March 01, 2007
Branding and Innovation
Sometimes these blog posts are so easy, they practically write themselves.Or someone else writes something brilliant and I steal it. Same diff.
Today, it's Scott Berkun waxing genius on the overuse--and resulting impotence--of the word "innovation."
And it dawns on me, as I'm reading, that his insight is directly related to the word "branding."
Any of you regular readers--all two of you--will be familar with my continued ranting on the use of the word "branding." Or my complaints about the misunderstanding of the concept of branding. Or whatever. I complain. A lot. It's what I do.
Anyway. Where was I? Ah, yes. Scott Berkun.
Here's what I'd like you to do. Head on over to Scott's blog and read his post entitled "How to kill innovation hype." Okay. Next, re-read it. This time replace the word "innovation" with the word "branding."
See?
And since this is especially critical for people who are trying to get help from the "branding" types, let me hit some of Scott's high-points in terms of "how to kill the branding hype":
- Challenge the word. Never allow the word to be used in conversation without asking “what do you mean by [branding]?” If it’s not clear to you as a listener how the word is being used, the speaker probably doesn’t know either: call them on it.
- Avoid compound usage. As soon as you’re throwing hyphens around you know you’re in trouble. [Branding] is a strong enough word to stand alone.
- Call bullshit. Asking for examples kills hype dead. Just say "can you show me your latest [branding effort]?" Most people that use the word don’t have examples--they don’t know what they're saying and that's why they're addicted to the [b]-word. Keep pressing and most hype-philes concede what they're doing isn't new. The fastest way to detect BS is to look at facts and at the present. True [experts] rarely need the word: they just show their work.
Labels: berkun, brand, branding, scottberkun
Branding and Innovation
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February 08, 2007
You've got to be kidding me
I started a post over on More than a living entitled "You've got to be kidding me." My premise was that anytime you hear yourself saying "You've got to be kidding me" to a corporate request that there is something disingenuous about that request.Be wary, I advised.
But the thing I didn't delve into over there--because the focus is less on marketing and more on meaning--was the brand conflict of "You've got to be kidding me."
"You've got to be kidding me" is a signal that the request is out of whack with the central brand idea. That there is a conflict. That there is something rotten in Denmark. The request doesn't match your preconceived image of the requestor. Intuition causes your hackles to raise.
You see, as I've mentioned time and time again, brands live in the mind of the beholder. You don't own them. You can't control them. Employee or customer. The brands live in hearts beyond your grasp.
You can only hope to influence the brand in that person's mind. Nudge it a bit. Change course slightly.
And because of this, brands don't accept jarring leaps. They only accept smooth transitions. They only accept controlled changes. Baby steps, my friend, baby steps.
Remind me to take you through my dissertation on "The Inherent Lessons of Successful Brand Extensions as Seen through Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk."
Oh, I'm sorry. Where was I?
Ah yes, how "You've got to be kidding me" is your Spidey sense telling you to run. For a ridiculous example, let's take Grandma's brand.
You hear: "Grandma switched from Lipton to Tazo tea because she's been drinking Tazo at Starbucks." Your response? "Oh. Zzzzzzzz."
You hear: "Grandma got arrested for tagging the speed limit signs because she fell in with a 'bad element' that hung out at Starbucks." Your response? "You've got to be kidding me."
"You've got to be kidding me" is your intuition telling you that the brand is stretching too far. Or, worse yet, completely taking advantage of you. Betraying your trust. Sullying your emotional relationship.
"You've got to be kidding." Listen to it. It's a compass for your brand decisions.
Labels: brand, branding, kidding, youve got to be kidding
You've got to be kidding me
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January 30, 2007
Branding discussion at the University of Portland
Last night, I was given the opportunity to present to a group of MBA students at the University of Portland. (Thanks to Dr. Howard Feldman and Nicole Elovitz for the chance to present.)Let me repeat that: Me in front of MBA students.
I know. What were they thinking? I mean, seriously. Have they seen how I drone on and on here? Apparently not. (One of the upsides or relative anonymity.)
And--true to form--I droned on and on for them, as well.
It's not often that I'm given the opportunity to talk about brand for three hours straight.
I mean, I do. Quite regularly. To my family. To my friends. To people walking down the street.
But, this was actually their collective choice. Poor souls.
Whoa whoa whoa. Of course, I thought of you, gentle reader. Calm down. Look at what I've done, so that you could share in the experience. I'm posting the slides below. Unfortunately, that means it will be sans my compelling commentary. But, I'm sure you can ad lib. Don't forget, imagine it with a really nasal tone.
Sweet dreams.
Labels: brand, branding, mbs, portland
Branding discussion at the University of Portland
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