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One of the real tests of a brand’s reputation comes post purchase. With cars, the service experience is a critical influencer of brand perception, customer loyalty and retention. For many auto brands this can be extremely hard to manage. Local dealers are often franchised and…

Love Conquers All – And Builds Brand Affinity. The relationships we have with brands are alot like the relationships we have with people. Our friends and loved ones reflect who we are, the values we hold dear and behaviors we want to associate with. Social…

Why Blockbuster’s Last Summer Sleepover is a Showstopping Brand Strategy. The Blockbuster brand is synonomous with others such as Kodak and Melways that were once an iconic part of life, but by missing a critical opportunity to shift with consumers and technology have become dinosaurs.…

Branding Madness or Genius? As part of its Quarter Pounder Fan Club, McDonald’s have released a set of candles that smell like the ingredients of a Quarter Pounder, including; 100% Fresh Beef, Ketchup, Pickle, Cheese, Onion, and Sesame Seed Bun. Before we claim this as…

The Holy Grail of Branding. When designing a brand identity for any brand, but especially a consumer brand, we look to develop visual brand assets than can become instantly recognizable to their loyal fans. These assets allow a brand to be creative in what it…

Local bank and insurance brands lead the way in customer excellence. KPMG’s Customer Experience Excellence Report shows that six of the top 10 local CX brands are in the banking and insurance sector, but none are the big 4. On the back of a series…

A collaboration of client and agency with a shared view on the value of brand. Truly Deeply Founder; David Ansett and Alex McBride founder of THE:5th were recently invited to present at a conference run by Reliable Education for their platinum partners. The conference delegates…

Ouch! When brands crash to earth. This week Nike suffered a high profile wardrobe failure when the shoe of one of their star college athletes imploded mid-match, sending Zion Williamson tumbling, shortly after followed by the Nike share price. A challenge for all high profile…

Brands that see criticism as all bad are missing the message. For brand owners and managers it can be tough to receive critical feedback. However, behind the criticism is often an opportunity to transform a critic into a powerful advocate. As tempting as it is…

Are brand values are more important than brand value? Nike this week rolled out their 30th anniversary ‘Just do it’ campaign featuring the ex 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. In a move that will define the brand for the future, Nike have made an incredible brave move.…

Brand ambassadors hidden in plain sight. Influencers have become the newest weapon in the super competitive battle for brands to stand-out. Finding the right celeb or online tribal leader to espouse the benefits of your product has become the new holy grail for brand marketers…

Nalgona Positivity Pride’s bold move good for the brand California-based clothing brand, Nalgona Positivity Pride released a controversial statement specifically to its ‘White Allies’ asking them to not wear their clothes and thanking them for “not culturally appropriating”. The move has been criticised by some…

A beautiful Brand Gesture The Lake House in Dayelsford, Regional Victoria is one of my favourite places to retreat from the hustle and bustle of life, enjoy amazing local produce and of course get a little pampering action. So for my recent wedding anniversary we…

Once known as the rock station, Triple M is stretching so far it risks diluting its brand to nothing. First it was the rebrand of heritage gold format stations, now Triple M wants to be the brand for country music. As of February, Triple M…

I have to admit I love this time of year. As the Spring Racing Carnival hits full swing, Melbourne turns into a town of glamour and excitement where it seems everyone is a racing aficionado, and dressed accordingly. As the center of the Carnival universe,…

The Power of a Brand Apology There’s something about politics and brand management that creates a powerful aversion to apologising. There may have been a time when if a company did something wrong, the best policy was denial and steamroll at full speed until the…

It’s been footy fever here in Melbourne over the last few weeks, in the lead up to the grand final being played on the weekend. With the Australian Football League (AFL) having it’s origins in the Victorian Football League (VFL), the game of ‘Aussie rules’…

When doing the right thing is the right thing for brands. With 350 stores throughout Texas and Mexico, H.E.B. is one of the largest grocery chains in the region. Nearly a quarter of the 112 year old retailer’s stores are located in Houston, in the…

Poland Springs brand authenticity and reason for being under attack Nestle is facing a lawsuit in the USA that claims they have misled their consumers into paying a premium for normal ground water. For a brand that’s positioning and differentiation is all about the purity…

How Australia’s largest home entertainment brand is preparing for Amazon’s arrival in Australian. Recently ranked the 9th strongest brand in Australia, JB Hi-Fi is an Aussie success story but is this all about to change for the retail giant? Last week JB Hi-Fi’s Group Chief…

This is an add to brighten your Monday morning, sure to make you smile and feel warm inside. Vogel’s celebrates diversity and uniqueness with an emotive and engaging TV commercial focussing on the real life stories of every day Kiwis. Goodman Fielder, with its creative partner…

It was interesting last week to see Coca-Cola get some local blowback from Woolworths on their new No Sugar Coke. Coke, a cornerstone in most supermarkets has been attacked over the years from many angles: constantly by perennial #2 Pepsi with the taste challenge; for…

As we become more aware of the power and influence we have on the world through our consumer choices, more and more social enterprises are popping up to fulfil this need. The role of the social enterprise brand is not only to communicate the benefits…

It doesn’t matter how much you spend on strategy, branding, creative, media or reputation if there’s something wrong with your culture. As Uber is currently proving. It’s impossible in today’s society to mask an internal culture with brand. Sooner or later the truth will out…

