Building personal brand within the social media landscape

I love every bit of this video & hence couldn’t resist to share this! absolutely worth spending 15 minutes of your time on this!

Don’t Just Talk

This is my first video on this topic, diverse learnings have inspired my views in this video. I will request your feedback to help me create better videos in this area. The idea of “Don’t just talk” is inspired by Gareth Kay’s presentation at VCU Brandcenter.

Tropicana takes a U-Turn, reverts back to old packaging!

Early in January, PepsiCo‘s flagship product, Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice changed its packaging (on left in the image below). A day or two ago the company executives plan to discontinue the new packaging (which is already in market) and bring back the previous version back!

How stupid is that?

I am curious to know if there was any  rationale behind launching a new packaging in the first place! I am sure there was, but wonder what type of research lead to this decision to launch new packaging.  If customers did not want a new packaging…. then why introduce one?

I don’t mean to be rude, I’ve have been a Tropicana fan since long. I even loved the new package design. But for me, the deal breaker was the connection between how I perceive Tropicana & the new package design. For me, the new packaging diluted the premium appeal of the brand. It made Tropicana look like a store brand.

I am glad Tropicana is back on track & that is surely becuase of those Tropicana fanatics!

Brands will fail in Social Media, until…

the brand manager…

1. thinks before entering the social media wagon: For god’s sake, don’t enter the social media wagon because everyone is on social media. Social media demands huge investment of resources, it’s not only about creating a platform & connecting with consumers.  A thorough social media strategy that adds value to the existing brand behavior has to be crafted. Content is an integral part of your social media success, if it’s not relevant or lacks creative brilliance it will not work.

2. stops viewing social media as just another marketing tool: Social media is a lifestyle. Consider a marketing tool & your brand is due for a toss! Social media is a platform for interaction & collaboration. It is not meant to generate sales, but to develop communities, create content & developing relationships.

3. have some patience: Think long-term when you think about social media. Building a relationship is never a quick and easy solution. A brand should resist the ‘one-night stand approach’ with the consumers, look forward to building a valuable & long-lasting relationship. To build a community  or get people actively involved takes time. Don’t see social media as a advertising campaign, it’s a long term approach.

4. have a dedicated staff responsible for social media: Where does social media fit in? Web Development, Content Generation, PR, Marketing, Communications? Unless you are sure & have a clearly defined objectives & role for your employee responsible to handle social media, you will fail.  There should be a dedicated team that is held accountable for delivering results as per the the brand’s social media strategy.

5. starts listening to consumers: Consumers are the biggest source of information. You stop interacting with them & you are gone is 60 secs (not literally). But, listening to consumers becomes all the more important in times like this…because a dissatisfied consumer can make or break brand’s image. Social media is very instrumental in making the brand behavior absolutely transparent. Hence a 24X7 vigil on consumers is the key to survival.

Inspite of doing everything properly, a brand can still fail in social media…

because usage and interaction in social media is totally dependent on the user. Unlike advertising, social media is a pull medium. Social Media Metric are also very new & still to prove their reliability. Also the criteria for measurement is also very different. Advertising is measured in terms of  page views, while social media is measured in terms of interactions, i.e. no. of friends, no. of comments, quality of content, etc. Interpreting these measures & analyzing effectives is difficult at this point of time.

… atleast we can avoid some blunders.

Welcome to the Participation Era.

As I watch numerous commercials, online or otherwise… I ask myself, “will I buy this brand because of this advertisement?” my answer is “No, not at all”. I believe advertising is mere a tool to create awareness or in some cases, generate interest about a particular brand of product or service.

As we entered the digital age, brands are not solely build by messaging or advertising, but by their behavior with the consumers. The most important thing today is not about what brand says, but it’s about ‘what brand does’ & how consistently it does. For a brand manager, integrating the brand with the product benefits is not enough… I’d say, it will be a recipe of disaster.

A brand manager has to think about the right mixture of integration between Brand-Product-Consumer.

Of all the above mentioned components of integration, ‘Consumer’ is the most important component. A brand has to seek ways to connect with the people and start a conversation, a conversation that is engaging & relevant enough for people to share among their communities.  Create a platform for participation, co-create with your consumers. I strongly feel that, a consumer has to be seen as a co-owner &  the key to success is to listen to the consumers & act accordingly.

First brand that comes to my mind is Starbucks! It’s a perfect example of a a brand adapting to the new digital revolution. The brand launched MyStarbucksIdea.com, an online platform for suggestion and virtual community to involve the brand followers. Many initiatives that Starbucks has launched have come from consumer’s mind. When a brand actually acts on consumer’s preference, a sense of belonging is created in the minds of consumer & this can be on of the core things that will turn a consumer into an advocate.

