What’s Cool?

“When we ask about what makes a cool brand, the kind of things we get back is authenticity, originality, uniqueness,” he said. “These are things that people are trying to strive for. They don’t want to be seen as having the same type of brands as everyone else. They’re looking for brands that have that cool edge.”

~ Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of CoolBrands (via What’s Your Brand Mantra?)

Succinct Positioning

Succinct Positioning… by What’s Your Brand Mantra? (I just discovered her blog and really wish I did so earlier!)

Five words or less. Use consumer language, not “clientese.” Follow the 4D rule. These are a few of my guidelines for writing positioning statements that are compelling and executable.

• Five words or less. See if you can write your own tagline that clearly captures the essence of your brand. And don’t whine and say that’s a copywriter’s job… if you can’t boil down the brand essence into a short, memorable phrase, chances are a copywriter can’t either. It’s not a quick and easy process, but it pays off.
• Use consumer language. Too many times I’ve worked with clients who’ve insisted that we use certain phrases in the positioning that make sense internally but not to customers, or they’re so focused on features that they forget that customers care more about benefits. To get yourself in a customer state of mind, write your positioning statements from a customer’s point of view. For example, “If I choose x instead of  (alternative), I will (get what benefit) because (primary reason to believe)”
• The 4D positioning rule is desirable by customers, distinctive from the competition, deliverabledurable by the company, and over time. A good brand position will sit at the intersection of these four requirements.

The Brand Gap

Once of the best books I’ve ever read on branding – The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier – is now available via SlideShare!

Social Media Releases (SMR)

I picked this up via FusionBrand blogs: SMR: The Next Generation of Press Releases?

Sample SMR (and proprietary SMR software tool) from Edelman here.

Sample SMR template from Shift Communications here.