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Cynicism or Reality in Australia? | CSR Around The World

GoPro SurfingAustralia is something of an anomaly. Pitched in the south western corner of the Pacific Ocean it’s about as geographically distant from Europe as you can get, yet culturally it’s much closer than many Aussies would care to admit.

For sure there’s the classic image of an ocker Aussie slinging a couple of shrimps on the barbie in between surfing expeditions to Bondi Beach on Christmas Day.  But is there really that much difference between Australia and the UK?

After all, said chap will probably also be found in a bar, beer in hand, cheering on his favourite sporting team with passion and fervour, in between throwing casually light sexist comments to his mates.  Sounds like a typical Sun reader to me (for non-Brits, The Sun is the most popular paper in the UK).

This is by no means to typify all our antipodean cousins as ocker, nor to typify all Sun readers as casually sexist (ahem!).  However, when you consider that the Australian economy relies more on its close neighbours such as China, Japan and Thailand .. you can start to see where I’m coming from.

If there is one characteristic which does make Australia stand out from the New World, it’s confidence.  Those darned Aussies are just so darned competitive.  We’ve had the Ashes going on over the last few weeks and recently England actually managed to beat the Wallabies on the rugby field.  We’ll be given hell in return, you bet!

The Aussies are natural leaders in just about anything they care to lay their hands on, so has this competitive, confident, almost aggressive take on European culture translated into CSR?

Well, apparently not. [Read more…] about Cynicism or Reality in Australia? | CSR Around The World

2011 List of Banished Words

Are you using any of the words and phrases in the 2011 list of banished words from Lake Superior State University in your branding and marketing materials?  You might want to stop.

Every year since 1976, Lake Superior State University compiles a list of words and phrases that are so overused, misused, or useless that they should be banished from the English language entirely.  In fact, the concept was copyrighted by the University in 1987.  The list is compiled through nominations and interviews.

The 2011 list of banished words includes 14 words and phrases but the top honor — the number one word to be banished in 2011 — goes to “viral.”

Check out the complete list of 2011 banished words from Lake Superior State University:

  1. Viral
  2. Epic
  3. Fail
  4. Wow factor
  5. A-ha moment
  6. Back story
  7. BFF
  8. Man up
  9. Refudiate
  10. Mama grizzlies
  11. The American people
  12. I’m just sayin’
  13. Facebook / Google (when used as verbs)
  14. Live life to the fullest

Do any of these words and phrases stand out to you as overused, misused or useless for marketing and branding purposes?  Does using these words in a marketing or branding campaign equate to an epic fail?

The trick for marketers is keying in on words that resonate with target audiences.  A word that is deemed overused or misused by one market segment might be the “it” phrase for another segment.  The Lake Superior State University list of banished words is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but the results shouldn’t be ignored entirely.  Clearly, there is a segment of people who detest the use of “Google” as a verb, but there are undoubtedly other segments that expect the act of conducting an online keyword search to be referred to as “Googling” something.

Again, you need to match your words to your audience as much as you match your message.  Ongoing research is essential to ensuring you use the best words for each audience segment.  Thanks to the global online conversations that happen on the social Web, it’s easier than ever to listen to your target audience, learn how they communicate and the words they use, and match your marketing copy to those preferences and behaviors.

Bottom-line, just because specific words and phrases irritate some people doesn’t mean those words and phrases are dead.  You just need to tread more carefully when using them.  Just as you wouldn’t use words like “hip” and “groovy” to a teen audience, you shouldn’t use words like “fail” and “BFF” to an audience of seniors if you want to achieve maximum response rates.  It’s common sense, but it can make or break a marketing message.

What word or phrase do you think should be banished in 2011?  Leave a comment and share the words that drive you crazy.

Applying Consumer Media Trends to 2011 Marketing and Branding Strategies

Where are you investing your marketing budget in 2011?  If you want your brand to be in the right places, then you need to consider the shifting media usage trends that will define 2011.

According to research by eMarketer, television, video and Internet content consumption still dominate media usage among U.S. adults as follows:

  • TV and video = 4 hours and 24 minutes per day
  • Internet = 2 hours and 35 minutes per day
  • Radio = 1 hour and 36 minutes per day
  • Mobile = 50 minutes per day
  • Newspapers = 30 minutes per day
  • Magazines = 20 minutes per day
  • Other = 46 minutes per day

Are you investing your marketing budget in the media where your target audience spends time?  Compare your spending to the usage statistics above and see if you have any glaring disparities that should be modified before 2011 begins.

How has media usage changed over the past two years for U.S. adults?  That’s another area you need to research and understand to ensure you’re investing in the right places in the new year.  Take a look at the chart below to see how the amount of time on major media changed in 2009 and again in 2010.



Mobile is certainly the media opportunity to leverage in 2011.  It’s undoubtedly true that mobile devices will only continue to steal time from other media as tools and technologies get even better.  Of course, you have to match your spending to your target audience, but it’s safe to assume that few industries will be immune to the media shift to mobile over the next few years.

What do you think?  Are you shifting marketing budget investments to mobile in 2011?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts on these media usage trends that will dominate 2011.

Image: eMarketer

5 Lessons to Learn from Brand Mistakes in 2010

Unfortunately, a number of big brands made some big mistakes in 2010.  With each mistake that makes the news, there are things marketers and brand managers can learn and apply to their own initiatives.

