Frye boots do their own brand talking
An iconic brand’s sound trademark (aka sound logo, audio logo) took over my Sunday am solitude this week. The noisy experience proved so disruptive during a quiet walk that I remembered to blog about it.
An audio logo, as you might guess, is the sound of a brand and the experience it evokes in brand fans and outsiders.
I heard someone approaching from behind—with strong intention. Rather, it wasn’t that I heard “someone.” I heard someone’s footwear rolling up the blue slate sidewalk.
- The loud shuffle began to identify itself first as shoes, not athletic wear.
- Then boots, but not any boots.
- Intrigued, I began to identify a brand from the distinctive sound.
Do your boots walk to a trademark sound? Read more…
Five Brands Strive Greatly – January 2013
Tagging reveals a powerful story of brand engagement to kick off 1Q 2013.
Brands are striving greatly — that is at all costs — to engage consumers. If you’re not feeling it from your own brands, you’re probably hearing about it from someone else. In today’s financially strapped but digitally savvy culture, pricing and shopping prove a natural complement (see slides). Online is officially the new Main Street.
Here’s a tag-cloud essay of the forces at work this January. Click through to review the full discussion.
Radio’s first commercial – 90 years ago
Thanks go out to John McDonough of NPR for his article, “First Radio Commercial Hit Airwaves 90 Years Ago” (August 28, 2012).
It got me thinking. And so I pulled out my lens of Web 2.0 marketing relationships, and here’s what I saw.
Popular Radio, Dec. 1922 from glowbugs.conus
Step back in radio air time: 1922
A New York City resident, you tune into WEAFN (66AM), owned and operated by AT&T Western Electric. (Yes, the same people who placed your long-distance calls.) Someone named H.M. Blackwell comes on the air, introducing his radio program. Over the next ten minutes (people had longer attention spans back then) you hear something no one has ever heard before: a commercial advertisement.
Mr. Blackwell tells you about a new apartment complex in Jackson Heights, Queens that’s close by NYC’s new underground subway system. Except for telling how lovely and convenient the residence is, that’s about all you get to know, thanks to Herbert Hoover, then US Secretary of Commerce and soon-to-be 31st US President. No price…no deals…no events.
With no context for absorbing the programming, how might you respond? Would you hop on the train and check out the new real estate? Or would you turn off your set, proclaiming the end of radio? (Think how you feel when Justin Bieber hashtags his favorite cause.)
O.K. Back to real time Web 2.0
Why the low-sell in radio’s first commercial advertisement? How did AT&T get in the middle of all this?
AT&T, owner of the airwaves, had airtime and a bottom line. In Selling Radio Direct (1992), Michael C. Keith describes how they invented for-profit airtime sold to advertisers. Marketed as “tollcasting,” the rest is commercial history.
Keith goes on to credit Commerce Secretary Hoover with shaping the context/content of the new airwaves. Unlike direct marketing pioneer Claude C. Hopkins, Hoover held direct selling in low regard. He would allow “sponsored programming,” however. As consumers, we reap the legacy in TV “soap” operas sponsored by CPG companies like Procter & Gamble. It’s become so much a part of our culture, that it’s become transparent.
So the first sponsored program was born and New Yorkers looking for real estate heard something new: sponsored airtime for the new apartment building in Jackson Heights, NYC. The complex still thrives 90 years later. Imagine the ROI: 10 minutes of airtime for $50. Hopefully, there was a real estate agent on site, asking potential renters, “How did you learn of this new property?”
What made the first radio ad work
What made radio’s first commercial work, long before focus groups, testing, and behavioral targeting? To begin, the blue ocean of uncluttered airtime didn’t hurt. It’s also a bit ironic that the first commercial radio ad appealed to New Yorkers’ sweetest spot: real estate. Content-wise, it sold the benefit of convenience.
To our media-saturated eyes, ears, and fingers, it’s hard to imagine. Would you have welcomed the information and the change? Obviously, something worked as radio, the first broadcast medium, changed rapidly. Surely, there was a curmudgeon, hunched by the radio, who rocked back in horror, witness to the crack that would become the great divide between public and non-public (i.e., commercial) broadcast media.
Close to a century later, the impact of radio is clear. Except now you’ve got digital radio and traditional broadcast. Wherever you have access, you’ve got the sound. As consumers, we love our radio. So do advertisers. According to the Internet Radio Advertising Impact Study (© 2011, TargetSpot, Inc.):
Online ad recall and response rates significantly increase when combined with Internet Radio use (Figure 2).
The data reveal that users who listen to Internet Radio are twice as likely as Internet-only users to respond to an Online ad.
So, it wasn’t just beginner’s luck or a blue ocean that made the first radio commercial work. Radio, it seems, has a unique power to capture our imaginations, no matter how few or many the tasks at hand.
