Posts Tagged ‘branding agencies’
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
My last couple of blogs I’ve mentioned another one of my hereos, Bill Bernbach. Been quoting him a lot lately. And though many of us have read the letter below numerous times, I just really love what he expresses, it still rings so true. So with the risk of being repetitive here are words of wisdom, again.
Dear:
Our agency is getting big. That’s something to be happy about. But it’s something to worry about, too, and I don’t mind telling you I’m damned worried. I’m worried that we’re going to fall into the trap of bigness, that we’re going to worship techniques instead of substance, that we’re going to follow history instead of making it, that we’re going to be drowned by superficialities instead of buoyed up by solid fundamentals. I’m worried lest hardening of the creative arteries begin to set in.
There are a lot of great technicians in advertising. And unfortunately they talk the best game. They know all the rules. They can tell you that people in an ad will get you greater readership. They can tell you that a sentence should be this sort or that long. They can tell you that body copy should be broken up for easier reading. They can give you fact after fact after fact. They are the scientists of advertising. But there’s one little rub. Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art.
It’s that creative spark that I’m so jealous of for our agency and that I am so desperately fearful of losing. I don’t want academicians. I don’t want scientists. I don’t want people who do the right things. I want people who do inspiring things.
In the past year I must have interviewed about 80 people – writers and artists. Many of them were from the so-called giants of the agency field. It was appalling to see how few of these people were genuinely creative. Sure, they had advertising know-how. Yes, they were up on advertising technique.
But look beneath the technique and what did you find? A sameness, a mental weariness, a mediocrity of ideas. But they could defend every ad on the basis that it obeyed the rules of advertising. It was like worshiping a ritual instead of the God.
All this is not to say that technique is unimportant. Superior technical skill will man a good man better. But the danger is a preoccupation with technical skill or the mistaking of technical skill for creative ability.
The danger lies in the temptation to buy routinized men who have a formula for advertising. The danger lies In the natural tendency to go after tried-and-true talent that will not make us stand out in competition but rather make us look like all the others.
If we are to advance we must emerge as a distinctive personality. We must develop our own philosophy and not have the advertising philosophy of others imposed on us.
Let us blaze new trails. Let us prove to the world that good taste, good art, and good writing can be good selling.
Respectfully,
Bill Bernbach
Tags: Anoroc, anoroc agency, branding agencies, raleigh marketing agencies, raleigh social marketing
Posted in Marketing | View Comments
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
Depending of course on numerous client dynamics, we often, very often choose emotional branding over conventional branding when creating or re-inventing brands. I just personally believe in the power of storytelling to inspire and captivate. My opinion is not solely based on the fact that I am an admitted sap. It’s also based on close to two decades of calculating ROI ‘til my hair hurts. We’ve seen how impactful story telling has increased our client’s market share by 300%. In any book that is a home run. And we’ve hit those balls out of the park most of the time. Emotional branding’s strategic objective is to forge unshakable and meaningful bonds with consumers. Through these bonds brands become a significant part of a consumer’s life story, aspirations, self view and an important link in their social network. Do you know anyone who owns a Harley?
What I recently found interesting is the history of emotional branding and how to a very real degree a history that is repeating itself. Though the term “emotional branding” officially arrived in the 1990s, it has its roots in public relations campaigns of decades ago. Who can forget Edward L. Bernays’ 1923 Torches of Freedom march.
In the 1920’s, working for the American Tobacco Company, Bernays sent a group of young models to march in the New York City parade. He then told the press that a group of women’s rights marchers would light “Torches of Freedom”. On his signal, the models lit Lucky Strike cigarettes in front of the eager photographers. The New York Times (1 April 1929) printed: “Group of Girls Puff at Cigarettes as a Gesture of ‘Freedom’”. This helped to break the taboo against women smoking in public. Bernays actually sponsored my application into PRSA. That was a great day.
Jump forward to the 1930’s and the Great Depression. Job loss, savings loss, bankruptcy and displacement made citizens feel that corporations could not be trusted, were greed driven and needed supervision – sound familiar? Almost overnight they needed to find ways to regain trust and bring consumers back. Companies like Standard Oil (now Exxon) hired PR strategists to help them reposition themselves as “identifying with the average American vs Wall Street”. Standard Oil continued their foray into emotional branding when they hired Roy Stryker to work on their public relations documentary project from 1943 to 1950. In selecting photographers for the project Stryker looked for those who possessed an “insatiable curiosity, the kind that can get to the core of an assignment, the kind that can comprehend what a truck driver, or a farmer, or a driller or a housewife thinks and feels and translate those thoughts and feelings into pictures that can be similarly comprehended by anyone.” Emotional branding at its best.
