How to be a keener: for clients and classrooms

Nice vacation huh? It’s been eight days since last publishing to the blog and I feel recharged. The TAs at York are on strike so in the spirit of everyone else who’s taking a vacation – enjoy Cuba, Sid and Olga! – I took one too and finished up on a bunch of work. We’ve been active with new clients too in the last week, doing a lot of pitches and signing clients for Winter projects. I’m really enthusiastic about the opportunities we have and the potential to get active on projects that loop in more Associates within B!G. We'll have more full-service accounts this next semester and will get back to our roots with an e-marketing strategy/Web 2.0 project.

(Clients, I know you’re reading this!)

Which brings me to tonight’s topic: how to be a keener but not a sycophant. Why is this important? Well, number one, the world loves keeners.

Number two, our grades in school are highly influenced by participation marks, beyond the percentage (usually 10%) that’s listed on the course outline. Don’t you think that the assignments of good class contributors are read extra thoroughly and receive relatively more mindshare?

Being a sycophant is a really sleazy situation. You’re reviled by the class and hated by the teacher. Your contributions are banal and brainless and typically involve nothing more than saying how brilliant you though the professor’s point was and how much it personally resonated with you. It’s the equivalent of a company being overly thankful for your business but not really knowing who you are or what makes you unique. I hate direct marketing that’s not relevant! So in other words, your words don’t stick and you’re wasting precious oxygen that better minds could have fed on.

But being a keener? Well, that’s a joy!

You’re not called on in class because you contribute more than the average student. You’re able to make the points you want that are most meaningful to you and your research interests. And you’re able to demonstrate to your slovenly peers what an amazing student you are – your rabid participation pays off when peers look to you as a person they want to group with. Group projects depend on being able to get your pick of the best students in the class, and like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, ‘like’ gravitates to ‘like’.

So how can you elevate your participation from mediocre to keener-tastic?


ONE
Preface your comments by emphasizing things that other people in the class have said. Never attack the person, attack the message. Duh.


TWO
Do the readings, or at least read the first and last paragraphs fully and the first sentences of all the paragraphs in between. This way you can get the gist of what the readings were about without really actually doing them.


THREE
Listen more. Don’t make a comment that you really want to say if it has nothing to do with the current topic or string of other comments.


FOUR
Bring in aspects of theory in everything you say. Package your comment like this: 1) Issue, 2) Theory, 3) Explanation. It’s like a observation sandwich.


FIVE
Never ever say how insightful you found something or how amazing you think something is. Why? Because everyone has things that they also think are interesting, so why is your take on it any more valuable than theirs? Like seriously, what new knowledge or relevant thought have you contributed by saying that you “thought that the Porter’s Five Forces model is amazing”…huh?

Now, client interactions are not meant to be superficial, they’re meant to be substantive. Applying a keener model to pitches and presentations means having a deep and thorough knowledge of the client and what matters to them. Say it honestly. Don’t try and schmaltz your words or qualify their business with superlatives. You’ll regret it in the end when you can’t get leverage or wiggle-room in the account (when the project turns to shit!) because you weren’t honest in the first place.

And to my professors, I highly recommend you read this article on how to deal with me. I like the suggestions to use hugs as reinforcement and to perform a criminal background check.

America's cultural zeitgeist

This maps shows electoral college districts that either voted more Democrat than from 2004 or more Republican than from 2004. It's from this great interactive feature in the NY Times showing voting shifts and an analysis of what significant voting changes occurred on Tuesday's historic election.

Consider this map. Look at the distribution of 'change'.

I won't try to hide my ebulience for the results of the election and I'm truly pie-eyed imagining the utopian possibilities for America that today seem just a little bit more attainable. They're more attainable not because Obama is President, but that America itself has seen what it is possible of achieving.

The new collective identity forged from Tuesday night is meaningful to consider. Things will be different. Things feel different. Let's look at this from a cultural/ethnographic point of view:

The hopefulness and change mantras united the country. This wasn't exclusive to Obama either as McCain picked up the change theme quickly after the RNC but ultimately unconvincingly.


The election meant so much to so many people. An Obama loss would have dealt a crushing sting to many people, particularly to Blacks, and would have meant that this group of Americans might have simply resigned themselves to a perceived lasting inequality - one that has been the source of deep national division and one that might have been perpetuated.


