As the final chapter in our brand discussion this week, I’d like to comment on the Gap mishap. Now, I’ve been a long-time fan of this brand and personally get goosebumps when teens layered in brightly colored t-shirts and jeans dance around to pop music while waving presents during the holidays… I’ve also marveled at Gap’s ability to weather the retail storm for decades with its classic wardrobe staples while trendy boutiques rise and fall like the stock market. But when I saw they had changed the one symbol that defines their brand, I had to ask myself, what were they thinking???

The answer to that question isn’t clear, however, Gap North American president Marka Hansen said the old logo was reinstated a week after backlash from the new logo caused controversy from design firms, publications and bewildered bloggers alike. She also admitted, “There may be a time to evolve our logo, but if and when that time comes, we’ll handle it in a different way.”

So back to branding basics… First of all, when your sales are suffering do not overact and change the one identifiable element you have going for you. Secondly, if and when the time comes to modify your logo, strategy is key. Use an agency, your consumers and your employees to develop a plan and ensure a seamless transition from the old look to the new. Finally, just remember, your brand is your identity – wouldn’t you consult those close to you before drastically changing your own appearance? Trends may come and go but a classic logo never goes out of style.

Earlier this week we talked about brand names, and how often they are used as opposed to the “generic” or real name of the product. We posed the question, “What’s in a brand”. To continue on this conversation, let’s talk about the actual branding of a product.

In an article from the WSJ, Rosalind Resnick discusses what makes a brand work, and her advice is simple, and brilliant

“My advice: Be the brand. Now, I’m not advising you to put on a cape and crown and belt it out on cable. What I am suggesting is that you figure out what your company stands for and start leveraging your personal brand. Once you get past your fear of making a fool of yourself, the rest is pretty simple”.

People know the heads of most of the large brands because they represent the brand – they are as much a part of it as the product they represent. In addition to the 5 she mentions (Barbara Corcoran, Donald Trump, Mario Batali, Richard Branson, Cesar Millan), there are hundreds more (Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Steve Ballmer…). Each of these people has become the number one fan of their brand – and represents what they sell and provide with pizazz. They aren’t screaming from hilltops and working gimmicks, but they are certainly the companies #1 cheerleader. They are their brand, and even when they have passed on and the brand is in the hands of someone new, they will still be known.

Are you your brand?

Sometimes a brand name can be so effective it actually becomes synonymous with the product itself. Look at your shopping list – I bet you have at least one brand name written down in lieu of the actual product. Take Kleenex® for example. I bet you don’t even call them tissues anymore… Its just “can I have a Kleenex?” Are you only willing to buy the Kleenex brand of tissue or would you settle for generic? When you order a Coke, are all other sodas off limits or would you purchase Pepsi in a pinch? Other common examples include Q-tips® (cotton swabs), Post-it® (sticky notes), Band-Aid® (bandages), Xerox® (copier) and iPod® (mp3 player).

Branding (even some of these products) has been around since the Industrial Revolution. Even cattle are branded to distinguish them! Through a brief survey (conducted mainly of my close friends who humored me for this post) it appears the brand name itself winds up in the shopping cart, at least most of the time. Personally, my brand loyalty ends as soon as a competitor’s coupon arrives in the mail… And those store brands; while they may not look as pretty, really do perform equally, if not better than their pricier counterparts. However, if a company has been savvy enough to create an iconic brand, you can bet customers ask for it by name!

What other products can you think of that are synonymous with their brand name?

In a world where today is too late and yesterday is so last season, how do you design messaging around a generation that defines instant gratification?

The attention span of an average person may be as short as eight seconds, which means your message must grab the consumer’s attention and either hold it or wrap it up in a few seconds, in order to make it effective.

(Which means by this point, I have either lost you or convinced you to keep reading).

With all the various mediums, ever-changing technology and social media transforming the advertising industry, we, as marketers, have to find ways to constantly innovate our stories.

The trend today seems to be doing just that by making your purchasing decision about the entire experience. Products don’t just serve a single purpose in today’s marketplace – they must defy gravity. A product must be able to multi-task as much as the consumers themselves. It must make your life easier and the purchase itself must be even simpler.

