BrandKnew March 2014

Branding matters. Because branding matters.

Published by ISD Global

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03.14#23

07 09 13 Dear Friends: The year seems to hurtling past us, its already March and expectedly there is a spring in everyone’s step.

In keeping with that energy levels, this issue of Brand Knew brings in an array of features that excite, motivate and incite. Right from the The Global Retail Brand Store is Dead to the feature Dovetailing Reality, there is both introspection and prognosis in good measure. The Big Brand Theory and how Dell is walking that path will be of very good interest to our readers and so would the Infograhpic showing the Visual Design Trends for 2014. The How to Win over Customers: Lessons from 8 Rock Star brands will be treasured I reckon. For all those who believe disruption is the need of the hour, the feature on Writing Your Brand’s Obituary will reveal some grave truths. All this and more. Read, Relish, Respond. See you in the next issue.

Suresh Dinakaran @sureshdinakaran linkd.in/1dsjYaW

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bit.ly/1h95tgO suresh@groupisd.com

Managing Editor: Suresh Dinakaran Creative Head/Director Operations: Pravin Ahir Magazine Concept & Design/ New Media Specialist: Mufaddal Joher Country Head, UK: Sagar Patil Country Head, India: Rohit Unni Digital Marketing Strategist: Mark Cijo Associate: Brand Success: Andre Van Helsdingen Web Specialist: Prasanta Kumar Sahu Online Support: Mahendra Kumar Behera

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CONTENTS

The CMO Is Evolving Into New Species With Vastly Broader Range How To Win Over Customers: Lessons From 8 Rock-Star Brands The Global Retail Brand Store is Dead The Big Brand Theory: Dell Gets Intimate with Customers Steve McKee’s“Power Branding” and why brands can’t forget about humans Did Black and Decker lose a nut with its modernist redesign?

Infographic: visual design trends for 2014 5 Twitter Best Practices to Humanize Your Brand Five ways technology makes digital advertising accountable How Adobe Solved The Biggest Problem In Digital Font Design Rethink Your Branding to Create Crazy Love From Customers How Rovio wants to emulate Coca-Cola, Nintendo in brand development To Lure Customers, Appeal To All 5 Of Their Senses Dovetailing Reality Write Your Brand’s Obituary Book, Line & Sinker

The CMO Is Evolving Into New Species With Vastly Broader Range Big Data and Digital Demand Expertise in Both New and Traditional Areas of Marketing Rory Finlay , Dick Patton

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Scientists of evolution use the term cladogenesis to describe the division of an existing species into multiple lines -- thus creating new species -- often in response to radical change in the environment. Marketing appears to be going through a process much like this, right before our eyes. The 21stcentury CMO faces an explosively expanding range of options from which to branch out in new directions.

Seeking insight into how marketing is changing, we had conversations with dozens of CMOs and other C-suite executives, mined our firm’s ongoing study of marketing leadership trends, and tapped the direct observations of consultants across our global CMO practice. We found that the demands on marketing are growing far more eclectic, stretching marketing organizations and their leaders between divergent poles. The stretch is occurring across five critical axes:

Sophisticated Strategist vs.

Entrepreneurial Trailblazer.

Stable, mature markets offer large, reliable revenue streams, but competition tends to be fierce and growth potential is limited. Marketers must rely on intricate consumer insights and sophisticated strategies to eke out marginal gains. Emerging markets, in contrast, offer far less data to guide marketers, but far greater growth potential. The Entrepreneurial Trailblazer works creatively with what is available. In Africa, for example, more people have mobile phones than have access to electricity, and so mobile devices must be basic in design, to provide long battery life. As millions of Africans access the internet on a 2-inch cellphone screen, in black and white and text-only, marketers are skipping traditional TV advertising to move into the uncharted territory of advertising according to those parameters.

Business Leader vs. Marketing Guru.

Companies increasingly require a CMO to be much more than a marketing star. Today’s CMOs are expected to help the CEO shape overall business strategy and guide how resources are allocated across the business. Metrics are a key driver of this shift. Historically, measures of marketing effectiveness could demonstrate only that marketing investments had created potential for the business to succeed. Today’s metrics can quantify marketing’s contributions to the top and bottom line. This is accelerating the trend toward assigning chief marketers broad business responsibilities.

Joseph Tripodi, executive VP and chief marketing and commercial officer of Coca-Cola, is a prime example. Just look at his official company bio: “Mr. Tripodi leads the global Marketing, Customer Management and Commercial Leadership efforts of the Company to develop and leverage its capabilities, brands and properties to meet the needs of consumers and customers worldwide to drive profitable growth.”

When Avon announced the appointment of Patricia PerezAyala as senior VP, CMO and global brand and category president, it noted: “Ms. Perez-Ayala will be responsible for global management of Avon’s brand and marketing,

including consumer insights, commercial marketing, digital marketing, and also have oversight of Avon research & development, new product development and packaging, and the Liz Earle business.” Avon chose a proven general manager, with marketing at her core, to be its CMO. We foresee more companies seeking top marketing officers with general management experience, as well as impeccablemarketing credentials. The bar is being set ever higher.

Sector Specialist vs. Versatile Partner.

Companies have often presumed that a CMO must rise within their own industry or one closely related. But many CEOs now want CMOs to be a versatile partner who can help make sense of all that is unfolding in the wider world, not just within one sector. For example, Citi’s chief brand officer, Dermot Boden, had never marketed in the financial sector, having formerly served as global chief marketing officer at LG Electronics and in marketing roles with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. Greg Revelle, senior VP and CMO at AutoNation, is a similar story. Prior to joining America’s largest automotive retailer, Revelle was VP of global online marketing for the travel platform Expedia.com. Earlier in his career, he was an investment banking analyst at Credit Suisse. Boden and Revelle each bring functional knowledge and abilities that are valued as more strategically essential, in a rapidly transforming marketplace, than deep industry knowledge.

Innovation Champion vs. Shopper Expert.

Some organizations divide the role of the CMO into two areas of responsibility: an innovation champion focused on developing the pipeline for the future, three to five years out, and a shopper expert focused on delivering a P&L today.

The logic is sound, given that each role demands different strengths. The innovation champion makes the organization a wellspring of ideas and ensures that new ideas are protected.

The shopper expert builds deep, nuanced understanding of shopper behavior to deliver trial and repeat purchasing. Most CMOs are far more skilled at one or the other. But current and aspiring CMOs will need to acquire enough knowledge and experience outside their expertise to effectively lead both dimensions.

Digital Expert vs. Marketing Traditionalist.

The power of big data and digital marketing has created a rush to infuse traditional marketing teams with digital talent.

The danger is that freshly recruited experts in social media, SEO, analytics and other digital disciplines will fail to mesh with the traditional operation, with its expertise in areas like branding, promotion and product management. In effect, this creates two marketing functions that work in proximity, but not fully together. CMOs will be increasingly challenged to ensure that marketing is integrated and cohesive as its resident expertise grows markedly more diverse.

How To Win Over Customers: Lessons From

8 Rock-Star Brands Paul O›Connor The things that make us care about goods, services, and brands are shifting. It used to be that a successful brand conveyed authority and reliability (think General Motors or IBM); now it’s all about empathy. Technology used to attract us through specs and features; today it has to enable an experience. Even our perception of what makes a product valuable has shifted, to the point where a brand-new sound system or a dress like the one on the magazine cover is actually less desirable than something with a strong story attached. That can take many forms: a revived speaker from the ‘80s, a box of mystery items curated by a favorite brand, or an outfit chosen with the help of a trusted expert. It’s these stories--coupled with basic functionality that’s absolutely dialed in--that win people over in the long run. Here, we look at the innovation stories of eight key brands and reveal what, exactly, they got right in 2013--and what you can learn from them in 2014.

month throughout the year, and prompting Google to lay down more than $3 billion to purchase the company outright.

Nest estimates that almost 1% of all U.S. homes have installed one of their thermostats by now, and the company’s newer but equally well-designed smoke detector is showing similar numbers.

Uber Next-wave taxi service Uber, once the domain of tech-savvy San Franciscans, is now in nearly 70 cities, showing urbanites everywhere that hailing a cab can be predictable, civil, and comfortable. With global growth exceeding 20% per month,

FLAWLESS FUNCTION IS TOMORROW’S GREAT USER EXPERIENCE Sometimes the biggest upheavals come from the simplest places, like fixing an experience that everyone knows is broken. Even relatively small companies can manage to shake up very large categories, not by introducing a completely new product or service, but by optimizing what was already there.

