Simple and Irrational Can Be Wildly Successful

Look on your AMEX card and you will find a small "Member Since" at the botton. Sports Illustrated does it too with the subscription renewal forms. Why should anyone really care if they have been an AMEX "member since" college or an SI subscriber since high school?

There is nothing rational about membership. This plays to our emotional connection with brands. Brands become a part of who we are and how we think about ourselves. Why else would it matter how long I have been a member of a credit card company that doesn't really have members?

What are you doing to appeal to the emotions of your customers? And try to keep it simple.

Living the High Life

Beer advertising is one of the most crowded, at least for the male 18-45 demo. Tons of money is spent on brand advertising. And sometimes you have to wonder, do those funny bud light commercials sell beer?

So we hosted a party this weekend. And as I stood at the beer cooler trying to decide what beer to buy for the party, I bought a couple imports. But I also wanted a lighter, domestic beer. What did I choose? Miller High Life. Why? Because their recent ad campaign was effective. https://www.millerhighlife.com/Default.aspx

It is the beer for every day guys. No pretense. Just beer. And it is a bit of a throw back. Its cool.

The beer isn't great. But I felt good buying it. Nice job Miller.

Seth Godin's Post on Fear in Marketing

Check out Seth Godin's post today on fear in marketing. http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2123/29996900

Scaring people into buying your product is not a long term, brand building strategy. It is a short term sales strategy that will eat your brand reputation.

Here's a question. Does this hold true in politics?

Tell Me Who Your Are Brands Are

What are your favorite brands? Or what are those products you uses loyally?

List out five or ten.

What does this list say about you? About your interests? Your personality?

Great brands get their customers to associate their own personalities with the brand. "I am a Mac guy." "I have to have Starbucks." "I love BMW." "Can't live without my Red Sox." "Love the New York Times." Whatever your list looks like, brands both reflect and inform our personalities.

Certainly some people are more brand driven or brand loyal. But each one of us has our own brand, some might call it reputation, others personae. But we each stand for something in the eyes of others. To what extent are each of our personal brands defined or shaped by the brands we consume, relate to and embrace.

There is an old Colombian saying that states, "tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are." Can it be the same with brands? Tell me who your brands are and I will tell you who you are.

Can Fear Sell?

Can you name a strong brand that has succeeded because it has sold us on fear of something?  A brand with strong, sustained sales?

I can't think of one.

Sure, brands often try to differentiate from competitors and can be brutal in drawing the distinction -- think Apple vs. PC.  But I do not remember fear as a strategy that pays off.

And so as I look at the presidential race between McCain and Obama, I wonder about brand strategy.  Can McCain maintain his brand image as maverick and independent thinker and win the election without resorting to a strategy of fear?  And if he can't and must resort to fear, is this a winning strategy?  The only chance he may have to win is to differentiate himself by stirring up fear about a black man with a funny name running the country.  The temptation will be great.  And if Willy Horton is any guide, it could work.

This could be an amazing brand experiment: can John McCain win with his own brand going head to head with brand Obama?  Or will McCain need to play the race card, spread rumors, lies, and innuendo to boost sales (gather votes)?

In an arena where the ends often justifies the means, I suspect I know the answer.  If McCain goes with fear, I think he gains short term sales at the cost of the brand.  But if it gets you elected President, who cares right?  

Perhaps, though, his brand will be forever tarnished and incapable of its true potential as a result.  It is a choice to be made carefully.  The long term costs could be very high.

Hip? Or Creepy Old Guys

So I have a facebook profile. I started it when I got to Georgetown after I realized that most undergraduates don't really use email any more and spend hours poking and posting on walls. My wife is suspect...she thinks I am not age appropriate. Which is probably right.

Greg Anderson writes an excellent article on this for Ad Age this week in the CMO Strategy section -- "Marketers, Don't Just Blindly Follow Latest Media Trends"

Give it a read. He makes several great points. The social networking space is moving really quickly. It is still too early to tell what will last and what will be fad. And, just because people are on these sites, in these networks, doesn't mean that every marketer and company needs to be there or should be there.

Authenticity is so important to a brand these days. Trying too hard, trying to be cool or hip when your brand really isn't, is a sure fire way to look like an old dude who doesn't get it. It would be weird for a 40 year old guy to go a high school party full of teenagers he didn't know. That is how your brand will perceived if it really isn't relevant to the audience. Marketers beware.