Brand: It Ain’t the Logo* in 2009’s Top 10

Books for Business recently announced its top 10 sellers of 2009.  The book I was privileged to co-author – Brand: It Ain’t the Logo* (It’s what people think of you™) – made the list.

Poll: Best Brands of the Decade

Top 10 Best Brands of the Decade

The essence of branding is being different.  The logic is simple:  if you hope to outperform competitors, you must give customers reasons to do business with you instead of someone else.  And so you must clearly articulate these reasons in a brand position, defined as how we are different. 

But it’s not good enough to carve out a position and leave it at that.  The goal is to maintain ownership over the long term, which is a difficult matter of delivering consistent experiences at every touchpoint – say, for a decade or more.

10. Starbucks

Position:  most expensive, strongest coffee / the “third place”

Position clarity: 90

Consistency: 50

Total score = 140/200

Despite a surprising number of dirty stores, mis-made drinks and holier-than-thou baristas, Starbucks has still delivered enough great experiences to boost its stock price by 263% this decade.  It is frontline employees that are at once this brand’s greatest strength and weakness:  with an average age in the 20s, they turn over at an enormously high rate – with a commensurate, negative affect on service quality.  Scary to think how well Starbucks might do if they could solve the turnover problem (perhaps by diversifying their employee demographics).

9. Volvo

Position:  safety / old and boxy

Position clarity: 75

Consistency:  90

Total score = 165/200

In the context of a brand discussion, you can say “safety” to someone and there’s a very good chance they’ll respond “Volvo.”  Their ownership of the safety position is an achievement so remarkable, and so profitable, that the pointy heads at Ford – Volvo’s owner – have been looking to sell the unit for some time.

But Volvo also owns a negative position – old and boxy – which an audience will tell you if unaided.

Update:  My bad – Volvo is actually losing money. 

8. Lululemon

Position:  empowerment / your butt will look great

Position clarity: 90

Consistency:  80

Total score = 170/200

Launched in 1998 by Vancouverite Chip Wilson, Lululemon went public in 2006 with a valuation of $225-million.  In a recent year, they spent a measly $37,000 in advertising – underlining this brand’s unsurpassed word-of-mouth power.  Yes, Lululemon’s success is driven by female consumers’ connection with the spiritualism of the brand’s Manifesto (which includes proclamations like “dance, sing, floss and travel”), but in the end, it’s all about the status that accrues to possessors of $100 stretch pants and resultantly beautiful bottoms.

In the dying moments of the decade, Lululemon gets docked 10 consistency points for disgracing their brand by trading upon the Vancouver Games without paying for the right to do so.  Most unspiritual.

7. MasterCard

Position:  priceless / for everything else, there’s MasterCard

Position clarity: 75

Consistency:  100

Total score = 175/200

For running its ever-entertaining “Priceless” campaign since 1997, MasterCard earns a perfect consistency score.  The ads, long since embedded in the popular culture, were being seen in more than 100 countries, in 50-plus languages, by 2006.  Thousands of people actually spend their time writing jokes and piecing together funny videos that build up to the “Priceless” punchline; a search of YouTube yields 50,000 results for “Priceless” and 18,000 for “MasterCard.”

Although perfect consistency has helped drive up the stock price by 468% this decade (vs. 38% for Visa), I struggle with what the brand position really is.

6. Porter Airlines

Position:  flying refined

Position clarity: 90

Consistency:  87

Total score = 177/200

How do you know you’ve got your brand position nailed?  When it’s expressed with 100% accuracy in a tagline as succinct and elegant as Flying refined.

When I first started flying Porter to Ottawa in 2006, the planes were basically empty and the prophets of doom were everywhere.  But next year this brand will move 2,700 passengers every day, and in 2011, expects a total of 1.6 million of them.

The value proposition inherent in Flying refined has always been inescapable:

• For all, a glamorous service that delivers many perks associated with business class
• Prices competitive with economy fares on WestJet and Air Canada
• Ultra-convenient downtown airport, meaning shorter, less-stress trip times
• Genuinely fresh and friendly (non-unionized) staff on the ground and in the air

Wrap it up in wonderfully disciplined and consistent (yet playful) brand communications, and you have a rare brand that people love to talk about.

 5. WestJet

Position:  we care

Position clarity: 97

Consistency:  85

Total score = 182/200

Air Canada’s stock has lost 94% of its value this decade.  WestJet shares have risen 152% over the same period.  Just as diametrically opposed are the experiences customers have with these organizations.  Despite spying on Air Canada in a manner perversely off-brand, WestJet’s clear differences from its rival make it one of the very few brands (along with Volvo) for which you can do a word association exercise in reverse:  ask a group of friends “which is the brand that cares?” and you’ll see what I mean.

