Me-Too Brands: Vacuums

Vacuum cleaners: did anyone think this was an industry that could be radically reinvented into product lines where people would willingly pay over $500 for a unit?

We can probably thank Dyson for these recent innovations. They finally created a vastly superior product and charge a handsome premium for it. The best part is that people are happy to pay for it and continue to sing the product's praises. Enter the copycat branding.

Walking through the vacuum section of any store, you will notice an interesting phenomenon. Many of the units on display have copied the body style and characteristic yellow highlights of the Dyson models (and also some of their premium pricing). This isn't all that uncommon: mimic the style, but not the functionality, of your premium competitors. Buyers aren't necessarily tricked into thinking this is the same product, but they are comforted by the fact that this less expensive alternative bears a superficial resemblance to the high-status version. Perhaps there is a little status-seeking in this as well.

Riding on the coattails of a successful competitor is, obviously, not uncommon. We see it with cars, clothing, accessories (think women's purses), electronics, and many other consumer products. The problem with this is that the copycats, almost always of inferior quality, end up eroding the first-mover's brand. Next time you shop, keep your eye out for who is the leader and who is the follower and note some of the product trends. You might want to turn that eye onto your organization's brand as well--are you the leader or are you the follower?

Packaged Goods Reign Supreme

Earlier this year, Harris Interactive held their latest brand equity study. This study, which has been held every year for 28 years, measures brand equity ratings across 39 categories on 6 different factors utilizing around 1,000 products for the survey. The report on this year's study revealed that by and large, consumer packaged good brands reign supreme over all others; 9 out of the top 10 brands can be found on supermarket shelves and of those, the newest brand is Duracell, introduced in 1964.

Should we be surprised by this? Probably not. Although there may be stronger or more well-established brands out there, these are the ones that pour billions of dollars every year into mass-media advertising, sponsorships, and promotions. Couple that with the fact that these 9 brands have all been around for 45 years or longer to build up their equity, it stands to reason that when it comes to consumer rating, these packaged good monoliths stand above all others.

Brand equity is an interesting measurement. I think this study proves that, if nothing else, it is a good indicator of how longevity and steady consumer exposure trumps marketing stunts and flash-in-the-pan bursts of advertising. Recall, however, that brand equity is a measure of the value of a brand, and not necessarily its effectiveness. For most product and organizational brands, the ability to offer a consistent and strong customer experience and attract new business is always going to be more important than that brand's intrinsic value.

CUSTOM ONLINE LOGO DESIGN - $99!! CLICK HERE!!11!

Discount, online logo development. The words alone make people like me and my colleagues shudder with disgust. But, is it really that bad? Aren't there some circumstances when quick and dirty logo design might get the job done for someone with literally no budget?

A great experiment recently concluded where the folks at Speak Up provided the same creative brief to a series of online logo developers, using an overall budget of $1,000 (total, spent on 4 different sites), and compared the results. The outcome was interesting, if not expected.

I was speaking with a colleague about this article and the whole online design phenomenon. He said the whole concept just didn't make sense. We thought it through, and here's what we came up with: If someone had one of these studios with 1 or 2 designers on hand, they could do well. If a designer sat down and did nothing but crank out logos for 8 hours a day, never throwing anything away, they could easily satisfy at least 10 or more clients each day--multiply that by 2 or more if they have a larger staff. That translates to a lot of money. This model, however, hinges on delivering quantity, without regard for quality, and hoping that most customers will be happy with the first set of designs that come to them.

And that's what you usually get: fairly low quality work for a very low price. For some people, this is just fine. For others, they are looking for something a bit better.

Previously, we discussed not overthinking a logo, but I think there is a happy medium between these 2 extremes. Unless you really have no budget or just need something out there - anything - then hire a real agency or designer. Otherwise, you'll just have to be happy with what you get.

Brands Outlive Products

People tend to believe brands come and go along with the times. One day you saw Brim coffee on store shelves along-side Eagle Snacks, and the next year they’re gone. Allow me to make the statement: brands don’t die. Products themselves are discontinued but product brands continue in the memories of people.

Take River West Brands, a small company out of Chicago who base their company solely on acquiring “ghost brands” (brands whose products have been discontinued). They believe in the nostalgia and affection people have for brands and have made a business out of reviving these brands (with some tweaks).

So next time you walk down an aisle wishing for a bag of Eagle Snacks because you used to eat them as a kid or get some Brim coffee because you used to drink it on your way to work, remember that the power of a brand will sometimes outlive the power of the product itself.

A New Type of Clutter Inside our Homes

My niece just broke up with her boyfriend.

This would not be significant if not for the fact that she is temporarily living with me, and that I am in the branding business. Watching this newfangled breaking up process fascinates me. Not only do they break up in person, but there is a whole set of additional breaking rituals: facebook, myspace, 4 email addresses—some shared by both of them, instant message habits, cell phone access, and more.

As a branding professional, this hit home (no pun intended) about how busy the minds are of people in their early 20s. It rivals the time commitments of single moms or dads, overextended entrepreneurs, and those that have absorbed others’ jobs due to budget cuts. There is simply not enough time in a day to make careful buying decisions.

So for many of us, this adds another layer of complication when it comes to stating clearly what we are delivering to our customers. Are you sure your customers are fond of what you are delivering? They are the ones that create the perception of your brand and control it. Also, we must consider whether our customers use any of these communication tools to talk about your organization—if so, opinions are being shared about your brand quickly. For example, my niece is on one or the other about every 10 minutes. It is time for all of us to consider how to revitalize our brands so they get through the clutter, particularly for those in the early 20s that can’t walk away from their instant, web-based, and emailed messages very easily.

Post contributed by Catherine Shaw.

