Global warming, economic tornados, depressions, scattered showers, downturns and consumer whirl winds, which thanks to the rapidly changing digital landscape can appear as if from nowhere. There’s a lot of weather around these days.
This page is dedicated to the weather and some of the lessons that can be learned from those who would predict such a little understood and mercurial phenomena.
Michael Fish and his glass ball.
If any of the following articles pique your interest or if you have any weather observations that you think might be of interest we’d love to hear from you.
Back in 2007 Nora the piano cat received 30 million views on Youtube. In 2009 Susan Boyle (Britain has got talent) received 200 million+ Youtube views.
The latest viral phenomena to rush mexican wave style around the globe is the much talked about charity video ‘Kony make him visible.’
The release was greeted with heady euphoria. The Celebrity endorsements came thick and fast: Enrique Iglesias, Bill Gates, Oprah, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Rian Seacrest and Katie Couric… Youtube at the Oscar’s.
One respected Brand consultancy here in the UK hailed it as ‘a brilliant social media and viral marketing effort – already 75 million views and counting…’
The same brand consultant went on to say that it is ‘the embodiment of every Challenger Credo and principle we’ve ever written about.’
When the celeb tweets started flying in the viewing figures soared – 85 million and counting.
The charity’s founders must have thought they’d won the lottery. In many ways they had.
Like most lottery winners elevated to heady heights and the glaring media spotlight that goes with it the ending was unlikely to be a happy one.
Last weeks euphoria is now a distant memory. The charity behind the video accused of over simplifying a complex issue, worse still, of manipulating the facts.
Media focus has turned from child soldiers to, disinformation and egotistical celebrities. The conversation from ‘now we can all be empowered to do good’ to ‘have we be been duped again’. The internet moves fast. But the conversations remain the same.
The director of the video Jason Russell has been admitted to a mental ward. One day after his arrest, caught on video and published on youtube, the viewing figures for this latest viral video have reached 850,000 and counting.
Google the words ‘Kony Video’ and the message you’ll find is very different from the one the charity had intended.
Far from being a brilliant social media and viral marketing effort the Kony video highlights the pitfalls of overnight success.
Building a sticky brand isn’t about getting your message out to the largest possible audience. It isn’t about being famous.
The question that the charity ‘Invisible Children’ would do well to ask themselves is not where is Kony? Or how do we respond to the media backlash – an all but impossible task…
…but where is Nora the cat?
The answer is likely to bring gloom and solace in equal measure.
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Jerome is a Robot Intervention Specialist
0 Comments | Posted by Owen Stevens in Sticks & Stones
Jerome is a Robot Intervention Specialist and Photojojo Customer Lover. Julieanne a Dinosaur Resources Director and Photojojo Customer BFF.
Agile who provide password protection software, have their Crusaders and Happiness Engineers. The job titles are hip in keeping with the products they sell and the image they want to project.
Everyone is on first name terms. The message, the antithesis of British Rail and BT, nothing stuffy or corporate here.
The language used by companies like Photojojo and Agile is part of a growing trend. Brand fans placed front of house. More formally known as employees. Are they happy? Do they love their work. You bet… as happy as a pig in shit.
Companies like Photojojo and Agile wouldn’t be caught dead using the title Customer Services – and given the rather dark and checkered history of that particular department not without reason. Customer Services is no longer about problems but possibilities.
Innocent and Howies have both used this strategy to flag their differences, build their brand community and along with it their profit margins. Rather than telling us they are passionate they employ people who are all too keen to show us.
Many companies have been quick to copy what appears to be a winning formula. And not without reason. Copying what works, is less time consuming, less risky and ultimately requires less investment.
In the late 80’s and 90‘s the Japanese managed to turn the art of copying into a science and with great success. Recent developments in technology have accelerated the ability of companies to copy successful products and services.
But copying a culture is not the same as copying a product or service. Cultures are peculiar to the environments they inhabit and the histories inherited. Complex and grown overtime they are nigh on impossible to duplicate. The language they use an expression of who they are.
The success of companies like Howies and Innocent has little to do with what they say or how they say it. The formula isn’t a formula. It just looks like that now. Now that its been proven to work. Now that everyone wants to copy it.