For example, take car commercials. A car is about defining your lifestyle! Are you a busy parent of three? A CEO? An athlete? Buying a car isn’t about getting from point A to point B anymore; it’s about saying to the world THIS is who I am. Even down to your underwear purchase (I’m using Hanes as the example here) you’re choosing the experience of the brand. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to grab my Oakley sunglasses and Prada bag, so I can get to the nearest Starbucks!

What other trends are you seeing in messaging to the “instant gratification generation?”

If you received bad customer service in person, would you go back? Probably not, right?

But what if you just had bad customer service online or over the phone? What would you do then?

Maybe it’s just me, but I have never understood the point of automated systems. You go through 18 steps to get to an actual person who then asks you all the same questions you just pressed 3 to get through. I have never, not once, had a automated system make it easier to get my question answered – nor shorten the time I was on the phone. And, more often than not, going through an automated system has greatly decreased my mood, which means by the time I get to a real person, I am a lot less jovial. This can be especially problematic if I am calling because I am already upset about something – it just gets worse and worse the more times I am asked to press 2.

With the addition of twitter, facebook and online chatting – automated customer service has gotten a lot worse. When you are looking for help with a problem, wanting to ask a question or just get more information – humans want to talk to humans – even online.  A computer doesn’t understand idiosyncrasies, and can’t provide the answers to every question. More and more people are using the web to find the businesses they want to visit. In turn, more people are also reviewing businesses live on twitter and facebook. This means that one wrong tweet or bad phone conversation with an automated system could end up as a rant to thousands on the web.

No matter the channel, when it comes to customer service, it doesn’t mean anything if your customers can’t talk to a real person.

What do you think?

Facebook: It started as a social experiment by a college kid and his friends (we’ve all heard the Zuckerberg story, and soon, we can watch it!). Now, it is powerful, huge and definitely here to stay for at least the next 5 years (really, who knows what’s going to happen after that?). But, Facebook is no longer just about college kids and chatting with friends. Facebook has become the new it place for businesses to build branding and reach out to their customer base. By the thousands, companies are setting up groups and fan (like) pages in order to have one more way to send messages and reach out to customers, and potential customers.

While there are many just taking the leap and going head first, many are unsure of what to do. It is intimidating to take the leap into something new, especially when there are so many businesses already doing it – many very well, and many, not so much. The ones that do it well have found great results – even without having to create completely custom FBML coding. A great example of page with tons of fans, tons of comments and a simple page? Buffalo Wild Wings! With over 2 million fans, they are really doing something right. They run contests, ask questions, people share pictures and have created a really awesome community. While I can’t tell you if it has improved their business fiscally, I have a hard time believing it hasn’t had at least some effect!  But not everyone can (or will) do this.

It is because of the fear of failure, and the desire to succeed that we are often asked the question: How do I know if I need a Facebook Business page?

So, we have put together a list of 10 reasons your business might want a facebook business page. These reasons are fairly basic, as need to be delved into much further before actually making the leap, but they give you an idea.

1. You sell a consumer product.
2. You sell a service that is tangible.
3. You create something people like to share.
4. You are in an industry that people get involved.
5. You have a business that people can gather around.
6. You want to create a feeling of community around a subject.
7. You want to open lines of communication.
8. You want a place to share with your audience.
9. You want to give away prizes and specials.
10. You understand that people want access to you.

As I mentioned, not all businesses are right for facebook pages. It takes the desire and effort combined in order to make it work. You must dedicate time and energy to build it, just as you would any other marketing tool!

Do you have a facebook business page? Does it work for you?

Last week’s article from the Washington Post on the new 6 bladed razor from ShaveMate was one of the funniest (and most ridiculous) articles I have ever read. Luckily, it wasn’t the Washington Posts fault. The humor and laughter can all be blamed on those who were interviewed – The Tomassetti brothers who created this razor and Damon Jones of Gillette. Let me share with you some of the best pieces of the article…

WP asked why they felt the razor needed 6 blades (the most blades on any available razor), and the Tomasetti’s responded,

“It’s not just the blades,” says Lou Tomassetti who, along with his brother Peter, invented the Titan. “It’s really everything you need in one.” The Titan, he explains, also comes with shaving cream in the handle and a moisture strip.

“If you go out and try to buy equipment for shaving today,” Lou continues, “it’s very complicated.”

