Waiting in a line doesn’t have to be boring. Burger King, in true form to their Jester Archetype approach to marketing, shows how you can change the game in an unexpected way! Did they have to do this? Nope. Does it make the line shorter? Nope. Do you get your food faster? Nope. HOWEVER …. Did it put a smile on my face? YEP! Bravo BK!
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There’s a really big idea in the world of branding that’s an obvious question to ask by ALL business owners … but the idea is not so often seen as a branding issue. And, the question – this big idea – is, “How do I get customers to buy from me, instead of my competitors?” In our experience as marketing professionals, we feel most business owners have not put enough thought into this and have some pretty misplaced ideas about how important it is. For example, a LOT – and, we mean a LOT – of owners have the opinion…
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Western Michigan University Rebranding We came across a branding news story from just a week ago that’s both spot-on for the topic of branding, but is also a local story for us Michiganders. Last week, Western Michigan University rolled out a press release unveiling its new logo. First, you have to understand that Kevin’s wife got her Masters at Western and my middle step son just graduated from there two years ago…. So, although we’re die-hard maize and blue University of Michigan fans, we also root for the Broncos. And Amy is a Michigan State University fan. Here is the…
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What are the BIG IDEAS when it comes to Marketing the Artist Archetype? Let’s find out! We’re talking about The Artist Archetype today. To be clear, to pull this off does NOT require you to be a Michelangelo … nor does it require us to roll our paint-covered, naked bodies all over a big canvas …. Again. A quick reminder that this archetype was originally coined by Marks and Pearson as “The Creator.” Really, the only reason we choose to use a different name is because we feel the concept of creative artistry is more important than the concept of…
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We’re usually pretty upbeat and easily excitable in our podcasts. Today, we’re going to ratchet it down a couple of notches…. We’re going to take a chill pill and take it easy. Maybe chillax a bit. Are you ready? For a refreshing on what the Neighbor is all about check out these resources: The Neighbor Page Blog: The Neighbor Archetype: EVERYONE BELONGS Episode 16 – The Neighbor Archetype (overview) Join Kevin and Amy as they discuss the big ideas of being a Neighbor brand and how that might look in your marketing. The Neighbor Archetype is: EASY GOING REMOVES CHAOS…
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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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