Diego Rodriguez’s metacool blog started me on a search for sites and blogs that tracked the evolution of different brands.  There’s something about this that appeals to both the marketing guy and the historian in me. 

Check these out:

Evolution of automobile brands
Evolution of tech brands

Let me know if you find any more studies like this!

One of my favorite blogs on the Internet is the Namewire blog, written by Bill Lozito at Strategic Name Development.  The other day, Bill wrote an article about Ralph Lauren’s just-launched collaboration with JC Penney (via the Ralph Lauren American Living brand). (more…)

It’s happened before, but never with this much fanfare or attention.  eBay is feuding with its customers again.

I must admit, I have an interest in this fight.  It’s my wife.  She sells stuff on eBay.  But she’s not as hot as some of the “Power Sellers” who have called for a boycott of eBay February 18-25 to protest the online auction service’s new policies on rates, release of payment through PayPal and (most controversaly) significant changes to its rules on feedback left by sellers about buyers.

Now Money Magazine is wading into the fray with an article and a post on YouTube asking for disgruntled eBayers to contact them for interviews (note: the post requesting contact from disgruntled eBay sellers was removed overnight Sunday evening). (more…)

Back in November, I wrote on the topic of cross-cultural branding – a specialty here at B&LPR and a discipline that, we think, will become more and more relevant for two reasons:

1) The global marketplace continues to flatten, putting US brands in direct competition with other brands from other parts of the world. Very often, the battle for share-of-mind and consumer pocketbook doesn’t even take place on our own shores or in our cultural idiom, so US brands need to be prepared to act global but market local; and2) The demographic shift in the US (away from Euro-centrist and towards Latin-centrist) is an inevitability we need to embrace. In order to compete in our own domestic market, we need to start identifying the cultures that will influence American culture in the future and make sure we’re positioned appropriately.

Many business people, when faced with these two facts react predictably – they deny. Denial is to be expected. Who wants to admit that they are not only in a minority globally (Americans only account for 5% of the world’s population) but that we may very soon be a minority in our own country (by 2040, no single ethnic group will constitute a majority).

But sticking your head in the sand and hoping the problem will go away won’t work for long. Eventually, someone or something is going to come along and ask you to move or, worse yet, pave you right over. Action is required and it doesn’t have to be painful.

In fact, many clients take consolation in the fact that many of the core values that make up their brand are shared by cultures all around the world. Interpreting those values may require some legwork (and nuance is an acquired taste, I’m convinced), but the end up to this whole situation is actually much to the benefit of Americans and our culture (thanks, in large part, to our inherent diversity):

America still stands for something in the hearts and minds of people everywhere. And nobody makes that case better than Americans. We may still have a lot to learn about how we present those values and how we listen to divergent points of view, but we still have an incredible advantage in the sheer attraction of things American.

And the best way for us to take advantage of that advantage is to put it into action inside our own borders. As people of different countries and cultures see Americans embracing and appreciating the value brought forward from different cultures, they see something they can’t see anywhere else. Application of cross-cultural branding principles inside our own country makes perfect sense and it’s good for business in the long run.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Advertising, B2B Marketing, Ethnic Advertising, Minority Marketing, Client Management, Leadership, Creative Thinking, Culture, Cultural Diversity

(c) 2006 - Bawden & Lareau Public Relations, all rights reserved.

We love it when a brand extension hits it big-time or crashes and burns. It’s exciting. It’s dramatic. It’s also not about the product/extension itself.

As a business strategy, deciding to extend an existing brand is sound but wrought with potential disaster. With every brand extension, you are putting all of your chips on the table and betting against the house.

Anything short of a home-run could be construed as a defeat. Successes, like the Apple iPod or Kellogg’s newly revitalized Eggo’s are noteworthy. But the failures, like water-filled bras from Evian, can be devastating. (more…)

The first dividends you reap from your investment in market research should be in the form of re-crafted (and much more effective) message statements about your brand and your products/services. Research gives Bob LeDrew and his communications team from the University of Ottawa a critical look at what their publics think. “We’re abe to understand the perception of our brand (as opposed to OUR perception of our brand),” says Bob. (more…)

It’s called the Hawthorne Effect and it was discovered in the 1930’s. Yep. That’s right. The big marketing and branding breakthrough of the 21st Century was discovered about seventy years ago.

