Tone it Down

"It's possible to take this Brand Voice thing too far, to the point where it feels like you're in some dodgy sci-fi movie (The Fifth Element? Total Recall?) where, to establish that we're in the future, when the hero wakes up in the morning in his futurepad, everything from his alarm clock to his coffee machine talks to him in a Star Trek computer voice."

could your brand voice please shut up?

Sign o' the Times

"The Federal Highway Administration granted Clearview interim approval in 2004, meaning that individual states are free to begin using it in all their road signs. More than 20 states have already adopted the typeface, replacing existing signs one by one as old ones wear out."

The Road to Clarity

The Limited

"It might seem strange to kill off a product at the peak of its popularity. But for Pepsi, Ice Cucumber was largely a marketing stunt: a way to generate buzz for the brand in what is arguably the world's most cutthroat beverage market."

Fad Marketing's Balancing Act

Gangsta

More PUPPET AGENCY!

Seller's Market?

"Procter & Gamble Co. delivered the goods by hitting its top-line growth target and beating analyst earnings projections by a penny last quarter, but it isn't yet delivering big divestitures of slower-growing brands some analysts have been expecting."

P&G's Slowing Sales Growth Fuels Calls for Divestitures

OOH ... in Your Ipod

Plan B?

"Not long ago, planners were the undisputed rock stars of the agency business. But they're now mere mortals in "the middle of the maelstrom of everything going on"

Account Planners at a Crossroads

Survey Says ...

The Top 100 Brands

Chasing Technology

"That's why Continuum, IDEO, ZIBA and other design/innovation consultancies and being drawn into the brand business (IDEO just opened in New York, the land of the brand). With their deep roots in design tools and methodologies that are ethnographic and anthropological, they have a different way of connecting to the consumer ... What ad agencies need to learn is how to do this. They have to connect their clients to their customers, not the latest technology."

Are Big Ad Agencies So Clueless That Corporations Should Avoid Them?

So Much for the 'Seafood Lover in You'

"Kim Lopdrup, president of Red Lobster, says that the marketing initiative is part of a three-stage effort to revamp the brand. The first phase involved improving operations so that customers got what they ordered and did not have to wait too long. The second phase is aimed at changing the public image and perception. The third part will be dedicated to increasing sales at existing restaurants and perhaps adding locations."

In the Kitchen and on the Airwaves, Red Lobster Gets a Makeover

Fo' Sizzle

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

Think Like a Tiger

"This psychological puzzle starts with the research of Stanford's Carol Dweck. Her latest book, Mind-set: The New Psychology of Success, should be on every business manager's bookshelf. Dweck has found that individuals succeed or fail based on how they think about intelligence. She says people have one of two mind-sets on the matter."

Leadership Is a Muscle

Feature Creep and the Modern Brand

"To judge by marketing hype and iPhone mania, most people live in perpetual anticipation of the next super product: a bigger plasma-screen TV, a sleeker BlackBerry, a more shock-absorbing running shoe. But the truth is, many consumers bemoan the incessant rush of innovation that pushes manufacturers to tamper with products the consumers feel are already perfect"

I Love It, It’s Perfect, Now It Changes

Name Game

"When the results came in, one consensus was certain: The best new brand names are clear and simple. Easy-to-associate names like aloft, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's new hotel brand, stole the spotlight from more abstract monikers like Andaz, the new luxury hotel chain from Global Hyatt."

What's in a Name?

PUPPET AGENCY!

Episode 1: Junior's Advice


Episode 2: 20 Hours


Episode 3: The Network Logo

More on that Crazy London Olympic Logo

"The word I heard associated with it was hideous, and I'd have to go along with that. For the life of me, I can't imagine how you'd turn this stylized design into something people would want to wear, or use for navigational purposes or for a Web site."

Hideous -- or intriguing?

Is Apple's Architecture Troubled?

"It's absolutely true to argue that a naming architecture is no replacement for amazing products that people choose to talk about. But if you're going to pay all those lawyers and marketing suits to work on the names, they might as well be encouraged to lead, not to follow.

