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The Importance of Internal Brand Advocates

One of the concepts I teach in my books and at speaking engagements when I’m asked to talk about branding is the importance of creating internal brand advocates and giving them the freedom to talk about the brand they love and believe in.  Your employees are your most powerful brand advocates.  If they don’t believe in your brand promise, why should consumers?  Companies need to make sure their employees are not only educated about the brand image, message and promise but also that those employees have a reason to believe in it and want to talk about it.

I read an article from Ad Age today that talks about this very concept and it’s shocking to me that companies don’t understand that building internal brand advocates should be a strategic imperative, not just a social media marketing tactic that’s getting some buzz of late.  This is something that should be ingrained in the company culture, not an afterthought.

How many companies can you think of where the employees will not only talk about the company they work for but advocate it, defend it against negativity, and evangelize it?  There may have been a time when companies like Google might have been able to make such a claim, but it would be challenging to name good examples of companies that cultivate a sense of internal brand advocacy in everything they do today. While companies like Pizza Hut, Overstock.com, and Kraft have been using employees in commercials and marketing initiatives lately, how many of those employees are truly brand advocates?  That’s the real question.

So think about your own company and how much more powerful it could be if your employees truly believed in the brand promise.  The word-of-mouth marketing true internal brand advocates could generate is exponential.  It’s amazing all companies aren’t on the internal brand advocate train.

What do you think?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts about developing internal brand advocates.

Image: stock.xchng

Will $100 Million Give Microsoft the Ba-Da-BING It Needs to Threaten Google

What do you think?  Will a $100 re-branding and advertising push turn Microsoft’s new incarnation of its Live Search product, named Bing, create more than a blip in the radar screen of Google’s online search monopoly? 

The short answer — it’s doubtful.

The long answer — it’s even more doubtful.

Let’s face it.  Google owns the online search market.  We live in a Google world.  A $100 investment by Microsoft to rebrand Live Search and attempt to steal market share from Google seems like a bizarre marketing strategy to me.  I don’t care how much money they throw at the Bing initiative, there are too many strikes against Microsoft to become a search powerhouse at this point.

I’m not saying Microsoft’s Bing won’t do well.  I’m sure it will survive just fine, but is this really the best Microsoft could come up with to save it’s flailing brand and business?  Once again, they’ve missed the boat.  Consumer’s haven’t been asking Microsoft for the next Google.  They’ve been asking Microsoft to fix what’s already wrong with the brand, the company, and its products.  In other words, trying to divert focus from Vista wrapped in Windows 7 clothing isn’t going to fix the core brand problems. 

I know Microsoft wants to gain a stronger foothold at the Google party, but the writing has been on the wall for a long time that they need to refocus the brand first.  Google wanna-be products aren’t the remedy to re-energizing the brand.

Oh Microsoft, why do you disappoint us again and again?  Can’t you just give us an operating system that works well?  How about spending $100 million on that?

microsoft-windows-vista-error-final

I guess that’s why I finally broke down and bought a Mac last year.  I still use my Windows-based PC, but I curse out Windows far more often than I curse out my Mac.  And don’t even get me started on Internet Explorer.

How about you?  Would you trust the Microsoft brand to give you a search engine that works well given their current brand image?  Would you choose Bing over Google?  What would make you switch?

Good luck climbing the Google brand mountain, Microsoft, but my money’s still on Google.

Image: Flickr

Will the $1800 Faulty Prius Headlight Scandal Hurt Toyota?

toyota_priusThe story that’s been traveling through online branding circles over the past several days has centered around the upgraded headlights in Toyota’s eco-friendly Prius model and their tendency to fail, particularly after the car’s warranty is over.  At first glance, this story might not seem like a big deal.  So the headlight goes out.  Head over to the local auto parts store and pick up a new bulb.  But wait a minute!  These are not just any headlights.  These are special upgrade headlights that cost up to $1800 to repair and replace when they go out.  Suffice it to say, a class action lawsuit has been filed against Toyota over these $1800 headlights.

