To All You Brands Out There

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Specifically the ones that don’t take branding seriously:

Branding matters, a lot, no matter how big or small your business, even if you have 6 Likes on your Facebook page. Remember, every single time your business is represented in relation to your customers and the general public, whether it be a Tweet, a sale or an ad, it all affects your brand image. And not only can your brand image affect your sales and reputation, but it can affect the entire future of your business.

Your brand isn’t necessarily defined by you; it’s defined by consumers, and the way they perceive your business. And that perception partially comes from what you have put out into the ether. Influencing that perception occurs in a number of ways, from the content of your website, to your logo, to your advertising, especially the experiences customers have with your company. All of these things (among others) contribute to your brand’s identity.

If you own a small business, do not make the mistake of thinking this kind of neurotic concern for brand development only applies to large, global brands. It’s just as important to your business, especially if you’re in the early stages of brand development. Every “branding moment” matters, regardless of how minuscule some moments may seem to you. By “branding moment,” I mean, every opportunity your business has to influence or support your brand in the public eye. And the outcome of every moment applies a plus or minus to your branding scoreboard.

So take it seriously. After all, this is your business. A business you’ve probably made sacrifices for, a business that puts food on your table, and provides for your family… You probably put a lot of care into every aspect. Don’t leave branding out of it.

- Andrew

Click for photo source.

The Sport of Love… and Placement

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A tear-jerker of a Lifetime movie of the week, maybe Bravo’s latest gathering of domesticated and disturbing housewives or some classic TLC Kate (minus John) Plus 8… I couldn’t figure out what the heck (hey, we like to be family friendly at ADwërks, so I’ll leave out the expletives) my husband, Nate, would be doing watching anything but a television channel about, with, around, named after or related to sports.

You can walk into a room and wonder a lot of things about what your significant other may be doing, but grab a glance of the screen to see a life-size teddy bear, then you bear the burden of wonder and worry. So I ask him what he’s watching.

His answer: ESPN.

ESPN! ESPN? I wait a few seconds and listen to learn more about the life-size teddy bear (which in the wrong situation, could be creepier than a crew of clowns) that the voice-over espouses would bring joy to your wife, girlfriend or FWB when she receives the gift of an over-priced, over-stuffed toy for Valentine’s Day, even serving as a stand-in when your man cannot be there. (I don’t know what it says about a guy that he can be replaced by a 54-inch polyester carnivore. He may need a gift of a gym membership.)

Seconds later, a 20-something woman kicks her footed feet up to the camera, proclaiming what every girl must dream of getting from her fella, leopard print footed pajamas, courtesy of PajamaGram. It’s then Nate waxes poetic about every type of teddy, Puritan-teddy ala PajamaGram and floral confection available for last minute ordering, and he sheepishly admits he visited each of their websites.

It made me realize, roses may be red, but the true color of Valentine’s Day must be green. For advertisers, for the love of the game means the game of placement. We talk about knowing your audience, understanding your target, comprehending your competitor, but none of it matters if it goes where no one you want to see, sees it. Somewhere along the lines, the makers of mail order teddy bears, pajamas and flowers figured this out. They also figured out it doesn’t matter if women don’t want to lounge around in pajamas with ears and tails. They just need to get to the guys with copy laced with racy double entendres. While I find the fashion of the hoodie footie jammies horrifying, Nate describes the horror movie plot line that becomes real life around Valentine’s Day shopping. A fear these companies learned to master and conquer (like a valiant hero of any host of Katherine Heigel rom-coms) with perfect placement.

Now if only the Real Housewives could show me the perfect procrastinator’s gift.

DISCLAIMER: After reading this, Nate wanted to be sure no one thought he “actually bought any of that crap.”

- Jolene

What’s In A Name

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Celebrities name their children after fruit, colors, numbers and even cities. (Or in the case of one psuedo-celebrity, Press. Yes, Press, for all the attention she allegedly did and will receive.) Us common-folk laugh at birth certificates filled with words more commonly used on spelling flash cards for first graders. But the stand-out-in-the-crowd naming mentality does not start or stop with preschoolers hounded by the paparazzi.

These superlative skills also flood companies and products. Want something in HD, you get your pick of makeup, movies or sunglasses. Then there’s extreme (or EXTREME or even X-TREME) for games, pop or memory cards. And the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show introduced ultra – ultrabooks, ultracomputers and ultratelevisions.