Jump to today. Once again companies are shuffling to gain trust and position themselves as ‘one of us’. Here’s one of my favorite examples – Chrysler Group’s campaign for the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee (http://www.jeep.com/en/2011/grand_cherokee/sitelet/). The ad focuses on the spirit and craftsmanship that once made the United States the country it was. The campaign, created by the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, also introduces a new tagline for the brand—“The things we make, make us.” How’s that for generating warm feelings of community? It even has cowboys for God’s sake.
I am going to end now as I need to go to Lowes so we can build something together. Think I’ll take the Audi instead of the BMW cause I prefer winning to loosing.
Tags: Anoroc, anoroc agency, branding agencies, emotional branding, Greart Depression, Public Relations, raleigh advertising agencies, Raleigh design firms, raleigh social media, The History of branding
Posted in Anoroc, Brand Value, Customer Loyalty, Marketing | View Comments
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
It has been studied and proven that understanding traditional and emerging media trends is a way to reach a new generation of consumers – the millennials or those born between the years 1985 and 2003. This group is said to be the most technologically savvy, team-oriented, and skilled multi-taskers. The millennials are also one of the largest generations yet who possess a great deal of consumer power with large disposable incomes; thus, as marketers we know that it is important to focus our strategies in a way that will interest them. A 2009 study shows important statistics about this generation. The results show that “84% of the teenagers report owning one or more personal media device, and 87% use the Internet; 51% report going online daily (Considine, Horton, & Moorman).”
More specifically, research suggests that today’s generation has evolved from interruption to permission marketing. For example, millennials who are pushed and forced into buying or liking products, or in other words interruption marketing, is not a successful strategy. In opposition, we should simply present the product, service, or idea in a non-invasive and manipulative manner so that the consumers will not feel taken advantage of or undermined (Henrie and Taylor). Another study conducted in 2008 says that“83 percent of the surveyed 14-24 year olds reject traditional ‘interruption and repeat’ advertising efforts.” (Kim 2008) Thus, it is important for members of this generation to use media channels such as blogs and social media sites so they feel the products are more personalized into their everyday lives and focused on individual values. This style also calls for more of a personal connection between consumer and product/service/idea. It allows the consumer to willingly seek out information rather than being bombarded with repeat and unwanted advertising efforts.
So what explanation can be provided for these generational media consumption behavioral changes? It’s obvious that today’s generation of consumers is drastically different than it’s parent generation, the baby boomers or those born between 1946 and 1963. This 2000 study conducted by Edwards, La Ferle, & Lee gives some insight into the posed question. “Bandura’s (1977) social-learning theory suggests that people observe the actions of others and learn to model their own behavior when faced with similar situations.” (Edwards, La Ferle, & Lee) The findings from this study suggest that the social-learning theory may be an explanation for the boom in new media channels, especially social media and mobile marketing. Researchers from the same study report, “it is unbelievable how much information does not come out of direct experience but how much of it does come from other people and the mass media (Edwards, La Ferle, & Lee).”
Thus, this ample amount of evidence shows the importance of permission, not interruption, style marketing when it comes to the millennials. As marketers, obviously we must understand the importance of new media channels and how it effects today’s generation of consumers as discussed in the aforementioned research. However, all of these studies allude to what we must never forget as marketers. It’s the most classic and might I say, still most popular, marketing style – word-of-mouth. If you can get today’s generation of consumers talking positively about your product/service/idea, they will incorporate it into their new media channels, such as blogging and tweeting, and will only lead to further success for your business and your client.
Tags: Anoroc, branding agencies, client relationtionship, facebook, Marketing, Mobile, new media, raleigh marketing agencies, raleigh social marketing companies
Posted in Anoroc, Customer Loyalty, Marketing, Purchase Intent, Social Media Influence, Social Networking | View Comments
Monday, February 8th, 2010
It was a high-five kinda week last week. We had two refreshing meetings, both with new clients. They’re the kind of clients we know will make great partners. The kind of clients that make our job easier.
