Archives: Branding

The intersection between "real life" and a Web presence can be subtle. To the general public, what, really, is Facebook other than Facebook.com? How is ESPN.com different from ESPN as a company?

With some clients, though, the difference is night and day.

Global Diving & Salvage, Inc., is, as the press releases note, "the largest diving contractor company on the West coast." It has an "international reach and a focus on marine construction, infrastructure support services and casualty response". All of that is well and good and impressive, but words alone struggle to capture the...reality... of what the company does. Divers spend hours and even days in cramped submersibles at depths that would crush an unprotected human body. They handle and clean up sensitive materials that can do serious damage to the environment. They work as a team in hazardous conditions every day.

Compare that to, say, me. I type quickly and I know some stuff about the Web. How do I help capture what Global does?

One of the ways PBDH tried to bring "real life" to a browser near you is by demonstrating the scope of Global's projects. Global's new Web site has advanced mapping features that highlight cross North America and even the world, allowing visitors to see highlighted projects as well as where Global is today.

And I do mean today.

Global Web admins have the ability to add and edit projects as progress is made through an easy content management system. Done with the job in New York? Upload some pictures and put it in the archives. Kicking off a new gig in Alaska? Link to a story from a news outlet or embed a video talking about the work. The Web site also pulls in the latitude and longitude information and uses that to accurately place the projects on the maps. Automatically.

This was pushing what we knew from a technical perspective and it was pushing what the available Web applications could do; we brought in a consultant who's been on the front lines of geomapping and he helped us create a custom-designed map that combines real GIS mapping data with project locations stored in the CMS.

The Web site didn't teach me how to weld underwater, but there's a bit more "real life" in this site than in most.

Wow. Way to go Ralph Lauren. The Spring 2010 collection was presented this week with their first ever interactive online fashion show. The viewer can listen to the commentary of highly regarded fashion editors and even shop the look of the models while they strut down the virtual runway.

It truly gives a whole new meaning to the online shopping experience that challenges other retailers to take it to the next level.

Via psfk

Here is the text of my article published in MARKETING earlier this month (in case you missed it in the print version).

-------------

I’ve been fascinated by Starbucks’ recent experiment in unbranded, “local” stores. One minute I think it’s a brilliant idea and a return to the company’s “third place” promise. The next minute I think the day they consider their brand a liability is the day they’re done. So I’ll be watching this one with a lot of interest. That said, one of the interesting sub-plots included in all the press coverage concerned how Starbucks went about observing their competition. Essentially, local coffee shops complained about not-so-covert Starbucks employees idling in their cafes with folders marked conspicuously with the word “Observation.” Another purveyor noted that he had to ask large groups of Starbucks employees to leave his store when their sheer numbers overwhelmed the space. Of course, these local coffee shops know Starbucks as a competitor, and who wouldn’t be at least a little uncomfortable with your rival spending so much time in your space? But here’s where you can’t fault Starbucks: competitive auditing is a basic component of strategic hygiene. As marketing professionals, we have to know what’s happening in the competitive landscape. Purposeful differentiation is not possible without that knowledge.

But what's the line between gathering competitive intelligence and industrial espionage? How can you keep tabs on your competitors in a responsible manner?

A decade ago, I was tasked with photographing construction signage as part of a project for a general contractor. I was rightfully chased from a competitor’s site because I was trespassing. My activities were thrilling, but not legal. So I’m not going to address bribery, hacking, B&E, and other crimes clearly on the no-no list. Instead, here are three “nevers” I think should guide the ethics of gathering competitive intelligence:

Never Create an Excessive Expense for Your Competitors
An ethical audit never costs a competitor critical time, money or talent. That is, an audit should not cause economic harm, either in the expenditure of resources or the loss of opportunity. Of course, the term “excessive” is open to interpretation, but the guiding principle is important. For example, I think it’s okay to request corporate overview literature, but definitely not okay to request a proposal or other customized document. The former is existing collateral that likely exists in large quantities and will cost a few minutes and some postage to secure. The latter is essentially hijacking a human resource under the pretenses of an opportunity that does not exist. Another example: it’s okay to visit a competing restaurant chain so long as you order enough food to be consistent with a typical customer, and your presence doesn’t preclude ordinary customers from their patronage.

Never Allow an Insider to Compromise Their Ethics
You have a friend who happens to work for an organization you’re tasked with auditing. It would seem reasonable to have them secure materials and just skip the request for information forms on the Web site. Whether or not their willing to do this, you’ve now allowed them to compromise their ethical responsibilities. The person or mail house sending you corporate collateral doesn’t know what you’re really doing, and that’s a good kind of ignorance. A friend or acquaintance does know your agenda, so their compliance definitely violates their obligations as an employee. Worse, if they hand over materials it could, technically, even be considered theft. That also means you’d be in possession of stolen materials. Yikes. Steer clear of involving insiders.

Never Misrepresent Who You Are Unless You Absolutely Have No Other Option
One of the advantages of an increasingly networked and transparent world is the ready availability of all sorts of Web-based information. And modern retail environments are “brand destinations.” So peeping on the competition requires a lot less sneaking around than it did just a few years ago. An online sleuth and keen observer can secure most competitive intelligence. In B2B scenarios, some information can be harder to come by than in consumer categories. Even there, however, all-out deception to gather marketing materials is typically unnecessary and certainly to be avoided if at all possible. You’re a marketer, not a spy.

What do you think? Send your thoughts and guiding principles on the subject to devinl@pbdh.com and I’ll post them to a follow-up blog. Or, perhaps I’ll just claim them as my own.

