The concept behind the Holiday Inn Express brand certainly should be “smart.” Customers are supposed to feel an increased sense of intelligence after staying at Holiday Inn Express because they have recognized and capitalized upon good quality for a great price. With the reputation of Holiday Inn’s quality for reasonable prices backing the brand, Holiday Inn Express should have a win-win status in the mindset of the consumer and should also boost the efficacy of the Holiday Inn parent brand. Does the current messaging for Holiday Inn Express accomplish this status? We think not.

Many brands use messaging that makes the customer feel smart and as though he has made the right choice. Wal*Mart and Target are examples of brands that ensure the customer that if he shops at their stores; he is avoiding the embarrassment of overpaying and not finding what he wants/needs. Customers not only like to know that their purchases matter; they like to know that their choices matter. Brands that give customers real affirmation that they have “done the smartest thing” will succeed. This affirmation must be evident through effective brand execution, which also includes marketing and advertising. The message must be both clear to the customer and clearly shown by the brand.

Does Holiday Inn Express have a sure-fire brand message? Yes. Does Holiday Inn Express convey and execute this message properly? According to our brand model at Stealing Share, it comes up a short. In fact, if you read how the “Stay Smart” campaign began, the brand is more superficial than it even appears. According to customer questionnaires conducted before the campaign, the two reasons why customers felt more savvy for staying at an HIE were free breakfast and free local calls. Perhaps these two elements created a little more of an advantage for HIE over other limited-service establishments, but these kind of table stakes are not what fuels real brand. Clearly the right questions were not asked. The customer’s connection to the brand should go deeper than cinnamon rolls.

Furthermore, the commercials for the “Stay Smart” campaign contribute to the shallow continuum of brand execution for HIE. For example, one commercial opens on a group of scientists hovering around a microscope, observing a strain of the Ebola virus. The man standing in front of the microscope explains the characteristics of the virus and proceeds to knock the sample off of the table, assuring the group that it was not airborne. When his colleague asks him how long he has been studying the virus, the man responds, “Well, I’m not actually a scientist. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.”

Several other commercials followed in a similar pattern. One commercial showed a man who had not graduated past the seventh grade winning Jeopardy because he stayed in a HIE the night before. While the commercials are humorous and borderline ridiculous, they demonstrate a rather narrow interpretation of the brand. Although the commercials are effective for short-term brand awareness and recognition, this brand execution is overall unsatisfactory because the customer will not consider the brand a serious option. If anything, the brand has become more of a joke among consumers because of the blatantly ignorant people portrayed as customers in the commercials. The brandface, or the customer’s perception of himself when he uses the brand, is not one of intelligence. In fact this brandface mocks intelligence rather than reinforcing it. This failure to execute is more at the fault of brand management than advertising creation. Unfortunately, in all industries, one directly influences the other.

Humorous commercials are memorable and entertaining, but does the brand directly reflect the customer and benefit from this type of execution? In the case of Holiday Inn Express, we argue against this method. The brand execution began with category benefits rather than the belief systems of the customers. The advertising had to rely upon a general campaign focus of “Stay Smart” without knowing what being smart really meant to the target audience. In order to correct this problem, Holiday Inn Express would need to take a few steps back, observe what their customers want/need from their brand and challenge their brand to accommodate these expectations. They would need to get a full outside-in perspective from the market.

The “Stay Smart” campaign was effective in getting HIE’s name out in the market, but that is where the effectiveness remains. Real brand success goes beyond the reiteration of a funny punch line. The “Stay Smart” messaging does not reinforce the brand as a tangible option for the customer. The humor, in this case, actually creates distance between the brand and the customer.

Overall, Holiday Inn is all about quality for a sensible price, and Holiday Inn Express can make that message work as well. Holiday Inn Express needs to convey this message with a little more honesty and customer perspective in order to own real estate in the mind of the customer looking for reasonable hotel accommodations. In short, “smart” needs to be more about intelligence of the customer than the cleverness of the business and its agency.

Molly Sunderdick
Brand Strategist
Stealing Share, Inc

Whether you’re a startup or an established small business, one of the toughest decisions that you will make is how much money you are going to spend on your advertising and marketing communications. Prospects need to be acquainted with you, need to know what you do and how your product or service will benefit them. They need to know where to find you, and how to contact you. But how much should you spend to get that word out?

