Luxury Brands Stand Their Ground

-Mark Ritson

Some brands are cutting prices in the face of decline, but those with real style are raising the stakes.

After a decade of unprecedented global demand for luxury, the storm clouds of recession now provide a fascinating backdrop to luxury brand strategy.

Conservative estimates, such as that issued by global management consultant Bain & Co, forecast a drop of 7% in sales of luxury goods in 2009, but others predict much steeper declines before years end.

In the face of this decline, several luxury houses have reduced their prices. Discounting is especially prevalent in the US, where demand has declined the most and a strong dollar has enabled luxury brands to offer significant discounts to consumers while increasing their margins.

Chanel, traditionally a leading force in luxury, sparked the trend in October by cutting its US prices by 7%-10%. 'The dollar's strength has allowed us to pass on greater value to our customers,' said John Galantic, the company's US president. Brands such as Versace and Chloe have followed suit. 'Never before have we done this,' said Ralph Toledano, chief executive of Chloe, which also recently cut wholesale prices by 10% on many items being shipped to the US. 'This is an unusual time. You have to be creative.'

However, Chloe's 'creativity' is seen by others in luxury as a move that could undermine the brand's cachet and hurt sales, as Jean-Marie Laborde, chief executive of luxury drinks group Remy Cointreau has argued. Despite expecting a slowdown to hit his brands in 2009, he remained committed to global price increases. 'We have no intention of giving up price increases, even if we have to suffer in terms of sales or profits,' said Laborde. 'We are targeting for the long-term and our dream is to see our brands at the top end of the pricing category.'

This may strike consumer marketers as illogical, but the art of luxury branding bears little resemblance to the torrid world of fast moving consumer goods. Luxury goods must be the most expensive products in their category, and many have a pathological distaste for rational, demand-based pricing. That the dream of luxury can defy the depression is the philosophy of many traditional luxury brands.

This was the message when Moet & Chandon opened its Atelier on London's Bond Street last Fall. The Champagne house leased the store for just one month to create a space in which consumers could have a bottle of Moet personalized with Swarovski crystals. A 75clbottle set you back pounds 50 - double the high-street price.

A risky strategy? If you believe in price elasticities, rational consumption choices and a worldwide recession, the strategy is certifiable. But if you understand the dream of luxury, it makes sense. Great stars shine brightest when the sky is darkest. In austere times, true luxury brands bestow pleasure, maintain their premium and take a long view.

'We have been around for more than 250 years and have seen tough times before,' said brand director Sally Warmington. 'The Russian occupation of Champagne in 1814 was especially hard, but we survived, and prospered again.' On that occasion, Jean-Remy Moet's cellars were plundered by Cossacks who drank his entire stock. He watched with a smile, and later told friends: 'Those soldiers who are ruining me today will make my fortune tomorrow. I'm letting them drink all they want. They will be hooked and become my best salesmen when they return to their own country.' Now that's how a luxury brand should face a crisis.

30 Seconds On...The Moet Atelier

- Atelier means 'studio' or 'workshop' in French.

- Visitors to the 100m2 store at 75 Bond Street were able to watch artisans at work, applying crystals to each bottle by hand, in the boutique.

- A full range of Champagne bottles were available for personalisation The biggest of the range, the 1500cl Nebuchadnezzar, is priced pounds 1500.

- The Atelier concept is an adaptation of the brand's 'pop-up shop', which opened in New York in 2007, selling the customised bottles exclusively to celebrities including Sarah Jessica Parker and Marc Jacobs.

Marketing and Reality

-Jack Trout

The failure to understand the simple truth that marketing is a battle of perceptions trips up thousands of would-be entrepreneurs every year.

Marketing people are preoccupied with doing research and 'getting the facts.' They analyze the situation to make sure the truth is on their side. Then they sail confidently into the marketing arena, secure in the knowledge that they have the best product and that ultimately the best product will win.

It's an illusion. There is no objective reality. There are no facts. There are no best products. All that exists in the world of marketing are the perceptions in the minds of the consumers or prospects. The perception is the reality. Everything else is an illusion. Period.

A Brand Consulting Offer For GM

-Derrick Daye

It’s a new day at General Motors. Fresh out of bankruptcy the company is moving to restore its leadership role with the spirit that fostered pride and ingenuity for more than a century. The Blake Project, the brand consultancy behind Branding Strategy Insider wants to help this American Icon strengthen its brands for the road ahead. So to Fritz Henderson, Bob Lutz and other respected GM executives here is our sincere offer:

A day together to share insights, ideas and expertise free of charge outside of economy travel expenses. (A 100k value) We will structure the day based on your needs and will share specific recommendations. I’m proud to say my team is ready, well respected and well suited to assist you in building a future of success.

Jack Trout - World Class Brand Consultant, originator of the Positioning concept.
Brad VanAuken - World Class Brand Consultant, led Hallmark to emotional branding success.
Mark Ritson - World Class Brand Consultant, Educator at MIT, London Business School and other respected institutions.

Please see their full bio’s below.

Here’s to reinvention for a stronger GM.

Derrick Daye
Managing Partner

The Blake Project Team:

Jack Trout
Jack is the acclaimed author of many marketing classics including: Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Differentiate or Die, Big Brands. Big Trouble, A Genie's Wisdom, Trout on Strategy and others. He co-authors the popular branding blog Branding Strategy Insider.

As a consultant he has guided such companies as AT&T, IBM, Burger King, Merrill Lynch, Xerox, Merck, Lotus, Ericsson, Tetra Pak, Repsol, Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble, Southwest Airlines and several other Fortune 500 companies. Recently, he consulted with the U.S. State Department on how to better sell America.

Recognized as one the world's foremost marketing strategists, Jack is the originator of Positioning and other important concepts in marketing strategy. He has over 40 years of experience in advertising and marketing and is a boardroom advisor to some of the world's largest corporations. Jack has gained an international reputation as a consultant, writer, speaker, and proponent of leading-edge marketing strategies.

Brad VanAuken
Brad is The Blake Project's chief brand strategist. He brings an un-equalled level of expertise in branding to his clients, leading them in the collaborative discovery process that results in strong brands. Brad gained his experience as director of brand management and marketing for Hallmark Cards, Inc. and as vice president of marketing for Element K, a leading e-learning company.

During his tenure as Hallmark's chief brand advocate, Hallmark rose to 4th in the EquiTrend national quality brand ranking and received the Brand Management of the Year award. At Element K, he moved the brand from relative obscurity in a highly fragmented market to one of the top 10 e-learning brands in the world in less than two years.

Brad’s clients range from Fortune 100 and start-up companies to not-for-profit organizations and municipalities. He has helped position Bangkok, Thailand as a global fashion capital and The Nature Conservancy as the answer for saving the last great places on earth to name a few.

Recognized as one of the world's foremost experts on brand management and marketing, Brad is a much sought after speaker, writer and consultant. A keynote speaker at some 20 major conferences a year, he writes extensively for the business press and academic journals and is regularly quoted in trade publications.

He has been a guest lecturer on marketing at Stanford University, Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, RIT, University of Rochester, University of Kansas and University of Missouri at Kansas City. In addition, he frequently conducts brand management and marketing workshops throughout the world, from Barcelona, Brussels, Milan, Moscow and Vienna to Almaty, Bangkok, Dubai, Kiev and Kuala Lumpur.