Add to all of this, 3-D and ultimate, and you get the Ultra Ultimate Extreme HD 3-D phone, television, computer, apple, car or pajama jeans (ok, that may be a little extreme).

But it begs the question – Does an avalanche of adjectives actually help sell a product by moving it into the sphere of talked-about-ness, or does it end up disappointing? Does a name in itself create credibility, or cause chaos in an already overwhelmed marketplace?

Maybe in the end it’s not what’s in a name, but what’s in the product itself. If we sell people on exaggerated expectations, we often end up with disappointed consumers. So if a name brings with it the showmanship of an Elton John costume, but also delivers, it does the consumer some good by delivering what it promises. But when we brand an object outside of its personality and label it for headlines and not accuracy, well, it ends up like a 72-day Kardashian wedding, a lot of talk and even more gifts that should be returned.

And then there’s the guy who named his sons Winner and Loser. Names hold power, but the product (or the person) holds even more. As for naming children, she may not be a celebrity outside of her own yard, but we named our pug Mayhem Awesome. Unfortunately, as our furniture proves, she did not over-hype her name.

- Jolene

“Adjective” Photo by Procsilas Moscas, “Mayhem” photo by Jolene Loetscher

Branding & A Kennedy Half Dollar

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There’s a little sandwich shop not far from the office called Whiffer’s. It’s been there forever and as far as I can tell it only has one employee and that’s Whiffer. She owns the place, makes the sandwiches and soups and provides the witty banter as she makes your lunch. Whiffer has been running that little shop longer than I’ve been in Sioux Falls, and she is quite a character with a voice that reminds you of an aging Katherine Hepburn circa On Golden Pond.

It’s a quirky little joint on North Minnesota Avenue, on the cusp between a rough neighborhood and the industrial area surrounding Sioux Falls Regional Airport. The sign by the door says “Open 11 to 3ish.” As far as I know the extent of her advertising is the weathered old sign in front of the small converted house. And if you approach from the south the sign is hidden by a bush, from the north it’s obscured by a hill and some traffic signs.

But there are a few things you can always count on at Whiffer’s – a big overstuffed sandwich, great cookies and brownies and the cost of your meal will always be rounded to the nearest quarter of a dollar. And here’s where a little bit of branding genius comes in. When you get your change, Whiffer will hand you a Kennedy half dollar.

When was the last time you were given a 50-cent piece? For me, other than Whiffer, I think the last person to give me a Kennedy half dollar was my grandmother on my eighth birthday. A Kennedy half dollar was special. You saved them carefully in your piggy-bank along with the two-dollar bills and wheat pennies; they weren’t the kind of thing you spent willy-nilly. My wife still has her little ceramic bank full of them.

Now days, when I get a quarter, nickel or dime, I put it in the ashtray of the car as fodder for the parking meters. But the meters won’t take a 50-cent piece, so I set it on my desk. I’ve begun to collect quite a few Kennedy half dollars, and every time I look at one, or pick it up and toss it in the air, I think of Whiffer. And then I know what I’m doing for lunch.

I asked her about the Kennedy half dollars the other day and she told me when she requests them from the bank, they have to go back into the vault to get her the coins. This is not a decision she makes lightly. She likes the smile those half dollars put on her customers’ faces. She likes that she’s unique. And you know what, I think it’s pretty damn smart of that old gal. She’s turned an unusual piece of U.S. currency into her calling card, and that seems to me like some pretty shrewd branding.

Seriously, when was the last time you were handed a Kennedy half dollar?

- Jim Mathis

Realism – REMARKABLE ADVERTISING – Idealism

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Realism VS Idealism – In regard to philosophy, it’s an age old conflict – a constant struggle for balance between the imaginative child (idealist) and the pragmatic adult (realist). But it applies to advertising too. Advertising is comprised of these two contradictory concepts. Creativity meets business. And good advertising finds a balance between the two.

There are pros and cons to being an idealist, and being a realist. As an idealist, you can let your imagination and romantic dreams of grandeur soar without limits, unbound. But that child-like sense of wonder can sometimes result in all fluff, and no real action.  You aim high, sometimes so high, that you don’t attain anything, and you crash and burn. The realist is practical, accepts the reality of limits, and works within them. But the realist may run the risk of, not running any risks. And without taking risks, boundaries remain unbroken. You may be able to grasp what you’re reaching for, but it’s only at an average height, and your accomplishments may be lukewarm at best.