The belief that America is on a road, emphasized in Obama's acceptance speech, is
meaningful because it brings humility and a down-to-earth focused resolve to the moment. As ecstatic (or defeated) as Americans may feel now, there is still much work ahead.


A realization among everyone that we must accept domestic responsibility in addition to global responsibility - a philosophy of American exceptionalism that, through the Bush Doctrine, came to imply aggressiveness and a bully stance to presumably enforce democracy worldwide.

Note that none of the insights I've mentioned above are Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative. The relevance of Obama's message was one of inclusiveness and ubiquity - everyone was involved. He decisively won in states perceived to be GOP bastions and conservative holdouts contributing to the gravity of his Presidency not as one that is bi-coastal, but as one that is truly national.

It's become cliched for Presidents-elect to emphasize a 'healing process' and national reconciliation after a divisive and brutal campaign. So he's not doing it.

It's wrong to be congratulatory and self-aggrandising with a win and give the equivalent of highly publicized mass shoutouts to 'what we've accomplished'. So he hasn't done it.

The tone set by Obama on Wednesday at 12:01am was focused. There is work to be done. There is progress to be made. Things are not right in America, but they will be improved.


The fervor and pomp will die down and as time passes we'll all become a little more reflective on November 4th, 2008 and the significance of this election. We'll learn of scandals hidden throughout the campaign from both camps and we'll scrutinize the choices Obama makes in the first 100 days with the precision of a Leica lens. Optimism will fade.

But don't lose sight of what America has now proclaimed through their shared democracy.

It was never about Obama, it was about America. It was never about Bush, it was about a shared national change.


America's cultural zeitgeist has advanced and while our complex feelings and intangible perceptions about how life will be like are difficult to articulate, we can appreciate that nationally, Americans can deservedly feel proud of their country and the more realistic course it's now on. It's not necessarily softer, it's instead more sustainable. It's not humble, it's humanistic.

Those who deify Obama as a prophet for progress are misguided. He is a monumental man but is a reflection of a monumental nation.

Cool blog aggregator and web metrics tool

Online traffic and web user activity is meaningful but sometimes challenging to understand. How do you value a click? What does it mean when someone searches to browse using “Keyword A” but searches to buy using “Keyword B”?

Knowing what these differences mean is one hurdle, optimizing your site to leverage web metrics data for revenue, usability, or consumer engagement is another.


ChatterSpike is a new product launched to try and make sense of online behavior and digital zeitgeists relevant to your company, brand, or search terms.

“ChatterSpike offers a combination of proprietary software, proven processes, and human expertise blended to bring actionable information and insight to the world's leading companies. ChatterSpike harvests data from sources both broad (blogs, chat boards, news, web) and the focused (targeted individual websites), then mill this raw data through our software engine, to produce the relevant data to then be analyzed by our team of human experts.”

Clever.

I love this side of online marketing – if only I could understand web-based software programming. it seems like a useful way of analyzing online social media public relations (SMPR) in a more rigorous way than just saying 'well, it seems to be creating a real buzz'.


ChatterSpike is a beefier version of Google Webmaster Tools or simple SEO tools like the Alexa Toolbar or WordTracker. It’s similar to blog aggregators and social media news feeds (passive scanners of blogs to analyze trends and what people are talking about/searching for/commenting on) but adds some human insight.

Hire me ChatterSpike, this is exactly what I want to be doing when I graduate!

Zalaznick: Bravo's Postmodern Queen

Yesterday, the New York Times Magazine had a terrific lead story about Lauren Zalaznick, the head of Bravo Media, a network within the NBC Universal family.

This article is required reading for all B!G Associates. Think of it like a case article from your course kit, only this one you'll actually read!

It’s a comprehensive assessment of how marketers now focus on the ‘long tail’ of consumers and the maturation of postmodern content in our lives – we recognize it, and we recognize that we are being recognized for recognizing it (think it through, it makes sense!).

Zalaznick has monetized Bravo’s programming in unique ways and has created shows that appeal to the core viewer’s aspirational values. The core viewers are, as the article describes, ‘Will & Grace’. Hip professional urban women and gay men who, although not affluent themselves, are culturally influential and possess the kind of disposable income that higher-end marketers salivate over. Zalaznick describes them as ‘the Affluencers’.

