it into each bottle.

Zacapa takes great care to age its rum, using a four barrel aging process that imparts a wide variety of flavors. The rum is actually transferred into four different barrels during aging. We started off with Zacapa daiquiris, then moved on to history lesson, distilling information, and other anecdotes while we sipped Zacapa 23 from custom branded glassware. The rich vanilla and brown sugar, and slight orange and cinnamon swirled over my tongue. The buttery smooth feel and fine finish make Zacapa a rare breed—a sipping rum. All the flavors are derived naturally from pure sugar cane press and the variety of barrels; there are no additives in Zacapa.

We ended the evening with an even more exquisite offering—Zacapa XO Solera Grand Reserve. This product is distilled, blended, and aged separately from Zacapa 23. XO uses three of the same barrels as 23 but a different fourth barrel, a sherry barrel, is used to give the rum a crisper, more refined finish. The blend is from 6 to 25 years, and it shows in the complex flavor. Hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, and orange are bolstered by woody and mild smoky notes. The buttery essence allows XO to roll over your tongue as if it is floating in the clouds.

I could have learned a lot more from Robert that night, but I was busy mixing daiquiris for my happy co-workers.

Next month: Pür spirits with Summer-Jane Bell

Is this the year for you to move up the rung in your marketing job to become CMO?



As we all know, the Mad Men days of marketing are long gone. Back then, all one needed to move the needle on sales was a great storyboard and a down-and-dirty promotional strategy, not to mention the downing of a dirty martini or two with clients.



Today’s CMO must deal not only with the complexities of marketing, organizations, and social change, but also understand, leverage, and quantify an evolving array of media options, not to mention the increasing internal pressures from CEOs and CFOs.

No advice can guarantee that you’ll land the job, but Greg Welch, a recruiter who places more CMOs than anybody, by a wide margin, has three suggestions for anyone who wants to be a CMO.



1. Read and maneuver the bigger dashboard.

The basic stuff of the game continues to grow in scope and dimension. To the requirement to be an expert at classic brand strategy and using classic branding tools and techniques with finesse, add the requirement to be an expert (or, at least, know how to work with experts) in emerging digital and other marketing tools and techniques.

“When I talk to CEOs, they say I need someone who not only understands ‘modern marketing,’ but . . . substantial examples and proof of what they’ve done to drive business using digital technology and social media,” Welch, a senior partner at recruiting firm Spencer Stuart, told me. “How have they innovated and/or opened new doors efficiently?”

When you think about the pace of change in technology—the new dashboard, arsenal, toolbox, whatever you want to call it—greater scrutiny is being paid to how you take advantage of everything that’s in front of you as a CMO. What dollar amount do you allocate to new media? Then, how do you measure it? How do you integrate it seamlessly into the bigger branding picture?

As Welch explained, one of the common conundrums in the search for CMO is that a seasoned candidate may have strong classic marketing skills and a stellar record, but no significant hands-on experience in the newest media options. In the same pool, a 30-year-old who has grown up online may offer intense experience with new media, but little or no understanding of the basics. The winning candidate will be a third person who has cut his or her marketing chops across all functional areas. That has become one of the costs of entry.



2. Lead beyond marketing

Someone may have technical skills down pat, but he doesn’t know what it takes to lead as a CMO in today’s business landscape. “More than ever before, boards want someone who can lead first and market second,” explained Welch. “They want visionary, colorful leaders at the top who can lay the path and then serve as the marketing disciple both inside and outside the company.”



It used to be that if you were a solid marketer and could lead your departmental troops in communicating the brand message, this was enough to succeed. Today, branding needs to be delivered by the whole organization. You not only need to be an expert in your own world, but also get everyone across the organization to understand what their brand stands for and their role in bringing it to life. Even if you are the best marketing person in the world, you can’t be assured that the brand is being delivered as it should be across all points of touch with the consumer, unless you’re the internal ambassador of the brand message.



