Category Archives: Brand Personality
(From Interbrand) The attribution of human personality traits to a brand as a way to achieve differentiation.
How to brand a destination?
Is place branding a money trap invented by evil advertising agencies? Is it a fool’s gold for destinations? Has any place ever benefited from so-called place branding? How about this frightening stat?: 86% of place branding projects fail within a year of introduction. Is there a way to break this curse? Let’s figure out the root cause of the problem first.
“A problem is the thick outermost layer of a fantasy.”
James Hillman
Archetypes or stereotypes?
Recently, I’ve learned that 86% of place branding projects fail. While the research does not explain why, I am willing to bet that one of the major causes of failure is “thinking stereotypically instead of archetypically”, and go even further to suggest the way to successfully branding destinations. Case in point: Ottawa.
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
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
LeBron James: Really a villain brand?
A lot has been written and said about LeBron James and his famous decision to sign with the Miami Heat. So why address this topic now? Hasn’t everything been said about “the decision?” My answer is “no”, because nobody looked at this issue from brand strategy perspective. So let’s put our branding goggles and see whether James is a villain, indeed. Read the rest of this entry
When to hire a celebrity for endorsement?
Celebrity endorsement is one of the most popular brand building tools. However, more often than not, it does not deliver the desired results. Why some endorsements work and some don’t? Today, I will try to solve this intriguing problem. Here is what I recommend: Read the rest of this entry