We begin a lot of relationships at Anoroc with this sentence: “You’re not paying us to tell you what you want to hear.” We mean no disrespect. We simply mean to build a brand that has a chance, you got to get out of your own head. So when clients do this naturally (this is a tough one for many) when our relationship is only a nanosecond old, it’s exciting in our world.
Marketing Soap Box Moment (MSBM): After 20 years in branding, I can quickly narrow down failure to one major cause (obviously they’re others, but this is a big one): assuming others will behave the way you do. Don’t do it, not ever. You are not your customer. I grant you that you may be right when you tell us you know more about your product than any customer could possibly know. Or that you have strong opinions about what you think your customers should do, or want. But if that’s how you develop your marketing strategy, then you have a strategy based on what customers should do instead of what they actually do. And that’s a strategy that will fail.
So back to our refreshing meetings. Here is what ranked the first high-five:
Client: “So we had our logo for a while.”
Us: “Great, what do you think about it.”
Client: “Well I like it, but that’s not what matters. I want to know what you think, how it works in the market. Same with everything else, I’m not paying you to be nice, tell us how it really is, can you do that?”
And the second high-five:
Us: “So we tested your site and people seemed a little confused as to what you were asking them to do. They did’nt really understand the action that needed to happen.”
Client: “Wow, that’s incredible. It makes sense to us, but we’re too close to it and we’re not the client. So we’re ready to re-think all of it, to any degree your research determines.”
Yep, we’re a little expressive. So if you seen any of the Anoroc team running around high-fiving you can bet your Play Doh, a ‘brand’ is about to happen.
Tags: anaroc, anarok, anoroc agency, branding, branding agencies, north carolina social media agencies, raleigh advertising agencies, raleigh marketing, raleigh social marketing companies, raleigh social media, social marketing, social marketing companies, social media
Posted in Anoroc, Brand Value, Decision Cycle, Marketing, Purchase Intent | View Comments
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Brands have long understood the potential to build affinity through ‘good will.’ It’s great PR. From Tide’s Loads of Hope, Trident’s Smiles Across America and Burt’s Bees volunteer hours to Hard Rock’s signature T, brands gain from giving.
Enter social media. Never before have brands had the opportunity that exists now to really leverage their good will efforts. And make those efforts more boundless. Check out The Pepsi Refresh Project (www.refresheverything.com, http://www.facebook.com/refresheverything), Pepsi’s goal to ‘refresh the world’ is a fresh take on a very old PR idea.
The Refresh Project, a groundbreaking effort to foster innovation in social good, will award more than $20 million this year to fund great ideas that refresh the world. The program launched on January 13 and has already exceeded expectations by receiving the monthly limit of 1,000 submissions in less than seven days with at least one from each state in the U.S. Joining this effort are actors Demi Moore and Kevin Bacon, who have generated their own ideas for Pepsi Refresh and are competing for support in the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge. Social Media tools include Twitter, Youtube, Facebook. Those submitting ideas to the site are asked to use their social media channels to promote their ideas and gain votes. Did I mention share of voice?
What is in it for Pepsi – consumer involvement, gaining a deep connection, media attention, share of on line voice. And the big payoff – working to make the world a better place and associating the brand with that goal.
Their Facebook page already has over 300,000 fans. A post made just yesterday gained 101 ‘likes’.
This is about a brand thinking different. Shelving old ways of marketing and embracing new media to tell a different story in a different voice. Here brand voice is not focused on telling you how many blind taste tests they’ve won or vying for the funniest Super Bowl spot. It’s about positioning their brand as the vehicle that makes good causes happen and lives change. “Could a soda really make the world a better place?” their YouTube video asks. I betcha Coke is dying to know.
Tags: Anoroc, anoroc agency, brand values, branding agencies, north carolina social media agencies, raleigh social media, raleigh social media agencies, social media agencies, social media
Posted in Brand Value, Customer Loyalty, Marketing, Purchase Intent, Social Media Influence, Social Networking | View Comments
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
While reviewing new design and technologies today I had an epiphany. I was watching a video here: http://tinyurl.com/yd5ejyt. It’s about a new bicycle wheel that stores energy and gives it back to you when you need it – with no batteries, AND it transmits data via Bluetooth to your smart phone opening an unimaginable array of potential uses.