3. Be of the world and, more importantly, in the world

CMOs have the best platform in the building. Why? They own the consumer. They know what consumers are saying and doing, how they’re acting, what they’re buying and why. A good CMO candidate doesn’t just get this information from big data sources, from behind the desk double-clicking on spreadsheets and white papers. A good CMO candidate “hangs out in the doorjamb,” Welch told me. “Not just the literal doorjamb, listening and learning from colleagues, but out in the world. I recall one talented CMO who told her team, ‘No phone calls, no face-to-face meetings, and no emails for an entire month. If we want to learn how today’s generation communicates, we need to understand Facebook. So for the next month, our entire conversation will take place on Facebook.’”

It makes sense. How can you be a world-class marketer if you never get out of your silo and take part in what’s happening in the real market? How can you lead it, if you don’t live it?

I’ll never forget one of my very first job interviews years ago with Ken Roman, who ran Ogilvy & Mather at the time. I was ready for some tough analytical questions about segmentation models and subjects of that nature. Instead, Ken asked me about the last book I had read, and the last museum exhibition I had seen. He knew that I wouldn’t have gotten to this last step in the interview had I not passed muster on the basic business stuff. He wanted to know if I was creatively aware, because, a good marketing person has to be aware of contemporary trends, social issues, and all the stuff of real life in order to serve clients well. I got the job.


First published on AdAge.com.

I’m a huge believer in kaizen, the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement. It has egged me on to constantly think of how I can be better at what I do. Self-introspection is one piece of it. And client feedback is the other.

On this note, there’s one thing that I have been hearing rather often from clients and prospects, that consultancies and agencies in the branding business are too focused on themselves and not focused enough on their clients. This, clients say, is true at both the pitch stage and after the account has been won. This has been bothering me, and it has led me to ask: how can we agencies shift the focus from ourselves to our clients, and in the process, create shared success?

Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But it’s actually quite difficult to answer and to put into practice because we consultants are so hardwired to talk about ourselves, our view of the world, our incredible methodologies, our ground-breaking solutions for the client’s pressing problems. Just ask clients for honest feedback and this probably won’t be far from the truth.

Based on speaking with several clients whom I highly value, and going through a lot of written material on the subject, I have chosen three actionable answers:

1. Talk less, listen more, and ask smart questions

Most of us in the communications business are gifted talkers. And we love to hear ourselves! This rule is about turning things on the head. What if you went to the next meeting and consciously held back every time you wanted to say something smart? When you listen really carefully, you get deeper into the client’s issues, ask better questions, and learn to engage with the client more effectively.

It’s amazing how much clients will tell us if we only care to listen. It’s also incredible how many hurdles you can overcome just by asking the right questions and listening better.

A few weeks back we presented five different packaging design concepts to a client, and at the end of it he said he just didn’t know if the concepts were working. We could have easily concluded that the creative was ineffective, but a few gentle probing questions later (and some purposeful listening!), and we uncovered that he was more worried about selling it in to the CEO than actually thinking the work was poor quality.

Continue reading Lulu’s blog on Campaign India

Warren Buffett’s (or, rather, Berkshire Hathaway’s) recent $28 billion purchase of Heinz and its stable of beloved brands is a welcome and increasingly rare example of financial sanity in today’s extreme business climate for a number of reasons.

Compare this deal with other notable mergers and acquisitions of recent years. Whether it’s the Nokia-Microsoft tie-up, the American Airlines-US Airways merger, the impending Dell buyout, or Tata’s acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover, almost every one of these deals was a last ditch effort to kick-start value creation or stem the bleeding of a seriously ailing company. The fact that so many venerated global brands and businesses find themselves in these situations tells its own grim story. It’s refreshing to see an outsize purchase of a fundamentally solid (if unremarkable) business that is a vote of confidence—a confirmation of strength and an outcome to be celebrated by all parties.

