Archive for the ‘Brand Voice’ Category

11.23.11

Omni-channel retailing – A brand management mindset that is critical

We have been banging on for a while about the need for retailers to move beyond seeing themselves as channel specific marketers. They need to develop an integrated mindset that moves beyond seeing online and bricks and mortar offers as being mutually exclusive. Likewise they need to stop seeing digital technology as the domain of online marketers only. The rules have been re-written, with the emphasis being on imaginatively engaging with customers in whatever format matches their needs. Technology, personal service, physical or virtual, the new game is simply wow the customer.

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11.22.11

Movember – a Not for Profit Brand with Craft and Pride

not for profit brands

When it Comes to Brand, few Not-for-Profits Really Hit the Mark.
As a rule, not-for-profit organisations fall short of the mark when it comes to sophisticated brand development. Given the hugely competitive environment they play in, a clearly differentiated brand proposition provides a critical platform on which to build an effective brand. Then there are the organisations whose brands operate on another level altogether. These brands don’t see themselves as part of an unsophisticated market, but have a sense of who they are and how they’re unique within their very DNA. For these organisations connect with their market at the level all great brands do, and as a result, are the real bright lights in this category.

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11.21.11

Benetton – Brand Building on a Higher Purpose

branding agency Melbourne

Benetton Unhate Campaign Features Kissing World Leaders
If there was ever any doubt of the effectiveness a powerful image can have in building a brand, the latest visual brand campaign for Benetton makes a most compelling point. Benetton have long been loved for building a brand around the higher themes of compassionate thought and tolerance. In the fashion world of young, sexual and anorexia driven visual language, the Benetton brand has always traversed the high road. In choosing this path, Benetton have built many campaigns around a contentious thought, illustrated by a powerful image.

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11.16.11

God, Scandals and Brand Narratives

For those of us playing in the brand space, we have been very well drilled over recent years to the need to create compelling brand narratives. The need to become masters at the art of storytelling. To captivate, enthrall and evocatively strike such  an emotional blow that our target market is left spell bound and connected for ever.

We have for months also been hearing how the current Labour Party in Australia lacks a compelling narrative. Even the former PM Paul Keating has been offering assistance. A complex task for sure and one that will judged in due course at the next election. However, one call for better storytelling that recently caught my attention was the suggestion by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, as reported in Age 8/11/11,  that sermons delivered by Roman Catholic priests are often painfully ‘grey and dull’ and need to be livened up with the ‘scandal’ contained within the Bible. He said, and a great reminder for all, (sorry about this grey, dull, scandalous free blog) that …’the advent of televised and computerised information requires us to be compelling and trenchant, to cut to the heart of the matter, resort to narratives and colour.’ Read the rest of this entry »

11.15.11

The Art of Crafting the right Brand Personality

Crafting the Right Personality for your Brand.
More and more brands are concentrating on developing a sense of personality in order to connect with their market. But many end-up with a similar, whimsical style. Creating a unique personality that is on-brand is not always easy to do.

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11.09.11

The new B in branding: B Corporation

This year I had the pleasure of a 2 month sabbatical in Europe, with a combination of travelling and cocooning and reading a big pile of business and brand writing. One thing that struck me was that from a brand perspective the time of the socially responsible company has well and truly arrived. Corporate citizenship was a re-occurring theme across so many books that I explored. One telling factor was the weight of writing marketing guru Philip Kotler, in his new book Marketing 3.0, devoted to values driven business models. In the early 90’s I remember subjecting my MBA students to Kotler’s marketing text, which was brilliantly dense in subject matter pertaining to the 4 P’s, but lacking anything like the spiritual and noble essence of his current writings. It was an amazing awakening for me to witness such a shift in emphasis from a doyen of the marketing fraternity. It reaffirmed what one has been sensing is playing out in many market categories.

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11.02.11

Brand Management: Billabong controlling its destiny

Surfing brand Billabong International is moving down stream into retail to better control how its products are sold. An increasing trend amongst the large retail chains is to increase the proportion of merchandise they sell under their own brands. Brands like Billabong can either cop it sweet and sit back and let their share of floor space and sales decline or they can take steps to control their own destiny. It is pleasing to see that Billabong has opted for the latter. Billabong is increasingly seeking to make retail acquisitions as a way of gaining greater control to their route to market. Last year they acquired the California based RVCA brand,  the West 49 retail chain in Canada, Surf Dive’n’ Ski  and Jetty Surf in Australia. Likewise Billabong is investing to build its online sales, which currently makes up 3% of their revenue.

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10.20.11

A new digital frontier for retailers

The day of just having beautifully attired mannequins is over. The digital world is opening up a whole new frontier for retailers. New and wonderful ways to engage customers and showcase products. The possibilities are immensely exciting, but the resource requirements challenging. The digital world is a two edged sword. A window to an imaginative and captivating domain, but equally leaving you looking like yesterday’s brand if you do not creatively unlock the magic of what is available.

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10.19.11

Retailers join in the Sustainability Forum

The 21st Century has brought with it drastic changes in the business environment with consumers and businesses alike becoming increasingly concerned with the sustainability of nature’s resources. Many argue that this shift has been the result of an increased awareness of global climate change, largely due to Al Gore’s Nobel Prize-winning film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, and the introduction of political policies surrounding sustainability. These initiatives have impacted the way in which consumers view their purchases and influence their end decisions and have inevitably influenced the way in which marketers must operate.

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