LEAD/MARKE

Fast Food Restaurants in Social Media Real Time [infographic]

“Large fast food chains have long dominated commercial airwaves,” says Unmetric CEO, Lux Narayan, “but in the era of social media these restaurants have a new opportunity to directly engage with fans and seek out a competitive edge. The Unmetric Fast Food Report provides a first look at social media benchmarks and reveals how each chain uses various tactics to uniquely connect with fans and followers.” - Read more

Via brandchannel.

Do not miss my column at wirtschaftswoche online: McDonald's - Mein Zehn-Jahres-Boykott.

brandPoem (no.101) of the Week

Dear Brand, ..
"Every Time Someone’s asked Me What I wanted,
I’ve Never Told the Truth." - brandPoems - a leadmarke project

Via.

Dear Brand, .. Outgrow Yourself, Inspire the World!

@Wiwo Column: Lob der tumben Reklame

Our latest Wirtschaftswoche, German Business Weekly, online column:

"Werbung ist tumb - und das hat seinen Grund: Warum sollte Werbung intelligent sein, wenn Marketing und Produkt einfältig sind? Warum sollte Werbung intelligent sein, wenn der Rezipient naiv ist? Warum sollte Werbung intelligent sein, wenn das Medium sich töricht zu immer neuen intellektuellen Tiefen herablässt?"

Tumb? Ja, Werbung ist tumb. 

tumb 〈Adj.〉 töricht, naiv, einfältig

... Synonyme:

1. naiv, kindlich, arglos, harmlos, treuherzig, kritiklos, unkritisch, urteilslos, undifferenziert, bieder, schlicht, beschränkt, .., simpel, einfach
2. töricht, tölpelhaft, unklug, .., ungeschickt, schwerfällig;
ugs: unbedarft, stieselig, blöde, doof, einfach/schlicht gestrickt

Aber ist das so verkehrt?

...

Tumbe Reklame ist nicht mehr und nicht weniger als der vorläufige Höhepunkt kommunikativer Evolution:

1. Tumbe Reklame konzentriert sich auf das Wesentliche.
...
2. Tumbe Reklame ist wahrhaftig und klar.
...
3. Tumbe Reklame stellt den Menschen nicht in Frage.
...
4. Tumbe Reklame minimiert potentiellen Frust.
...
5. Tumbe Reklame schmeichelt dem Rezipienten-Ego.
... 

...

Tumbe Reklame stellt ihre eigenen Bedürfnisse zum Zwecke des Abverkaufes hintan. Sie opfert sich. Klaglos. Rückgratlos. Mutlos. Tumbe Reklame ist der wahre Held unserer Tage."

 

... read the full post @wiwo ...

> all our columns so far!

 

Coca-Cola: Dynamic Storytelling [video]

For all who haven't seen that before:

 

 
Via sixtsign.

brandPoem (no.92) of the Week

Dear Brand, ..
"First learn the rules.
Then break them." - brandPoems - a leadmarke project

Via.

Dear Brand, .. Outgrow Yourself, Inspire the World!

McDonald's - Mein 10-Jahres-Boykott [@wiwo]

Unsere aktuelle Wirtschaftswoche-Kolumne:

"Unternehmen sollten bei ihren Marken darüber nachdenken, ob sie weiter den Konsumenten ablenken wollen vom wahren Produkt, oder ob sie ihm reinen Wein einschenken und schleunigst Unternehmen, Marke, Produkt und Management dem notwendigen Paradigmenwechsel unterziehen.

Ich denke jedenfalls, wenn McDonald's soviel Zeit hat, bis es die Schweine ernst nimmt, kann ich mir entsprechend viel Zeit lassen, bis ich McDonald's wieder ernst nehme, oder?"

 

... bitte bei wiwo weiterlesen ...

> alle unsere bisherigen Wiwo-Kolumnen!

[L/M NET] Tom Fishburne > our mission

(L/M NET: the blogged experience & expertise of some of the best minds in Innovation, Brand Engagement, Communication Agility:
Tom - Tim - Konstantin - Helge - Drew - Charles - Anthony - Adrian)

 

Every brand needs an anthem. Most settle for a humdrum mission statement or competitive benchmark instead.

