This blog serves as a follow up to my ranting blog on Desert Sun. In that post, I talked about how several companies tend to focus on short term gains such as bringing in first time customers, but often fail to keep their customers happy and wanting to come back. Without happy and loyal customers, you're sure to have a weak brand that won't last.
While I was prepping for my week in the sun in Hawaii, I became a customer of Seattle Sun Tan, a brand in the tanning world that is continuing to grow in popularity. What's their secret to success?
First, they are using all the newest trends in marketing effectively, including strong social media promotions and QR codes within and outside their stores. Most importantly, however, they treat their members right! They have random free tanning days where they celebrate their members, have a lotion of the day, reward customers on their birthday, and so on. It's little things like that that count and create a strong relationship, making a customer think twice about switching brands.
I just wanted to wish all the fellow graduates of this quarter the best of luck as they move on to a new stage in life. I'll miss everybody and hope to see some of you around Seattle sometime. As for those still at Western, good luck as well and you'll be out soon too! Good luck with finals ;).
Since all of us students are currently in the midst of dead week, I thought I'd keep today's posting light and humorous. I saw this "viral" ad by Jennifer Aniston as a spokesperson for Smart Water yesterday and I have to admit it made me laugh. In the video, Jennifer Aniston is going to talk about Smart Water, but then realizes that she can't do that without doing crazy things to make the video go "viral". This video is a mockery of all the crazy things others have done (Children lip-sinking, Evion babies, sex appeal, the double rainbow guy, etc), that have gone viral. Check it out!
Do you think this was the desired effect that Smart Water hoped to achieve even if it is a little off brand? What do you guys think of the video?
Alright, I'm sure most of you are as sick of hearing about Charlie Sheen as I am at the moment, but I believe this is worth talking about from a personal branding standpoint. Is Charlie Sheen really making the right move in his "war" against the executives of CBS for cancelling his show? I don't think so!!!
He needs to remember that CBS is who gave him the show that truly made him successful. As much as he made the show come alive, it was his own actions that caused the show to stop. His current explosion and ranting to the media and through social media is gaining some huge publicity now, but it's not going to be sustaining. What major network is going to hire an actor on who might potential cause this much backlash? Did he ever stop to consider how he is going to get a major job again in the future? Good luck Charlie, I'll miss Two and a Half Men.
What do you guys think? Will this be the end of Charlie Sheen after the media explosion or will he bounce back in the future?
Alright, time to bring in my personal life frustrations again and mix them with my marketing thoughts. Desert Sun is a tanning salon that may be a well known brand name, but it is severely flawed and here's why.
What they're doing wrong:
Focusing ALL their attention into attracting new customers with promotions, and then offering next to no actual decent promotions for their returning customers
Terrible customer service. Never actually expect to get into your tanning bed until about 10 minutes or so after you've made the appointment. I've rarely ever had a positive experience that has made me want to go back.
What they're doing right, kind of:
Suggestive selling: They track your purchases and try to get you to buy things that you haven't purchased yet or haven't purchased in awhile (i.e. tanning lotions, facial lotions, leg lotions). While this is great, I would caution them to not be too naggy in the suggestive selling. It gets annoying when EVERY time you go in you are trying to be sold to. It needs to be a little more moderated.
My suggestions for improvement:
Try to find ways to increase brand loyalty and repeat customers. I hardly know anybody who actually likes Desert Sun. I only chose to go there because it's conveniently located and I like their mattress bed. I can tell you, after my second time having a membership with them I do not ever intend on going back. If they don't find away to keep customers coming back aside from dragging them into 3 month long memberships, they they will eventually lose that cherished brand name.
I've always thought that product placement is an excellent way of showcasing and advertising a brand. Sometimes it hardly feels like you're being advertised to, which definitely allows you to more comfortably receive the message. However, when product placement becomes blatantly obvious and overbearing, it's just flat out annoying and companies should be very wary of annoying their customers.
Take The Biggest Loser for instance. They started off using product placement very efficiently. The trainers would often show the contestants and therefore the viewers how to best live a healthy lifestyle through the products being placed by advertisers such as Subway, Yoplait, Ziplock, Extra Gum, 24 Hour Fitness, etc. As the seasons progressed, it got worse and worse, to the point where I don't watch the show anymore. Almost EVERY episode without fail, the contestants would be treated to Subway for dinner, or set aside to be talk about using Extra Gum to cure their snack cravings. EVERY episode. In order for The Biggest Loser to maintain its powerhouse ability to place products in its show, they need to find ways to more smoothly integrate the products.
Any over the top product placement irritate you guys?
