Don Draper on Branding



In anticipation of next week’s premier of the second season of the fantastic original series Mad Men on the AMC network, I wanted to share and discuss this scene from last season of the show’s main character Don Draper pitching Kodak’s Carousel slide projector.

This scene is set in the fictional 1960’s Madison Avenue advertising agency that is the primary setting of the show; a time that’s well before the term “branding” was in common use. This is back when ad agencies were hired to recommend the core positioning of their client’s product or service and communicate that position to the public on their behalf. This is what we call branding today -- connecting the core message of the product to the consumer and setting the expectation of performance. Unfortunately today most ad agencies skip positioning and just ask their clients what they want to say and are really just in business to find clever ways to say it. I should know, as earlier in my career it was my job to do the asking; now it’s to do the recommending.

In this clip Don Draper explains to the executives from Kodak that it is not the new technology of the slide projector wheel that will resonate with the costumer, but rather that customers need to “be engaged in a level beyond flash” and they must be able to have a “sentimental bond with the product”. Well said Don! This is exactly what branding is all about and what every product or service must have at the core of its brand - an emotional trigger that causes the customer to react and connect to what benefit that brand delivers.

At my firm we like to use Volvo as a great example of a brand that has the concept of Safety as the emotional trigger at the core of its brand – the one thing that their customers have been responding to – and Volvo has been delivering -- consistently for decades. Safety is great as there is not much stronger of an emotional motivator than self-preservation and protecting one’s family. In the clip, Draper taps into the emotional nostalgia and memories of one’s own childhood and family – which he demonstrates by showing slides of his own - and concludes by saying “it takes us to a place where we ache to go again…..it’s not called a wheel, it’s called a carousel”.

Whether this is an accurate depiction of how Kodak came up with the name Carousel for their rotating slide projector or not is anyone’s guess, but it’s definitely a product name that clearly and compellingly evokes the emotions of personal memories. More importantly though, this product actually delivers on that promise and that is what a good brand is all about.

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

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.

The Starbucks Experience – To Go?

I’ve been watching with interest recently as Starbucks has been rolling out their new drive thru concepts nationally. With each new drive thru they open, I can’t help to think that the company is inflicting tremendous damage to the long term viability of the Starbucks brand itself in the name for a short term boast in profits.

The core of the Starbucks brand is not coffee, but on the overall experience (including coffee) that a Starbucks coffee shop provides its customers. From the moment you walk into the shop you are immersed into and environment that is welcoming and provides an escape; an environment built to create loyalty and kept caffeine craving customers coming back again and again.

For many their local Starbucks become their third place – that is the place where people could grab a cup of coffee, read the paper, fire up their laptops and stay for a few minutes or a few hours without any pressure to clear the space for the next customer. For most it was more than just a great cup of coffee, it was an escape to from the chaos of home and work.

So when you build a brand who’s very essence, and therefore success, is based on providing an certain experience, how do you justify altering your format so now your customer’s don’t have to come into the shop anymore? For short term profits, I have no doubt it will be a success, but success that will come at the cost of diluting the brand and sacrificing its long term value.

A new one just opened less than a mile from my house, making it very easy for me to zip in every morning to grab my Iced Caramel Macchiato to go. But you know what, I never go; instead I hit the Starbucks near my office where I can grab a cup and read the newspaper, because after all that is what Starbucks is all about.

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

Desserts Taste Great, But How Does Diet Dr. Pepper Taste?

I’ve been enduring the Diet Dr. Pepper “There’s Nothing Diet About It” campaign for most of the year and felt it was time to discuss it. I have had the opportunity to come across the print, outdoor and TV versions of the campaign, which are all visually well executed by the folks in Young & Rubicam’s San Francisco office. For those of you that have not had the opportunity the see these ads they all compare Diet Dr. Pepper to desserts – cake, jelly beans, ice cream, etc. with the “There’s Nothing Diet About It” themeline paying it off.

The band strategy for Diet Dr. Pepper is to focus on “Taste” with the message basically being that just because it's Diet does not mean it tastes bad. The problem is they went way too far with it and overshot the mark. Rather than making me want a Diet Dr. Pepper it makes me want cake, jelly beans, ice cream and to download old Tom Jones songs from iTunes (maybe Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a man ahead of his time after all). Funny thing is I always thought advertising was supposed to actually interested in the product being advertised, go figure.