Brad has been the American Management Association’s featured speaker on measuring corporate brand value. He was a member of The Conference Board’s working group on Managing the Corporate Brand and APQC’s Brand Building & Communication Benchmarking Study sponsor group. He chaired the IIR Brand Masters conference and the IQPC conference on Internal Brand Building. He is a founding member of the World Class Branding Association.

He has authored two books on brand management: The Brand Management Checklist and the best selling book Brand Aid, the first comprehensive and practical, ‘how-to’ guide on building winning brands. He co-authors the popular branding blog Branding Strategy Insider and the Brand Management Newsletter.

Brad has a BS degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Mark Ritson
Mark has a Ph.D. in Marketing and has been a faculty member at some of the world's leading business schools. He has taught MBA courses in brand management at London Business School, MIT Sloan, the University of Minnesota and the University of Melbourne in Australia - where he is an Associate Professor of Marketing. He is an acclaimed MBA instructor having won the teaching prize at all three of his last schools: LBS (2002), MBS (2008, 2009), MIT (2009).

Mark has worked extensively as a consultant for some of the largest brands in the world. His clients include McKinsey, adidas, PepsiCo, Glaxo SmithKline, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, De Beers, Ericsson and WD40. For eight years he has also served as advisor and in-house professor for LVMH - the world's largest luxury group - working with senior executives from brands like Louis Vuitton, Dom Perignon, Fendi, Tag Heuer, Dior and Hennessy. In a recent national survey in the UK he was voted one of the country's most admired marketers.

An avid writer on branding, his prize winning thought pieces on the topic appear on Branding Strategy Insider and in London's leading trade magazine, Marketing. In 2009 he won Columnist of the Year in the British press awards, for his branding column. His more scholarly publications include articles published in Sloan Management Review, Harvard Business Review and the Journal of Consumer Research. Ritson won the 2000 Ferber Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in marketing, for his Ph.D dissertation on the social uses of advertising. His research on pricing was recently cited in the acceptance speech of the winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics.

Transforming Digital Chaos To Brand Equity

-Randall Beard

The marketing landscape is increasingly chaotic and getting more so. The old world of command and control marketing messaging is dead. And marketers are woefully unprepared to deal with this new reality. In a recent Heidrick & Struggles survey of CMO’s, over 70% said they feel ill-equipped to manage their brands in this new digital environment.

Explosion of Media Channels

Media channels -- paid and otherwise -- are increasing exponentially. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, webinars, forums, reviews, blogs, etc. are only the beginning. Every day brings new options. Who had ever heard of Stumble Upon a year ago? Consumers ability to access these new channels, engage with other consumers, and talk back to companies has radically changed how Marketing organizations need to behave. And it's going to get worse before it gets better.

The explosion in new media channels, and the increasing ease with which consumers can react to, create content about, and generally discuss brands is challenging even the best marketers. How do you manage your brand in such a chaotic consumer empowered world? How do you ensure that consumers understand your brand equity and that you drive a single minded understanding of your brand promise?

Here are 6 steps you can take to ensure your brand effectively engages consumers with your brand promise in this increasingly complex and chaotic environment:

1. Be Different, Special and Better -- Let's start with a basic truth. Your brand equity is what consumers think it is--not what you think it is. Unfortunately, too many brands have brand equities that are identical to competitors. So, the starting point is to have a brand promise, and delivery of it, that is truly differentiated--a basic truth too often ignored in today's frenzied world of media and digital innovation.

2. Know Your Target's Media Habits -- Consumers consume media content differently. Know your targets media habits--traditional and new, and don't be seduced by the latest media innovation if your target isn't participating. Map their usage. Then, listen to the communities that are conversing about your brand, understand their priorities and beliefs, and identify respected opinion leaders.

3. Measure Marketing Contact Point Impact -- Understand not just what your target is doing, but the impact of different contact points. Quantifying the relative impact of contact points, digital and otherwise, provides a data-based framework for deciding where to focus your limited resources. Word of mouth has always been important, and digital is making it even more so. Thus, it's critical to identify your categories "amplifiers" who drive it.

4. Equip Your Organization to Deliver the Brand Promise -- Knowing your brands key contact points, you can then map organizational ownership to each of these. Many "old line" functions are being impacted by new media--e.g. PR, Customer Service, etc. Ensure that they -- not just Marketing -- really understand your brand promise, what it means, and how to deliver it.

5. Organize your Team to Engage Key Media Channels & Amplifiers -- Establish teams to engage with consumers across your most important digital channels. Equip them with the talent and skills to publish, respond, and engage--whatever is required to focus the discussion on your key brand equities.

6. Create Value-Added Content -- Consumers want more from brands than just a restatement of the brand promise. They want relevant and creative content that surrounds and supports it. Sometimes, they even want to create it. Do your homework to understand what kind of content your consumer wants, whether and how they can contribute, and how it can support and reinforce your brand promise.

Reactive, Proactive or Engaging?

It's natural to feel that some of your Marketing communications are reactive and some are proactive. But engaging your target audience over time in an intelligent dialogue that drives your brand promise is key:

* Lead with your brand promise in new and creative ways. Engage with consumers to interpret it based on their values and needs.

* Give consumers a voice about your brand and brand promise by enabling feedback, comments and user generated content.

* Guide consumers back to your brand promise, even when they have a negative experience or point of view. Ask "how could we do better?"

* Use value-added content that surrounds and supports your brand promise to make it easier to engage consumers.

The key point is this: focus your limited resources. Focus on the most impactful, highest consumption media channels. Focus on building relevant, value-added content to surround and support your brand promise. And then focus your organization on engaging with your consumers across the key media channels in a conversation that continues to reinforce, develop and deepen your brand promise. Why? Because when consumers think of your brand, you want them to think of one thing -- how you're different, better and more special than the other guys.

What is your brand doing to turn digital chaos into brand equity?

Economics of modelling

In the world of glitz and glamour, it took Tumpa, a renowned model, a decade to make her mark.

Attention to the minutest of details, overcoming the frenzy of the ups and downs in the trade and sheer determination finally lead her to stardom.

"A relative of mine once spotted me at a wedding ceremony in 1998 and suggested I try out modelling. She encouraged me to submit a portfolio to an advertising agency. Soon I received a call from the agency to come in for a screen test," she says.

"There was no looking back since then."

"As a fresher, I struggled to learn the tricks of the trade. It was difficult to learn things on a trial and error basis, as there were no training institutes to help,” Tumpa says.

“But after so many years, I still feel the same thrill as I first felt when I took part in my first catwalk at the Anamika Sheetal Fashion Show," says Tumpa, who also runs a grooming agency.

Tumpa is one of many who are attracted by the ecstasy of the job, as more people -- mainly youngsters -- are trying out their luck in modelling.

Lured by the fascination of instant success and recognition, currently there are thousands of models working for media in the country.

Tumpa says most models take up this profession as a hobby and for a passion to make it as a star.

However, a strong passion is not enough to get a break; one has to get the basics right, like creating a portfolio that makes a statement, submitting it to an advertising agency or a famous director, and finally, having the patience to wait for a call.

A typical portfolio includes several photographs of the person, taken from different angles, and a detailed resume with vital statistics and other relevant background information.

According to industry experts, growth of the modelling sector is pinned to growth of the advertising industry. The sector mainly has three segments -- print modelling, television commercials and ramp modelling -- where print modelling alone holds around 50 percent of the total market size.