Advertising Age (April 9, 2012) reports on a new study that describes two types of digital users
- Digital Natives – those who have grown up in a digital universe
- Digital Immigrants – those who have come to the digital universe from the shores of TV, print, and radio.
What’s so interesting is the behavior of these Digital Natives. Commissioned by Time Warner’s Time Inc., Boston’s Innerscope Research conducted a non-scientific study 30 digital natives. These young adults in their 20s followed their media-content whims for 60 minutes. Researchers found that they jumped ship and “switched” media 27 times in the space of an hour.
Imagine what that means for a standard :60 minute commercial television slot that leaves 14-16 minutes for advertisers. These digital natives may not be opting-in to the media or the programmer or the show. Instead, they’re controlling the content of individual whims. How do advertisers compete with that?
Hosted by imgur.comInterestingly, the Magazine Publishers association (MPA), explored the ratio of time spent to advertising’s impact in 2009. Magazines, it seems, came out on top, i.e., suffering the least damage. Marketing Charts featured this earlier study in Magazines Reap Most Ad Value Per Minute via Media Buyer Planner.
If the latest results scale, does this mean a new placement model for advertisers and publishers. It certainly seems that brands will continue to follow the content, creating their own highly engaged hubs. It also seems ripe for gamification that will provoke digital natives to follow the trail of content across media and engage with it actively.
Legendary brand Etch-A-Sketch® now has a new legacy that manufacturer OhioArt® (NASDAQ: OART) didn’t plan for. This children’s toy is now part of 2012 U.S. Presidential history— at least the run for office. Sen. Rick Santorum jibed his opponent Gov. Mitt Romney and the rest is history. For OhioArt, the toy’s maker, the beat is on to buy, enjoy, and engage.
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Vote 1: All word-of-mouth is good.
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The saying goes that any word of mouth — positive or negative — is worth it. It’s all about brand recognition, buzz, and free advertising. People who never heard of this classic boomer product suddenly become aware, interested, and freshly loyal. And not simply as buyers and users, but investors.
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“My friends, I don’t know what an Etch-a-Sketch is, but one of my friends owns Ohio Arts.
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Etch A Sketch owner Ohio Art’s stock soars after Mitt Romney flub …
20 hours ago … Mitt Romney probably never wants to see another Etch A Sketch, but investors don’t feel that way: The toy that cau… -
“I should have bought Ohio Art stock. The price tripled since Etch-A-Sketch-Gate.
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Vote 2: Etch-A-Sketch sales are quickly on the rise.Share
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“Not sure why, but I have this strange feeling that I should go out and by an Etch-a-Sketch before they are all gone.
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“Etch a Sketch sales are booming because the Republican candidates are entertainers…? What does an etch a sketch have to do with your vision for the country?
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And then there’s culture. The brand’s culture — two-handed sketching from knobs that resembled a TV screen — lived on in our collective. That’s what makes it a natural fit for political banter where you see talking heads of politicos on every screen in front of you.
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Politics puts Etch A Sketch back in the picture – CBS News
21 hours ago … TOLEDO, Ohio — Pushed to the bottom of the toy box by video games and other high-tech gadgets, Etch A Sketch is sudden… -
“Etch a sketch …We have a left knob and a right knob so we naturally appeal to both parties.Appeals to all politicians. They just shake it up and whoever pays for the next sketch so turns the knobs.
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Vote 3: The earned media is intense!Share
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Maddow Explains Why An ” Etch A Sketch ” Is A Perfect Analogy For Mitt Romney
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The more you try to distance yourself from this crazy metaphor, the more you recall the product’s best features. You could “erase” a line simply by rolling back your knob.
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Vote 4: There’s brand culture coming from every corner.
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What’s fascinating is that Etch-A-Sketch struck a cord with late boomers in the ’60s. Like Lego, there was always room for creativity and people could bring their own life lessons, experience, and wisdom. It’s even become a great medium for timely folk art. Jane Labowitch, for example, sketched this portrait© of Rick Santorum and posted the result to princessetchasketch.com
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Who could ask for more than this – a free instructor’s guide, published by venerable forbes.com
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How Does An Etch A Sketch Work, Anyway? – Forbes
23 hours ago … Who cares what the ‘Etch A Sketch’ gaffe means for the Romney campaign? The more important question is: ‘H… -
Vote 5: Brand culture opens doors to very interesting places.
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Etch-A-Sketch even strikes a cord with iPad users, if you look at this interesting sleeve posted to Pinterest. Something visually interesting about the sketcher and the technology achieving the same from significantly different price points. These nostalgic knock-offs, reintepretations, or folk artistries vett the childlike wonder of creativity and free expression. Who doesn’t want a share of that?