In my recent “Brand Laddering” cartoon, I parodied brands that stretch too far beyond believability, trying to make corn chips stand for world peace. I think there’s just as much to make fun of with brands that don’t try to stand for anything at all.

Too often we define our brands only by how we stack up versus our competition. The Fast Food market works this way. Brands typically pivot off of each other, claiming Cheaper, Bigger, Tastier, etc. Taco Bell asked consumers to Think Outside the Bun. Quiznos introduced Toasty as a point of difference versus Subway.

Chipotle traditionally marketed like every other Fast Food restaurant, with billboard ads like this one focused on big burritos.

Yet Chipotle made waves at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity a couple weeks ago with the following anthem called “Back to the Start”. In a simple animation voiced by Willy Nelson, Chipotle elevated their ingredient sourcing story to a rally cry on how our culture sources food as a whole.
Popout
Having an anthem inspires, not only our consumers, but everyone on our extended teams who touch the brand.

(Marketoonist Monday: I’m giving away one signed print of this week’s cartoon. Just share an insightful comment to this week’s post by 5:00 PST on Monday. I’ll pick one comment. Thanks!)

(ralf says: We need an anthem for our brands, our corporations, our ways of doing business.

A true anthem tells a true story of true meaning. That is what most brands, corporations, businesses lack. Meaning. A vision of doing things, a vision of value. Bigger than life. More important than every single employee's vision. Uniting employees and consumers ...

Too good to be true. Worthwhile working on.)

Tom is cartoonist and founder of Marketoonist, helping organizations communicate with cartoons. He draws from 16yrs of marketing, most recently as Marketing VP at method. He speaks about innovation, creativity, and marketing, using cartoons to visualize. @tomfishburne

TheThirdClub-Kolumne: Der Tod der Kreativität

Vor 75 Jahren prophezeite Harvard Professor Pitirim Sorokin ua. das Aussterben der Kreativität. Verdammt nah dran!

Ich zitiere hier nur den Part zu Kreativität:

"Real creativity will die out.

Instead, we shall get a multitude of mediocre pseudo-thinkers and vulgar groups and organizations.

Our belief systems will turn into a strange chaotic stew of science, philosophy, and magical beliefs.

“Quantitative colossalism will substitute for qualitative refinement.”

What is biggest will be regarded as best.

Instead of classics, we shall have best-sellers.

Instead of genius, technique.

Instead of real thought, Information.

Instead of inner value, glittering externality.

Instead of sages, smart alecs.

The great cultural values of the past will be degraded;
“Michelangelos and Rembrandts will be decorating soap and razor blades, washing machines and whiskey bottles.”

Na super, was denkt Ihr?
Auf den Punkt, oder?

Da kann man sich jeden Satz auf der Zunge zergehen lassen.

Irgendwelche Ideen, wie man dies wieder ändern kann?

 

Hier der Original-Post von Morris Berman.

 

[L/M NET] Drew Neisser > Tweet Emotion

(L/M NET: the blogged experience & expertise of some of the best minds in Innovation, Brand Engagement, Communication Agility:
Tom - Tim - Konstantin - Helge - Drew - Charles - Anthony - Adrian)

 

The 140 Characters conference is a downright hugfest, as founder Jeff Pulver insists on giving physical hugs to the speakers and virtual hugs to the audience.  The virtual hugs come in the form of carefully chosen speakers whose unique stories inspire, cajole and even move the audience to tears.  Here is a recap of day one excluding five stories I included in my MediaPost article today.

Cost to Launch an Internet Startup: No more Excuses!

During the last 10 years the cost of starting a tech business decreased from 5 million dollars to just 5.000:

Via collaborative fund.

There are no excuses any more for not getting your great ideas manifested in a startup now.

No excuse for any brand.
No excuse for any agency.
No excuse for any individual. 

Behind-the-scenes: McDonald's Quarterpounder Photo Shoot

In case you ever wondered, like me in this post at (German) werbeblogger, why a Hamburger looks so damn rotten in reality vs the advertising, here you get an answer.

And of course you know how it all happens - but this is an official McDonald's Video/Ad!