You may or may not have already read my old blog , but I once wrote about the Coke "Happiness Machine" being one of my favorite viral campaigns. Now, the "Happiness Truck" has followed up as the sequel and I thought I'd share my thoughts on this video.
I love it! Not only does it continually enforce Coke's core brand idea of bringing happiness to everybody, it also shows how Coke has grown over the last several years internationally. Coke is showing that brings happiness to ALL of its customers, not just in America.
On another note, this is such an amazing idea for guerrilla marketing, and I believe that Coke does this better than energy drinks (Red Bull, Rockstar, Monster) that normally excel in this category. When an energy drink company shows up at a college campus, it's expected to get free energy drinks and that's about all. No extra feeling other than "sweet, free Red Bull" is derived out of it. Coke's Happiness Truck spreads the word and happiness throughout wherever it goes. It would be great to do videos of them doing this in each country they operate in, to really generate some buzz.
Holy cow how did a 16 year old get so popular, so fast? Still one of the hottest trends on twitter, out with a 3D movie, and even on Conan's show, will this blast of fame be temporary or forever? This is what I think:
Fad... Justin Bieber will probably not be popular once he hits his later years. I believe a lot of the reason for his popularity as a brand is that he's "cute" and brings a little success story with him. Is this sustaining? Nope. What happens when his voice matures? What will he need to do to maintain this huge streak of popularity before people get over him? I think he's just another teenage fad like Hillary Duff, but on a larger scale.
What are your thoughts? Will the Bieber fever live on? What does he need to do in the future to sustain his popularity as a music artist brand?
When you picture a luxury car, what are the first places and who are the first people that come to mind? Surely not Eminem and Detroit right? Wait...don't judge just quite yet.
When I was sitting in my room, eating pizza, and watching this Super Bowl commercial, I was definitely moved by this commercial. There's no doubt about it that I thought the message was powerful. Then, I started wondering..did they just advertise a luxury car with Eminem and Detroit?
After giving this some thought however, I actually think this is a great campaign. Chrysler has been in a world of hurt with bankruptcy and failure over the past couple of years, and what a great way to take a new stance into the market by showcasing their comeback. Will Chrysler be the same as it used to be? No. I think by embracing this idea of a comeback using Eminem and Detroit, Chrysler will attract a new segment of people interested in luxury cars. I believe that, granted the car isn't a piece of crap, they will attract those wealthy Americans that actually had to struggle and work hard to earn their way in life. People that might appreciate what hard work and money really comes from. Chrysler probably won't appeal to the normal luxury car owners who perhaps did not have to work as hard. Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens with Chrysler's future.
What do you guys think of the "Imported From Detroit" campaign? I'm really interested in everybody else's opinion, especially those marketers with a little experience.
For the last couple of years, AT&T has enjoyed exclusive rights to the top selling smart phone, the iPhone. However, now that Verizon has its hands on the iPhone, consumers have been swarming to break from AT&T and get their hands on it. Uh oh, AT&T's in trouble!
It's not only bad news that Verizon is taking some of their customers away, but it is also bringing to light the long time frustration AT&T customers have had with their terrible reception. With this constantly being brought up, from what I've seen a lot in my own use of social media, I'm not entirely sure AT&T will be able to hold its #2 market share spot for much longer.
What I think AT&T needs to do:
QUIT advertising that you have better coverage than Verizon!!! AT&T, i'm sorry but that is a loss cause.
Invest your advertising dollars and branding strategy into something that actually does set you apart from Verizon. Maybe you offer better plans? I dunno.
Don't turn the iPhone battle into a price war. Offer exclusive things for the AT&T iPhone that Verizon users cannot have. With the opening of the Verizon iPhone so fresh, people might have doubts as to whether or not it has beginning flaws in technology. This would be a way for AT&T to capitalize on that and convince people that their iPhone has more value.
Bottom line, I think AT&T was riding on the idea that iPhone would lead its success for too long. I believe their marketing and branding strategies have been terribly off because they have been trying to send advertising messages that appear to be false to most consumers.
Do you guys think AT&T will lose its number 2 spot eventually to Sprint/Nextel? What do you think they should do? Anybody have the Verizon iPhone? How do you like it?
Alright, between work, midterms, group projects, and everything else, I finally was able to sit down and take a look at the Super Bowl ads for myself. I'll go over my favorite ads as well as the ones I didn't feel were effective.
The Winner for Best Advertising Company Goes to...Drumroll Doritos!
Doritos never fails to be entertaining and relevant almost every Super Bowl. Perhaps this is because their product is so simple. It's an addicting snack that almost everybody loves, so it is much easier to get wild and creative compared to other companies. What impressed me the most was that these ads were created by their biggest fans! That's awesome. Way to get your consumers involved in the greatest way possible.