Nest The outcome of using a Nest thermostat, the home-monitoring device developed by a pair of former Apple engineers, isn’t really any different from that of thermostats from 50 years ago. Despite its sleek, iPod-like appearance and array of sensors, the puck-shaped device is still just a way to control temperature. Yet its intuitive interface and predictive

and total annual fares topping $100 million per city, Uber is being held up as Silicon Valley’s most exciting company, prompting some more enthusiastic analysts to predict it will soon be more valuable than Facebook. Not bad for a service that essentially replicates what taxi companies have been doing for a century--but does it better.

BRAND LOYALTY IS HOW WE ESCAPE DECISION FATIGUE Subscription services have been around forever, primarily for print and online publications, and less commonly for food, consumables, and physical goods. One model that really blew up in 2013 is the brand-based product subscription service.

algorithms have made it both a design phenomenon and a huge commercial success, selling around 50,000 units per

EVEN SMALL COMPANIES CAN SHAKE UP LARGE CATEGORIES

BY OPTIMIZING WHAT’S ALREADY THERE.

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Birchbox and Quarterly.co

Birchbox, a company that sends out monthly boxes of beauty and grooming supplies, claims more than 400,000 regular subscribers just three years after launch. Its European sister site Glossybox grew to similar popularity in an even shorter period of time. More recently, Quarterly.co has taken the subscription concept a step further, delivering products every three months picked by a range of curators, including style expert Nina Garcia and Make Magazine founder Mark Frauenfelder, or brands like quirky L.A.-based Poketo.

TODAY’S SMARTEST BRANDS KNOW HOW TO LEVERAGE BOTH THE POWER OF ANALOG AND OUR DESIRE TO CHANNEL OUR INNER HANDYMAN. What’s remarkable about these, and dozens of other product subscription services is that they’ve convinced people to lay down serious money--sometimes several hundred dollars a year--for goods that someone else is choosing, which runs counter to the customer-is-in-control mantra we so often hear. The thrill of discovery is part of the appeal, but there’s also the thrill of not having to decide: when you’re bogged down by decision fatigue, latching onto a person or brand whose choices you trust can feel like liberation. Even if you have no use for a box of candy-colored paper straws.

REPAIR AND REPURPOSE ARE THE NEXT KILLER APPS The recent proliferation of makerspaces, hackathons, and DIY-oriented events like Maker Faire suggests that repairing and repurposing are being actively embraced as mainstream pursuits--not just a way to be frugal, but a form of expression and creativity. At the same time, we see increasing evidence of analog technology’s appeal, even when it’s driven by digital media, as evidenced by the wild popularity of Instagram and the continued growth of the vinyl record industry. Today’s smartest brands know how to leverage both the power of analog and our desire to channel our inner handyman.

The Vamp The Vamp is a device that resurrects dead speakers, which isn’t as strange as it sounds. Essentially a small, batterypowered amp with Bluetooth reception, the cube-shaped Vamp is designed to sit on top of an old speaker and feed the speaker signals received from your smartphone or laptop.

TECH COMPANIES TRY TO BEST COMPETITORS WITH THE FASTEST PROCESSOR OR THE HIGHESTRESOLUTION DISPLAY. MOST CONSUMERS DON’T REALLY CARE. The device’s Kickstarter video features its designer, Londonbased Paul Cocksedge, professing his love for old, boxy audio gear, and appealing to the hacker and tinker in us all, as well as that jolt of eco-satisfaction we all get when rescuing something from the garbage heap. The campaign has been an unqualified success, raising three times its initial funding goal.

TECHNOLOGY MOVES TOO FAST TO CARE ABOUT It’s all too easy for tech companies to mindlessly chase superlatives--to try to best competitors with the fastest processor or the highest-resolution display. The thing is, most consumers don’t really care. As we wrote earlier this year, “The Internet runs on an alphabet soup of languages and protocols, and only a slim population of early adopters count pixels or processor speeds anymore. The rest of us just want to know what it’s like to use.”

Moto X The Motorola/Google partnership that produced the Moto X smartphone is remarkable for several reasons, including the phone’s “always on” voice recognition, the unique Motomaker interface that allows shoppers to customize it before ordering, and the fact that it’s assembled in the United States. But one of its most striking features is what it doesn’t have: an ultra-high-res display.

Just three years earlier, Apple wowed the technology world by doubling the resolution on the iPhone 4, calling the result “Retina display.” Digital cameras experienced a similar trend in the early 2000s, with manufacturers racing to cram in more and more megapixels, until image sizes became gargantuan, tech writers started to rebel, and manufacturers began to rein in their resolutions. Yet when the Moto X was released last year with a resolution of “only” 1280 x 720 pixels, critics were quick to call it out as a liability when held up to higher-res competitors like the HTC One or Samsung’s Galaxy S4.

The critics may have been surprised that Moto X’s display didn’t seem to impact sales at all, or that when the iPhone 5 came out the following month, it boasted the same 1280 x 720 resolution. Moto X also drew heat for using dual core processors, dismissed by some as “last year’s technology,” yet reviewers have been quick to point out that actually using the smartphone is a genuine pleasure, not because it revs faster,

Crew’s decision to focus on personal service and customer relationships. Case in point: the Very Personal Stylist service, launched in late 2012, which uses in-store tablets to tell detailed video “stories” about various clothing articles to shoppers, and hooks them up with professionals who can put together an outfit or take care of holiday shopping--all free of charge.

Domino’s Domino’s “Pizza Tracker” infuses the late-night pizza order with story and personality. Besides letting customers place their order online, and create Pizza Profiles to shorten the process, the Tracker graphically charts the progress of your order, tells you exactly what time it left the kitchen, and in some cases even gives you the name of the person who made

A GENERIC BRAND CAN DIFFERENTIATE ITSELF

BY

TELLING

A

STORY

THAT

EMPHASIZES HUMAN INTERACTION.

but because its interactions are so thoughtfully designed.

The phone’s sales numbers have been solid, if not stunning, helping to revive a once-dismissed mobile brand, and setting the stage for a resurgence in Motorola-built Android phones--including the current darling of the category, the Droid Maxx. For consumers, these developments suggest that GHz, DPI, and other metrics are increasingly taking a back seat to user experience.

it. The Tracker also opens up avenues for human interaction, encouraging customers to leave notes for the pizza makers, some of whom develop personal followings. This feeling of being able to chat with the kitchen staff and watch them work is part of the appeal of small, non-chain restaurants; Domino’s has managed to bring it into the most formulaic chain-store food experience imaginable.

LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE If there’s one thing the examples above have in common, it’s that they are acting with the mentality of a small upstart: fast, nimble, and hungry. Some are actual startups, like

NARRATIVE IS A DELIVERY VEHICLE FOR MAKING IDEAS STICK Everyone loves a good story. Even long-established brands, which generally don’t spring to consumers’ minds as new and now, can sweeten their offerings by infusing their brands with a compelling narrative. A generic brand can differentiate itself by telling a story that emphasizes human interaction.

J.Crew J. Crew has been around since the early ‘80s, but has recently entered something of a design-driven golden age, that’s seen its revenues more than triple since 2003, and inspired fans to start blogs that do nothing but sing its praises--a far cry from its early days as a preppy alternative to Gap or Banana Republic. A more idiosyncratic, fashion-forward aesthetic played a big part in this, but even more important was J.

Vamp; others are large corporations breaking with previous patterns by taking a page from the startup world, like J. Crew and Motorola. We’ve spent the better part of the last decade training ourselves to believe that an existing brand must behave in very specific ways that are “authentic,” and that authenticity means not changing. In 2014, they’ll realize that being “on brand” may be the very thing holding them back.

Among big companies wondering where their big innovation in 2014 will come from, the smart ones will realize they need to disrupt themselves before a competitor does it for them.

2014 will be the year when established brands intentionally start acting unlike themselves, rather than acquiring small companies that have what they don’t. Instead of asking “what would (insert founding visionary here) do,” they might ask instead what that visionary would do if he or she were starting up the company today.

The Global Retail Brand Store is Dead Joe McCarthy

Jean-Marc Bellaiche, BCG senior partner, New York. “We believe that the global store is dead.

“Brands can be both more localized and globally very consistent,” he said. “Luxury players can offer some specific events or products in, for example, the New York City store versus their Shanghai store, while still being consistent with specific events/products that are fully aligned with the brand DNA.” BCG’s “Shock of the New Chic” report measures the current luxury status and growth potential of the world’s 550 richest cities as defined by GDP per capita and draws survey data from 10,000 core luxury consumers in 10 countries.