Evaluating Bravo's programming,

“What has made the programming watchable, all along, is the same thing that might keep it relevant as the economy changes, which is a certain winking skepticism about buying and selling. It’s what’s ingenious, or insidious, depending on the perspective, about the complexity of the Bravo programming.”

The whole brand is conspicuous and self-referential, turning the spotlight on real people in real situations, but without the forced scenarios that can often debase other reality shows and commit the cardinal sin of television – breaking the fourth wall. Bravo’s success is based on the fact that they acknowledge the fourth wall and interact with the viewer in relevant ways. That’s the reality.

Awesome things for November

We're a style agency as much as a marketing agency. We're purveyors of relevant and fascinating things pertaining to Gen Y. We're committed to showcasing meaningful trends and memes, not only for our traffic count, but to help foment our position as the arbitors of awesome!

Here's what's awesome for November, 2008:

BEING HINDU

This one was voted on by the readers in a recent poll. With Diwali just passed, Hinduism is top of mind. Hip urban white people are already wise to being sensitive about world affairs and have actually done a lot to learn about Islam and deepen relationships with their Muslim friends. Now attention is being turned to their other Brown friends, Hindus, and enrich their understanding of this complex and storied religion. Culturally, India is contributing more and more to Western ideas and Americans are tired of hearing about how China has eclipsed the US.

The Bright Ideas Group is privileged to have students from many different ethnicities, nationalities, and religions. Diverse perspectives, such as those from Sid Wahi, greater a better holistic focus on the project output.





THE COLOUR PURPLE

Apparently purple (and orange) are Fall 2008's hot colours, and purple is popping up in everything from new Roots collections to fashionable cocktails.


GUNS


Perhaps it's a reaction to the possibility of over-extended US hegemony finally being curtailed with a new administration, but guns - yeah, actual guns, are really trendy. Case in point, GlamGuns top-selling Hello Kitty AK-47 (shown above, notice it's purple!) and Madonna's pistol heels by Chanel, for €2000.


THE FAIL MEME

It's not too new, but I couldn't resist. Fails are hilarious, here's a particularly great example:




BEING STUPID


This isn't something I'm too thrilled about, but it's never been cooler to have a complete unawareness about your surroundings, the news, and basic concepts. Despite a massive surge of interest in the US economy, the election, climate change, and the rise of China, it's still cool to be a dumbass about most things and feign a superficial understanding of large issues. For example, think of your friends. Now think about the dumb friends in your group (I'm sure you know who they are!). Are they marginally aware of Obama and McCain and the differences between the two? Can they base arguments and assertions on anything more than what erroneous facts they've heard and communicated through baffling hand gestures and facial contortions?

What really peeves me is that despite a interest in topical issues that matter, common sense and a pragmatic and rational ability to analyze those issues is still woefully lacking.

Read. The. News.


CONSUMPTION-CONSCIOUS LIVING


So Gen Y are in college, new careers, and starting to live on their own. This is group's limited resources and income is matched by a strong sense of stewardship for their consumption and mild recognition of their overall contribution to global warming. While I'm not too sure about the direct implications of the credit crunch and stagnating economy on Gen Y, these situations put a squeeze on everyone. Expect to see a greater focus on eeking out the most from things and making your dollar stretch. I stumbled upon this modern sink design which is meant to get consumers thinking about their total water use because it lacks a drain at the bottom.


IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION


The worst part of the Nov 4th election night will be waiting for results to trickle in, be recounted, be contested, be deliberated, be recounted, be thrown out, and be decided upon by the Supreme Court. I sound like an old futurist when I say this, but everything today must be instant. Digital immediacy is what we've come to depends on in our lives so when things are unresponsive or unnecessarily sluggish it really makes Gen Ys go nuts. Need proof? Ask any 20-something about how frustrating it is when Facebook status updates and news feeds aren't being published in real time and sometimes the friends' stories you hear about are eight hours old.

I'm sure a lot of you have heard about this already, but computer manufacturers are working with software developers to reduce boot times. I think I'm currently at 40-50 seconds to my desktop screen, but probably 2 minutes to my email on my trusty little Dell Latitude D630 with Vista. It still kills me.


MALBEC


As average wine consumers here wise up and start expanding their scope of international wines, look for wines that offer tremendous fruit on the nose, ripeness, and a satisfying full-mouth feel to be popular. Malbec's already are popular, but expect their price points to go up - buoyed by the recent nod to Achaval-Ferre Finca Altamira Malbec 2006 by Wine Spectator with a rating of 96. The bottle is $116. It's the philosophy that a rising tide raises all boats. Yeah, but is it really worth it?