For companies who are just beginning a communications program, the tendency is to decide where you think you need to advertise, and then spend whatever it takes to get to be there. You rely on your instincts to tell you what communications vehicles you ought to be using, and then price out what it costs to use them. Perhaps you do know your market very well, and you won’t waste a lot of time, money and energy in the wrong places. However, this approach has a definite flaw. You are not taking into account either what your company can really afford, or the dynamics of the marketplace, both of which are important factors that should play strongly into your thinking.

There are other, better ways of determining your marketing budgets, and at least one of them just may fit better into your company’s strategies.

1. Take a look at what your competitors are spending, and establish your budget based on the competitive marketplace. This approach works well when your competitors are around the same size that you are, and when they are pitching the same size accounts that you are pitching. If everyone is spending at a fairly similar rate, then you can be comfortable that you know what the price of entry is into the market. You don’t necessarily need to use the same promotional vehicles that your competition uses, but you do want to try to capture a comparable share of voice in your prospect’s mind. The downside of this approach is that it really cannot be implemented effectively if there are only one or two very big spenders in your particular area. As a smaller business person, you cannot outspend or even match their big budgets, and so you must find a more creative way to gain mindshare among your prospects.

2. Take Approach #1 one step farther, and factor in your relative position in the market compared to the competition. For this method, you still have to be aware of what your competitors are doing, but now you must also acknowledge that you need to be spending somewhat more if you are a late-comer to the market, or if your goal is to improve your market position. Conversely, you can spend less if you are already one of the leaders in your market. Take a look at what the average spend rate is in your product category, matching your geography and target audiences, if you can. Then think about using a dollar range that is 5% plus or minus that average, depending on whether your position is where you would like to be or not. Once again, you can be successful here if everyone in the market is around the same size, and you can be comfortable in their spending patterns.

3. Base your communications budgets on a percentage of your projected gross revenues. Now you are taking into account what kind of monies you will have available for communications, and also you are leaving yourself the flexibility to revise and adjust your budgets as your situation changes. If your program is very successful and sales increase, you can increase your budgets. In slow times, you can cut back, but still maintain a presence in your marketplace. You won’t spend yourself out of business, but you still need to take into account your particular market. The percentage that you will want to work with will vary by industry, but you should think about what it will take to be visible in the advertising media that your industry uses.

Any of the three methods outlined above will bring a sense of discipline to your marketing program. Whether you choose one of these options, or choose to work out a combination of techniques, you can feel more confident that your marketing efforts reflect a prudent business base, and that they integrate well into the personality of your company and the dynamic of your marketplace. And those are ultimately the keys to a successful marketing communications program.

Linda Riley
Linda Riley Media Services

http://lindarileymedia.com

For over ten years, we have been providing our clients with creative media strategies and cost-effective media buys. We don’t stop until you have the best possible program for the lowest possible media costs. For more information, email Linda at lriley@lindarileymedia.com.

Individuality… uniqueness… Identification. "This above all: to thine own self be true."

What do all of the above have in common? They all translate into the meaning of ‘identity’. Without it, we have no representation of our own characteristics or behaviour. Without it we remain nameless. Without it, we are in fact - lost.

In an age of increasing identity theft, its importance cannot be denied. Victims of this type of theft have lost parts of themselves that are difficult or which they may never be able to retrieve. The losses are much more substantial. They include loss of money; loss of good credit ratings and the most debilitating of them all; loss of one’s reputation. In the consequential aftermath of this crime, victims are denied loans; educational opportunities; and job offers. Some have even been arrested for crimes they didn’t commit.

It is much easier than most people realize, for fraudulent persons to access and steal one’s identity. MEL Research, in its ‘bin raidin’ project found that 77% of UK households discard sensitive financial documents, such as bank statements and utility bills, without first shredding them. Another report, with its research aimed at traveling executives, found that tons of personal financial information can be found on the desktops of airport lounge personal computers. These desktop-saved documents describe multi-million dollar deals, inclusive of profit margins and lowest bid values.

