Brains on Fire

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  Quickie: GM and Krystal Burger

  Posted on May 31st, 2005 by Spike and currently 2 commenting.

  Krystal Burger (famous for their bite-size, square burgers) has introduced a giant, round “B.A. Burger” into their line-up. May I ask why? Take a page from the Hardee’s turn-around and pick one thing. And then do it better than anyone else.

  In other news, General Motors has decided to mark every car it makes with a “GM badge.”

  “The GM badge will take the form of a silver square, embossed with the GM logo, placed on both sides of the vehicle on an appropriate location between the front and rear wheels above the rocker and below the glass belt line.”

  Yes, the new eyesore will be on all 2006 Chevys, Saturns, Hummers, Pontiacs, Buicks, GMCs, Saabs and Cadillacs.

  Tags: B.A. Burger, Buicks, Cadillacs, Chevy, General Motors, GMC, Hardee's, Hummer, Krystal Burger, pontiac, Saab, Saturn
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  Burger King’s Savior

  Posted on May 27th, 2005 by Spike and currently 1 commenting.

  You gotta love Greg Brenneman. The new CEO at Burger King makes no apologies. And he has this mind blowing concept of giving the customer what they want. Brenneman points out that 13% of their customer base is what he calls the “super fan.” And they happen to make up 49% of their sales. So he caters to them. Like coming up with the artery-clogging 760-calorie Enormous Omelet Sandwich (which is about to overtake the Whopper in sales). Oh sure, there’s also veggie burgers (you’re welcome PETA) and salads. And it doesn’t hurt that McDonald’s takes most of the heat from the health-nuts because they are top-of-mind.

  What does Brenneman say when he’s asked by reporters if fast food restaurants should be held responsible for helping the general public be more healthy?

  He says that America was founded on choices. If you don’t want a Whopper, don’t buy one. What a concept.

  And even more important to note is that Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Burger King’s ad agency, has done great creative work for Burger King when they were in the tank and now when they’re crawling out of it. In other words, even great advertising can’t move the revenue needle. It has to be a cultural change. It has to start from within a company.

  And the King is back, baby.

  Tags: Burger King, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Culture Change, Enormous Omelet Sandwich, Greg Brenneman, McDonald's, Super Fan, whopper
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  We have the customer in our sights, sir!

  Posted on May 24th, 2005 by Spike and currently 2 commenting.

  I finally got a chance to read Douglas Atkin’s The Culting of Brands. (I highly recommend it.) Basically, Atkin has studied the makeup of cults through the centuries and dismantled them to reveal their basic principals. And then he did the same with cult-like brands to compare the similarities between the religious based cults and the product based cults – from Saturn to Snapple to BMW Motorcycles.

  Reading the conclusion last night, something really caught my eye. Atkin writes on how the majority of brand managers (and ad agencies for that matter) are still thinking like it’s the 1960s – and their language reflects it:

  The vocabulary that’s still used today in the marketing world is telling. It’s a command-control culture that it’s imitated for generations: that of the military. They have campaigns, they target customers, they go for market domination, they launch an attack on competitors, they penetrate markets, and capture market share.

  When we begin to change our vocabulary, we begin to change the way we think. Customers know that they’re “targets.” And nobody wants to be a target – even to the point of going out of their way to avoid your message. Even words like “marketing” and “branding” mean so many different things to so many different people, that maybe it’s time to circle the wagons and change our own culture before we try to go out preaching it to potential clients.

  Tags: BMW Motorcycles, Brand Manager, branding, campaigns, capture market share, cult-like-brands, Cults, culture, customers, Douglas Atkin, launch an attack, market domination, Marketing, penetrate markets, preaching, Saturn, Snapple, target customers, The Culting of Brands, Vocabulary
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  Viral Bribery

  Posted on May 23rd, 2005 by Spike and currently 0 commenting.

  A colleague of mine showed me a magazine insert today for a Hellman’s Mayonnaise promotion. It seems that they’re attempting a bit of viral marketing. But as I looked at the piece, it came across as viral bribery to me. The gist of it is that if you send some pre-written recipes to your friends, you are entered for a chance to win some prizes. This can be done by sending the magazine insert to a friend via the web. Here’s the copy on the insert (complete with PLACE STAMP HERE):

  “Dear ________

  I tried these Hellman’s’ and Best Foods’ recipes and wanted you to try them, too! Here’s why: (Empty block of space)
  Hope you like them as much as I did! Go to www.hellmans.com or www.best-foods.com for your chance to WIN INSTANTLY if you SHARE THESE RECIPES with other friends online!

  Signed:________”

  I’d like to think that people are smarter than this. If the recipes are really that good, why would you need to give people incentives to share them? It’s a nice concept, but a poor attempt.

  Tags: Best Foods, Hellman's Mayonnaise, Viral Bribery, viral marketing
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  How to do it right

  Posted on May 20th, 2005 by Spike and currently 0 commenting.

  As an identity company that puts word-of-mouth front and center, we have a lot of start-ups come to us seeking help building a compelling, memorable identity. And there’s an infectious excitement that we have in being a part of that. So we’re always on the lookout for start-ups that have done it the right way.

  You might think it’s obvious to the rest of us, but most of these start-ups don’t realize that their identity is the single most important aspect of their business. (That seems to be true for a lot of Fortune 500s as well.) And a great example of how to build a compelling brand identity from the ground up is quickly growing outdoor clothing company by the name of Arborwear.

  Arborwear is quirky. It has personality. It begs to be talked about. And whether you agree with the methodology or not, Arborwear has been built around it’s leader, Paul Taylor. I’ve actually had several phone conversations with Paul, and he’s exactly who’d you expect to be talking to from their website and print collateral. He’s funny. He’s personable. And he’s a down to earth guy who just happened to have a great idea to start a company that makes quality products.

  But what I love about Paul is he already knows that quality products aren’t enough these days. So he has built a business on clothing that’s durable and comfortable while attracting kindred spirits. Arborwear lends itself perfectly to WOM – you naturally want to show others the simple, clean website and catalog.

  Does Paul have some work to do? Sure. Any CEO of a new company has their work cut out for them. But this little company is turning the heads of the Carhartt’s of the world. And believe it or not, those big, faceless brands are worried.

  Now THAT’S exciting.

  Tags: Arborwear, brand identity, Carhartt, Fortune 500, Identity, Paul Taylor, start-ups, Word of Mouth