And My Favorite Superbowl Ad Goes to: Volkswagen!!!!
I know, almost all of you would think it silly of me to choose the Beetle commercial over the Darth Vador one, but here's why I did. Using Star Wars in advertising is NOT original! Star Wars is frequently used, whether it be through Burger King, M&Ms, Adidas, the Droid, you name it. I loved the Star Wars Volkswagen ad because it was adorable, but from a brand effectiveness standpoint I don't think it was better than everybody else. The Beetle commercial, however, struck home for me. Being a formal Beetle owner myself, I remember feeling like I had one of the cutest, coolest cars out there. This ad brings that feeling to life, and for once, we don't have to see the car throughout the whole ad. I thought this ad was especially refreshing, fun, and still relevant.
The Most Dissapointing Ad of the Super Bowl Goes to..........E Trade
For a Super Bowl ad, this was definitely not up to par with expectations. Let's face it, that baby is not that funny anymore and the cat just made it worse. I don't think people will be flocking to E Trade anytime soon for this ad.
Um...Questionable?....Kim Kardashian and Sketchers Tone Ups
Talk about racy! What do you guys think? Does sex sell in this situation considering the supposed end benefit for Tone Ups IS a better looking body? Is Sketchers really hitting the right market? I don't think most of its target market has a trainer as they already struggle to get to the gym but that's just my thoughts.
What Do You Think? Feel Free to Agree, Dissagree, and Express Your Opinions.
As I was browsing mashable.com, I came across an article (http://on.mash.to/gBzc7z) that got me excited about new ways to integrate all aspects of marketing. CSI has a new Facebook game that now has about 2 million users. In order to unlock bonuses on the game, clues will be given throughout the viewing of this week's episode. Kia and Greys Anatomy are doing similar campaigns. I thought this was pretty cool and definitely opens the door for more opportunities for marketers. What an awesome way to tie in your promotions with your advertising campaigns or product.
Have you guys seen any new and exciting ways to engage customers that have caught your eye?
Last Spring quarter, I remember sitting in Dan Purdy's IMC class discussing what Western meant to us as a brand. How is Western different from any other school? This class discussion was a result of Western's crucial need to distinguish itself and give applicants a compelling reason to choose Western over its competitors. Now that Western has finally started rolling out its new brand image, I'm going to discuss my opinion on it and ask for yours in return.
First, the logo. My first impression of the logo was "Hey, that's actually pretty cool and simple". When I thought about it later, however, I started to question whether it matches the prestige as a top university that Western desires to be seen as. The logo in fact, looks a lot like Skagit Valley College's, as shown below.
I wish the logo was something more along the lines of the old one, which represented Old Maine, Western's oldest building. I believe one of Western's key differences between other universities is how focused it is on academics over sports, and the quality of the professors. The old logo was close to giving off that image. With that being said, I believe the student that created this logo has amazing talent and will have an amazing career in Graphic Design, but it's not the right logo for Western's brand.
As for the tag-line, "Active Minds Changing Lives", I don't think it really sets Western apart, but it's not bad. I think you can plug that tag-line in any University and feel it could work. Then again, I'm not much of a fan of tag-lines.
I'm hoping that the new website will be a substantial improvement over the previous one, but we'll have to wait and see. It's too bad that cost was what prevented the site and logo rolling out together. Anyway, that is my take on Western's new branding strategy. I hope I'm proven wrong and it helps to accomplish Western's goals.
What do you guys think of Western's new brand image? What do you think Western's brand is all about? I'd love to hear the thoughts of some marketers
Branding and marketing are often used interchangeably with advertising. While it is true that advertising is an excellent and important tool to help build a strong brand, it is not always 100% necessary! There are companies out there who have built extremely successful brands without a dime spent on advertising, and I happen to work for one of them: Costco Wholesale. So, what's their secret sauce?
Three key words: Word of Mouth
Costco's strategy is consistent, strong, and followed in every warehouse in the United States and its other countries of operation. Their mission statement promises the best possible treatment of employees, vendors, and members and they stay true to that. They follow these core principles by supplying employees with amazing benefit packages, great wages, and time and a half Sundays. Even though their power over several vendors is strong, they do not bully them. As for their members, they offer great prices, the chance to test their products through sampling, and amazing return policies. They have also created an adventure out of the Costco experience by a brilliant merchandising strategy. People are proud to say they found a great deal at Costco.
By consistently and uniquely bringing this exciting experience to shoppers seeking great deals, Costco has generated a lot of talk! Jim Sinegal, the CEO, refuses to spend anything on advertising, yet Costco has been showcased in several talk shows and even used in the filming of a movie, Employee of the Month.