"Brand names aren't brands, not by a long shot. But they are valuable clues to consumers, as well as assets you own."

Sloppy naming

Dell Gets a Facelift

"In its latest step to jump-start lagging sales, the personal computer maker is rolling out a TV, print and online advertising campaign this week aimed at promoting its new line of colorful notebook computers."

Dell Pushes Reset Button on Its Image

Nussbaum on Design Thinking

"In the US, CEOs and top managers hate the word “design.” Just believe me. No matter what they tell you, they believe that “design” only has something to do with curtains, wallpaper and maybe their suits. These guys, and they’re still mostly guys, prefer the term “innovation” because it has a masculine, military, engineering, tone to it. Think Six Sigma and you want to salute, right? I’ve tried and tried to explain that design goes way beyond aesthetics. It can have process, metrics all the good hard stuff managers love. But no, I can’t budge this bunch. So I have given up. Innovation, design, technology—I just call it all a banana. Peel that banana back and you find great design. Yummy design. . The kind of design that can change business culture and all of our civil society as well."

CEOs Must Be Designers, Not Just Hire Them. Think Steve Jobs And iPhone.

Less IS More

"Sustainability is part of every packaging engagement today,'' said Jerry Kathman, president of LPK Inc., the Cincinnati brand-identity and package-design firm. "Everybody's interested in redesigning their packaging to make it smaller, including more recycled content or using more environmentally friendly inks."

Packaging goes green

Small Packs & Big Margins

"In just three years, sales of 100-calorie packs of crackers, chips, cookies and candy have passed the $20-million-a-year mark, making them a breakout hit on par with the SnackWells low-fat fad of the 1990’s."

In Small Packages, Fewer Calories and More Profit

Driving Design from the Top

"Democracy works well for running a country and choosing a prom queen. The best product designs, however, come from someone with a singular strong vision and the fortitude to fend off everything and everyone that would compromise it."

Even After Apple, Designers Dig Jobs

Turning Green into Green

"That vision of an eco-sensitive life as a series of choices about what to buy appeals to millions of consumers and arguably defines the current environmental movement as equal parts concern for the earth and for making a stylish statement."

Buying Into the Green Movement

This Little Piggy Went to the Bathroom

W + K = Genius

"David and I had children instead of money," says Wieden. "We thought about raffling them off." But, says Kennedy, "We couldn't find any takers."

These guys create ads you remember

Y?

"They're ambitious, they're demanding and they question everything, so if there isn't a good reason for that long commute or late night, don't expect them to do it. When it comes to loyalty, the companies they work for are last on their list - behind their families, their friends, their communities, their co-workers and, of course, themselves."

"Manage" us? Puh-leeze ...

The Kids Will LIke It? Right?

London unveils logo of 2012 Games

Breaking Up is Not Hard to Do

Break Up

TREND: (Still) Made Here

“(STILL) MADE HERE encompasses new and enduring manufacturers and purveyors of the local. In a world that is seemingly ruled by globalization, mass production and ‘cheapest of the cheapest’, a growing number of consumers are seeking out the local, and thereby the authentic, the storied, the eco-friendly and the obscure.”

June Trend Briefing

Doing Some of that Strategy Stuff

"I think it all boils down to two simple things. Define what you need to do, then define what you need to do to get there. AND NEVER FORGET, your objective is NOT to 'drive footfall' or 'increase sales'. It's to understand what's STOPPING people doing what you want and finding a way to change that - ultimately you're looking for a response in someone's head, then the physical end result will take care of itself."

How to find a strategy

Project X13D

Doritos creates a random flavor. puts it in an (essentially) un-marked bag. Encourages people to name it. Simple and not bad.

X13D

These Are Awful, Right?

Is it just me? I think this whole Vitamin Water campaign is waaaay off the mark. I mean, who are they talking to? The one with 50 is the worst.

