How to De-Commoditise Your Product

I really like what Ed Byrne has to say about this: 

This is how to de-commoditise your product! This is how to move your business UP the value chain and stop having to compete on price in an un-differentiated market!

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If you want to avoid competing on price, and becoming a commodity, then you need to get customers that will buy your product for reasons other than price. How do you do that? Provide more than everyone else, be different and better. This doesn’t mean you line your products with gold – it just means the experience of dealing with your company is better than dealing with anyone else – and that in the long-term consumers know that buying from you, and sticking with your products, will ultimately be a better purchase and provide higher value than anyone else.

Read the rest of his post here.  

Re-Branding: More Than Just A Logo Change

An excellent article by Clare Goff of The Guardian (London), 23 January 2006:

Inside creative media: Out with the old, in with the new:

The decision to rebrand is about much more than a change of logo, and should not be taken lightly – it can mean making changes to the very heart of a company, says Clare Goff

New year, new logo. As makeover mania takes hold, some of the world's most iconic brands are starting the year with a new look. ITV has ditched its yellow and blue boxes, computer chip maker Intel has introduced a new strapline, and telecommunications giant AT&T has undergone a facelift.

Like any image overhaul, a rebrand can enable a company to update its messae, signal a change in direction or appeal to new audiences. For every business, the health of its brand is key to its success."The brand is the emotional heart of the business," says Clare Salmon, director of marketing and strategy at ITV. "If the heart stops beating, the beast is going to die."

For ITV this is its fourth rebrand in the past 10 years; the latest aims to give the broadcaster more clarity in the digital TV landscape. Intel is casting off its 37-year-old logo, "Intel Inside", for the more futuristic "Intel. Leap Ahead" and AT&T has a new identity to expand its appeal in the global market.

But as brands cast off the old, they could be waving goodbye to loyal customers. The annals of advertising history are littered with rebrands gone wrong, from the Post Office's short-lived affair with the name Consignia, to the introduction of ethnic tailfins on British Airways planes. When Kellogg's attempted to change its cereal brand, Coco Pops, to Choco Pops in 1999 its customer base rebelled.
Reinvention

So how does a company update without alienating? Robert Jones, a consultant for branding agency Wolff Olins, prefers the word "reinvention" to "rebrand", and says that a rebrand is more than just an image change. "If you go for the superficial, the result will be superficial," he says. The introduction of Consignia, for example, was more about a new name than an evolution within the company and thus failed.

The process of rebranding is a slow one with three key stages, Jones says. When given a brief to rebrand a company, the branding consultancy will firstly think about the big idea behind the business, what its customers in the future will need, and encapsulate an idea to drive it. Then it will work with the company on a prototype that will best exemplify that idea, and only then will it try to express that idea through a logo, new imagery or tone of voice.

At ITV the decision to rebrand came at the end of a long process of introspection for the company following the merger of its network companies, Granada and Carlton, in 2003. A research project, ITV 2010, carried out with advertising agency M&C Saatchi and media agency Mindshare, attempted to understand what ITV meant to people, and what role the channel would play in the televisual landscape of the future. "Understanding the consumer and viewer is the place where you start," says ITV's Salmon.

The research found that while consumers had very clear ideas about what rival TV channels, such as the BBC or Channel 4, stand for, they were more vague about ITV.

The rebrand includes a new visual identity for each of its four channels, which positions each channel as a distinct entity and promotes ITV as an entertainment destination that has appeal to a broader range of people.

A £7m advertising campaign launched the new identity earlier this week. Its ultimate aim – and the aim of any rebrand – is to change consumers' minds.

Changing opinions

"Rebranding is about striking out one dictionary meaning and inserting another," says Philip Spencer, marketing director at oversees development charity Worldvision, who previously ran communications group WPP's branding consultancy, Enterprise IG.

Rebranding should, he says, "create some surprises" around the brand, inviting consumers to reassess their opinion.

He is currently working on an overhaul of the Worldvision brand, which the charity hopes will increase its appeal to a more mainstream audience."When consumers hear the name Worldvision they think we are about sending spectacles to Africa," he says. "It is my job to make them forget that and introduce a new set of perceptions around the brand."

The first wave of its rebranding campaign has already been launched in Scotland, with an integrated marketing push across a variety of media channels. When it comes to unveiling a new brand identity, a big splash is key, he says.

But a big splash can sometimes be followed by a retreat. The Abbey National bank alienated customers with its modernisation attempt last year. Changing its name to "abbey" and presenting itself as a modern, contemporary company, it left customers reeling by shaking off its image as a trusted financial company and taking on a more simple, informal image in one swoop. Just a few months later the bank was forced to install a new, more appealing identity.

The risks of a rebrand can be huge, but get it right and it can boost and refresh a business. James Murphy, chief executive of advertising agency RKCR, worked on an overhaul of retailer Marks & Spencer at a time when the company was on its knees. Retail tycoon Philip Green was bidding for the company, and no less than a "symbolic refreshment of the whole business" was needed. The new logo "Your M&S" was the result, and it has helped turn the company around.

Successful rebrands are about balance, according to Murphy, ensuring the value of the brand remains while signalling a change in direction. "It should be about a positive evolution not a desperate revolution," he says.

The Difference “Wow!” Makes

Here's an example of the difference "Wow!" makes to any brand or product.

Typical Tactic:

A team asked for sponsorship for their drive in a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser from Kuala Lumpur to China on normal roads.

New Straits Times Cars Bikes Trucks editor, Yamin A. Vong declared, "It was daft. What was the challenge? Trying to get people to contribute to their holiday?" ("Pave the way for leading edge technology," New Straits Times Cars Bikes Trucks Quarterly Review, Wednesday, p.2, 29 March 2006.)