For years the message that Diet Dr. Pepper tastes just like regular Dr. Pepper had been pushed, a good message since the public perception is you’re sacrificing taste when you go diet – your waistline will be happy but your taste buds won’t. As a Mountain Dew addict myself, I can tell you that Diet Mountain Dew just does not cut it for me taste wise. If Diet Dr. Pepper has in fact solved that problem then that’s a great brand position for those who like Dr. Pepper and want to watch their calories, and a creative concept should have been developed to communicate just that. Instead we’ve got ridiculous creative that focuses a whole lot on taste, or a least other things that taste good, and does not demonstrate at all on the benefit or “Decadent Taste”, as the spot says, of the actual product.

There are a whole lot of people out there that like the taste of Dr. Pepper and there are a whole lot of Americans out there with expanding waistlines. Diet Dr. Pepper needs to scrap this campaign and start communicating in a clear way that Diet Dr. Pepper is the one brand that gives consumers a great tasting diet soda; then hammer home that simple brand position over and over again.

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

Is PetSmart’s Branding "Smart"?

PetSmart shoppers, in case you're wondering where the “smart” place to shop for you pet’s needs, the answer is now right in front of you. Recently the national pet supply mega store has changed their logo and is gradually changing its signage to go from PETsMART as seen here here to PETSMART with the “SMART” now in blue and “PET” in red, as seen here. It’s a subtle change, with the only real difference being the S has been enlarged and it along with “MART” changed from red to blue. Now instead of being a “mart for pets” the store is now the smart place to shop for your pet.

After doing a little research on the topic I found an explanation for PetSmart’s move from their VP of marketing saying the name reflects their desire to offer “smart solutions” for pets. All brands should focus on one core consumer value, the one thing it does better than anyone else and differentiates it from the competition. So PetSmart is positioning itself around “Smart”, since it’s already in the name this was a nice position to stumble onto – but is it the correct position? I think it could be but they will have to tell the consumer why its smart to shop at this pet supply store over competitors like PetCo, Wal-Mart or a local pet shop or grocery store.

Let’s break it down for them and answer the question of why shopping at PetSmart is smarter than shopping anywhere else. Being a pet owner myself and having frequented the store over the years I think I am in a pretty good position to help answer that question. Is it smart to shop there because of low prices? Not really, I can get the same dog food at the grocery store for the same price or less. Is it smart to shop there out of convenience? Well they do have a lot of locations, but making a trip to PetSmart for dog food I can buy at stores like Kroger or Wal-Mart, along with things I need to eat and any other supplies I need for the house would not be very “smart” of me now, would it.

Now why would it be smart to shop at PetSmart? Because they have the wide variety of the pet accessories and products I want. These products include toys, collars, supplies to clean up after my pet, chemicals to prevent my dog from killing the grass when he takes care of business out back and even a line of outfits in case I ever felt the need to dress Charlie, my 70 pound boxer, in a tutu. But this does not necessarily make it smart to shop there, no it means this is the place to go for true pet lovers, those who love their cat enough to spend hundreds of their hard earned dollars on a 6 foot tall multi-tiered climbing pole. The real brand position for the folks at PetSmart is that it’s a pet lovers paradise – that is what keep the shoppers coming back and that is what will bring new shoppers in the door.

Turns out the marketers at PetSmart do understand because they nail it in this spot. A spot so well executed that it almost brought a tear to my eye. But the spot ends with the tag “That’s Smart PetSmart” which seems forced after the previous 28 seconds were spent tugging at your heartstrings.

While emphasizing the smart in their logo may be convenient and send a subliminal message to the consumer that they are a smarter human being for going there – it’s not really what is primarily driving the PetSmart brand. So the expense and effort of overhauling a logo that’s change is so subtle that most customers would probably not even realize has changed seems like a waste in resources that could be spent on emphasizing the message that it’s the place for pet lover to shop. People love their pets, and PetSmart is the store for pet lovers; a good brand has strong emotional drivers and people’s love for their pets is almost as strong as their love for their own children – PetSmart needs to leverage that connection in all of their branding rather than focusing their subliminal tactics that will hardly do much to grown their bottom line.