Modelling in Bangladesh debuted in the late sixties with print media, when magazines first began using models to glamorise their pages. At the time, it was next to impossible to convince one's family to allow posing for a product.

The local advertising industry in fact boomed when television commercials became popular in the mid seventies.

Later in the mid eighties, catwalk modelling, commonly referred to as the ramp, shook urban life, presenting a completely new way of advertising. With onset of the nineties, mushrooming boutiques and a growing sense of fashion added new dimension to modelling.

Bangladesh's epic model Bibi Russel was the sole person behind popularising the catwalk.

“A catwalk mainly introduces a designer's new collection to the market. Once I have to launch a new collection, I arrange a catwalk show,” Bibi says.

“There is a lot of hard work that goes into preparing a catwalk, as the primary objective is to create a distinct image about the clothes or accessories and leave that impression on the audience's mind," she says.

"This form is also the toughest among all forms of modelling because the show is live and we cannot afford to make any mistakes."

However, the Tk 250 crore modelling sector is still struggling to gain recognition as an industry and modelling remains an individual profession, say industry insiders.

In terms of turnover, the sector accounts for only 20 percent of total advertising spending.

Aly Zaker, CEO of Asiatic JWT, a leading advertising agency, says modelling has not yet achieved the position of an industry.

"Advertising in Bangladesh is mostly associated with growth of the FMCG companies -- Fast Moving Consumer Goods. Since the number of FMCG companies is small in this country, the scope for its related fields to develop is also small."

He said the sector lacks professional agencies and institutions to train newcomers to sustain in this profession.

"One of the foremost problems is the complete lack of professional agents who would handle the work prospects for a model. An agency would not only groom an aspiring model but also bring in work and handle his or her career."

For lack of such institutions that could bargain for the betterment of a model's career, models are left to fend for themselves, making do with whatever work they get.

"Another major problem is the lack of training institutes that could teach aspiring models the essentials of the profession -- personal care, body language, working in front of cameras, personal assets, aesthetic sense and knowledge of the industry," says the veteran advertising expert.

At present, the few beauty pageants or talent hunting contests -- such as Lux-Channel i Superstar or Pantene's You Got the Look -- are the sole platforms for aspiring models to get professional grooming in this country.

A number of advertising bosses and models also echo Zaker.

Amitabh Reza, famous television commercial maker, says in absence of professional agents or training institutes, advertising agencies or directors have to provide preliminary training to newcomers.

“There are only a few agencies that have grown over recent years that help us choose new models for adverts. But essentially, they function as a model bank, and not as a professional agent,” he says.

Aspiring model Porosh says, "There are many people offering short courses on modelling, but the best they could give me was an amateur portfolio. Afterwards I am left to look for work on my own."

Apart from these limitations, the sector also suffers from many other problems, including payment. Newcomers often complain they are not paid well or sometimes not even paid.

Porosh did not get paid for many assignments.

“I couldn't insist for payment as I was afraid I would not get further work,” he says.

Other new comers complain of similar experiences. Some say they were not paid for years.

Youngsters, while overcoming the associated social reservations of using one's looks or appearance to earn a livelihood, therefore struggle to take up modelling as a full time job.

“Most of the time, a model can't make ends meet with modelling as a full time profession, because of the insecurity over payment,” Zaker says. “As a result, most models are forced to consider alternate professions."

Experts point that this is why many models break into related professions as acting or choreography.

Nazim Farhan Choudhury, deputy managing director of Adcomm, one of the oldest local advertising agency, says, “Only professional agencies can solve these problems.”

He suggests that newcomers ask for formal contracts with agencies, where the terms and conditions are clearly mentioned. This would save both parties from unnecessary hassles and disappointments.

Despite all odds, the profession keeps luring hundreds of young people because the demand for models is on the rise and the industry is on its way to flourish.

Benefits of the Corporate Brand

-Martin Roll

There are several benefits from employing a corporate branding strategy which a corporation can exploit. First of all, a strong brand including a corporate brand is no less or more than the face of the business strategy hence portraying what the corporation aims at doing and what it wants to be known for in the market place. The corporate brand is the overall umbrella for the corporations' activities and encapsulates its vision, values, personality, positioning and image among many other dimensions. Think of global banker HSBC which has successfully implemented a stringent corporate branding strategy. They employ the same common expression throughout the globe with a simple advertising strategy based on the slogan "The world's local bank". This creative platform enables the corporation to bridge between many cultural differences, and to portray many faces of the same strategy.

A corporate branding strategy creates simplicity as it always will stand on top of the brand portfolio as the ultimate identifier of the corporation. P&G has notoriously been known for a multi-brand strategy (partial brand portfolio pictured above) and yet again, the corporate brand P&G is still what encapsulates all activities by the company. Depending on the business strategy and the potential need for more than a one-brand architecture in the case of P&G, which markets many different brands under their umbrella, a corporate brand can very often assist the corporation and the management to focus in on the core vision and values. Once this overall platform has been established and implemented, it serves as a great stepping stone for revisiting any other brands in the corporations' portfolio and to have a new approach and look at their various brand identities. This ultimately will lead to the final brand architecture of the corporation and set the strategy for how branding and brands will play an important role to achieve the corporate objectives.

When the corporation decides to implement a corporate branding strategy, some cost efficiencies can often be achieved as opposed to a large multi-brand architecture where the corporate brand plays a smaller or insignificant role. Today, there is a general requirement for high level of investments to maintain efficient production capabilities and scale in many industries (for example technology and pharmaceutical), and to stay competitive in R&D for new products and services. Product life cycles are getting shorter and shorter for many industries and products, and corporations have to seek solutions to recover their development and marketing costs within the shorter life cycles. These factors combined are forcing corporations to evaluate their cost structure, and a corporate branding strategy can help the management achieve their goals by bridging across product categories and services as opposed to a multi-brand strategy.

There are obvious cost efficiencies in terms of reduced marketing and advertising spending as the corporate brand replaces budgets for individual product marketing efforts. Even a combined corporate and product branding strategy can often enable management to reduce costs and exploit synergies from a new and more focused brand architecture. The Apple brand has established a very strong position of being a design-driven and innovative company offering many types of products and services. Their corporate brand encapsulates the body and soul of the company, and the main messages from the company uses the corporate Apple brand. Various sub-brands then help to identify the individual product lines.

But one should carefully avoid the potential trip of stream-lining the brand portfolio just based on a raw cost perspective as secondary effects can play a significant impact of the overall revenue stream and on the stakeholders image of the corporation. The basic guideline is based on revenue contribution of the various brands. If profit contribution can be enhanced by reducing the number of brands, the portfolio is too big. Reversely, if the overall profit contribution can be enhanced by adding new brands, the portfolio is too small. Hence an individual wish for strong corporate branding must be evaluated carefully and all factors taken into consideration.

In the last couple of years, corporate brands have become very strong drivers of financial value for corporations. Corporate brands by themselves have become valuable assets on the company balance sheet with market values very often much beyond book value.

The founder of SONY, Akio Morita, once said: "I have always believed that the company name is the life of an enterprise. It carries responsibility and guarantees the quality of the product". Therefore, a strong and well-balanced corporate brand orchestrated throughout the corporation by a passionate CEO and his team can lead to very successful and sustainable financial results.

