Brand Autopsy

Brand Credit or Brand Debit

Last week, MarketingProfs.com published an article from me on the concept of a “Brand Checkbook.”

This concept is simple ... just as your personal checkbook has credits and debits, a “Brand Checkbook” has credits and debits in the form of brand credits and brand debits. Brand Credits are business activities that enhance the reputation and perception people have of a brand, and Brand Debits are those that detract from the reputation and perception of the brand.

Back in the day when I was at Starbucks, we would use the “Brand Checkbook” concept to determine the appropriateness of marketing activities. If interested, read the MarketingProfs article or read Sam Decker’s riff on the concept. And yeah, you can also find this article as Tribal Truth #9 from some book called TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE.

re: Comment Authentication

The Brand Autopsy blog has been getting smacked with spam recently. And since I'm traveling a lot these days, I've turned on the Comment Authentication function to help curtail spam comments. Sorry to add an extra step in the commenting process. Hopefully this is a temporary thing.

Follow-Up | Tailoring the Ann Taylor Brand

Last year I summarized a lengthy Wall Street Journal article on the challenges facing the woman’s wear retailer Ann Taylor. At that time, Ann Taylor was in a rebuilding process trying to shore up sales at its higher-priced Ann Taylor stores all the while continuing to drive the success of Ann Taylor Loft, its lower-priced, more causal off-shoot brand.

Part of the rebuilding process included developing specific customer profiles of which customers fits the “Ann” persona and which ones the “Loft” persona. Every marketing and merchandising decision for these two similar, yet different, brands was based upon the two personas.

Hopes were high back in July 2005 that this branding work would result in better sales for Ann Taylor.

Well, Ann Taylor’s 2nd Quarter financials tell us sales are definitely stronger in 2006 than 2005. Year-over-year sales at Ann Taylor are up 6.4%. And at Ann Taylor Loft, year-over-year sales have risen by 14.2%. Overall sales and gross margins at these two retailers have also increased significantly.

The Wall Street Journal recently followed-up on this story by running an interview with Ann Taylor CEO, Kay Krill. In this piece, Krill discusses the evolution of the “Ann” and “Loft” persona work. She also gives five tips on reviving a fashion brand:

# 1: Know your client—not only what she wears, but how she lives.
# 2: Have an action plan, and have total agreement from the senior leaders who need to execute the plan.
# 3: Evolve. Retail is not a static business; there’s great danger in staying still.
# 4: Constantly communicate with employees at all levels.
# 5: Stay positive and optimistic.
SOURCE | Wall Street Journal article | Sept. 15, 2006

Web 2.0 Simplified for the Rest of Us

John Maeda’s 4th Law of Simplicity says "knowledge makes everything simpler." Consider me more “knowledged” about all this Web2.0 stuff from reading this simplified definition:

Web 2.0 is all the Web sites out there that get their value from the actions of users.

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SOURCE: InformationWeek
reSOURCE: Steve Rubel

Simplifying Simplicity

Simplicity ain’t easy but somebody gotta do it. And MIT Professor John Maeda has taken a few steps to simplify simplicity for all us business, technology, and design-minded folks.

In his blog and now his book, Maeda shares his highly-evolved but ever-changing Laws of Simplicity. Each law is implicit in its simplicity as the book is a shade over 100 pages. But don’t let the book’s skimpiness detract you from thinking it’s too small to matter. Maeda purposely kept the book short to follow-through on Simplicity Law #4 which states that "...savings in time feel like simplicity."

As Maeda notes in the book, “Simplicity and complexity need each other. The more complexity there is in the market, the more that something simpler stands out.” He continues by acknowledging the business benefits to ”…adopting a strategy of simplicity that will set your product apart.” Great stuff.

I found his First Law of Simplicity to be especially intriguing …

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LAW #1: REDUCE
"The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction."

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To help us thoughtfully reduce, Maeda introduces the SHE system. SHE stands for Shrink, Hide, and Embody.

By SHRINKING something, think Apple’s Nano, we automatically lower expectations about the ability of that something to deliver. It’s simple, the smaller the object, the lower our expectations. Thanks to technology, devices are getting smaller and smaller yet their ability to deliver gets greater and greater. Shrinking is a brilliant way to under-promise and over-deliver.

HIDING is another way simplicity is achieved. Maeda points to the clamshell design of cell phones as a prime example of how hiding complex features helps to simplify it. Open the clamshell phone and you can use it to make calls, stream videos, listen to music, text message, surf the Internet, etc. Hiding features like those allow people to discover the features they use on an as-needed basis. You only use what you need. You only know what you use.