Credit and ATM card fraud is the most widespread of them all. They are also the most popular. With the increasing use of purchasing-via-the-internet, consumers put themselves and their money in a vulnerable position. Not all sites offer a ‘secure-shopping’ feature. More often than not, these are the ones that ‘capture’ and ‘re-use’ personal data. ATM fraud is not always easy to spot. Commercial banks should raise more awareness on how to identify (no pun intended) card slots that have been tampered with. These false slots are also used to ‘capture’ and ‘re-use’ an individual’s information.

Further to depleting a person’s monetary account, this type of information can also be used for kidnapping – where hefty balances can be seen.

The use of identity surrounds us in our daily lives. We have identifying usernames and passwords. We join groups that support of help us to seek our ethnic identity. Our modes of dressing are statements of who we are. Employees are mandated to wear ID cards.

The product and corporate branding of identity is no different. Nowadays, business cards are a point of entry for placing someone in an electronic database. You business name must gain your potential customer’s interest and trust (they can trust that your card is a true representation of yourself and your business). And yes, image is everything. Just as books are judged by their covers, so too can business people be judged by their cards.

[MORE]

Rondon – Identity -2-

‘Branding’ is one’s identity in the marketplace. It should been done properly. Business cards, Letterheads, Labels and Compliments slips should be treated as one ‘branding’ entity. What’s the use of having your business card in one design and all other supporting stationery in another? Consistency is the cornerstone of professionalism.

Because of the intricate emotional and societal issues that encircle the exchange of business cards, psychology and design are also co-related. There is always a tinge of anticipation when giving and receiving business cards. The giver hopes that his/her card will not be dismissed into the unseen depths of someone’s wallet (agh!!) or worse, thrown away (double agh!!). The receiver sees a person’s business card as the answer to their specific problem; the item or service that they had been seeking.

***********

People are always more comfortable when they’re being themselves. They are also more trustworthy and their businesses more profitable. Shouldn’t your identity, then, be packaged just right?

Written for Goodprint Ltd, providors of instant online business cards and matching stationery via their website http://www.goodprint.co.uk

What I’m about to reveal to you is “classified” information. Top secret stuff.

Okay… maybe not top secret… but you should know some entrepreneurs pay big bucks for the information I’m about to reveal to you. And that’s no fib either.

If your business is listed in the yellow pages this strategy will send lots of customers your way… resulting in more sales.

It’s a simple tactic, but works in a big way. Yet hardly anyone uses it. I’m not sure why. I’m guessing it has something to do with a tendency us to go along with a crowd without even consciously thinking about it.

When it comes to marketing, we want our customers to buy from us or hire us. Then again, we’re often afraid of appearing too different from other businesses.

So what’s this got to do with advertising in the Yellow Pages? Plenty.

In fact … I can prove it. Just go right and grab your local Yellow Pages Directory. Alright now… open it up… and tell me what you see.

Lots of ads, right? Problem is… they look alike.

Right at the top of 99% of these Yellow Page Ads is the business name. For example, under the “Haircutters and Stylists” listings we might see something like the following at the top of each ad block:

“Sally Jones Hair Salon”

“Theresa’s Hair Care”

“Quickie Cuts”

“The Family Hair Gallery”

Now… if you’re thinking, “Sure Joe, but EVERYONE structures their Yellow Pages Ad like that…”

Uh huh. You see where I’m coming from?

Most people are afraid of looking too different from everyone else in business. And this is especially true in their advertising.

That’s no good. For one thing, your advertising is supposed to set you “apart” from the crowd… tell readers what’s unique about you. And second… you’re paying big bucks for a Yellow Page Listing.

So make your yellow page advertising count!

The person who opens up the yellow pages is looking for something. They’re either looking for a particular item, or they’re looking for something to solve a particular problem.

If someone is reading the category you’re listed under it’s a good chance they’re a HOT prospect. A high percentage of Yellow Page shoppers are ready to buy NOW.

So is your business name likely to grab their attention? Probably not. People don’t care about your business name. They want to know if you can help them with their need. And help them NOW.

So how are you going to make your Yellow Page Listing stand out from the crowd? Well… for starters…

Use a big, bold headline. Right at the top of your space ad.