Your Moment of Zen

Organic Growing Pains

"But it's also clear P&G stopped broadly gaining market share on major competitors last quarter for the first time in years, and that a growing number of its brands are struggling."

How Can Lafley Keep P&G Expanding?

Name Brands. Lackluster Results.

Shares of marquee American brands like Kodak and Gap have languished as upstarts conquer their turf. What will it take to restore their luster?

Tough Times for Tarnished Icons

BW's Latest on Innovation

The World's Most Innovative Companies
P&G Asks: What's the Big Idea?

Wait, Why are Those Babies Driving?

TREND: Transparency Tyranny

"Old economy fog is clearing: no longer can incompetence, below-par performance, ignored global standards, anti-social & anti-eco behavior, or opaque pricing be obscured. In its place has come a transparent, fully informed marketplace, where producers have no excuse left to underperform. TRANSPARENCY TYRANNY for some, TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH for others."

May 2007 Trend Briefing

Handling Your Business

"I mention 'handling' because it seems like the perfect word to describe one of the pointless terrors of the modern marketing world; the tendency to endlessly debate and delineate the characteristics and minutiae of the brand, while completely failing to connect with any genuine business problem."

Brand Handling

Jack White + Coke + Fun w/Animation = Insanity

The Appeal — and Risks — of Authenticity

"In an increasingly shiny, fabricated world of spun messages and concocted experiences--where nearly everything we encounter is created for consumption--elevating a brand above the fray requires an uncommon mix of creativity and discipline. "

Who Do You Love?

Gangsta

Kah Ra Shin

Entirely Random. And Amusing.

Snickers - Don't Stop

Your Moment of Zen

Hold 'Em While You Got 'Em

"ABC is considering changes in the decades-old way it interrupts programs for commercial breaks. The goal is to encourage viewers to stick around rather than reaching for the remote or racing to the refrigerator."

And Now, a Commercial Break That Doesn’t Seem Like One

That'll be $35 per Ounce, Thank You

"Coca-Cola is developing a drink in conjunction with L'Oréal, the cosmetics giant, that could sit on boutique department store shelves alongside beauty products rather than in fridges and drinks machines."

Coke plans 'beauty tea'

Ummmmmm ... SATAN!

"Procter & Gamble Co. has won a jury award of $19.25 million in a civil lawsuit filed against four former Amway distributors accused of spreading false rumors linking the company to Satanism to advance their own business."

P&G gets $19.25M in Satanism rumor suit

Behaviorial Research + Design

Jan Chipchase of the Nokia Research Center talks about how behavioral research feeds into the phone maker's design strategies

Nokia's Design Research for Everyone

TREND: Crowd Clout

April 2007 Trend Briefing

Hello.

History Lesson

A pretty cool site that details the history behind many of the world's best-known brandmarks.

LogoDesignHistory

Stengel: Market share is trust materialized

"Procter & Gamble's Jim Stengel described a major cultural shift that he believes is turning the world's largest marketer into a starter of conversations and a solver of consumers' problems rather than a one-way communicator. "

Stengel Exhorts 4A's: 'It's Not About Telling and Selling'

Diluting the Cafe Experience?

"Rapid expansion, the chairman, Howard Schultz, said, has led to a 'commoditization of our brand' that makes the company more vulnerable to competitors. Specifically, he cited several decisions that, he said, may have been right at the time, but which, in retrospect, have led to a 'dilution' of the coffeehouse experience that he wanted to foster."

Starbucks Chairman Fears Tradition Is Fading

Hangin' with Mini Cooper

TREND: Trysumers

"The concept of consumers becoming more daring in their consumption patterns just because they can, should provide you with ample ammunition to dream up profitable, ‘off the beaten path’ goods, services and experiences this year."

February 2007 Trend Briefing

And No Nasty Northeast Winters

"The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is spearheading a movement of major universities to put online lecture notes, coursework and required readings for MBA courses and other classes on the internet—for no charge! "

An Ivy League Marketing Education for Free?

