Life at Brandcenter & now…

Here’s a visual representation of my life & thoughts during those amazing sixty weeks I spent at VCU Brandcenter & now (I am graduating on May 16, 2009).

Drink Tap Water!

Recently came across an article in Business Week titled, “Bottled Waters Lose Their Effervescence” it was great reading that article because just a month ago, I along with a team of talented Brandcenter students had worked on a brand campaign for SIGG Water Bottle. Here’s the presentation to induce people to drink tap water & make SIGG a stylish environmental commitment…

Brand Campaign for SIGG Water Bottle

Will be great to have your feedback on this.

7 Characteristics of a Perfect Brand Manager

I was browsing through internet when I stumbled upon a post on ’7 characteristics of a perfect brand manager by Garland Pollard’ while I feel that no brand manager can be perfect  in a market with ever changing consumer behaviors. I do believe that these are certainly important characteristics of a brand manager.

What makes a good Brand Manager?

1. He sees the full history of the brand. He keeps voluminous files of the usage and history of the brands, and has a little storage room shelf where all the packaging and products produced under the brand name are stored for reference.

2. He consults with the old retired guard of the company regularly, to make sure that whatever good is in the brand is preserved.

3. He guards the brand against folks who would put the name on incompatible goods, yet is not afraid to add new uses to the brand so that it can survive if its original market is disappearing or dying.

4. Often, he publishes histories and catalogs of the brand; ideally if there is a corporate archivist he educates that archivist on the history, or vice versa.

5. He is in touch directly with consumers of the brand, and listens to them without filtering from consultants, admen or research firms. He insures that the company website puts out this history, and allows consumers to interact with it in “user content” and add their lore and stories. Regularly, he contacts teens and college students, to know how the brand is perceived in those settings, and ensures that these groups know and appreciate the brands.

6. He consults directly with management, and has a direct line to the board on all of these issues so that other folks in the company cannot undercut him if they fail in sales or development and blame it on the brand.

7. Above all, he realizes that when a brand is out in the public, it is no longer his – it belongs to the public, and the company and he become servants, caretakers and protectors.

eMarketer: Top 10 Predictions for 2009

The firm recently identified (via Marketing Charts) the following key trends for 2009:

1. The Internet is a Buyers’ Market: Marketers will continue to stretch their budgets by making use of cost-efficient online ad placements. Lower prices for most display ads and less competition for many search keywords will make online a buyers’ market.

2. Search Marketing Remains Recession-Resistant: While search marketing is not recession-proof, it is recession-resistant, with estimated spending growth in 2009 at 14.9%, to $12.3 billion. While search advertising will grow less in 2009 than in any previous year, its inherent strength means greater spending gains than for any other major form of advertising, whether online or traditional media.

(view chart of U.S. search advertising spending, 2007-2013)

3. Video Ad Spending Will Run Counter to Economic Trends: Growth will run counter to overall economic developments, rising by 45% in 2009 to reach $850 million.

(view chart of U.S. online video advertising spending, 2007-2013)

4. Social Network Shakeout: With U.S. ad revenue growth slowing, smaller and niche social networks will have a tough time gaining traction and several may close down or be acquired by larger players. Marketers that have built standalone social networks tied to their brands will either shutter them or migrate them to existing social network platforms where they can reach a broader audience.

5. New Revenue Streams for Social Networks: E-commerce will be a growing revenue stream for social network sites. Expect both MySpace and Facebook to enhance their self-serve advertising systems to allow consumers and businesses to buy and sell real-world goods and services.

6. E-Commerce Sales Growth From Existing Online Buyers: Online retail sales (excluding travel) will grow by only 4% in 2009 – the first full year to feel the impact of the economic crisis. Over the long term, online sales growth has been on a downward slope as the number of online buyers approaches saturation.

7. Seismic Shift in TV Ad Sales: U.S. TV ad spending will decline 4.2% to $66.9 billion in 2009. This precipitous drop in spending reflects not only expectations of a continued poor economy but a seismic shift in the way television advertising is bought and sold, eMarketer said.

8. More Newspaper Companies to Tank: Newspaper advertising will decline in 2009 more than any other medium. Industry-wide cutbacks will continue, and there will be some consolidation, while firms will be forced to undertake drastic measures to stay afloat.

9. User-Generated Content Aggregation: With so much user-generated media populating the web and mobile channels, content aggregation will become more important than ever. In 2009, expect to see the emergence of real-time aggregation tools that combine algorithmic approaches with human input. These aggregation tools will develop from the ground up, much like the content itself.

10. Multicultural Marketing Will Gain Intensity Online: Although white Americans make up about 70% of the U.S. internet population, more and more African Americans and Hispanics are going online through their PCs and mobile phones. Marketers will follow with language- and culture-specific messages.