EMBODYING simplifies complexity because the designer infuses the highest quality components and materials inside the object and allows for rich customer experiences to unfold one meaningful experience after the other. “Embodying an object with properties of real quality is the basis of the luxury goods industry and is rooted in their use of precious materials and exquisite craftsmanship."

Throughout the book, Maeda gives us lots of nuggets to gnaw on. Each Law of Simplicity is worthy of our time to spend hours thinking about. You can begin gnawing on some of these nuggets by visiting www.lawsofsimplicity.com.

And yes, THE LAWS OF SIMPLICITY is a way worthy book.

Flip-Flops, Mystery, and Marketing

Last year, Reef (a San Diego-based surfer wear brand) introduced a new flip-flop sandal. Ain’t nothing remarkable about that. But flip the flip-flop over and BAM!!!—something worth remarking about. A church key bottle opener! Yep, these flip-flops can flip the top off bottles.

According to a recent Adweek article (sub. req'd.), the church key-equipped “Fanning Sandal” has become Reef’s top selling shoe. Curiously, and smartly, Reef has abstained from mentioning the free prize* of the Fanning Sandal in marketing materials, except for a brief mention on its website.

The lesson for us marketers is that mystery lends itself to intrigue. Mystery lends itself to storytelling. And mystery lends itself to word-of-mouth marketing from all us Jane and Joe Schmos.

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* In the marketing world, a 'Free Prize' is the added bonus of a product/service which give us something to talk about. For example, the Chrysler Sebring comes with cup holders that keep drinks hot or cold. These temperature controlled cup holders are not the first reason someone would buy a Sebring, but they are probably the first reason why someone tells others about their new Sebring. Dig? Credit Seth Godin for the "Free Prize" concept.

I Feel for the Bud.TV Marketing Manager

So Budweiser is creating an online entertainment network called Bud.TV. Plans call for Bud.TV to have seven channels of programming ranging from comedy to sports to news to the now trite “consumer-generated media.”

Sure that’s interesting marketing stuff, but what I found more interesting were comments made by Tony Ponturo, VP of Global Media & Sports Marketing at Anheuser-Busch.

When asked by the Wall Street Journal (Sept. 13 issue) to talk about the dangers of emphasizing the measurement of marketing programs, Ponturo replied, “Companies, marketing departments and the top-level executives need to give a little room for experimentation. I don’t think you want to allow measurement to override creativity and the adventure of new media.”

The Wall Street Journal followed-up with a question asking Ponturo to talk about the traffic goals Anheuser-Busch has for Bud.TV. Ponturo replied, “So we are saying: ‘Can we be in six months what YouTube is?’ Bud.TV is unknown today, but with our marketing and awareness programs that reach is not an unreasonable objective for the first 90 days.”

This is where I feel for the Marketing Manager responsible for Bud.TV because s/he is setup to fail. By setting the success bar at equaling YouTube’s impact, Tony Ponturo is asking a lot of Bud.TV to accomplish from the get-go. YouTube streams over 100,000,000 videos a day and handles 60% of all videos watched online. Is it realistic to expect Bud.TV to deliver stats like that? I don’t think so.

Coca-Cola has similar widespread marketing and awareness programs to Budweiser. However, we recently learned Coke’s efforts to attract viewers to their online entertainment network, The Coke Show, have faltered.

Maybe Tony Ponturo should revisit his earlier statement saying companies should allow room for experimentation and not allow measurement goals to override the adventure of new media.

Tom’s Cool New Friend

It’s true … I have a man crush on Tom Peters. There, I said it. For proof, riffle through my Brand Autopsy category dedicated solely to posts riffing off of choice rants and raves from Tom Peters.

So I’m totally jazzed to be included as one of Tom’s “Cool Friends.”

Over on tompeters.com is an interview where I share some HMOs (hot marketing opinions) on Starbucks “Tribal Knowledge” and about how the book is really my “love story” to a company that meant so much to me as a person and as a marketer. Be sure to read how I get called-out for potentially undermining sales of Tom's "Project 04" book. Whoa, that caught me off-guard.

Click on the image below to read the interview...

Read the Interview

Do Talented People Need the Organization?

