Hema, a Dutch department store chain described as a European version of Target (low prices on generic housewares, and lots of original design) has created this fabulous product page with a great moment of surprise and delight.
Make sure you watch through to the end.
I love how they took this “functional” page and invigorated it with brand personality.
That’s my point of view. What’s your twist?
Have you seen other brands get clever with their shopping pages?
I just came back from Las Vegas after a trip with my kids, my brother and his family, and our 75 year old mother.
That sentence alone sort of sums up the dichotomy of Las Vegas.
Las Vegas as a family destination?
Well yes, sort of …
Do creative environments really help foster more creativity?
I think so. And so do the authors of I Wish I Worked There.
The author Kursty Groves (with Will Knight and photos by Edward Denison) bills the book as “the first book to go behind the scenes of some of the world’s most famous companies, revealing how they maintain their creative edge.”
Lots of books have been written on the “creative secret sauce” of innovative companies…what intrigues me about this one is the apparent emphasis on physical environment as a big part of their success. (The book comes out in the UK in March, and the States in the Spring).
In the spirit of full disclosure, one of the buildings featured is the Virgin Management offices in the UK. It is quite an extraordinary building. A converted schoolhouse that now boasts a 10 foot high candy tube in the lobby, themed conference rooms around topics like love and space, colorful artwork highlighting the brand’s history on the walls, and candid photos of all the employees when you first walk in.
Ti’s the season to send tidings of comfort and joy.
Many companies are still engaging in the practice of sending holiday greetings (print or increasingly emails) to colleagues, clients, partners and prospects.
But what does your holiday card say about your brand?
After all, it’s not just a card it’s a communication vehicle.
And whether you intend it to or not, chances are the greeting you send and even how you send it are communicating more about your brand than you originally intended.
This year at Virgin management we’ve decided to do electronic cards (in line with our desire to do right by the planet when we can) and to re-direct the saved postage to a donation to the Branson School of Economics in South Africa.
We’re including a bit of a cheeky message on the front of the card (again on brand) but overall we feel the best way to celebrate the real spirit of the holidays during this particularly difficult year is to help others.
I am not saying this is the right solution for everyone. I’m just illustrating that we’ve spent some time thinking about our messaging and have treated the card as a piece of branded communication- which ultimately it is.
Here are two other examples of cards that I received that really made a brand impression on me.
The first was from a friend of mine a few years back who runs a PR and Communications company called Fraiche.
Her brand is all about fresh ideas and approaches. Her primary color on her website and marketing materials is a bright and vibrant green- a color which supports her can-do personality and that of her company.
Her holiday card really supported her brand point of view.
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Congratulations to the folks at Zappos who have just been acquired by Amazon.
This is a great validation on Zappos’ unwavering focus on customer care – which they passionately describe as “spreading happiness.”
Here is a letter from Zappo’s CEO Tony Hsieh to his employees.
This is one of the best pieces of internal communication I have seen:
- It maintains the unique Zappos’ tone of voice, even when discussing “corporate stuff” like deal terms
- It addresses employees top questions/concerns head on
- It presents the new “Uber boss” (Jeff Bezos) in a friendly, informative, and visual way
Zappos is a great example of a company that really “walks the talk”, staying true to their brand promise and personality in all aspects of everything they do.
That’s my point of view. What’s your twist?
What do you think of this deal?
What happens when there is a gap between your personal and professional brands?
Lately there’s been a lot of buzz (and no doubt a fair amount of confusion)about the concept of personal brand.
The best definition I have found so far is from BNET Business Dictionary that defines “Personal Brand” as “the public expression and projection of an individuals identity, personality, values, skills and abilities”.
And while there is a recognition that the personal and professional brands are separate entities, I think they should at least work in sync.
Here are a few examples of personal and professional brand gaps:
Common Blunders in Brand Naming
What’s in a name? Well with all due deference to Mr. Shakespeare….a lot.
Naming is one of the hardest things about creating a brand.
It may appear deceptively easy. After all most of us have successfully named pets, children, favorite body parts, etc.
But finding an appropriate and legally available trademark is actually very difficult.