We all love design here, and get excited about research and ‘real’ thinking. So back to my epiphany. This is exactly like – no different from – our industry. We’re in the midst of a revolution. It’s a “what can you imagine” revolution about how we can use technology to communicate, to support and revitalize old school PR and communications tactics. It’s an unprecedented moment.
For instance, an influencer sharing via email only generates 0.41 additional clicks. Sharing via Twitter generates more than 18 clicks per post, translating into a 1,837 percent click-through rate versus 41 percent for email. How firmly does that establish Twitter as an effective channel for amplifying your messaging across the social web?
We all need to be open to new ideas and ask “why not”. It wasn’t that long ago that I can recall most businesses I encountered would not invest in SEO, and many thought a web presence was optional. And I believe I urged “why not?”. Why not rank at top – (back then it was simple!).
And now with our new shiny toolbox of powerful tools… and an office of creatives that can think out of the box… and people capable of just about any custom app you can think of… 2010 is going to be interesting!
Tags: anoroc agency, branding agencies, convert, digital agencies, engagement marketing, ja, Marketing, raleigh social, raleigh social media agencies, social marketing, social media, Social Networking, twitter
Posted in Application Development, Brand Value, Decision Cycle, Marketing, Purchase Intent, Social Networking | View Comments
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
A 40 to 50 million dollar commercial contractor called us for an introduction the other day. According to him, since the economy was on the rebound, it was time to pull his company’s competitive image “out of the crapper.”
I was intrigued.
And a week later we reconvened. I reviewed a preliminary competitive analysis with him, talking over how key competitors positioned themselves, how they promoted themselves, what tactics they used, badly and well. And I moved on to his own company’s web presence, printed collateral, lack of strategy, and the opportunities missed to be part of on line conversations. He waved me off and shook his head at me.
Uh oh I thought.
He was maybe in his early sixties, black hair, and was devouring filterless camels and black coffee with an impressive voracity. But he had an unusual comic smirk behind his eyes and I instantly liked him even though he was about to toss me out on my bum.
He said, “we can skip my stuff, I already know it ain’t what it needs to be or I wouldn’t have called you. Hell, it ain’t worth a tinker’s dam and I know it”.
“a tinker’s dam”… humm
Well anyway I moved to possible strategy, positioning tactics to make him more competitive, how to differentiate, how we might leverage the ‘new’ viral nature of the web, (new to him I gambled), but he wasn’t really listening. We’re on “go” then, was his response, and we struck a deal on a handshake.
But that’s not what’s on my mind really. I’m still on the “tinker’s dam”. And I couldn’t leave without asking. Apparently a tinker is a guy who makes gutters, and every day when it’s time to quit for the day, they put a clay dam in the gutter in case it rains, so it doesn’t flood water somewhere it shouldn’t go. It’s a temporary thing, a throw away. And from there was an interesting history from driving racecars to being an extra in movies, to more than I have room for here, including how he used to make gutters.
It’s one more thing that’s so awesome about what we do at Anoroc. Every day we meet people that spark our curiosity, people that can inspire our best in unexpected ways, people we can believe in, people we end up caring about. And it becomes personal. To reach levels of excellence that they deserve, because it’s their livelihood that’s on the line.
I love it. And it’s going to be awesome creative.
Tags: Anoroc, branding agencies, digital agencies, social media, web design
Posted in Anoroc, Brand Value, Customer Loyalty, Decision Cycle, Marketing, Purchase Intent, Social Networking | View Comments
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Is it really? Well, yes, it sort of is. Like all media. It’s funny how and when ideas pop into my head. But it is undeniably true if you really think about it.
So you wanted to buy your sweetie a box of chocolates did you? Did you go ‘wherever’ and buy ‘whatever’? Or did you think about what she really might like? Did you really want her to digg it? Or just glance at it and move on to whatever might be next? Maybe you even had to go somewhere special. My sweetie, for instance, loves dark dark chocolate, and would love that I went to Godiva to get it. You might say I sought out content that she, my target of affection, would really like.
OK, did you gift-wrap it? Hide it in the fridge or toss it in the trunk in August? Did you put a sticky note on top with her name on it? Or get a card and write something nice in it? I gift wrapped hers, and kept it hidden in a mini cooler. Then I made a card with a photo from one of our vacation moments on the front and wrote something very private inside. You might say I very very carefully crafted a message that would appeal to my target, and designed a delivery vehicle previous research indicated would make it most likely to be received successfully.