Dan Pink, author of A WHOLE NEW MIND, recently shared his perspective with Advertising Age (Sept 11 issue) on creativity. He touches upon lots of interesting issues, but I found the most interesting to be his perspective on the challenges advertising/marketing agencies are facing in hiring talent that is skilled with both left-brained acuity and right-brain ingenuity. Here's the snippet I found interesting ...

AD AGE: So you say people are being trained in the right-brain, creative skills, yet every marketer and agency I speak to is struggling to find talent that has a sufficient mix of left and right brain to thrive in the businesses we cover. Why?

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DAN PINK: ”That big agency or marketer needs you a lot more than you need them. I mean, what do you need now to reach potential clients? A phone, a computer with an Internet connection. Karl Marx said the revolution would come when workers can own the means of production.

Well, you know, now workers own the means of production.

Marx was thinking of factories, which are too large for one person to purchase. But he was sort of right, because if the means of production are your brain and your computer, you don’t need an organization. It’s cheap enough for one person to buy, easy for one person to operate and small enough for one person to house.

Maybe that explains the talent shortage. Talented people don’t necessarily need the organization.”

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Dan’s right. Given today’s environment where tools are inexpensive and widely available, the organization needs talented people more than talented people need the organization. Well said Dan … well said.

Week One Marketing Bloggers Fantasy Football

Last month I mentioned the formation of the Marketing Bloggers Fantasy Football League. The inaugural season has begun and the most anticipated game during week one involved Brand Autopsy against The Church of the Customer. (Brand Autopsy won in a close game.)

For a recap of week one action, including the Gillette “Close Shave Game of the Week” … check out sportscaster-wannabe Chip Brennerman’s report now playing on You Tube:

RSS readers click here to watch the video.

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Marketing Bloggers Fantasy Football League
WEEK ONE STANDINGS
1 – 0 | Brains on Fire
1 – 0 | The DIG Tank
1 – 0 | Airbag Industries
1 – 0 | Own Your Brand
1 – 0 | Viral Garden
1 – 0 | TrueTalk
1 – 0 | Brand Autopsy
0 – 1 | Fast Growth Blog
0 – 1 | UX Magazine
0 – 1 | Casual Fridays
0 – 1 | Church of the Customer
0 – 1 | Social Customer Manifesto
0 – 1 | Buzz Canuck
0 – 1 | Shotgun Marketing

Talking Shop with Jena McGregor of BusinessWeek

Last week Jena McGregor (BusinessWeek reporter) and I chatted about “authentic marketing.” This was in conjunction with the article BusinessWeek ran in its Sept. 18th issue detailing the recent marketing makeover at Safeway. You can access the audio of our conversation here but you might wanna familiarize yourself beforehand with the BusinessWeek story we reference in our chat.

BusinessWeek subscribers can read the article here, others can read the gist below …

The same-store sales pendulum at Safeway has swung from a negative 4.5% 2003 to a positive 4.3% in 2005. Safeway insiders are crediting its major renovation efforts as the reason for the dramatic change in sales.

Beginning in 2003, Safeway committed to spending billions of dollars to remodel all 1,775 of its stores. The remodeling efforts were more than just cosmetic as Safeway made a concerted effort to improve the quality of the food it stocks, as well as the quality of the experience it delivers to customers.

Perishables have been upgraded to include more organic offerings and exotic choices. Beef and poultry have been upgraded and the floral department has also undergone a significant quality upgrade. Additionally, Safeway enlisted the assistance of Orangetwice to remodel its stores to exude a much more authentic look and feel.

Safeway wisely waited until its stores were remodeled and its merchandise was upgraded before it began running its “Ingredients for Life” advertising campaign.

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In our conversation, Jena and I touch upon the importance of going inside/out when brands undergo the renovation process. We also discuss how Whole Foods Market and Starbucks Coffee have it seemingly easier when it comes to “authentic marketing.” Plus, I share my thoughts on a few steps traditional mainstream brands can take to tell a more authentic story.

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE
[17:29 minutes | 8.3 MB]
Jena McGregor & John Moore chatting about Safeway, Whole Foods, Starbucks, and "authentic marketing."

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The Results of Refuting versus Relishing

Remember how Coke refuted the WOM and Mentos relished the WOM from the Diet Coke/Mentos geyser viral video?

Coke refuted the word-of-mouth (WOM) by saying the experiment didn’t fit with the brand personality of Diet Coke and that they wished people would drink the cola and not experiment with it. Mentos, on the other hand, relished the estimated $10 million dollars in exposure from the viral video that cost the company nothing.