This deal is also noteworthy because Heinz is everything that the investment zeitgeist is not: It is a capital intensive, bricks-and-mortar producer of staple goods in a world defined by virtual services, infrastructure, and premium branding. It has stuck to the same strategy for decades in a world where innovation and transformation are increasingly viewed as the only means of institutional survival, let alone business success. It continues to thrive after more than a century, while the lifespan of the average Fortune 500 company is now a mere 15 years. It favours solid fundamentals and a cautious approach to innovation in a world enamoured of youthful, dazzling, high growth startups.

For those of us in the business of creativity and innovation, understanding the next big thing is a critical part of our work. But so, too, is a deeper understanding of what value is, to better identify it and unlock it for our clients. Too often we end up overlooking businesses that are bedrocks of sustainable performance and value to chase the ephemeral, the new, and the shiny. The Buffett Heinz deal is a reminder of the need for some clear-eyed perspective in a world where Facebook goes from a $16 billion IPO to being dismissed as “over” in 265 days, and Apple is battling a plunging share price and rumours of crisis.

Whether or not the world is changing as much as everyone seems to believe is beside the point. There’s a surprising amount we can still learn from a can of baked beans.

Image courtesy of Heinz.

A brand without a product. Wait...what? You might be baffled or intrigued by the idea—and maybe this has been Ben Pieratt’s mission all along.
 


Last week, the designer made waves when he introduced Hessian.tv, a readymade brand just waiting for a product to call its own. The brand package—which includes logo and t-shirt designs, Twitter and Tumblr accounts, a website theme, app icons, a brand book, and custom design time—can be yours for $18,000.
 


A few designers tweeted foul when Hessian popped up, saying it misunderstands the point of branding, but Pieratt disagrees. “I think they have a pretty limited view of what design and designers are capable of.”
 


“I mean, it’s not like a designer starts with a blank slate with every client anyway,” he adds. “It’s no secret that we bring our own tastes, gimmicks, and aesthetic dreams to every client job we get. This route just beats the client to the punch a bit more than we're used to.”
 


A designer always has ideas percolating, with or without a product to attach itself to. Maybe it’s a creative mindgame of the chicken versus the egg, or a pitch for the inherent and lasting power of branding and design. The introduction page for Pieratt’s brand-in-a-box starts off with a quote from our own Walter Landor:

“Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind.”

The quote was “too temping not to use,” says Pieratt, who also created the social shopping site Svpply. “[In] a Richard Dawkins sense of the word, Hessian has a brand of its own that lives in the minds of anyone who sees it (hopefully).”
 


So, does Pieratt see Hessian as the future of branding?
 


“I see [Hessian] as one future among many,” he says. “Client services aren’t going anywhere, but I also think that given how connected we are these days and how many new companies are being launched on a daily basis, there should be room in the market for designers to make some scratch on the side pursuing things they'd love to get out of their brains and onto the screen.”
 


As for the design elements of Hessian, Pieratt says they originally started as an idea for a t-shirt brand and an ode to artist Richard Hess: “Then one day my kid built a bridge out of blocks that looked exactly like some kind of low-poly uberman, which I instantly fell in love with. I combined the two ideas, and Hessian was born.”


As Pieratt explains on his blog, Hessian is the seed of a grander idea called Mined, a planned marketplace of original work culled from a swath of creative types—designers, bloggers, journalists, filmmakers, developers, and the like.
 


Who knows? Maybe Hessian will inspire someone to create a product specifically for the brand. Chicken or egg?


Image courtesy of Ben Pieratt.

It was a pretty radical idea at the time. A television channel showing all music videos all the time? Michael Jackson, Fatboy Slim, Journey, Queen, Jamiroquai, Madonna, and the Beastie Boys, twenty-four seven? No one thought it would work, but it did, big time. They did want their MTV. I thought about this last night as I watched the Grammy Awards and the newest lineup of musical talent, from fun. to Mumford & Sons, from Nas to Frank Ocean.

