LEAD/MARKE

brandPoem (no.106) of the Week

Dear Brand, ..
"Quit Procrastinating. WORK ON YOUR ART."

brandPoems - a leadmarke project

Via nevver.

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

Livestreaming @thethirdclub: Round Table "Endet der Hype um Social Media?"

Wir, Thomas und ralf, freuen uns, den 1. The Third Club Round Table in Düsseldorf zu präsentieren. Besonders freuen wir uns über das Engagement Sascha Hüsings, ohne das dieser Round Table nicht stattfinden würde. Er hatte die Idee, wählte die Gäste, machte Termine und kümmerte sich um Streaming und Einladung.
Vielen Dank Sascha.

Für alle, die bei unserem Düsseldorfer Round Table nicht vor Ort sein können, bieten wir unten Livestream und Chat:
(Vielen Dank an dieser Stelle nocheinmal, Guido, dass Du Dich ums Streaming kümmerst).

[L/M NET] Tom Fishburne > agency pitch

(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 right client/agency fit can make all the difference in marketing. Yet the typical RFP cattle call used to make that match is broken. The hoops clients give agencies to jump through in a pitch don’t really mimic the working relationship. Agencies are also often asked to create actual campaigns for free that may never be used, all the while ignoring their real clients.

brandPoem (no.105) of the Week

Dear Brand, ..
"GO DO GOOD."

brandPoems - a leadmarke project

Via wired.

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

foursquare: Introducing Promoted(!) (Local) Updates

"Last week we launched Local Updates to help you keep up with the places you love in your friends tab. Today, we’re introducing a new way for you to discover places when you’re looking for what to do next: Promoted Updates (including Promoted Specials!) in your Explore tab. It’s a great way to find out what’s happening at a local coffee shop, save money on your next clothing purchase, or just discover a store you’ve never been to before.

Promoted updates are just like the local updates that you see in your friends tab, except that businesses can pay to promote them in our Explore results. The update can be a money-saving special, an update on a new fashion line, or a photo of their latest dish. It works similar to ads on Google; there, if you search for ‘laptops,’ you’ll see an ad for an electronics website next to the results. In foursquare, if you do the same search in Explore you might see a promoted special about a weekend deal at a nearby computer store." - foursquare

 
Via CNBC.

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.

[L/M NET] Tom Fishburne > single-minded proposition

(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)

 

At the heart of a great marketing story is usually a “single-minded proposition”, or SMP. The SMP sums up the most important thing you can say about the brand or product. It ignites creative briefs and serves as a rally cry for marketing communication.

Most single-minded propositions resemble a peace treaty more than a rally cry however. Marketers cram in every benefit that fits, leading to 80-word run-on sentences. Often the SMP is political, with different members of the brand team lobbying for different features. The easiest solution is just to tack them together with commas, semicolons, and “ands”.

The best single-minded proposition I’ve ever seen came with the original launch of the iPod. The SMP is not the same as a tagline, but in this case it’s both. When every other MP3 player at the time was talking about memory, price point, compatibility, interoperability, and a million other benefits at once, the iPod simply boasted, “1,000 songs in your pocket”.

The longer the SMP, the weaker the ideas that will result. The more we have to say in marketing, the less that people will listen. Deciding what not to communicate is more important than what to communicate. Great marketing starts with great editing.

(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:
The problem with the single-minded proposition is: there is none.

Today 'the most important thing you can say about the brand or product' is mostly that it is "NEW" or that it offers a "20% PRICE OFF", as Thomas wrote in our column at German Wirtschaftswoche online.

Today products are generic at best. They try to reach everybody, so they combine everything 'essential' for the market, reaching (not to mention: enthusing) nobody any more.

 For a great SMP brands would have to own a core, a meaning, distinction, true value, relevance. A long way to go (again) in this very short-sighted business economy.)

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

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!

 

"Never hesitate to challenge a status quo" - and other Learnings from @swissmiss's Latest Success

After the first year with her temporary tattoo business Tina gives the following advice to all of us:

1. Never hesitate to challenge a status quo
2. Don’t outsource things you care about
3. Don’t be shy. Ask for advice.
4. Grow a thick skin + hustle
5. Prepare for success
6. Being nice is the only option
7. Your team is everything

I would like to focus on the first.

"Never hesitate to challenge a status quo of a product or service that already exists. Put your own spin on it, stamp it with your personality and you might redefine an entire industry."

Hesitating, being overwhelmed by the size, complexity professionalism of the market you approach, pure fear, insufficient self-esteem are the single-most reason in my experience to question or challenge the status quo.

In my years I have seen so many great ideas, so many great people, which couldn't make it across this hesitation hurdle. They gave up without never ever even trying.

Please, if you understand that you hesitate, talk to somebody. Find somebody whom you may truly trust.

Do not get any consultant or organized consultancy.

Do not talk talk to a friend who knows you for years and years. S/he may not be able to differentiate between your past and your future. S/he may not be able to separate your friendly personality from the entrepreneur you carry inside yourself.

Do not talk to a friend from a large corporation, s/he does not have your entrepreneurial genes.

Talk to somebody you love for her personality. Talk. Let the words jump out of your mouth. Stop thinking. Stop rumulating. Talk. There is such a huge difference between thinking and talking. Try it. Try it in your own living room. Talking aloud will give you a first boost of self-esteem. All else follows.

My five cents.

Please read Tina's full story at her own blog.

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!

@thethirdclub Column: GroupMs Blomenkamp and The Third Club!?

(Column for The Third Club, Germany)

 

In einem Interview ist der von mir geschätzte Jürgen Blomenkamp so verdammt nah an The Third Club, dass ich ihn direkteinmal gegenüberstellend zitieren muss (womit ich nicht sagen möchte, er habe sich bei uns bedient, sondern mich vielmehr freue, dass unsere Situationsbeschreibung geteilt wird):

Wir schrieben im Oktober 2011: ...

The More You Know, the More Successful You Will Be/come

A few days ago I wrote that tweet, to advertise a post of mine at distinctive leadership:

"To be/come innovative you have to be/come curious! RT @distinctlead Stay curious! http://bit.ly/MMHxON"

Now I stumbled upon a great quote:

"Originality depends on new and striking combinations of ideas. It is obvious therefore that the more a man knows the greater scope he has for arriving at striking combinations.

And not only the more he knows about his own subject but the more he knows beyond it of other subjects.

It is a fact that has not yet been sufficiently stressed that those persons who have risen to eminence in arts, letters or sciences have frequently possessed considerable knowledge of subjects outside their own sphere of activity."

...

"Success depends on adequate knowledge: that is, it depends on sufficient knowledge of the special subject, and a variety of extraneous knowledge to produce new and original combinations of ideas."

Quotes from Anatomy of Inspiration - via brainpickings.

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] Tim Kastelle > Innovation Requires a Change in Behaviour

(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)

 

What is the most important innovation ever?

I’ve argued before that it is hand-washing in hospitals. This innovation was a major driver in the improved health outcomes that have increased our life expectancies from less than 60 years at birth to nearly 80 in most developed countries.

It’s such a simple idea, and so easy to do, that it must have spread quickly, right?

Well, not really.

[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.

Creativity: Make the Complicated awesomely Simple [Poster]

Via jaymug.