I went to lunch at a new pizza place the other day with a coworker. I was happily perusing the new menu when I was overwhelmed by excessive use of the ™ symbol. It was on pepperoni™ pizza. It was on the word margarita™. It was even on the word dessert™. What did they think they were protecting? It was not a logo, company name, new phrase or even a corporate typeface. They certainly did not invent the idea of pepperoni pizza. But there it was, on every mention. It’s true, being in this business makes me notice things like that a little more than other people, but the trademark did a lot more than just stand out to me. It cluttered up the design of the menu and signage in the place. I was less focused on what they were trying to communicate to me and more focused on the trademarks. It instantly changed my perception of the brand.

You may ask what does trademarking have to do with how well they make a pizza? Maybe nothing, but like the paintings on the walls and the music playing in the kitchen, it does contribute to my overall feeling of the place. Could I have overlooked this annoyance if the pizza was amazing? Probably. But the fact is that the pizza was average and overall disappointment is the feeling that now comes to mind when I think of the place. And unlike other average pizza places that have kept me coming back time and time again for a quick bite, I don’t think I will be revisiting this one.

There is a legitimate need for trademarks and I use them in lots of things that I write. Just remember, they should be used sparingly and never in a way that takes the attention™ away from™ the real message™ you are trying™ to communicate.™

Trone, Inc. recently (October 2009) conducted a nationwide study of over 900 mothers with children aged 18 or under.  Given the state of the economy, one topic the study examined was changes in their shopping behavior across seven key product categories: children’s clothes, their own clothes, household cleaning products, food and drinks for the children, soaps and shampoos, detergents and paper products such as napkins and paper towels.

While it wasn’t much of a surprise to learn that 88% of the mothers surveyed had switched to less expensive brands in at least one of the seven product categories to save money, the broader extent to which mothers have been switching brands to save money may come as a surprise to some.  The data showed that nearly two-thirds (66%) had switched to less expensive brands in all seven product categories.

What was even more interesting is that, on average, 59% of mothers who’d switched brands to save money in a given product category indicated they’d be likely to stay with their newly adopted, less expensive brands.  Mothers were most likely to return to their former brands where food and drinks for the children were concerned (45% likelihood) while only 38% were likely to do so when purchasing clothes for themselves or paper products.

Given these findings, brands need to be on the alert.  The times are ripe with both challenges and opportunities.  The fact that 59% of mothers, on average, expressed intent to stay with their newly adopted brands represents a recent increase in opportunity for relatively lower-tiered, lower-priced brands.  However, these challenger brands will need to develop a strategy for “staying in the game” down the road and keeping these newer customers in the event they later become open to increasing their spend.  On the other hand, incumbent brands had best develop a strategy for maintaining market share and minimizing customer attrition.  Now, more than ever, brands need to be strategically planning for their future.

I know, summer’s winding down, so how could you start such a lengthy reading list now! Hopefully, you’ll be able to cross off the ones you’ve already read. And you can claim that no marketing book published before Fall of 2008 is still relevant. That’ll shorten the list. But at the very least, I hope you can find one or two of these that sound worthwhile. Better yet, you can post your suggestions in the comments area.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve spent the last two years caring for an increased amount of pets for my friends and neighbors through our buddy system. There are no monitary exchanges of payment for the sitting, just a reward with baked goods or a night out to dinner. My reward also comes in the form of being an “aunt” to the pets and seeing the first hand examples of brand loyalty by pet owners.

What do I notice? The pet owners that buy only organic foods for themselves pass along the same eco-conscious decisions with their pets. They buy only items from their neighboring Whole Foods® or Fresh Market®.

For those that do not like change, they constantly buy the same brand and formula of both food and hygiene products (litter for cats and training pads for new puppies) for their loved ones. They are fearful that if they shift to a new formulation or brand, that their pet will be disheveled.

People often ask me about the brand of cat litter or food that my friends use. Here are my observations to how some of my friends and family made their decisions:

1) Sampling is good way for your pet to try and respond to new products. Try enough products until your pet responds positively. Some vets sell or give away samples and most pet stores or big boxes sell or give away samples. Even try visiting a company’s website to order free samples (e.g. Greenies® - http://www.greenies.com/en_US/FreeSample/).