The Participation Era has arrived & the only way to survive  is to embrace ‘consumer’ as an integral part of marketing process. This is the era that demands ‘actions’ more than ‘advertising’  & ‘ brand experience’ more than just ‘product features’. The question we have to ask ourself is, “am I ready for the Participation Era?”

Make your customer happy in 5 minutes!

Before:

A blogger posts negative comments about recent communication by Hallmark.

Next Day:

With a new post, his negative comments turn to positive. Infact he advocates the Brand

why?

He receives a personal response from the Public Affairs at Hallmark.

Great Job! Ms. Deidre Mize! I am sure it must have taken her less than 5 minutes to check the feed & reply to this dissatisfied consumer. Controlling consumer reaction on digital medium becomes very difficult. But, tools & technologies are in place to make things easier for brand manager & the PR personnel. Even free services like ‘Google Alert’ are a hand stretch away… only if one cares about customer satisfaction. According to me, a brand has to continously interact with their consumer at various touch points. Their reaction is the best Key Performance Indicator one can ask for.

Once again great job Ms. Mize & great job Hallmark! This post has been a great learning for me, especially because it tells me how a small amount of investment can make a customer happy. A small email made such a difference! These are small things that we can keep in mind, but we somehow tend to forget, ignore or jut don’t understand. Afterall,  a ‘life time value’ of a smiling customer will be way higher than and hence very essential for a brand manager to keep them happy. This lesson learned will remain with me for long.

“Things turn out best for the people who (brands that) make the best out of the way things turn out.”

- Art Linkletter

Domino’s CEO bakes Subway’s letter….. What a viral warefare!!!!

In December, Domino’s launched a taste-test campaign that claimed customers preferred Domino’s subs over those served up at Subway 2:1.  As much as I hate the old-fashioned, forgettable, dumb execution (the need to explain what is 2-1 was unnecessary) of the commercial…

Subway responded quickly, voicing their concern over how those results were obtained and the fairness of their product comparison. The master stroke was hit by the Domino’s! Domino’s only refused to pull the work, but responded by launching a new TV spot featuring Chairman and CEO David A. Brandon playfully burning up Subway’s letter in one of the 450-degree ovens used to bake its victorious sandwiches.

The ad has since gone viral. The video is available on Domino’s website &  already has 101,826 clicks till 7.30pm ET today.

I love the part after the video wheree you can bake your own letter.

If you think this is it, check this out… Domino’s Pizza is taking a swipe at Subway and its famous ad spokesman in a promotion that will award a free Oven Baked Sandwich to consumers named Jared. The first 1,000 consumers with that name who contact the chain at www.pr@dominos.com will receive a gift certificate for the sandwich.

I believe this is simply great! Kudos to Domino’s for this very interesting leverage of the situation. From the beginning I was a great fan of Domino’s strategic decision to enter the Sandwich business, it may look different… but it is so much in sync with their core competency in terms of raw material, process & distribution. One of my friends has become a great fan of Domino’s pizza sandwich, why? because it is Oven-Baked!

Now I am eagerly waiting for Subway to reply and make this Food-Fight an interesting battle ground. One advice to Subway, take off your legal hat & wear as many creative hats for a grand comeback.

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.

GE incorporates Augmented Reality in new advertising campaign for 2009

Just over a month ago I posted an article on Mini’s Augmented Reality Ad, now it seems GE has also joined the AR brigade along with Nissan, Volvo & Mini.

This film demonstrates how GE will leverage augmented reality technology to tell a story about Smart Grid.

This effort is a part of GE’s new advertising campaign called “NOW” to be launched during Super Bowl today on February 1, 2009. The theme of the campaign is “innovation you don’t have to wait for.” As per information on GE 2009 Advertising Overview, the campaign will incorporate three themes including ecomagination, healthcare and Global Research, with a key focus on Smart Grid technologies.. GE will use television, print, and digital mediums to tell this story:

Television – Super Bowl advertisement

• For the first time, GE will advertise on the Super Bowl with a 30-second ad called “Scarecrow” that focuses on Smart Grid technology
• Smart Grid is a vision for a smarter, more efficient, and sustainable electrical energy grid that GE technology is helping to bring to life and represents GE´s latest example of “ecomagination” at work
• The ad is a modern take on the classic song, “If I Only Had A Brain,” from the film The Wizard of Oz, imagining what can happen when old technologies have a brain and become smarter
• The ad is created by BBDO New York, GE´s long-time agency partner for more than 80 years
• The commercial was directed by Traktor and employs the latest computer and digital technology from Framestore
• The ad is scheduled to appear on US television networks including NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, Bravo, USA, SciFi, Comedy Central, Discovery and ESPN after the Super Bowl

