Applying branding frameworks to politicians and political parties is a very much established practice. In fact, some may even argue that politics is increasingly about symbolism as opposed to policy implementation, image rather than content. A little harsh perhaps, but certainly in Australia we are seeing our major political parties trying to position themselves on populist mandates over political ideology. They are trying something we strongly advise our clients against, and that is to try and be all things to all people. It never works in commercial settings and it is of highly dubious value in politics – it simply gives strength to the brand positioning of minor parties (eg. the Greens) and independents.

However, one would never suggest that political party strategists simply enroll in a ‘Branding 101′ course. Politics is in a league of its own when it comes to branding, as is being witnessed in the current Australian Federal Government election campaign. I have read a lot of branding books in my time and some are pretty good at advising on strategies to combat competitors. But none offer advice on how to combat dissenters (read leaks to the media), from within your own brand team, deliberately attempting to give your competitors a leg up.

But on the upside what I did find interesting is that when the Prime Minster, Julia Gillard, was forced to defend her position from the damaging leaks she seized upon an important brand attribute, that is she reclaimed a degree of authenticity. The daily newspaper ‘The Age’ (Michael Gordon) suggested that ….’it was the first time in the campaign she appeared unscripted and, tellingly, it was her most authentic and convincing performance.’

Another article (Michelle Grattan) said …’we saw the old Gillard in her press conference, not the more polished, slightly confected lady of the campaign. Most people thought this return to feistiness an improvement. Blood-pumping, anger showing, but strictly on script.’

Will the real Julia Gillard please stand up. We need you.

Authenticity what a novel concept. All the best brands demonstrate it, yet when it comes to the branding of politicians it regularly gets lost. In the current campaign Julia Gillard’s brand minders have created such a contrived image that her true personality has not had a chance to shine through at all. The very brand attributes that got her to PM – the wit, the candor, the on-the-feet smarts have all been stymied. The branding of individual politicians (particularly party leaders), is indeed a tough gig when you factor in the need to appease the party machine. Think Peter Garrett, phew!

The other dimension that makes the branding of pollies and their political parties such a rare breed is the media frenzy that surrounds them. Every word, every move analysed. Imagine having the same level of media scrutiny applied to the major brands of the world. BP has recently experienced a little of what it feels like to be under the minute by minute gaze of the media, and it did not cope well. In fact the CEO is no longer there, and partly because he uttered (along with some other clangers) those rather infamous words about wanting to get his life back (well now he certainly does)!

The more I reflect on the challenges of branding in the political arena the more I am feel grateful of the space we play in every day – which is essentially branding within every conceivable product and service category except politics. When it comes to politics I am happy to simply be a paying customer – now taxes that is entirely a different topic!

Peter Singline
Brand Scientist

Have you ever played the old parlour game of ‘Whispers’ where one person whispers a phrase to you and you pass it on, by whisper, to the next person. After 6 or 7 rounds ‘I have a square’ becomes  ’a star’. It’s a demonstration of how the intent behind a message can be lost in transition if there is not someone standing between the individual whisperers correcting them.

Early in my marketing career it struck me that the same distortion of message happens when we are trying to take our customers from one end of the purchase process to the other – from a vague interest or need  for our product to purchase. At each stage the customer makes decisions about your brand and product that determine whether you make it to the next stage. Trusting to luck and leaving  your message to find its own way through the purchase process is fraught with danger.

The savvy marketer knows you need to manage every aspect – the brand message and voice, the value proposition and communication content – at every stage to ensure you get the best bang for your marketing buck. You need to look at each stage, at every touchpoint and identify which aspects of your message need dialing up and which down, in order that you can remain in the process.

As a next step you then need to design communications that best deliver the appropriate message at each stage, perhaps a phone follow-up to sales enquiry, an e-mail campaign to people who have asked for a quote, a leaflet explaining jargon at the point they are exploring products…the fun is in identifying the communication gaps and finding ways to fill them.

Reviewing your purchase process might seem arduous but you could be missing a simple fix that could really impact your bottom line sales – imagine if your conversion rate went from 1 to 2%.

As an marketer I have found this approach incredibly powerful . Simply put, this is how I view the communications process.

Knowing the process is only part of the answer, you then have to work with other talented people to make it work.
Here at Truly Deeply we are devoted to ensuring our clients stay true to their brand strategy, brand essence and core message in everything they do. If you would like to talk to us about how we can fool-proof your purchase process why not give us a call.