Did you want it to be a surprise? So maybe she would simply stumbleupon it? Did you leave it in a corner of the garage she never seemed to notice before? There’s lots of room in the crawl space. The options really are boundless. Actually I did not choose the crawl space. I placed the card inside of her closed laptop, the first place she goes after coffee. And the card envelope prompted her to look in the driver’s seat of her convertible, a place she certainly loves and frequents often -– also the first place she goes before work every morning. That seems like carefully selected places to place messages for a researched target.
Humph, maybe social media is like a box of chocolates after all. And your social media guru better have some old school communications skills if my story is true.
Tags: Anoroc, branding agencies, digital agencies, raleigh marketing agencies, raleigh social marketing, social media, web design
Posted in Customer Loyalty, Decision Cycle, Marketing, Purchase Intent, Social Media Influence, Social Networking | View Comments
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
“If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings and speak my words.” Roman Statesman Cicero
Using your product needs to make me feel more fully the ‘self’ I want to be or perhaps become. It’s not the actual transaction I crave, it’s the experience. And ensure I have that same experience in every brand interaction I may have. From the physical act of buying, the in-store experience, to viewing a Web site, reading a Tweet, a Face Book wall post, down to each piece of collateral from packaging to letterhead. Remember everything I see, read, touch, feel, hear is part of my brand perception, and through it you can keep attracting me to your brand and enticing me to re-engage or head me toward a lessening brand commitment.
Apple, Coach and Starbucks found that the best way to give consumers a brand experience wasn’t just to sell product in store but to control the entire experience. This is why they build stores in major cities, stores they could control. Their stores are a physical reflection of their brand’s personality. And as silly as this may sound, those who are an “Apple” or carry a Coach are made to feel they belong. Ever sit back and watch someone in an Apple store? They’re not at a store, they’re at a commune.
Numerous clients over the years have remarked on the non-importance of the look and feel of a Web site, or an ad, or some other brand touch point. But remember this: anything connected to your product or service is a direct reflection, and often the only reflection. It could be the tipping point: It can be miss your target’s self image by a mile, be undirected, sloppy or ill conceived or it can be the spark, like the first time you drove your dad’s BMW or wore your mom’s Hermes scarf.
Tags: Anoroc, branding agencies, digital agencies, social media, web design
Posted in Brand Value, Customer Loyalty, Decision Cycle, Marketing, Purchase Intent, Social Media Influence, Social Networking | View Comments
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
I think I freaked out a client today. I didn’t mean to. You know me though, a little prone to blurting out things that seem to shock the room.
But it was only ten simple words that silenced the room: “I like your old logo, let’s not change it completely.” It took a few too many too long minutes for anyone to follow my comment. One of our designers looked at me after the meeting and tossed a seemingly random comment my way, “I love awkward moments”. Though not facing me I could see her grinning reflection in her monitor. And that got me thinking.
I guess people like us are supposed to always want to change everything. But sometimes something doesn’t need to be changed. It’s like we’re not doing our job unless we’re the consummate critics. Then I remembered thinking maybe I was having an aneurism when I said “I think I might even make it just a little larger on the ‘home’ page.
Maybe it’s like an architect friend told me while we were walking a house I couldn’t decide if we should demolish or renovate. It just had “good bones” he said.
I don’t think many people consider that their marketing tools can be ‘upgraded’, just like a house can be renovated. If there is a solid brand platform in place (good bones) then updating your collateral instead of complete re-branding may be exactly what is needed to give your company that competitive push.
A lot of websites I review don’t really need to be completely tossed. Often we discover the best strategy is ‘tweaking”, re-skinning, or adding social media functions to the site through a custom blog, interactive widgets or privately branded social networking site. I mean, why not max out what you already have?? Especially now when money’s tight and everybody’s watching every penny. Maybe you don’t have to accept being trounced by your competitors just because there are budget concerns. Maybe it’s time to be aggressive instead of sitting on your hands. Consider a spit shine instead of a ground up re-build. A few upgrades and slight a re-invention of your brand can have a significant impact on driving business. It’s all about remaining viable to your consumers, it might not be as hard as you think to be the best looking house in the neighborhood.
Ugh – my head hurts, did I really tell somebody to make their logo bigger?
Tags: Anoroc, branding agencies, digital agencies, social media, web design
Posted in Application Development | View Comments