Among the many ways advertising can be considered bad, or so-so, failure to push boundaries is one of them. Remaining overly pragmatic will get you nowhere. If you stop taking risks, you stop learning. If you never push the limits, you’ll never create innovative work. However, creativity needs discipline. It needs a rational, yet open-minded voice to tell it what’s good and what’s bad. Otherwise, you’ll ending up with something like this Lincoln Auto Insurance ad, and no one wants that.

So, how do we do innovative work, without crashing and burning? First of all, that’s probably why the Creative Department is separate from the Account Department. But more than that, we must be realistic about our idealism (never-mind the paradox). Good advertising finds a balance between the two. It creates remarkable work, (or as my advertising professor used to say, “big-sky ideas”) that the agency can be proud of, and at the same time, it benefits the client in some way. With the realist on your left shoulder and the idealist on your right, try to give each an equal opportunity to be heard. And if you strive to approach each situation with this balance in mind, then you are on your way to creating remarkable advertising.

- Andrew

Golden Opportunities

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To some, it’s just a job. But for Kendall Titiml, the man with the golden voice, it’s a golden opportunity.

Walk into the McDonald’s in Wayne, America (that’s in Nebraska, but look at the water tower and you’ll understand the nomenclature) and you may be greeted by a smile wider and brighter than the arches outside. That “I’m Lovin’ It” personality belongs to Kendall, 22, a marketing student at Wayne State College. Kendall entered the Voice of McDonald’s IV, a contest to recognize McDonald’s employees for their singing talents. As he made it through the public voting to be one of the U.S. finalists, news organizations in Nebraska, Iowa and Palau (Kendall’s home and an island nation 500 miles east of the Philippines and 2,000 miles south of Tokyo with a population several thousand less than Aberdeen, SD) covered his journey.

But a lesson in PR (and life): don’t assume you know the whole story.

As we worked to share Kendall’s story (and help him get votes), we got a chance to interview him. He chatted about his philosophy in life, love of music and excitement that he would use his winnings to send his mom to his sister’s graduation and he may even make the trip home as well.

But then he mentioned something else.

At five-years-old, he became ill with Guillain-Barre syndrome and needed to be taken to a larger hospital hours away in Hawaii. While there, his family stayed at a Ronald McDonald House. Kendall told us how grateful he became back then for the chance to recover and he believed McDonald’s gave him two opportunities in his life.

While we thought we just wanted to share the story of a hard-working college kid with a great voice and passion to perform who loved to inspire people with his positive personality, we found another story. A young man grateful to share his talent and endlessly appreciative of people he never would know who gave his family a place to call home while he recovered.

Next up, Kendall heads to Orlando in April where he competes for international bragging rights singing with 16 competitors from around the globe, all hoping for their golden opportunity.

- Jolene Loetscher

From FMOT to ZMOT

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For those who haven’t heard of the First Moment of Truth (FMOT), essentially it’s the moment in which a consumer is in a store deciding between your brand and the next guy’s. For years this has been a profound moment for businesses and marketers – a final fight to the death between two gladiators. Who will win? Lucky Charms or Cap’n Crunch? All of your branding and marketing efforts have led up to this moment. If your efforts were good enough, you’d close the sale and bask in the glory of the crowd’s roar in the Coliseum. But if you failed, you’d lose the sale to your competitor and fall to your death.

Although FMOT is still significant, it is yet another victim affected by digital technology’s wrath. Recently there has been a lot of hype around our office about a new book called ZMOT: Winning the Zero Moment of Truth  by Jim Lecinski.

Now that you know about FMOT, the term Zero Moment of Truth refers to the moment of competition before the consumer reaches FMOT, and it takes place online rather than in the store. For example, if you were thinking about buying a new TV, whether you plan to buy it online or in-store, would you first conduct a little research online to learn about your options? You may compare brands and prices, read customer reviews about the potential candidates, or even consult your Twitter followers for suggestions. If you’re behind the times like me and still have a cathode-ray tube television, you may even do a little research to learn about HDTV’s in general before moving on to comparing brands, specs and prices. The instance in which you are conducting all of this research, from learning about the product category to the brand options, is the Zero Moment of Truth. And it’s becoming increasingly important for brands and businesses to be present at this moment and to take advantage of the opportunity, especially in today’s digital retail environment where some consumers may not even leave the couch when purchasing your product. And if they do, there’s a good chance that they’ve done some online research before coming to your store. And this is why your business needs to be there during that decision process.