Corporate Branding Strategy Defined

-Martin Roll

The competition in the global business environment is tough and achieving a unique position and competitive advantage is becoming more and more difficult and expensive. The high level of investment necessary to maintain production capabilities and rising cost of R&D for product differentiation, makes strong marketing capabilities and unique brands pre-requisites for modern companies to cover these heavy investments. How can companies and management teams catch up?

Corporations around the world are increasingly becoming aware of the enhanced value which corporate branding strategies can provide for an organisation. Branding in the classic sense is all about creating unique identities and positions for products and services hence distinguishing the offerings from competitors. Corporate branding employs the same methodology and toolbox used in product branding, but it also elevates the approach a step further into the board room, where additional issues around stakeholder relations (shareholders, media, competitors, governments and many others) can help the corporation benefit from a strong and well-managed corporate branding strategy. Not surprisingly, a strong and comprehensive corporate branding strategy requires a high level of personal attention and commitment from the CEO and the senior management to become fully effective and meet the objectives.

Corporate branding is often, but wrongly, referred to as an exercise where the company logo, the design style and color scheme are changed. Naturally, these are important elements to evaluate and potentially change at a later stage once the strategy has been decided upon. It is often accompanied with a new corporate slogan, and then everyone expects results to occur during the project. Corporate branding is a serious undertaking which entails more skills and activities than just an updated glossy marketing facade with empty jargon.

A strong corporate branding strategy can add significant value in terms of helping the entire corporation and the management team to implement the long-term vision, create unique positions in the market place of the company and its brands, and not the least to unlock the leadership potential within the organisation. Hence a corporate branding strategy can enable the corporation to further leverage on its tangible and non-tangible assets leading to Branding Excellence throughout the corporation.

There are thousands of unique corporate brands. Companies like Apple, Intel, Singapore Airlines, Disney, CNN, Google, Mercedes and many others are good examples to think of. The global financial powerhouses HSBC and Citibank have both in recent years acquired a vast number of companies across the globe and adopted them fully under their international corporate brands with great success and within a surprising short timeframe. A strong brand is about building and maintaining strong perceptions in the minds of customers. This takes time to establish and many resources to keep, but no one remembers what the local banks used to be called, and HSBC and Citibank have managed to transfer the brand equities from the acquired brands into their own corporate brand equity.

An ancient and famous Indian proverb says: "If you don't have a goal, how can you know when you have arrived?". In order to establish and grow a corporate brand successfully, the management team has to track and measure the strength of the current corporate brand and the entire brand portfolio. Research can help understand the business landscape in more depth and serves as a foundation for the future corporate brand strategy. Modern research tools have become very sophisticated and at the same time easy to employ. There is no excuse for not trying to get a market and customer driven perspective of the brand portfolio including the corporate brand.

Marketing, Memory and the Mind

-Jack Trout

Marketing people, and the minds of the people they are trying to influence, are often in conflict. Unfortunately, these arguments are being presented to minds that really aren’t up to dealing with all that glorious information. Our perceptions are selective. And our memory is highly selective. We are cursed with the physiological limitation of not being able to process an infinite amount of stimuli. This means that in a crowded category, your difference might not be enough unless it is a dramatic difference.

Seeing is not akin to photographing the world—merely registering an image. Memory is not a tape recorder that stores information when we turn it on. How much of your message gets through depends to a large part on what you are selling, according to years of data compiled on readership scores by advertising category.

For instance, an advertisement for footwear is going to be twice as interesting as an ad for floor coverings, regardless of the brand names or benefits. Similarly, an ad for perfume—almost any perfume—is going to have double the average readership of a furniture ad. There is even a ‘‘no-interest’’ category where people will remember no brand names. It’s caskets. The leading brand is Batesville. But after a few paragraphs, you’ll have forgotten this.

These interest levels—these biases—are firmly in place before we even pick up a magazine or newspaper. This is why the first and second brands in the market have an enormous mental advantage over the later entrants. They tend to preempt the most important differences.

Minds Hate Confusion
Human beings rely more heavily on learning than any other species that has ever existed. Learning is the way animals and humans acquire new information. Memory is the way they retain that information over time. Memory is not just your ability to remember a phone number. Rather, it’s a dynamic system that’s used in every other facet of thought processing.

We use memory to see. We use it to understand language. We use it to find our way around. So, if memory is so important, what’s the secret of being remembered? When asked what single event was most helpful to him in developing the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein is reported to have answered: ‘‘Figuring out how to think about the problem.’’

Half the battle is getting to the essence of the problem. Generally speaking this means having a deep understanding of your competition and their place in the mind of your prospect. It’s not about what you want. It’s about what your competition will let you do.

Differentiation Takes Place in the Mind

-Jack Trout

While the mind may still be a mystery, we know one thing about it that is for certain—it’s under attack. Most Western societies have become totally ‘‘overcommunicated.’’ The explosion of media forms, and the ensuing increase in the volume of communications, has dramatically affected the way people either take in or ignore the information offered to them.

Overcommunication has changed the whole game of communicating with and influencing people. What was overload in the 1970s turned into megaload by the turn of the century.

Here are some statistics to illustrate the problem:

*More information has been produced in the past 30 years than in the previous 5,000.
*The total of all printed knowledge doubles every four or five years.
*One weekday edition of the New York Times contains more information than the average person was likely to come across in a lifetime in seventeenth-century England.
*More than 4,000 books are published around the world every day.
*The average white-collar worker uses 70 kilograms of copy paper a year—twice the amount consumed 10 years ago.

Electronic Bombardment
And what about the electronic side of our overcommunicated society?

Every day, the World Wide Web grows by a million electronic pages, according to Scientific American, adding to the many hundreds of millions already online.

Everywhere you travel in the world, satellites are beaming endless messages to every corner of the globe. By the time a child in the United Kingdom is eighteen, he or she has been exposed to 140,000 TV commercials. In Sweden, the average consumer receives 3,000 commercial messages a day.

In terms of advertising messages, 11 countries in Europe now broadcast well over 6 million TV commercials a year. In the United States, the electronic side of overcommunication continues its relentless attack. Experts say that the country will be going from 150 channels of television to 500. (By the time you find something to watch, the show will be over.)

And then there are all those computers, and the much-hyped information superhighway, which promises to deliver massive amounts of information to your home via fiber-optic cables, or CD- ROMs . . . or whatever.

All this means that your differentiating idea must be as simple and as visible as possible and delivered over and over again on all media. The politicians try to stay ‘‘on message.’’ Marketers must stay ‘‘on differentiation.’’

The Essense of Branding: Expectation and Promises

-Chris Brown

Branding doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, the more simple you make it, the more effective the branding. It’s like a good joke. No explanation needed.

It’s boiling the expectation down to one word or phrase. And making sure that promise is fulfilled.

Volvo: Safety
BMW: Ultimate driving machine
Apple: Innovation and great design
FedEx: When it absolutely, positively has to get there overnight.
Avis: We try harder.
Amazon: Everything under one “roof”
Las Vegas: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas
Barack Obama: Change

Loss of Focus and Line Extension

-Jack Trout

Loss of focus is really all about line extension. And no issue in marketing is so controversial. Companies look at the brands from an economic point of view.

To gain cost efficiencies and trade acceptance, they are quite willing to turn a highly focused brand, and one that stands for a certain type of product or idea, into an unfocused brand that represents two or more types of products or ideas.

