Brand Autopsy

Bravo BzzAgent

Dave Balter, BzzAgent president/ceo, continues to practice marketing transparency. Shaped by feedback from field BzzAgents and the healthy dialogue on the Brand Autopsy blog, BzzAgent has restructured their "One a Card" BzzCampaign.

In the comments section to my BzzAgent BuzzKill??? post, Dave writes …

Thanks so much for the energetic debate about the One of a Card BzzCampaign and BzzAgent. While we don't agree with all of the hypotheses, we appreciate the perceptions and - in the end - this type of feedback helps us learn how to build a stronger company.

I'm proud to announce that your opinions, and the voices of thousands of the BzzAgents, haven't fallen on deaf ears. We've worked with our client and have relaunched this campaign so that individuals may sign up without having to have the card. Why, because we know this is an inherently Bzzable product and one that is worth getting to know. The Official One of a Card Relaunch Announcement tells you more of the story.

Bravo BzzAgent for being transparent enough to engage in honest, open, and sometimes difficult conversations. Bravo.

Upper-Class Gas

While recent headlines report a slight drop in gas prices across North America, reports indicate it's not expected that prices will reduce in the upcoming weeks.

So why did Shell pick last week to launch their ultra-premium, higher priced V-Power gasoline?

With skyrocketing prices and sensitivity to our Mideast dependencies, it seems like poor timing for a new line-extension in gas options. In fact, as I researched this post, I found that every on-line article about gas prices also included "top tips" and calculators to assist motorists in conserving fuel to save money.

At my local pumps this fancy fossil fuel is running around 12¢ more per gallon, over even the premium, at $1.27 per gallon [correction $2.27 per gallon (7/31)].

What's the benefit? According to Shell's website...

The new gasoline actively cleans critical engine parts as motorists drive, and features more than five times the minimum amount of cleaning agents required by government standards. Shell V-Power gasoline replaces Shell’s existing premium grade gasoline, and is available now at Shell stations across the USA...

...This level of protection helps prevent the future build-up of carbon deposits on your vehicle’s intake valves or fuel injectors.

Engine deposits? Carbon buildup? Sure, these are ways to prolong the life of a car's engine... Do Americans even own the same vehicle long enough to experience the degradation of their engine due to these pesky deposits?

How about higher efficiency resulting in higher miles-per-gallon? What about less pollution? These features are marketing-worthy and a value worth paying a premium for.

Are owners of gas-guzzlers splurging on this affordable luxury?

Is this a status fuel?

Alex Wipperfürth is Cool

I’m not sure Alex will approve of me labeling him as being cool. Reason being … his latest white paper outlines the fallacy of being cool.

Cool limits growth.
By definition, cool will only appeal to a minority, never the mass-volume mainstream.

Cool is temporary.
Very few brands attain lasting, sustainable coolness. If they’re successful, the brands achieve mainstream popularity … which makes them uncool.

Cool is indefinable.
It’s often ambiguous and always subjective – it lies in the eye of the (cool-hunting) beholder.

Cool is unquantifiable.
Cool is inherently difficult to measure. It’s an attitude that can’t be captured with conventional market research. In asking your most loyal supports whether (and why) they think your brand is cool, you risk losing them by trying to make them feel self-aware about a sub-conscious feeling.

But in this white paper, Alex also outlines the epitome of being cool.

Cool brands dare to be imperfect.
While cool brands are unique, they are by no means perfect. In fact, their limitations and eccentric flaws are part of what makes them cool. Imperfection breeds cool.

Cool brands are visionary.
Cool brands see something others don’t. They are extremely observant and intuitive. The have their finger on the pulse of society, and they’re not afraid to challenge the norms.

Cool brands have nothing to prove.
Cool brands are led by people who are trying to bring something they love and appreciate – an experience, a product, an environment – to others. They stand up for their beliefs, even if that means they won’t appeal to the masses.

[NOTE: The above snippets were lifted verbatim from Alex’s Chasing Cool: A Dangerous Attitude white paper.]

Don’t sleep on this white paper. I get humble quick when I read such eloquent astuteness. Alex, nice writing and nice thinking. You are cool.

Further Learning:

Brand Autopsy’s first blog on Alex Wipperfürth’s slew of worthy white papers

Malcolm Gladwell’s article on The Coolhunt (This article from March 17, 1997 formed the crux of his best-selling book on social epidemics, "The Tipping Point.”)