Let’s say you’re a busy person who’s just moved into the neighborhood. Today, you’re in the market for a new hair cutter/stylist. Your turn to the above section in the Yellow Pages Book and read the listings. Except now, instead of Theresa putting “Theresa’s Hair Care” at the top of her ad there’s the following headline:

“People Wasting Time at Most Hair Salons Trying to Look Their Best”

Hmmm… that’s interesting. You begin reading. The next few lines of body copy immediately following the headline say something like this:

“Most hair salons waste a client’s time. First, they make customers sit in a room and read magazines. Never mind the customer has an 11 a.m. appointment. The Salon thinks 11:15 or 11:20 is the same thing as 11:00. Next, the customer gets their hair washed. Then they sit a few more minutes until their stylist has an open chair.

This NEVER happens at Theresa’s Hair Care. Whether you want the latest style, or simplest cut, you can look your best without spending half a day at the salon. Her stylists are all experts in the latest trends. But Theresa has developed a system… like clockwork. This means no wasted time. She even promises that if you call ahead and book a time-slot you’ll NEVER have to sit and wait more than 7 minutes before a stylist gives you their full personal attention - - or your haircut is FREE. To find out more pick up the phone right now and call 555-5555 to book an appointment.”

Notice how this is written. Like a news editorial; not an ad. It’s written this way for a reason.

If getting a nice haircut quickly is important to customers in Theresa’s area then her Yellow Pages ad speaks directly to a core desire. If Theresa can deliver on the promises she makes in her ad then she’s got a winner. And her YP listing will generate customer response like crazy over other listings in her category.

Bank on it.

Joe Farinaccio helps entrepreneurs sell their goods and services. For more information on Yellow Page advertising and direct marketing visit his website at… http://www.sales-letters-and-marketing.com

Have you mistakenly trained your branding to fall over and play dead? Do you know how to use psychology to create branding that lights up with the voltage of a thousand neon bulbs? And can you play Scrooge with your budget, yet get huge branding mileage? And if so, how? Read on and find out how you can be a Leonardo Da Vinci with your brand!

It’s Raining 3000+ Messages a Day! I have a friend. Let’s call him Eugene. Partly because that’s his real name. Eugene positions himself as a pitch manager. Very effectively, he shows CEOs and executives (who make pitches for new and existing business) how they can use simple steps to get a powerful presentation across.

Eugene had a problem that all of us do. His brand (or his company’s brand) was just one of three thousand new messages that bamboozle us every day through various media. To get his name welded in his customer’s brain was like being on a rocking chair. You feel the movement, but you go nowhere. Eugene’s brand was going places, but it was a slow tedious process.

He needed to get some prime real estate in his customer’s brain really quickly and without the benefit of Daddy Warbucks’ deep pockets. All he had to do was get their attention…

13 Boxes. Does That Get Your Attention? Doesn’t your brain go nuts wanting to ask what is the significance of 13 boxes? That’s the new brand name of Eugene’s company. Can you see that immediately catching your attention? The brain is dying to know the significance of this strange sounding set of words. And it won’t let go till it gets an answer!

In this case the answer is simple. Eugene has a system of 13 boxes in his training process that takes you from the start of your presentation to the final crescendo. The 13 boxes form the structure and the route you must follow to get results.

His company brand could be something like XYZ Training or have his own name (like accountants and law firms do) but why on earth would that excite his customer’s brain?

Another Branding Example called KeyGhost… Here’s another example of vivid psychological branding called KeyGhost. KeyGhost is a powerful but simplistic device that monitors every keystroke on your keyboard. This spy-like product evades the scrutiny of the unobservant eye. A name like KeyGhost immediately ruffles the brain forcing it to stop what it’s doing. Then it drives all its attention in the direction of this unusual sounding product.

This is exactly what you need. Once you’ve got a spotlight-hogging brand name, you start to own a tiny part of your customer’s brain that is yours to keep forever.

Forever Starts With a Trigger… A trigger called Curiosity! Curiosity sounds a deafening red alert in every neuron of the brain. The brain is at its curious best when faced with something that seems irregular or uncommon in some way.

If your brand name doesn’t create a curiosity factor, you’re wasting gobs of money to just trying to cut through the communication clutter. The sooner you get psychological exclamation marks into your brand name, the sooner you get the attention you crave for.