New face for each place Complexity has entered the luxury space through changing demographics that favor new models of “reciprocal” marketing, evolving technology, maturing markets and other variables.

NEW YORK – New York and Milan were among the global cities ranked as “understored,” meaning that there there are too few stores to meet consumer demand, while Beijing, Bangkok and Chengdu, China were among the global cities ranked as “overstored” in a new report from the Boston Consulting Group.

The “Shock of the New Chic: Dealing with New Complexity in the Business of Luxury” report asserts that consumer interests are fragmented along far too many lines for a brand to have identical stores in different locations. Also, the nomadic nature of luxury consumers forces brands to reassess the nature what each store should achieve.

“If I had to simplify in one word, I would say complexity,” said

As consumers and markets climb up the maturity ladder, there is a movement from tangible objects such as cosmetics, watches and bags to fleeting experiences.

For brands dependent on retail sales, this means that each store should have a different atmosphere, product assortment and purpose to foster unique experiences.

Companies can no longer rely on homogeneous global campaigns. Instead, brands should adopt a granular and hyper-responsive approach to retail spaces, according to BCG.

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BCG suggested that brands add more retail locations in cities such as New York and Milan to account for waves of tourism, while many Asia-Pacific cities were deemed to be filled with too many stores.

More discerning Additionally, consumers are becoming less deferential to brand opinions and prefer to gather recommendations from social media and word of mouth. Forty-four percent of global purchase decisions are influenced by word of mouth and social media.

BCG emphasized that a store in New York should have a different product assortment than a store in Houston. After all, consumers in both these cities have distinct shopping patterns and if the store is shaped in a way conducive to these patterns, then sales will likely rise.

Also, the shopping habits of tourists must also be factored in, adding further complexity to the equation.

Among Brazilian and Chinese consumers, more than 50 percent of luxury goods are purchased abroad. Consequently, store locations within these countries may benefit by acting as showrooms and introductions to the brand.

Fifty-three percent of of surveyed consumers said that the Internet influenced recent purchases. Seven percent made purchases purely online, eight percent researched in-store and purchased online, while 38 percent of those surveyed said that they researched online and made a purchase instore.

While this research challenges the traditional role of retail spaces, brands have tremendous room to grow if they are up to it.

“Experience in-store is becoming increasingly important, but it can complement selling a product,” Mr. Bellaiche said.

“For example, customization and following the process of building your own product can combine both objectives,” he said.

The Big Brand Theory: Dell Gets Intimate with Customers Ric Dragon In one of those iconic technology company-started-in-adorm-room stories, Michael Dell saw that there was value to be created in selling computers directly to consumers. In the early 80’s, that simply wasn’t the way of the world, and for the eponymous Dell, the insight would result in one of the most successful businesses of our age.

Today, the ethos of customer intimacy is embodied in the brand’s approach to social media. According to Amy Heiss, Global Program Manager for Social Media Training and Activation (SMaC U) at Dell, the emphasis isn’t on everyone learning to engage on social. “Instead,” she said, “we do think everyone should be listening in social. We certainly feel like there is an opportunity no matter what your role is; no matter what your business unit you’re a part of, to connect more closely with your customers; hear what they’re saying.”

The organization provides training to any Dell employee regardless of their grade level or tenure. Training is provided so that at the very least, each employee understands Dell’s point-of-view in social media, policies, overall corporate strategy, and how social media is used to talk about the brand - and then how all that is different from using social media at a personal level.

The training covers everything from how to amplify Dell’s

messages to the software and tools that are made available within the company. There’s also a real emphasis on how each individual can use social to really listen to and connect better with customers.

The listening part is really emphasized. If employees were simply encouraged to use social media more frequently, it might lead to a lot of useless chatter.

By focusing on listening, though, the emphasis is on connecting more closely with customers.

Heiss added, “whatever business unit you’re part of, we want you to have social media as part of your DNA.” When an employee hears something on social that they feel is relevant, whether it’s good or bad, they’re encouraged to bring it to the attention of the organization’s Digital Command Center team. Dell also uses SalesForce Chatter to encourage social media usage within the company.

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Listening, Joining, and Leading.

Everyone is considered a brand ambassador at Dell, even at the lowest level. Within that world, though, there are several levels:

Employee Advocates These are people who’ve gotten some training, and use their own social profiles or blogs to talk about Dell. They’ll usually use the hashtag #Iwork4Dell, so that they can disclose their association with the brand. Alternatively, the employee might use an account with the Dell name, as Heiss herself is (https:// twitter.com/AmyHatDell).

Subject Matter Experts Subject Matter Experts are individuals who are designated as such not for their expertise with social media, but because of their role within Dell, such as a brand manager or product lead. Once trained, they earn one of Dell’s creative acronyms, “Social SME” (Social Subject Matter Expert). Heiss explained, “They’ll get specialized training, and access to tools like Appinions. We’ll point them in the right direction to the influencers for their products, service or area of expertise; get them in the right communities, talk to them about which hashtags they should be using, and really improve their social presence overall.”

#SocialExec Program For individuals at the executive director level and above, Heiss’s team provides a highly customized and extensive level of training called the #SocialExec program. Executives are provided with customized training modules, crafted to the individual’s Klout score and social footprint. The training

will included information about which communities should be joined, hashtags, how often they should post, and where.

Dell also employs an outside agency, Ajax Workforce Marketing to assist each individual with their LinkedIn Profile.

Heiss noted that it’s very easy for executives of a technology company to get accustomed to speaking in their own language - thus this training is helpful to getting executivess speaking the language understood by the customer.

Members of the #SocialExec program are provided with access to content curation tools like Everyone Social to help individuals craft the most relevant information in their own social stream.

Success How does Dell know if they’re successful? Dell has a strong culture of measuring everything, so you can be sure that they’re measuring their own social media success. While Heiss spoke extensively on the ways that Dell is tying social media to revenue, it was clear that the organization sees beyond those metrics that are directly tied to any particular sale.

Dell has developed a series of social scorecards, used across the organization and for each program. The scorecards include measurements of engagement, social footprint, and even Klout scores.

Fortunately, because of the Dell culture and philosophy towards social media, the scorecard approach is being shared at various industry events, where Dell thought leaders frequently speak. The scorecard approach to measuring social media impact is one tool almost any company could use to gain greater value from social. In the process, they’re sure to also gain great customer intimacy resulting in greater value for customers and companies alike.

Steve McKee’s “Power Branding” and why brands can’t forget about humans James daSilva

“Branding” has a way of bringing out the cynicism in people, especially when it comes to personal branding (see how the not-so-similar sites Gawker and Harvard Business Review recently gave the side eye to Tom Peters’ manifesto “The Brand Called You“). Branding from a corporate standpoint doesn’t necessarily fare much better, with consumers considering most brands to be nonessential and lacking in honesty.

Part of this is that branding often comes across as impersonal.

It’s not an exchange; it’s a tactic marketers use to separate you from your dollars. The target is just a data point, or a collection of data points, a thing to be acquired or ignored depending on how it matches the brand’s goals. It’s an exercise ostensibly involving humans but lacking humanity.

Steve McKee‘s book, “Power Branding: Leveraging the Success of the World’s Best Brands” (January 2014, Palgrave Macmillan), isn’t going to solve those problems — that’s up to us. But his book rightly aims to refocus branding and brands on the importance of humans and humanity. Throughout, you’re reminded that humans are doing the marketing, brands are a reflection of human effort, actions and emotions, and that brands are worth nothing if they don’t connect with and excite humans — and do so in legitimate ways that are respectful of the customer’s intellect and boundaries.

So, what does the book actually say about branding? McKee starts with the value of brands, how they can appreciate over time despite being intangible, and how B2B brands such as IBM and Cisco can be as valuable as the better-known B2C brands such as Coca-Cola.

If there is a thesis statement for why a book on better branding — and better branding IQ — is needed, McKee provides it in the introduction: Branding is anything but lightweight, but too few companies intentionally manage their brands as the valuable corporate assets they are. Sure, all organizations do their best to be honest, to offer highquality products, to provide responsive service, and to do whatever else will enhance their reputation, knowing that the way they do business affects the value of their company. But not all understand that the way they manage their brands can significantly impact the value of their business.

The book is heavy with examples of branding done right — or wrong — but generally avoids the common mistake of leaping from the specific (this company did this!) to the general (all companies should do this!). If you’re skeptical of anecdotal accounts, you may object to certain examples, but the leaps are small and infrequent, and the citing of data

and research is plentiful.

The book is also helpfully divided into the main questions of journalism — who, what, when, where, why and how.

