The secrets of successful digital branding - iMediaConnection.co Social networking is as old as time. But starting and continuing a conversation isn't always second nature to digital marketers; particularly those who are used to the one-way media conversations of old. But there are some proven strategies that have pushed brands to new levels of consumer relationship success. Anne Murray, the digital champion of one such brand, Southwest Airlines, spoke with iMedia to share her views on essential campaign components, driving demand through social media, and what resources need to be in place for a digital campaign to succeed. Anne Murray is an industry leading brand marketer and digital champion. iMedia Connection: In your opinion, what are the three most essential components for launching a new campaign? Anne Murray: My advice is to begin with the end result in mind and define the successful outcome you are trying to achieve. iMedia: During your tenure at Southwest Airlines, the company really made a name for itself in terms of digital branding.
What Matters Now: get the free ebook [Update! Now available in a print edition, all proceeds to Room to Read. Thanks Bernie!] Now, more than ever, we need to shake things up. Now, more than ever, we need a different way of thinking, a useful way to focus and the energy to turn the game around. I hope a new ebook I've organized will get you started on that path. Here are more than seventy big thinkers, each sharing an idea for you to think about as we head into the new year. Here's the deal: it's free. Have fun. Here's a lens with all the links plus an astonishing array of books by our authors. NEW BONUS: A different coop ebook, (click for free download) this time with contributions from authors that include JC Hutchins, Cory Doctorow, Joseph Finder and Chris Brogan.
Why Aren’t There More Iconic Millennial Brands? | Millennial Mar Is Colbert a brand icon for Gen Y? I was recently asked, “what question would I most want to ask Millennials?” As a professional market researcher it’s easy to answer: my biggest question is how they relate to brands. More specifically, I am curious why there aren’t more Millennial-specific ‘iconic’ brands? Gen Y likes pretty much the same brands everyone likes — Coca-Cola, Apple, Trader Joe’s, Nike, Vogue, Facebook, Google, Zappos, etc. Brands are relationships. Let me first define what I mean by ‘brand icon’. Cultural icons are exemplary symbols that people accept as shorthand to represent important ideas. By this standard, very few brands, if any, qualify as ‘icons’ for Millennials. The only other brands I can think of that meet Holts’ qualification for iconic status for Gen Y are people brands. The Emmy- and Peabody-winning satirist, author of I Am America (And So Can You!) Brand marketers aspiring to be iconic Millennial brands could do well to study, Obama, Stewart and Colbert.
Neuromarketing Hope and Hype: 5 Brands Conducting Brain Research | Integrated Branding Even before the age of Mad Men marketers were trying to tap into the human subconscious to influence consumers to buy their products. But over the last decade or so, as the fields of neuroscience and marketing science (as some like to call it) have evolved, the area of Neuromarketing has emerged. Today more companies are investing in the technology and studies. Neuromarketing blogs (Roger Dooley) and books (Buyology) are being accorded more attention and legitimacy. What is Neuromarketing? Neuromarketing is the practice of using technology to measure brain activity in consumer subjects in order to inform the development of products and communications--really to inform the brand's 4Ps. It is commonly accepted that traditional market research is flawed because consumers don't know, can't articulate, or will even lie in a focus group about their purchase motivations. So who is using neuromarketing (aside from consultants)? Neuromarketing is only poised to grow in use and influence.
The sea change in brand management within the social media The title of this blog post took me a long time to figure out, and it still seems a bit off. Simply put, the social media rewards value and service, and devalues self promotion and advertising. Up to now, most social media marketing methods simply wrap traditional push marketing methods into a new package. The following slideshow describes how to create a new local media brand that leverages the many channels of the social media. Social media reinforces the concept of branding because your brand is judged by what you do and who you are online. Chanel's luxury dream is turning to dust | Opinion The world of luxury branding is one of great paradox. It is a place where tradition and creativity collide. Where ancient founders and youthful models meet and make magic together. Where impoverished artisans rise to become emperors of incredible fortunes. For marketers, the world of luxury holds a special place because it represents the origin of brand management. Among those great names, few shine brighter than Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. As a lover of brands and someone who has worked for a decade for some of the biggest luxury houses as a consultant, I always gain inspiration from a local Church of Chanel. Its shop windows lack inspiration, the new collections are a little too derivative and the clientele looks older to me on each visit. Of all the criticisms you can level at a luxury brand, dusty is perhaps the most devilish. And to accuse Chanel, of all the luxury brands, of being dusty is tantamount to betrayal. The film industry has certainly not helped.
20% of tweets about brands Is the result of a Penn State study in the States. Researchers led by Jim Jansen, associate professor of information science and technology, and Twitter chief scientist Abdur Chowdhury looked at half a million tweets. 20% of them were apparently people 'asking and providing' product information. Assuming three million tweets a day, that would translate into 600k posts daily of direct relevance to brands. I initially found that % on the high side, though 'providing product information' is a definition that's wide enough to include any tweets about a product or service - I went to this restaurant today, I bought this mobile phone and so on. I guess it is true that as a personal broadcasting system we do use Twitter to talk about stuff we buy or like / dislike a great deal. Case in point I've - almost unconsciously - made some kind of comment about four different companies since the weekend.
Journalist Dares to Call Chanel a ‘Dusty’ Brand Chanel is a unique brand in that it's seldom trashed. Critics love it, Karl Lagerfeld is God, and Lauren Conrad remains the envy of every girl in suburbia with a dream and "Juicy" plastered across her ass every time she's photographed with a quilted Chanel handbag on her arm. Mark Ritson knows this, but dares to write in Marketing Week that the label has become "dusty." Of all the criticisms you can level at a luxury brand, dusty is perhaps the most devilish. The great luxury brands are unusual in that they are much older than the clients they currently target. For each to survive must practice the art of constant brand revitalisation — a delicate process in which centuries of heritage is carefully balanced with contemporary rule breaking. Statistics exist to back Ritson up: According to Millward Brown's Brandz valuation, Chanel lost 11 percent of its brand value over the past year while Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and Gucci all gained. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Brand analysis, strategy, systems: what do you need? Marketing and branding providers like Distility will recommend all kinds of solutions. But what do you need? Behold our three part menu of products: Brand Analysis, Brand Strategy, and Brand Systems. What to make of this? Well, first know that these are in chronological order, or if you will, business development order. While you might not need all of these things, and you might engage in these activities at different times according to your business needs, there is a certain value to thinking about them as a series of steps. Brand analysis is where you are. Breaking it down this way explains why some companies want to jump the gun and jump straight to systems – they’re very eager to get moving. Let’s take a closer look at each one. Brand analysis pins down what state your brand is currently in, who your customers are and what they’re looking for, what your competitors are doing, and so forth. For instance, you must make a choice on brand architecture. So what do you need?
Luxury industry trends in 2011 – Fashion Louis Vuitton Maison (London) 2010 has been a year of gradual recovery for most of the major luxury fashion brands, especially those with a strong accessories product range. Louis Vuitton, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Gucci posted steady increases mostly due to the booming sales in China. The best performers of 2010 have been Burberry and Hermes, with exceptional sales growth across worldwide. The headline of the year was undoubtedly LVMH’s silent aquisition of a 20,2% in Hermes, which generated an all out war in the media between the two companies. While LVMH might further increase its stake in Hermes in 2011, a full take over is unlikely for many years to come. bonus video : Take a tour of the new Louis Vuitton, New Bond Street by Fashion411 In 2010, Gucci has made headlines with launching its couture line available for select VIPs and celebrities as well as launching for the first time in its history a children’s collection.