Malcolm Harvey
Client Experiences Director and Direct Marketing go-to guy.

The great Muhammad Ali was the inspiration behind this project. We were asked to design an invitation to an open studio night we conducted as part of the AGideas Conference. Projects like these give the studio an opportunity to engage in creative, for creative sake. Our audience was predominately design students who spend a lot of time discovering the discourse of design.

Muhammad Ali has been credited with delivering the shortest poem ever. The story goes that he stood up to address students at Harvard University and simply said the words, “Me… We…” It is amazing how powerful two words can be. We recreated Muhammad Ali’s poem to pay homage to the great man and instill a bit of comraderie between our studio and the students of design. We printed the invitation on reflective stock which revealed the reflection of the holder. “Me…”

As the card is flipped over it reveals the completed poem. “We…”

If you would like get creative with us, get in contact.

Lachlan McDougall
Design Creative, for creative sake.

Improv Everywhere is a New York based collective that organise and execute awesome acts of street theatre. There brand tag line really describes it best, ‘We Cause Scenes’. Whether it’s a complex set up like the Starwars Subway Car above or the Ghostbusters homage, Who You Gonna Call? or something altogether simpler like High Five Escalator.

They’re a great reminder how you can build brand presence by bringing your brand alive with theatre and acting locally, thinking globally. By creating local theatre experience with love and devotion and then using the internet to host it for an international audience, Improv Everywhere have shown a way to accomplish it with limited resources or budget.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Who you gonna call for your brand experience

Derek Carroll
Director of Design

More and more brands are foregoing the big chest beating advertising campaigns that attempt to broadcast their presence to the world. This is particularly the case for those wishing to position themselves in the  cool end of the market. The onus is on savvy shoppers to find them, particularly when it we are talking fashion and bars. Certainly this was our experience on a recent visit to Berlin.

Berlin appears to have been able to sustain the vibrant design and arts subculture that blossomed out of the highly energised post-reunification period. It is a city that the longer you are there peels back layers and layers of creative magic. There are probably not too many other cities in the world that can boast as many concept, guerilla or clandestine stores as Berlin. But it does make you work a little for the rewards, a big part of its charm is that you have to some scratching.

And scratch we did to find a high end fashion retailer called Apartment. In fact having heard about it (through the power of word of mouth and editorial commentary) it took us three different attempts to locate it. Why so difficult? It is an unmarked empty storefront that occupies the entire ground floor of a lifeless concrete high-rise. Hardly an invitation to passers-by to come in and explore. What you see is not what you get. It is discovery personified. On the ground floor there is no signage, simply a big white empty space. Dare to enter the space you encounter one empty display cabinet, a vase with flowers and the pull of a spiral staircase heading down to a basement.

Take the stairs  and you find clothing, accessories and shoes from hot local and international designers. Very cool gear, big prices and a sense of personal discovery. The hidden nature of the offering is what gives it the marketing clout. It is counter intuitive. It like a secret club, and we all like belonging.

How do you build intrigue into what you have to offer? It is a question worth pondering.

Giorgio Armani is one of the world’s most recognisable and sought after fashion brands with end of year sales banded around at $1.69 billion. From haute coutre, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, watches, jewelry, eyewear, cosmetics and home interiors Armani has become synonymous with high-fashion and couture worldwide.

Under the Armani ‘umbrella” brand are sub-brands that include Giorgio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Emporio Armani, AJ|Armani Jeans, AX|Armani Exchange, Armani Junior, and Armani|Casa – not a bad brand portfolio really is it? But wait there’s more!

The Armani brand also operates a range of cafés worldwide, in addition to a bar, restaurant, nightclub and now the Armani Hotel Dubai (part of the Burj Khalifa development) the tallest commercial and residential building in the world built at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion. The bottom 39 floors of the skyscraper house 160 guest rooms and suites, and 144 residences with Armani himself being responsible for overseeing all aspects of the interior design and style of the hotel – what I’d call an absolute ‘on brand’ experience!

Not only is the Armani hotel now operational in Dubai, but after signing an agreement in 2004 with Emaar Properties at least another six luxury hotels and three resorts are being planned in several major cities such as Milan, Paris, New York, London, Tokyo and Shanghai again all specially designed inline with products from the Armani/Casa home furnishings collection.

If you’d like to talk to us about how we could add greater hight to your brand and its story why not give us a call.

