Corporate Eye

...compare, compete, excel

Brand

Mozilla Firefox Sets Guinness World Record

On June 2nd, I published a post called Mozilla’s Firefox as a Relationship Brand where I discussed how Firefox has become a perfect example of a brand whose success relies heavily on its relationship with loyal customers.  I also mentioned that Mozilla was leveraging that relationship with its customers with Firefox 3 Download Day where the company asked customers to help set a Guinness World Record for the most downloads of a software program within 24 hours.  The official results are in and a new world record was, in fact, set. 

Can you guess how many downloads of Firefox 3 occurred between 18:16 UTC on June 17, 2008 to 18:16 UTC on June 18, 2008? [Read more…] about Mozilla Firefox Sets Guinness World Record

Branding Creates Expectations – Make Sure You Meet Them

An inherent part of creating a brand is the natural development of expectations that evolve after consumers experience that brand. As a marketer, you must understand what those expectations are, even if they are not the expectations you anticipated.

As consumers become more loyal to a brand, their expectations for it to meet and exceed their needs rise. For example, if I’ve always used Brand X stain remover and one day I use Brand X and a stain doesn’t come out, my expectations have not been met. I am likely to search for a new brand to replace the one that failed to live up to my expectations.

Alternatively, if I use Brand X stain remover then Brand Y comes out with a special ingredient that works better than Brand X, then I’ll expect Brand X to come out with a new version of their product that includes this ingredient (or something even better). If Brand X fails to respond, my expectations won’t be met, and I’ll replace it.

A perfect example of this was provided to me by one of Corporate Eye’s readers in a comment on my post Mozilla’s Firefox as a Relationship Brand last week. The reader told the story of Microsoft and its failure to meet customer expectations as other products such as Firefox and Google products entered the market but Microsoft did not introduce similar, competitive products. Instead, Microsoft users, who had strong expectations from the market leader to create cutting-edge products, were disappointed. With their expectations not met, they moved from Internet Explorer to Firefox and from Microsoft products to Google products, and so on.

The lesson to learn – do your research and understand your customers’ expectations for your brand then work tirelessly to meet and exceed them. Doing so will create satisfied, loyal customers and drive new business as well.

How do you keep track of your customers’ expectations? Share your tips with Corporate Eye readers by leaving a comment.

One Word Branding

One word branding is not a new concept, I just gave it a name. In short, one word branding is the process of picking one word (or phrase) that your brand owns in the minds of consumers. Here are some examples:

  1. Volvo = safety
  2. Harley Davidson = freedom
  3. Disney = family [Read more…] about One Word Branding

Microsoft – A Case Study in Failing to Meet Customer Expectations

Earlier this week, I wrote a post about the importance of meeting customer expectations when it comes to developing a brand. I thought I’d expound on that a bit more today by providing a classic case study example of a company that failed to meet customer expectations and whose brand suffered as a result – Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT).

Sure, Microsoft still leads the market with its Windows platform, but it’s once unbreakable stronghold has shown cracks of weakness in recent years. The biggest failure – Windows Vista. [Read more…] about Microsoft – A Case Study in Failing to Meet Customer Expectations

Brand Positioning at Its Finest

In a great article by Katie Connolly of BBC News, six ads that change the way people think are discussed.  It’s an excellent example of brands that defined their position in the marketplaces where they do business and that put together focused messages that would help them own specific words in consumers’ minds.

Katie offers an excellent example in the Marlboro cigarettes campaign that introduced the Marlboro Man.  A brand that was once identified as representing a “lady’s cigarette” transformed into a masculine brand.  However, the Marlboro Man ads changed Marlboro into a brand for the rugged, outdoorsy, man’s man.  Marlboro promised a specific image to consumers with the Marlboro Man ads, and it worked.

Another great example that Katie mentions is Nike whose “Just Do It” slogan and “I want to be like Mike” ad campaign featuring basketball superstar Michael Jordan gave Nike a stronghold position as the brand for sports’ enthusiasts.  No longer was Nike just another athletic shoes and apparel.  Suddenly, it offered the promise of performance befitting the top athletes of the world.

Katie offers some more great examples, but I’d add another to her list — the Mac Guy vs. PC Guy ad campaign.  By positioning Mac computers as the antithesis of Microsoft’s operating system and PCs, Apple gained a strong position in the marketplace that turned a cult brand into one of the strongest relationship brands in the world.

Also, when Google Chrome launched, a series of ads successfully positioned the Web browser against Internet Explorer and enabled Chrome to create its own position in its marketplace as the less tech and more interesting alternative.  People liked the brand promise and Chrome quickly began stealing market share from its competitors.

The lesson to learn is this — ad campaigns can put ideas into consumers’ minds but brand experiences need to meet those expectations for brand positioning to work.

What ad campaigns do you think provide great examples of developing a brand’s position?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: Flickr

The Path to Creating a Relationship Brand

Last week, I wrote a post called “Creating a Relationship Brand” that discussed what a relationship brand is and how creating a relationship brand can bring great rewards in the long term. Today, I’d like to talk about the steps marketers can take to turn their brands into relationship brands.

First as a reminder, a relationship brand is one that holds widespread appeal among consumers but still allows each individual consumer to experience the brand in his or her own unique way. In other words, relationship brands allow consumers to make personal connections with the brand while still feeling like they’re part of a larger group. The success of relationship brands lies in the shared experience of consumers. Think of Harley Davidson as a classic relationship brand example. The marketing behind Harley Davidson leverages its relationship brand status, including targeted messages that embrace the shared brand experience. [Read more…] about The Path to Creating a Relationship Brand