2) Research! Use all of the online resources available that reference real veterinarians. Try news sources, professional publications, and websites by trusted branded manufacturers (e.g. Drs. Foster and Smith® – drsfostersmith.com).

3) Ask around other friends and neighbors- Go to online forums or face-to-face with others to see how they made their choices. Also, consider if you want to pass along your lifestyle choices to your pet (e.g. Facebook.com- search pet pages).

Choosing a brand as an “unofficial” pet sitter or as a new pet owner can be a daunting task, but it’s one that is rewarding when the right choice is made. Just like a child, a pet is a reflection of who you are and your brand loyalty.

So little of advertising is still advertising. But fortunately ideas are still ideas. I’ve collected a few examples here that show off some creative ways that ambient and social media have been used. These are brands that have gone beyond the standard Facebook product page or the CEO Twitter account to bring some creativity back to marketing.

Coffee Company PowerPoint Slide

This coffee company in the Netherlands offered a free cup of coffee to students who slipped a Coffee Company slide into their PowerPoint presentations. Pretty cool to have a word from your sponsor in the middle of your slideshow.

Terminator Salvation Twitter game

This nicely executed movie promotion enticed Twitter users to watch for tweets from @resistance2018 which contained fill-in-the-blank puzzles, word jumbles, and trivia. Players could rack up points by “decoding these transmissions” in a reply tweet.

Papa John’s Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality is one of the most notable new media tricks around. It’s a way of getting a users webcam to trigger a 3-D animation on screen. It really gives you the illusion of a hologram. (Is that redundant?) Papa John’s, GE, and Mini are some of the brands who are already making use of it.

Green Works Reverse Graffiti

This eco-friendly mural was created for the launch of Green Works, a 99% plant-based cleaner. San Francisco’s Broadway Tunnel was the filthy backdrop for the artwork of indigenous plant life, which was cleaned with the product. Pretty amazing product demo.

Milky Way Movie Theater Line Barrier

Although it’s questionable whether or not this was produced, it’s still a really fun idea—a great example of why it pays to think about where your target spends time.

Flea Spray Mall Floor Graphic

This giant floor decal lets the foot traffic on the ground floor of an Indonesian mall become the fleas on the dog. I do wish they had rotated the dog image 180 degrees so he wouldn’t look like a pork chop. And the line could be better. But still-great idea.

Iams Frisbee

While we’re on the topic of dogs, take a look at this cool giveaway from Iams dog food. To promote the healthy and strong dogs message, they created these plastic frisbees to look like 10kg weights to be distributed at dog parks.

STA Travel Facebook Page

Few brands with Facebook pages support their fanbase the way this student-focused travel agency does. They give their page a human voice with lots of interaction, contests, giveaways, etc. Plus, they constantly create incentives for users to become fans, which, when they do, ripples through the networks of Facebook friends.

---

There’s still so much discussion around marketing through social media and making the most of limited media budgets. We will have to not only master these media options, but continually find new touchpoints as well.

Let’s remember to send a postcard to our old friends Print and Television—let them know we’ll still visit from time to time.

 What is it that separates brand leaders from others? Is it spending?  I believe that myth has been disproven many times over – how many brands have spent millions, only to fail (Pontiac, anyone?).  Perhaps it’s time/longevity?  Again, that hypothesis is easy to disprove.  How long did it take the iPhone to become the leader in the mobile device market, one week? 

 

The reality is that no one thing creates a brand leader.  Such status cannot be bought, but neither is it free.  Last month Trone updated our consumer study on brands and the economy, and the news was indeed grim .  Consumers have made serious changes in their shopping behaviors and for the most part, brands have suffered and will continue to do so.  However, there are brands that consumers are going to stick with, even when money is tight.  Kraft was mentioned by an astonishing 13% of all respondents (N = 1,638) to the open-ended question, “What 3 brands won’t you give up, no matter what?”  To be sure, Kraft spends money on it’s brands, and it’s been around a long time.  But how do you explain brands like Fisher Price making the top 20?

Brand leaders follow several key strategies:
1) They invest in their brands – note to marketers, this isn’t code for “advertising.”  Rather, they seek to understand their consumer and work to meet their needs.  This is not about “selling” products.  It’s about giving your customer what they want. 