Can you imagine a German McDonald's being that transparent?
Could make some sense during these days of social networking, or? Getting 3.5 million views in 3 days!?

Behind the scenes at a McDonald's photo shoot with the Canadian marketing director Hope Bagozzi:

Via npr.

[L/M NET] Helge Tenno > We are in Culture not in Sales

(L/M NET: the blogged experience & expertise of some of the best minds in Innovation, Brand Engagement, Communication Agility:
Tom - Tim - Konstantin - Helge - Drew - Charles - Anthony - Adrian)

 

When the mobile and social web combine they create the basis for a completely new Internet. Which radically differentiates itself from the shape of the current one.

Why is the mobile social Internet different from the old Internet?
The history of technology is not what we assume. Progress does not follow a straight line. It is pushed sideways through seemingly random collisions between existing and familiar technologies – with the result being something radically different.

To my best interpretation this is what is happening now: 
The first generation Internet was/is a one dimensional information web, and we have unsuccessfully tried to build bigger ideas on top of it. Now, the mobile social web is shaping up to be a much better infrastructure to build new ideas in.

The mobile social web is our secret sauce. (We just have to stop thinking of it as: 1. A smaller version of the Internet and 2. Facebook)

It has always been about culture!
yes, it has. But we are now given a front door access to the other side of the purchase, so that we can participate and even parttake in designing the culture around our products. And we need to start bringing more of the direct experience of culture back into the sale and retail experiences.

 

(ralf says:
Signed ;)

Helge works as Digital Director for Dinamo, helping brands and organizations discover WHY they are valuable in consumers lives, and HOW they can create deliberate value on the arenas and inside the interfaces where they connect with them. Twitter: @congbo

Die 2 The Third Club Lunch Poster

(Not exclusively of course) for my readers in Germany:

Die ersten beiden The Third Club Düsseldorf Lunch Poster

01 - Die Achse des Quantitativen:

"Die Ergebnisse unseres zweiten Lunches als Checklist bzw. Poster.

Idealerweise druckt Ihr das .pdf in DIN-A4 aus, dann könnt Ihr es als Poster über den Schreibtisch hängen oder Euch als Checklist unter das Kopfkissen legen.

Binsenweisheiten?

Nun das Schicksal der Binse scheint zu sein, dass jede/r sie kennt, aber keine/r sie beherzigt. Es wird Zeit.

Ihr meint nicht? Dann lasst uns darüber reden

- vielleicht auch direkt beim 3. The Third Club Lunch Düsseldorf am 03. Juli!?

 

Zum .pdf-Download bitte hier klicken.
Via The Third Club - Die Achse des Quantitativen.

02 - Das Wichtige vom Dringenden unterscheiden:

Zum .pdf-Download bitte hier klicken.
Via The Third Club - Das Wichtige vom Dringenden ...

Wie gesagt, wir würden uns freuen, Euch beim 3. The Third Club Lunch Düsseldorf am 03. Juli zu sehen!

[L/M NET] Tom Fishburne > Brand laddering

(L/M NET: the blogged experience & expertise of some of the best minds in Innovation, Brand Engagement, Communication Agility:
Tom - Tim - Konstantin - Helge - Drew - Charles - Anthony - Adrian)

 

“Brand Laddering” is one of the most common marketing tools. To drive growth and loyalty, marketers frequently work to elevate benefits of the brand from technical to functional to emotional.

But there’s a risk of over-reaching, particularly when brands aim for abstract emotional benefits not really supported by the product story. Brandgym founder David Taylor calls this phenomenon “brand ego tripping”.

To be Creative & Innovative, Think Like an Artist

It does not matter, if you are a brand, or a creative or a marketing / communication manager.
Reflect & inhale every single rule:

Via hydeordie.

The Apple Monolith and the Apes

Via matt lehrer.

[L/M NET] Tom Fishburne > Banner Blindness or Your Ad here

(L/M NET: the blogged experience & expertise of some of the best minds in Innovation, Brand Engagement, Communication Agility:
Tom - Tim - Konstantin - Helge - Drew - Charles - Anthony - Adrian)

 

I heard recently that the average click-through-rate of a banner ad is less than the average failure rate of birth control.