McKee reorders them, starting with brands asking the question “Why?” and divides the book into sections on the other questions. Each section has short chapters to address the wide landscape of branding, specific best practices and examples. And if you are prone to schadenfreude, the last section, “Whoops,” details plenty of big-time branding mistakes — as well as what lessons you should take away after you’re done laughing.

The layout of themed sections with short chapters is a good tactic and helps smooth the read, though when I saw there were 70-something chapters, I initially felt a bit overwhelmed.

In a sense, this may not be a book to read cover to cover in one sitting; it’s a book that’s available as situations arise or as you reach different stages of your own branding process.

I’m not a salesman or a marketer, and so I can’t evaluate the book or the arguments as an insider. But like millions of other professionals, I’m not divorced from those camps. Every day, my job is, through my editing, to persuade audiences of professionals to open SmartBrief e-mail newsletters, to click on the links (and the ads!) and to continue to trust that when you get a SmartBrief newsletter, you’re getting the best selection of need-to-know news, and quickly. That is a relationship of trust in a brand, difficult to gain and more difficult to regain if lost.

Marketing may be a necessary evil; branding may be a buzzword. But what I got from McKee’s writing is that marketing and branding can be more than that. Done right, they can be the expression of people’s actions and values, of product quality and business intelligence. After all, we all want customers, we should want the right customers, and we need them to not only repeat their business but to want to tell others about us. If we can’t convey, intelligently and honestly, our excitement and belief in our brand, how can customers advocate for us?

With that in mind, approach”Power Branding” as a book about building great brands and relationships that will help you properly deploy strategy, data and tactics not just with effectiveness and efficiency, but also with empathy.

Did Black and Decker lose a nut with its modernist redesign?

Zachary M. Seward Black & Decker would now like to be known as BLACK+DECKER, part of a corporate refresh that aims to “modernize the brand.” The American toolmaker’s new logo is definitely sleeker. Below is the before (left) and after (right):

The new packaging almost looks… fake.

The redesign is most striking in the real-world context where most consumers will first encounter it. Doesn’t this power drill look a bit like it’s from the future?

As Quartz’s Christopher Mims noted (the rest of this piece is drawn from chats and tweets with my colleagues) the modernist aesthetic seems like an attempt to shore up Black and Decker’s market position in the face of lower-cost competitors like Ikea, which sells an electric screwdriver for $25. The list price of the tool pictured above is more like $89.

It’s reminiscent, actually, of Tropicana’s ill-fated redesign of its orange juice cartons in 2009. The new look wasn’t bad at all, but customers found it generic, a reminder that there’s a fine line between sleek and soulless.

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20 Still, the Black and Decker redesign, by New York-based Lippincott, appears to be an improvement; it received a mostly favorable review from the influential brand design blog Brand New. The site also included a nice history of the company’s hexagonal nut logo, which didn’t survive the latest refresh. Heather Timmons said the original one, introduced in 1921, “says ‘farm to table,’ ‘I made it myself,’ and ‘quality handicrafts’ all in one.”

David Yanofsky thinks the plus sign in the new logo is a reference to a Phillips head screw. (I’m not so sure.) Jason Karaian said the switch from an ampersand makes Black and Decker resemble an architectural practice and adds,

Perhaps the most interesting choice Lippincott made was the logo’s kerning, or the spacing between letters. From the Quartz chat room:

Yanofsky: disagree the Cs are miskerned

Mims: every single letter in that logo lines up with the one above or below it, along its left edge and yet the kerning doesn’t look weird on either the top or bottom word that is a kerning miracle some designer accomplished that and was like “my existence is validated” if you stop looking at the words, this is an extremely nice logo, in my opinion like, I wonder if part of the reason for the rebrand was they’re trying to make the brand more international… in which case it’s more about the form of the letters, for non english speakers?

Mims:

Yanofsky:

one C on the bottom is centered under the A above it

that kerning isn’t everything it’s made out to be

which they had to do so it wouldn’t look like DEC KER

look at “BLACK” on its own

so what this is all proving is that this logo is a master class in the kind of compromises designers make to create a harmonious logo

Yanofsky: more like B LACK #amirite

Mims: the kerning only works in context cutting it in half like that nicely illustrates the balance it only has when taken as a whole

i’d frame it as logo’s aren’t perfect

Mims: true but this dissection has been fascinating would make a great quartz piece

Infographic:

visual design trends for 2014 Susan Billinge,

Shutterstock has published its global trends infographic – a snapshot of purchasing habits over the past year across the UK and the rest of the world and a guide to design trends to watch out for in 2014.

seen the biggest rise in popularity, closely followed by transportation videos, cityscapes amd 3D renderings.

These are the images designers are searching for, inspiring creativity across the web, illustration and fashion around the world.

While Japan and India favour traditional images of local culture and art, the west is going for industryrelated searches. In the UK, most searches are for infographic elements. Canada wants conceptual icons and the US favours pictures of business and technology.

Meanwhile, when it comes to colour, Russians choose vivid tones, while in China pastel shades are preferred.

Trends vary between country but globally three major, but very different, creative trends are springing up.

As the popularity of Instagram increased last year, so too did searches for filtered pictures. “Instagramesque” image searches grew 661% in 2013. Expect to see more of these used across creative industries throughout 2014.

Complimenting this trend is a category described as “authentic”, characterised by “real-life” people caught in candid and emotive situations. Related searches were up 347% last year. Alternatively, flat designs are also proving popular. These images, influenced by UI design, have experienced a 200% increase in demand in the past 12 months. They look great on mobile platforms, as acknowledged by Google and Bing, which have both redesigned their own logos to make them appear flatter.

The demand for high-quality video footage is described as”skyrocketing” by Shutterstock. Education clips have

Local trends

Searches on the rise Cinema and TV is continuing to influence trends.

Searches for The Great Gatsby increased 625% last year and The Winter Olympics and the Football World cup are both expected to boost demand for topical images. Other terms experiencing a surge in popularity are 3D printing, responsive design, and cute pictures of babies and animals.

Most social What’s being shared on social media? Pictures of Landscapes and images with vibrant colour are leading the charge. Typographic quotes are also popular, as are “simple” images of objects and photos that show depth of field. Look out for them across social channels.

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5 Twitter Best Practices to Humanize Your Brand Monica Jade Romeri Bringing a human touch to your Twitter activity will be welcomed and appreciated by your followers and likely help you earn a broader social audience.

Over-automating your Twitter presence Twitterhumanize -your-brandand spamming your followers in hopes of expanding your reach and influence is a major faux pas.

Your prospects want to know that they are interacting with a real human being behind your brand, so conducting your brand presence like a robot will not do you any favors. Although the power of social media is found in being genuine with your audience, many brands continue to devalue the worth of authentic, human interaction. Give your presence on Twitter a personal touch to make your brand seem more likeable, human and accessible. Humanizing your brand may be the quickest route to Twitter marketing success. A human brand can foster trust, help establish new connections, encourage genuine relationships, and ultimately advance your business and industry influence.

1. Know and Understand Your Audience Who are your prospects, and what are their primary concerns and objectives? Speak to their needs—providing vital industry insight and thought leadership. Be forthcoming about how your prospects can learn more; inbound links and dedicated landing pages can be helpful to them and very rewarding for you in terms of increased social lead generation and conversion.

2. Perform Content Curation Find unique yet relevant, high-quality content to share with your Twitter audience. Providing a wise selection of industryleading content is likely to increase your reach, influence and social lead generation. Curate content based on quality and relevance to prevent information overload and increase your relative value on Twitter. Relevant, educational information from trusted and respected sources is always well received and will be highly shared by your followers.

3. Practice the Virtue of Listening You really need to listen more than you talk on Twitter. Your ideal prospect may be quite different from the people who are following and talking to you directly on Twitter. Use social listening software to monitor conversations; there are many social media tools, which you can use to listen and analyze the demographics of your Twitter following. Examine the Twitter lists that you and your brand are being put on; it should

shine a light on how you and your content are being received on Twitter.

Also, pay attention to relevant industry trends and hashtags, which can help amplify your reach. It is important not to use Twitter for loud, one-way discussion about only yourself. If you would not do it in person, do not do it on Twitter.

4. Join or Host a Twitter Chat Tweet chats are a great way to make new connections, find new information, increase your brand awareness and help you make great strides in understanding the way Twitter functions. Be friendly and professional, while providing useful information to your audience. Answer all questions to the best of your ability.

5. Be Yourself You are unique, and your brand should be as well. Letting your personality shine through in a good way on social media is conducive to new relationships. Do not simply copy your competitors. They may not have a sound social media strategy, and their prospects and buyer personas may be significantly different than yours. Originality in social media presence and content is paramount; authenticity cannot be faked.