Hip and east coast might be a good place to start if you are hip and from the east coast but not if you’re flogging mops in Macclesfield.
Sticky brands don’t do formula. They simply do themselves. The language they use a happy by-product.
Good writing and good branding have a lot in common. They share much of the same underlying craft that keep customers engaged and coming back for more.
Show don’t tell. A clear point of view. Consistent story line. Dialogue that moves the story forward. Description that gets to the point. No waffle no fudge.
According to the author Sol Stein, who has published and edited some of the greatest writers of the century, the secret to keeping readers engaged, ’….is not to take [them] where [they] want to go.’
In the world of 24/7 “make mine a medium, double half cut latte soya with extra sprinkley bits on the top”, this advice borders on the heretical.
Most blue chips bend over backwards to give their customers what they want. And more.
These brands aren’t driven by a desire to serve their customers; but fear.
The fear that if they don’t give us what we want someone else will. The fear that if they don’t maximise their profits they won’t be competitive.
What follows is the right way to do things. The result is candy floss marketing, half truths. A confusion of offerings. High on novelty low on substance.
And then there are those brands who take the Sol Stein approach and don’t give customers what they want. Like Wagamama.
Wagamama didn’t take customers where they wanted to go. At least not where the research said they wanted to go.
Back in the 90’s not everyone felt comfortable with chopsticks or communal eating. Dishes were served to order. Order something different to those who you went with and there was a good chance it wouldn’t arrive at the same time.
Along with the bok choy Wagamama were serving up adventure and the excitement that goes with it. They were asking us to step into a place that was hidden from view, to experience something that was, for most of us, radically different. Nothing ventured nothing gained. It required would-be customers to take a risk. Wagamama had created a rite of passage.
In a world of instant apps and anything you want right now, no effort required; adventure is a rare commodity.
In the quest to give us everything we want brands are on the verge of boring us to death.
Source: Stein On Writing. Author: Sol Stein
In a recent interview with Andrew Marr I was surprised to hear General Sir David Richards refer to the British military as a ‘hugely strong’ ‘brand’. One that ‘despite cutbacks’ would continue to achieve its core objectives.
So is the British military a brand? If so presumably its premium status means that it is more desirable, for those countries who can afford it, than say the Afghan military who would not be able to command the same premium rate?
Our manufacturing base might not look too hot but here at least is something we do well – a world class brand. But what about the cutbacks? If we go along with the general’s notion of the military as a brand – one which is strong but cash strapped – then surely it would make sense to consider some strategic cross branding?
Brand ‘X’ is in need of the halo effect which brand ‘Y’, the British military, has in spades. In return brand ‘Y’ gets a much needed injection of cash. The question is who would make the perfect partner – Proctor and Gamble perhaps?
Unfortunately like most good ideas it looks like this one has already been done by a creative team based at The School of Communication Arts. Well done chaps!
I recently bought a book at a well known chain of bookstores in Manchester. Handing it over the cashier asked if I had read any others by the author. “What a great read, wonderful writer” she beamed, enthused – almost.
A few weeks later and same thing happened again, the only difference the location, Chiswick, London. Surely nothing wrong with having staff who are friendly, share your passion for books and are interested to find out what you think? If it were true then nothing at all. The problem was I didn’t believe it. On both occasions I had the uneasy feeling of having just stepped into an episode of the Stepford Wives.
Perhaps all the staff had been chipped. Programmed to respond according to, and in alignment with, the latest tranche of market research on how to make customers feel wanted, welcome, dare I say it; loved.
Intrigued I decided to do a bit of impromptu market research and hung out around the gift card section, next to the cash desk. Although hardly a reliable piece of research it did seem to confirm my worst fears. “John Grisham. He’s such a good read. Have you read…” While the book and customer were interchangeable the dialogue remained much the same.
For most companies being ‘professional’ is all about presenting a consistent experience. According to conventional wisdom this should leave the customer feeling that the staff have been friendly, helpful and welcoming. Always wear a smile – I remember that one from my ‘Uni’ shelf-packing days at Safeway. Needless to say we always did wear a smile as soon as we got through the front door and headed for home.
