Brand Fatale

In a 2010 study conducted by Harvard professor Bharat Anand, and Alezander Rosinski, they examined how the power of ads are influenced by the magazine or newspaper they appear in. By placing the same ad in the respected Economist and perhaps the less respected Huffington Post, they discovered that the more respected the publication, the more people would trust and recall the ad

As part of the experiment we'd asked our test family to adopt an environmentally conscious behavior. To assist them in this endeavor, we brought in experts to advise the family on changing their patterns of consumption. They taught them how to recycle and conserve. We wanted to see if it was possible to effect change amongst hundreds of families' daily routine by introducing new behaviors at the highest levels of trust--from the experts down. In other words, could a single family's environmentally conscious behavior set the standard for their social circle and thus create widespread change? The answer was a clear and resounding "Yes!" Close to 31% of the thousands of people affected by the experimental family changed their recycling and conserving habits.

Deep trust is communicated subconsciously. It's rarely expressed explicitly, nor is imparted loudly or didactically. To trust deeply not only can change our minds, but it has the power to alter our most ingrained behaviors. It's a subtle emotion that the average commercial message fails to embody

Stengel defined five areas where brands can potentially carve out such a position: "eliciting joy, enabling connection, inspiring exploration, evoking pride or impacting society."

Zappos, Trader Joe's, Amazon.com, Method, Red Bull, The Body Shop, Google, and SodaStream all built their brands without advertising. Their brand advocates are their marketing department. "We've built this entire business, and an entire category in fact, on the power of our brand advocates," says Kristin Harp, U.S. marketing manager at SodaStream, which turns tap water into sparkling water and soda.

the three most powerful social media companies--Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn--never spent a dime on advertising or paid people to recommend them. They didn't need to. Advocates used social media to recommend them to their friends.

You may spend millions of dollars on elaborate marketing campaigns. But there is nothing more powerful than a trusted recommendation from a brand advocate.

Almost all these "classic" brands fell out of favor many years ago, often being reduced to a single retail outlet. Yet in a country like China, where heritage, authenticity, and many things European are highly desirable, their obscurity didn’t matter. The simple fact that they were all founded in Europe in another historical time was enough for the brand-obsessed citizens to dig deep into their wallets, and spend big.

I asked a Chinese client who manufactures one of the largest clothing lines in the country when he thought it would be a good time for the company to adopt an international name. After all, very few people outside of China would be able to read, let alone pronounce the name. He looked at me, and with all seriousness replied, "It’s time for the Westerners to learn some Chinese." His is not an isolated attitude; rather it’s a widely held sentiment amongst Chinese senior management

In the same way that China has spent decades selling cheap non-branded labour to the world, when they decide to focus on creating strong international brands, it will undoubtedly be done the Chinese way. When it happens, it will be happening on their terms, regardless of whether you want it or not. 

Believe it or not, your prospects won’t remember how long you have been in business, how many trucks you have, or how big your building is, but they will remember how fast you responded to their request, or how your top sales person went above and beyond to help them. In fact, if your stories are crafted correctly, if they are about your prospects, and if they have elements of remarkable in them, your customers and prospects will share those stories with everyone they know.

This exercise isn’t only for marketing people. If you see the example above, operations, finance, sales and leadership need to be part of the conversation and the work to operationalize any remarkable aspect of your business.

However, rival Ford will continue its social media strategy. A spokesman said: "You just can't buy your way into Facebook. You need to have a credible presence and be doing innovative things."

"In terms of Facebook specifically, while we currently do not plan to continue with advertising, we remain committed to an aggressive content strategy through all of our products and brands, as it continues to be a very effective tool for engaging with our customers," GM said in a statement.

Consumers are increasingly comfortable posting a wealth of personal information online, and such digital extroversion certainly creates opportunities for marketers to effectively target and embed their appeals

All Tomorrow's Parties has been able to present itself as a brand that doesn't feel like a brand. It has done so by adhering to stringent values of independence. It is a point of pride that the festival doesn't have sponsors nor does it try to maximise profits at the expense of the fan.

Unlike most festivals, the promoters are not faceless. Barry, Deborah and other members of the small ATP crew personally respond to emails. They sign their names, give contact information and tell fans to come to them if there are any concerns. ATP fans feel like they have full access to promoters, artists and other festival attendees. The experience is the antithesis of being a faceless consumer feeling exploited or disrespected.

ATP has used the values of the independent community: anti-corporation, artistic integrity, intimacy, and equality for their commercial enterprise. The boutique festival makes participants feel like they are part of a small, egalitarian community, having a distinctive experience. All Tomorrow's Parties has created a successful alternative to the mainstream destination festival.

Today, what counts far more than a puma, a monkey, or a snarling aardvark is the cross-sensory experience your brand offers

I'm talking not only the emotion, beliefs, and desires your brand evokes, but its feel, touch, sound, smell and personality, of which the logo is just one small part

Whether it's a soda can, a car, a doll, a fragrance, a smartphone, or laptop, your brand needs to be smashable, e.g., instantly identifiable via its shape, design, copy, contours, and even navigation. Aside from adolescents, who are always on the lookout for the coolest logos to set them apart from, or help them gain traction with, their peers, today for most consumers the logo comes in near-to-last place to other considerations.

When tone of voice is consistent it allows the consumer another means of recognizing the brand and being reassured of expectations.

"Language is available to each of us," argues John Simmons, brand language evangelist and writer of several books on the subject. "Design is seen as a specialist life skill you have to acquire. Poor old language gets devalued because everyone does that, don't they?"

If a company's staff doesn't speak, write or behave in line with what the customer has been led to expect, then he will feel let down.

Of course then there are the brands that step into social media like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They crash our Facebook pages and pose as the tragically hip ordering the latest cocktail infusion at our neighborhood bar. When it comes to “being real or personable”, too many brands come off as cheap polyester versions of Leisure Suit Larry.

We’re sick of the self-promotional ego machinations. The brands we love, come with a personality, authenticity, and unique point of view.

marketers are often too busy chasing the dragon of aggregate click-throughs and response rates to really take notice of whether they’re actually connecting with people.