When your followers have questions, always reply in a prompt and friendly manner. If you take too long to respond, it will look like you do not care, and your authenticity will be called into question. You do not want this to happen. Expand your social audience by promoting a conversational and genuine report. The more your Twitter audience publicly talks about your brand and shares your content, the more your reach and exposure are amplified. Introductions happen naturally, when you tweet content, reply to tweets and thank your followers. Genuine engagement can help you form new relationships, increase your reach, and incite greater social media lead generation and conversion.

Five ways technology makes digital advertising accountable

Nick Reid “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” John Wanamaker’s prophetic quip was, until recently, basically as true now as it was then.

3. The distinction between TV and digital video is blurring.

Thankfully, that’s no longer the case. Advertisers (especially within the digital realm) have long been challenged to verify how effective their ads are – and by and large, they have failed. Fortunately for everyone, technology finally caught up – and the implications are impressive.

Almost half of all smartphone and tablet owners use their devices while watching TV, and nearly a quarter of them stream video simultaneously. In addition, audience-measuring tools like Nielsen’s OCR allows advertisers to use traditional TV metrics like GRPs to measure online reach. As TVs continue to get smarter and digital media adapters (Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Xbox 360, etc.) proliferate, brands will continue to shift their advertising budgets to wherever viewers are watching.

Online video advertising, in particular, has seen the lion’s share of benefits from these advancements. Developments in fiber optics and HD production allow for nearly instantaneous streaming of high-quality video content. Platforms like YouTube facilitate more content creation. The shift towards multiple devices means that there are more ways to for viewers to consume that content. Software unifies all this with analytics to create a one-stop, enterprise-grade solution.

Here are five specific industry trends entirely enabled by technological developments:

1. Advertisers can know with certainty their ads were watched.

Video viewability reporting eliminates the mystery over whether an ad was actually seen. The two main reasons ads are not seen are either due to consumer decision (they skip the ad, open another tab, or mute the video) or fraudulent practices (the video autoplays in an iframe) – in either case, advertisers can isolate where their ads are not getting viewed and do something about it.

4. Targeting is more precise than ever.

Digital advertisers can use first-and-third party data to buy specific audiences at scale and make an apples-to-apples comparison to a TV campaign, knowing with certainty that they reached their target demographic. Geo-location services work concurrently with brands to serve micro-targeted ads with special offers; advertisers can retarget viewers based on specific social media keywords and hashtags to provide immediate contextual relevance.

5. There is reporting on virtually everything – and it’s actionable.

2. Premium is going programmatic.

Advanced analytics allow for real-time optimisations to improve a specific key performance indicator. Surveys provide learnings beyond the standard clickthrough/completion rate by measuring brand lift, message recall, and purchase intent, while ROI studies facilitated by research companies can actually tie online ad spend to offline sales.

As the projected growth and cost-saving benefits of automation become impossible to ignore, premium publishers are modifying their traditional direct-deal orientation to stay competitive. The advent of private marketplaces allows them to feel comfortable about the brands they work with and can potentially lead to increased revenue.

We now have the ability to control specifically who we reach, decide when we reach them, intelligently choose the specific medium to deliver the message, assess viewer engagement, and measure how all of it translates to the bottom line. Had he been alive today, Wanamaker might not have wasted any less – but at least he would know where his money went.

How Adobe Solved The Biggest Problem In Digital Font Design John Brownlee

THANK TWO FONT MAGICIANS FOR MAKING SURE DIGITAL FONTS HAD A FUTURE.

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Back in the late 1970s, computer scientists working on the first laser printer discovered they had a problem: how do you scale a digital font without making it look terrible at low resolutions? You stop thinking in pixels.

what it was supposed to look like, which the PostScript system would then render into a series of pixels at the last minute, tweaking the font as necessary to make sure it rendered correctly at different sizes.

Let’s imagine the “H” of a hypothetical serif font. This “H” might have been designed to look fine at high-resolutions, but as you scale it, problems will arise because various parts of the letter such as the serifs or the stems will only partially fill a pixel. What do you with those pixels: turn them on or turn them off?

PostScript allowed designers to create just one copy of a font, and not have to worry about hand-tweaking a separate copy for every font size. And because PostScript was just a description of how a font was supposed to look, the system allowed designers to use “hints” to tell a computer or laser

This is called the rounding problem. If you decide that any section of a letter that overlaps with a pixel should result in that pixel being filled completely, you end up with fonts that look distorted. But if you decide to leave that pixel off, you end up losing information--and that can have dire consequences, like making a vital part of the letter disappear entirely.

ADOBE’S IDEA WAS TO STORE FONTS NOT AS PICTURES, BUT AS DESCRIPTIONS. It was a tricky problem that at the time had only one solution: designers had to hand-tweak every font so that it looked good at a number of different sizes. Not only was this a laborious, time-consuming process, but computer storage was extremely expensive at the time. It was a waste of valuable storage to have to keep on hand 40 or 50 different handtweaked variations of Times New Roman on a computer or laser printer, just to display it at every resolution. You’d rather store 40 or 50 different fonts instead.

But as computer science professor David Brailsford of the University of Nottingham explains in this fascinating account of pioneering work on digital fonts, eventually, a couple of “font magicians” figured out a clever solution for the problem.

In 1982, two computer scientists left Xerox’s PARC Labs and founded a new company, Adobe Systems, dedicated to finding a solution to the problem. Two years later, they released PostScript, a computer language that finally solved the rounding problem.

Here’s how it worked. Earlier computer fonts stored fonts as bitmaps--basically little computer images, composed of pixels--that contributed to the rounding problem. Adobe’s idea was to store fonts not as pictures, but as descriptions.

Using geometric principles like points, lines, curves, and shapes, a font designer could create a font by describing

printer what parts of a font were the most important to render accurately at different resolutions: for example, that no matter how small you rendered an “H,” the crossbar could never be eliminated.

This clever innovation didn’t just allow computer printers to compete with traditional methods of printing, effectively jumpstarting the desktop publishing revolution of the mid’80s; it also empowered designers to finally create digital fonts every bit as detailed as their print counterparts.

For more information about the early days of computer printing, check out professor Brailsford’s YouTube channel here.

Rethink Your Branding to Create Crazy Love From Customers Tom Shapiro A company can exist to merely sell stuff and make money.

And, certainly, many do.

But a special breed of brands that have transcended revenue as a focal point have been transformed into uber-powerful forces. So what do they focus on more than anything else?

Emotions.

And the business results are nothing short of astonishing.

Think about the success of brands like Nike, Red Bull, and Lady Gaga, and you’ll immediately see the power of emotions as a business driver.

The Power of Crazy Love When Nike launched its most famous campaign with its “Just Do It” message, it struck a chord with every sports fan, amateur athlete, and weekend jogger. The marketing message didn’t speak to the technical superiority of Nike’s shoes, the results you get by wearing its shoes, or the reasons its shoes were better than the next brand’s.

The message was 100% about evoking a surge of emotion in the customer, making them feel different about themselves and the possibilities in their lives.

This focus on emotions has scientific justification. Decisionmaking, it turns out, is an emotions-driven activity. In other words, it’s impossible to make buying decisions without emotion. Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio studied people who had damage in the parts of the brain where emotions are generated, and he discovered that those people had serious difficulty making decisions.

The result of Nike’s emotions-based marketing? Crazy brand love! Millions of people have showed more than just love, but a crazy kind of devotion that any brand would crave.

Nike focused on connecting emotionally with customers.

Nike’s website is gorgeous, inspirational, and visually impactful. The launch of Nike Women empowered an oftenignored segment of the market, achieving huge success.

And Nike offers highly active customer support on Twitter— another emotional touchpoint with customers.

As a result, Nike has more than $25 billion in annual sales.

It is the number one brand on Instagram (according to the

Nitrogram 50), and it has a massive advantage over the competition when entering new fields. Nike has created a cult-like following.

Red Bull has also created emotional connections with its customers, engendering crazy love. More than just a drink, Red Bull is a lifestyle. The brand produces a wide range of video (including those on Red Bull TV) and other content focused on extreme sports, including behind-the-scenes footage, motivational videos, and sports-specific training.

Red Bull also sponsors many extreme-sporting events. All of that creates a swell of empowering, fierce emotions among customers and prospects.

As a result, Red Bull’s a brand that came out of nowhere to sell more than 35 billion cans of its product. Red Bull has more than 39 million Facebook Likes, more than 2.7 million YouTube subscribers, and $2.7 billion in annual sales. Crazy results!