ACTUALLY WATCHING 30 ROCK


Everyone loves 30 Rock and has nothing but great things to say about it. But who watches it?? I'm determined now - from my heightened respect for Tina Fey and the show's Emmy sweeps - to start paying more attention and watch the episodes on Surf The Channel. Same goes for Mad Men. Expect a wave of interest in November for 30 Rock because of the election and the fact that Oprah and Jennifer Aniston will appear on the show.


SEXY LIPS


Enough lipgloss. Lips are sexy and should be cherished and flaunted in exaggerated ways. Deep red and intense gothic black hues are in, although Dita von Teese always seemed to know.


NISSAN VERSA


The 2009 Nissan Versa is now the cheapest car in the States, priced at $9,990. This subcompact is obviously fuel efficient, and I'm sure it's a functional car, but I can't seem to think that the 1.8L, 122 horsepower engine is powerful enough. It does come loaded with interesting optional features though, including a CVT, six-cd changer, and bluetooth.

CNN irks me

Next week is going to bring closure to a lot of issues floating around in my head right now and quite frankly next week can't come soon enough. Whether it's assignments that I'm waiting for clarification on or the upcoming TA strike at York University which will likely have a significant impact on B!G's operations (and my commuting patterns...), it will be nice to finally see this long October finally closed out and some heavy considerations resolved in my mind.

The biggest consideration for me right now is the US presidential election and the figurative chickens have not yet figuratively hatched. So let's not count them.

I'm watching Larry King Live now and he's barking on about irrelevant issue - the Elizabeth Dole 'godless' ad and the article in the LA Times about Obama's dinner party six years ago with a member of the PLO. Michael Medved is making some bizarre point and Arianna Huffington, Ben Stein, and Paul Begala are all screaming over each other. It's mania. Larry (shown left), is barely controlling this shrill circus of rehashed points and nonsensical spin.

CNN at times attracts and repels me - there's a definite repulsive force, especially reeking from Wolf Blitzer, CNN's best doddering time-filler. At times the network can show real strong integrity and despite a pervasive liberal slant, can appear non-biased and truly representative of some Pollyanna'ed ideal of good journalism. Campbell Brown and Anderson Cooper are strong cards in their hand.

Then there are times when they bring out the touch-screen electroral map. I know maps, but this one boggles the mind. Today Miles O'Brien and Wolf Blitzer (gee, what a team) put up a graphic on the map illustrating the location of polling stations across the country that used different types of voting interfaces (paper ballot, electronic, etc)....it's really painful to listen to news being made up as the broadcast goes along.

I guess this ramble is just reflections brought on by a fatigued brain, a hectic week, and a basic all stop in consumer culture to focus on the specifics of this campaign (and HSM3, which I'm seeing this weekend). Seriously, not much has happened in the world of consumer culture lately and there's been a real adjustment of focus toward McCain and Obama.

...oh thank God, Larry just announced that his show will have "double election coverage" next week.

Liveblogging Obama's primetime infomercial

I haven’t done liveblogging since this blog’s inception back in May 2008 when I wrote about American Idol as it was happening. Remind me again who won? Oh yeah, that big headed guy…damn, what’s his name again?

So tonight is President Obama’s – premature, I know but appropriate nonetheless – infomercial of his candidacy. Earlier this week he presented his ‘closing arguments’ and is ending the race with a strong focus on positive positioning. The issues have been discussed, the challenges have been faced. It’s now an appeal to very guttural, atavistic beliefs in voters that a) something is wrong with the current situation, and that b) he is the best person to fix it. I’m really looking forward to this 30-min tv spot because it’s a package of branding wrapped up nicely with a big bow. It’s also got huge visibility and I’m curious to know Obama is using this unique (and crazy expensive) form of PR to his advantage.

If this was an infomercial, we’d probably see this running across the bottom of our tv screens:

"HOPE! for only $29.99. Act now and we'll also throw in CHANGE YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR!"
(Thanks Peter!)

So on with the show:

8:01pm: Waving seas of wheat pan to clapping children. Nice portrayal of Americana! Obama's voiceover sounds scary - almost like Morgan Freeman talking as President at the closing credits of Deep Impact. 'Need to keep faith', and 'real and lasting change' are good lines!