It’s been a while since naming was my full time job. I had the privilege and the pleasure of leading the crack Verbal Identity group at Interbrand for many years.
Last week I was asked by 3 separate friends for naming counsel for their start-ups. This got me thinking about the old days and the triumphs and tribulations of naming. So I decided to dust off my verbal identity cap and share my advice here.
Most Common Naming Mistakes
1. Not agreeing to the strategic role of the name upfront
2. Evaluating names without the proper context
3. Expecting lightning bolts and the perfect name to appear
4. Treating final name selection as a democratic decision
5. Not leaving enough time for the naming process
Here’s some more perspective on each of these “naming blunders”:
1.Not agreeing to the strategic role of the name upfront
We tend to expect a lot of brand names. Be catchy, stand out from the competition, not too long (ex. 6 letters, 2 syllables), legally available, available as a URL, and my favorite recent criteria…become part of the current vernacular like Twitter or Google (e.g. “I Googled him last night”).
Phew! That’s a lot. Well the truth is it’s a rare name that can accomplish all that. So it’s best to hone in on the specific role of the name. One way to do this is a proper naming brief. List the 3 (no more) key benefits the name should convey. Agree to the priority and make them as well-defined as possible (e.g. “delicious” or “confidence” are too vague, be more specific). Remember, you have other tools in your branding tool box (e.g. logo, tagline, advertising)to convey elements of the message. Don’t put the burden 100% on the name to communicate every nuance of your strategy and positioning.
2.Evaluating names without the proper context
To my point above, the quickest way to kill a name is to evaluate at it as a simple word without any context. This is a lazy approach, and quite frankly it doesn’t really reflect the way the name would be seen in real life. Can you imagine choosing any of the following names today just by seeing them in black and white on a piece of paper: Apple, Virgin, Nike, Starbucks, Kodak, Haagen Dazs, IKEA?
Each of these names has come to mean something because of the powerful branding that surrounds them. If you are creating new names for a company, then imagine answering the phone at reception with that name, pretend you are at a sales meeting and someone asks you what your company name means…prepare a brand story for the name and see if it serves as a platform to give an interesting answer. One that helps you to tell a compelling story and quickly get to the point about what’s special about your company.
Consider creating some rough logo designs for the names you are evaluating. A good name, should be easy for a designer to spin in a lot of different directions. And remember that the colors, font, and shape of the logo can help you speak to a lot of the attributes and benefits that might not be conveyed in the name. For example if one of your product or company’s benefits is security, you don’t need to put “sure or secure” in the name. The concept of stability can be communicated through color, font, or simply by the people that are behind the company or product.
3.Expecting lightning bolts and the perfect name to appear
I can only remember one time in all my years naming at Interbrand, when we all knew immediately that we had come upon the “perfect” name. This was when we created the name Orbitz for what was then a fledgling web travel service. Usually names need a maturation process. Either they grow on you naturally, or they grow as you continue to poke and prod and explore them with some of the methods I mentioned above. This especially true if you are changing a company name (e.g. a merger, acquisition or need to start clean). The old name, though it may be flawed, is comfortable. It’s like when you get married and you may change your name. It’s going to feel awkward at first, which is normal because it’s what you are used to, but eventually the “new” name will also feel right. Give names a chance to marinate, and don’t set up as an unrealistic expectation the “we’ll know it when we see it” or “lightning bolt effect”. To this end, it’s a good idea to keep a healthy handful of names on your “Short list” (preferably 5-10) because they will inevitably get knocked about in the trademark process (more on that later).
4.Treating final name selection as a democratic decision
Names are subjective. One man’s weed may be another man’s rose. This is why most of us decline to share a future baby’s name with even close friends and family until the baby has been born and the birth announcements printed. Because we don’t want the “harmless” opinions that come with sharing this decision. Example: “Oh really, the bully who used to torture me in 3rd grade was named X”. Not really relevant or helpful. That’s why it’s really important when you are going through a naming process to be clear up front who has the final say. It shouldn’t be a democratic vote . Pros and cons for each name should be gathered and considered, opinions can be heard. But you are certainly not going to get everyone to agree.