I’ll give you an example from the book. It’s not enough for businesses to only be present when their brand name or product category is typed into a search engine; there are more innovative ways to be present as well. To illustrate this strategy, the author points out a popular Google search phrase – “What’s in dog food?” Now if you were a dog food company, wouldn’t you want to be present when a consumer has a question like this? Who better to answer it than you? Maybe you could start a “What’s in dog food” campaign and educate your consumers. Plus, it’d be a great way to stand out among your competitors.

And that’s the kind of stuff you’ll find in this book. It’s a short and simple read, but incredibly insightful. The author presents numerous case examples and offers tools, tips and ideas on how you can apply and implement ZMOT in your business. The Zero Moment of Truth concept is no doubt a monumental, game-changing notion for the field of marketing. Although this book is a great way to get acquainted with ZMOT, I have a hunch that it is a subject that will only receive deeper analysis in the future as it becomes even more important and more relevant to business and advertising.

The book is available in about every format you can imagine (I downloaded the app on my iPod touch). And the best part is – it’s free! Again, it’s a painless read, nothing compared to the pain of being struck down by a gladiator. So check it out, before the caged lions get you.

- Andrew

Advertising Books Have All the Fun

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I have yet to have someone launch into a rave account of a so-called “business book” without experiencing a shudder. The very term conjures up images of suits sitting around a conference table discussing how to “seamlessly integrate value chains” and the “leveraging capabilities of management synergies.” On the other hand, if someone walks up to me and says something along the lines of, “So, I bought this business book, but it turns out that it’s all about advertising and who really cares about that? This is so lame,” my ears perk up. As soon as they leave, I pull the book out of the garbage, dust the coffee grounds off of it, and crack it open. I am one of those frustrating people who learn by example, which means that a book full of case studies will be more useful than a textbook, and more fun than a trip to Disneyland (gross exaggeration there).

So, what books get my heart racing faster than a Kentucky Derby winner? I have to admit I may have been influenced by employers and professors both past and present, but here are three of my favorites.

1) Juicing the Orange by Pat Fallon and Fred Senn. Maybe it’s because Fallon started in my home state of Minnesota, long before notable agencies existed off of Madison Ave, or maybe it’s because I love their work (especially the Sony Bravia rollout), but this is one of my favorite reads. Juicing the orange refers to the fact that there is only so much juice (profit) in a piece of fruit and it must be leveraged to the last drop in order to get great returns. Each chapter is devoted to a client with a problem, something all agencies can relate to. Fallon approaches these advertising solutions with an artistic air that is sometimes lacking in mainstream advertising, and I think their answers tend towards the elegant without sacrificing utility.

2) The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell. I have to admit that I’m a Gladwell geek. His books drip with statistics about things that I actually care about, like buying behavior and what makes a product cool to consumers. Yeah, there aren’t really stories about little advertising agencies triumphing over the big dogs, but it’s still full of little nuggets of knowledge. True, there are stories and stats about crime rates and what made Hush Puppies famous, but The Tipping Point also discusses what makes social epidemics happen. Think of it as going viral without involving YouTube. Gladwell also discusses “connectors, mavens, and salesmen,” three groups of individuals that could come in very handy in the world of advertising.

3) Then We Set His Hair on Fire by Phil Dusenberry, former chairman of BBDO North America. Phil is probably best remembered as the man responsible for igniting Michael Jackson’s hair. In addition to stories about incredibly famous ads, he explains the difference between an idea and an insight and how an insight can fuel an entire campaign. I love the book, but I have to admit that you won’t find any words of wisdom about digital marketing. Instead, think of this as celebrating that place somewhere between Mad Men and the modern age of marketing. Just remember, a great insight is still a great insight, and some things about advertising never change.

Since my calendar says that we are entering the dark days of winter (despite the thermometer refusing to drop below 20 degrees), why not try perusing one of these books? It’s a little old school, but at least you can read them on your iPad/kindle/nook while lamenting the lack of snow.

– Elizabeth (aka E)

Announcing the Newest ADwërker!

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No it’s not a playmate for Monday, or another mascot to keep Rod Bender company, ADwërks has hired a real human!