Look at the issue of line extension from the point of view of the mind. The more variations you attach to the brand, the more the mind loses focus. Gradually, a well-differentiated brand like Chevrolet comes to mean nothing at all. Scott, the leading brand of toilet tissue, line extended its name into Scotties, Scottkins, and Scott Towels. Pretty soon writing ‘‘Scott’’ on a shopping list meant very little and Charmin took over the lead.

Some Surprising Research
With about 70 percent of new products being launched with existing brand names, you would think these companies would have some supporting data on the pluses of line extension. The opposite is true.

The Journal of Consumer Marketing noted a large-scale study of 115 new-product launches across five U.S. and U.K. markets. The study compared the market share gained by products launched under established family or corporate brand names with market share gained by products launched under new brand names.

Share was measured two years after each brand’s launch. The brand extension products performed significantly less well than the products launched with new brand names.

The Harvard Business Review published a study on line extension. Their observations were that, among other things, line extension weakened a brand’s image and disturbed trade relations.

Ford eyes strong foothold

With the launch of new 2010 car models through an agent in Bangladesh, Ford Motor Company, a US automobile giant, has expanded its business here at a time when carmakers are facing slack sales in the wake of financial crisis worldwide.

The company eyes a good share in Bangladesh's posh car market, as its officials and others said at a function in Dhaka on Monday, organised by AG Automobiles Limited, a concern of Anwar Group that has been appointed as the US carmaker's local seller.

AG Automobiles has already sold 68 different brands of Ford vehicles here.

This local firm will introduce a wide range of new 2010 Ford models, including Ranger Pickup, Everest SUV and Focus cars.

Commerce Minister Faruk Khan formally launched the Ford's new version at a showroom at Uttara. Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque, US Ambassador to Bangladesh James F Moriarty and Managing Director of Anwar Group Hossain Khaled were also present.

According to people close to the local car market, the Ford brand cars might have a good prospect, although BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Nissan along with Toyota's latest brands are also available here.

"Our position has so far been strong in the global car market, although some other car makers are facing problems," David M Westerman, Asia Pacific regional manager, Ford Export Operations, told the launching programme.

"Ford's entrance in Bangladesh will obviously help us stimulate our global sales," he said, adding: " I hope Ford's new brand will get popularity in Bangladesh market."

For the first time in 2009, Ford's sales volume of new vehicles was up in June compared with the same month a year earlier in the European market. Ford's market share in the continent marked a rise in the first half of the year by 0.5 percentage points to 9.2 percent.

Its Europe operations however reported a loss of $550 million in the first quarter of 2009, compared with a $739 million profit a year ago.

In 2008, Ford had posted a full year automotive operations profit of $1.06 billion in Europe, which is $63 million higher than in 2007.

"As with the second half 2008, first quarter 2009 results were affected significantly by the dramatic lower demand for J and production of J vehicles as a consequence of the economic downturn affecting the European markets and the automotive industry," according to Ford's latest fact sheet.

"We expect the weak economic situation to continue to constrain earnings in 2009," the fact sheet says.

In Bangladesh, around 20,000 cars are imported every year. Of these cars, 2,000 are brand new ones.

The commerce minister in his speech said the business interest of a global automobile giant like Ford in Bangladesh proves that the country's economy is booming.

The US envoy said his country has a strong trade relationship with Bangladesh, but it could be even stronger. "I urge the government of Bangladesh to maintain a free and open market that benefits both consumers and producers," said Moriarty.

Cadbury to launch Trebor Extra Strong mints chewing gum

Cadbury is extending its Trebor Extra Strong mints brand into the chewing gum sector.

Trebor Extra Strong Gum will be backed by a £2.5m marketing spend. An outdoor campaign, created by Fallon, will use the strapline 'Sorry it's taken so long. Trebor Extra Strong, now in gum'.

The product, which will be rolled out from next month, represents a U-turn on Cadbury's strategy of developing gum lines under its Trident brand.

Cadbury, which made its debut in the chewing-gum sector in 2007 with the launch of Trident, said at the time it was aiming for a 20% share of the UK market.

According to insiders, having peaked at about 12%, the brand now has 6%-7% of the chewing-gum market.

Last year, Cadbury shifted responsibility for all brands handled by Publicis into the Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon group.

Cleaning products 3.0? Reckitt Benckiser makes an online push to connect with young consumers

Household products giant Reckitt Benkiser (RB) is using online social media and a massive online campaign to launch its first corporate advertising campaign is a bid to make a name for itself with consumers.

The FMCG company, which owns such brands as Vanish and Finish, is to mount a huge online advertising and social media push aimed at people aged 22-32. Andraea Dawson-Shepherd, RB's global corporate affairs director, said: ‘We're doing this because we want to be automatically seen to be in the top three global FMCGs - by anyone who matters.'

The activity launches this week. It will run across six of its international markets including the UK, US, Brazil, India, Russia and Germany. It is part of a wider move to start using social media to create a dialogue with this audience. The ads will direct consumers to the company's ‘Fan Page' on Facebook. The firm said it wants to reach ‘the online chattering classes'.

But the company isn't just targeting consumers. It's reaching out to the next generation of suppliers, employees, consumers and shareholders. It is hoping to reach around 70% of this demographic.

To attract graduates, RB is running a competition, which asks consumers to come up with innovative products for a music festival. Entrants must upload videos describing a product to market. There is £5,000 on offer for the winning entry. Videos will be rated by the public and the top 20 will go through to be judged by a panel.

Andraea Dawson-Shepherd said: ‘Our Powerbrands are already well known. We need to make ourselves better known among the next generation of people considering a career in consumer goods and let them know what the company has to offer.'

The campaign follows RB's announcement in March that it was overhauling its corporate identity to raise its profile and position it as 'The power behind the power brands'. Its old text logo was replaced by a pink kite device containing the letters 'rb'. It was inspired by a sports kite and is intended to reflect the 'loud, confident personalities of its power brands'.

The company is thinking laterally by considering the many roles young people could play in its business. And it is making an effort to get to know this market. Now it must ensure the campaign is relevant enough to encourage this age group to interact with the business.

Microsoft to launch web based Word and free streaming music service

Microsoft has upped the stakes in its competition with Google as it unveils a free web-based version of its Office software due next year, and hints of a wildcard in the works -- a free streaming music service for UK users to be released by the end of the month.

Office 2010 will include very basic versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote when it rolls off the production line early 2010.

The web based software will allow access to documents anywhere with an internet connection, stored via "cloud" computing, much like Google Docs, the search giant's online word processor.

Today, the Daily Telegraph reported that Microsoft is planning to launch a free streaming music service by the end of July, modelled after the popular Spotify platform, where users get free access to tracks in exchange for advertising.

Like Spotify, Microsoft is said to be offering a paid-for-premium option with its service, tentatively known as Bing Music, which will extend the brand of its search engine and its efforts to take on Google.

Hazel Thompson, MSN spokeswoman would not confirm the rumour, but said: "In the coming months, MSN is planning a new music service in Beta via its Music channel in the UK.

"At this stage we won't be confirming the details behind this but more information will be available soon and will be communicated in due course."

Last week Google stepped into Microsoft's territory by announcing its plans for new operating system to rival Windows, which followed Microsoft's launch of a new search engine Bing in June.

Though the two companies appear to be going blow for blow in a large scale tech battle, it's likely they won't be making any dents in each other's revenue stream.