Instead of focusing on the negatives of 2010, let’s take a look at five of the biggest lessons we can learn from some of the biggest mistakes brands made in 2010.  Keep in mind, the lessons to learn may or may not reflect the company’s actual response in each of the examples below.

1. BP

Who could forget the biggest environmental disaster in the United States during 2010 — the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  The lesson to learn from BP’s mistake is this: be vigilant, move quickly, be honest, and ask for help.

2. Toyota

Toyota’s brand reputation had never been better until a series of recalls in 2010 tarnished it.  The lesson to learn from Toyota’s mistake is this: admit your mistakes and go above and beyond to fix them.

3. Facebook

Facebook continues to grow in popularity despite being called out numerous times for violating users’ privacy.  The lesson to learn from Facebook’s mistake is this: ignoring a problem and thinking you’re too big and great to care might work for a while, but it is not a strategy that will work in the long term.

4. Apple

Apple’s iPhone 4 was released with much buzz but problems ensued — something the brand hadn’t needed to contend with in the past.  The lesson to learn from Apple’s mistake is this: the good times can only last for so long and denial only makes those mistakes look bigger when stories travel across the Web so quickly these days.

5. Google

Google Buzz was touted as a new way to start conversations about the things people find interesting within Gmail, but it did not live up to the hype.  The lesson to learn from Google’s mistake is this: no matter how big you are, sometimes people like what they’re already using more than they might like you.  Your product has to be better because they won’t just switch for your name.

What do you think were some of the biggest lessons to learn from brand mistakes in 2010?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

JCPenney’s Becomes First Retailer to Open Complete Store on Facebook

This week marked the start of what will undoubtedly become a new marketing distribution trend when retailer JCPenney opened a complete store within Facebook.  For Facebook users who are accustomed to communicating with friends and publishing and sharing content, they can now browse and buy clothes, shoes, and any other product available through the JCPenney catalog without leaving Facebook. That’s 250,000 products at users’ fingertips.

jcpenney-facebook-store

You can expect this type of store front within Facebook to quickly grow in popularity from retailers’ perspectives.  JCPenney isn’t the first retailer to provide a working store front within Facebook, but by offering a quarter million products, JCPenney is the largest by far.  The company expects Facebook users to visit the store, which is accessible through a tab on the JCPenney Facebook Page, when they come across product mentions within their friends’ updates.  A simple click brings them directly to the page where they can easily make their own purchase.

Fast Company reported the story this week saying:

“J.C. Penney expects that the new channel will give it more information about its customers, which could influence future marketing and product choices. ‘All of the information that Facebook has about people can be aggregated into analytical data,’ Jason Taylor [vice president of global product strategy for Usablenet, which built the Facebook operation for J.C. Penney] said. That includes the ages of their customers, what sorts of products they share with others, and how often they peruse the store’s offerings. ‘The interesting additional information they’re going to get could affect their decision-making,’ Taylor adds.”

On the flip side, the consumer perspective related to shopping via Facebook might present some challenges.  Many social network users, particularly Facebook users, are concerned about the security of the private data they share.  Facebook has been the subject of scrutiny frequently over the past couple of years for this very issue.  There is undoubtedly a portion of Facebook users who will not be comfortable providing credit card or other financial information through the site in order to make a purchase from JCPenney or another retailer.  That’s an issue that David Kiefaber of BrandFreak brought up in his own post about the new JCPenney store on Facebook, and it’s a valid point.

What do you think of branded stores on Facebook?  Is offering shopping via social networking sites where consumers already spend time the next logical step for retail brands or is it like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts on this marketing trend.

Brands Adopt the Pantone Color of the Year for 2011

pantone-2011-color-of-the-yearEach year, Pantone names a new color of the year.  In 2010, turquoise won the honor.  The 2011 Pantone color of the year has been announced and it’s honeysuckle.  It’s a reddish-pink color designated as PMS 18-2120.

The Pantone color of the year is typically associated with the fashion and home categories, but it’s not unusual to see it spread to brand and products from a variety of lines of business.

Brands that have already adopted the Pantone Honeysuckle color include:

Some products using the Honeysuckle color are shown in the image below:

pantone-honeysuckle

There is even a Pantone Paint line with a new Honeysuckle shade and a Pantone Hotel, complete with a Pantone Bar, in Brussels, which promises an experience that allows you to “travel to a colorific world.”

The reddish-pink Honeysuckle color is intended to evoke an uplifting feeling and deliver a boost of confidence in navigating life’s challenges.  The bright color is intended to be alluring, eye-catching, and attract people to it as a hummingbird is attracted to the reddish-pink flowers of a real honeysuckle.  As the Pantone website explains, Honeysuckle could be very effective in package design, “for products that speak to something active or festive, or are suggestive of sweet tastes and scents. It’s an especially good shade for delicious food or drink packaging.”

Color trends are something that brand managers need to be aware of, and the Pantone trend reports for the fashion and home industries are something to keep an eye on as the trends in clothing often spread to other categories as well.  Color trends can provide broad insight into the emotions that are expected to affect consumers in the short term.  The psychology of color marketing and color branding exist for a reason.  Listen to the trends and predictions and look for creative ways to integrate them effectively into your own branding initiatives.