Lady Gaga

is yet another example of a brand wholly attuned to emotional connections. Always focused on her loyal fans, Lady Gaga goes out of her way to make her customers feel the love, whether surprising fans standing in ticket lines, in the rain, by giving them free show passes; providing her full support to unofficial fan clubs; or setting up a social network (littlemonsters.com) exclusively for fans.

The result? Over 90 million singles sold, over 58 million Facebook Likes, and a completely dedicated fan base that will follow her no matter what she does next. Gaga has transcended the traditional boundaries of a pop singer, instead building a platform to launch new products, services, and other endeavors.

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Crazy Love for Small Businesses The power of emotions-based branding isn’t reserved only for mega global brands. Brands of any size can benefit from emotionally connecting with customers.

In fact, you can be as small as a single farm in Swoope, Virginia.

Polyface Farm has a crazy-loyal following due to its obsessive commitment to healing the land, food, and economy. It’s a family-owned, multi-generational, environmentally friendly, pasture-based, organic farm, producing natural meats and poultry. They farm the way a mega-agricultural corporation cannot, feeding grass to its cattle instead of corn, never using chemical fertilizers, and never shipping food products.

Polyface provides the best possible food through a fanatical approach to earth-friendly farming, even though that’s more costly than other options available.

The result? Customers rave! Some customers drive 150 miles just to make a purchase. In this age of instant gratification and real-time everything, that’s crazy love!

Seven Steps to Crazy Love for Your Brand If you want to build customer affection, you should: 1. Define your DNA. Forget the technical specs of your product or service. Why do you exist? Stand for something, and ensure that it’s your true DNA. 2. Define your brand attributes. How would others describe your brand? No technobabble or corporatespeak here. What are the actual words you want actual customers to say?

3. Define your specific audience. Who benefits from what you offer, and who would scream with excitement about how you’ve changed their lives for the better? Who would drive 150 miles to purchase something from you?

4. Define the benefits you deliver. Ignore for a moment your products and functionality. What tangible customer benefits do you offer? How is someone’s life better because of you? How would the world be worse off without your brand?

5. Change your hiring process. Whether in marketing, operations, or customer support, hire only those who align with your DNA. 6. Define your educational process. Implement a process for ensuring that every employee understands your DNA, its importance and value to the world.

Continually educate your team.

7. Define your decision-making criteria. This isn’t marketing fluff. Live and breathe it. Make every decision based on your DNA—from the CEO to the mailroom clerk, whether the decision may make you millions or peanuts.

Emotions are powerful, and your customers and prospects cannot make buying decisions without them. To take your brand from good to ridiculously amazing, and to elevate behavior from customer satisfaction to cult-like crazy love, focus your marketing on building emotional connections with customers.

Evoke their emotions, and you’ll open the door to endless possibilities.

How Rovio wants to

emulate Coca-Cola, Nintendo in brand development Mark Scott Peter Vesterbacka is the chief marketing officer for Rovio, the Finnish gaming and entertainment company behind the Angry Birds franchise. A former executive at Hewlett-Packard, he joined Rovio in 2010, and has helped to steer the company from its Finnish roots to become a global brand with more

than two billion downloads for its Angry Birds games. Mr. Vesterbacka is now in charge of expanding Rovio’s brand, including a push into emerging markets like China and new areas like movies and theme parks. The following is an edited interview.

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Q. Rovio started out as a gaming company. How have the company’s ambitions changed?

A. We are now active in all areas of entertainment. Games are where we started, and it’s at the core of what we do, but we are no longer a games company. If you look at Rovio today, we are a ‘triple E’ company. We are in entertainment, we are in education, and we apply entrepreneurship to everything that we do.

Q. How does Rovio differentiate itself from all the new games coming to the market?

A. With Angry Birds, we created a brand that people know and trust. There’s no shortage of new products and services, so brand is really important. For every Angry Birds, there are thousands of not-successful brands. That’s what sets us apart — you have to think about branding and marketing.

Q. So we can expect more spinoffs from Angry Birds?

A. We will continue to do spinoffs that play on our brand strength. It’s just like Nintendo and its series of Mario-based games. We want to continue expanding Angry Birds to make it a permanent part of popular culture.

Q. Does focusing on Angry Birds reduce the risk of games’ failing to connect with users?

A. Some gaming companies are clueless about branding.

They build games to last 100 days and move on to the next one. There’s no guarantee that they will create hits. It’s difficult to find examples of anyone in entertainment that can produce hits successfully. That’s why it’s important to build a brand, something that will last.

Q. Does that make it tough to create a lasting games company?

A. There are a lot of one-hit wonders. People can get carried away by their own success. The key is to not get lost in the hype. For us, Angry Birds has been going for just four years.

It’s a good start, but we are only at the beginning.

everything from music to math. Education is the secondbiggest global market behind food. And there’s a widespread awareness that education can be made better. If we can make it more engaging through Angry Birds, people can learn more.

Q. What does that entail?

A. We are working with the European Organization for Nuclear Research on a quantum physics book for kids. That might sound like a tough sell. But if you can make the topic engaging, you can create a healthy addiction for education.

Q. Games, theme parks, TV shows and now education. Isn’t Rovio spreading itself too thinly?

A. Of course, it would be easy to spread ourselves too thin.

But last year, we focused on beefing up our organizational structure. It was a year of investing and preparing for the next phase of growth. We realize that we are very small. But we have doubled down on areas like consumer goods where we already had a presence.

Q. What are Rovio’s short-term goals?

A. We look at iconic brands like Coca-Cola for inspiration.

If Coke can reach one billion servings each day, there’s no reason why we can be less ambitious. With the growth of connected devices like smartphones and tablets, we want one billion people to be interacting with our brand through games, soft drinks, parks and other products.

Q. Finland has produced a lot of successful gaming companies like Rovio and Supercell. Is there something in the water?

A. The big difference is now there are a lot of people with more experience starting companies and more role models in the Finnish tech community. The local start-up world is very close. Of course we compete. But we believe that we can achieve bigger things by working together.

Q. But many people say Europe will never create its own Silicon Valley.

Q. Rovio is moving toward a freemium model for its games.

Why? A. Freemium is a trend that’s been around for a long time.

It’s become very popular, but is just one of many business models that gamers are looking at. In five years from now, we could be looking at a completely different way of monetizing games.

Q. How does the education market fit into Rovio’s plans?

A. We have built a full curriculum for 3- to 6-year-olds,

A. I hate that. Everyone wants to be the next Silicon Valley.

But you can’t lead copying what’s already out there. You have to do something different.

Q. So European tech firms can compete globally?

A. I find it superfrustrating when I hear executives from large companies whining about what’s going on in Europe. My advice is that anyone can do what we have done at Rovio.

To create a successful start-up, you need to believe that you can do anything.

To Lure Customers, Appeal To All 5 Of Their Senses Stuart Leslie We know that consumer purchase decisions are often made quickly and subconsciously, but there are opportunities where it’s possible to influence a consumer’s perception of a brand.

People often make buying decisions by using all five of their senses and once product designers discover what each of these sensory influencers are, they can develop packaging that strategically speaks to consumers at each stage of the decision-making process. It’s ultimately about designing a complete experience--one that supports the brand every step of the way.

IT’S ABOUT DESIGNING A COMPLETE EXPERIENCE--ONE THAT SUPPORTS THE BRAND EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. At my company, we developed the 4sight Sensory Lab, pictured above, to uncover these answers. Here, for example, cold beverage drinkers known to prefer their drinks not simply cold, but chilled to the perfect temperature, are taken through a progression of exercises that mimics the various points of contact that consumers have with a product.

We identify which bottle shape, size, color, material, and texture promises that sense of cold refreshment at first glance.

As the test subjects move closer, details such as condensation and frost become evident and when they are handed several bottles, each chilled to the exact same temperature--but made of different materials, textures, shapes and finishes-they provide feedback on which one feels like just the right cold.

In the Sensory Lab, our process helps us ensure that at each stage of interaction with a brand, consumers receive the right information, enabling them to see, feel, hear, smell, and taste the value of the product. Here, we’ve identified the six stages that lead to a first purchase or a repeat purchase:

THE FIRST GLANCE This is the first impression at a distance, seeing the product in someone else’s hand, on the shelf, or across the room. It’s the first visual promise of what a product will do for your senses.

