by Miriam Hara | Feb 16, 2014 | Branding, Creative, Latest
Developing creative for a brand ad, regardless of the medium, is often fraught with many obstacles. The main one being that there are so many people involved in developing brand creative…other than the creative team, at times it becomes impossible to please everyone. That very statement should give all marketing and creative professionals pause. How is it that the creative process and more importantly, creative decisions all boil down to personal preference?
As a marketing brand professional how do you really add value to the creative process?
This really should be a no-brainer as the creative brief should outline all the objectives, character, reasons to believe and tonality. However with the speed of business being what it is today, we often find the creative brief is ditched in an all out effort towards “getting the creative out”. When that happens, much of the creative decisions become based on interpretation and personal preference. While some may argue that being the brand ambassador or manager (herein brand professional) of the said brand allows them the freedom to dictate preference, I would challenge that thought.
Brand and branding is not about individual likes or dislikes. A brand’s life cycle may span over many brand professionals. That being the case, it is important that the brand’s tone, style and voice be maintained. Evolved, for sure, but consistent. More importantly, I believe that the brand professional’s main job is to make sure that the brand attributes and its physical demeanor should be maintained. While I wholeheartedly agree that success is in the details, the creative details should best be left to the creative team. The big picture, the overall impression, the quality, the benefit statements and the appearance of the brand is the responsibility of the brand professional… without question! Thus, total consideration must be given when comments directly touch on these attributes. However not all requests for changes are equal… or relevant. A good way to judge the importance of these considerations is by allocating a mark for each comment directed at “making the creative stronger”. Judgement on if the change will effect the overall delivery should constantly be a forefront of every request to change.
It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of all that is creative. Enthusiasm is always necessary for any creative project to get off the ground… and the creative process initiated. All brand professionals are creative in their own right. However, developing creative and not hindering the creative process is also a skill set that is required to make brand creative to outstanding emotive brand creative.
by Belinda Lui | Feb 3, 2014 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Communications, Creative, Design, Latest, Marketing, Social Media
We’ve been noticing a trend recently that lends a hand to the celebrities and shows that a lot of us grew up watching. What is the purpose of using these particular stars or shows to appeal to viewers? We think it has something to do with nostalgic value. Retro advertising has been done before but ever since Oikos used the stars from Full House to market their products during the Super Bowl, we’ve seen other brands follow suit. Before we share some of these ads with you, let’s discuss why nostalgic value has any value when it comes to retro advertising:
Much like emotive advertising, retro advertising is successful because we associate certain memories and feelings with that time period in our lives. I don’t know about you, but I associate only good things with the TV shows that I grew up watching. I remember coming home from (what seemed like) a never-ending day at school, plopping myself down on the couch with a tall glass of milk, and watching after-school specials until my mother came home. That small window of alone time never went unappreciated. It was an adolescent’s time to reflect on the lessons being taught through these programs. So, when a legacy brand uses a legacy show to simulate certain emotive associations — it’s actually quite a brilliant strategy; especially if that brand is formerly associated with negative feelings.
Retro Advertising at its finest:
This is Delta’s ’80s-themed safety video: a fun and light-hearted take on a video that so many of us choose to ignore before taking off on a flight. Bet you won’t be able to ignore it now!
This is some of the cast from Full House appearing on Jimmy Fallon — this may not be directly advertising a product or service, but it was the top trending viral video on Facebook on January 20, 2014.
What examples of retro advertising can you share with us?
by Belinda Lui | Nov 28, 2013 | Branding, Latest
I briefly wrote about the Hudson’s Bay in my article, “Retail Marketing: Be Seen and Heard”, but I wanted to elaborate on the genius that is behind the mass retailer. Bonnie Brooks didn’t only make The Hudson’s Bay a trendier shopping destination but her business strategy re-positioned the entire brand perception. Reinventing brands is something Bonnie Brooks is familiar with: she formerly worked as an executive officer at Lane Crawford as well as Holt Renfrew.
Reinventing your brand when it has reached a plateau can give it the fresh, sales-driven push that it needs:
1. Advertising:
Hudson’s Bay launched several radio spots to reinforce their brand using Bonnie Brooks’ voice as the spokesperson. This created a more personalized feel, given that it came directly from the President herself.
