Geek Squad vs. Firedog – Who You Gonna Call?

There is a battle royale brewing over who American’s trust the most to let into their homes to connect their modem or install their 52” hi-def, surround sound home theatre system. The battle is being waged between Best Buy’s Geek Squad home service and installation brand and Circuit City’s answer, Firedog.

Firedog, launched a little over a year ago is the brand Circuit City created to take on their arch rival Best Buy’s, Geek Squad. It is a brand that according to Circuit City CEO Philip J. Schoonove , “represents consumers' relationship with technology” and wants Firedog to be your “best friend.” That has a nice ring to it, it’s all about establishing relationships, and more specifically the trusting relationship one has with their best friend. Whether establishing a relationship with a human or canine, there is an emotional connection there, which is important to building any brand. But is that the type of relationship or emotion needed to get my internet service connected? Not exactly.

This is where Geek Squad nails it; they’ve built a brand around the concept of computer geeks that come to your rescue and gets your system working again. My best friend is great for getting together for a few drinks and discussing life, but when it comes to getting my stuff working right I’ll call the computer geek every time. Sure it’s a stereotype, but there’s something about a socially awkward, fashion challenged guy with taped glasses and an obsession with fantasy role playing that assures me that they know there way around my computer and entertainment system. Does that have an emotional connection though? You bet it does, confidence and security is a strong emotion and one that is crucial when it come to a customer’s big-ticket purchase and vital communications connections.

It’s not just the image the name conjures up though; Geek Squad’s holistic branding approach integrates their core brand throughout into their entire organization. Everything from their “agents” dressed in white shirts and black ties, driving the always offbeat Volkswagen Beetle to applying a whole fantasy secret spy organization themed hierarchy to their organizational structure. For example the head of Geek Squad is called “Chief Inspector”, managers of standalone stores are called “Precinct Chiefs” and even the call-in technical support guys are called “Covert Operators”. By doing this, Geek Squad is living and breathing their brand every day and the public is buying into it.

Pushing the Geek Squad brand to the market has been equally excellent as they nail it in their commercials featuring geeky stuff like jet packs and teleports. However where they really do a great job with pushing the geek brand into the public consciousness is with their unique non-traditional media tactics, like claiming their own category in an episode of Jeopardy.

So what is Firedog doing to live their “best friend” brand? They certainly look like nice clean cut suburbanites, dressed in their khakis and a lime green polo shirts with the Firedog logo on it. Someone that I would feel comfortable with letting in the house when they came to my door like they were one of my real friends. But they don’t exactly make you feel secure that they’re going to do a good job hooking my system up. However, I might ask them if they wanted to play a round of golf with the guys and me this weekend. After all, they’re already dressed the part.

Hey Geek Squad, my router is not routing anything right now, can you come over and fix it? Just make it tomorrow morning; I’ve got a noon tee-time with Firedog.

Jake Crocker is a Partner and Brand Marketing Director at Martin Branding Worldwide, Inc.

Obama’s VP Decision Should Be Based on Brand

Now that he has clinched the Democratic Party nomination for president, Barack Obama has a choice to make in a running mate. After fighting an epic and historic political battle to secure the nomination over Hillary Clinton, many are speculating -- and Clinton is hoping -- that she will now be selected to be his Vice Presidential running mate in the general election. This is being billed by some as the ultimate “dream ticket” Democrats need to regain the White House. However, this dream ticket would in fact be a nightmare for Obama as it would completely contradict the Obama brand that he has worked so hard to build and has carried him so far.

Senator Obama’s current run has been carried on the strength of his core brand: CHANGE. Change has been his message from the beginning and unlike the other candidates he not only speaks about change, but like any good brand, he is in every way the very embodiment of his core brand position. Like any great marketing campaign, while Clinton was constantly changing her message, Obama stayed consistent and continued to drive home his message of change clearly and compellingly throughout the entire primary process.

If he is to continue his successful run, Obama’s VP choice needs to be a decision based on what is best in-line with his brand position. Hillary Clinton is therefore not the right choice as she is in fact she is the very opposite of what he represents. The change message is not just a change from Bush message it’s about change from politics as usual in Washington and especially in the White House. Wouldn’t adding someone to the ticket that has actually lived in the White House and has now firmly established herself as a major player on Capital Hill represent the very opposite of change? Yes it would, and no matter how you spin it the American people won’t buy it.

Obama has not wavered one bit from his brand position of change, the position that has carried him to this point. With such a crucial decision to make in a race that is sure to come down to the wire, he only has to continue to practice what he has been preaching this whole time to guide him with making his choice in a running mate.

Jake Crocker is a Partner and Brand Marketing Director at Martin Branding Worldwide, Inc.

Big Brown Carrying the Brand

Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown takes aim at making history by capturing horse racing’s Triple Crown this weekend. But despite what happens at Belmont, this thoroughbred has already made history. Big Brown has become the first completely branded horse, threatening to significantly change the way this traditional sport does business.

Big Brown’s success could represent a sort of NASCARization of horse racing. Gambling is what has made this a profitable venture for the owners, but it takes plenty of money to purchase, train and care for a horse and more times than not this is a unprofitable or at best break even investment. Enter corporations like UPS and now, from its name to the UPS logo on the jockey’s leg to even what the horse itself represents – speedy delivery (in the form of a large brown vehicle) with Big Brown, UPS is using an avenue that has never been used before to advance a major brand.

Does this mean that other company’s will jump on the bandwagon and soon you’ll no longer see horses named Smarty Jones, War Emblem and Thunder Gulch, instead replaced by horses named after FedEx, Miller Light and Viagra? It’s not that far fetched, certainly product branded race teams is the reason why NASCAR went from southern dirt tracks to the multi-billion national sport that it is today. Win or lose, these teams make for a good investment because of what sponsors are wiling to pay for the exposure. So more horses nicknamed after their sponsor and jockey’s—or even the horses themselves—loaded with product logos could very well be on the horizon, especially after all the exposure Big Brown has received.

In today’s cluttered marketplace where brands have to compete more than ever for attention and advertising in traditional media gets less and less effective; company’s are going to continue to look for more and more opportunities such as this get their mark in front of a captive audience. It just so happens that a centuries old sport could be one of the latest ways to accomplish that.

Jake Crocker is a Partner and Brand Marketing Director at Martin Branding Worldwide, Inc.