“You might have to buy batteries,” Peter adds.

“ShaveMate is really a lifestyle change” from all that, Lou says. “It’s a shaving revolution.”

Really guys? Shaving supplies are so complicated that you had to put everything into one? I’ve seen my husband shave…it really doesn’t look all that tough. So, maybe it’s just these guys thinking shaving is difficult. Certainly the Gillette gentlemen, the ones who first started the trend of adding more blades did it for a better reason? Nope…apparently to them, it is very technical science!

“It’s a scientific approach called ‘progressive geometry,’ ” says Damon Jones of Gillette. “It’s scientifically proven that multiple blades” will cut closer than just one. Shaving with a three-bladed razor is equivalent to shaving three times with a single blade — but, Jones says, even smoother.

“We use technology that’s used in the semiconductor industry and the automotive industry to get the spacing just right between blades,” he says. (Note: Maybe this is why the Mach ads featured cars?) “We’re talking microns,” Jones says. “It’s a very deep technical science.”

Okay, now you’ve got to be screwing with me…you use the automotive industry to get the spacing right?! Now I am really laughing.

Chime in guys – what do you think? Do you really need a 6 bladed razor?

Lexus has always been a luxury brand – and the vehicles are easily equated with style and class, and money. Despite the fact that Lexus’ is not a cheap vehicle, Lexus has never been seen as a contender in the fast, sleek and sexy sports car world. But with the new Lexus LFA, they are attempting to changes their affiliation.

Hitting 0-60 in 3.6 seconds, places it into contention with the Ferrari’s and the Lamborghini’s. Of course, it is also in the same price range. Which is a huge jump. Most Lexus vehicles range from $40,000-$100,000 whereas the new LFA supercar comes in at $375,000 (base msrp). So my question is: How will they compete?

When Volkswagen split from their ‘traditional’ $25-$45,000 cars and created the Phaeton which started at above $75,000, they made a huge error. The cars did not sell well, and despite recent face-lifts and changes, they still are not selling well. Why? Because people who are Volkswagen buyers are not traditionally those who are willing to fork out more than $50,000 for a car.

So with Lexus attempting to make the leap from style and class to high-priced sexy vehicles, I worry if they won’t face the same problems that Volkswagen has.

But, no matter the battle ahead, I am certainly impressed with their commercial. It certainly makes me think about them in a new light…that is one very sexy car.

If you’re Koleston Naturals Hair color, it’s done by placing a billboard where the changes in the sun level will change the hair color on the billboard:

The image above is a time lapsed series of a billboard in Beirut, Lebanon from 2007. The billboard captures the image, and hair, of a beautiful woman, designed to show the beauty of natural hair color that Koleston Naturals provides. I personally love the simplicity and creativity of the ad – using natural light and natural changes to capture the Blondes, Redheads and Brunettes of the world. What I also appreciated was the fact that they let the nature and the picture speak for themselves. They didn’t need to tell you that Koleston hair color was all natural, made to be gentle on the hair and protect it’s natural beauty…they didn’t have to. The billboards told the story without the words. The only thing I see as problematic is that if you were to just pass by the billboard (unless you planned on hanging around for a few hours), you would only ever see one color. And if you only saw it at night…it wouldn’t seem as impressive. With that said, this is still one of the most impressive pieces of creative marketing I have seen in awhile.

Have you seen other ads that are capitalizing on nature? Share!

Sherwin-Williams new series of paint chip commercials is as gorgeous as it is creative and brilliant. They came onto the scene with this one:

And I fell in love. The simplicity of turning our world into their paint chips captured my attention, the music was simple and their tagline, classic. They allowed us to really feel like we were in a world of their colors, and that there was nothing their paint didn’t fit.
When they followed up that commercial with this one, they out did themselves.

Personally, I love the frog and the cardinal the most, but the entire commercial is beautifully done. Every single detail of every single object is made from paint, and if you pause the commercial at the right points, you can actually read the names of many of the paint colors, which means people can actually choose favorites from a commercial. My one hope is that those who work for the stores are well versed on the commercials so that were I to come in and say “I love the colors of the cardinal”, they could pull out the 30 or so paint swatches that make up the body for me to look at.

Well done Sherwin-Williams, well done.