8:04pm: Obama is going to share stories of real Americans. The first story is a woman from North Kansas Missouri - God, everything sounds awful about this woman's life! She's probably hardcore Obama at heart, why else would she decided to participate in this masturbatory session of political branding?

8:05pm: I really love the soothing fadeouts between clips and scenes. He's doing a great job tying these 'stories' (really more like sad YouTube clips...) to his issues and platform positions.

8:07pm: the acoustic guitar is putting me to sleep. Candid (scripted) interviews with prominent politicians are helping to build him up and position him as safe, experienced, and credible.

8:08pm: Doesn't this guy playing slide guitar remind you of the guy in those arthritis commercials?

8:10pm: Obama is back. Looking me right in the eye. That's good. He's connecting.

8:11pm: I really want Sarah Palin to do something like this, imagine the winking and finger-shooting...she's a maverick you know.

8:13pm: Wow, Eric Schmidt (Google CEO) just gave a clear endorsement. The focus of this chunk of clips is apparently on energy and the economy.

8:14pm: Juliana's son, Adam, looks like Napoleon Dynamite. The music is real lethargic and sad, this is a heartstrong story.

8:15pm: the music is uplifting, shots of children - children are the future! Oh wait, the music is slower now, Barack is talking about his deadbeat absentee dad. HAHA - photos of young Obama!

8:16pm: Ok, the tone is really shifting now, it's positive. Enough with the sad stuff. He's smiling and the future looks bright. I wonder who directed this...?

8:20pm: Clips of "the road", clips of his mom. How do I feel now? Well, I support Obama anyway but the brand is really taking on a human tone. There isn't the elevation and deification typical of other politicians. This infomercial is showing him as being really down to earth.

8:21pm: Biden is introduced. Great images and old stock footage, "Biden has never forgotten where he came from"

8:23pm: Average Joe is introduced who lost his manufacturing job. I actually have a major beef with this. Workers have lost jobs and those jobs are never coming back. Those jobs are in China now and despite all the promises Obama (and McCain) are making to bring back real manufacturing jobs, it's just not going to happen. The best option is developing new industry. Clean energy maybe?

8:24pm: Obama's grandmother defeated fascism? Wow, really?

8:26pm: The military will apparently be rebuilt and increased. Is this new or was I just not paying attention before? Photos montage of Americans (notice they're all White...) suggest that Blacks and Hispanics are already voting for him.

8:27pm: things are wrapping up. Clip of him giving a speech that sounds like he's basically laying himself bare as a real guy, who offers a promise of a better future.

8:28pm: Whoa, he's live now!

8:29pm: this crowd is going nuts. Wow, what a great speaker.

8:30pm: it's finally over! I can stop liveblogging!

Ok my thoughts:

• This was perfect for primetime. It was highly produced, easily digestible, and very focused.
• He positioned himself, his brand, as human and real
• The affiliation with both real people and politicians was effective, but I'd like to have seen more showcasing of individuals from diverse background. I suspect however that the choice of 'stories' was highly politically influenced to appeal to independent or swing voters, e.g. the white mom in the Midwest.
• Overall, this was an innovative spot which I think ultimately might have been unnecessary, but gave American voters a better perception of him, not only as a person, but as an ideas-driven brand.

Update: Obama primetime commercial

Stay tuned later tonight for my liveblogging of the Barack Obama 30 minute commercial. Apparently it's going to be a few statements of him and endorsements of his candidacy by influential people and clips of real Americans. It's a great exercise in branding and something innovative IMO.

I'll be liveblogging this starting at 8:00pm tonight.

Hopefully it will be a lot like this:

Selling Yourself on Facebook

We all know that we should maintain good online profiles that advertise our brand and convey a sense of professionalism in case that job recruiter ever goes hunting for you online (which they will). We know that your Facebook profile needs to be polished, and any Google searches for your name had better come up squeaky clean. i.e. there should be none of this:

But what about instead of passively maintaining one's image online, you go out there and actively pursue recruiters on that ever-so-fickle Facebook? I read about a great experiment last month where five students created Facebook ads to try to land themselves jobs. It sounds a little bit far-fetched at first --isn't Facebook supposed to be the thing that makes people lose their jobs, not get them? Well, the idea actually turns out to be one of the smartest ones I've heard in ages: Use a well-targeted Facebook ad and a great online profile to reach out to the exact companies you want to work at. As a marketing student who is really interested in high tech marketing, I figured that using this technique to advertise myself would 1) Highlight my understanding of social media and marketing and 2) Demonstrate that I'm a creative marketer. 