2) They know who they are.  A favorite quote of mine is “A principle isn’t a principle until it costs you money.”  Brand leaders know who they are and what they stand for.   Brand leaders not only delight their consumers, they also don’t confuse them.  Whether through product, price, distribution or promotion, they stay true to themselves. 

 In today’s economic climate it’s all to tempting to abandon your core brand principles, or to stop communicating with your consumers.  But brand leaders, the brands with staying power, know who they are, what their consumers want and nuture those relationships, even in times like these.

It’s hard to believe that there was a time that I didn’t want to be a mom. I was sure I was more Mary Tyler Moore than Shirley Partridge. And besides the word mini-van sent shivers down my spine. Well, I never got over the mini-van thing but the idea of a hug at the end of the day from someone who smelled of Johnson & Johnson Baby shampoo and Play-Doh well, that got me.

 So I find myself quite unexpected in the most courted category of beings on the planet. Moms. During this economic recession, research shows we have been most affected. And marketers are working desperately to keep me and my cohorts engaged in their brands.

 Certainly every article mentions how a mother’s choices for her family have been altered.  We are shopping at different stores, trying different brands, and cooking more at home. And I have never looked at a grocery circular until the last year.

 But there are brands we hold onto. A friend of mine whose husband was out of work sent him to the grocery store armed with a very specific list while she went to her teaching job. She looked at me and said, “Can you believe he had the nerve to walk in the house with generic Pop Tarts? He certainly won’t do that again.”

 I find it to be true of myself. Some of the 3 for $10 pizza offers in the frozen foods have me feeling the same way. Could this really be as good as DiGiorno?

Our Research and Strategy group conducted a recent survey on brand relationships in these strained times. Just like with any other relationship, there is a strong loyalty to those who got you where you are. The white paper will be posted next week. If you are a marketers’ dream, see how you stack up with other moms. If you are a marketer be astounded. The more things change the more they stay the same.

As marketers, we’ve all fallen into this trap. We look at the description of the target audience and say, “That’s me!” Then we start thinking we can be the ultimate judge of the creative work and all we have to do is pick the ad that appeals to us personally. But it’s not that easy. No matter how much passion you have for the brand you work on, no matter how much you resemble the target persona, you’re still not the target. Here’s why.

1. You care too much. It’s not possible for you to be impartial when making decisions about the brand’s communication because you have a personal stake in the outcome. Of course you can still make good decisions; it just means you need to remember that the target audience doesn’t want your product. They only want what it can do for them.

2. You know too much. Even your best brand advocates don’t know your brand as well as you do. Your target audience doesn’t know your brand’s quarterly sales figures or manufacturing specs. They might not even remember your tagline. To reiterate the point from above: they only want to know what your brand can do for them.

3. You think too much. You spend a lot of time thinking about the product, the brand, the distribution channels, the competitive environment, the purchase decision process, and so on. The reality is that the target is not going to think that hard about it, even for a so-called high-involvement purchase decision. They may only think, “What can this brand do for me?”

So you’re never really the target. That’s great! Why? Because you don’t have to be the target to communicate with the target.

But what you do need is the right insight about who they are to start a meaningful conversation about what your brand can do for them. And when you’re ready to judge the creative work, remember whose eyes you need to look through.

Trademarks are over rated.

Ask any copywriter or art director and you’ll find a universal hatred for the trademark symbols. It might sound like creative whining, but our irritation goes beyond a desire for aesthetics and the easy-reading body copy. These symbols are overused, overrated, and are often worthless and unnecessary. They’ve become the substitute for good ideas, good products, good marketing and good sense.

Don’t get me wrong, trademarks are a necessary evil for some things. A business name, a brand name, a tagline, but at some point we found it necessary to put them everywhere. I’ll go though a couple of what I believe to be poor use examples and you can decide for yourself if the trademarks are worth the extra fine print.

USE: Trade marking product components.

Who does it? A lot of companies do this, but it’s really popular among more technical products (or products that want to appear more technical).

Example: Goodyear® Wrangler MT/R® with DuPont^TM Kevlar®

Why do they do it? I think that marketers believe consumers think these trademarks will add equity and differentiation to their brands. They may invent their own component name brands and trademarks or use those of other companies. And even worse they often do both.