I stumbled across this eye tracking study showing how people look at web content. Whether a quick scanning, partial reading, or thorough reading, the eyes rarely took in the ads. The study calls this “banner blindness”.

The banner blindness phenomenon extends beyond banner ads to advertising in general. Even though ads are more pervasive than ever, it is easier than ever to ignore them.

Banner blindness raises the importance of evolving beyond paid media alone. Here’s a handy chart from Forrester on the different complementary roles of paid media, owned media, and earned media.

Forrester goes on to say:

“Your paid media is not dead, but it is evolving into a catalyst. Many people are predicting the end of paid media. However that prediction may be premature as no other type of media can guarantee the immediacy and scale that paid media can. However, paid media is shifting away from the foundation and evolving into a catalyst that is needed at key periods to drive more engagement”.

When we think of paid media as a catalyst rather than as the foundation, it forces us to raise our game. There is no longer a captive audience. Our communication can’t afford to be “blah blah blah”. As marketers our goal in everything should be to create marketing worth sharing at the start.

(Marketoonist Monday: I’m giving away one signed print of this week’s cartoon. Just share an insightful comment to this week’s post by 5:00 PST on Monday. I’ll pick one comment. Thanks!)

 

(ralf says:
Paid media ARE dead, if they (or marketing or agencies) do not evolve. Marketers should face the fact. They should not look at reach, but at response, click thru, slaes. They must wake up.
Does it make sense to negotiate a 60-80% banner rebate, if you get literally NOTHING for it!?)

Tom is cartoonist and founder of Marketoonist, helping organizations communicate with cartoons. He draws from 16yrs of marketing, most recently as Marketing VP at method. He speaks about innovation, creativity, and marketing, using cartoons to visualize. @tomfishburne

@Wiwo-Kolumne: Die 3 Teufelskreise des Kurzfrist-Marketings

Our current Wirtschaftswoche column:

"Die Welt wird immer komplexer, denken wir, und immer weniger vorhersehbar.
 Dabei werden nur die Zyklen, in denen wir denken und handeln, immer kürzer, unser Blick immer fokussierter. Wir reagieren immer schneller, immer taktischer, immer punktgenauer.

Und genau das ist das Problem. Wir selbst sind die Krankheit, gegen die wir eine Heilung suchen, aber - wie schon Einstein wusste: Man kann die Probleme nicht mit dem Denken lösen, das diese erst geschaffen hat!

1. Teufelskreis:
"Adaption ist die neue Innovation!"

...

2. Teufelskreis:
"Einfalt ist die neue Vielfalt!"

...

3. Teufelskreis:
"Quantitäten sind die neue Qualität!"

...

... please read the full post - and our solution approach - at Wirtschaftswoche ...

Have a look at all our Wiwo columns so far!

1976(!) Dieter Rams Speech on Good Design As A Key Business Advantage

"Striving for good design is of social importance as it means, amongst other things, absolutely avoiding waste.

...

GOOD DESIGN MEANS TO ME:
AS LITTLE DESIGN AS POSSIBLE

...

I imagine our current situation will cause future generations to shudder at the thoughtlessness in the way in which we today fill our homes, our cities, and our landscape with a chaos of assorted junk. What a fatalistic apathy we have towards the effect of such things. What atrocities we have to tolerate. Yet we are only half aware of them.

This complex situation is increasing and possibly irreversible: there are no discrete actions anymore. Everything interacts and is dependent on other things; we must think more thoroughly about what we are doing, how we are doing it and why we are doing it.

Indeed, the collapse of the entire system may be impending."

Via fastcompany.

36 years ago! - Now you may imagine what separates the wheat from the chaff!? I urge you all to follow suite! - Thank you! :)

Marketing Lacks the Start-Up Gene!

Our @wiwo-column just went online:

"Ein Marketing mit erdrückendem Korsett aus starren Strukturen, Prozessen und Ritualen passt nicht mehr in die heutige Zeit.

Das Marketing benötigt das 'Start-up-Gen', um zu neuem Leben zu erwachen."

Please read the full post at Wirtschaftswoche.