Now, you might ask, if this is a widespread problem, why hasn’t Toyota issued a recall?  Well, despite Toyota’s reputation as being a manufacturer of quality vehicles that will last far longer than American made (I’ve heard that sales pitch at my local Toyota dealership – in fact, it was the only pitch the salesman had), the company is notoriously slow in responding to widespread problems such as this.  That slow to react approach might have a bigger impact on Toyota now for a few reasons:

  1. With economies doing poorly, consumers are ready to switch brands at a moment’s notice.  It’s not time to get slack on any kind of customer service issue.
  2. The Prius is the “it” car for socially and environmentally conscious consumers.  This is not an audience that will respond positively to a company that doesn’t do the right thing.
  3. If consumers don’t feel like they can count on the Toyota brand, then they’ll see little differentiation between Toyota and other car brands whose reputations have been tainted recently, namely, American automobile manufacturers like General Motors.

These reasons don’t even touch on the most obvious question — why does the Prius have an $1800 headlight upgrade option?  It seems excessive for a car that’s supposed to represent the opposite of excess.

So the question remains whether or not Toyota responds quickly enough to turn this black mark on its record into a minor blemish or if it will blow up into a full-fledged PR disaster.  We’ll have to wait and see.  Certainly, given the state of the world around us, one would think that a quick, customer-focused response would be the best path for Toyota to take to keep the promise its brand has come to represent to consumers.

What do you think?

Image: Flickr

McDonald’s Unleashes McCafe Marketing Blitzkrieg – Will It Work?

According to an article on AdAge.com, McDonald’s has launched its biggest marketing push in history for the new McCafe coffee products.  I just received a direct mail piece on Wednesday for McCafe, but I swiftly threw it in the trash.  Why?  Because my local McDonald’s can’t even get their standard products and service correct, so McCafe has no hope in my mind.  But I digress.  Back to branding …

With the onslaught of McCafe marketing, I thought it would be interesting to see how McCafe is doing in Google Trends, which tracks the most searched for terms online, in comparison to its top competitors.  I got the idea after reading a post on the Official Google Blog about the accuracy of Google Trends in determining past winners of American Idol in the United States (hint – if the Google Trends success continues, put your money on Adam Lambert).

Let’s take a look at the search trends of McCafe vs. Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts over the past year.

mccafe_google-trends-12_months

Now, let’s take a look at the search trends of McCafe vs. Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts over the past 30 days since the marketing push began.

mccafe_google-trends

If Google Trends is right again, I don’t think Starbucks has anything to be worried about from McCafe, but did anyone really think there was cause for concern in the Starbucks camp?

Honestly, I think McDonald’s biggest problem with McCafe is brand positioning.  Your thoughts?

$5 Billion in Savings Up For Grabs for Consumer Packaged Goods

How can the consumer packaged goods industry save $5 billion per year?  Drop down to just 6-colors for package printing.

Sounds simple enough, but when even the slightest edge in terms of recognition and attracting attention on overcrowded store shelves can make or break a product, dropping extra colors in the package printing process can be a big deal. 

Enter LFH.  The brand identity consulting company out of the U.K. created a patented system that it uses to analyze the colors in a package design and then provides a reduced color palette that creates almost the exact same look.  In fact, a survey of marketers conducted by LFH showed that 8 out of 10 could not tell the difference in packaging before and after LFH modified the color palette, and the final 2 stated that the difference was was barely noticeable.  [Read more…] about $5 Billion in Savings Up For Grabs for Consumer Packaged Goods

Walmart Faces Lawsuit After Black Friday Tragedy

If you haven’t heard the story already, here’s a recap – a New York Walmart store held the retail giant’s Black Friday promotion as advertised.  In fact, the event was heavily advertised as a day when Walmart stores would open before the sun rose, and quick and savvy shoppers could get their hands on many hot items at very attractive discount prices.  The goal of the ads was certainly to create a sense of urgency and boost store traffic.  The result – one death as a Walmart employee was trampled and four other people were injured and taken to the hospital when desperate bargain shoppers broke through the electronic doors as the store opened.

Apparently, this is not the first time Walmart has been involved in this type of trampling incident, but it does appear to be the first that ended up with a person dying.  The question is whether or not companies like Walmart, which have trusted brand names and the deep pockets to afford wide-reaching ad campaigns to which consumers respond, are responsible for the New York Walmart employee’s death.  [Read more…] about Walmart Faces Lawsuit After Black Friday Tragedy