The branding lesson of “Manatee gray.” Target’s blunder, or triumph?
Recently, WGN radio asked us to discuss branding issues, starting with a Target stores’ mini-scandal. Imagine a plus-size dress labeled as “Manatee gray.” It’s worth a listen. Our takeaway was not about Target’s unfortunate error, but their brilliant response. The interview also veered into other areas, including Acura’s inept model-naming, the Wii, and “the quicker picker-upper.” Correcting ...
Continue reading »Good to the last drop
“Good to the last drop” was first used in 1907. Maxwell House coffee made it “Good to the last drop®” in 1926 when they finally protected the trademark. So, for everyone who questions the cost of good branding/marketing/advertising – often the investment in intellectual property returns value for years, decades, or even centuries. Want more ...
Continue reading »Must you compete on price?
Competing on price is evidence of branding failure. The strongest brands don’t have to compete on price. Consumers happily pay 40% more for Morton Salt over store-brand sodium chloride. They’ll pay an equivalent premium for a famous deodorant over a chemically-identical price brand. Is it just awareness? No. Some brands have high visibility, but that’s ...
Continue reading »How do you answer “We already tried that”?
How do you solve the recurring difficulty of brand stakeholders stuck behind the that-doesn’t-work-for-us barrier? Sure, sometimes it’s legitimate. There are always strategies, tactics, media and processes impractical for a given brand. (Don’t advertise tampons during hockey broadcasts, or reverse mortgages on the Disney Channel.) There are even whole market segments that should be avoided. ...
Continue reading »Global naming, and the “no va” myth.
Naming for multinational markets demands you learn what the name suggests in multiple languages and cultures. You don’t want to discover too late that your brand means “poop” in Punjabi, or “fraud” in Farsi. But which and how many languages? The easy answer is, as many languages as are spoken where you market, now or ...
Continue reading »Startup Success Step #3
Every business plan is fiction. The very idea of a Year 5 Sales Volume Projection for a company that hasn’t opened its doors yet is clearly an amusing fantasy, but there it sits (lies?) in that time-honored novella, the business plan. If it’s a fantasy, is it still worth doing? Of course. The exercise of ...
Continue reading »Startup Success Step #10
Company naming is a major neglected area of startup investment. Many entrepreneurs believe they either lack the capital to get professional help in naming, or believe it’s a do-it-yourself area where they can save a few bucks for the dozens of other startup expenses tugging at their wallet. They named their children after all, and ...
Continue reading »Success Startup Step #12
Pinch the right pennies. You don’t need fancy offices to launch a successful startup. You don’t need to own the factory that will make your widget. Distribution and warehousing don’t have to be bought – they can be rented. Those are just a few sensible ways to keep your overhead low. You can economize in ...
Continue reading »It’s Darwinian. (Duh!)
Is your brand endangered? Here are nine tests to see if you’re adapting for survival: 1. Have you shifted >51% of your media spending to online? 2. Could your tagline be used only by you, and not by your closest competitor? 3. Has your website been redesigned since 2007? 4. Have you introduced a new ...
Continue reading »Nine bits of business wisdom.
1. When you leave your phone number on voice mail, insert three pauses. 2. No good business decisions are made after 10 pm. 3. Do in-house what you do best. Turn to pros for all the rest. 4. If a meeting could be held in ten minutes or less, conduct it standing up. 5. Dealing ...
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