2. In-store Re-design:
Hudson’s Bay spent millions of dollars renovating the department stores’ interior layout for several locations. A lot of businesses may not immediately see the importance of dishing out obscene amounts of money for a refresh in storefront appearance, but Brooks did – and it’s paying off.
3. Demographic:
Carrying brands that would appeal to the younger demographic, like Top Shop, was a very strategic move on Brooks’ part. Expanding the target demographic would mean more traffic and consequently, more sales.
4. Partnerships:
Hudson’s Bay now carries what they call the “Canadian Olympic Team Heritage Collection” – being one of the oldest Canadian retail brands, making partnership with the Canadian Olympics Team is a great way to sell product nationally. The 2010 Olympic mittens made it on “Oprah’s Favorite Things” list.
5. Heritage:
Brooks didn’t only make Hudson’s Bay a must-go shopping destination for some of the best designer brands but she also brought back the appeal of Hudson’s Bay’s brand too. From couch throws to the classic teddy bear, it’s the Hudson’s Bay as a brand that she’s selling.
6. Logo:
There’s a new strategy in place so why not a new logo to identify with the refresh? Logos can be tricky – you want it to be eye-catching but you also want it to “speak to the heritage of the brand” – and that’s exactly what Hudson’s Bay has done.
Can you name another company that has gone through major reinventing that is worth mentioning?
by Miriam Hara | Oct 28, 2013 | Branding, Business Success, Latest, Social Media
What is content marketing and how does it apply to building business and brand? A good way to start this conversation would be to reference the Janet Jackson song: “What have you done for me lately?”. Content marketing involves imparting information and knowledge with no expectation of return. In other words, it’s about giving back. Really? Really!
How do businesses go from a mindset of selling to one of guidance with no real concrete ROI? We all hear a lot about business relationships today. Business relationships have always been at the cornerstone of business success. What has evolved is how these relationships are being built today.
- It’s all about Google.
Gone are the days of brochure websites. Now websites need to perform by offering fresh and current information to get on the Google radar – that’s a good thing. The benefit of getting on the Google radar is that you’ll see your website rank go up. Content marketing assists in doing just that. Essentially you want your business to get found by your target when they are looking for your product or service. And there’s a strategy to developing this content, however that will be for another post.
- Websites are the first impression.
You know the old sales adage, “get your foot in the door”? That hasn’t changed over time. Although now a website is the window to building sales. Leveraging knowledge just makes sense. Having forums and relevant content on your site adds credibility. (See my recent post on Websites 2013: Maximizing Performance). And rather than you calling, with the hopes of turning that cold call into a warm call, prospects can and will reach out to you. So to completely leverage that content, be sure to have a prominent and visible “contact us” mechanism.
- Spread the word and increase your reach.
Content creation is a lot of work. And you need to keep updating the content on your website. So it is important to maximize the footprint of each “knowledge bite” your business imparts. Equally important is sharing it on social media platforms that link back to you site. (ie: LinkedIn, LinkedIn Groups, Digg It, StumbleUpon). Continuous momentum of content marketing will start establishing your business by building the foundation for forming relationships.
Everyday there’s something new in the social media arena (or at least it feels like it). Understandably, it’s hard for businesses to keep up in the quick evolving nature of the marketing landscape. Couple the speed of this evolution with the lack of real expertise to navigate through these changes and businesses are finding themselves in a very challenging position. But challenges have always been what marketing has been about. Are you up for the challenge?
by Lisa Wedmann | Oct 25, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Communications, Latest, Marketing, PR, Social Media
As social media continues to change marketing landscape, one change I have seen is the convergence of marketing with PR. In the past, if you wanted an advertising campaign, you produced commercials, print ads and maybe some billboards.
If you wanted a Public Relations campaign, you used some of the more traditional tactics: a press conference, sent out a press release to media, product placement and TV appearances.
But today, marketing and Public Relations are closer than ever. No more can you launch a great product, with a big ad campaign, and talk TO the consumer.
You have to take it one step beyond that and bring the product to the people, get it in their hands, and talk with them – not AT them.