The trouble with the professional approach is that it robs us of the one thing that can make a brand really sticky – people. According to this school of branding not only does the burger you eat need to be consistent from one store and one town to the next the staff who serve it need to be equally consistent.
This ‘prescriptive approach’ to customer service which is an integral part of the brand comes from a desire to control environments rather than create them. There is little room for intuition, creativity or mistakes. The desire for control effectively removes any spontaneity and freedom. The result is for the most part consistent inauthenticity.
Spaces that are created from the desire to pass on the brands vision are quite different from those created from the desire to control. The first invites customer to participate in the companies sense of purpose. The offer is clear, nothing hidden, take it or leave it. You know what’s on offer when you walk into an Apple shop or an Abercrombie and Fitch. The second, far from achieving the desired effect of comfort and safety, can often leave customers feeling guarded. In this space, one that is controlled rather than created, the best that can be hoped for is a truly forgettable experience.
I remember the first time we walked into the Dunstan Inn, boots and a muddy dog, in search of a drink and a something to eat. The pub was small, all but empty, I asked if the kitchen was open only to be told by the landlord that they didn’t do hot food… or sandwiches. I was surprised, these days most pubs have to, to survive.
The landlord recommended a pub down the road, ‘good food and a decent pint.’ My second surprise. It takes confidence to recommend the competition at the best of times and in today’s economic climate doubly so. So how was this pub managing to thrive when others are struggling to survive? *
In turned out that the Dunstan did do food but not in the way other pubs do. For a start there is the Friday night spread. Pates, french bread, biscuits, slabs of cheese pickles and chutneys. The spread has its own table. Help yourself its all free.
On Saturday’s the landlord, Richard Maurice, orders in a few dozen pies or fresh hamburgers from the local butchers. First come first served. Watch the match have a pint and pie or a burger. There’s a kitty to cover the cost but it’s not obligatory.
The Dustan also does one thing I’ve never come across before. Takins. Chinese, Indian, Fish n Chips… There’s a stash of menus propped up against the wall at the corner of the bar. Plates, cutlery and condiments are provided by the pub, orders take about 30 minutes to arrive. I haven’t tried the ‘takin’ service yet. But it’s on the list.
The Dunstan does not offer discounts, loyalty cards or special events to bring in those customers, that will according to market research, drink more and stay longer. Events are not driven by the pub but belong to the community and are seen as joint ventures, so there’s no need to plug, cajole, promote or bribe.
By actively generating generosity, no measly squares of dried up cheddar cheese from the ‘cash n carry’ and few pickled onions. The cheese is local, farmhouse, not vacuum packed and there’s a cake of it, the Dunstan has done what all sticky brands do. Created a club, the glue that makes brands sticky, and along with it a sense of belonging and community. The result is that holy grail of holy grails; customer loyalty.
The secret to the Dunstan’s success is the landlord Richard Maurice who sees himself not just as a proprietor put community guardian. The relationship that this creates with customers is markedly different to those publicans who see their business through a balance sheet. While profits are important, without them the pub would go the same way as so many already have, it is not the driving force.
Richard sees the pub, of which he is the custodian, as serving the community. It is this view of the world that informs the marketing and gives it the authenticity that brands like Levi’s, despite endless market research and deep pockets, are unable to command. It’s one thing to tell customers you are part of the community another to behave in a way that shows you truly are.
Marketing strategies that are driven by research rather than a long term vision may well increase profits but at what cost to the brand over the long run? Generating mistrust rather than generosity they are unlikely to ever create the brand loyalty that is the provence of a really sticky brand.
The Sticky Brand Checklist
The Dunstan ticks all the following checkpoints needed to create a sticky community and with it real brand loyalty as apposed to fans or followers.
- A clear sense of purpose. The Dunstin’s purpose is to be a cornerstone of community life.
- Meets a need. Provides an informal gathering place and with it a sense of belonging. A hub for charity events, village life – bonfire night, Halloween.
- Unspoken rules. No one would dream of trying to eat as much free food as they could. The Dunstan is self-policing.
- Participation: Food is free on Saturdays – but everyone pays their way. Room to give and be part of rather than just pay. Generosity is a two way street.