But What If You Have a Boring Company Name That You’re Stuck With? Hey it happens! You inherited the brand name and there’s not much you can do with it without the shareholders going for your jugular. Well don’t fret. First you’ve got to realise that branding is not restricted to just your company name. A process/product that your company has or follows could become bigger than the company itself.

Look For The Power Of Your Processes… With Eugene, his process was sitting under his nose all along. In the case of 13 Boxes, it’s quite easy to draw up a dramatic scenario of how 13 boxes can get you out of your ‘box’ and give you immense confidence in your presentation skills. In his case, though, the process actually defined the company.

With KeyGhost, it’s a cinch to describe how the hardware works just like a ghost and yet link it back to your keyboard and computer.

You can be an accounting firm with a company name like “Boring, Dead and Co.” and still brand your prize-winning process and call it ‘Goodbye Extra Tax’ or ‘Corporate Loopholes.’

Do you think your clients will see you in a better light? You bet they will! So get going, get out and get working on your brand naming canvas right away!

Nonsensical Names Work Too… One Red Dog, The Loaded Hog and other such names flout the basic principles of process and logic. Yet they seem to work powerful imagery on the brand name. It’s the story that goes with it that creates a sense of immortality and distinctiveness around the brand.

Even if you choose to have a name that means very little and can drum up a story to match it, you’ve got yourself a winner. Which place would you rather frequent? ‘One Red Dog’ or ‘Joe’s Café?’ With a vivid name you’ve got the opportunity to weave a story — even a story that you made up all by yourself!

Shazaam! It’s Branding With Drama! Don’t just Mona Lisa your brand. Put some Shakespeare in it as well. Push the limits of your brand name and make it an action tool. For example, 13 boxes could be presented as 13 different boxes placed on a CEO’s desk. Can you visualise the curiosity factor? What if the boxes were different shapes and different colours? Can you see the website name? The t-shirt design? The ad on TV? Can you see how extendable a picturesque brand name can be?

Go ahead; make the effort to Mona Lisa your brand name.

You’ll make Leonardo really proud of you!

Wouldn’t you love to stumble upon a secret library of small business ideas? Find simple, yet electrifying ideas on marketing strategy,psychological tactics and branding. Judge for yourself when you read these small business ideas.

How well your fundraiser does will depend on how much publicity you can attract. Your community should be made aware of your fundraiser, so they can help raise funds and increase your results. If your community doesn’t know about the fundraiser you are hosting, who is going to show up?

We have listed some fundraising publicity tips below that will help you start out on the right foot and get your fundraiser the attention it deserves!

There is No Such Thing as Too Much Publicity
Send a press release that details your fundraiser to your local paper. You can also distribute a press release online for free if you have a website that can accept orders from all over the world. Find community newsletters you can also use to let the community know about your fundraiser. If you live in an area that has homeowners associations, call a few of the bigger associations and inquire about their newsletter distribution. Some will allow you to include your fundraising info for free or for a nominal fee.

Flyers – A Tried and True Marketing Tactic
Distribute flyers all over your area! Place them on doors, on windshields, and on telephone poles (first make sure you know the laws in your area). Start by targeting small businesses, grocery stores and local neighborhoods. Have flyers readily available with you everywhere you go, so you can pass them out. Also, be sure that your volunteers actively hand out flyers everyday. Make the flyer short but to the point, as too much information on a flyer will result in the person tossing it away without having read it. Remember: less is more!

Give Away a Free Gift
Having a small gift to give away during your fundraising event will help to remind people about your company and your fundraiser. Depending on the budget you have available, you can have products such as bumper stickers, pins, pens, and t-shirts designed with your group’s name or logo. Then can give them away to all those that participate in your fundraising event!

These are just a few ways you can get your fundraiser some publicity and make the community more aware of your fundraising efforts. Remember, if nobody knows about your fundraising event, they won’t be able to participate!

Michelle Pearson is a former fundraising consultant who currently is a writer for the Fundraising Know How Magazine at fundraisingknowhow.com – a site that specializes in helping fundraising coordinators offering information on cookie dough fundraisers, cheearleading fundraisers, cookbook fundraising and more.