But the story didn’t end there. Despite shunning the Diet Coke/Mentos viral video, Coke tried to capitalize on the customer-generated media wave by revamping Coke.com into a groovy, viral video-heavy focused promotion called “The Coke Show.” The intent is to have Coke fans submit customer-created videos for all to see.

Mentos also capitalized on the momentum from the viral video but they decided to ride the wave and partner with YouTube.com to create the “Mentos Geyser Video Contest.” This contest asks people to submit their own video to creatively show what happens when you drop a Mentos into a bottle of 2-liter soda.

The results of Coke refuting and then creating their own thing versus Mentos relishing and creating a promotion that rode the wave of momentum from the Diet Coke/Mentos viral video are startling.

According to an Adweek article from Sept. 4th, “Mentos has attracted over 300 submissions, which have been viewed more than 400,000 times. The Coke Show, which wrapped up its first contest last week, got only 35 videos, with none getting more than 2,000 views.”

Whoa! There’s a big-time lesson to be learned here … capitalize quickly by riding an existing WOM wave and don't try to quickly create your own wave of WOM.

I agree with Walter Carl, Assistant Professor at Northwestern, who says that one way to meaningfully engage with customers is to “Look for WOM that is already happening.”

What if Coke had embraced the Diet Coke/Mentos geyser experiment and encouraged its customers to go beyond drinking the soda to experimenting with its soda. Think the results would have been different? I do. You?

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UPDATES:
(1) Ed Schipul, of BrandToBeDetermined, smartly riffs off this post by introducing the NIH Syndrome. (NIH stands for “Not Invented Here.”)
(2) Chuqui dives deep into marketing wonk thought by talking about “rolling your own” versus “partnering.”

Becoming an Employer of Choice

Nearly every business prides itself on being an Employer of Choice, but we all know that isn’t the case. I’m sure the muckity-mucks at Radio Shack (owned by the Tandy Corp.) have spoken about being an “Employer of Choice” ... but we know otherwise.

In a recent BusinessWeek column (sub. req’d), Jack and Suzy Welch gave wise advice for companies wanting to become a preferred employer. Here’s the gist of their advice.

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Setup: "… when you build a company where people really want to work, you’ve got your hands on one of the most powerful competitive advantages in the game: the ability to hire and field the best team.”

The Preferred Employer Checklist:

#1 | Preferred employers continuously offer their employees personal and professional growth opportunities from in-house leadership/educational seminars to outside training programs.

#2 | Preferred employers consistently appraise the performances of employees and reward accordingly with merit increases and promotions.

#3 | Preferred employers foster environments where employees are encouraged to take risks and be innovative even though they may fail.

#4 | Preferred employers are enlightened and respect the need to be diverse, globally aware, and sensitive to social matters.

#5 | Preferred employers have rigid criteria for hiring the right people. These companies know that when they hire the right person, they will in turn, will hire the right people.

#6 | Preferred employers are healthy businesses that are growing in size, stature, and profits.

SOURCE: BusinessWeek | “How to be a Talent Magnet” | Sept. 11, 2006

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TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE | ChangeThis Manifesto

Fresh from the oven is the TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE Manifesto available for downloading at ChangeThis.com …

ACCESS MANIFESTO HERE

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In many ways, this manifesto is how I originally intended sharing the business and marketing lessons I learned from working deep inside the Starbucks marketing department. It’s snappier, cleaner, and written with a greater sense of urgency than is the finished book.

You can think of the book version as a long-lasting and ohh-soo-satisfying Triple Grande Latte. While the TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE Manifesto is a deep and intense shot of Espresso designed to be consumed quickly but its flavor to last indefinitely.

I know many of you are longtime Brand Autopsy readers and we most likely sing from the same marketing hymnal. However, you probably know someone in the cubicle next to you or perhaps a friend you know is embarking down the startup business path—they could possibly use a shot of marketing adrenaline. So when you read the TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE Manifesto, be thinking about the people you should pass-it-along to inspire them to make meaningful marketing happen with their business endeavors. Deal?

For more on everything Tribal Knowledge-related, visit:

www.tribalknowledge.biz.

Thanks.

johnmoore
BRAND AUTOPSY

Speaking at an Austin AMA Luncheon

If you live in and around the badlands of Central Texas, come hear me speak on Tuesday, September 19th. I’ll be sharing my jumboSHRIMP Marketing presentation to the Austin chapter of the American Marketing Association. Hope to see you there.

Details...