Recently we were having a brainstorm about how to further implement our collaborative process with clients. Our clients love being part of the creative process instead of waiting for the "Big Reveal". It made me start thinking about why this process has resonated so well with the people we work with.

When I was a teenager, we had a "steady". This meant you could only date that one person, you did everything together... kind of like being engaged without rings (and quite often without "privileges"). We tended to go on dates as a couple... movies, concerts, protest marches, parties. Since that time things have changed. Teens, 20 and 30-somethings now travel in packs. "Dates" are quite often done as part of a group. Couples form more casually and occasionally formalize into something tighter, like a marriage.

As newer generations of professionals take on leadership positions in their companies they bring their upbringing and values with them into the workplace. This is only natural... we all do it. So that brings me to the creative process.

We used to use a formal process of doing our homework (research, info gathering, kickoff meetings, creative brief), doing some creative work and then showing the results to the client in a big reveal. That worked fine when our clients were people used to "going steady" and doing things in a formal manner. That system no longer works now that the clients come from a different world perspective. This is where collaboration comes in.

In order to get the best results in today's world, we need to update our systems to adapt to the newer generation's way of working. Collaboration mirrors the upbringing of our client's lives. When we work out opportunities and roadblocks as a team (including the client) we find solutions much faster. This has helped immensely with budgets and timelines.

People have asked me what the advantage is for the clients that we keep touting collaboration and transparency. There you have it: fitting with the work style of our clients to achieve better results in a budget and timeline advantageous manner.

The recent deaths of the pop star, a star athlete, and the architect of the Vietnam War have inspired some interesting reactions. While the public has mourned the loss of Michael Jackson, Steve McNair and Robert McNamara, there’s also been a lot of grappling with their overall legacy. That’s because each man hardly turned out to be an easy read. Jackson’s chart-topping talent was only rivaled by his well-documented strangeness. McNair—a cool-under-fire quarterback who was also extraordinarily generous, devoted to his community, and gracious with fans—apparently wandered from his marriage and died at the hands of his 20-year-old mistress. And McNamara’s good works fighting poverty as president of the World Bank were definitely eclipsed by his role as Secretary of Defense and unanimous scapegoat of the left, right and center during the Vietnam War. I’m not making judgments about these men. Instead, I’m a witness to the public’s difficulty in arriving at its net perception of them following the reality of their deaths.

There’s a lesson here for all of us, including businesses. All organizations have reputations. Those reputations are representative of our past and present achievements, and indications of future contributions. What would be our net perception of Nike’s extraordinary ability to empower athletes if it weren’t complicated by the company’s past exploitation of third-world workers? Would non-profit hospitals be more successful in fundraising if their reputations weren’t dragged down by allegations of excessive pay to executives? As a Qwest customer, how great would I feel about the company’s bold defiance of the NSA’s domestic spying program if it weren’t for the former CEO’s indictment on 42 counts of insider trading, not to mention some shaky customer service?

These questions aren’t for answering. They can’t be answered. Instead, they create questions for ourselves: What do we truly want to be known for? What’s getting in the way? What are the words within your organization’s Venn diagram? Are they the words you want? If they aren’t, what will it take to change them?

Whether he knows it or not, Bryan Zug and his fellow geeks at IgniteSeattle, have introduced me to the concept of "life-hacking". Sometimes all it takes is a new term to open you mind to an idea that was lurking there the whole time. Like a mischievous computer programmer who can "hack" into the bank and steal your money, each of us has our own unorthodox ways of getting things done. Once we recognize these self-made tools, we can better use them to our advantage, and avoid our weaknesses. Sometimes that's just what you have to do: Hack it.

Like myself, my wife, Nikki, is a graphic designer. She is talented, creative, and truly smart - but she gets a case of the nerves when speaking to new clients, especially on the phone, at initial interviews, etc. She forgets what she wants to say, can't process new information thoughtfully, and basically just wants to exit the situation as quickly as possible. After years of trying to overcome this through all the recommended techniques, we have gained little ground. But if you ever get an email from her, you'd think - correctly so - that she is one of the smartest, most articulate designers you have ever met. Her ability to see the problem for what it really is, break it down into manageable chunks, and clearly express complex ideas is nothing short of impressive. Her vocabulary and manner of writing, are at the highest level of professionalism and mastery of the language. How she speaks (publicly) and how she writes... it's like two different people. Email is her hack.

There are times where a phone call is more appropriate than an email - but there are times where a good result is more important then impeccable etiquette. Judge the situation. Assess your strengths and weaknesses, and if you need to, hack it. Once you are enlightened to your own little hacks, you can use them consciously when you need them. Just identifying them helps, and recognizing the whole concept is the first step. Thanks, Bryan for a consciousness-raising word/concept.

I have a niece who's now finishing her senior year of high school. Now that it's May, she's fervently in the market for a prom dress. And she has the same concern all young women prepping for the prom share: will my dress be so unique—so distinctly me—that I'll be the only one wearing that dress at the dance? I mentioned this recently while speaking at a marketing conference in Chicago, and asked the women in the audience to remember what the primary driver was in purchasing their own prom dress. A decade or more removed from the event, they all immediately recalled a fundamental desire for their dress to be a one-of-a-kind presence.

Why am I telling you this? Because prom goers have a lot to teach us about positioning. Is your company or product going to the prom wearing the same dress everyone else is wearing? That is, is your brand—including its core message and overall look and feel—very similar to the competition? This is easy enough to find out. Across most industries, a simple competitive audit often reveals too many same-old, me-too messages and shared color palettes. A teenager knows the inherent value in being differentiated on a crowded dance floor. Does your brand?