For Pom 100% Pomegranate Juice, the distinctive profile of the bottle featuring those fully rounded spheres, allows the distinct dark red color of the juice to catch the attention of a shopper. It promises a bold, robust taste. A new entry into the tequila segment, SX Tequila chose a distinctive, curvaceous bottle with smooth lines and frosted texture to communicate the sense of a smooth-tasting, chilled beverage.

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THE INSPECTION

CONSUMPTION OR USAGE

Here, consumers take a closer look and this is where details begin to hint at tactile sensations. Flowing details etched into the structure of the Aquafina water bottle strongly suggest the refreshment that the product provides.

The point at which the product is consumed or used and here, all five senses can be at play.

A smooth metal tip on Clinique’s Even Better Eyes product provides a refreshing and reviving cold sensation on the skin.

For Gerber Good Start, the designated scoop holder on the side of the container provides for a clean usage experience and preserves the product for future consumption, as fingers do not contaminate the powder.

Orangina, meanwhile, promises its fresh orange flavor through a dimpled finish on the bottle that suggests you are consuming straight from an actual orange.

THE PHYSICAL INTERACTION Next, consumers make that first physical contact and combine the visual with the tactile experience. When grasped, the gentle curvature of the Febreze bottle and the angled spray head convey the soft and pleasant aroma that will fill the air. The smooth, diagonal neck on the new Miller Lite Bottle promises a refreshing flow of beer while the bold taper from the neck to the body provides a strong and confident grip for the hand. Adding the texture of the hops etched in the glass provides further engagement.

THE OPENING When the consumer makes a physical step towards consumption or use of the product, there’s another opportunity to solidify your brand’s perception. When the foil cover is peeled off of a can of San Pellegrino, it offers the sensation of actually peeling fruit. It also incorporates a crinkling sound, which adds to the sensory experience at opening.

THE COMPLETION There’s another opportunity to create a pleasant user experience when the product is disposed of or put away for later use. Wrigley 5 Gum incorporates a lock feature and embossed details to convey a secure and clean resealable pack. The Oreo cookie package also utilizes the sense of sight with a resealable film to promise lasting freshness.

Once the film is replaced after each usage, it recreates the look of a fresh, unopened package.

In The Sensory Lab, we’ve gleaned significant insight into how the five senses influence consumer decision-making at six pivotal points. Incorporating a similar approach in your design process will help insure your package effectively communicates key brand attributes at each and every point of influence.

Dovetailing Reality Sheila Shayon

10 years ago, Dove launched its Campaign for Real Beauty—a global effort that set out to spread positivity among women, young and old, and alter the public perception of beauty.

Spun out of a photography exhibit in Toronto, the campaign, which officially launched in 2004, has grown from billboards and print ads to TV commercials and short films all in the pursuit of redefining how consumers view beauty. And while the core of any campaign—to grow sales—remains a significant motivator for the brand, in a decade it seems that Dove has in fact made an impact on women and men alike, both in the industry and outside of it.

In a survey funded by Unilever, Harvard psychologist Nancy Etcoff found that in relation to the campaign, more women today define beauty by other standards than just physical appearance, according to Ad Age. “62 percent of women in the US feel they are responsible for influencing their own definition of beauty, nearly triple from the 23 percent ten years ago,” Dove said in a press release.

The campaign’s various efforts have earned Dove and its agencies a handful of awards, including top honors at Cannes Lions in 2007 for its first “viral” video, “Evolution,” and again in 2013 for “Sketches,” which became the mostwatched video ad of all time. Sales have gone from $2.5 billion in 2004 to $4 billion today as Dove hitched its product development to the campaign, transforming from a bar-soap brand to a comprehensive personal care line.

By casting average-sized women as models, challenging stereotypes through its “check-box” ads and consistently advocating for more positive body language and behavior, Dove has helped inspire a greater awareness of misogynistic advertising.

To commemorate its anniversary, Dove commissioned a short film, Selfie, that challenges girls and their mothers to discuss their insecurities and snap an “honest” selfie photo. Dove is sharing the photos on social media using hashtag #Beautyis to spur conversations on how women perceive beauty.

“The way women are defining beauty today is changing dramatically, and social media has much to do with the change,” Academy Award-winning filmmaker and Selfie director Cynthia Wade said. “Now we have the ability to photograph the beauty we see in our friends and ourselves.

When we share these diverse images on our social networks, we are taking personal ownership and truly redefining beauty.”

While media and pop culture continue to barrage women

with their ideals of beauty, Dove has found an advocate in social media that has served as a mirror for its efforts. The brand launched an online ad-eraser as well as an app that allowed consumers to send anti-retouching messages to photo editors.

“The advent of social media is an empowering tool for women to tell their own beauty story and has allowed the definition of beauty to evolve into one that is more multi-faceted and inclusive,” said Etcoff, the director of the Program in Aesthetics and Well Being at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School.

“Women are becoming their own media creators. It’s the personalization of beauty for the next generation.”

And while some applaud turning the lens the other way as a mode of price and empowerment, nay sayers still aren’t convinced by the “artificial environment constructed

by Dove,” Salon notes. The magazine points out that the campaign and film are “backed by a corporate sponsor,” and that the “internet is a much hasher place for women.”

Indeed, Dove and Unilever have been equally criticized for the campaign. Time’s Charlotte Alter describes Selfie as the “heartwarming tale of a bunch of normal-looking girls who have absolutely no discernible interests in anything except how they look.” She continues, “Making girls suddenly feel beautiful is all well and good for the purposes of selling soap and moisturizers, but it’s not real progress. ‘Redefining beauty’ is just another way to keep talking about beauty, which is what companies want but is the last thing girls need.”

That hasn’t stopped other brands and industry influencers from adopting similar causes. In the 3rd week of Jan 2014, teen and young adult lingerie retailer Aerie, the sister brand of American Eagle Outfitters, launched its #aerieReal campaign, pledging to stop using Photoshop and other retouching tools in its advertisements. The campaign, much like Dove’s, encourages women to share their thoughts and pictures on social media to spread the ‘real’ message.

Still, there are many brands that are clinging on to outdated perceptions of the female (and male) form. 2013 was a rough year for brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Lululemon, both of which came under fire for restricting the sizing of their clothes, portraying unrealistic figures in their campaigns, and worse yet, pointing a finger at the greater population of consumers that don’t conform to their sizing standards.

Sales gimmick or not, it’s hard to find a major fault in campaigns like Dove’s and Aerie’s that spread positivity instead of antogonistic thoughts.

Write Your Brand’s Obituary Denise Lee Yohn, HBR Blog Network What would happen if your company ceased to exist?

Would journalists write headlines heralding your past achievements, or would their stories simply add you to a list of bygones? Would analysts express disappointment or would they point to indicators that made your death predictable? Would employees wonder how it could have ended, or would they have known it was inevitable? Would customers mourn your passing, or would the demise of your brand go unnoticed?

Thousands of companies come and go every year, barely leaving a trace of their existence. Even many large corporations are easily forgotten — like those in the airline industry. Remember TWA? Once the largest domestic airline, TWA introduced many ground-breaking developments and embodied the glamour of air travel. But hit by the pressures of de-regulation, the airline suffered through bankruptcies and was eventually acquired by American Airlines, which quickly discarded the brand name. In my home town of St. Louis, TWA went from dominating the airport to a fleeting memory in just a decade. By the end, the value of the TWA brand had diminished only to the route it flew – which were easily replaced.

Compare that to what would happen if Southwest closed its doors. Or Singapore Airlines. Or Virgin America. These companies have built powerful brands that would be seriously missed if they ceased operations. Who would give us the freedom and fun that Southwest is known for? Who would pamper us and attend to our every need like Singapore does? Who would design the travel experience with Virgin America’s combination of service and style?

How do you build the kind of brand that would be missed?

How do you carve out such a distinctive position and create such a powerful emotional connection? You drill down to the core of your existence to identify the essential, enduring value of your brand – and then you design and run your business to execute relentlessly on that core brand essence.

When what you stand for is clearly expressed and delivered in everything you do, every day, you make an indelible mark on people’s hearts and minds.

Being crystal clear about your brand essence is critical. Some organizations enjoy that clarity, but for those that don’t, there are several ways to achieve it. One is an exercise I often use with my clients: writing a Brand Obituary.

It’s not the most pleasant thought, but it focuses the mind to

imagine what it would be like if indeed your brand ceased to exist.

In this exercise, it helps to think of your brand as though it were a person — the type of person the brand would be if it came to life today. I ask my clients to think of their brand in its totality, as all that the brand entails — and on its best days, when it’s executing with excellence.

Pretend that you are a reporter for a local newspaper who must write the obituary for this person, your brand, who just passed away today. This invented scenario can help you uncover the true nature of your brand.