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

Super Bowl Bust

The Super Bowl, it’s now more than just a football championship game, it’s the showcase for America’s top consumer brands and a chance for savvy marketers to show the country just how good they are. This is such an important stage because a great Super Bowl ad can bring a brand out of obscurity and put it on the top of everyone’s mind, as did Apple’s famous “1984” spot launching the Macintosh, and more recently GoDaddy.com series of attention grabbing spots that have men everywhere glued to the TV waiting to be sold domain names. It’s the one time during the year where Americans get up to go to the bathroom or the kitchen during the actual program so they don’t miss the commercials. So what happened this year? By the fourth quarter I was staring at the TV stunned at what had been unfolding in front of me all night. There were a few that were perfectly acceptable, but somewhere in the process of buying the time for the $2.6 million spot (plus the hundreds of thousands it cost to conceive and produce the thing) someone forget they were selling a product and communicating it’s core benefit. The following is a breakdown of a few of the spots that got it right, a few that got it wrong and a few that make my head hurt when I think about how it ever could have made it through the extensive development and approval process these things have to go through.

The Good

Emerald Nuts - Boogyman
This ad by Goodby Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco is just flat out good advertising. Emerald Nuts has used the Super Bowl to build their brand over the past few years, but this year’s effort was the first one to actually get it right. How does this one succeed over the others? It actually communicates the benefit of the product being promoted (last years just spelled out the name of the product). Consumers can relate because late in the work day everyone is dragging and not very sharp; this spot communicates that by snacking on Emerald Nuts you could boost your energy levels and get through the end of the day. Using Robert Goulet as a “boogyman” character that creates havoc around the office when no one has the energy to pay attention is unexpected and quirky enough to draw people’s attention to the message being conveyed. Well done all around.

Nationwide – Rollin’ VIP
Ah Kevin Federline, what can I say? I can say he finally found his true talent; making fun of himself and Nationwide was smart enough to pick the perfect poster child to communicate someone’s life going terribly askew almost overnight. Unlike the previous Super Bowl execution of this campaign with MC Hammer, this one works because the KFed reference is so current and is so worthy of this level of ridicule. The team at TM Advertising in Dallas really nailed it, communicating the urgency to purchase your insurance from Nationwide because you never know how fast your whole life can change and you better get covered before it’s too late. My only problem is that I actually now feel bad about the disdain I expressed in a previous entry for the former Mr. Britney Spears. I regret it because this spot has made him endearing and I was perfectly satisfied with the world not liking him. It takes a big man to make fun of yourself as a wannabe rap cliché on such a big stage.

The Bad

Sierra Mist - Combover
This ad was created by BBDO in New York, one of the country’s legendary advertising agencies and a true Madison Avenue powerhouse; so how could they have let this happen? The ad basically communicates that drinking Sierra Mist is a good decision and that drinking Sierra Mist is such a good decision it could make up for bad decisions, such as growing a long beard to use as a comb over while wearing cut off jean shorts and roller skates to work. The joke of course is how ridiculous the bad decisions are; unfortunately it’s just not funny and fails to really sell me on why I should buy Sierra Mist over the other two hundred brands in my convenience store’s freezer.

GM – Robot
This sport was disappointing, primarily because I was starting to enjoy it and really connecting to, of all things, an assembly line robot. Poor GM robot got let go from the plant and you just knew it was going to end well for the little guy, until he commits suicide. Suicide? Now it turned out to be a dream sequence but the fact is a large American auto maker just made a commercial about letting someone go and because all that someone knew was working in the plant, it was unable to find a decent job and took their own life. In a time when this scenario is not a nightmare, but in fact a reality to thousands of recently laid-off auto workers, I’m stunned at how insensitive GM is to have not realized how bad this came across. Now I know the spot was meant to communicate that GM does not tolerate mistakes and is committed to producing quality products. Unfortunately that message is barely sent and is lost almost immediately in the sequences that follow the robot’s journey to a heart-breaking end.