Marketing without Marketing: A Brand Hijack Manifesto (from Alex's Plan B marketing strategy boutique website)

Cult Brands Make for More Valuable Brands

The annual ranking of the world’s most valuable brands from Interbrand and Business Week has been released. For 2004, the big branding trend identified in the published report will not come as a surprise to followers of marketing blogs.

Identified Trend: Create Cult Brands
Brands that create cult-like devotion from customers by fostering community and forging unique relationships where companies allow customers to feel as if they own the brand are rewarded with greater sales and even greater salience.

The Business Week article is a worthy read, so click here to download. You can also download the 2004 Global Brands Scoreboard which lists the top 100 global brands.

If you are time-starved, you can read the following highlights lifted from directly from the Business Week article:

“This seismic shift in clout from companies to their customers is creating opportunities, especially for younger brands that grew up with the Internet and have become adept at building user communities. Meanwhile, some traditional brands, such as Coca-Cola and Microsoft, are struggling to retain their mammoth leads in a market where consumers increasingly resist what they see as bland ubiquity and a surfeit of power.”

“There have always been cult brands, mostly smaller labels unknown to the masses. But these days, building cults or at least strong communities, is a widespread strategy. No wonder companies that are able to instill a sense of ownership in near-fanatical customers showed the biggest gains in our fourth annual ranking of the 100 most valuable global brands.”

“The brands that have managed to build cultlike followings have done so by being, well, cultlike, at least in some aspects. They are self-consciously different from rivals. They're bound by a set of clearly defined and rigorously enforced values. And they fulfill a range of needs for their members -- er, customers. The fastest-growing ones often project an aura, an attractive group identity.”

“Such exchanges (specific reference to Jian Shu’s blogging about his IKEA experiences) underline a key aspect of brand communities in the modern age: They evolve in ways that the head office often can't control. Newly empowered consumers can appropriate and manipulate the brand in whatever way they want.”

“Some companies are using mass customization to bind their customers ever more tightly to their brands. The efforts extend beyond the individualized Web pages that characterize Web sites like Amazon.com and eBay. It means allowing customers to set up fan sites on the Web or personalize items.”

“In contrast, some old-line brands seem to be coasting on sheer size rather than an ability to forge a unique relationship with customers. Even brands that have enjoyed decades of success and have instant recognition with consumers can lose some sparkle. Over the past year heavyweights like Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and Walt Disney saw their brand values erode.”

Brands that recorded double-digit increases in brand value for 2004 include:
#21 | Samsung (+16%)
#31 | Nike (+13%)
#35 | Canon (+12%)
#37 | Goldman Sachs (+13%)
#43 | Apple (+24%)
#61 | Yahoo (+17%)
#66 | Amazon (+22%)
#68 | Caterpillar (+13%)
#71 | Reuters (+12%)
#76 | Motorola (+12%)
#89 | Moet & Chandon (+13%)
#90 | Nissan (+14%)
#98 | Starbucks (+12%)

Brands that recorded double-digit decreases in brand value for 2004 include:
#08 | Nokia (-18%)
#19 | Ford (-15%)
#46 | Nintendo (-21%)
#53 | Kodak (-33%)
#82 | AOL (-18%)
#85 | Levi’s (-10%)
#94 | Boeing (-10%)

Further Learning:
Interbrand’s 2004 Best Global Brands Press Release (7/22/04)
Interbrand’s FAQ on their “2004 Best Global Brands” report
Brand Autopsy post on worthwhile white paper reading on Cult Brands
Church of the Customer post #1 and post #2 on why “Control is Futile” for big companies refusing to act “small”

Manifesting Manifestos

When Seth Godin’s call for interns went out last April, it was understated. He unassumingly and vaguely asked for three interns to help him research, design, and start a publishing venture.

Little did we know these “beavers” at Camp Godin would be on the ground floor of something big, potentially really big. (Hey, if Jim Collins can have “chimps” then Seth can have “beavers.” Dig?)

Come next month, through the work of Seth and his beavers, we will see the next phase in the development of the Ideavirus with the launching of ChangeThis.

From what I have read, “ChangeThis is building a platform for the launch of important new ideas. Ideas that will spread far and alter the tone of our conversations. Ideas that will change minds.”

ChangeThis seeks to “…help people change their minds to a more productive point of view…” through sharing manifestos with influentials, who, if compelled, will read and pass so others can be influenced by the arguments contained in the manifesto. In other words … we can expect a steady stream of Blog Fodder from ChangeThis.

