Reading in Fundamental

Over the past couple of months i’ve read the following books:

• Truth, Lies and Advertising : The Art of Account Planning (Jon Steel)
• Negotiation: Readings, Exercises, and Cases (Lewicki, Saunders, Minton and Barry)
• Career Warfare: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Personal Brand and Fighting to Keep It (David D’Alessandro)
• Path of Destruction: A Novel of the Old Republic (Star Wars: Darth Bane) (Drew Karpyshyn)
• The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists (Neil Strauss)
• The Devil’s Banker (Christopher Reich)
• Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life (Johnson and Blanchard)

What’s interesting is that each of these books touch on some aspect of presenting one’s self to the public.

• The Game is about developing your personal brand to attract attention
• Truth and Lies is about reading other people’s brands because often what people say is not what they mean
• The Devil’s Banker is about concealing your personal brand to mask your underlying motive
• Who Moved My Cheese is about reinventing your personal brand and adapting to your surroundings
• Path of Destruction is about the process / discovery of understanding your brand and and creating niche for yourself
• Negotiations is about exercising your brand in various ways

As someone in the business of branding, the process of uncovering insights, developing a proposition and then presenting a brand to the world is not much different. At some point in time each of these books have given me a new perspective on launching a new brand or rethinking about how to present on old one.

Angles and design

The thought occurred to me the other day that design, like pool is all about angles, perspective and new ways at looking at objects.

What happens when you remove words and logos from products? You are left with design. Good design tells interesting stories about products and ultimately about brands themselves.

When you can recognize a brand without the use of its logo, that’s good design. Apple does it with the iPod, Movado does it with watches and Converse does it with shoes.

Maybe the evolution of branding will be the logo-less brand, where form and style says it all…where form is the brand and the product not the name is the hero.

Cell Phone With Large Pullout Display – Readius

This pullout display for cellphones could be the start a mobile revolution. Readius is the world’s first phone designed specifically to allow easier reading of news, blogs or email. Philips has a 25% stake in the company.

“You get the large display of e-reading, the super battery life of e-reading, and the high-end connectivity … and the form factor and weight of a mobile phone,” Karl McGoldrick, chief executive of the venture capital-funded firm said.

Two years in the making, the phone will be licensed to go head-to-head with the iPhone and Amazon’s ebook reader, the Kindle.

The Rebirth of Uniqlo

There is an insightful article in Creative Review about the rebirth of Uniqlo. It focuses primarily on Kashiwa Sato who was brought in as creative director and Yugo Nakamura who was brought in to direct their online vision.

creative review article

Dell and Microsoft Partner With (Product) Red for Valentine’s Day

WHO:
Microsoft and Dell are joining the (Product) Red charity for global AIDS relief

WHAT:
- For every 1 of the new red XPS One’s that are sold, $80 of the purchase will go directly toward buying 6 months of antiretroviral medication
- If you buy a (Product) Red XPS M1530 or M1330, the donation is $50
- if you buy the red 948 all-in-one printer, somebody gets 10 days’ worth of medication

IMPORTANCE:
Companies are trying hard to find new ways to make a difference through consumer purchases.

IMPACT:
Both Dell and Microsoft are trying to add value by offering a premium experience. Each PC is powered by Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED, that include 6 unique desktop wallpapers, a screensaver, 2 innovative Windows Sidebar gadgets and a (RED)-themed Windows DreamScene.

THE PROBLEM:
Seems to me that companies are using the (Product) Red charity to upsell consumers. Not to thrilled about that.

A SOLUTION:
What if we enhance the proposition by making Dell and Microsoft’s existing service more premium. For instance, customer service or added widgets on the Microsoft platform? This something you would have to have to buy extra anyway, so why not pay the extra fee and donate a percentage to charity? I might be more inclined to pay for this service and feel good about my purchase at the same time.

Creating Value

I love this belt! Why because this product says multiple things to me at once

1. It reminds me of my childhood, triggered by the lego design

2. It reminds me of more innocent times, thanks to the heart shape

3. It allows me to express myself in a new way

If this were a brand I would for sure buy their products and if they could continue to surprise me by bringing thing back from the 80’s i’d definitely be broke soon.

But seriously this product creates real value for me and i’m sure for hundreds of others. Because it allows old farts like me to relive a past life and introduces a new generation to the playfulness of an old idea.

Giant’s merchandise sales through the roof

My long weekend was completed on Sunday when the New York football Giants upset the Green Bay Packer’s to reach the Super Bowl. Go figure within a span of 2 days, Giant’s merchandise sales have gone through the roof.

Shoppers have been crowding into New York City stores to buy new t-shirts, hats, sweat suits and jerseys to show their support for the long-shot team.

“Last week was soft. I guess the fans didn’t believe they would win,” says Mitchell Modell, chief executive of Modell’s Sporting Goods chain, which operates more than two dozen stores in the city. “Now, we’re running trucks day and night.”

All of a sudden the Giants as a brand has become much more valuable today than two days ago. It’s funny what perception and accomplishment can do for a brand. One day you can have a dog on your hands and the next a cash cow. Which means there is hope yet for fledging brands like the New York Jets or for that part any crappy brand.

We are all just one win away from perceived success.

Growing Up Online

WHO: PBS Frontline documentary series

WHAT: PBS attempts to answer that question, “What does it mean to be part of the1st generation coming of age steeped in a virtual world seemingly outside parental control?”

IMPACT: An 8th grader commits suicide after being bullied online.  An anorexic girl finds tips online how to starve herself and a boy admits he cannot recall ever reading a book

IMPORTANCE: As marketers we need to understand how these children access, use and transfer information. It is likely that the current social issues that they face today will very likely shape the types of brands that will influence their lives tomorrow

The show airs tonight at 9pm on PBS. Check your local listings.

Curious

This quote by Seth Godin resonated with me…

“The safest thing you can do is risky and the riskiest thing you can do is play it safe”

Risk brings reward and the curious do.

Shall we all be curious…

Brand Infection

Take a look at this picture taken at the Missouri School of Journalism. Apple all day everyday.

What about Apple Inc. is so infectious? The formula for success seems to be incorporate good design elements with a single idea. In Apple’s case, think differently.

What i’ve noticed is that good design equals good business.  The best brand’s make little observations about people and deliver on a promise.  Apple makes computing simple. Other brands like Method strive to be a role model in a bottle, and Dyson makes a better vacuum.  All strong ideas brought to life by even stronger design.

In each instance all the brand’s communicate simple ideas through compelling design. Good brands also redefine categories. Thanks to Dyson, vacuuming has now joined grilling as the one household chore that men can get excited about, Method has made household cleaning products beautiful and Apple has made computers simple.

But these ideas don’t have to apply just to products and services, they can be applied to people.

The next time you are out shopping think about what you want people to think about you just from your appearance, and then try and describe yourself in 5 words or less. If you can do those two things, you may be on your way to creating your own infectious brand.

Ok, easier said than done but like all things, infectious brands are always a work in progress.