Here's a special done by Jimmy Kimmel at Costco that was shown to me during my Corporate Internship. It's pretty hilarious.
The point is, Costco has been able to communicate the essence of their brand in every way possible through its many actions, whether it be the way Jim Sinegal dresses (always simple and never classy), forever promising the $1.50 hot dog/soda combo, or by simply providing an entertaining shopping experience.
My closing points: Remember, marketing requires much more than advertising if you ever want to make it as a successful brand. You have to communicate your brand by every action you take and decision you make.
So, anybody have a crazy Costco experience to share? Can you think of another brand who is successful without advertising?
Of all the famous beer brands that pour their funds into advertising (maybe a little pun intended), here's the beer that I think is doing the best job at the moment, and here's why.
Heineken is positioning themselves as different than other beers, more classy, cool, and superior. This ad is a prime example of that.
Going viral, top 2 on the charts according to Advertising Age
Choosing not to advertise in football commercials, straying away from lower price beers such as Budweiser and Coors
The party in this ad is full of dressed up, upper class people yet still provides humor that is different from other beer commercial
Why is it important for Heineken to position themselves away from other beer?
Almost all beer brands have the same associations (beer + football), target audience, and personality
Having all the same brand attributes aside from taste will only lead to a price war, especially amongst college students or others in a down economy who are willing to sacrifice taste for price
Which beer do you think has the strongest brand image? Enjoy this ad and let me know what you think of it. It's pretty funny!
Not only would the hearts of fans be broken, but also the hearts of several advertisers. The reason why I bring this up is because right now, the NFL is currently in some intense contract negotiations over how many games there will be next year as well as stricter salary caps for rookie players. If this isn't resolved within a specific amount of time, then the NFL will not be having a football season next year. While the likelyhood of THAT actually happening is next to none, it's interesting to think about what would happen in the world of fans as well as marketers.
Think about how much money is put into advertising in the NFL. According to an Advertising Age article by Rich Thomeselli, combining the ad revenue, sponsorships, fantasy football leagues, and all the employees who would be out of work, and empty sports bars, this would roughly add up to $12 billion at stake. That's insane. Kudos to the NFL for becoming such a strong and relevant force in the marketing world.
Anyway, I didn't want to give to much of an opinion on this blog but moreover open this up to all of you guys. What would be the next best place for these big advertisers to invest if the NFL wasn't around? Think of Doritos, Coors, Budweiser, Pepsi, all of those companies...
Here's an awesome brand that we never seem to talk about in school, Mini Coopers!!! Minis serve a niche of people and have a very strong following, almost cult like. This is a tribute to my best friend Ashley, who finally got her dream Mini.
Once you own a Mini, you become a part of a strong community of people. Similar to motorcycles, it is customary to wave to fellow Mini drivers when you pass by each other. According to the Mini website, these cute little cars must also have a name! Ashley's new car, for instance, is named Zippy. Mini Cooper also offers several ways to customize your car to the way you like it: Bar codes so they're toy-like, British flag paint jobs, you name it. Anyway, I think they have an excellent marketing strategy because they've made Minis into more than just a car, but more like a toy, pet, or something to cherish. Finally, a car company who is doing something different from everybody else. I don't know about you guys, but I'm sick of Toyota, Ford, Chevy, and other car ads.
Going with that emotional attachment idea, the above video is the final cut of their latest campaign: Mini Vs. Monster. It's kind of a funny and ridiculous ad, and I think people will be slightly confused at what they're trying to achieve. The way I interpret it is that they are trying to show how emotional people get over the well being of cute little Mini Coopers, which provides value that they are a car worth saving. In most monster truck contests, people hope for a little destruction! Watch the video and let me know what you think :).
Do you know any Mini lovers who have stories to share? Do you think the new campaign will be effective? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Well, that was the first question that came to my mind when I started witnessing the excitement amongst my fellow football fans when the Florida Gators quarterback was picked up by The Denver Broncos. I don't follow college football, but I was born and raised a die hard Broncos fan so I follow the NFL very closely. How painful that is to say after this season is beside the point. Anyway, throughout the football season, Tim Tebow was in the spotlight without even being the starting quarterback. This 23 year old rookie has achieved the following on top of all his awards playing college football:
He has the NFL's top selling jersey
88,277 Twitter followers (That's more than Tom Brady)
"The Davie-Brown Index, an independent marketing research tool, found Tebow to be more appealing and more of a trendsetter than Tom Brady, Brett Favre, and Tony Romo."-The Bleacher Report (http://bit.ly/h2dx2q)
Current Endorsements: Nike, EA Sports, Jockey (http://bit.ly/h2dx2q)
How on earth can a rookie quarterback in the NFL be so popular? Some say it's the way he conducts himself on and off the field. Raised in a Christian family, he has followed his belief in all aspects of his life. Even though he has sored in popularity and still hasn't been given a starting position, he still remains humble and helpful to his teammates. He also started his own foundation (http://www.timtebowfoundation.org/) to help disadvantaged children. If you went to this website and saw what it was about, you'd probably fall in love with him too.
