BRAIN LAB: The EcoMinds for Sustainability, Marketing & Branding » Branding

Green is Everywhere, Even Your Tampon Ad

Lisa Barnard, LEED AP — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:23:36 +0000

OB ad -- Use OB tampons instead of applicator brands and save up to one pound of waste per year

I just had to share it. It’s true, and the reason I’m a customer, but for some reason I just didn’t expect to see it in print. Or maybe I was just hoping not to. Why should I be shocked? Nothing is sacred, is it?

Hope that wasn’t too much information. This is the era of TRANSPARENCY after all.

For more fun and interesting ads check out The GreenWashing Index.

Green Marketing in the Age of Transparency

Lisa Barnard, LEED AP — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:17:34 +0000

A very informative video from Green Biz with various experts on “green” marketing and what’s happening for businesses with the high level of transparency today. Given all the various ratings, rankings and indices that businesses are responding to these days what does it take to be authentically “green” in the eyes of the consumer? There’s definitely a myriad of conversations that are difficult for any one person at an organization to track.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Marketing

Lisa Barnard, LEED AP — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:21:34 +0000

I came across these “sins” at Brand Week from Gareth Kay, Modernista and Mark Lewis, DDB San Francisco from an account planning conference in San Diego. Number #4 is particularly apropos for all those companies trying to jump on the “green” wagon without anything to back it up.

Living by the old assumptions, especially focusing on specific brand definitions instead of letting consumers define brands their own way.
Caring about the wrong objectives – particularly focusing on keeping a brand consistent and not on brand energy, which thrives on constant innovation.
Focusing on linearity and order instead of newness and complexity, the consumer’s addictive dopamine.
Thinking brand communication is what matters, when it’s a company’s actions and cultural/social point of view that counts. Good examples: Dove and Ikea.
Spending time modeling brands instead of building brands organically.
Thinking big things matter and forgetting small things can trigger big impact.
Operating by a “learn then do” process instead of “try, learn, then try again.”

Should you be concerned by brand sluts?

Lisa Barnard, LEED AP — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:40:49 +0000

In an increasingly product-centric market it is important to understand that consumer behavior is shifting away from brand loyalty. The web’s extreme flexibility and access to instant information has created a market place that allows consumers to be “seduced by the newness of the new”. The brand sluts are making decisions based on “what’s in it for me” and have adopted what they consider to be a similar approach of most corporations — downsizing and outsourcing whenever possible. The most successful companies to navigate this product- vs. brand-centric divide are the ones like Apple who are constantly reinventing themselves.

The most important point from an article by Marian Salzman, Brand vs. Product: what really drives reputation? is not whether to adopt a product- or brand-centric approach — I believe companies need both to be successful — but information on culture as new media. The advent of social networking sites have connected people like never before so its critcial that the “DNA of a brand” gets woven into the culture.

This new media culture takes into account four components:

People: Who are the influencers?
Press: Where do they get their information — not the thousands of messages that create noise but the stuff that actually sticks?
Places: Where are the physical and virtual spaces where they spend their time, and how can you create a presence there, one that is complementary and useful, rather than intrusive?
Products: What are the tweaks and variants that can create the sense of “just for me”?

Ultimately companies should concern themselves about the brand slut by crafting their messages with the understanding that they are adept at seeing through spin and evaluating product performance. Be very clear in developing a message that says exactly what’s in it for me.

Honing Your Digital Presence

Lisa Barnard, LEED AP — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:09:29 +0000

We often make mention to clients and prospects alike about the importance of getting to the heart of your brand, the brand promise, to effectively make connections with audiences. In this new world of mass collaboration based on openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally it is imperative that you understand your brand and where its headed. If you don’t have that solidified prior to launching a web presence you’re likely to develop a site that does nothing for your customer and sends them running to your competitor.

This article from Landor “Beyond the buzz: Designing an effective digital brand experience“ outlines six key concepts to guide your thinking in creating a web site that’s a true 24/7 brand experience rather than just an online brochure. I promise it’s worth reading but just in case your mouse hand just can’t click one more time here are the six concepts: Know thy brand; Walk in your customers’ shoes; Become a digital detective; Explore all forms of digital brand expression; Start a conversation with your customers; and Take advantage of technology to create on-brand connections.