The overarching goals of Marketing and PR are the same: get people’s attention, get people to connect with, to talk about and, ultimately, buy your product. And finally, perhaps most importantly, it’s about building brand awareness and loyalty.
But that is where the similarity ends. Marketing is about speaking to the consumer. PR today is about speaking with the public and creating a two-way dialogue. With the growth of social media, and the changing landscape of traditional media, power has shifted to the consumer. It’s not enough to speak loudly and blanket the airwaves with ads.
And even if you do blanket the airwaves, finding that target market is increasingly difficult as more and more people are turning out traditional channels, and the media landscaped continues to fracture. In 2012, one in 50 Canadian TV subscribers cancelled cable in 2012, and 130,000 are expected to follow suit by the end of 2013. And Netflix subscriptions are growing, as is the use of PVR – meaning no more commercials!
This is just where PR comes in. A good PR campaign can get the word out to increasingly niche target markets using a mix of tactics: events, blogger campaigns, product placement, media appearances and social media campaigns. Done right, the message will get out to just the right markets and people, creating buzz, awareness, a relationship with the customer, and, ultimately, sales.
There are multiple benefits to a public relations campaign, including:
- Relationships – A blogging campaign will create brand ambassadors, consumers who will talk about your product, and share this with their followers. They will blog, and share about your product, with links back to your website. This also fits in nicely with social media.
- Social Media: Obviously, thanks to the blogger campaign, your followers will grow, and you will connect with new fans and followers. Once bloggers post, and share, their blogs, you can repost on your page, and retweet their tweets. This provides a gateway to new followers, and consumers.
- SEO: Do you produce your website to maximize SEO? A PR campaign will improve your online presence, with links back to the site, which will help the site ranking.
How do you think Public Relations has changed? How does it fit within the marketing mix?
by Miriam Hara | Oct 21, 2013 | Branding, Business Success, Latest
Where is brand awareness today?
Many marketers and business executives don’t value brand awareness as much as they did a decade ago. Some say it’s a thing of the past while others insist that it’s alive and well. For those who are in the former camp, I would urge them to think again. Investors put a lot of stock (excuse the pun!) in brand awareness. In fact, it plays a significant role in determining whether or not they will support a product or company.
Brand awareness is no longer about yelling the loudest and longest. Now it’s really about breaking away from the clutter to make your brand impression count.
Rather than trying to convince non-believers that brand awareness really does increase ROI, the aim of this post is to carve out what the building blocks of brand awareness are in today’s multidimensional market environment.
Be different: In order to develop brand awareness you need to provide your consumer base with something to remember and want to talk about. Your brand needs be solid and stand out through its brand persona, premise and brand positioning. It’s not enough to just talk at people anymore, brands must engage and interact with their audience. This is becoming increasingly important for building solid brand awareness. In order to do that, your brand needs to establish a voice and tone.
Get found: It’s important that your marketing strategy includes a strong SEO component. This should include a comprehensive online advertising campaign or a google keyword campaign.
Be engaged: One of the marketing channels available to us now is social media. How effectively you use this channel can mean the difference between success and failure. So it’s important that your marketing plan include a social media strategy in order to increase engagement and build upon your other SEO initiatives.
Be holistic: Don’t just rely on new media, make sure you have a good dose of traditional media too. I often laugh when people say, “Traditional media is no longer effective”, especially when I come across 30 second TV or radio ads urging me to go to Facebook and “Like” them! And yes, you’ll also find the same message in print media. But regardless of what channel you choose to communicate in, make sure that all your communications tactics drive your point of contact to the same place.
Be consistent: Don’t rely on a one hit wonder, especially with branding! It takes a solid, consistent commitment to build brand awareness. The good news is that with social media, relative to traditional media, being “out there” doesn’t necessarily take a lot of money – but it does take a lot of time and planning.
Be website ready: There’s nothing worse than having your audience listen and engage with your brand only to direct them to a website that isn’t primed to take advantage of that opportunity! First impressions count. And in today’s environment, that means your website has to perform well by creating a positive experience to potential consumers and customers.
How do you feel about building brand awareness in the current market conditions? And what have you done to outperform your competitors?
Please share your thoughts here…