Basically, Tebow is a genius at applying successful branding strategy. His strategy is relevant to all sports fans because after all the recent scandals in all the professional sports (Tiger Woods, Michael Vick, Brett Favre, Ben Rothlisburger), people need a good person they can trust and root for. He sticks to this brand strategy by refusing sponsorships that would distract him from football. Finally, he gets involved with the community through his foundation, and personally using social media to let his fans in on his life.
My Concerns: Can He Keep This Up?
Once he does get playing time, he needs to be able to prove himself on the field as a professional quarterback and live up to all the hype.
He MUST remain humble and not become another disappointment like Michael Vick or Tiger Woods
As a Denver Bronco fan and sports fanatic, I sure hope so.
Do You Think Tim Tebow is Overrated or Does He Live Up to the Hype?
This has to be the longest readjustment to a name change ever. There are STILL Comcast vans driving around out there as well as Comcast advertisements. This name change has been taking months to actually go into effect. It's doing nothing but confusing people. Here's a quote from The Philadelphia Inquirer that I found from the Seattle Pi Blog: http://bit.ly/9ciNzu
"This re-branding comes as Comcast has struggled to rebuild its reputation because of poor service and problems with its network that resulted in telephone and Internet outages. Its customer-satisfaction rating is among the lowest in the industry, but it has improved slightly in the last year."
Here's an idea. Instead of trying to mask the terrible reputation that you've created by changing names, actually fix the problem with customer service! It would make sense to change names if this change were taking place but let's face it, most people are still not happy with Comcast's service.
My suggestion for Comcast? I believe that they should focus their assets into training and encouraging better customer service amongst their employees, and then going a step further by advertising their efforts once they have made an impact. An example similar to this would be Dominos Pizza, when they finally came up with a recipe for pizza that didn't taste like cardboard. They advertised their new and improved pizza. Perhaps after that it would have made sense to roll out with a new name, the new and improved Comcast.
As for the choice of the name Xfinity, don't get me started.
What do you guys think of the name change? What brand is annoying you the most right now?
Well, it looks like Starbucks is deciding to change things up again with a new logo. I believe their old logo was much more solid and identifiable, but does Starbucks really need to let everybody know who they are anymore? In my opinion, the new logo is cleaner and more simple, but who knows if the change was worth the money. Here's a quote by Howard Schultz I found when reading this Comcast article: http://bit.ly/gJuH70
"What is really important here is an evolutionary refinement of the logo, which is a mirror image of the strategy," said Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks. "This is not just, let's wake up one day and change our logo."
My first reaction to seeing this logo: "Oh my god what have they done?! It feels so empty and unfinished!" However, after thinking a little bit more about that quote and thinking about what other great brands have done, simplicity does seem to be the trend and evolution that Schultz was referring to. After reading an article by Thomas Stringham in Ad Age ( http://adage.com/smallagency/post?article_id=148060), his examples of Apple's trend towards minimalism in its logo convinced me that it was more than likely worth it for Starbucks to follow this trend as well.
What do You Guys Think? Was it Worth the Investment?
That is one question I am SO tired of hearing. Why Couldn't I have Chose Public Relations or Something?
Every time somebody asks me what I want to do with my marketing career, I tell them I want to do branding for a marketing firm. That's usually where I see the blank stare and wait for that inevitable question. What's Branding?
The thing is, it's tough to describe, because it's in every aspect of marketing. Everything a company or person does affects their brand: their logo, design, name, positioning, advertising, actions, the list goes on and on. The best way that I've found to describe branding to somebody with no marketing geek in them is to give examples of some of the best brands and the emotional attachment their loyal customers have. While I seem to light up talking about the success of these brands, they somewhat understand but don't seem to capture my enthusiasm.
So, I made this blog in an attempt to show how branding is not boring, and in fact something that affects everybody whether they see it or not. I'm hoping that fellow marketers, experienced and inexperienced alike, will share with me their thoughts as I talk about branding from my point of view. And for those of you reading who asked me what branding was, maybe this will clear things up and my marketing geek will rub off on you. If you haven't read my previous blogs, go to amber-e-m@tumblr.com. Enjoy!