"Wow!" Tactic:

A couple from England is trying to drive around the world – 29,000km by the standards of the Guiness Book of World Records – on less than 50 tanks of petrol in a standard car. If they can achieve it in 40 tank-loads, this will mean about 700km on a 45-litre tank. The car is a Volkswagen Golf FSI 1.6 and the petrol is a prototype Shell formulation that is scheduled to be launched worldwide over the next two years.

See how the typical tactic is so… typical? Didn't your eyebrows rise when you read what a challenge and clever marketing idea Volkwagen and Shell embarked on?

Not only that, the tactic also sends a great, clear and compelling message: Rising fuel prices mean nothing to the highly fuel-efficient Volkswagen and the dollar-stretching Shell petrol.

The message is so compelling it almost demands action: buy Volkswagen and Shell petrol. It's not just "Wow!" for Wow's sake (which is where I feel many great advertising efforts tend to strive for). There's no compelling message – nothing that moves me to action.

It's like that Greek saying David Ogilvy made famous (and is my motto as a CommNerd):

When Aeschines spoke, they said, "How well he speaks." But when Demosthenes spoke, they said, "Let us march against Philip."

Catching your attention and compelling you to action… now that's the difference "Wow!" should make.

The World Map by the Animaniacs

In case you've always wanted to know ALL the countries in the world but couldn't figure out how to. Let Yakko from the Animaniacs help you!

View the video here.

SWiSH Sites

I really like the designs of SWiSH Websites.

 

As Shown On Reality TV

Here's a nifty little idea that was highlighted in IdeaGrove.

I don’t watch much Reality TV, but I’ve seen enough of it to notice an on-going phenomenon: Someone wears a garment with a trademarked logo or artwork on it, and the producers have to pixelate it beyond recognition in post-production. Of course no Reality TV star wants their shirt, which displays their well-chosen article of self-expression, senselessly pixelated so nobody can see it. But no Reality TV producer wants to deal with the headache of removing said article of self-expression to avoid trademark violations. The pixelation process seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through for something that could have been avoided with a little pre-planning.

From: Ironic Sans 

ISO – Branding By Adoption

Here’s something interesting I learned from BrandChannel –
the ISO brand ultimately worked because it was actively adopted and advocated by their consumers. That’s why your best brand ambassadors are your customers.

Most people may have never heard of the International
Organization for Standardization, but when they see ISO attached to a product or company, they feel more confident. They expect things to be up to standard – nothing shoddy and no cowboy service.

Marketers can only marvel at such “brand” penetration. Without any specific logo, colors or typeface, these three letters consistently give customers a feeling of confidence, even though most of them have no idea about the actual contents of any given standard. But standards are good, and that’s all they need to know.  

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Standards only work if enough organization adopt them. The best branding strategy is to ensure that adopters become ambassadors. 

Read more here.

Honda Accord “Cog” TVC

This is perhaps the best TVC I have ever seen. It took 606 takes to shoot. There are no camera tricks or CGI involved. The result… is breathtaking!

View the video here.

More information available here and here.

(Again, I realize this is old news… but I wanted to post this here for my easy reference in the future)

IKEA Lamp TVC

An advertising campaign in US markets urged viewers not to feel bad for the lamp. The award-winning spot features a forlorn lamp slumped on a curb, the rain beating down on it. In the background, we watch a window as its former owner welcomes a new light fixture. A man with a Swedish accent approaches and says, “Many of you feel bad for this lamp. That is because you are crazy. It has no feelings. And the new one is much better.”

According to the agency that created the spot (which was directed by Spike Jonze of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation fame), many consumers are reluctant to part with old furniture and other accessories, so IKEA would like to help them feel better about buying new items. The audacity to tell viewers that their attitudes are crazy and that they need to get over guilty feelings is typical of the Swedish furniture retailer’s approach of going against common assumptions.

View the video here.

(I know this is old news, but I still like it and wanted to put it up here so I can easily reference it in the future.)

Nasi Lemak: The Subtleties in Packaging Your Product

You know how I know a packet (bungkus) or plate (panas) of nasi lemak is likely to be good?

It’s when I see the banana leaf.

There’s nothing really rational about it, actually. Perhaps it’s the smell of hot coconut rice mingling with the scent of banana leaf. Maybe it’s the fact that it costs the seller a little bit more for the banana leaf. It might even be due to nostalgic association – back then, nasi lemak was always wrapped in banana leaf. You could even say that the red and white coloured meal just looks more pleasant against a green backdrop.

All I know is that it works.

I – and many others – prefer to buy from a vendor who wraps his or her nasi lemak in banana leaf over one who wraps it in plastic sheets. I’m not even sure if we notice it half the time! Nevermind if both packets are ultimately wrapped in newspapers. Heck, expectations are raised even when nasi lemak is served on a banana leaf in a plate!

Others are catching on, too.

Despite the cheaper costs of plastic sheets – which serve the same purpose – vendors are still turning to the humble banana leaf. Some, as I mentioned earlier, even cut it to fit on a plate so customers will still enjoy some “authenticity” of good ol’ nasi lemak. Others have even made plates in the shape, colour and texture of banana leafs – perhaps to invoke that association to authenticity and, more likely, to quality.

You see, packaging nasi lemak the humble banana leaf – once considered the poor man’s plate (for he could not afford proper cutlery) – has become a somewhat powerful but subtle brand statement. It has become associated with nasi lemak that is more likely to taste authentic… and divine.

Is my product’s packaging doing the same thing?

p.s. You have to be Malaysian to really appreciate the joy that is nasi lemak. It really is my utmost favourite food!