FedEx – Moon Office
If the purpose of this spot was to let me know that FedEx now has a distribution center on the moon and they have a fleet of spaceships to supports my offices on Venus and get packages to my clients on Mars, then I would say well done. But since it's 2007 and not 2057, I have no idea what they’re trying to communicate. I think it’s that they’re pioneers, but I had to watch it four times to even pick that up; and if so, who cares? Please tell me what you’re doing for my delivery needs right now. The special effects are well done, but good special effects can’t make up for a weak concept. Even the one shot at humor at the end when the guy floats off and gets nailed by a comet is rather sad and not funny at all. Last year’s FedEx dinosaur spot, which did a great job communicating "reliability", but also ended with someone getting killed unexpectedly (interesting trend for your brand guys, FedEx=Death), was still one of the best of that year’s crop, so it’s amazing to see how far they missed the mark this year. This is another spot from the esteemed agency BBDO and has really made me question more than ever if Madison Avenue agencies have lost touch with consumers since good advertising executions no longer are coming out of New York, but instead from former advertising outposts like Miami, Portland, Richmond, San Francisco, Dallas and Minneapolis.

The Ugly

Snickers – Mechanics
This ad was so bad I spent the rest of the game wondering where the entire marketing profession made a wrong turn and actually considered leaving marketing and turning to a more respectful career, like a job as Kevin Federline’s personal assistant. Gay jokes? Snickers spent more that $2.6 million to air a really bad gay joke? Everything about it is so flat out bad it’s just hard to fathom how this came into existence. Having been through the process multiple times and knowing how many hoops an idea has to jump through to see the light of day, I just can’t comprehend how this bad idea did not get shot down instantly, much less have traveled the long road to advertising’s biggest stage. None of what happens or is said in this spot communicates anything about Snickers and why I would want to buy it. The best I can guess is they’re telling consumers that Snickers is so good it drives you to homosexuality. Of course since the men in the ad freak out about kissing each other, they also offend gay people. This results in a situation where gay men and straight men have been equally offended and therefore all men are now less likely to purchase a Snickers bar. This ad was created by yet another New York agency, TBWA Chiat Day, which has seemed to throw basic marketing principles out the window in favor of something with extreme shock value. Here is a tip for the next one, since the new tagline of Snickers is “Most Satisfying”, Snickers should try spots that end with people being satisfied rather that horrified.

Chevrolet – Car Wash
This spot was the winner of a student competition, so I’m going to try to be kind since the concept did not come from a professional. Of course this spot, along with the almost as bad amateur spot for Doritos’s are good example for why you should leave this to the professionals. I know everyone thinks they can do advertising, but people actually go to school for this and suffer through years of low paying gigs just to get to a point in their career where they might, just might be able to work on a Super Bowl ad. So why are we now opening it up to competition from the general pubic? I’m not sure, but I do know I leave the accounting to the CPA’s and surgery to the MD’s, so can we leave advertising to the ad gurus from now on please? Okay off my soap box and back to the Chevy ad. This ad just does not work; it’s not entertaining and tells me nothing about the car. All it really seems to be is a bunch of guys stripping and throwing themselves on this car for no apparent reason than “it’s hot in here” and they feel compelled to wash a car that is not even dirty.

Well that wraps up my review for this year’s Super Bowl ads; I’ll be spending the next 12 months attempting to forget most of these and hope everyone is back in peak form next year.

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

The Cingular Brand, Shot Down In It’s Prime

A great one is leaving us, one that was so young, yet had already accomplished so much. This one could have been a truly great brand, but now we will never know. I’m talking about Cingular, the wireless phone brand that is now being phased out and lumped in under “the new” AT&T brand name. What a shame, this was a brand that grew so fast since its 2001 launch and was so fresh, that its little orange icon was well on its way to joining the ranks of the Nike Swoosh and McDonald’s arches as one of America’s most recognizable brand marks.

