Category Archives: Key Messaging
(From Lippincott) The information (facts, strengths, culture/style and future direction) that is most relevant to priority audiences and serve as major content points for all communications.
Know Canada?
Below, is the comment I left on an article on Brand New. My thoughts on Canada’s new campaign generated some interest, so I decided to share them with you. Enjoy it!
Peanut butter is Canadian
Are you asking the right questions?
Have you ever left a meeting questioning why you were summoned? What was the goal? What did you try to achieve? Well, I have been to too many meetings where I felt we wasted valuable time and effort. Also, I took part in so many branding projects that did no go anywhere. I know I am not alone. So, let’s see if we can fix the problem of ineffectiveness.
Brand Jordan
NBA lockout is about to end. The hot topic of discussion is what’s the damage to Brand Jordan?
Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest basketball player of all times. But his skills and will are not enough to explain how he became the magnetic person that he is. During his Hall of Fame induction speech, Michael Jordan said: “There won’t be a new Michael Jordan.” This is a false statement, because who we knew and adored as “Michael Jordan” was actually not an individual. The magnet was the “Warrior/Hero archetype.” Read the rest of this entry
You and me: The Brand Relationship Theory
Do you love “the Office?” I do… In one of my favourite episodes, Michael Scott got herpes and wants to know who gave him the disease. He starts working backwards through his partners, chronologically. Michael Scott, being the man he is, instead of informing his past partners of his infection, he asks them relationship-related questions such as: “What went wrong? Did I make more of what we had than was really there?” You may ask “What does Michael Scott have to do with branding?” Well, everything, according to Dr. Susan Fournier’s brand relationship theory. Read the rest of this entry
Smoothies and Tim Hortons… Success or failure?
Last week we talked about Starbucks’s recent experiment of serving alcohol in some of its locations. We ended up recommending them to create a second brand. We also said, on our next article we will focus on a successful line extension from Canada: Tim Horton’s, one of Starbucks’ archrivals. For those of you who are not familiar with the brand, here is how Wikipedia describes Tim Hortons: Read the rest of this entry
Alcohol and Starbucks… Success or failure?
I recently read an article by Mr. Martin Bishop from Landor about Starbucks serving regional wine and beer in some of its Seattle locations. Lately, Starbucks successfully updated its identity and announced that it aims to be more than a coffee company. The brand’s little experiment clearly shows that it means it. But I think such a line extension is the wrong way to go. Let me explain why. Read the rest of this entry
What’s in a name?
I love working with a brand named after its founder because they make my life much easy. The majority of brands still communicate merely what they’ve got (their products, their services, or their features.) Only a small number of brands communicate their “promise”, which is definitely a better marketing strategy. A promise is the universally-accepted definition of a brand. But… Even that communicating your promise is not enough anymore. Today, brands need to communicate their purpose as well as their promise, because people are looking for “meaning” these days. And there is no easier way of creating meaning than telling a compelling story about the founder of a brand. Read the rest of this entry
The art of effective writing
Almost a year ago I decided to start this blog, primarily because I realized that as a non-native speaker, I needed to improve my writing skills, a problem far beyond writing error-free articles. I had to improve the structure of my articles to be a more effective communicator. Structured writing was a skill that I was taught neither at school nor at work. So, there you have it. This blog is a selfish act. That said, I truly enjoy sharing my knowledge and experience with you. Therefore, today I will share with you some of the little secrets of structured writing. Read the rest of this entry
How to conduct a 360 stakeholder audit? -3
Previously, we talked about how to identify your stakeholders and how to prioritize them. Today, I will give you some insights on the common characteristics of your key stakeholders. As you may recall, we use two criteria in assessing the importance of a stakeholder: its power and its level of interest. Let’s analyze some of your stakeholders and see what they want and what they can do. Read the rest of this entry