Why it doesn’t usually work: When you trademark components you’re essentially making another brand. Sure, some of these brands carry a lot of equity but BrandStacking^TM (sorry I couldn’t resist making my own) can only get you so far. Throw in a product message and a tagline and all of the sudden you’re asking a consumer to remember 7 -10 different elements in a communication. Consumers just get confused or they see though it, especially when you start comparing products and you see that every company has their own proprietary technology which is often is really just their own trademark.

When it’s acceptable: When add-on trademarks are limited and don’t need a lot of explanation they can be quite valuable. Like McFlurry® with Oreos®. I get it. Delicious. It is possible to get more trademarks to work, but it usually takes a lot of media clout, like the Ford Focus® with Sync® technology by Microsoft®. I’d guess most of us have heard that.  But I wouldn’t consider beating consumers over the head until they remember five or six different things is a good tactic either.  If you’re going to do it, make sure it’s really a big deal.

USE: Over Trade marking everything associated with your product or brand.

Example: Buffalo Wild Wings trademarks every single one of their sauces. Sweet BBQ^TM, Teriyaki^TM, Mild^TM, Parmesan Garlic^TM, Medium^TM, Honey BBQ^TM, Spicy Garlic^TM, Asian Zing^TM, Caribbean Jerk^TM, Hot BBQ^TM, Hot^TM, Mango Habanero^TM, and Blazin^TM. It’s printed on their menu that way.

Why do they do it? No idea. I don’t know when it became necessary to make a product description an additional trade mark. I guess by trade marking everything they dissuade someone else from trying to copy them.

Why it doesn’t usually work: I’m no lawyer, but Buffalo Wild Winds is going to have a tough day in court defending it’s trademark on “Hot^TM” sauce.

When it’s acceptable: When your name is uncommon goes beyond simple description. Asain Zing, Mango Habanero, and Blazin’ have a much better shot at holding that trademark. But what’s more important? That it’s Blazin’sauce or that it’s from Buffalo Wild Wings? Even Kraft foods, the house of a thousand brands doesn’t trademark Macaroni and Cheese. Their equity is in Kraft. They aren’t so arrogant to think they can claim sole propriety over all macaroni and cheese. They do, however, put one on The Cheesiest^TM.

USE: Trade marking a product name that doesn’t even serve as a good description.

Example: Bose®. Everybody knows Bose right? The speaker company, that makes surround sound systems and they also have that little radio. You can probably recall the name of that one, the Wave®. Care to guess what any of these trade marked product names are? 231®, 351®, 131®, FreeSpace®, Lifestyle®, SoundDock®, L1®, Quiet Comfort®, Quiet Comfort II®, One Panaray®, Four Panaray® ToneMatch® Electroforce®.

Why do they do it? Cause they don’t think their product description is fancy enough. Sometimes they can’t even come up with a description and just ^TM the model number.

Why it doesn’t usually work: Again, without a lot of media clout people just aren’t going to recall your product names. You may have known a couple of the Bose products I listed. But you can’t tell me they wouldn’t have been just as good or better off calling the Bose® Quiet Comfort® Noise Canceling® headphones, just the Bose® noise canceling headphones.

Again, I’ve written some legal copy, but I’m no lawyer. There may be some great legitimate reasons to ^TM and ® a lot of the things I’ve mentioned. But next time you think your idea is good enough to become intellectual property in the eyes of the U.S. government, think twice about it. What are you really buying and is it worth it? And just because you have a ® or a ^TM doesn’t mean you need to flaunt it. Just ask these guys. www.apple.com.

Twitter has blown up on the social media front, so no wonder every brand and their grandmother is joining!  Nielsen reported it broke 7 million monthly unique visitors in February, and Google News reported on March 13 that 40,920 news stories citing the microblog were published within 1 hour.  However, there are some guidelines that should be set when using it as a marketing tool and not a “social updater.”  This is not a tool used for a quick sell.  It’s used to build and cultivate relationships.

In your bio, be completely transparent about who your company is and who will be posting; even what you hope to get out of the experience.

Find relevant people to follow…most likely they will follow you back.  This will help conversations.

At first, you should relax and sit back.  Read conversations going on around you.  Slowly engage in these conversations and then as you become more confident you may start conversations on your own related to your business.

Be responsive!  And, always give back more than you were asked.

Don’t be overly enthusiastic…too many companies are trying to sell stuff right out of the gate.

If you’re part of an agency representing a brand, let the brand’s employees do the tweeting.  They are the ones closest to it.