Central to the ChangeThis platform is the development and spread of manifestos. Looks like we’ll all found out more next month how we can use ChangeThis to help spread our ideas, our manifestos.

But before we can spread a manifesto, we need to first learn how to write a manifesto. Below is a slightly abridged Manifesto on Manifestos from the ChangeThis website.

Manifesto on Manifestos
abridged version by johnmoore

Principle #1
A manifesto shouldn’t be angry. (But it can make you angry)

Principle #2
A manifesto should be based upon facts and should present a rational, thoughtful argument. (When finished reading a manifesto, one should be able to make the argument themselves.)

Principle #3
A manifesto should contain both hope and a plan.

Principle #4
A manifesto should be as short as possible and as long as necessary.

Principle #5
A manifesto must be of utmost importance to a specific hive of sneezers – a subset of people who like to spread ideas. (If the manifesto fails to stimulate this group, it will never reach the masses.)

Principle #6
A manifesto won’t convert the masses immediately. If it could, then they’d already be converted. (The successful manifesto never persuades the masses all by itself. Instead, it lays the groundwork for the masses to persuade themselves.)

Principle #7
A manifesto doesn’t pull any punches or talk down to its readership. (The successful manifesto makes it clear to the casual reader the essence of the argument, and lays the seeds of doubt necessary to get the conversation started.)

Principle #8
Manifestos must be heretical. (If you’re just going to say what everyone else already knows, no one’s going to pay attention.)

SOURCE: ChangeThis website

Ubiquitize Me!

Over at the Church of the Customer, Ben and Jackie introduced the blog world to John Winter Smith and his quest to visit every Starbucks company-owned location in the world. So far, he has visited nearly 4,300 locations in North America, UK, and Japan. WOW! That is fanatical behavior becoming of an evangelist!

In their post, Jackie writes the following:

"Ultimate evangelists like Winter don't turn up every day. He's generating lots of favorable press on his own. Starbucks should embrace Winter in every conceivable way. Promote his visits. Lend him a car with the Starbucks logo on the side. (Winter sleeps in his old car with no air conditioning when he goes on his frequent Starbucks road trips.) He's authentic, not a schlocky spokesthing. Make him a hero. Starbucks, your Jared is here."

Here at Brand Autopsy we have a different take on Winter becoming the "Starbucks Jared." We contend Starbucks should acknowledge Winter in an ongoing manner, just not in every conceivable way that Subway acknowledges and promotes Jared.

Someone like Winter is good for those folks who LOVE Starbucks - it makes those who visit 3x a day feel better because they can say, "At least I’m not that Winter guy going to ALL the stores… Now, that’s freakish!"

As Ben and Jackie have taught us, customer evangelists exhibit fanatical behavior (some more fanatical than others). Jared fanatically used Subway to better himself by losing 245 pounds. His actions of eating Subway sandwiches to improve his health plays into Subway's branding strategy of being a more healthy alternative to the other fast food chains. Jared is a credible* spokesperson/evangelist for Subway because his personal goals were/are more in line with the business/branding goals of Subway.

*(he's credible in a 30-second spot to the masses, but he is still only the 1 in 123 million who has seen results from a Subway diet. I'm sure the fine print reads -> "Individual results may vary. Not typical weight loss.")

Winter’s goal of visiting every Starbucks in the world is fanatical evangelist behavior. However, his goal does not mesh with Starbucks goals. Winter’s goal perpetuates the perception (and in many ways the reality) that Starbucks is ubiquitous, that Starbucks is everywhere. Starbucks is trying not to promote its ubiquity and that is why Winter wouldn’t make for a credible Starbucks spokesperson.

Winter would be a more credible spokesperson, along the lines of Jared, if he exhibited a passion for aspects of Starbucks beyond its massive reach such as Starbucks involvement in local communities, its coffee quality, its business practices, etc.

If you read Winter’s travel logs, you’ll notice that he admits to gagging and nearly vomiting after drinking too much Starbucks. (Ouch.) That behavior is not becoming of a Starbucks spokesperson. In fact, this conjures up images of Morgan Spurlock, of Super Size Me fame, and his McBurps, McNausea, and McRegurgitation after downing too many Big Macs.

Imagine if a documentary was made chronicling Winter’s journey … it could be called, “Ubiquitize Me.” (Double ouch.)