High Standards Are Kind of a Pain Anyway

"Bank of America has long believed that a coherent brand identity could be an important advantage in consumer banking, just as it is with other consumer products. It treats its vast network of branches as bright red billboards, breaking traditional advertising rules about not associating that color with money. The bank has created its own flag symbol and developed its own theme song. And it spends heavily on all forms of marketing: about $600 million annually across all media over the last few years."

Bank of America Tagline Has Run Its Course

What You Talking About?

"It's my contention most marketers don't -- and shouldn't -- incorporate weirdness into basic brand-building strategy. All the work to come up with the next Subservient Chicken is diverting attention from marketers' main job of building strong brands."

Here's a Weird Idea, Marketers: Create Ads to Build Your Brand

Baaaaaaaa

A bit of a kick in the ass from Seth Godin.

Sheepwalking

Skate Like a Princess Today

Who Will Pay for the Trips to Nobu?

"AND THERE'S A REASON WHY CLOROX (CLX ) hasn't asked for ideas. Many big advertisers sell commodities—soap powder, paper goods—that lack logos people tattoo on their torsos or paint on their faces."

What Makes 'Citizen Ads' Work

Freaky. Like a Reverse Keyser Soze. But Cool.

The Costco Effect

"SHOPPING at Costco often goes something like this: Customer comes to buy bulk necessities like toilet paper and dish detergent. Customer buys those items, as well as a pack of giant muffins, three cashmere sweaters and a power tool."

24 Rolls of Toilet Paper, a Tub of Salsa and a Plasma TV

Almost Humorous Ads Fail to Drive Market Share. Man Law.

They never did much for me. And they didn't do much for sales.

Miller Repeals 'Man Law'

Ch- Ch- Check it Out

Pentagram is cool. Blogs are cool (right?). Is Pentagram's blog cool? Probably.

New at Pentagram

What Do We Think About This?

I've watched it 6 times and still can't decide if I like it or not.

Standard of Health?

BrandChannel considers the movement to standard labeling for healthy foods. Could the Pepsi SmartChoice be going away?

The Whole Package: Setting Healthy Standards

Your Moment of Zen

AG & Perpetual Growth

Fortune talks with a couple of old P&G ABMs -- AG Lafley and Jeff Immelt -- about creating profitable growth at a Fortune 50 company. Good luck, fellas.

Lafley and Immelt: In search of billions

The 411 on Fahrenheit 212

Inside A White-Hot Idea Factory

Can I Get a What-What?

Ad Agency TBWA is undertaking an 'experiment in open source creativity' they are calling The Big What Adventure. Basically they are asking the public to submit ideas and concepts. If they like something, they might even pay you for it. Though probably not much. Here's your shot to prove anyone can do decent advertising.

The Big What Adventure

Top 5 Consumer Trends for '07

1. Status Lifestyles
2. Transparency Tyranny
3. Web N+1
4. Trysumers
5. The Global Brain

January 2007 Trend Briefing

King Me

"Marketers like Procter & Gamble and Diageo say brand ambassadors give their marketing programs greater flexibility, because they can use the same image on television, in print or online. P.& G. posts images of its flesh-and-blood Mr. Clean on a Web site (mrclean.com), while Diageo goes even further, posting video and audio of its Tanqueray gin ambassador, Tony Sinclair, an affable 30-something with an English accent, on Tanqueray.com."

Who Is That Wearing That Milk Mustache?

Persuading the Masses

It's now a couple of years old, but Frontline did a great episode on how marketers attempt to influence the minds of consumers ... or voters.

"In 'The Persuaders,' FRONTLINE explores how the cultures of marketing and advertising have come to influence not only what Americans buy, but also how they view themselves and the world around them. The 90-minute documentary draws on a range of experts and observers of the advertising/marketing world, to examine how, in the words of one on-camera commentator, 'the principal of democracy yields to the practice of demography,' as highly customized messages are delivered to a smaller segment of the market."