Dominic Guthrie
Client Account Director

So often we find a great brand communication thought that is let down by poor creative execution, or a piece of beautiful brand design that lacks a powerful thought. Obviously the best solutions are those that combine a strategically sharp piece of brand thinking with brand design that truly and deeply connects that thought with an emotionally evocative visual.

When we found this beautiful point of sale brand communication for Play-Doh, we knew we’d found a wonderful piece of brand story-telling. These posters have been created by Driv, a Malaysian born designer based-in Singapore. The crafting of the photography, styling and typography are beautiful. Nice one Driv.

Recently on a trip to Europe I had the pleasure of hearing a presentation by American author and strategy consultant Joseph Pine on authenticity in branding. Pine has co-authored several books in the brand space. Namely the ‘Experience Economy’ and his more recent offering simply titled ‘Authenticity’.

Pine believes that people increasingly evaluate the world in terms of real and fake, based on their own views of what is and is not authentic. ‘Real’ is important for many consumers because of the role brands play in confirming their desired or perceived self-image.

But distinguishing between real and fake is not always easy. At a recent brand workshop we were conducting with a regional wine and food group in country Victoria one of the participants, a successful micro-brewery operator, was bemoaning the fact that the very large commercial breweries attempt to position some of their brands as artisan inspired boutique beers. It makes it tough for the ‘real’ artisans when the big commercial brands mimic their boutique cues.

Joseph Pine raised a few axioms that he thinks is relevant to authenticity. Firstly, he believes if you are authentic, then you don’t have to say you’re authentic. Related  to this is it’s easier to be authentic if you don’t say you’re authentic. Secondly, if you say you are authentic, then you better be authentic. Thirdly, and interestingly, he believes it’s easier to render offerings authentic, if you acknowledge they are inauthentic.

Heritage and years since having been established is frequently used as a way of claiming some sense of authenticity. It for this reason the I loved the two retail offerings pictured above, I came across in Berlin. To a large extent they apply Pine’s third axiom and claim their authenticity by poking fun at their years of establishment.

Peter Singline
(Real or Fake….?)

Have you seen the UK version of the hit Life on Mars? Its set in the 70′s and I love it partly because its like a trip down memory lane. Brands and associated imagery I haven’t seen for 35 years or more come flooding back  As I mused on the program other Iconic UK Brands of yesteryear came flooding back, Corgi model cars, Chad Valley board games, Typhoo tea, Bisto Gravy and Birds Custard powder all sprang to mind.

Amongst all this nostalgia came one moment of enlightenment, the  realisation of what a sheltered ‘brand’ life I led as a child. My brand exposure was closely controlled by that most ruthless of administrators – my mother. I never questioned her decisions, she knew best. I can list of 40 or 50 brands I remember, and all of them would fit neatly under a ‘G’rating.

How very different it is for my kids growing up in the 21^st century.

First off my mum had only to control exposure to one commercial TV channel and one newspaper to effectively control the dissemination of information to her growing brood.

My kids can access a mind boggling array of communication channels… added to that they have access to many of those channels 24/7. They are the beneficiaries of an environment which exposes them to brands when they are away from home and outside my influence. The brands they come across cover the entire spectrum from G to R18+.

Secondly where as a child I hardly recognised that I was being exposed to brands, by comparison my kids are conscious and greedy consumers of brands, they seek them out.

So are my kids dangerously exposed to ‘brands’. No.

In fact I’d argue they’re better equipped than I was. When I was a child we believed in everything our limited set of brands told us. My kids don’t. In an environment where competing brands scream for their attention they have learned to evaluate, consider and challenge. Fail the test and you’re off the list.

In 2010 they hold brands far more accountable than I did as a child.

At Truly Deeply we specialise in helping our clients communicate effectively with and stay relevant to their audience.
If you’d like to speak to us about how we can help you be a brand that is relevant for today’s consumer why not give us a call.

Malcolm Harvey

Client Experience Director and Brand Nostalgist.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The fresh off the block branding campaign for the limited edition Absolut Brooklyn directed by Spike Lee is now out. The integrated campaign features an ode to Brooklyn, Lee’s iconic New York home base by current beat poet Lemon Andersen. The campaign combines the brand voice and spirit of Absolut, and weaves the brand personalities of product and place through the TV spot, a Facebook page, Brooklyn Industries t-shirts and a community tie-in with Habitat for Humanity.

Absolut Spike, Absolut brand expression.