Music is, and always has been, big business. The way people get and listen to their music, however, has changed over the years. And, way back then in 1981, just when it seemed that the music industry was losing its luster, it was Bob Pittman who saw an opportunity to revitalize, if not downright reinvent, the way kids got their rock ‘n roll. He made MTV into a brand new megabrand, influencing an entirely new generation of television programming, productions, and even advertising tactics that appealed to this “MTV Generation” of viewers. From its beginning, Pittman positioned MTV to be different from any other traditional network out there. Once it hit the airwaves, it was impossible to mistake it for any other network or media venue. It was relevant in a way that genuinely mattered to its fast-growing audience.

And therein is one of the not-so-secrets to building, or rebuilding, a brand with an edge. Start with an idea that’s remarkably different in a way that matters to people. Bob Pittman has a sixth sense about brand reinvention. He did it with a TV network and, most recently, he’s done it with what many claimed was a dying medium, the radio industry. With his oversight as CEO of Clear Channel Communications, Pittman is once again not just taking on the competition (his own former company included), but reinventing a media brand category altogether.

With iHeartRadio, Clear Channel’s digital platform, he is showing his mastery of brand building by making one of the oldest of old media cool again.

I had the opportunity to talk to Pittman a few weeks back after he spoke at a marketing conference. In light of the spotlight on Grammy night, whose stars, past, present, and future, owe a debt of gratitude to the man who has given them a number of platforms on which to perform, I thought it would be, well, entertaining to share some of his wisdom on building—and rebuilding—brands.

Allen Adamson: Clear Channel has given radio an edge again. You looked at your assets within the context of the digital world, and you figured out a way to make an old brand category newly relevant and exciting. More than this, you looked at your company and said, if we don’t do something with what we have, someone else will. You looked at yourself as the competition.

Bob Pittman: Exactly. It’s sort of like what happened in the late 1970’s. The cable television industry was going to build out in major cities. The industry guys went to the major networks, NBC, CBS, ABC, and asked them to start cable-only stations. There was very little incremental cost involved. It would have been an easy and obvious business for them. But the major networks said “no”—they didn’t want to cannibalize their businesses.

AA: In retrospect, as we all know, this was a terrible strategic response. Someone was going to start cable. Imagine if the networks had said yes. They would control the entire television business today.

BP: They had the scale. They had the economics. It was absolutely a strategic misfire and, if you’re smart, you learn from the past. So, let’s fast-forward to the radio business. There’s an opportunity to extend the listener audience. Unlike the TV of the 1970’s with very few choices for TV channels, today there are hundreds, if not thousands, of radio stations. So there’s not a real demand for more. But there are situations where you can’t get access to your radio stations. You may not be near a radio, or you can’t get a signal for the station you’d like to hear. So the opportunity for us is probably more access, and more stations from locations that can’t be received on our broadcast spectrum. When I got to Clear Channel two years ago, management was already looking at the space, but there was that same nervousness about cannibalization. What we did was take the Steve Jobs approach.

AA: He looked at phones that were going to have music on them and saw that they were going to be a threat to the iPod business so he launched a phone business. If anyone was going to cannibalize the iPod, he wanted to be the one to do it.

BP: Yes, we looked at the radio business in the same way. If we look at all the potential places and ways people can listen to radio, we can increase our listener base. We developed iHeartRadio, came up with the platforms, stations, radio features, and marketing strategies that we knew were critical to success, especially with Pandora and Spotify already out there. We also looked for ways to attract advertisers who had left the arena for other media opportunities.

AA: You’ve really been out there, using the Clear Channel assets to your advantage. Your promotional events have received extraordinary coverage, especially with young people, an audience that’s essential to moving you forward. One of your challenges has to be getting them to change their behavior, look beyond YouTube to discover new music and entertainment.

BP: When we got ready to launch iHeartRadio, the first question we asked ourselves—what any brand starting out should ask—is “what’s our unique advantage? What do we own that will be proprietary from the get-go?” And, you’re right, it was promotion. We could get word out on anything faster than anyone else. We’re the number one media company in the country in terms of reach. Our broadcast companies reach 239 million people a month. By way of comparison, Google reaches 175 million in the U.S. We have the ability to tell anyone anything, so we used our radio stations and turned on the fire hose to get the word out. As you mentioned, we staged a major event, the iHeartRadio Music Festival, that broke box office records for streaming. It put us on the map immediately. Fifty million users. Our number of Facebook fans blew past Pandora and Spotify, and this year, for the second iHeartRadio Music Festival, we had a billion social impressions.