4. Subway

Position:  healthy

Position clarity: 95

Consistency:  95

Total score = 190/200

It’s been a great decade for Subway.  In 2008, they celebrated their 10th year with Jared, the guy who lost 245 pounds eating subs.  Since hiring Jared as the exemplification of their healthy brand position, Subway has doubled its stores and sales:  to 30,000 and $8.2 billion, respectively.

Subway knows on which side their buns are buttered.  They’ve turned down no less than four hotshot ad agencies since 2000, who – surprise – wanted to make their mark, which naturally involved getting rid of Jared.   

And so it is greatly frustrating to see the Canadian operation tinker with the longtime tagline – Eat Fresh.  In a pointless diversion from the messaging of their U.S. parent, the Canadians have moved to Think Fresh.  Eat Fresh – disavowing one of the greatest positioning stories in the history of brand management.

3. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

Position:  the world’s best hotels / unbelievably good service

Position clarity:  95

Consistency:  100

Total score = 195/200

No one ever says they want to be “the Ramada” of their industry.  Or even “the Westin.”  It is Four Seasons, often used as a synonym for the best there is, that is so honoured.  Despite their exotic locales and stunning designs, these hotels are renowned for the people that work in them:  ask anyone about their stay at a Four Seasons and they will focus on the incredible service they received – not the property itself.

2. Energizer

Position:  the longest lasting batteries

Position clarity:  97

Consistency:  100

Total score = 197/200

It may be that MasterCard’s Priceless tenacity was inspired by Energizer’s long-running Bunny campaign, now an incredible 20 years old.  Both brands have continually met the difficult creative challenge of coming up with fresh twists on their messaging, while keeping threats to consistency (primarily in the form of restless executives and ad agencies) at bay.

1. Apple

Position:  really cool technology that works so much better than PC

Position clarity: 100

Consistency:  100

Total score = 200/200

Apple is a shining example to branders everywhere:  living proof that you can stake out a single, narrow brand position, and through single-minded consistency, grow your stock price by 682% in a decade.  As with any brand that aspires to greatness, this kind of clarity and consistency can only be driven from the top – in this case, of course, by CEO Steve Jobs.  The consistency he demands can be experienced at every point of contact with this brand: at the Apple Store, in the quality and aesthetics of the products, and in the relentless brilliance of the long-running “I’m a Mac” ads.

Next week:  Top 5 Best Brands for Executives, and the Top 5 Worst Brands of 2009.

Tiger’s brand today: hypocrisy of the highest order

How much will Tiger’s transgressions cost his brand?

What his endorsers are paying for

Companies like Nike, American Express and Accenture are paying Tiger megabucks to convey certain characteristics they want to be associated with, including:

• Discipline
• Intelligence
• Good judgement
• Strategic and tactical brilliance
• Winning

What his brand is now

Woods has acted in a way fundamentally at odds with these brand traits.  He has demonstrated remarkable stupidity and recklessness by sending racy texts and voice mails to his mistress, and by trusting a groupie not to blow his cover in the first place.  It was a further bad strategic move to lie to the public in his first apology, wherein he slammed the rumours of infidelity as false and irresponsible.

Tiger’s most recent apology, on the other hand, appears to be genuine.  The degree to which he accepts responsibility goes far beyond today’s standard for politicians, celebrities and multimillionaire athletes. 

But there’s a big but:  in the apology, he pleads for privacy and claims surprise at the intrusions of the media.  Which, for a man who chose to compromise his privacy by sending raunchy texts and voicemails, is hypocrisy of the highest order.

People, Americans in particular, can be very forgiving.  What they just can’t stand is hypocrisy.

What the future holds

The future of Tiger’s brand value is very much dependent on the intensity of the media circus around him.  If Tiger continues to rail against these intrusions while further examples appear of his recklessness – and hence voluntary relinquishment of privacy – the media and the public will be tough on him.  And so will his endorsers.

Dear Starbucks: Christmas comes after Remembrance Day

On this Remembrance Day, it seems inappropriate that Starbucks (my favourite brand) should have its stores decked top to bottom in Christmas decorations.  There will be plenty of time to promote Christmas sales from November 12 onward.  But Starbucks decorated its Toronto stores more than a week ago. 

In its religious version, perhaps Christmas can justifiably claim to be on the same plane of importance as Remembrance Day.  But the version of Christmas promoted by Starbucks is pure commercialism.  Of course I encourage their efforts to leverage Christmas to drive revenue – just not in the approximately two-week period before November 11, when we should be thinking about the brave Canadians who fought, were injured and died defending our freedom.

• World War 1 and World War 2:  Over 100,000 Canadians dead
• Korean War:  1,558 Canadians dead
• Afghanistan:  133 Canadians dead, and counting
• And of course there were multiples more wounded in all of these conflicts.