Here are some questions to answer in the obituary: • What was the brand’s biggest accomplishment in life?

What will it be remembered for?

• Who did the brand leave behind? What did the brand leave unaccomplished? Who will mourn or miss the brand, and why?

• What lessons can be learned from the brand’s life? What can be learned in the wake of its death?

• Now that the brand is gone, what will take its place?

Once you’ve completed the column, write a headline to capture the essence of the obituary – that headline, in turn, often captures the essence of your brand.

I often instruct members of the executive team, or a crossfunctional group, to write their obituaries individually and then share them with the group in a working session. As the columns are shared aloud, there is usually some discomfort (talking about the brand’s demise is understandably not a desirable activity), but there are always moments of revelation. Common themes emerge and people start to see their purpose, their core beliefs, and what sets the brand apart with great clarity. From that point, the brand essence is just a few pen strokes away.

Positive thinking is powerful and envisioning success is a popular exercise among athletes and executives alike. But sometimes taking the opposite approach can be just as important. By imagining a future without your brand, you can create one in which it thrives and makes an impression that is exceptional, sustainable, and memorable.

Book, Line & Sinker Hit Brands

Sonic Branding An Essential Guide to the Art and Science of Sonic Branding

In the battleground for the hearts and minds of customers, music is one of the most powerful tools that brands can use.

In this definitive guide to how brands harness the power of music to drive business, three leading industry experts show you how to create and execute successful music strategies with lasting impact.

Every major global brand already uses and invests in music as part of its communications but very few have created ‘hits’. Music has the power to make a brand instantly recognised and loved, so what are the secrets?

By Daniel Jackson, Richard Jankovich and Eric Sheinkop

Brands have become very important as sources of value and as a means to build value and sustain market position. Much emphasis has been placed upon the visual representation of brands. This book defines a new competitive arena in the creation and development of brands - sound.

Sonic branding is a new fast growing area related to advertising and media development of the branding experience. This will be a distinctive book and the first in this important new area.

By Daniel Jackson

Power Branding Leveraging the Success of the World’s Best Brands

Brand Romance

Using the Power of High Design to Build a Lifelong Relationship with Your Audience

Every one of the largest, most successful corporations were, at some point, mere startups.

McKee explains what enables some companies to growbigger and better, while others stumble along year after year, running but never winning the race. The difference is that the biggest and best brands aren’t slaves to conventional marketing wisdom. McKee shows by example how the same, sometimes counter-intuitive, strategies used by the biggest brands can also best serve small and mid-sized companies.

By Steve McKee

For brands to succeed in a competitive environment they need to build a ‘loving’ relationship with their audiences. Brands need to construct an emotional engagement with audiences over time, so that they can make a genuine connection both to the brand and what it has to offer.

Featuring 15 ‘commitments’ Brand Romance reveals how to use High Design principles to build a truly effective brand. High Design goes beyond the usual rational, quantitative measures, to analyse the role that emotion can play in building brand loyalty.

By Yasushi Kusume and Neil Gridley

Defending Your Brand

Breakthrough Marketing Plans

How Smart Companies use Defensive Strategy to Deal with Competitive Attacks

By Tim Calkins

Competitors take any and every opportunity they can to deride and dominate their opponents in the marketplace. While all companies strive to create innovative and aggresive campaigns to make gains in the market, the smart companies - the ones that thrive - make sure to create a defense strategy that is just as strong, if not stronger, to maintain the ground when push comes to shove.

Indeed, a good defense is far more important than a good offense. If you fail trying to grow, you will miss your objectives. If you fail defending your business, you can lose everything.

How to Stop Wasting Time and Start Driving Growth

By Tim Calkins

Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers

Eating the Big Fish: How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders

Here is the bestselling guide that created a new game plan for marketing in high-tech industries.

Crossing the Chasm has become the bible for bringing cutting-edge products to progressively larger markets. This edition provides new insights into the realities of high-tech marketing, with special emphasis on the Internet. It’s essential reading for anyone with a stake in the world’s most exciting marketplace.

By Geoffrey A. Moore

Almost every company creates a marketing plan each year, and many spend hundreds of employee hours researching, preparing and presenting their tomes to senior executives. But most marketing plans are a waste of time; they are too long, too complicated and too dense. They end up sitting on a shelf, unread and unrealized.

Breakthrough Marketing Plans is an essential tool for people who create marketing plans and people who review them. The book provides simple, clear frameworks that are easy to apply, and highlights why marketing plans matter, where they go wrong and how to create a powerful plan that will help build a strong, profitable business

It contains over 25 new interviews and case histories, two completely new chapters, introduces a new typology of 12 different kinds of Challengers, has extensive updates of the main chapters, a range of new exercises, supplies weblinks to view interviews online and offers supplementary downloadable information.

By Adam Morgan

brandknewmag.com

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Brand Relations Management: Bridging the Gap Between Brand Promise and Brand Delivery

Brand Together: How CoCreation Generates Innovation and Re-energizes Brands A new tool for marketers and brand managers, co-creation is fast becoming a recognized and effective way to drive business growth and enhance and protect brand reputation. Brand Together shows how to involve all stakeholders employees, clients and customers - in the process of co-creation and innovation to enable the brand to succeed in the new world of customer engagement and participation. It shows how to intertwine creativity with brand strategy and provides practical guidance on how to co-create with customers from a brand perspective.

Brand Relations Management is a book for all those interested in strategy and marketing. The primary intention is to show that both brand promise and brand delivery are necessary in order to build a sustainable brand. The book’s greatest strength is that it gathers and presents all the relevant theories of brand building.

By Tony Apéria, Rolf Back

By Nicholas Ind, Clare Fuller, Charles Trevail

FusionBranding: How to Forge Your Brand for the Future

Robin Hood Marketing: Stealing Corporate Savvy to Sell Just Causes

FusionBranding: How to Forge Your Brand for the Future by brand futurist Nick Wreden represents a fresh look at branding imperatives, especially for companies selling to other businesses. Core principles of FusionBranding are illustrated with numerous case studies. Each chapter includes a FutureView, which looks at branding in 2005 and beyond, Takeaways, in-depth questions that can help apply FusionBranding principles, and Resources that features books and Web sites about FusionBranding principles.

Katya Andresen, a veteran marketer and nonprofit professional, demystifies winning marketing campaigns by reducing them to ten essential rules and provides entertaining examples and simple steps for applying the rules ethically and effectively to good causes of all kinds. The Robin Hood rules steal from the winning formulas for selling socks, cigarettes, and even mattresses, with good advice for appealing to your audiences’ values, not your own; developing a strong, competitive stance; and injecting into every message four key elements that compel people to take notice.

By Katya Andresen

By Peter Guber

By Dan Hill

By Nick Wreden

Tell to Win

Brand Loyalty

There’s a reason why Tell to Win has been a bestseller since it was published on March 1st. He’s the chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment, and a veteran producer of films that have earned over $3 billion worldwide and racked up more than 50 Academy Award Nominations - including his latest project, The Kids Are All Right. With box office hits including The Color Purple, Midnight Express, Batman and Flashdance to his credit, Guber knows a thing or two about branding and marketing. But don’t believe us - Tony Hsieh, the founder and CEO of Zappos.com, who sold his company to Amazon and presumably doesn’t need to read books on business and marketing, also gives it a rave review on its Amazon page.

A 1984 for the 21st century, the novel explores a possible world which has been taken over by the corporate totalitarianism of the ULTIMATE company. Personal identity and meaning have become trading commodities and the central characters struggle to maintain their individuality in the face of a world which has registered, trademarked and copyrighted their very existence.

By Cally Phillips

Emotionomics: Leveraging Emotions for Business Success

Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet

Emotionomics: Leveraging Emotions for Business Success analyzes important breakthroughs in brain science and facial coding to inform author Dan Hill’s compelling conclusions and insights on storytelling, sensory payoff, defusing skepticism and other branding essentials. A blend of psychological lessons and industry applications, Emotionomics bridges the humanity of the heart and the logic of the mind in an artful and skilled discourse on the business of life.

The term Big Data gets thrown around a lot, but what it actually means is less well understood.

Big Data is the future, so it is essential for brand marketers to get up to speed right away.

Yet, there are few primers offering a solid foundational understanding of Big Data much less a comprehensive look at its many incarnations, including those directly affecting brand marketers.

This book, written specifically for senior business executives with little or no background in IT, fills this gap. Covering a wide variety of industries, data environments and business applications, this book is the best resource for getting in the know quickly, intelligently and proficiently.

By Andrew Blum