The Planning Lab » Branding

The Mother of All Branding Literature

Leon — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:01:23 +0000

The one thing your brand should focus on

Leon — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:53:10 +0000

Here's an article I wrote for Superbrands that was published last week on their blog.

As somebody working in marketing it is very likely that you are drowning in everyday problems. And if you’re like most other companies, it’s also very likely that the solutions you’re working on deal with yesterday’s problems rather than capturing the opportunities of tomorrow.

Things hardly get easier as solutions are plentiful. You don’t have to look further than down this page to be bombarded with the latest fixes that will make your brand better. But how do you know what’s the right remedy for your brand’s competitiveness?

For simplicity’s sake there’s one thing your brand can focus on:

Creating momentum.

Momentum is what psychologists call the smallest unit of time perceivable by humans. It lasts about 0.06 seconds. In physics, momentum is the product of two physical entities – mass and speed – and means ”directed thrust”.

Momentum can also occur in marketing communications, at the point of contact between people and a brand. For example, the time it takes for a person to look at an ad is 1.7 seconds.

Contrary to what most people think, the point is not to turn the 1.7 seconds into 2.7 seconds with your brand. It’s about turning the 1.7 seconds to something much stronger: a lasting experience. From this respect, the 1.7 seconds is not that different from love at first sight.

Creating a lasting experience from what used to be low brand involvement has become harder, however. Brands of today are increasingly being judged by what they do, not what they say. Brands therefore have to appeal not only to senses but create new the ways for people to both think and act.

When thinking about innovative solutions for your brand, think about what made the Trojan horse successful. As you might remember from history class, the Greeks tried to enter Troy for over a decade with massive brute force but without accomplishing anything. The effective solution became a wooden horse that the Trojans instantly let inside. The rest is history.

In a world where conventional brand building fails, momentum is the force a superbrand needs, and the best tool for creating it is unconventional creativity – powered by powerful insights about how to turn something inside people’s heads, rather than just turning heads. Make this happen, create your own Trojan horse.

Thanks to Louisa at Superbrands for inviting me to be a guest blogger.

Where substance still rules

Leon — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:52:46 +0000

Inspired by friend of mine (a laid-back creative director, now who would have guessed that?), I've been thrown in to the esoteric world of hi-fi products (still the affordable end of it though).

This world is quite the opposite of modern branding. Product quality rules and package design looks like shit. I really hope it stays that way.

Brand strategy fail

Leon — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:26:55 +0000

Most non-iconic brands have strategy documents that look something like this.

My guess is that defining brand values is more of an exercise in wishful thinking than anything. Sort of like defining how the perfect man/woman should be like. Doesn't hurt to throw in a couple of extra keywords does it?

Cases where brands take core values seriously – i.e. executing communication strategies upon these, are rare.

Risk, creativity and innovation

Leon — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:29:53 +0000

Classic finance theory states that the higher risk you're willing to take, the higher will be the potential return. And although the world of communications doesn't use advanced equations or formulas to calculate risks, the same relationship between creative risk and potential award holds (both in terms of efficiency and profits for the client and in terms of creative awards for the agency).

I believe that this perspective is lacking in most agencies and for most clients, because advertising is often seen as an expense that should be risk-free rather than an investment with a variable return. As a result, clients often choose the safest solution. Agencies that try to convince a client that the more creative solution is the way to go are perceived as pushy and reckless.

There are of course several ways of mitigating risk (i.e. shifting the curve downwards) through a strong agency brand, research data, planning, experience and other informed choices, but the risk-reward principle in the creative industry remains. Why? Because the creative risk lies in innovation and finding new ways of connecting with people. New ways are by definition unproven and no guarantees for success can be given without lying.

So if we want to stretch higher along the risk curve, we have to ask ourselves several questions: how much risk are we willing to take? What type of clients are we working with and can we expect them to take creative risks? What type of people does the agency hire and why do clients hire us in the first place? Or maybe advertising is just a world of chaos and there's no way of determining anything? If that's the case planning is surely doomed.

Rethinking brand consultants

Leon — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:39:09 +0000

Strategy is often a misused word, but strategy simply answers the question: how? So in today's world of communications clarity of thought and execution is more important than ever.

In the 90s ago brand strategy used to be the domain of the "full-service" agency, but when agencies became more disintegrated and specialised into creative shops, the ownership of strategy fell into the brand consultants (the same thing happened with the media planning).

Twenty years later, I really doubt whether the client has gotten a better solution with several marketing partners instead of one. Cheaper? Probably. But having separate units for branding, media and communications cannot result in effective end-products (also known as the advertising).

In the best interest of both the client and the advertising agency, we as planners must challenge brand consultants when their solutions don't cut it.

Random concept of the day II: Statens Järnvägar

Leon — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:02:23 +0000

A bit hard to explain in English, so never mind if you don't understand Swedish.

Random concept of the day: bananas

Leon — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:59:45 +0000

Creative starter: weekend decadence

Leon — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:45:23 +0000

The worse our weekdays are, the more precious our weekends become. So in recession times, brands can be more useful than ever. I'm not talking about the obvious consumption like alcoholic beverages, but a full spectrum of innovations that make life easier and more enjoyable for city people, depending on what brand you are. Think in terms of a shift in priorities: although the weekend is only 20 percent of the week, people will spend 80 percent of their hedonistic life here, including budget.

Here's a mindmap. What products, services, utilities or other innovations come to mind?

Great stuff on media, brands and communications

Leon — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:00:05 +0000

There's certainly no shortage on stuff on social media out there, but here's a presentation that manages to puts everything into context without any hype. Made by the strategy department of German Scholz & Friends. A recommended read for any agency planner, media strategist or client.