Google, which pulled in $22bn in revenue last year, makes a large majority of its money, about 97%, from its AdSense advertising programme.

Microsoft, on the other hand, sold more than $14bn worth of its Office products in 2008, with a further $16bn in revenue through the sale of its operating systems, including Windows Vista, XP and Mobile.

CRM: Unpacking customer chemistry

-Kishwar Imdad and AZM Saifuddin

To retain customers, customer relationship management (CRM) has become obvious in today's business environment. The effectiveness of new media has come into consideration as the media fragments virtually every day.

In the 90s when there was only one channel, one drama could draw the attention of millions. With the introduction of more than 10 local channels, in addition to more than 70 foreign channels, marketers face a challenge in reaching out to even a 10th of the customers in the 90s with 10 times the cost.

A marketer may buy a 30-second slot to broadcast a television commercial during a popular musical programme, targeting youngsters, while on the other hand, another sports channel is broadcasting a live world cup cricket match between Bangladesh and India and BBC is documenting some breaking news. Think about the target group.

With only a remote control to change to a channel of choice, the impact of the response and return on investment would be lower. So mass media needs mass money to deliver messages across to target groups.

The same is true for billboards. Even when a marketer advertises with larger than life images, it is difficult to make a difference and have a competitive edge in the market through these traditional channels.

It is time marketers revised their strategies to find innovative ways that cannot be copied by competitors. CRM gives insight on how to accelerate benefits by driving the market forward rather than letting it drive the company. In fact, CRM looks for the most advanced ways to market, which is uncommon to business environments in Bangladesh.

CRM tells us what works and what does not in today's competitive and volatile market environment. CRM strategies are designed based on real interactive data whereas mass marketing strategies are based on opinion data.

The reality is that customer choices are wider than ever before. The endless price war has put companies at risk. The market scenario is changing from a sellers' market to a buyers' one.

As the market saturates, marketers' focus shifts from market share to value. Companies are losing control over Porter's five forces: rivalry, the threat of substitutes, buyer power, supplier power and barriers to entry. Where is the end of this price war? Let us look at the success story of Google -- ranked as one of the top performers of 2006.

Google did not use traditional media channels. With $10.6 billion in 2006 and revenues up by 67 percent, Google commanded at least 31 percent of all web ad revenues and became a major threat to Viacom. The small sponsored links that run alongside search results precisely addressed particular interests.

Today people are addicted to Google and it is not only the algorithm that works behind the search mechanism; it is actually the CRM strategy that gave them the competitive edge to outpace Yahoo and AltaVista.

Confusion over CRM has created myths in the market that need to be debunked. CRM consultant Francis Buttle expressed his view to debunk the myth -- to say that CRM is about IT is like saying that gardening is about spade or that art is about the paintbrush.

The implementation of CRM was seen as IT applications that can be used to store and manage customers' records. Although a rich customer database and deployment of IT application are required to apply CRM strategies, this should not be misread as an IT job. Many business executives perceive CRM as software application like Siebel or SAS.

Marketers should not lose sight of the fact that CRM is about people first and technology second. That's where the real value of CRM lies. The basic objective of CRM is to create relationships through providing a greater customer experience. Here the role of technology is just a tool. Technology helps us to get insight and understand the differences between customer satisfaction, experience and expectations three vital components of CRM.

Oracle is playing a major role in radiating business intelligence and creating CRM applications. Business intelligence is not just about departmental reporting anymore. Oracle applications is proving customers insight, enabling managers to make informed decisions and applying CRM strategies.

Today top performing companies from banking to telecom are using the concept of CRM for acquisition and retention of customers. CRM is basically a business strategy that aims to understand the needs and wants of individual customers and then formulates efficient personalised communication mechanisms to serve individual demands and create long-term relationships.

CRM strategy applies the concept of local shop owners in your community, who developed strong relationships with community customers by calling them by their names, exchanging greetings, wishing them on their birthdays and understanding their tastes and serving them accordingly. This is because relationships create long-term loyalty and repeat purchase.

But when the customer base exceeds hundreds of thousands, who are dispersed around various geographic zones and their preferences and expectations change with advancements in technology, it is really a challenge to retain customers through relationships.

The strategic application and effectiveness of CRM is so wide and versatile that it encompasses from retail to telephone companies, insurance, banks and other sectors. With the passage of time, the avenues of CRM are getting wider that includes database marketing, churn management, loyalty programmes, data mining, predictive modelling, business intelligence, direct marketing and telemarketing.

Kryolan make-up brand launched

German-based professional make-up company Kryolan yesterday launched a wide variety of products to serve local professionals in different media channels, including film, television, theatre and photo shoots for magazines.

“The number of media professionals have increased manifold in recent years, as the scope for work in different media, including television, film and fashion magazines have sprouted. These professionals need high quality make-up that has created a local demand for branded items,” said Yesmin Ipphat, CEO of Kryolan Bangladesh Ltd.

“Kryolan products are produced solely for professionals, as the make-up items sustain for long periods of time, even 7-10 hours at a stretch,” she added.

Ipphat was speaking at the launching ceremony organised by Kryolan Bangladesh Ltd in Dhaka.

The company is planning to open its showroom in Dhaka by October. Prior to that, Kryolan is set to serve its clients, including different satellite channels, beauty salons and film studios by taking orders at its head office.

The company is initially expecting annual sales of $20,000 by the end of this year, said the local Kryolan boss.

Yesmin Ipphat said Kryolan products are popular among and widely used by celebrities and make-up artists in Hollywood, Bollywood and international ramp shows. “Our company supplied make-up and costume for the box office hit Titanic."

Kryolan Bangladesh set up a plant in Dhaka EPZ in 2001, which produces make-up eyelashes, rubber appliances and bald caps. In 2008, the company earned $1,00,000 million by exporting jewellery eyelash made from human hair, and rubber appliances and bald caps, mainly to serve clients in Hollywood.

Ipphat said the Bangladeshi plant is a world leader when it comes to providing make-up for cut-throats, split open stomachs and other scars used for special effects in movies.

Along with these 3-D special effects, Kryolan provides a range of 18 different looks for ears, chin and bald caps, which are crafted in rubber by a team of 35 skilled workers.

In a keynote presentation, Jos Brands, an internationally renowned make-up artist, demonstrated basic knowledge on Kryolan products and its use and corrections for minor skin imperfections.

Kaniz Almas Khan, CEO of Persona Hair and Beauty, and Farzana Shakil, CEO of Farzana Shakil's Makeover Salon, were also present.

Pizza Hut's new item hits market

Pizza Hut, an international restaurant chain by Transcom Foods Ltd, launched the much-awaited 'Stuffed Crust Pizza' at a ceremony in Dhaka yesterday.

Akku Chowdhury, executive director of Transcom Foods, inaugurated the new arrival at Pizza Hut's Gulshan outlet in presence of a huge crowd of food lovers.

The Stuffed Crust Pizza, a world famous delight from the restaurant chain, comes with a stuffed cheese core inside its crust.

“I hope our customers will welcome and enjoy this new item with excellent value,” said Chowdhury while slicing the product at the function.

The new item will only be available in Dhanmondi and Gulshan outlets.

Pizza Hut started its journey in Bangladesh in December 2003.

Pizza Hut times £4 'Happy Hour' menu campaign to coincide with payday

Pizza Hut is promoting its £4 fixed-price 'Happy Hour' menu to consumers in the high street using ATM advertising.