Last week we shared a report on the impact of brand boycotts. The same day, United Airlines had a PR crisis unfold after they forcibly removed a paid-up passenger from their plane. What impact is this latest boycott having on the United brand? It was…

YouGov’s ‘Inside the Mindset of a Brand Boycotter report’ gives us some insight into consumers who boycott brands and why they can’t be ignored. Just about every week a major brand is under attack from consumers. Last week it was Pepsi, the other week it…

As a marketeer I have recently started to notice the increase in meaningful marketing and the extent to which brands are seeking to create meaningful experiences that consumers can connect with and move people emotionally. Thank goodness, a change has been in the air for…

It is not every day you get to hand over a rather large cheque for $27, 812.16 to the beneficiary of Art with Heart 2016, however that is exactly what we had the great pleasure of doing yesterday when some of the team from Truly…

For those yet to see the footage, confusion hit the stage at this year’s Academy Awards when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced the incorrect winner of the Best Picture award as ‘La La Land’, not ‘Moonlight’ after they were given the wrong envelope on…

Unbelievable Brand Messaging. It’s a Sunday night at our place and the new Samsung ad comes-onto the TV, kicking off with the statement: “At Samsung, safety has always been our priority”. It’s not often an ad is met with the instant derision to the extent…

Is the age of the Goliath brand over? Author Ben Zifkin’s book The Rise of the Craft Brand, set’s out a compelling case for why smaller, craft-focused brands are set to become a force in the changing world of commerce. The world of brands and…

Today’s post is an article written by Brandhook, good friends of ours and the sharpest brand research and insights agency around. As we all know, recently Donald Trump was elected President of the United States of America, defying nearly every prediction and pre-poll. In the lead…

D-Day approaches as Southern Cross Austereo (SCN) rebrands regional radio as Triple M or Hit. Next week, most of SCNs regional stations will get a new name and identity to align with the company’s city stations. This is largely a corporate brand architecture approach to…

How after sales contributes to brand reputation After sales is often non-existent, designed to minimise costs, or simply not a priority for many brands – but it should be. With more and more consumers reading reviews online before purchasing, after sales service is becoming an…

  Meaningful branding builds deeper customer loyalty An unwritten law of commerce is that we do business with those we like. This applies equally to B2B sales as it does to B2C where it’s often about how much we like the brand rather than the…

Melbourne burger brand, Cafe 51 is giving away free burgers for life to anyone who tattoos their burgers to their body. Making a lifetime commitment to any brand is a big ask. Apart from Harley, there aren’t many brands can claim to be so loved…

Tough to argue with this kinda science!!! Dave Ansett David is the founder of Truly Deeply, a brand agency with 25 years experience working with brands to position them for growth. His deep expertise is in the creation of high engagement brands that attract the…

Once again Telstra’s public relations team is frantically working to deal another brand attack, this time from Choice. The problem for Telstra is their network performance is not just core to the brand, it is really everything the brand stands for. Telstra needs to urgently…

Managing brand reputation is becoming increasingly challenging A plumber in the US state of Texas is suing a car dealer for US$1m after a truck he traded-in appeared in a propaganda video from Syrian rebels in an attack on the city of Aleppo. When he…

Global hotel brand AccorHotels taps into key consumer trend to build brand affinity In the highly competitive world of hotel brand loyalty the battle is raging for the hearts of consumers. Air bnb – the worlds largest hospitality brand that doesn’t own a single room,…

One year on, evidence that Woolworths Rewards has caused brand damage and impacted the bottom line. When Woolworths relaunched their rewards programme in 2015, we commented that had the potential to alienate loyal customers and cause brand damage. Now, a Fairfax media report shows how…

Yesterday Qantas Airlines have launched an addition to their diversified business portfolio, Qantas Assure, health insurance for Qantas Frequent Flyer Members. Their big budget ATL campaign features cool-as-f*ck Hollywood actor, Christopher Walken, so you can only imagine how much they’ve spent! This big move is significant for both the…

Would you launch a new newspaper brand today? Newsprint is dead, or so we keep hearing. So what do you do if your business is Newsprint? This is the kind of challenge lots of brands have. What do you do when your whole category is heading…

Uber has just announced a brand re-fresh to align with their current brand strategy and philosophy but more than that they have engaged their audience by communicating their brand story and the reason for change. On their website Uber said “We’ve always felt there was a cognitive…

Calvin Klein has launched its latest Spring 2016 collection with another viral social media campaign. This time there was no need for large scale advertisements; but simply the profile of some big name celebrities and the hashtag #MyCalvins to capture the worlds attention. This digital…

Disruptive Brand Building – Simple and Effective A recent newspaper article caught my eye with the headline; ‘Melbourne woman gives birth in the back of Uber car in New York’. From a brand perspective there’s plenty to find fascinating here; Would this article have been written if…

Do you have a Single Customer Engagement Mindset? We were talking brand engagement with a client recently and I was reminded of this You Tube clip from the Sasquatch Music festival back in 2009. The clip starts with a single guy entranced by the music…

D&G engages the valuable Muslim market You can count on a single finger the number of audiences with a US$300 billion annual spend ignored by major brands globally… that is up until now. With few exceptions the world’s major fashion brands have largely ignored the…