Source: Guardian
James Forman (Tod) Sloan
The phrase ‘on your tod’ comes from the Cockney rhyming slang, Tod Sloan – alone. While the saying has stuck the person who helped coin the phrase, James Forman (Tod) Sloan, has long since faded from memory.
The more I read about Sloan’s life the more I was struck by how his outlook and the challenges he faced were very similar to those faced by companies and entrepreneurs who, not content with business as usual, have gone on to create some seriously sticky brands.
Born in Indiana in 1874 James Forman (Tod) Sloan’s life didn’t get off to a promising start. Rejected by his parents and left to fend for himself Sloan overcame almost impossible odds to become one of the world’s best-known sportsmen and the greatest jockey of the late 20th century. The song I’m a Yankee Doodle dandy, was based on Sloan’s life. *
Undoubtedly Sloan was a gifted rider but it was his unconventional approach to riding that was to set him, quite literally, head and shoulders over his competitors. While other jockeys used long stirrups Sloan used short stirrups. By positioning himself over the animals centre of gravity he enabled the horse to achieve its maximum speed. Sloan was not the first to use this style of riding but he was the first to adopt and adapt it for professional horse racing.
Having won every race there was to win in his native North America he travelled to England – the epicentre of the horse racing world. In 1897 the Prince of Wales engaged Sloan as his principle jockey. At the age of 23 Tod Sloan was the undisputed king of the horse racing world.
While the America press were far from complimentary about his unorthodox style of riding the British press were, true to form, positively caustic, referring to Sloan as the ‘monkey jockey.’ Far from being praised for his winning ways Sloan was mocked.
The Jockey Club, a stalwart of convention, did not approve of Sloan’s maverick behavior and in 1900 the club’s steward, Lord Durham, stepped up pressure on the Prince of Wales to have Sloan fired. In 1901 Sloan, no longer in the employ of the Prince of Wales, was informed by The Jockey Club that he need not re-apply for a license.
Sloan never raced again. The Cockney rhyming slang that was to far out last his fame proved to be an all too prophetic one. Sloan died in 1933 impoverished and alone or as the Cockney rhyming slang would have it ‘on his tod’.
The phrase may well be slipping from everyday use – my son who is 15 has never heard of it – but Sloan’s unorthodox style of riding which is the one used by every jockey in the world today looks like it’s here to stay. Unless of course….
Like most entrepreneurs who go on to create sticky brands, Sloan cared less about what others thought and more about what he did. An attitude that allowed him to look outside the confines of his profession and change the way things were done. When the going got tough, and you can bet your bottom dollar it will, Sloan’s disadvantaged background gave him the drive to keep on going. Like many entrepreneurs before him and since Sloan was a born maverick.
But I can’t help thinking that there is one big difference between Sloan and the Apples, Body Shops, Howies and Innocents of this world. And that difference is Vision. While Sloan shared their passion, talent, and ambition there is nothing in his story to suggest that he wanted to change anything other than his own world.
Sloan, like so many driven men and women and the companies they have created wasn’t moving toward something but simply trying to escape from it. Ultimately those entrepreneurs and companies that are driven purely by fear and the need to grow ever richer and larger with the sole aim of putting as much distance between themselves and their fear are, sooner or later, bound to come a cropper.
Perhaps if Sloan had had a vision of how horse racing ‘could be’ he would have changed more than just the way jockeys ride and in the course of doing so a small part of the English language.
*‘The Yankee Doodle Boy’ By George M. Cohan
I’m a Yankee Doodle dandy,
A Yankee Doodle, do or die;
I’m a Yankee Doodle dandy,
A Yankee Doodle, do or die;
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam’s,
Born on the Fourth of July.
I’ve got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart,
She’s my Yankee Doodle joy.
Yankee Doodle came to London,
Just to ride the ponies,
I am a Yankee Doodle boy.
As recent events at News Corp have shown values, or the lack of them, play an important role in how a company is run. By values I am not referring to those that have been manufactured in order to provide a solution to a problem or rolled out because the research shows that they will improve the brand image.
The values I’m referring to are neither transitory nor disposable. They are authentic, ingrained, part of the woodwork, for the most part invisible, the very air we breathe. The driving force behind the brand, these are the values that provide a sense of direction and overarching purpose, which helps further differentiate the brand from its competitors.
