Taking brand tips from infomercials for your products and services. Kids today live in a world where they have almost unlimited options of what we’re now referring to as “screen time.” All forms of screens: TV, tablets, mobile phones, and other devices. However, despite all that screen time, there’s a possibility they don’t know what an “infomercial” is. Even if they know what one is, they probably don’t remember the very first ones. Do you? If you lived through the 80s and 90s and into the 2000s, you’ll remember greats like Shame Wow, The George Foreman Grill, The Shake Weight…
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Is your business growing internationally? Are you moving into foreign markets? WOOHOO! That’s awesome. It must mean your marketing strategy is working. Remember when we reviewed taglines and quite a few of the funnier gaffes had to do with mistranslations? Remember Kevin’s favorite? The Parker Pens tagline “It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you” was translated into Spanish as “It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.” YIKES! Although these types of blunders are funny to us consumers, as business owners and marketers we need to be aware that the mistakes do fall into a bigger…
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Join Kevin and Amy for another round of evaluating recent rebrand initiatives by well-known companies. Our listeners have started to get that we will almost always express strong words of caution whenever the topic of “RE-branding” is put on the table. Today we have a review of four biggies that have all happened this year. The words of caution are going to sound familiar but I hope we can also shed a little light on what’s done well — and what’s done NOT so well — with each of these initiatives. Join us in discussing Burger King, Pfizer, Kia, and…
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We had a request from one of our listeners, Zoe, to review Marketing the Magician archetype. And, if you recall, her company is a line of skincare products. We waved our magic wand and VOILA! — Here we are. Are you ready? If you’ve been listening to the past couple of episodes, we have, so far, reviewed the marketing of: The Hero The Outlaw The Jester The Innocent In each of these, we began by reviewing the big ideas contained in the archetype … And, we’ll do the same here. EXCEPT, the Magician archetype really only has two big ideas,…
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Join Kevin and Amy as they slow down and reminisce about the good ‘ole days while discussing Marketing the Innocent Archetype. The gang starts by dissing Coca-Cola’s latest commercial for being widely off-brand. Watch it and let us know if you agree. The main concepts of the Innocent brand are: #1 Simplicity Remove chaos from processes and make things suuuuuuper easy for the consumer. This includes: Having fewer options (choices) Not using complex lingo and jargon Increased helpful, personal interaction Conveying a strong sense of patience and guidance People are generally put off, and can even be afraid of complexity. …
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Amy is so excited for today! Her favorite: Marketing the Outlaw Archetype, and the one that represents her company Zeedia Media. Today’s podcast is for all you rebellious, contrarian, authority-questioners… for all you radical, free-spirited, wind-in-the-hair types! The Outlaw is also commonly referred to as The Rebel. The following are the most critical aspects of being an Outlaw Brand: Confident. Understanding that, deep in your core, you believe that your way of doing things is the best way … despite the fact that the masses of other business owners do “it” differently.Whatever IT is. Independent. They’re not social butterflies but…
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Is it possible for a brand to go “too far” with their messaging – even when they are staying on brand? Kevin and Amy discuss their thoughts on this podcast episode. What word would you use to describe a Jester brand that’s too Jestery? (Ridiculous) How about an Outlaw brand that’s too Outlaw? (Dangerous) A Neighbor brand? (Lazy or Uncaring) It is in fact possible to go too far in one direction with your brand. However, this is NOT a problem for most brands. Most organizations don’t go far enough with their focus for this to become a problem. But,…
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Do you know the history of April Fools Day? Well, there isn’t a definitive story on the origins of this event. Some say it’s somehow related to a papal bull by Pope Gregory XIII changed, by decree, the first day of the year from late March/early April, to January 1st. Supposedly, the people who didn’t make the shift were mocked and pranked … sometimes finding a dead fish in a package sent to them…. Hence, “April Fish!”. Check out the full story here. Kevin regales us with a few of his wife, Francie’s, epic April Fool’s jokes she has played…
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If your brand is not about you, what is it about? Last week we talked about brand mistakes. We danced around the topic of how you need to connect to your audience, but we never came out and said the words, “Your Brand is NOT About YOU!” So, if the statement “Your Brand is NOT about YOU!” is true, then what is it really about? Simply put, your brand is about the relationship you’ve built with your audience….Which can mean a LOT of things! It’s not just simply taking the words “I”, “Me”, “Us”, “Our”, and “We” out of our…
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We never let our clients make branding mistakes, but here is a list we put together of what we think are the biggest branding mistakes you want to always avoid. Some may seem obvious – others not so much. You’d still be surprised how many companies still do this today despite our warnings and podcast they could be listening to. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. The #1 Biggest Brand Mistake Made by Organizations It’s consistency … or, more to the point, a LACK of consistency. This applies to just about everything you do in your brand, but it especially rings true…
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