Way back then, researchers from Harvard Business School were running employee feedback research on various proposed innovations in their working conditions … this is what the Harvard researchers found:

• Brighter lighting conditions resulted in better productivity but so did dimmer light conditions.
• Shorter working hours also improved productivity, but then so did longer working hours.

Further research resulted in the following – dubbed the Hawthorne Effect:

“If you seriously involve others in trialing, testing, reviewing and suggesting improvements in your work/products they will inevitably become positively disposed to it and be among its biggest champions.”

(more…)

Developing a corporate vision sounds like some kind of creative exercise, doesn’t it? Well, in one sense it is. After all, the project essentially asks all participants to think of their company in the future and to discuss it openly.

But while there’s probably some value (however little) in sharing “blue sky” dreams about a company with co-workers – we prefer to take a much more measured and deliberate approach. This approach is specifically designed to help employees achieve greater inter-dependence; assist managers in day-to-day decision making; grant customers greater emotional ownership in the brand; and give vendors an opportunity to succeed by making the company more successful.
We begin the visioning process with research. After all, the best clues as to what the future holds for a brand is to understand its journey to the present. This research process uncovers all sorts of insights behind innovations, traditions, customs and practices that help define the brand for what it is. (more…)

My partner, Liz, and I were in Krakow, Poland last week, attending a conference hosted by the ECCO International Public Relations Network.

While at the conference, we had an opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones. There is a common bond between us - we’re all pr and marcomms practitioners and we all own and operate our own companies. The similarities cut accross geographic and political boundaries easily. But underneath it all, there was a foundation of trust and understanding.

That trust and understanding has taken almost a decade to create and underscores how difficult it is to create and manage brands that can be shared between people of different nationalities and cultures. We refer to the discipline (as Americans tend to view it) as “cross-cultural branding” and have adopted it as one of the unique services B&LPR can bring to our clients who want to market their products in other countries. (more…)

My partner, Liz, and I had lunch the other day with a prospective client. We were talking about what we did and how our approach to public relations and, more specifically our approach to “message management” was different from what most ad agencies and PR firms try to do for their clients.

At that point, the term “branding” came up.

I can’t remember who brought it up to be honest. I don’t think either Liz or I did. You see, we spend most of our time trying to understand what our clients are thinking (or more precisely, what’s on their mind). Clearly, branding was on the mind of the client this day. (more…)

There are, from time to time, those projects you work on that you just know are breaking old rules … thanks to Erik Hauser and the folks at Swivel Media, we’ve had that opportunity here at B&LPR (not bad for having been around all of 10 weeks).

Now, as much as I’d like to claim we had something to do with this idea, we didn’t. Erik and his team worked with the folks at Wells Fargo to develop Stagecoach Island as a part of an educational program targeting young adults (18-24 year olds). Swivel, best known for its ability to pull off incredible, street-level marketing programs, added an educational component and local events with this idea for an online game to capture and hold the attention of what Erik politely refers to as “The Teflon Generation.”

Working with their client and the programmers at Linden Lab, Swivel quarterbacked the project and then asked us to help tell people about it. It’s a small part to play, but we’re glad to do it.

Congratulations to Erik, Gina Fung and Tim Collins from Wells Fargo and the rest of the team for a noteworthy marketing program. It’s been a pleasure to work on it with you.

I had an interesting phone conversation the other day.

I answered a phone call from a young guy who was ready to start his own consulting practice … or so he thought. He sounded full of confidence and very sure of both his area of expertise and the need for it in the marketplace. He was calling me because he needed someone to “do some marketing” for him.

His confidence started to fade when I asked him to be more specific. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting that kind of response. “What kind of marketing support do you need?” I asked. You could hear the air escape from him as he deflated right there on the call. (more…)

I was on the phone with an erstwhile colleague this past week and something popped out of my mouth that actually had some value. (That happens from time to time and is, I think, what keeps me in this crazy business.)

“Mike,” I said, “the difference between strong brands and irrelevant ones is that the strong ones know how to finish. They’re able to close the loop with the customer.”