The one-week campaign will feature within 750,000 transactions on cash machines across the UK in close proximity to Pizza Hut restaurants, starting 29 June.

Pizza Hut's Happy Hour fixed price menu offers customers the choice of a pizza, pasta or salad, plus garlic bread and a drink, all for £4.

The ATM Ad campaign is part of a wider integrated campaign, planned by media agency Starcom, which includes online displays, and will be amplified through the ATM campaign across atmAd's national network of cash machines.

Claudia Nicholls-Magielsen, Marketing Director of Restaurants, Pizza Hut, said: ‘ATM transactions tend to increase around payday so atmAd is a highly effective way to deliver a ‘value' message to customers withdrawing cash at a moment when money and what to spend it on, is at front of mind.'

Oxfam launches online-fashion resource with Mrs Jones

Oxfam has launched a competition inviting the public to create their own customised garment from old clothing or recycled materials and have it judged by British stylist Mrs Jones.

Part of the launch celebrations for Oxfam DIY, the organisation's new online fashion resource, entrants are invited to use materials from their own wardrobe or an Oxfam store and submit a photo of their customised item, modelled by themselves or a friend, to the competition page on Flickr. The campaign was developed by LBi.

The winning designer will have a one-of-a-kind item created especially for them by Mrs Jones. The top five shortlisted designs will also be featured on the Oxfam DIY website.

Mrs Jones, is famed for her pop star creations including Kylie's ‘Can't Get You Out Of My Head' white hooded catsuit and styling for The Killers.

GlaxoSmithKline revives multibrand 'Love your mouth' campaign

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK) is launching a multi-brand mouth care campaign encouraging consumers to 'love their mouth'.

It will combine online, print, experiential and in-store activity to promote its mouth-care brands which include Aquafresh, Macleans, Sensodyne and Corsodyl.

The company said the campaign covers almost all aspects of mouth care and supports GSK brands.

It aims to educate consumers about the mouth and the role of each brand. Love your mouth first launched last summer.

The FMCG firm has an annual TV spend of over £23m across its oral care brands.

Sony launches cross-division Blu-ray marketing strategy

Sony is gearing up for a new marketing strategy pulling together Sony UK, the consumer electronics division, and film distribution arm Sony Pictures.
Sony UK is working on promoting Blu-ray, the optical disc format expected to replace DVD, by combining marketing of its TVs and Blu-ray players with upcoming film releases on Blu-ray.

The consumer electronics company will tie up with content coming from the Sony Pictures content arm.

Carl Pring, Sony's head of brand and advertising, said Sony would run Blu-ray campaigns towards the end of the year to coincide with the release of major films Terminator Salvation and Angels & Demons.

‘What you will start to see is campaigns across the various companies. We can tell consumers about the greater thrills and excitement they will see with Blu-ray releases on our Blu-ray products.'

Pring said the Blu-ray push would be the ‘first of many spanning different Sony divisions'.

Facebook to earn over $500m in 2009

Marc Andreessen, a Facebook board member, has said that the social networking site is set to earn in excess of $500m (£309m) this year and will likely be posting billions of dollars in revenue in five years.

Andreessen, speaking to Reuters, said that Facebook would earn more than a billion this year if it was to push harder on selling advertising. But he said that it was more important for Facebook to retain and grow its user base at this point.

He told Reuters: "This calendar year they'll do over $500m. If they pushed the throttle forward on monetization they would be doing more than a billion this year.

"There's every reason to expect in my view that the thing can be doing billions in revenue five years from now."

Andreessen, who founded Netscape and has just launched a venture capital fund with another former Netscape executive Ben Horowitz, said it was a mistake for Facebook shareholders to be selling their stock now.

Facebook is permitting some shareholders to sell their shares to Digital Sky, the Russian firm that invested $200m in the social networking site in May, because its initial public offering is at least a few years away.

Andreessen told Reuters that although micro blogging site Twitter was not making any money at present, it was important for it to grow its user base and market share, just like Facebook.

He said MySpace focussed too much on selling ads and not enough on developing its platform, which has led to the social networking site losing market share.

Silicon Valley entrepreneur Andreessen joined the Facebook board last July.

He is also former chief technical officer at AOL and was one of those behind the development of Mosaic, which was the first major web browser that for a while rivalled Internet Explorer.

Andreessen is also an investor in Digg, Netvibes and Twitter.

Diet Coke launches 'Ugly Betty' bottle

Diet Coke has launched a collectible 'Betty' Bottle featuring images from the TV show 'Ugly Betty'.

The glass bottle was designed by New York-stylist Patricia Field.

It consists of a pink leopard print design and comes with a sticker book so consumers can customise their bottles. The stickers feature images of the outfits Betty wears in the current series of the show.

The limited-edition design is only available only at Selfridges.

Patricia Field has previously designed a ‘City' collection for Diet Coke.

EDF Green Energy Day branding faces legal action

EDF's Green Energy Day, launched today, has been overshadowed by a rival energy provider, which is to sue the French giant over its green Union flag branding.

Ecotricity, which develops wind farms and provides electricity to more than 40,000 UK homes, has launched a High Court copyright action.

It claims that the Green Energy Day green Union flag is too similar to its own branding, which it has been using for two years.

A spokeswoman for Ecotricity told Campaign: "A lot of our customers have been contacting us, confused by the EDF branding.

"We know you cannot trademark a flag, but we feel that we have a good case because the colours are so similar."

Ecotricity ran an ad using its own green flag to welcome the Prime Minister Gordon Brown to power in 2007.

EDF Energy is now the largest producer of low-carbon electricity in the UK.

In a separate development, the ASA confirmed that it was investigating 84 complaints about the ad, which claim EDF's advertising is misleading for implying the company is both green and British.

The ASA said it was not investigating 23 separate complaints that the branding is unpatriotic.

A spokesman for EDF Energy said: "We are disappointed by Ecotricity’s comments, particularly given our personal invitation to them to work together on the challenges of climate change, and to become part of our Team Green Britain initiative. This invitation to work together remains open.

"Our record of compliance with the ASA code of practice is industry leading. In fact, unlike many other suppliers, in the past five years we have not had a single complaint upheld against us."

The Mind and Purchase Decisions

-Jack Trout

More often than not, people buy what they think they should have. They’re sort of like sheep, following the flock. Do most people really need a four-wheel-drive vehicle? (No.) If they did, why didn’t they become popular years ago? (Not fashionable.)

The main reason for this kind of behavior is insecurity, a subject about which many scientists have written extensively. If you’ve been around a long time, people trust you more and feel secure in their purchase. This is why heritage is a good differentiator.

Minds are insecure for many reasons. One reason is perceived risk in doing something as basic as making a purchase. Behavioral scientists say there are five forms of perceived risk:

1. Monetary risk. (There’s a chance I could lose money on this.)
2. Functional risk. (Maybe it won’t work, nor do what it’s supposed to do.)
3. Physical risk. (It looks a little dangerous. I could get hurt.)
4. Social risk. (I wonder what my friends will think if I buy this.)
5. Psychological risk. (I might feel guilty or irresponsible if I buy this.)

All this explains why people tend to love underdogs but buy from the perceived leaders. If everyone else is buying it, I should be buying it.