For the record, we think Starbucks should ACKNOWLEDGE Winter in an ongoing manner just not as Subway acknowledges Jared.

Instead of featuring Winter in marketing/advertising campaigns, we contend Starbucks SHOULD…

Empower Winter to fulfill his passion by sending him an updated quarterly roster of newly opened stores

Send Winter a personalized Starbucks Card (with his photo on it) and upload dollars to it on a quarterly basis

Invite Winter to Seattle to tour the Starbucks HQ, have a cupping with the Starbucks Coffee Dept., and have a cup of coffee with Howard Schultz

We also agree Starbucks SHOULD consider making a donation to a charity each time Winter visits a new store. (That is Jackie's great idea).

(In return, Starbucks should politely ask Winter to stop saying the coffee is making him sick).

That’s Brand Autopsy’s take … what’s yours?

Welcome to McDonald’s, may WE take your order?

Steven Bigari, a McDonald’s franchisee, has dramatically increased the efficiency of his 12 McDonald's by reducing its drive-through order time by 30 seconds to a little more than one-minute per transaction. (That’s well below the McDonald’s drive-through average order time of two-minutes thirty-six seconds.)

Plus, this McDonald’s franchisee has increased the number of cars his drive-throughs handle by 15% from 226 cars per hour to 260 cars.

“This transforms my business. It’s bigger than drive-through,” contends Bigari.

What in the name of the Hamburgler is going on here? How can a McDonald’s record such startling order-taking efficiency?

To achieve such efficiency, Mr. Bigari has done the seemingly radical … he has outsourced his drive-through order taking function to a call center in Colorado Springs.

Yes, he has outsourced order-taking at his McDonald’s to a call center.

“Cheap, quick and reliable telecommunications lines let the order takers in Colorado Springs converse with customers in Missouri, take an electronic snapshot of them, display their order on a screen to make sure it is right, then forward the order and the photo to the restaurant kitchen. People picking up their burgers never know that their order traverses two states and bounces back before they can even start driving to the pickup window.” [source: New York Times article from 7.18.04 (registration req’d)]

What has been the reaction at McDonald’s Corporate offices? McDonald’s is intrigued and has started a small drive-through call center test with three locations near its Oak Brook, IL headquarters. However, McDonald’s is focusing its resources more on other customer service improvement areas such as installing wi-fi access in its restaurants and introducing credit card/debit card payment options.

Pleased with the results of his order-taking outsourcing system, Mr. Bigari now offers customers the option of ordering from their table using a phone and parents watching over their kids in the playground areas can phone-in orders and have their food delivered.

Hmm … whattaya think about this? How do you think this would impact your “experience” at McDonald’s? As long as you get your order faster and more accurate, do you care if a “call center” takes your order?

I know one thing, out-sourcing the drive-through order taking function will make the “drive-through incoherent garble” a thing of the past … which is a good thing.

Further learning:
New York Times article on Mr. Bigari's drive-through call center
Brand Autopsy post on McDonald’s testing self-service kiosks
Fast Company article on self-service kiosks

BzzAgent BuzzKill???

Last week I was invited to participate in my first BzzAgent campaign. The campaign is for a new Visa card issued by the First National Bank of Omaha.

If you’ve been following Brand Autopsy, you’ve read my criticism of BzzAgent’s seemingly artificial process of seeding word-of-mouth and my intrigue in how the BzzAgent process can potentially help to turn less loyal consumers into more vocal evangelists.

So with great interest, I opened up my email invitation to participate in a BzzAgent campaign.

As I perused my email, a few words popped … One of a Card Visa … next generation of credit cards … fully customizable picture card technology … ability to change the image on the credit card up to four times per year … “Now, that’s a Bzzable credit card!”

After perusing, I paused and rephrased what I just read. Hmm … it’s an affinity credit card that I can personalize up to four times a year by putting a photo on the card. Okay … s-u-p-e-r.

Is this One of a Card credit card compelling enough to evangelize? There are other photo personalizable affinity credit cards on the market. And, why would I want/need to monkey around with changing the photo on my credit card up to four times in one year? The 7.9% APR for the credit card is good, but not good enough to be buzz-worthy.

I am not alone in my skepticism for the buzz-worthiness of this BzzAgent One of Card campaign. Since initiating the campaign, BzzAgent has received inquiries from their field of BzzAgents questioning the motives and the genuineness of the campaign.

