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11.13.07

The Facebook Pages Land Grab
Brands and Marketing, Social Networking
Facebook has gone and done something interesting: they are allowing anyone to register a Page on Facebook Pages. Pages are profiles for brands, businesses and celebrities. Could pages be big? It’s free marketing and as Stowe Boyd suggests, Pages could replace corporate blogs. Some companies, such as Union Square Ventures and Facebook itself have set up their own pages. They are the early adopters. However, ANYONE can sign up a Page for brand or company if that name is not already claimed. This is exactly what I have been doing. So far I have registered Harvard University, 24 and the ...
08.28.07

Toothpaste Face-Off on Facebook
Brands and Marketing
The other day I was messing around on Facebook and found a poll on toothpaste. It got me thinking about whether or not brands of toothpaste matter. For example in an excerpt from Blue Ocean Strategy the authors claim people are indifferent to toothpaste brands opting for whatever has the lowest price point. Here is the poll at the time of my screen shot: My contention is that brands for niche personal products matter a lot, or at least, a lot more than you might think. For example I grew up using Crest toothpaste. That was the only toothpaste my ...
08.01.07

Cisco: My Partner in Meltdown Avoidance
Brands and Marketing
Cisco has a cool new viral campaign out called Don't Have a Meltdown. Originally, I came across the website not knowing it was associated with Cisco (Cisco branding doesn't kick-in until after some navigating) and thought it was funny and clever. ’Saxophonia’ was my favorite ’“ ’the prolonged exposure to smooth jazz as you wait for others to join a conference call.' While I like the website and concept the campaign is built around, I think Cisco has really dropped the ball. This campaign screams of UGC opportunities. As an individual, as soon as I saw the Cisco solution, I ...
05.03.07

On the Sound of Brands and Advertising
Brands and Marketing, My Experiences, Social Media
Really interesting article in the Economist this week about the role of sound in branding/advertising (actually the lack there of). The article talks about Julian Treasure, the author of Sound Business a new book on the subject. According to Julian, ’studies in America have shown that the tempo of background music affects the pace at which shoppers move and diners eat. Faster music in a restaurant can speed up the flow of diners. Slower music can lead people to spend more time in stores, so that they are more likely to buy something.’ So maybe the annoying jingle or background music ...
04.18.07

The Greatest Post You Probably Haven’t Read
Brands and Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Tech'nomics
Howard Linzdon, the master-mind of Wall Strip, has an amazing blog post I ran across a few days back. In the post Howard freely shares some brilliant concepts that I believe are still ahead of their time. In my post Brand Reputation Optimization (BRO) I suggested that brands could be monitored on various online websites in order to ascertain trends, customer feedback, etc’ An example would be the CIA’s use of Facebook, or Google’s Zeitgeist. In his post, Howard explains how he used several applications and strategies to keep tabs on Crocs (CROX) and in so doing was able to reap ...
04.07.07

Brands, Location and Class
Brands and Marketing, My Experiences, Social Media
One thing I have noticed recently is an increase in companies whose business models capitalize on swanky locations with certain class or cultural connotations. The trend to identify class or status through the use of a brandable location might have originated on the bumper stickers that came into prominence 5 or 10 years ago. Written using acronyms these letters and images were strategically placed on the backs of Volvos and SUVs to identify the travelers as people who vacationed in a particular swanky resort town. The idea being that only other travelers who also vacationed there and who also knew the ...
03.21.07

Brand Reputation: What it is and why it matters a lot
Brands and Marketing, CSR
Brand Reputation is a discipline separate from that of traditional branding campaigns. Brand Reputation recognizes that due to increased transparency and access to information, ’traditional branding’ whether through mission statements, marketing or affiliations can easily be verified and evaluated. Thus reputation plays an increasing role in keeping organizations honest and forcing them to take definitive actions, rather than simply making public statements. Both consumers and employees are getting into the game. Brand Reputation is sort of like ’Brands 2.0.’ Until recently brands had largely been considered ’intangible’ concepts. Accounting contributed to this conception by identifying ’goodwill’ as the excess over ...
03.20.07

Brand Reputation Optimization
Brands and Marketing, CSR
"Brand Reputation Optimization" is a new term that I am coining. I encourage you to read this introduction, to email it to a friend and to discuss it with me. I will also be publishing a more detailed white paper on the same subject. Brand Reputation Optimization (BRO for the acronym lovers!) refers to how an organization best positions its brand for long-term sustainability and success. Success in this case refers both to the bottom line and to applying socially responsible business practices sometime referred to as corporate social responsibility. Since the web is now the preferred method by which ...

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