Simplicity: A Powerful Brand Strategy

-Jack Trout

The basic concept of some products predicts failure. Not because they don’t work, but because they don’t make sense. Consider Mennen’s vitamin E deodorant. That’s right, you sprayed a vitamin under your arm. It doesn’t make sense unless you want the healthiest, best-fed armpits in the nation. It quickly failed.

Consider the Apple Newton. It was a fax, beeper, calendar keeper, and pen-based computer. Too complex. It’s gone and the much simpler Palm Pilot is an enormous success. The best way to really enter minds that hate complexity and confusion is to oversimplify your message. Some of the most powerful programs are those that focus on a single word. (Wells Fargo: fast. Volvo: safety. Listerine: kills germs.)

The lesson here is not to try to tell your entire story. Just focus on one powerful differentiating idea and drive it into the mind. That sudden hunch, that creative leap of the mind that ‘‘sees’’ in a flash how to solve a problem in a simple way, is something quite different from general intelligence.

If there’s any trick to finding that simple set of words, it’s one of being ruthless about how you edit the story you want to tell. Anything that others could claim just as well as you can, eliminate. Anything that requires a complex analysis to prove, forget. Anything that doesn’t fit with your customers’ perceptions, avoid.

The Royal Bengal Entrepreneurs Theme

Do you see what we see? We see a young man in black suit and a laptop hanging from the shoulder, waiting patiently behind the bushes. He has war fatigues drawn across his face. He is in mid 20s, medium height and structure. He carries a red and green flag over his shoulder. He is desperate to prey on the grazing executives who are roaming around in a distance, in their own territories, and who are still unaware of the presence of the new threat in town (or jungle?), who are ignorant to spot the potential and the prowess of the formidable challenger behind the bush, who are still unconscious to the emergence of….the Royal Bengal Entrepreneur!

On the proud occasion of the 37th Victory Day of Bangladesh, today on 16th December, this blog proudly and furiously announces a concept that it hopes to enlarge and enrich over the coming years. The Royal Bengal Entrepreneurs are that special breed of innovators, entrepreneurs, executives and managers who are ‘Made in Bangladesh’. They might be trained in the land or in foreign lands, but their talent and deed converge into the betterment of the economy of Bangladesh. We want to establish that the Royal Bengal Entrepreneurs are truly the majestic predators of business innovation and management in the global arena, as the synonymous Bengal Tigers rule the tough mangrove terrains of Sundarbans.

So let us know what you think the Royal Bengal Entrepreneur should be. What should be the ideal profile, keeping in view our socio-economic context? True, we are attempting to brand our breed of managers and entrepreneurs. So join hands and claws, lets leave marks in some territories. Let us know where and how....Aaarrrgghhhhh!

Creative Billboard for Making Good Impression

Haven't seen much of variations in billboard in our country, maybe it is difficult to do so, and that's I like to highlight the following for taking a bold step in breaking out of the billboard.

The billboard is placed at Jatrabari, and I took a quick snap from the bus I was traveling. Reminded me of one billboard pic I have seen from Kodak in some presentation. The idea was similar, in the billboard hot chanachur has burnt part of the billboard, in the Kodak ad, there was a hole from where you could see a park, the hole was shaped as a photograph and the billboard read "capture the real moment with Kodak (or something like this, I forgot)".

I really loved this one and I hope to see some more creative billboards like these in here. Also it has to make good sense and truly connected with the consumer insight. Hope the agencies and the marketeers are listening.

AKTEL's owning company gets new name

TM International (Bangladesh) Ltd, the company that owns the telecom brand AKTEL, has been renamed as Axiata (Bangladesh) Ltd, says a press release.

Axiata (Bangladesh) Ltd is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia, one of the largest telecommunication companies in South East Asia, and NTT-DoCoMo of Japan.

However, the company said that the brand AKTEL would remain the same.

Axiata's other mobile subsidiaries and associates operate under different banners, such as 'Celcom' in Malaysia, 'XL' in Indonesia and 'Dialog' in Sri Lanka.

How Michael Jackson Became a Brand Icon

John Quelch

Countless books advise how to build your personal brand. Michael Jackson was so unique that he cannot realistically serve as anyone's role model in that effort. Yet Jackson was unquestionably a brand icon and there are lessons to be learned. Here are the top ten factors that explain his icon status.

Start early. Michael began entertaining at the age of four. His career as the uniquely young lead singer in The Jackson Five began with the Motown label at the age of 10. National recognition came with his appearance on the Ed Sullivan show.

Let go. Jackson went solo in 1972 at the age of 13. As with Diana Ross and the Supremes, there came a point where the group constrained rather than aided the further development of his talent.

Break out. Jackson was a multidimensional entertainer. His expert dancing could be showcased via the new medium of music videos. MTV and Jackson rose in tandem when MTV premiered the Jackson video "Thriller" in 1982 from the album of the same name. The album went on to sell over 100 million copies.

Get help. Jackson benefited from his long-term professional relationship with producer and songwriter Quincy Jones. He often acknowledged the inspiration he received from James Brown, Diana Ross and other artists.

Be visible. All memorable brands have their unique visual trademarks. Jackson understood brand image and how to build it with his fans. The moonwalk that we could all try to imitate. The glove. The uniform. Neverland.

Go global. Jackson's music and videos easily transcended national boundaries, as well as race, age and gender. "We Are the World", written by Jackson and Lionel Ritchie in 1985, cemented his global appeal. Jackson sold almost half his 750 million titles outside the United States.

Crown yourself. Elvis was already "The King", so Jackson christened himself "The King of Pop." The professional contributions--including 13 Grammies--were so substantial that the moniker stuck. The flawed personal life - the lawsuits, the failed marriages, and the Wacko Jacko incidents like dangling his child from a Berlin hotel balcony - chipped away at Jackson's professional brand equity but never eroded it.

Be vulnerable. We cannot relate to icons without imperfections. Jackson was quirky, eccentric, mysterious. For all his wealth and professional excellence, he was - perhaps understandably - flawed, misguided, and sad, but none would say unkind.

Give back. Denied a normal childhood, Jackson was amazingly generous to disadvantaged children. Some 39 charities benefited significantly from his support. He also collaborated on Live Aid with other entertainers.

Die young. The sold-out 50 concert tour of Europe to start next month will never happen. The likelihood of a Jackson comeback will forever be debated. Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe James Dean, and now Michael Jackson - all leave to our imagination thoughts of what might have been. When a brand icon is torn from us prematurely, unexpectedly, it figures even larger in our collective memory.

What we can learn from Michael Jackson about Branding & Marketing

Like many baby boomers, I grew up listening to Michael Jackson’s music and watched him become a brand that was larger than life all over the world. Since he past away last week, I thought I’d draw some branding lessons from his work. (While his plastic surgery and personal life are a whole other thing, I do admire his branding & marketing work.)

1. Have a quality product. I don’t think many would argue that he was undoubtedly “The King of Pop.”
2. Plan, prepare, practice. His performances were flawless. I don’t think he was one to “just wing it.”
3. Select a niche. He was a performer, an entertainer. Not an actor. Not a politician.
4. Create an icon or signature. For Michael, it was the white glove.
5. Capture the medium. Michael Jackson’s fame was catapulted with the launch of MTV in the late 70’s when millions could watch his moves without having to go to a concert to see his performance. (What medium is exploding in the 2000 decade?)
6. Protect your brand. Between his professional and the personal, I wonder how many lawsuits?