Please join us in welcoming Elizabeth Schaefer, our new Disruption Control Specialist. Elizabeth, or “E,” as she has come to be known around the office (What? It’s easier to type!) will be working as our traffic manager, keeping all of us other ADwërkers on task – a task that is, well, no easy task. The obstacles are endless: Hay’s favorite smelly snack mix, Andrew’s bad puns, Jim’s random break-outs into song, the list goes on.

Of her many duties, her primary duty is to make sure the many projects for our several clients remain organized, on-schedule, and on-task. So if Leigh has yet to proof a radio script that needs to go out in an hour, it’s Elizabeth’s job to crack the whip and make sure it gets done. She will also be leading our status meetings, updating the job sheet, doling out assignments, and requesting verbal status reports on projects. I won’t go into what happens if your status report is… unsatisfactory… Even the boss is subjected to Elizabeth’s task managing!

Elizabeth is originally from Hancock, Minnesota, where she was born and raised on a large farm. Although she has now moved to the big city of Sioux Falls, agriculture still runs in her blood. The combination of her interests in marketing and agriculture led her to an internship at Paulsen Marketing in the summer of 2010, where she had the opportunity to experience many areas of the agency. Then in May of 2011, she graduated at Augustana College with a degree in Business Administration with an Emphasis in Marketing.

Outside of advertising and agriculture, Elizabeth’s interests include:

  • Knitting
  • Crossword Puzzles
  • Reading
  • And being totally pumped about getting to bike to work from her new apartment in central Sioux Falls.

We’re very excited to have Elizabeth and her talents here at ADwërks, and judging by all the sniffing, Monday is too. Have any whip-cracking tips for her?

- Andrew

Liver is Always Liver

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Liver by any other name, well, just call it liver. Dress it up with gravy, corn or peas, but liver will never be a juicy cut of steak slathered with A.1®. Sauce, a mouth-watering filet mignon or a burger beefed up with cheese and bacon. It can never be the other white meat, it will always be beef. And whatever name you use, it still tastes like liver and I will not, cannot and could not think of eating it. But not that my mom did not try.

Growing up on a farm, when you butcher your own cattle, you get left with a lot of leftovers which includes a freezer full of tongue, Rocky Mountain oysters and liver, when all the rest found its way to a plate. My mom knew this, and she would call liver any other name but liver in hopes I would eat it. Sometimes it would almost work. I’d take a nibble or two and then question the cut. Sometimes simply the look would throw me into a toddler-like tantrum.

When it comes to PR, you get plenty of liver. Good stories, full of iron. They beef up a company, but rarely do they suit everyone’s palate – the specialized, niched and super-quirky pitches. As business owners, we want to pitch everyone everywhere every story, because we want to believe everyone everywhere loves to know everything we do. But you would not serve a plate of liver, steak or stew meat at a meeting of the American Vegan Society (yes, it exists - http://www.americanvegan.org).

So as PR professionals, we cannot serve every story to everyone. We need to know the menu, our audience, and what they like and want to eat. Blame it (or credit it to) technology, but journalism evolved in the last decade into the Mall of America, filled with amusement parks, Subways, Hooters and lots of stores, each catering to a unique audience. If we want to create effective (and efficient from an opportunity cost perspective) pitches, we need to know what our audience wants and to not waste their time with what we think, or hope they will like. As advertisers, we research what works and what doesn’t, and PR must follow the same philosophy. It may seem like I’m serving up some strained peas, easy and obviously little chewing required, but so often (as I remember from being a journalist receiving emails every day from the launch of a Bosnian eat-on-a-dime cookbook to pitches about throwing the perfect children’s party with a budget of $20,000 when I reported on courts, cops and crime). When we pitch to the masses, they pitch our idea in the trash. Instead, we need to know the reporters, the blogs and the beats that care most about what idea we want to sell them. We must find the unique angles, and then serve our stories up on a silver platter. I admit, I am as guilty as my mom at trying, wanting and hoping someone will eat what I dish up. I pitched faux-Facebook websites like a pop-up-shop on a random street corner pushing the latest Louis Vuitton bag, and I would pitch to anyone and everyone because my client wanted a story on the front page of the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. That’s when a slice of humble pie helps for all involved. Communicating to clients also becomes critical so they know why and how you want to reach the people you believe will be most interested in them.

Now I’m kind of hungry with all this talk of food. I think I’ll grab a delivery menu for pizza tonight.

- Jolene Loetscher

Photos by Spec-ta-cles and coolmikeol. Thanks!