So I decided to try it. 

And it WORKED. Last Friday, I created an ad that linked to my VisualCV telling employers that I wanted a job (paid for with $100 in ad credit from Visa). By Saturday night, I had a response from someone in the exact program I am looking to get into. How's that for effective networking? 

However, it's not as simple as creating an ad that reads, "I want a job!" Nobody will click through to your personal website or resume with a tagline like that. Facebook advertisements are like any other type of advertisement: they work best when they are positioned correctly and obey the first commandment of marketing: target, target, target. In my case, I identified the company and position I wanted and wrote my ad around that. If you were to write a great ad to land a position with the Bright Ideas Group, it should look something like this:

(It works really well when your picture matches the Facebook colour scheme.) 

The beauty of Facebook is that you can target your ad to the exact employer and geographic location you'd like to work in. Want to work for Google in San Francisco? Sure! What about Toronto? Just change the geography setting! 

The rules: 

- Target! This strategy works best when you address a specific company --people are much more likely to click through when they see their employer's name. Targeting by location will end up being a waste of money as people click through and find out that you're not what they were looking for.

- Include a photo: Based on my personal study of "things I like to click on," adding a picture helps draw attention to an ad.

- Have a killer link: I like VisualCV because it's so customizable and it tells you what pages people are visiting you from. 

- Tweak the ad: Make sure you're looking at the tracking so that you can see who is clicking and when. Change your target if it's not working.

I can't say that a Facebook ad is going to get me the job I'm after. That's what the interviews are for. But it has gotten me a good contact, and hopefully will help bring my application to the attention of the right people.

The weekend links

So the results of our previous poll show that 'being Hindu' is among the hot trends for November...please check out the latest poll for other hot trends in November (I'll write this post on Oct 31st).

Alright, on with the links:

Last quarter sales show Apple iPhones dominating the handset market over Blackberry. No wonder. They look better and have better voice quality on calls. However, analysts said that both phones have serious problems with facial grease on the phone surface.

Digg is a hoot but it's only as good as its viral traffic. See the 8 stories that made Digg bigg.

I kinda feel about the recent WSIB ads the same way I do about the Saw movies. It's a genre called 'torture porn' - they're just viscerally gory and graphic for the sake of shock value but they're not actually scary. I really don't like the WSIB ads - they're sensationalist and not very clever. Do they make you think about workplace safety? Yes, but do you think more about the disgusting ad or about how you're going to actively improve safety in your workplace?



Clever print ads and commercial images from around the world, courtesy of Dark Roasted Blend.


The 2009 Jaguar XF is stunning. Read a comprehensive review.


Inconspicuous guerrilla ads for libraries are cool.


Speaking of guerrilla, it's time that corporate PR departments actually started saying what they mean! (btw, this is precisely why I love modern art)


Add to my Christmas wishlist the drippy table and/or the table that looks like it's walking away. See these and other amazing furniture designs.


Angus Young is my favourite in the top ten rock and roll guitar faces. Him or Eddie Van Halen.


And in homage to my stellar performance of Jimi Hendrix's 'Foxy Lady' in the car on our way to Mississauga on Friday, here's Garth from Wayne's World...

Bad Ad Rodeo: Ontario Toyota Dealers

More for ouy? Is that pronounced like 'gooey' or like 'we'?

This FULL-PAGE ad for Ontario Toyota dealers appeared in the Toronto Star's Wheels section today, Saturday October 25, 2008 with a spelling mistake that should have read 'more for you'.

Wow, how coud such a collosssol speling mistoake have gone unmoticed?

I'm wondering whether the heads that roll for this are going to come from Toyota's marketing department or from the proof-readers at the Toronto Star. They must have proof-readers for the ads, especially for large corporate accounts like Toyota.

This doesn't exactly support the claim that Toyota is known for quality!

Brand identity analysis with Wal-Mart

I love Wal-Mart, I think it’s a great retailer and a terrific example of good, old fashioned marketing. Great brand too and I love the direction it’s now being taken into sustainability and environmental stewardship. Seriously, stop laughing!