On the BzzAgent blog, Dave Balter, the founder of BzzAgent, replied by explaining the thought process behind deciding if the One of Card was (a) buzz-worthy and (b) consistent with the values of the BzzAgent business.

His reply is fascinating and well worth reading. One has to respect Dave’s transparent look into the BzzAgent business. The comments from the BzzAgents in the field are also fascinating. The most poignant comment so far is:

“… stop using the BzzAgents to make money; use them to create the bzz from which money is made”

Wow! Poignant is an understatement ... that comment was downright lethal.

Further Learning:
For a primer on BzzAgent, read the Fast Company article from April 2004

Blog Bobbin’

Hugh, over at gapingvoid, riffs off The Cluetrain Manifesto with The Hughtrain Manifesto. I hope Hugh further explores his manifesto because he makes some chewy statements within the Hughtrain:

It’s all about smarter conversations. It doesn’t matter what the industry is.

It’s all about thriving in markets that are smarter and faster than you are. It’s all about being utterly f*cked if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

A brand is a place, not a thing.

The future of advertising is internal -- selling the company to the general public is a piece of cake compared to selling it to the actual people who work for it.

Great advertising has far more to do with how great your company is than which ad agency you hire.

A main tenant within the Hughtrain is the concept of kinetic interaction between customers and companies/brands. Or as Tom Asacker writes … it's about Customer Stimulation.

Recently, Seth Godin blogged about how the big and the small are colliding in business and confusing customers in the process. This big/small conversation reminds me of a poignant paradox:

The smaller you are, the bigger you must look.
The bigger you are, the smaller you must get.

Did you notice Laura Ries has started blogging? On her companion blog to the recently published book, The Origin of Brands, expect conversation about how divergence trumps convergence in the development of brands. For a primer on the “Origin of Brands,” read the PDF summary.

Vocation Vacation

Is your dream job to be a vintner? Or a fishing guide? A cattle rancher? How about a chocolatier? Sure, you may be a cubicle monkey today, but given an opportunity to have some on-the-job-experience you may be ready to ditch your dreary job for your dream job.

Vocation Vacations is in the experience business … the business of experiencing your dream job that is.

For a fee, Vocation Vacations will pair you with an expert mentor who will be your guide as you take your dream job for a test drive. A recent Marketplace radio report profiled a home brewer who, on his Vocation Vacation, spent the day shadowing and learning from the brewmaster at Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, OR.

From a marketing perspective, I view the Vocation Vacations concept as a potential Brand Evangelist Boot Camp where fanatical customers can spend a few days inside the company they so fervently follow.

This is taking the customer experience to a new level as the home brewer experienced by spending a day on the job at Full Sail. Now, he not only knows the story of Full Sail Brewing, he also has an emotional connection with the company. A connection he is sure to talk glowingly about for years to come.

Further learning:
USA Today article on Vocation Vacations

You’ve been Blogged!

Methinks I’m getting carried away with blogging.

Recently, in an email to a friend, I found myself replying in 100% BLOG-MODE. Somewhere innocently in the email was the question, “Is being visionary a good thing?” Like Pavlov’s blogging dog, I attacked the question with literary force and riffed back with a quick, logical, and well-reasoned answer.

It was a darn good blog. Problem was … it wasn’t supposed to be a blog, it was supposed to be a casual email conversation.

Unfortunately, my friend was bludgeoned by a blog. She was blogeoned! Fortunately, she suffered no serious injuries after being blogeoned except for a few minor scrapes and bruises.

(BLOGEONED ... take that Brand Examiner Paul … you term-coining idiom savant you!)

For the curious, below is my email reply turned blog on “Is being visionary a good thing?”

Being visionary is a double-edged sword. Sometimes you can be so visionary that others can't relate, understand, or even care. The Segway Human Transporter is a great example. Everyone will agree that the Segway is inventive and visionary. But this visionary "scooter" is so visionary that people can't relate to it, understand it, or even care about it. On the other hand, a simple visionary device like the iPod is an invention people can relate to, understand, and care about.

Whole Foods Market was/is visionary in the natural/organic foods arena. For many years, people outside of the core wellness audience couldn't relate, understand, or care about Whole Foods vision of changing the way the world eats by selling only natural and organic goods. But that has changed as more and more people can relate to, understand, and care about living a more authentic, tastier, and healthier life.

