This is How We Tell a Story

Set the stage: Scenes of Detroit
Engage the viewer: "I got a question for you."
Allude to the main idea: Luxury
Paint a picture: "...a town that's been to hell and back..."
Begin the story: "Well, I'll tell ya."
Describe the main character: "Hard work, conviction and the know-how that runs generations deep..."
Create suspense: Intercut with scenes of a car approaching at night
Continue: "That's our story."
Add tension and conflict: "It's probably not the one you've been reading in papers."
Add mystery: The viewer does not know who is driving this car.
Add irony: "We're certainly no one's Emerald City."
Hero reaches his goal: The mysterious Chrysler arrives and Eminem enters the Fox Theater.
The narrator explains Chrysler's (and Detroit's) story: "This is the Motor City, and this is what we do."
The End: "Imported from Detroit"

What's in a Logo?

photo courtesy of Starbucks

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet." Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

Shakespeare understood this as does Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, re: Starbucks' new logo. The name has not changed; it is still Starbucks, although the name is not present in the new logo. Many consumers do not understand the change. Another issue is that consumers who are very loyal to a brand claim ownership and entitlement to control the brand's image.

What's in a logo? A logo stands for a brand. Many consumers complain on Facebook and Twitter about the logo change, since they do not want their brand to change. It is their unacceptance of change which outweighs their acceptance of the company modification, a transition beyond coffee. It would be beneficial for many Starbucks customers to read Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, M.D., to better adjust to change.


photo courtesy of Parvin

Many Starbucks customers are loyal to the brand and prefer its coffee to other coffees. This loyalty translates to a feeling of belonging to and identification with the brand. They believe that they are a Starbucks person as opposed to a Peet's Coffee & Tea person, for example. The brand and its product were made for them, they believe, and in reciprocity, they own the brand.

Ownership leads to consumers' belief of entitlement to affect a brand. The logo decision should be theirs. How dare the company change it without asking them? they say. We witnessed this unacceptance with the GAP logo debacle, where ultimately GAP reverted to its old logo, due to consumer outcry. In Starbucks' case, Howard Schultz communicated the change before it occurred, and explained its reason: This change mirrors the change of the company.

We learn for our own brands that change must be communicated clearly to our consumers. They cannot manage companies although they believe they are entitled to, due to their loyalty to a brand. Companies must partner with consumers through social media channels and constantly monitor their conversations with consumers. They must reassure their consumers during change, yet ultimately make their own decisions.

Are We Bored Yet?

image courtesy of izqrdo

We usually attend conferences to learn new, interesting information. James Ward, in contrast, created the Boring 2010 conference. The "boring" topics ranged from the English breakfast to Mr. Ward's tie collection to sneeze counting, all topics which examine everyday life. One of the attendees, Ms. Jo Lee said, "We're all overstimulated," and "I think it's important to stop all that for a while and see what several hours of being bored really feels like." http://goo.gl/09OFU

Here is a recent article on attention deficit disorder due to technology, which continues the theme of a surfeit of information for today's consumers: http://goo.gl/Ne4V3

It is surprising that consumers long to be bored, yet understandable due to too much information. Would you like to be bored, and if so, by what?

Oh! The Places Marketers'll Go

photo courtesy of Mario Groleau

Lionsgate Entertainment uses Facebook Places instead of Foursquare or one of its competitors for a new social media campaign: http://goo.gl/KsUO2



The campaign is interesting in that it is by a large company and incorporates a game with locations related to the film. It continues with the winners of the game eligible for a bigger prize. Foursquare and its competitors, of which there are many, face competition from Facebook Places. Some users have become bored with checking in on Location Based Services (LBS) and receiving badges. It is easier for consumers to check in with their Facebook accounts instead of logging into a different app.

Marketers need to reinvigorate check-ins. Coupons will work if the user agrees to opt in. Prizes, discounts and rewards are more attractive to customers, and may influence them to visit your business. The rewards should not be one-time only, but continue. They could be tied to events and unique product offerings. If your company uses LBS, it should offer gifts, which make customers feel special and increase brand loyalty and equity. How is your company using LBS?

26 Brands in Social Media

A is for Applebee's: A Partnership with Consumers

Applebee's impressively engages consumers with its Veteran's Day social media campaign. The company offers free selected entrees to veterans and active duty military personnel on November 11, 2010. It offers them a meal, a gift which consumers appreciate. Applebee's asks consumers to be co-creators on its website and Facebook page. It creates a dialogue through reading and listening to consumer messages.

Consumers, in this difficult economy, love free items. The giver's brand is enhanced in the eyes of the happy receiver. Applebee's realizes that the gift of a free entree draws diners, who will buy additional items. The company also creates its own positive aura, i.e. increased brand equity, by honoring veterans and military personnel during wartime.

Applebee's asks for its own gifts from consumers: photographs and messages relating to military friends and family. http://veterans.applebees.com/veteransday/honor-a-veteran/ These gifts of content on Applebee's Facebook page and website create a partnership between Applebee's and consumers. Consumers want to be partners with brands, and Applebee's gives them the opportunity by asking for their input. This opportunity communicates to consumers that the brand respects them and their ideas, which is important to them.

The Applebee's-consumer partnership of content creates a dialogue. Applebee's reads what consumers post to its sites and consumers read the company's responses. The exchange builds the relationship between the brand and its consumers. Free gifts, consumer content and a conversation: how to excel at social media.

Customers First

Employees represent their companies' brands in the eyes of the public. Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant who dramatically left the aircraft while on duty on August 9, 2010, negatively affected JetBlue's brand, due to his role in customer service, safety and emergencies.

JetBlue's website showcases its Customer Bill of Rights. Slater, in his customer service position, displayed incorrect behavior toward a customer, which shows customers that they may not be treated correctly on JetBlue. In America, the "customer is always right," (H. Gordon Selfridge) but not on JetBlue.

Flight attendants explain safety procedures to airline customers and assist in protecting their safety. Since Slater failed to promote a safe environment when opening the emergency slide, customers could feel unsafe on jetBlue flights. They know flying is a potentially dangerous situation, due to accidents and terrorism, and would prefer airlines where they are confident that flight attendants will protect them.

The image of an adversarial employee and an unsafe environment could lead customers to decrease their purchase of JetBlue tickets. The company needs to counteract this image by highlighting its customer service and safety record versus other airlines'. Otherwise, customers perceive that they could have a negative experience on JetBlue, which tarnishes JetBlue's brand.

The Sweet Smell of Social Media

It is not easy to invigorate a 71-year-old brand like Old Spice. One may describe it as a scent which perfumed one's father. Some sons prefer to not wear their fathers' colognes. They prefer their own scent, a new one. Companies cannot always change their products. Yet they could change the way consumers perceive their products, which Procter & Gamble, with the help of Wieden+Kennedy, achieved with Old Spice.

How did Wieden+Kennedy accomplish this? With the help of consumers. After updating Old Spice's brand through a confident spokesperson, Wieden+Kennedy utilized the tweets, Facebook messages and YouTube comments of consumers to create content -- user-generated content. Thus the consumer speaks, and the brand responds: a dialogue. Consumers no longer want brands to speak to them without sharing in the conversation. In the recent Old Spice spots on YouTube, the "Old Spice guy" responds to their comments which originated in social media. That the actor, Isaiah Mustapha, responds humorously only embellishes the experience, since fun is a valuable commodity in these serious times of economic, environmental and political issues. How to invigorate a brand: user-generated content, a dialogue with consumers and fun. That is also how to invigorate sales.