It’s also a good case study to analyze brand values (core values, extended values, and the brand essence). It also helps to have written about Wal-Mart for an assignment in my brand management class and getting the class’s top grade on the assignment! So let’s dissect their identity:

CORE BRAND VALUES

Now their core values are easy to pin down, Start thinking about what they stand for, their lasting, permanent qualities of the brand that it stands for and cannot live without.

What are Wal-Mart’s core values?

1. Customer empowerment. Wal-Mart helps their customers lead better lives. The always low price guarantee is a statement of the brand’s ‘you first’ belief.
2. Customer satisfaction. Superior value for customers with satisfaction guaranteed. Wal-Mart stands behind their products to a degree that I’m not sure many other retailers their size can approach. As clichéd as it may seem, when you buy an item at Wal-Mart, you’re really buying a guarantee of satisfaction.
3. Price leadership. Strong differentiation from competitor brands based on low prices. Wal-Mart’s brand is truly inseparable from its price.

Core values are things that every company employee would be able to tell you about the brand without missing a beat. You ask them, ‘what does your brand stand for?’, ‘what kind of person is your brand?’ Another useful question is the Mars Approach, which posits ‘if you were to take employees from the company and have them open a store on Mars, what are the qualities you want them to take there?’

EXTENDED BRAND VALUES

The extended identity is not quite core, not quite ephemeral. The identity is broader, still relevant, but flexible. Here is where new values come into the brand sphere and are adopted through legitimate and sincere actions taken by the company.

What are Wal-Mart’s extended values?

1. Community responsibility. Wal-Mart acts responsibly in its customers’ communities. Forget about claims that Wal-Mart shuts our local merchants and kills Main St. (however true this may be!). Stores are active focal points in the community and the company takes a responsible approach to integrating themselves into the community-lives of their customers.
2. Personality. Employees personify Wal-Mart’s friendly, helpful, and approachable brand. As often as we’ve all had confused and distant responses from Wal-Mart employees to ordinary questions such as ‘where are the lightbulbs?’, brand personality is a quality Wal-Mart strives to emphasize
3. Environmental sustainability. Wal-Mart utilizes green and energy-efficient practices. This is an important new concept for them, especially with the opening of new greenfield Supercenters and renovations to existing stores.

BRAND ESSENCE

So, Ok. There’s the values. But what gives these values gravity and context? Is there anything arming Wal-Mart holistically to create a strong and supportable unique value proposition? That is to say, what does Wal-Mart really mean?

This rhetorical question is key to understanding the brand essence.

Wal-Mart’s brand essence is ‘value for life’, a phrase that captures the soul of the brand: value in the price and quality of goods sold and the comprehensive selection offered at Wal-Mart stores.

Ultimately, the brand bullseye supports a relationship a brand develops with its customers founded on a unique value proposition. Wal-Mart’s relationship with customers is that they are family and the company strives to treat them with respect and give them an honest shopping experience with satisfaction guaranteed. Wal-Mart succeeds because through these key brand values and the brand essence, Wal-Mart customers understand the price, convenience, and empowerment benefits that the brand gives them. Shopping smart gives customers personal satisfaction knowing that they are getting good value for themselves and their family.

This post has likely caused a lot of eye-rolling and skepticism from readers but doing a brand value analysis is not about ripping into a company’s operations, their corporate strategy, or performance. I’m a marketer and I’m good at understanding consumer behavior, not supply-chain logistics. Brand value analysis is about image and trying to pin down what exactly makes them successful with customers. I’m not even a Wal-Mart customer but for this company, its brand values are crystal clear.

Robyn loves Gossip Girl

So we're trying something new here: Julia suggested we write about 'Gossip Girl' tonight, a show she adores. I don't know anything about Gossip Girl, other than its show that Gen Y girls love and say is really awesome.

So I sat with Robyn and told her about Julia's suggestion.

ROBYN: 'Gossip Girl?? I LOVE Gossip Girl!'

MAX: 'Ok great, you're going to talk about it while I dictate everything you say!'

So here are Robyn's thoughts on Gossip Girl, completely unedited, and spilled up on the blog!

“I don’t like it anymore. Yeah, let me think about it...