So how did this happen? Well first you must understand its corporate makeup; Cingular was a joint venture between two Baby Bells, SBC and BellSouth. The companies came together to create a new unified brand to unite all their regional wireless phone companies (11 companies total) under one new national brand, Cingular. The former AT&T Wireless brand was then acquired by SBC and also absorbed into Cingular in 2004, but not completely with it’s “Raising The Bar” tagline staying alive and adopted by Cingular. So AT&T Wireless became Cingular which has now become AT&T; that would not be confusing to customers at all, now would it? The AT&T brand reemerged as a powerhouse when SBC decided it wanted to put the old telecom giant back together and began acquiring the other Baby Bells that had made up AT&T before the government deregulated the telecommunications industry and split the company apart. SBC acquired what was left of AT&T in 2005 and changed its corporate name almost immediately to “the new” AT&T, with a freshened up logo (now at&t rather than AT&T), Kiefer Sutherland voice over and theme song form the British rock band Oasis. Just a few months ago “the new” AT&T acquired its joint venture partner BellSouth and without any hesitation, now owning all of Cingular, they moved to transition it’s wireless band to the AT&T brand name as well. Are you still with me here? If I lost you, then just watch this great clip from the Cobert Report.

Now I understand what they’re doing, they’re uniting all of their corporate divisions and entities under one brand umbrella, allowing them to more cost effectively promote the AT&T the brand nationwide. It also allows AT&T to easily bundle services and sell packages such as wireless phone services along with cable TV and internet to consumers. As much business since as that makes, my gut still tells me that this move was wrong. AT&T, despite its makeover, still stands for the old American Telephone & Telegraph Company. The brand is so old the ticker symbol that goes with it is “T”, yes that’s right, not three letters, just “T”. My point is It’s just flat out stodgy brand and by using lower case letters, a theme song from a washed up 1990’s band and agent Jack Bauer won’t have the edge it needs to successfully connect with the youthful and trendy consumers that make up a good percentage of the wireless phone market. That’s what made Cingular more than just a great brand, but a great wireless brand; it reflected the youth and energy of the wireless industry and its consumers. Fortunately for AT&T, or at&t, they will be the first to offer service on Apple new iPhone, which seemed like a much better fit when Steve Jobs announced Cingular was going to be the exclusive iPhone services provider that it does now as AT&T. The AT&T brand is not a bad brand, but it’s a brand that connects more strongly to an older generation, the Cingular brand was one that connected with a younger one; it will be interesting to see how this brand will evolve and we will only be left to wonder what that little orange guy, with all that energy and spunk, could have achieved.

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

The $1.65 Billion Dollar Brand

How much is a brand worth? Well that’s a very difficult question to answer in most cases because there are so many variables that go into measuring a brand’s value; but I can tell you the value of one brand, YouTube. This week YouTube was acquired by Google for $1.65 Billion yes that Billion with a capital “B” in what might be the purest example of the market value of one particular brand ever.

For those of you that are only now becoming familiar with YouTube, I’ll go ahead and start you off with a little background. YouTube is a social media website that allows users to post videos, any kind of videos you can think of, from home videos to clips from popular TV shows, clips from movies and even commercials. There is no subscription fee and the company’s revenue comes entirely from advertising sales. You don’t even have to be a registered user to view the clips, but you do if you would like to rate or comment on clips other users have posted, or if you would like to upload your own video clips.

The site has now become a phenomenon, and major advertisers and traditional media outlets have noticed and are increasingly incorporating YouTube into their marketing initiatives. A great example is NBC’s use of YouTube to promote its lineup of shows. NBC went from seeking legal action against YouTube for airing SNL clips without permission, claiming unauthorized use of intellectual property to now entering into a strategic partnership with the site and creating promotions specifically for YouTube’s audience starring “Bill the Promo Guy” to promote the network's new program lineup (see example here) and cross promoting it on the Tonight Show (see it here).

YouTube has now become THE source for video content on the web, a fact reflected in it’s ranking of the world’s 10th most visited site by Alexa web traffic rankings, and it is now growing at a faster clip than even red hot MySpace. The YouTube content is provided by the users and its technology is a basic video playing technology from Macromedia’s Flash software. Nothing about it content and technology-wise is particularly groundbreaking, and it is something that can easily be replicated. In fact, both Google and MySpace has created sections within their sites that mirror the usability of YouTube, the difference is Google is synonymous for search and MySpace for social networking. The video sections on MySpace and Google are nothing more than another feature for its users, and not the primary reason most users go there. That is reflected with YouTubes 46% of the online video activity market share, versus 21% for MySpace and only 11% for Google. Because YouTube only does video, it has become the source, and its brand is the poster child for the exploding online video movement. Users who have been receiving forwarded e-mail video clips for years finally have a central hub for everything video and they are flocking to the site by the millions.