Now, Whole Foods is about to embark on another VISIONARY goal ... Animal Compassionate standards that go WAY BEYOND their currently high standards for how they require farmers and ranchers to raise their pigs, cattle, chickens, etc for human consumption. Fast Company's profile of WFM in their July issue touched upon this visionary animal compassionate goal. The double-edge sword for WFM is ... this visionary goal will come at a cost to consumers. The beef, chicken, pork sold under these animal compassionate standards will be HIGHER in retail cost. Will customers relate, understand, and care enough about this visionary goal to pay a higher price for their protein?

Many times people are too comfortable with their own box to think outside of it. That is the double-edge sword of being visionary.

The Shrinking Tenure of CMOs

If you work in the marketing department of a mid-to-large size organization, you have no doubt experienced the arrival of a Chief Marketing Officer parachuting in to rescue the brand by barking orders and acting as a supreme agent of change.

Six months later, the only changes are a severe drop in morale of the marketing department, drastic strategic changes in the marketing creative, and ultimately … the company CHANGES its mind and dumps the CMO. Sound familiar? (It does to me.)

Spencer Stuart, a global executive search firm, has recently issued a report on the shrinking tenure of CMOs. Their “CMO Tenure: Slowing Down the Revolving Door” report analyzes the performances of marketing execs of high-ranking brands to determine what is driving this trend and what can be done to reverse the CMO revolving door.

Interesting nuggets from this report include:

CMO Tenure Stats

Average tenure for CMOs: 22.9 months (at the top 100 branded companies).

Average tenure for CEOs: 53.8 months.

Only 14% of CMOs for top global brands have been with their present company for more than three years.

Nearly 50% of CMOs for top global brands are within 12 months of being on the job.

The Business Impact of Shrinking CMO Tenures

Companies often face financial hardship with incoming CMOs due to changing strategic marketing direction and to being out-of-the-market for an extended period of time.

Many times the new CMO challenges their predecessor’s strategy resulting in the current ad agency being fired or put into a tailspin of unproductivity.

The morale of the marketing department suffers greatly as the new CMO will many times bring in outside “hired guns” to lead the development of marketing strategy.

By bringing in an outsider to lead the marketing department, it raises questions regarding the career path for the company’s star marketers.

The Factors Driving the Shrinking CMO Tenure Trend

Misaligned performance expectations between the CEO, the CMO, the board of directors, the shareholders, and the media can cause major rifts within the company.

Over-promising and under-delivering by the CMO because s/he doesn't fully understand the complexities of the company’s business strategies and the challenges in navigating through operational issues.

A poor cultural fit between the ethos of the CMO and the company’s cultural credo.

Actions CMOs can take to Lengthen their Tenure

Incoming CMOs should speak with either the outgoing CMO or other former Sr. Execs to gain perspective on the company’s strategic direction and the reputation of the marketing department.

To build initial credibility, new CMOs can promote a few employees within the company who embody the “gold standard” of performance.

Convey a positive attitude towards the company’s prior marketing efforts and do not assume all previous work was off strategy.

Spend the first 60 to 90 days in assessment mode and then choose two or three impact areas to focus on for the short-term and the long-term.

Further Learning:
In Brandweek’s 2004 Superbrands special report, journalist Todd Wasserman explores if “… the cult of the star CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) has been good for business. Or do these marketers just ride in, make a splash – and leave behind a mess in their wake?” (Click here to download the PDF (69 pgs.).

Stop and Read the Condiments

Heinz is running it's second talking label "Say Something Ketchuppy" contest. As the promotional material reads:

Sometimes our label gets tired of saying "Tomato Ketchup" all of the time. We received a huge response from our first talking label contest, and now our ketchup is begging for more of your ideas. So make a joke about french fries or have some fun at the expense of mustard.

I needed to grab a new bottle of ketchup for my 4th of July dogs and took a moment to stop and read the condiments. I laughed out loud - at ketchup.

Heinz turned a chore of low excitement into something fun. I found myself moving bottles around on the shelf to find the label that I liked best.

I chose: WILL WORK FOR FOOD

Other labels include:

MEATLOAF ENHANCER

HIDES GRILL MARKS

You can find more talking labels on their website and contest rules are posted if you wish to enter.

Heinz has done a great job of making the common, uncommon. Yes, it's a teeny bit more expensive but, as they hoped, they make the picnic table a little more fun.