The outdoor clothing company Howies, and Lush cosmetics, have each used their core values to create two very distinctive brand strategies based around their common stance of providing ‘eco’ friendly products. Howies make clothes from natural materials that are designed to last. Lush cosmetics are made from natural ingredients and come with little or no wrapping. The expression of these values – Howies hand me down campaign and Lush retail outlets that look like grocery stores – differentiates both brands from their competitors.
Brands that do not have a ‘values driven’ agenda or are happy to go along with the flavour of the month struggle to develop their own distinctive voice. Adopting a ‘me too’ approach and with it a certain blandness customers are far more likely to find these brands difficult to distinguish from the competition.
In a market place that is overcrowded and where price and quality are no longer guaranteed to distinguish one product or service from another customers are increasingly looking for brands whose values and social outlook is in line with their own – aspired or otherwise.
An increasingly important part of the purchasing mix values provide sticky brands with a social status and with that status a language, which further defines and differentiates the brand.
Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream with ‘its gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough’ is in keeping with the company’s status as a ‘brand of the people.’ This language, which is quite different from that used by Häagen-Dazs, is underpinned by the founders commitment to social justice for everyone. Ben and Jerry’s ‘it’s not fair’ campaign is simply one more expression of this core value. As with all sticky brands Ben and Jerry’s communication never deviates from delivering its core values.
As well as being able to project a single well-focused message that has provenance, value driven brands have one other distinct advantage over those companies who are content to lead purely on product or service benefits.
While the latter look for people who are qualified, value driven brands look for those who share their values. Having a natural affinity with the product, service or/and underlying ethos of the company they are far more likely to represent the brand in a good light. By insisting that all their employees have a strong sporting background Oakley are ensuring that every department is the sales department.
Walking into a bookstore where the staff are interested in books and walking into one where they are not lends itself to two quite different shopping experiences. In the first the experience is friendly and embracing in the other you are likely to get the impression that they couldn’t care less not just about books; but about you. Not the sort of experience that lends itself to creating a sticky brand.
A few years ago I was involved in some research for a shoe manufacturer. The brand had a reputation for being sensible, hard wearing and comfortable.
They wanted to launch a new range of shoes; ones their customers would buy because they were stylish and sexy. Like most companies they wanted a slice of a market that until now had eluded them.
The company had the designers, the technology, the financial muscle and the distribution network to achieve their ambition – they were global players. What soon became apparent was that their values reflect their Nordic sensibilities. These values were collective not individualistic, solid rather than overtly sexy and erred on sensible. In other words what they didn’t have were stylish, sexy values.
In order for that company to produce shoes that were inherently sexy and stylish they’d have to step away from their existing cultural values and adopt a culture and a set of values that was inherently alien to them. That wasn’t going to happen.
Over the last six or eight years I’ve seen and in some cases been involved with research initiatives in which global brands have invested significant amounts of money and time to break into markets which are alien to the brands’ core values.
The pickings look rich – irresistibly so and besides if you don’t do it someone else will. In the rush to stay on top and take advantage of the next biggest thing brand values are often ignored or worse reinvented.
It’s as if Harley Davidson had decided to get into the moped market. Sounds outrageous but what about Porches foray in the 4×4 market? Or Hummer moving into the luxury car market? Whilst it is possible to mine those profits in the short term the damage done to the brand in the long term is likely to outweigh any opportunistic short term gains. Growing a business at the expense of the brand can be costly in the long run.
Successful brand stretch is not so much linked to the product – we do toothpaste therefore we can do toothbrushes, mouthwash, chewing gum – but to the core values that define the brand territory. Stepping away from those core values confuses customers, muddies the brand message and ultimately damages the brand premium.
Brands that have been successful in moving from one territory to another have always remained true to their core values. Lucozade’s move from being a drink you gave to kids who were feeling under the weather to one consumed by athletes was in keeping with its core values around health. Marks and Spencer where able to reinvigorate the brand by going back to its core values of innovation married to value and quality.
Those brands that ignore their own brand heritage and the values that go with that heritage invariably end up looking like the proverbial ugly sister.