A Real Life Illustration in Brand Value

There are a lot of naysayers out there who think that branding is a "soft" marketing tactic, with no real tangible or measurable benefits. To them I say: take a look at the superstar cities.

What is a superstar city? Wharton real estate professor Joseph Gyourko defines them as the highly-sought-after, ultra-expensive, chic places to live. They are your New York Cities, Londons, Shanghais, and Bangalores. They are centers of culture and decadence, driving trends and defining what the rest of the world will be thinking tomorrow. How does this illustrate the value of branding?

All around the world (the U.S. in particular), the economy is slumping. World stock markets are drooping, taking real estate values with them. And the superstar cities? They seem to be immune. Despite all this, they are able to maintain and even increase their property values. They are luxury brands.

We see the same in hard goods—the luxury brand is always able to charge more. Of course, professional centers like Wall St. help keep these cities afloat financially, but it is all part of an intertwined mashup of economy, style, and personality that make up these brands. If these cities can ride out rough times by way of their brand, maybe some savvy businesses can too.

Take Control of Your Brand's Images

I hope you understand I'm not talking about identity guidelines, but of the photography you use to market your company or organization. A lot of things have changed over the past 5 years with commercial photography, but two things have not:

1. Great photos are harder than ever to find.
2. Inexpensive (or free) images are now everywhere.

Over the past few years, Web sites like istockphoto.com and Shutterstock (among others) have led a revolution in royalty free stock photography. Their sales model is based on community, rather than the traditional client and photographer relationship. This position allows their prices to be very low, making this an economical solution. But the images that buyers are able to obtain are open to everyone, meaning there is no way to ensure exclusivity of any kind. Many organizations are comfortable with that--however some are now finding out otherwise.

Did you hear about the company that found the face of their advertising being used in Playboy ads selling Enzyte?

Do you know about the model simply referred to as Everywhere Girl?








Or the model whose same photo shoot has been used to sell everything from handbags to "dating services" (full story here)?

In an era where stock photo sales have exploded and using them in marketing efforts is the norm, realize that using (and more importantly relying on) inexpensive stock photography as a representation of your brand is similar to dating every person who has used that photo--and that is a scary thing.

Like A Boomerang, They Come Right Back

Logos may stand in the background for a few decades, but they always make a comeback. This can be good and bad. Take a look at this Flickr page, which shows a collection of vintage logos from a mid-70's edition of the book World of Logotypes.

Many are similar to modern logos. The logo in the top right of this page is similar to the current Motorola logo. Companies still use clear and identifiable shapes today, as well as the use of one letter to represent the brand. Since the core concepts of logo development are the same today as they were 30 years ago, so are the bad choices.

Today’s logos have a strong connection between the brand and the customer; poor logo choices do not. In these examples, many logos seem to lack that strong correlation to the brand. For example, in the United States Postal Service logo, there are nine stars. Why does the logo use nine stars? Thirteen for the original colonies or fifty for the number of states (post-1959) are the typical numbers for stars relating to the U.S. Only nine colonies were needed to ratify the Constitution, but somehow I don’t think that was USPS’ reasoning for the number. My colleague commented that many logos look like “someone just slapped it on top of a letterhead to make it official.” There may be a lot of truth to that.

When branding or rebranding your company, be sure the logo has substance. Connect it with the brand and with your target audience, but don’t over-think it. It’s okay to take hints from the past, just don’t go overboard.

Use of Graphics Today from a Branding Perspective

Today’s average consumer frequently is on the go and has little time to sit and contemplate. The world of graphics was created as a way for us to quickly and easily absorb information.

A company logo is a graphic. It’s a primary identifier for a company, but often receives too much attention for smaller business without a history to represent in a small, scrutinized image. For some, it may make sense to begin with a word mark – think Pottery Barn, FedEx and Tiffany’s as examples.

On the front page of every section, everyday, the USA Today newspaper has an info-graphic in the lower left corner. An info-graphic is a graphic that directly imparts information through words and pictures. They use them to show the revenue streams of companies, the history of a product or employee, or a visual breakdown of what all the buttons do on that new product.

When we, as consumers, see graphics in the same style we think “USA Today.” In the graphics profession, you can even hear, “Let’s use a USA Today-style chart here.” Wouldn’t it be nice if your group’s graphics were as easily recognizable, conjuring up instant references to your team? All the more reason to consider their importance carefully, and as we do with law, construction, and even coffee… leave it up to the professionals to guide you.

Last but not least, remember, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and think about how your selection reflects upon your organizational efforts. For those non-readers out there, they will rely upon them to receive clues about your group – the essence of your brand.

Check out this library of graphics working for their companies in various ways.

Going Green

Going green is one of the newest market fads, though I hesitate to actually call it a fad because it implies that it is temporarily the cool thing to do. Wrong. If you are paying attention, it should be a permanent habit, like our transformation into buckeling up in the late 70s.

The way in which your company goes green really depends on your type of company. Even in small ways any company can creatively incorporate their new green status into their brand image.

As you take your first steps, don’t get discouraged by entire green companies. Most visibly are food chains like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. Big companies can afford to create entire green brands. Clorox recently created a new line of environmentally-friendly products called Green Works. Clorox tells us all about it.

Your company might need to begin with something smaller, like using greener materials such as recycled paper and ink, and letting customers know in a subtle, smart way. Other green materials will be industry specific. Other examples can be as simple as recycling. Choosing to associate with environmentally-conscious companies.

Going green can only hurt your budget, but may help increase your profits. Hopefully, through your efforts, the change in company perceptions, internally and externally (i.e. the brand), will attract and retain more and dedicated customers.

If you are still interested, this guy puts it well.