So in conclusion, here you have a website using technology that they did not develop, featuring content that they have not created and has yet to make a profit. Doesn’t sound like a billion dollar business model, does it? But it is, the brand and only the brand is the value that makes it worth $1.65 Billion. Google, itself a highly valued brand, knows the power of a strong brand name and recognized that it would never be able to overtake YouTube in market share and would only be a secondary source. Google wants to be the leader in everything they do, and the only way to do that in this online market segment was to buy YouTube.

Jake Crocker is a Partner and Brand Marketing Director at Martin Branding Worldwide, Inc. and can be reached at: jcrocker@martinbranding.com

Budweiser's Reach for a New Image

The Budweiser beer brand, one of the most iconic brand names in the world, is quietly trying to reach an audience that does not hold the brand in high regard. Now you may ask why a brand with over 50% of the US market share would want to adjust its image. It’s simple, yet it is something that is even very surprising and even shocking to many people. In the Gen. X and Gen. Y metropolitan bar and night club scenes, drinking or, holding or even standing next to a Budweiser is completely unacceptable. Not only is it unacceptable, of all the brands out there, it is the only one that falls in the category of completely unacceptable to this audience.

How did this happen? Simple. The brand conjures up two images; first, it has a very strong attachment to the 80’s when the brand was at its peak, giving it an outdated feel today, a big turnoff to anyone wanting to be perceived as on the edge. Second, and most importantly, its big time blue collar image that comes with its association with NASCAR and Dale Earnhardt Jr. To put it bluntly the brand has become “redneck” and is therefore completely at odds with those in the young metropolitan social scene. When you meet someone, the brand of beer often alludes to the personality of the one holding it. For example:
Corona = Friendly, laid back
Miller Light = Regular Joe
Heineken = Confident, worldly
Pabst Blue Ribbon = Rowdy, fun loving

Oddly enough the redneck image really seems to apply to the Budweiser or “Bud” brand and not as much to its Bud Light brand. It’s also interesting to note that the product itself is not necessarily perceived to be inferior, it’s only the personality associated with the label that is the problem. Well, Budweiser apparently has come to realize this and is taking steps make up for it with its new Budweiser Select brand advertising. Budweiser Select was originally rolled out about a year ago to compete in the low carb battle between Miller Light and its sister brand Michelob Ultra; however, they apparently have shifted their focus into becoming the brand of choice for the metropolitan 20 and 30 somethings. Their new ad campaign for Budweiser Select using slick imagery and set to the Chemical Brother’s Galvanize (see the TV spots Here and Here) is clearly trying to reach out to that audience and essentially ask that audience for acceptance.

The real question is will it actually work? My personal opinion is that Budweiser Select will find success and gain market share with this audience, but it will take time and a whole lot of focus from the brand manager. The brand must continue to push this slick, club, metropolitan image through its advertising and push promotional opportunities in the large city nightclubs I feel that because Bud Light managed to escape the Budweiser Image that beer drinkers are open minded when it comes to line extensions. The Budweiser brand itself will not or should not change its brand personality, the brand has a very large and very loyal audience in place and the blue collar image should be embraced with this group.

Jake Crocker is a Partner and Brand Marketing Director at Martin Branding Worldwide, Inc. and can be reached at: jcrocker@martinbranding.com

Is the Demise of “Brand Hip Hop” at Hand?

