It takes a lot today to differentiate yourself, your company, your brand from the competition. It takes courage to stand out from the crowd and take risks. It means having vision and the ability to see the larger picture. It’s having passion and the innate drive to be the absolute best. It’s laser focus that is unwilling to give up. It’s confidence in yourself, your organization, in your people. And, it’s the committment to walk the walk and deliver on your brand, every time.
Well, what if you sell beds? In the sea of retail, the only dry land tends to be commiditization. Come and get ‘em for the lowest price. Prices slashed. Two-for one. We’ll even throw in free delivery! Sometimes there’s good will and a donation or two. All that noise sounds like a car dealership. But, there’s a company in the U.K. called Benson for Beds. They aren’t selling beds – they are selling sleep. Something everyone wants but not everyone gets. Their focus isn’t on showing hundreds of beds on sale in a warehouse with giant-sized price tags (okay, yes they had some ads like that in the past). They focus on what you can do if you get your sleep. Sleep to Live. Check out their very cool intro spot on their site. http://bit.ly/i1p8f
Their brand screams “have all the fun in the world and at the end of the day you’ll get the best night’s sleep” or in other words, Sleep to Live. Brilliant brand position. They embraced their Sleep to Live mantra by shooting for the Guiness Book of World Records in mattress dominoes. Gimmicky? Perhaps. But, it does go to show that when you think outside the box, you can turn a simple idea into something that helps differentiate who you are and what you offer. It can help an organization rally around a common goal and ultimately help everyone deliver on the promise made to consumers. It can help you grow. And, in the end…might just help you sleep.
In the words of Target: Our mission is to be the preferred shopping destination by delivering outstanding value and an exceptional guest experience by consistently fulfilling our Expect More. Pay Less. brand promise. No doubt in my mind: they do deliver on this promise. Shopping the store this weekend for two advertised items, neither were in stock at the store we visited. Did they let us walk away unsatisfied? No way. A cashier went so far as to shut down her register to go check on the item we wanted; not finding it, she used her hand-held to find another store that had it in stock. And at the second store, a sales associate hiked from his register to a back-store aisle and then hiked back to his station and spent 10 minutes on the phone for us finding a second item we wanted at another store and making sure it was held for us. Granted, we had to do a bit of unanticipated driving around, but these two employees went way out of their way to make sure we came away satisfied with our Target shopping experience. It’s one thing for a store to say it will deliver on its brand; it’s another for each employee we encountered to do it willingly and happily. That’s brand done right. High five to Target.
Granted, this is a little tongue-in-cheek, but I thought I’d get GM off on the right foot with this whole “restructuring” thing.
How can GM show US taxpayers they are a changed company? Well, designing smart, compelling automobiles is a place to start. But, the most obvious way is to update that tired, old logo. Knowing they are a bit short of cash at the moment, I put together a few concepts for them – for free. (Attention GM: if you like what you see, we should talk.)
And what is a new logo without some meaning behind it? Seeing as how the US government now owns 60% of the auto manufacturer, the mark should reflect the same.
New GM Logo: Concept 1
Seeing as how General Motors is now technically a stimulus project, Concept 1 gives a nod to the Recovery.gov logo. The 40/60 split creates a nice forward arrow motif, showing GM is headed in the right direction.
New GM Logo : Concept 2
The second concept uses the familiar “GM Box” as the blue field on the American flag. Giving the entire mark a forward looking perspective should align the company’s perceived new mission with the new mark.
I really do hope GM can get back on track. They are synonomous with America, baseball, and apple pie – all things I’m a fan of – and things I don’t want to go away anytime soon. That and they owe us about $50 billion smackers.
So, which one works the best? I look forward to the debate.
Hello out there. Here’s a wake up call – your customers are watching, listening and waiting to hear from you. And if they don’t, well, they may think there’s something very wrong.
While many companies tend to retrench, cut back or literally kill their marketing efforts during slow economic times, doing so may be inviting the wrong perceptions in consumers’ minds. A recent Ad-ology study found:
“More than 48% of U.S. adults believe that a lack of advertising by a retail store, bank or auto dealership during a recession indicates the business must be struggling…The study finds advertising appears to play a key role in consumers’ view of how a business is doing, and by not advertising, businesses may be sending a warning signal to current and potential customers.”
I hate to admit it, but one of my favorite reality shows on TV is TLC’s Jon & Kate plus 8 (mostly because the kids are so dang cute). I have watched this show since it aired a few years back and it has evolved and changed as it has gained popularity. Recently, I have noticed more and more brands are latching on to the show’s success and strategically (and sometimes not so strategically) using product placements in the show to boost their own brand recognition. Sometimes the placements are seamless and go unnoticed (at least by the average audience member)…and sometimes it stands out like a sore thumb. Many people have blogged about their frustration lately.
In a recent episode, Jon and Kate got new washers for their new home. One of their conversations went something like this:
Kate: “I just love our new washer and dryer from Whirlpool! They look so beautiful sitting side-by-side in the laundry room.” Jon: “Yeah…aren’t those the Duets?” Kate: “They sure are, Jon! We had some in our old house and after that amazing experience, I knew the Whirlpool Duets were the ONLY washer and dryer I’d put in the new house!”
You can’t really blame Jon & Kate for accepting these offers—but it does seem to tarnish the authenticity of the show and even the “Jon & Kate” brand. I have to wonder, when it is so obvious that a brand has paid/donated to be participating on a show, if it actually detracts from the brand image rather than help it. And Whirlpool isn’t the only brand that’s fumbled when it comes to product placements. Allstate and Play-doh also made awkward appearances on the show.
Speaking of tarnishing the Jon & Kate brand, in the past few weeks there has been a lot of press around suspicions that Jon has been having an affair (superficial posted confirmation on their blog of the alleged affair). This leaves me wondering…what will these brands do that have so closely tied themselves with the Jon & Kate brand?
Now I’m not saying that product placements aren’t a smart idea. I just think they have to be done extremely well in order to pull them off. The success of brands in the future really lie in their ability to be authentic. People are able to see through the marketing crap and want to see real people interacting with the brand. But I think people can also see through a bad product placement.
There are good product placements out there. However they are usually hard to spot. When a product placement is done well, it shouldn’t be obvious. It should feel just normal. Brand Channel has a list of 2008 brand cameo product placement awards.
I will leave you with one last horrible product placement to ponder. This one was on the VH1 Best Week Ever blog.