Digital

• GE is incorporating breakthrough technology called augmented reality that will be featured on its new microsite – PlugIntoTheSmartGrid.com
• Augmented reality is technology that augments real-world elements with digital holograms, so consumers can see a digital hologram of Smart Grid technology come to life in their hands
• This is the first time that augmented reality technology has been used to interact with a consumer in an advertising effort
• Banner advertisements, print ads, and web films will drive consumers to the microsite to experience the augmented reality technology
• The digital campaign was created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners

Print

• GE is launching an extensive global print and outdoor campaign
• Print and outdoor ads are focused on three areas:
  • Ecomagination: highlights GE´s renewable technologies
  • Healthcare: demonstrates how GE is providing worldwide healthcare solutions such as x-rays in China and ECG technology in rural India
  • Global Research: evaluates what the world needs and discusses how GE innovates solutions to redefine what´s possible
• The ads are created by BBDO New York and will run in publications such as the New York Times, Financial Times, Fortune, and Wired

Click on the image for a Sneak Peak of the commercial & brand’s integrated efforts to extend the Ecomagination campaign in 2009

Stairway to Brand ‘Heaven’ & ‘Hell’

great representation!

I LOVE Economist!

I love most ads from Economist. I found this slide show of many ads, it does not include the new initiatives from the brand… but whatever this slide show has is pretty good!

The Economist – Ads (reklamy)

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: ads print)

Good Thinking: Hyundai breeds creativity in adversity

Adversity breeds Creativity - We are at our creative best in adverse situations.

In adverse situations we are under pressure to change something in our lives that is not working. We are forced to look at ways in which we can overcome adversity. Adversity puts a strong demand on us to innovate for survival. It forces us to be different than what we have been being. Some of the most successful people and businesses that the world has seen have grown out of adversity.

Everyone by now is well aware of the adverse situations auto makers are in… To come out of this adversity, Hyundai recently launched “Hyundai Assurance Program”

The car-maker allows you to return you vehicle & allows you to walk away from your loan or lease without having to worry about any damage to your credit history. Assurance program only applies to customers stricken by misfortune outside of their control, such as losing their job, becoming disabled or losing their drivers license for medical reasons.

Customers must also have made at least two payments on the car already. In addition, Hyundai will only refund the depreciation on the returned car up to $7,500 and the program is complementary for the first 12 months of leasing or financing.

Hyundai said, the program is aimed at consumers too nervous to spring for a new car in the difficult economy. The slump in consumer confidence has been one of the biggest factors behind the collapse in new vehicle sales in 2008. In a prepared statement, ccting president & chief executive of Hyundai North America said that “We understand consumers’ hesitance to commit to large purchases in today’s economic environment,” “Today we’re extending … peace of mind to cover consumers’ employment status and personal finances.”

In this uncertain time, Hyundai’s Assurance Program seems to be very assuring for the uncertain buyers…

New Pepsi logo & the logos of Web 2.0

My first encountered with Pepsi’s new logo design intrigued me enough to fetch for more information on reason behind choosing this particular typeface. When it comes to typography, I trust fontfeed… it’s a resourceful site dedicated to typography. that’s when I came across a post on ‘Logos of Web 2.0′. Thanks to my New Year’s Resolution (I only decided it today) – Not to Procrastinate, here I am sharing this great classification of  logos for web 2.0 (I am only three months late, I guess)

For all you folks intrigued by this, I would recommend you read this article.

As far as Pepsi’s new logo; I would say its a perfect gamble by the brand. (I guess, the right thing to do at this point of time) Its been a rocky year for the brand, with declining soft drink sales & almost 30% drop in share price… what you need is some drastic measures.

I like the new logo, it’s a very expressive & youthful logo. It connects very well with the target audience Pepsi seeks to connect with. Here is a quote from Frank Cooper, Pepsi’s VP-Portfolio Brands.

“We felt like, as we move out of this traditional mass marketing and mass distribution era into today’s culture, there’s an opportunity to bring humanity back, both in terms of the design but also in the way we engage consumers …”

Everyone wants a Wii…. (including me)

Pepsi’s new brand identity

Couldn’t resist posting about Pepsi’s New Identity till tomorrow so here it is some more information & renderings of the new bottles and cans I stumbled on. The new logo is Pepsi’s 11th in its 110-year history. Five logos have been introduced in the past 21 years, with the last update in 2002.

The new logo is a white band in the middle of Pepsi’s circle that loosely forms a series of smiles: A smile will characterize brand Pepsi, while a grin is used for Diet Pepsi and a laugh is used for Pepsi Max.