Finally, I was truly shocked to recently hear Lieutenant-General (and now Senator) Romeo Dallaire – the Canadian UN Commander who begged the West to end the Rwandan genocide, to no avail – say that although more than 50,000 Americans died in Vietnam, more than double that number of soldiers who served there (100,000!) have since committed suicide as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder.  This information from a man who went on to say he’s tried 6 times to kill himself.

How many Canadian veterans of Afghanistan will do the same?

Hyundai not Smart (Car)

In the first class of Taglines 101, we find this pronouncement:
Thou shalt not employ as thine tagline a message that confuseth thine brand with another.  Or something to that effect.

The point is that evidently, Hyundai registered late. That’s the only conceivable explanation for their new TV ads, in which they reprise a Kelsey Grammer ad…

…(this time with the voice of Jeff Bridges) that says the word “smart” over and over and over again, in support of the tagline “Smart is in.” Can you guess where I might be going with this?

Of course you do: there happens to be a car called Smart. And if people remember Hyundai’s new ads, it will be because of the repetitive use of the word “smart.” So when these people talk to other people about these ads, they will say something like “you know, the ads that say ’smart’.”

And what will result is a “Who’s on First?” sort of confusion.

Taglines have a job to do. Perhaps the most crucial is to not help sell your competitors’ products. Next to that, here are the most important jobs for taglines.  The tagline must:

• reflect the brand foundation (your position, mission, vision, etc.)
• resonate with the target market(s)
• lodge in the mind by having multiple levels of meaning / various associations
• pass the cocktail party test – people should be able to hear it at a party and remember it long enough to Google it once home
• have a domain name, or approximation, available
• pass linguistics (i.e. not mean something offensive in Swahili)
• pass legal (subject to various qualifications, not be trademarked or otherwise in use by someone else)

PS I can’t find the new, Jeff Bridges version on YouTube, but will upload once I do.

The Obama – Windows 7 connection

My lighthearted musing in the National Post about a possible link…

(Hint: my two cents is at the very, very end of the article)

Starbucks’ VIA is a dumb idea. Right?

In a desperate panic to boost incremental growth, Starbucks has introduced – incredibly – an instant coffee: VIA. It’s an obvious and rather pathetic betrayal of all Starbucks stands for: cool coffee-house atmosphere, customized coffee creations, a “third place” for people to go besides home and work.

Actually, no. This kind of analysis overlooks some elements that are essential to the Starbucks brand.

Considering this is an instant product we are talking about – and most people would expect VIA to taste terrible – ironically absent from the arguments of many observers is an acknowledgement that Starbucks is very much about great, strong-tasting coffee. Many observers of the brand ignore this component and choose to focus almost exclusively on the importance of Starbucks’ bohemian-inspired, coffee-house atmosphere. They do not apprehend that once you’re a Starbucks customer, it’s a major hardship to not have a bloody good cup of coffee at least once a day. That’s the problem VIA is intended to overcome: it’s packaged in single servings, and its messaging encourages one to take it on the road – on the train, camping or up to the cottage, for example.

But does it taste good enough? The early feedback is a clear “yes.” Check out the discussion board at Starbucks’ Facebook page, and on their Twitter page, and you’ll see what I mean. Or ask someone who has tried the product. A plurality of people are pleasantly surprised that VIA is actually pretty good. Many were unable to identify VIA in a head-to-head taste test with Starbucks’ Pike Place drip.

Along with ignoring the importance of great strong coffee to the Starbucks brand, observers also overlook the convenience element. While people are willing to wait several minutes for an espresso-based drink especially, speed of service is still integral to the in-store experience. VIA’s transportability and quick prep time aligns perfectly with the convenience element. In a similar way, that’s why I was not horrified, as so many pundits were, when Starbucks introduced drive-thrus.

The VIA launch is going so well that Starbucks will be rolling out a decaf version in November. Interbrand, which opposed the VIA idea and is still on the fence, further questions the wisdom of introducing decaf. They see VIA as a convenient system of caffeine delivery and in that context, say that decaf doesn’t make sense.

They miss the point. If Starbucks was just about caffeine, the brand would get out of the coffee business and just push pills. VIA is about convenient access to great taste, high-test or not.

Feds exploit the party logo

Story in the Globe and Mail
Story in the National Post

Kia Forte: Not just for losers anymore

What a lovely difference a few months makes.

In June, I blogged about TV ads Kia was running for its Forte model – ads that did an exceptional job of portraying Forte owners as socially maladjusted morons.

Just in the past few weeks, however, Kia has launched new TV spots that use the same tagline – “That’s my Forte” – but paint its customers as being totally cool.

Well done, Kia – it takes guts to toss the original ads and start over with a campaign that doesn’t insult your customers. Just as impressive is that you stuck with the admittedly strong tagline, eschewing the sexy and seductive route of starting with a completely fresh concept.