View online at: The Persuaders

Hope Your Brand Didn't Make the List

Ads We Hate

Monkeys Make Everything Better

CareerBuilder.com Ad

Corralling the Buzz

A look at the burgeoning industry of electronic brand monitoring. Not surprisingly, the epicenter is located on Cincinnati's Main Street.

Brands for the Chattering Masses

Venti Cognitive Disonnance, Please

The Big Gulp at Starbucks

A VERY new Prime Prospect

Online, P.& G. Gets a Little Crazy

TREND: Trends!

In the most surprising turn of events yet, the newest trend is trends. Read on, fearless ones.

Phads

Tired of Reality Shows? Read This.

"The problem with the rush to define 'reality' is that very few people are inclined to try to change reality. Why would you? You can't change reality. Why would you try to change, for example, the laws of physics? In the late 17th century, Sir Isaac Newton made a number of observations about properties of physical objects and came up with a set of basic laws of physics."

Is Reality the Enemy of Innovation?

TREND: Generation C(ash)

"GENERATION C(ASH) isn't restricted to content creators. For this briefing, we chose to focus on compensation for video, pics, text and other creative outbursts, but the trend really embraces all consumers earning a bit of cash on the side, whether it’s from trading on eBay, to exploiting their WiFi connection through Fon. In 2005, we dubbed these enterprising consumers MINIPRENEURS; they too are part of GENERATION C(ASH)."

December 2006 Trend Briefing

Your Moment of Zen

I Wonder How the Priority of Communication Read on the Brief

Doritos Japan Nut-crushing Package Design

Eavesdropping on the Consumer

"A new word-of-mouth research firm, the Keller Fay Group, is attempting to demystify chatter in the offline world. Since April, the firm has interviewed 100 different people a day."

What We Talk About When We Talk About Brands

Cameras, Cleaning, and More

The latest edition of BusinessWeek's in: Inside Innovation is out. Yes, I know. in is out, it's confusing. Let's move on.

Mistakes Made On The Road To Innovation
Electrolux Redesigns Itself
Trend Spotting With Author Robyn Waters
The Importance Of Great Customer Experiences...

Much Love

You will not ever read a more over-the-top, ridiculous, beautiful love letter to a brand than this piece from SFGate.com. But you know what? He's right.

When Apple Rules The World: What does it mean when you really, really want to lick a new MacBook Pro, and swoon?

But Will it Pop?

A funny little animation on what national flags might look like if they had gotten some more client input.

Flags of the World

What Can R. Ray Teach us About Branding?

Rachael Ray: branding goddess?

Change is the New Black

From Fortune: "Across sectors--retailing, brokerage, software, publishing, computers--business models that produced profits for decades have shut down. In most cases managers aren't sure what the new model will be, but they're absolutely certain it won't have a multidecade lifespan."

You better get comfortable with seismic changes, because things are going to continue to move faster.

Managing in Chaos

Your Moment of Zen

For Your Bookshelf

I haven't read it, but it comes highly recommended.

Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas and Winning New Business

I heart Chipotle

Mostly for the giant burritos, but also for the marketing.

When Your Ad Backfires

...and consumers better identify with the villian (your competition) instead of the hero (your brand).

Goodbye Mac guy

Juste le Faire

Cool little film on Nike design guru Tinker Hatfield, the birth of the Air Max shoe, finding inspiration is unexpected places, and a little building called the Pompidou.

Respect the Architects

Learn from the Masters

All kinds of yummy goodness from Fast Company's 2006 Masters of Design issue. Includes Puma, Ziba, Pentagram, and some cool slideshows.

Masters of Design

TREND: Transumers, More than Meets the Eye

From trendwatching.com: "This month’s briefing highlights TRANSUMERS: consumers who increasingly value a transient lifestyle. It’s not a new-new trend, but definitely one that provides context for many of our other trends."

November 2006 Trend Briefing

Sound Familiar?

Blog captures some of the less-intelligent things heard in the marketing/advertising field. If you recognize one of these quotes coming from your mouth, please flip off your monitor and come back when you are smarter.

AdVerbatims