I normally weigh in on specific products or companies, but today I want to discuss a cultural brand, the “Hip Hop” culture. Rap music is the core of Hip Hop culture or, Brand Hip Hop, and although not a brand in itself, its core attributes have a profound influence on fashion, products, entertainment and just about anything else you can think of. Whether you like the style of music or not, it is safe to say that every American born after 1970 has been touched and influence by it; from inner-city African Americans to small town Caucasians and everyone in-between. Brand Hip Hop is a reflection of the urban African-American lifestyle and represents a nonconformist, individualistic lifestyle that, like the Hippie movement in the 60’s and the Disco era in the 70’s, appeals to younger people who are looking for an outlet to rebel against anything traditional and conforming. In addition, Hip Hop culture, or more specifically the “Gangsta Rap” part of it, represents a tough street attitude, which is appealing to those who are disenfranchised or want more respect. So basically the essence of Brand Hip Hop is a tough, independent, street savvy lifestyle.

Rap music, the center piece of Hip Hop culture, began in the 70’s on streets of New York City, before rapidly spreading nationwide in the 80’s. Since the late 80’s Rap music has been a powerhouse music genre, and the urban culture that surrounds it has major influence on American and now worldwide popular culture. The one thing that made it so popular among all races and classes is it has edge and is an authentic reflection of urban life. The songs, the clothing and the attitude, everything about it feels real and connects with people for that reason.

Despite becoming mainstream and highly commercialized over the past 20 years, Hip Hop artists and culture managed to keep an authentic brand image and maintain credibility. Brushing aside anyone who might diminish its credibility and surviving the few that did slip though like MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, Hip Hop has endured and influenced everything and everyone it touched along the way. It has also made a lot of people a lot of money including record companies, shoe manufactures, clothing designers, jewelry makers, movie studios, liquor companies, etc, etc. More importantly it has given talented individuals who otherwise had limited opportunities the chance to make millions, become stars and even give back to their communities. Its impact over the past couple of decades is too big to even begin to possibly measure it.

That all could change very fast, Brand Hip Hop may have finally peaked and it is very feasible that it’s cultural relevance may have started or will soon be on the decline. The clues are all there, movie studies cranking out Hip Hop themed movies (Get Rich or Die Tryin’, ATL), Dozen’s of new rap artists with mediocre talent being cranked out every few months by the major labels, formerly street hard mega rap stars like Snoop Dog showing up on commercials for internet services (AOL) and cars (Chrysler). But the real point that defines the beginning of the end for Brand Hip Hop may be during Kevin Federline’s (K-Fed) début rap performance last week on Teen Choice Awards, broadcast nationally on Fox (see it here); rap music and the Hip Hope culture officially managed to lose both its edge and its credibility during those few minutes.

Kevin Federline, the former backup dancer and dead-beat who married Britney Spears, with no credibility or talent, was given a national stage and unintentionally delivered a parody performance that nothing less symbolizes everything Hip Hop has become. It would have been funny if it was a comedy bit on HBO’s Da Ali G Show, but it wasn’t; it was real. Sure K-Fed may not be embraced or respected by the major players in the rap industry, and it has nothing to do with him being white (Eminem made that a non-issue), just in some way K-Fed managed to highlight how far Brand Hip Hop has deviated from what made it great, it’s authenticity is gone and therefore so is its credibility. K-Fed did not kill it himself; he merely exposed the decline to the entire world. With its viability sure to gradually diminish, it will have less and less of an influence on consumer and cultural behavior and eventually give way to something new, something that is real.

Jake Crocker is a Partner and Brand Marketing Director at Martin Branding Worldwide, Inc. and can be reached at: jcrocker@martinbranding.com

Can One Brand Absorb The Attributes of Another?

Recently, Ford Motor Company started airing a corporate branding commercial with Chairman Bill Ford discussing all the great innovations happening at Ford and its divisions. What stood out was at one point the spot specifically highlighted the engineers at its Volvo division, which Ford acquired in 1999. Why would Ford highlight this division's engineers specifically? Because the Volvo brand over the decades has become synonymous with safety and reliability, and it is safety and reliability that has become the essence of the Volvo brand. Ford Motor Company’s namesake brand of cars and trucks, on the other hand, has had almost the opposite reputation over the years going back to the much publicized exploding Ford Pinto of the late 1970’s.

