Effective Naturally

Welcome to the 2nd edition of Perspectives. Last week we covered the importance of delivering on your brand promise. Before heading in to this week’s perspective I thought it best that I cover something important – the meaning of ‘Brand’. Feel free to skip down to find out the 'WooHoo and BooBoo of the Week' if you feel you already know about Brand.

A brand is much more than a logo or advertising. Your brand is the perception of events you can control and even some things you couldn’t (or neglected to). It's the way staff, customers, the general public and even your competitors ‘feel’ about your company. Unfortunately these perceptions of your brand are not always based on fact, but either way can be the difference between winning the customer or not ever having a chance with them. Even you, as an individual have your own brand. People will decide based on your actions, your presentation and your reputation if they like you or not and this is similar to the brand of a company. Perceptions of a brand can be fair, or they can be unfair – just how your company is treated is up to how well you protect it and how consistent you are with it’s delivery.

Rick's Perspective

I was recently at Big Day Out – a music festival in Melbourne. I watched a performance of a song called Womanizer – a song originally released by Britney Spears. Now in many places simply mumbling the word ‘Britney’ will have you jeered out of town. Despite a large niche following, she is seen by most as a bit tragic! So needless to say having her walk on stage at this particular music festival would probably not have been appreciated by the majority. The thing is that this song was performed very closely to the original but it was performed by the much more ‘together’ Lily Allen. Same song, same tone, different performer and it was a hit. In fact, everyone felt so comfortable they sang the words with absolute pride. So how can two major musical artists perform the same song yet one be considered cool and the other not? The answer is brand – the perceptions, reputation and image of each of the artists. One we’re happy to align ourselves with, the other we aren’t.

When it comes to brand we are rarely judged by a one-off action – we are judged by our consistent actions, touchpoints and impressions over a long period of time. In the above case, Britney has had a train wreck of a career. She’s the goody girl turned a bit odd, but she wasn’t quite bad enough to hold it together (although she’s making a pretty good recovery and has a loyal, sometimes quirky following). On the flip side, Lily Allen is the sweet girl with an attitude who consistently keeps it cool and shares a ‘love all’ but no nonsense type of honesty.

Lily got away with something out of character because we know who we’re relating to and we can trust that just because she’s singing a Britney song she’ll still be pretty cool at the end of the day…and remember it takes consistency to get customers to trust and relate to your brand. What we can't forget though is that while this lesson shows us how brand plays a solid part in how you're received by the audience, Britney's market are VERY passionate supporters and this quirkiness has grabbed her publicity that money just can't buy (or stop).

The WooHoo and BooBoo of the Week

This week both of our awards are share by two brands in both categories together! They both deserve a WooHoo for their innovation in connecting with an audience, but both made Booboo's which will have damaged otherwise loyal relationships.

WooHoo of the Week - Coles and Apple!

Coles Supermarket – your innovation and connection made through the Masterchef is an excellent piece of interactive advertising. The produce is linked across television, magazines, signage in supermarkets and on the in-house PA. It almost makes you feel like you’re missing out if you don’t shop at Coles or watch Masterchef. It creates something that people want to be a part of and “if you want to cook like a Masterchef cooks, you need to shop where a Masterchef shops”.

Apple – Oh I love Apple. I’m typing on my MacBook Pro and have my trusty iPhone beside me. I don’t have an iPad yet because I don’t know why I need one…but why should I need it, like millions around the world it’s very tempting just to ‘want’ one. The Apple brand is synonymous with reliability and style. It’s a no-nonsense lifestyle choice and a statement of premium. This has come from a focused and consistent approach to quality products and dedicated service that is second to none.

BooBoo of the Week - Coles and Apple!

Coles Supermarket - How much is a good brand worth? How much did Coles pay to be a part of Masterchef? Is it worth risking all of this investment in customer relationship for the off-chance that no one would notice cheaper imported cigarettes for market advantage and to ease the pressure on smokers when taxes have been increased in a move to encourage quitting. Cancer Council of Australia are reassessing their relationship with Coles and many people who have an association with the Cancer Council are now likely to reassess their relationship with Coles also.

Apple – I never thought I’d be putting these guys here. I am after all a passionate Apple convert but the icon took a hit in recent weeks. The much awaited iPhone4 has had some fairly big problems - enough to warrant quick refunds and a quick fix. Points still have to be given to Apple for addressing these problems so rapidly but this isn’t consistent with their brand. We buy Apple products because they don’t let us down. The iPhone 4 would hang up on you mid call depending on how you held the handset – resulting in it’s user looking ‘less than cool’. So despite the quick action to fix the problem, why wasn’t it tested better in the first place? It’s hard for Mac users to be such ambassadors for the product when non-Apple converts are saying “well the iPhone4 wasn’t so good was it?”. The Apple brand will live on if this is an isolated incident, but Apple is starting to suffer from Tall Poppy syndrome - people will be quick to try and bring them down a peg or two. Let’s hope the next technology release lives up to their perceived brand of ‘reliability, innovation and uber cool’. P.S. I’ll probably still get one!

That's all for another edition of Perspectives. With a Federal election in full force you'll see some major lessons in both good and bad brand management over the coming weeks but that's as much as I'm going to comment on that particular topic. This will be an election free zone and next week we'll look at why 'having a Customer Retention Department admits the company has bad service'.
If you have any feedback please reply email and don't forget to share your perspectives in our comments section online. Thanks again for your time.