AA: You were able to hit the ground running. You were not afraid to cannibalize your company. But you knew that you had to hit the mark on all features and benefits to gain an edge. And, obviously you know what you have to do to keep the edge as a digital radio brand.

BP: It doesn’t matter what the brand category is. You go all in. You play to your natural strengths and not try to be something you’re not. You go after yourself—before the next person does it first. We plan to make Clear Channel’s stations available free on as many platforms as possible. We’re offering a personalized music service in addition to the 850 stations on our roster. We’ve even opened the platform to a select group of other stations.

AA: It’s been said a hundred ways. The best defense is a great offense. Only the paranoid survive. If you don’t do it, someone else will.

BP: There are 850 million radios in America. The number of weekly radio listeners has grown in the past decade to 242 million people. To build a winning brand, you have to see the opportunity, seize it, and you have to keep evolving. You can never stop moving. You have to take chances. With so much opportunity staring at us, the worst thing we could have done was nothing. We are showcasing the power we have.

From Forbes.com

Image courtesy of Vince Kmeron (Flickr).

Most people who have seriously tried to increase their muscle mass know that there are two kinds of muscle growth. Fast growth can be achieved by working out like berserk, putting on excessive amounts of weight, and filling one’s body with all kinds of supplements, be they harmless protein or illegal anabolic steroids.
 
Slower, but more sustainable growth is achieved by analyzing one’s body’s capabilities and carefully crafting a plan of how to increase them. Weight is increased incrementally, and rather than relying on supplements, diet is changed to a varied, protein-rich one.
 
What does this have to do with brand building, you ask? Like building muscle mass, building a brand should be a carefully thought out process focused on creating and maintaining brand equity for the long term. Whereas tactical measures like action-oriented advertising, promotions, and discounts can provide quick wins such as raising awareness or grabbing market share, they don’t really contribute anything toward shaping a vivid and lasting image of your brand in consumers’ minds.
 
Strong brands take a long time to build, so the organisations behind them need to take a long-term perspective with vision, belief, and commitment. Take Grupo Modelo’s Corona beer brand, for instance. Contrary to the belief held by some that every beer coming out of Mexico would necessarily be inferior, Grupo Modelo firmly and confidently positioned Corona as a premium beer in the United States, where it is currently the No.1 selling imported beer. Corona has cultivated an image of true Mexicanness and “vacations in a bottle” that is worth paying a premium price for. Mind you, it could have taken a different road and sold the brand at heavy discounts, which indisputably would have gotten Corona a certain share of the market. Sustainably growing a brand, however, cannot be achieved on promotions and discounts alone. Rather, the brand needs to build relationships with its consumers, foment loyalty among them, and make them willingly pay premium prices for its products.
 
It is tempting to aim for quick wins and artificially inflate your brand muscle, but if you’re aiming to build a strong brand that’s here to stick around for the long-term, you better lay off those steroids and go for that tuna sandwich.

Image courtesy of Okko Pyykkö (Flickr).

The formula is simple. It involves just three basic ingredients. And yet, year after year, so many generally decent practitioners get it so embarrassingly wrong. I am, of course, talking about what it takes to create a super Super Bowl advertisement. The fact of the matter is that these three basic ingredients are the same three things that go into making a super brand. The stuff, as it were, that gives a brand an edge in the market. If you can’t combine these three essential elements in just the right way, consumers won’t know what it is you stand for. Your organization won’t be able to do the brilliant branding required to bring your idea to life. Your customers won’t be able to grasp and tell your story the way you want it told. Your competition will eat you for lunch. And—full circle—the press and branding pundits will trash your Super Bowl ads.