Tuesday, September 19
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Westwood Country Club
AMA Members and students: $25.00
Non-members: $40
ONLINE REGISTRATION

The ‘P’ of Panache

In a just-published MarketingProfs piece, Ricky Gold spells out his 3 Ps of Marketing. Sure, outlining marketing ideals into alliterative Ps (or alliterative anything) has become somewhat tired and trite. Every marketing class in college harps on the 4Ps of the marketing mix from product, price, promotion, to placement.

What Ricky does that's different is including one of my favorite non-marketing words into the alliterative mix of Ps—PANACHE. Here’s how Rickey talks about panache in marketing …

For most businesses, when I refer to panache, I mean "that extra something." An edge. It might not even be anything you can define. Call it flair or spirit—charisma or energy. It's what makes people want to listen to what you have to say. Or see what you have to sell.

For more, read Rickey Gold’s super-snappy “Three Ps of Successful Marketing.”

From Consumer Reports to Consumers Report

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”Product reviews written by real people are perhaps the most underappreciated slice of the consumer-generated-media universe, the explosion of which has captivated the advertising and media worlds. But as marketers fixate on getting their virals on YouTube and making friends on MySpace, these relatively unsexy product write-ups have quietly become the most common form of consumer content -- Forrester [Research] puts it as the most-used form of peer-generated content -- not to mention the one with the most direct impact on purchase decisions." [SOURCE: Ad Age article, August 28, 2006]

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Used to be for product reviews and ratings we would turn to Consumer Reports magazine. Nowadays, more of us are turning to reports from actual consumers to give us guidance on products to buy and products to avoid. Could it that Consumer Reports is on its way out and Consumers Report is on its way in?

For a nice sum-up of the Ad Age article with sharp analysis, read T. L. Pakii Pierce’s take.

Props to MTR Design

I’ve updated and upgraded my online presence at brandautopsy.com with the help of Bulgarian-based MTR Design. Gone is the amateurish arts & crafts web design and in its place is a cleaner, more consistent, and much more professional look. Wander over and have a look-see at brandautopsy.com.

(MTR Design also did the work on my book companion website at tribalknowledge.biz.)

At every turn, Nikolay Nedev and his MTR Design team surpassed my expectations.

Tips on Magnetizing Luck

Written fourteen years ago in Liberation Management, Tom Peters shared 50 strategies on making luck happen in business. Many of them are just as chew today as they were yesterday. Thanks to recent a posting on Tom’s blog, we now have access to these ideas on getting lucky … PDF link.

I was struck with how some of Tom’s luck-finding strategies from yesteryear are exemplified heavily in today’s blogging/social media culture, including …

#18 | Listen to everyone. Ideas come from everywhere.

#28 | Start an informational deluge. The more real-time, unedited information people close to the action have, the more that “neat stuff” happens.

#34 | Spread confusion in your wake. Keep people off balance, don’t let the ruts get deeper than they already are.

#37 | Stir curiosity. Igniting youthful, dormant curiosity in followers is the lead dog’s tap task, according to Sony chairman Akio Morita.

#48 | Nurture peripheral vision. The interesting “stuff” usually is going on beyond the margins of the professional’s ever-narrowing line of sight.

SOURCE: Tom Peters, “The Pursuit of Luck” (.pdf) |Liberation Management

Brand Autopsy Mix Tape Vol. 1

Friends who know me know I have three passions in life—beer, music, and business. (Of course those passions are in no particular order.) When it comes to beer, I treat it like others treat wine. And while I do not play a musical instrument, I do play my stereo very well. As for my business passion ... it's shared everyday on the Brand Autopsy blog.

Since I can’t really share beer with you online (however, Gouden Carolus Grand Cru of the Emperor is a super-tasty beer), I can share some music with ya. So if you enjoy music with a whole lotta funk, dashes of jazz, and liberal amounts of soul, methinks you’ll enjoy the Brand Autopsy Mix Tape Vol. 1 over Labor Day weekend.

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DOWNLOAD AUDIO (16:08 | 11MB | .mp3)

TRACKS:
1 | “Size Large (for Larry Graham)” | Spaceways Inc. [Version Soul (2002)]
2 | “A Peak in Time” | Cut Chemist [The Audience’s Listening (2006)]
3 | "Thank You” | Kashmere Stage Band [Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974 (2006)]
4 | ”My Sweet Lord” | King Curtis (with Billy Preston) [King Curtis Live at the Fillmore West (2006)]