By highlighting Volvo in a corporate spot is Ford trying transfer Volvo’s sterling reputation on to the company as a whole? The answer is obvious, of course they are and rightly so, since Volvo’s reputation is everything that Ford’s is not and Ford recognizes that. The question really becomes, "Can Ford transfer that reputation to the rest of the company, or will that effort actually backfire and damage Volvo’s brand equity instead?" It’s hard to say for sure, but I feel that Ford should be very careful on how they proceed here because strong links between Ford and Volvo in the consumer’s mind could ruin one of Ford’s crown jewels. The spot that mentioned Volvo was done right because it was so subtle that the average consumer will most likely not react to it immediately, although when shopping for a Ford they may remember that they “heard somewhere” that Volvo engineers where working on new Fords. This is a smart move and really the only way Ford should procede is very gradually. Any bolder attempt to link the brands than this should be avoided, because you can’t change your brand image over night, and if it is possible, then the best way is proceeding with baby steps.

Another good example of acquiring another brand's attributes is Kmart purchasing Sears a few years ago. Kmart has a brand attribute that they can never overcome; the name has become synonymous with “cheap merchandise”. So much so that Nike refuses to let Kmart carry its merchandise anymore. Retail leader Wal-Mart may be known for low prices, but even though they have similar merchandise as Kmart, they’re seen as carrying good products at a good price rather than cheap products where you get what you pay for. Sears, on the other hand, never had a bad reputation despite recently losing market share in a rapidly changing retail environment, and is known for its own line of quality brands such as Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard.

By acquiring Sears, Kmart has essentially admitted that the Kmart brand attributes cannot be changed. Despite new product lines such as Martha Stewart Everyday and before that re-branding their stores under the BigK name, nothing changed. Before the decade is out you will see Kmart gradually phase out the Kmart name, something they have begun doing by changing the corporate name to Sears Holding Corporation. A new Target-like concept called Sears Grand is being tested in several markets; if this concept is a hit with consumers, then that will most likely speed up the effort to phase out the Kmart name. Kmart will have essentially phased itself out and will bank its future on the good brand equity it acquired in the Sears name.

Jake Crocker is a Partner and Brand Marketing Director at Martin Branding Worldwide, Inc. and can be reached at: jcrocker@martinbranding.com

Two Brand Giants Converge

Apple and Nike have joined forces to release the Nike+iPod Sports Kit (see: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2006-05-23-apple-nike_x.htm). This is a fantastic example of two premier brands joining forces for a line extension that is right in the sweet spot for both brands.

Since the launch of the first Mac in 1984, Apple has been on the cutting edge of computer technology in the eyes of consumers and since the late 1990’s has been known for innovative technology and design for its computers and peripherals including the immensely popular iPod. As for Nike, it has been on the cutting edge of sports technology and design ever since Steve Prefontaine strapped on the first pair back in 1973.

The new product is a kit that works in Nike shoes during a workout that sends information to the user’s iPod so they can monitor their workout statistics and then allows you to log those stats in a personal website. What’s great about this product is it is such a logical extension of both brand’s product lines and could only be a success with this unique brand partnership. Nike has the resources to develop their own exercise monitoring systems; but without co-branding a device with Apple, it would not have immediate success and would have struggle to gain market acceptance because Nike is not viewed as a computer technology company. Apple is also capable of developing this device on its own; but because it does not play in the athletics apparel and equipment world, it would also have struggled to gain market acceptance. It was only in the partnership of these two powerhouse brands that this particular product could be an immediate success.

This is a great example of recent trends of powerhouse brands working together to extend their products or services into areas where they could not go on their own. The partnership between Barnes and Noble and Starbucks is a good retail example of this with the exclusive serving of Starbucks coffee in the Barnes and Noble Café. Barnes and Noble knows books and Starbucks knows coffee, neither knows each other's business, even though both have the resources to enter them if they wanted. Both companies are smart enough to know books and coffee go together and that if either on their own had tried to expand into the other's space, they would have met consumer resistance and possible outright rejection. You will see more and more of these partnerships pop up as smart marketers begin to realize that by joining two established brands to launch a product or service has a better chance of producing an immediate hit with consumers.

Jake Crocker is a Partner and Brand Marketing Director at Martin Branding Worldwide, Inc. and can be reached at: jcrocker@martinbranding.com