I wrote it down at the time, somewhat amused with myself. But I didn’t realize how many times I would refer back to that concept while in conversations with clients, vendors and new business prospects. (more…)

After months of recovery from personal injury, computer meltdowns (at home, work and with my faithful, old laptop), financial trials and new business tribulations, I’m finally back at the wheel and blogging.

In the few months I’ve been away, I’ve managed to drag a new partner into this venture. Liz Lareau, a long-time friend and some-time professional colleague has agreed to give up a significant part of her life and join me as we launch a new, PR venture: Bawden & Lareau Public Relations.

It’s a new experience, this having a full-time partner. Not like the full-time, marriage partner I have (my wife, Caroline). I’m sure Liz would tell you the same thing - I’m not a thing like her husband, Hector.

Instead, we laugh, cajole and joke around the office. But we expect something different in this relationship than the ones we have at home. We challenge each other to think smarter and act on our ideas. To think bolder thoughts. To make the tough calls with clients and the media.

In short, we make each other better.

I’m looking forward to where this new venture takes us and will post our insights, thoughts, observations and ruminations here.

Martha Stewart was not the first one to do this - but she’s certainly been successful. Why not capitalize on the reputation of a well-known CEO to create a high-level communications channel with the people who matter most to your success?

PR Guru, Jack O’Dwyer has been doing it for years. The old newspaper men (Hearst, McCormick and the rest) became so synonymous with their publications that you couldn’t extract one from the other.

But what about when you get beyond people who “live” in the business in media and start to leverage a CEO’s reputation built in other industries like healthcare, technology, logistics, etc.? It may not be as natural, but it might work.

The thing to remember, of course, is that media CEO’s gravitate towards this decision because writing and communicating is what they do. They understand it and they’re not as intimidated by it. CEO’s from other disciplines may feel less at ease with the idea of putting themselves out there in a weekly column or on a masthead or cover.

All of this plays into a larger discussion of the role of the CEO in developing a clear sense of the brand in both the public sense (to customers, peers and other business partners) and the private sense (to employees, shareholders, etc.). In fact, the CEO plays a vital role in how a company’s brand is understood and valued.

In a study conducted in 2001 by Burson-Marsteller, it was shown that 48% of the reputation enjoyed by a company is the direct result of the CEO’s leadership and management of the enterprise. Maybe even more notable is the fact that nearly all investors look at the behaviors of the CEO as a determining factor in whether they invest in the opportunity or not.

But what does all this really mean to a small or mid-sized company that, in all likelihood, will never go public? Why should the CEO view his job as the key champion for the brand?

In a word: Leadership.

As reported in the Burson study, people expect certain things from their CEO. Most importantly, they want CEO’s who are extremely credible and operate at a high ethical level. These CEO’s, if they pass muster, are expected to operate and communicate a clear vision of their company.

Knowing where the company is going and the ethically correct path to get it there is essential when it comes to establishing brand credibility for the CEO, no matter the size or nature of the enterprise. For smaller businesses, that means the following:

1) Make sure the CEO understands what it means to be in the public spotlight. Surely not every B2B enterprise is going to immediately vault it’s CEO onto the front page of the industry trade media - but for many corporate CEO’s even getting their picture or name into the local paper on a regular basis takes some getting used to.

2) CEO’s need to find one or two trusted advisors who are anything but “yes men”. These should be folks who will provide honest, objective counsel when it comes to presenting a position to the public or dealing with difficult situations honestly and transparently. Sometimes this advice is NOT what the CEO wants to hear - but he (or she) needs to hear it, swallow the bitter pill and move on.

3) CEO’s have to have a clear idea of where they’re taking their company. Hey, if you’ve got the keys and you’re sitting in the driver’s seat, we expect you to know where we’re all going. Too many CEO’s have a “feeling” or a “hunch” but are unable to explain their vision for the future clearly and succinctly. It takes coaching and practice - but you’ve gotta do it.

4) No matter the size of the company, remember that the CEO’s job is to work on the business rather than in it. If your CEO was a great salesman, that’s terrific. But he can’t stay exclusively in sales any longer. As a CEO, you have to lead the whole company, not just the parts you feel comfortable leading.

Address these issues and you’ll go a long way to creating the CEO as a beacon for your brand and a vital part of what makes your brand special to customers, business partners and everyone else who matters to your success.

Good luck.

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