Also, check out the Jones Soda Company. They make common soda uncommon with exotic flavors and labels that feature images submitted by customers.

Happy 4th of July.

More on Music and Mochas

Mark, Scott, Hugh, Nathan, Simon, and Brand Examiner Paul's Mom all added interesting perspective with their comments to my original post regarding the Fast Company article on Starbucks reinventing itself through revolutionizing the retail music industry.

With their comments in mind, further exploration of "Music and Mochas" is in order.

Please don't misunderstand me, I applaud Starbucks for trying new things to make sure the brand stays relevant. The culture of Starbucks will never allow for complacency to seep in ... and that is a very good thing.

What I find presumptuous is that burning music CDs will reinvent the Starbucks brand and that Starbucks believes they are poised to revolutionize the retail music business.

It is still my contention that the brand does not need reinventing.

However, the Starbucks brand does need to remain relevant and I suggest Starbucks do this through evolutionary means and not through revolutionary ways.

There is still plenty of opportunity for the Starbucks brand to remain relevant and to further evolve the Starbucks experience by focusing on their core competency of coffee. I am not convinced that Starbucks should fall victim to lifestyle brand mentality and attempt to reinvent the brand by revolutionizing the retail music industry.

Starbucks has fallen victim to lifestyle brand mentality before. In the mid-to-late 90s, the thinking throughout Starbucks upper management was, "our customers have given us permission to branch out into lifestyle areas beyond coffee." This thinking lead to disastrous results including:

Mazagran - a failed carbonated coffee soda beverage from Pepsi and Starbucks.

Joe Magazine - a lifestyle magazine from Time and Starbucks that lasted three issues.

Café Starbucks - a full scale restaurant that never expanded beyond three locations in Seattle.

Circadia - a radically hipper version of a 'Starbucks' complete with a performance stage and alcohol coffee drinks. Circadia never connected with customers.

E-Commerce and Internet Portals - Starbucks forged online and offline partnerships with Cooking.com, Living.com, Kozmo, and a handful of other internet companies. (Of course, Starbucks wasn’t the only major 'bricks and mortar' retail chain to get caught up in the dot-com craze.)

Books - Starbucks partnered with Oprah Winfrey to sell Oprah’s Book Club selections as well as other books consistent with the 'Starbucks lifestyle.' After two years of sluggish sales, the partnership ended and Starbucks stopped selling books.

Reading, Writing, Rhythm merchandise assortment - a failed attempt to reinvigorate slumping coffee-related merchandise sales by focusing on odd lifestyle products such as pencil sharpeners, leather bound journals, desk clocks, and other fancy office accessories. This merchandise approach lasted 10 months.

Compare those failed revolutionary attempts to reinvent the brand with these evolutionary initiatives that have helped to bring new relevance to the Starbucks brand.

Frappuccino - Without cold blended coffee, Starbucks wouldn’t be the success it is today. Frappuccino created an entirely new coffee category for Starbucks that helped to drive coffee sales and increase traffic during the hot summer months where previously the business was soft.

Starbucks coffee on United Airlines - Before Starbucks was commonly available on every street corner, Starbucks partnered with United Airlines to not only improve airplane coffee, but also to sample the signature taste of Starbucks with millions of people who previously never had the opportunity to taste a richer, bolder cup of Starbucks coffee. (Admittedly, the relevance and importance of this partnership has faded since Starbucks has grown to nearly 10,000 locations world-wide.)

Bottled Frappuccino - Taking the lessons learned from the failed Mazagran soda experiment, Pepsi and Starbucks went back to the drawing board and developed a ready-to-drink milk/coffee beverage that tasted more like a familiar iced latte than an unfamiliar ice-cold carbonated coffee soda.

Whole Bean in Grocery stores - In the late 90s, Starbucks partnered with Kraft to offer whole bean coffee in the grocery channel … a retail channel where something like 95% of all coffee is purchased.

All of these successful initiatives clearly leveraged Starbucks core competency of coffee to bring new relevance to the Starbucks brand. And, they did it through evolutionary means and not by revolutionary ways.

"Sometimes you have to leave home to realize how sweet home really is." That was a quote from a senior Starbucks executive following the company’s last foray into failed lifestyle branded ventures. Which leads me to ask this question ... how far is Starbucks straying from home in their attempt to reinvent the brand by revolutionizing the retail music business?

I hope Starbucks remembers to bring some bread crumbs with them on their journey away from home …