At some point, someone has to make a decision. And then begin the very important process of getting internal audiences to understand, and eventually, embrace the new name. Ideally this should be done as a series of powerful communications (visuals, videos, and brand stories) before the name is launched externally. An ideal goal is to have anyone from the receptionist to the CFO be able to articulate with certainty, passion, and consistency the message behind the new name.
5.Not leaving enough time for the naming processWell, you’re probably already exhausted by the process if you are still reading this post. But as you can see there is a lot that goes into finding a powerful and available name. I haven’t even touched on the rigors and the nuances of trademark and URL search (and the important investigations and negotiations that usually follow). Very few names appear available at first blush and the difference between a good and bad IP attorney is the former will counsel you on how to get one of the names you want, the latter will just say no. What always amazes me is that people spend months even years bringing a product or company to the point that it is ready for launch, but only leave a few months (and sometimes only weeks!) for the naming process.
That’s just bad planning. Start early. It’s one of the most important decisions you can make in developing your brand. It’s the first and one of the most powerful signals to the world on what you are about. Give it the time it deserves. And believe me you want time on your side, and not working against you, if you do find yourself negotiating for a trademark or URL.
My last piece of advice, is to remember any name can work (ex. Chase Bank, The Pep Boys, Woolworth’s etc).
A good name is one that is legally available.
A great name is one that is available and gives you a starting point on which to build a strong brand.
Treat naming as an art and a science, invest the time and money in the proper resources to help you, and you will significantly increase your likelihood of creating a great brand name.
That’s my point of view. What’s your twist?
What good and bad naming practices have you seen?
Monday I went to a Wired Magazine conference called “Disruptive by Design”. (Twitter#WiredLive).
It had great speakers like Jeff Immelt (GE), Elon Musk (Telsa Motors/SpaceX), Shai Agassi (Better Place)and Vivek Kundra (the Information Technology czar for the Obama administration) just to name a few.
All of these guys were mesmerizing with their passion and conviction around technologies and business ideas that are disruptive and game changing.
But far and away my favorite of the day was Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder).
He made the pursuit of innovation personal and accessible. He talked about his conviction even in the early difficult days that Amazon would make it and his passion for his latest invention, the Kindle.
Here are a few choice tidbits from his speech (quoted semi-accurately, but you’ll get the meaning):
“If you are going to be disruptive, you have to be willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time.”
“Companies over dramatize failure. Failures of commission (taking action) are rarely that expensive. The real danger is in failures of omission (not seizing an opportunity).”
“Amazon makes decisions on business extensions by working backwards from consumer needs or working forwards from our skill sets.”
“I always told my staff not to take fluctuations in stock prices too seriously. If you feel 30% smarter the day our stock goes up by that amount, are you going to feel 30% dumber the day it drops down?”
He says he knew that Amazon was going to make it even when the stock was tanking partly because it’s harshest critics were among their best customers.
He talked about the power of the Kindle being that it is a singular focused device. He thought multi-taking devices were often over-rated.
“I love my smart phone, I love my Swiss army knife, but sometimes when I’m sitting down for a great meal, I love my steak knife.”
I think it’s fascinating that he’s taking on books, which for many are sacred objects, and declaring “they’ve had a good 500 year run” but it’s time for something new.
His problem with books? Too heavy, hard to turn the page with one hand, hard to find your place again, always closing at the wrong moment.
His problem with reading on another “multi tasking device” like a laptop? Too hot, too cumbersome, and not that easy to curl up in bed with.
I haven’t tried a Kindle yet. But I’m curious. The people I know who have them seem to be passionate advocates. (Always a good sign).
I think time will tell if the Kindle really is a better mousetrap. But I know for sure that whether it fails or succeeds, Jeff Bezos is someone who is not going to stop disrupting.
That’s my point of view. What’s your twist?
Is the Kindle a disruptive innovation or a fad destined for failure?
I am a brand enthusiast, passionate futurist and lateral thinker. I am currently working at Virgin Management helping to build the brand in the US by launching new Virgin businesses.*
Learn more » Email Julie »* Though I work at Virgin Management USA, everything here is my personal opinion and is not read or approved before it is posted. The views expressed on this blog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
