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Six Things on My Mind: Yahoo! Logo, AOL and Others

(Reading Time: 3 minutes)
Today’s version of the Yahoo! logo. Breathtaking, no?

30 Days of Churn: You might have heard that Yahoo! is revealing a new logo every day this month, as a build-up to the launch of the “official” new logo. They’re calling this campaign “30 Days of Change.” Legit question: Who cares? Is anyone really waking up in the morning eager to see today’s Yahoo! logo? Most every design has been evolutionary, not revolutionary, and thus unexciting – and if you’re trying to create a series, it helps to be interesting.  But more importantly, instead of another Yahoo! logo, I’d much rather they invest their resources in improving their user experience, which is the least reliable of the four email providers I use.

Who wants to work at AOL? It’s the kind of place where the CEO may fire you publicly, on a conference call, which actually happened this month. So much for whatever “corporate branding” initiatives they had underway.

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What I’ve Learned About Branding

What I've Learned About Branding
(Reading Time: 4 minutes)

Each month in Esquire magazine, there’s a feature called What I’ve Learned.  Celebrities or thought leaders (a top economist, for instance) are interviewed, and their words are presented as a string of short phrases.  There’s wisdom in surprising sources, and it’s always the first thing I turn to when my issue arrives.

I’ve created my own list of “What I’ve Learned About Branding” in my 20+ years as a positioning and strategy consultant, brand manager, CMO and agency partner.  I share it here in hopes that it might be useful to you:

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Who Really Builds the Brand?

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Within your company, who really builds the brand?  Which department is responsible for brand-building?

Trick question!  The answer is “All of them.”  Everyone plays a part in delivering on the brand positioning and bringing the brand to life.

Let’s use a hypothetical consumer packaged goods company as an example of “who does what” (the parallels to your own company should be easy to see):

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No, Nokia! Market Share Doesn’t Determine Mindset.

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In an AdAge article released this morning, Nokia CMO Tuula Rytila discusses the new spirit of marketing that apparently exists inside the mobile giant’s hallways.

Nokia Challenger Brands
Connecting fewer people, lately.

According to the article, Nokia’s sales plunged by 22% in 2012. To hear Ms. Rytila tell it, that’s a fabulous thing, because now everyone’s head is right. She says:

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Are You Herding or Standing Apart?

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It’s late June here in Chicago, and that means at least three things:

  • We just stopped playing professional hockey last night.  (Congratulations, Blackhawks!)
  • Bar and restaurant patios are full even in the middle of the afternoon, one of dozens of reasons to love this city.
  • The “vests” are out in full force.
“Can I just get a minute of your time?” Uh, no.

In case this phenomenon is not happening in your burg, the “vests” are workers who occupy street corners and solicit donations for charity. They wear colored vests representing their causes – Children’s International, Greenpeace or whatnot. Sometimes they’re also called “chuggers,” short for “charity muggers.”

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Brand Definition: A Concept the Entire Company Can Use

Brand Definition What Is a Brand
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Last week, I debunked the notion that a brand is a promise. Anyone can make a promise.  If you really want to build a brand, you’ll have to work harder than that.  So what’s a better brand definition?

My definition of a brand – your brand – is as follows:

Your brand is your total experience, as perceived by those you seek to motivate.

Every word in this brand definition is selected carefully.  A few key words have heightened importance and further implications:

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Heavy-Ass Weights & Brand Building Blocks

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I recently came across a quote from 8-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman that made me think about brand building blocks. The guy’s undeniably got a way with words:

“Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder.  But nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights.”

Heed this man’s lessons or he’ll bench-press you into next week.

When I present to or train brand leaders, I’ll often ask them what they hope to achieve with their branding efforts.  Almost always, I’ll hear some variation of the following:

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Target Market Definition: How to Create Yours

Target Market Definition Brand Strategy
(Reading Time: 5 minutes)

In a previous post, we met Beth and Andy, two fictitious (but reality-based) designers who take very different approaches to their target market definition.

Andy’s approach is “I can do it all, and all sales are good sales.” Beth is more deliberate and precise.  By defining her ideal client and project, she also defines the kind of business she doesn’t want. Hers is a much more effective approach, particularly for challenger brands.

Today, I’ll show you how to create your ideal target market definition. The framework is meant to be broad enough to apply to everything from a solo consultant to a major consumer brand, so it will need to be tweaked as appropriate to your particular situation. (Also, for the rest of this post, I’ll use the word “consumers” to include clients and customers as well.) Continue reading “Target Market Definition: How to Create Yours”