I am not here to trash Super Bowl ads, not directly, anyway. There are plenty of Monday-morning branding pundits who are already on this. I am here to remind those who may have forgotten the simple formula for brand—and branding—greatness (there’s always next year, guys), and to give kudos to those whose ads I use as example. Without further ado:

A laundry detergent? Come on, laundry detergents can’t possibly make for interesting subject matter. Yes, they can, and, in this case, Procter & Gamble and its Tide detergent hit the target with its Super Bowl ad spot on. You see, the first ingredient required to give a brand an edge is to ensure that it stands for something different that people care about. It’s called relevant differentiation, and there isn’t any way for a company to go the distance unless it has identified a differentiated meaning for its brand and determined that it matters to anyone. Not only did P&G’s ad drive home the point that its Tide detergent gets out stains better than any other brand out there (not having dirty clothing is relevant, isn’t it?), but it did so in an incredibly funny way. Not gratuitously funny, mind you. Any advertiser can be funny just for the sake of getting a few yuks. This ad was funny in a way that was relevant to the venue (a stain in the shape of a “blessed” football icon whose presence makes a celebrity of the mess-maker) and equally important, relevant to the product and its promise. This made it all the more compelling. How many times have you seen an ad that made you laugh only to forget what the ad was for? Tide wins one of my top three prizes for creating a winning Super Bowl ad because it so cleverly adhered to one of the basic rules of brand building. Stay close to what makes your product relevant and different and tell your story in a relevantly different way. This was no Hail Mary pass.

Next, a company that makes an annual appearance on game day, but this time that gets my vote for its happily unexpected take on the topic: the charming Budweiser tale of the little Clydesdale that grew up and succeeded in life. What made this spot so powerful was that it tapped into something authentic about the brand in a happily unexpected way. Ingredient two? For a brand, or its branding, to succeed in life, it must be perceived as authentic. As those in the marketing business know, authenticity is essential. A brand must stay true to its values and not try to be something it’s not if it wants to pass muster with today’s savvy and skeptical consumers. From the inside out, the voice, the texture, the look and the behavior, the most powerful brands never veer away from the original intent of the ideas on which they are based. Brands that get authenticity right work on a gut level. This Super Bowl Bud ad was a simple story, but a story that immediately tugged on the heartstrings of anyone who has watched a kid grow up. The execution was eloquent and conjured up all the right associations we have with the brand. Clydesdale’s are as big a part of the Super Bowl football tradition as, well, beer. The authenticity was a key to its edge in the lineup of same-as, same-old ads.

The last, but not least, ad that made my very short list was the incredibly emotional spot for Jeep. It wasn’t the emotional content that got my inner branding professional revved up, per se (although it was incredibly affecting in execution and tonality). Rather, it was that the company that sponsored the ad knew the formula for successful branding and paid extra attention to the third ingredient: Stick to your core DNA, or—in this instance—go back to your core DNA to reinforce what makes your brand special. This spot, for which Oprah Winfrey does the voiceover, celebrates the military personnel and their families who have given so much for our country. Almost documentary in style, it makes heroes of the everyday heroes, the soldiers and their loved ones back home, while referencing the fact that it’s Jeep, the original military vehicle just doing its workman-like part to support the troops wherever and however required. It’s when you find something that’s already real and true about a brand and build on it, as opposed to saying, “Hey, what should we stand for today,” that strong and winning branding happens. It flows naturally and is believable. Much like last year’s Chrysler spot, in which the company zigged while every other car company zagged to make their points, Jeep, in my view, took home top honors in the category again this year.

So, super secret ingredients for creating super Super Bowl ads? Nah, just three simple ingredients. Make sure your brand stands for something different that people care about and express it in a relevantly different way. Keep your efforts authentically connected to what people already associate with your brand. If you’re looking for some way to reinvent your brand, go back to your roots. If this doesn’t work, you can always try magical fairies, buxom blondes, or Jamaican-speaking guys from Minnesota. It’s your call. Just remember the Monday-morning pundits will be waiting.

From Forbes.com