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Not to be outdone, there’s even an app for that when all the rhetorical dust settles. The brand will live on and the experience will never end. Just shake and start over. Can’t wait to see an etched Justin Bieber portrait.
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The Ohio Art Toy Store (world-of-toys.com) is your one stop shop for all your Ohio Art toy needs. We carry toys for all ages including br…
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What are your thoughts about brand culture?
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While brand identity is a sure thing, what is it about brand culture that makes it a hit or miss. Can you truly create a culture or simply plant a seed and see what develops. Is culture enough to sustain a brand? Log on to add your comments. Also share the link with a friend.
Source: wholefoodsmarket.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest
Here’s the lesson behind these five easy lessons of branded relationships: Identity is just the beginning. Experience matters and culture makes you a brand rock star. Whole Foods Market ® (NASDAQ: WFM) clearly gets it. Even check-out is gamified, offering color, lights, and sound that prompt intrigue in anticipating the next available checkout. It’s not about time passed, but quality time lived zestfully.
1. State your promise clearly.
Around here, we often talk about our mission in terms of Whole Foods – Whole People – Whole Planet. Basically, we think these elements all play a huge role in our success.
Whole Foods has clearly completed business boot camp and drilled down to a core mission statement which promises 360 integrity. Building the company out from the single word “Whole” has created a total experience for:
- the food retailer’s enterprise of “62,000 team members” (that phrase alone tells you something),
- curious shoppers who come to find out what others cheer about, and
- passionate members of the brand’s community.
2. Engage the whole customer from the get-go.
Source: oaklandmagazine.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest
This Whole Foods Market in Oakland, CA clearly gets the local culture and the brand essence to serve up a total experience. Note the palm trees, bike stations, and lawn table. People come to shop, live and share all in one. Part rest-stop and zest-stop, customers know their foodie soul will be well fed at every step. Note too, the impeccable cleanliness.
Related article: Whole Foods Market, Oakland Magazine (April 2008)
3. Leave no engagement unbranded.
Source: graphic-exchange.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest
Whole Foods mastered a 180 of “store brands.” Considered the “affordable” alternative to branded consumer products, the store brand is the only brand at Whole Foods. Every bit of packaging expresses the joie de vivre of fresh food of the highest quality. That’s important when fresh food is front and center, either unprepared food or deli-style prepared meals and snacks. Think of this festive beverage next to a freshly prepared Whole foods salad and you get the idea.
The lesson: keep your eye on that brand sweetspot and make sure you’ve prepared a reward, promise, or aspiration to enrich every moment your customer engages with it.
4. Flaunt how much your brand cares.
Source: google.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest
This catalog of in-store recipes represents the something more that always tells customers they are worth more. And that’s what keeps customers coming … (You get it!) Part memento, part user’s guide, this recipe catalog empowers Whole Foods customers to bring the whole experience home. Of course, there’s a gentle nudge of cross-selling, but it comes without the cost of pushing. The shopper who looks to this recipe catalog has their sweetspots fed. S/he looks for solutions (i.e., ways to cook all the fresh food purchased) and is open to expanding this branded relationship they trust so growing loyalty.
5. Find a place in your customer’s heart.
Source: Uploaded by user via Elizabeth on Pinterest
What more can you say when a customer creates art from your products. Now you’ve got a brand culture with evangelistas at every step. Founded in Austin Texas, Whole Foods Market continues to expand nationally with over 300 stores as of Q1 2012.
What’s your experience?
Does Whole Foods Market set a new level in experiential branding and retailing? What lessons can you share for building branded relationships. Log in and post your comments here or share with a friend.
Note: these images posted via Pinterest with the intent of “fair use,” promoting education and discussion.
Vote for your “best” branded relationship lesson:
Do customers recall your brand by smell?
Your brand has a scent — real or imagined — with power to influence awareness, recall, purchase, and loyalty. That means, every brand has something to learn from fragrance brands. It can serve as a subtle make or break in building a branded relationship for the long term with your most profitable and loyal customers.
Example: Johnson’s Baby Powder
Johnson’s Baby Powder is one venerable brand that pioneered the trademark scenting-awareness-brand method of engaging an audience. Comments to a brand Pinterest board suggest that the fragrance of newer brands evoke the aspirations of a fresher, younger audience. For example, Andrew — @Redtype — of Redtype Design observes:
redtype Depends on which generation u were born in. I suspect the younger ones may not know this as well as we do…
Source: shoutingforha.blogspot.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest
In a Q4 2011 Houston Chronicle article, Maggie Galehous notes that Procter & Gamble has invested heavily in scent as a means to build brand loyalties of emerging Latino communities. One person’s exotic, is another person’s home-style. That’s why you see many more flavorings in food and natural ingredients in personal care.
Comment here or to a new Quora discussion, Can You Recall The Scent of a Famous Brand?