It’s because the characters aren’t being written well anymore, it’s not the same old shit. I just don’t enjoy it like I used to. The GOSSIP is gone, actually! I don’t know where it went! There’s no scandal, there’s no intrigue!

So where did they leave off from the last episode I watched….?

I don’t remember, I only watched it this week, I should remember this….

OH RIGHT! It’s just all bitchy back-stabbing and fighting now. There’s no gossip and scandal, it’s just two girls fighting each other now. There was a scandal three episodes ago, but it’s resolved itself. Like really, what are the writers doing. Really…yeah because the show was interesting at first because it was NYC’s elite fashion upper east siders and there were a million stories going on, a million scandalous stories, and the ‘gossip girl’ is gone – the voice of gossip girl – when she comes into speak it’s like “yeah we were already thinking that." Normally she was witty and she had some kind of insight about what was going on.

‘S&B don’t like each other!’

I think it’s just the low point in the season, I’m waiting because I know November sweeps are coming up so I’m waiting.

I love Chuck. Chuck is such a good character. He’s the rich father’s son, he’s got so much money. He basically rings up girls whenever he wants and has ridiculous nights out, is constantly at the bar, ran a little burlesque, he’s your classic privileged rich kid, up to no good. And he’s evil, he’s complex, whereas you have his best friend on the show – no longer his best friend on the show….he I don’t even remember his name. He’s boring, has no depth anymore.

Nate needs to be killed off the show right now. He’s so boring. They tried to make him dirty when he had this affair with this old lady but they resolved that problem. Now he’s just the rich kid and they’ve written any complexity out and he’s bland.

Basically, Nate says to Chuck ‘you’re not a nice guy, sorry I don’t want to be friends with you anymore. I want to be friends with Dan because he’s wholesome and good. He’s the poor kid on the show. And yeah, the actor sucks who’s playing him. He’s a CK underwear model and that’s where he should stay. He should stay inanimate, on a page. That’s how he acts.


This is the only show I watch right now. I only watch this show, and it’s only because I started watching in January when I had nothing else to watch.

…but I love the fashion.

What else do I think…..the whole Serena-Blair dynamic is going to get really old real soon, I don’t know how long I can keep this up.

Serena: ‘I’m better than you’
Blair: ‘Ok, Serena thinks she’s better than me, I’m going to do something to bring her down’

But then they talk, and their friends again, and we’re only 1 and 3/4 seasons into the show!"

MAX: 'How do I conclude this blog post, it’s a ramble fest.'

ROBYN: 'It IS a ramble fest! BTW, you know I now come up on Google when I search for myself? Seriously, recruiters are going to look at this!’

Periodic table of branding

Things are getting a little wacky this week. B!G presentations, projects, and many separate deliverables have all come together and are due this week - Hell Week. I'll write a longer post tomorrow - a day when I'm not in school for 15 hours - but I thought that this was a good quick link to share!



Pretty cool eh?

I like the categorization, it's got a greater strategic focus than a lot of the other marketing glossary of terms out there in the interweb.

The weekend links

Hi all, hope your weekends are going well. Undergrads, have you finished midterms yet? Not to sound like a bastard, but I don't share in your pain because I don't have any midterms!

On with the links:

Analyze the Presidential candidates advertising expenditures. This is a pretty cool interactivity from the NYT.


Faces after the crash. Does anyone else feel a little schadefreude?


Customization helps sustain Mars M&M candies. Awesome marketing strategy, classic and relevant.

I really disagree with some of the top ten worst Halloween candies. I think Tootsie Rolls are great, same with Necco wafers and Laffy Taffy!

Damn, it feels good to be a banker, - Thanks Steph!



I think the new campaign for Dentyne Ice, 'Make Face Time' is really clever and a good example of a well-thought out marcom. It's clever and original, mostly because it's not like most other candy commercials with stupid situations and methed-up main characters. BTW, kudos to Dentyne Ice for not doing another awful commercial; they've redeemed themselves! I hope Cadbury Adams fired their old agency for that dreck.



New tires look to bees for inspiration. Cool stuff!

Another disagreement, I think that most of the top 10 epic website failures on this list are correct, but Live.com is actually a really good search engine. Their images search results functionality is easy to use and is lightyears beyond Google. BTW, where's Kuil on this list?

And finally, close your eyes and try to tell that this isn't Steve Perry singing. I am really loving the new Journey with Arnel Pineda.



Have a great week everyone!