A graphic designer spoke to me last week. His graphic design firm — let’s call it XYZ Design — was numero uno in designing labels for a large wine company. Let’s call that ABC Wines. Now ABC wines had some really super wines. They loved the incomparable graphic design of XYZ design, and continued to use them for several of their major brands. This one client alone generated tons of work and income for XYZ design right through the year.

Then It Happened…

ABC Wines sold out to another wine company. This new wine company had its own in-house graphic designers. That effectively meant XYZ Design’s income and work flow were severely hit, causing them to scramble for new clients to fill the gap.

"If only I had done what you said," said the owner of XYZ Design, " and not line extended into web design and other forms of graphic design and communication, I would have gone down the gurgler too"

Not true.

Line extension doesn’t mean you run just one business or have one product.

No, it doesn’t mean that at all.

Multi-tasking existed long before the advent of computers and the more skills you have, the better off you are in today’s world. However, you have to name each ‘twin’ differently to give it a very distinct identity. When you do that, your client recognises the difference and chooses that ‘twin’ for its own individual personality and character.

How Do You Line Extend Without Line Extending

In the case of XYZ Design, it would have to work in this manner. To all wine companies, they would enter the door as a ‘wine label design Specialist.’ To every wine company in the country and overseas, they would be known, not as XYZ Design but more so, as XYZ Wine Design Specialists.’

This would give the wine companies a specialist to deal with. It would help XYZ Wine Design specialists to build their reputation in the wine industry to a point where if any wine company decided to design a label, XYZ Design would be one of the main contenders.

Now, wine companies don’t do just labels. They do brochures, leaflets, annual reports, websites and tons of other stuff. Your question would be, how can I afford to lose out on that market?

Why You Never Lose Out On The Rest Of The Stuff

It’s called backdoor entry. Everyone (including your competition) is banging on the front door, trying to get in. You, on the other hand, quietly slip in through the backdoor, pick your goodies and slip out.

This is how it works in practice. If you do really good work designing wine labels, it’s almost inevitable that clients will ask you if you can design other associated material. That’s when you introduce your other company, "JKL Graphic Design" and "PQR Web Design". Same company, different positioning and certainly different brand names. What this does, is it helps clients compartmentalize their thinking. They now think you have specialist groups working on specialist projects taking extra special attention.

This Does Two Things…

1) It helps each of your businesses take on a ‘character’ of its own without affecting the other, much like Air New Zealand is premium and Freedom Air is budget. The public knows they’re one company but still compartmentalizes them into two. You can change the character of each company, and help boil it down to the smallest possible niche, making you an expert in the category.

2) The client sees your multiple brands as different brands. When they need web design services, or when they need to recommend them, they call the web design experts. And so on with graphic design and wine labels or just about anything that you are handling.

Everyone Loves A Specialist

Would you allow a GP to work on your triple bypass? OR would you prefer a heart specialist? Even better, a doctor who does only triple bypass surgery? If you feel the difference, so does your client and to ignore this basic human instinct is to do so at your own risk.

How It Works Not Just In Business But In The Workplace Too

If you’re working in a job, the same rule applies. Be known as a genius for something. Know how several things work. But branding yourself in one skill makes you the expert. Every time the company has a fire in that section, you will be known for your fire-fighting skills.

On an ordinary basis, most employees are not known for any particular skill and wonder why they are on top of the redundancy list. Bosses don’t know what you do and why you’re special, because you haven’t been doing the ‘branding bit’. It’s better to be a specialist than the ’safe unknown.’

As Dire Straits sang in one of their songs, "Sitting on the fence is a dangerous course: You could get a bullet from the peace keeping force."

Funny (But True) Phrases When You Forget To Obey The Rules

Jack of all trades, master of none. A bird in the hand, is worth two in the bush. And the best one of all: Keep it simple, stupid!

Keep putting these principles in action and you will see a marked improvement in your business.

Wouldn’t you love to stumble upon a secret library of small business ideas? Find simple, yet electrifying ideas on marketing strategy, psychological tactics, and branding. Judge for yourself when you read these small business ideas

Broadcast advertisers, who use television, are seeing dramatic reductions in their ad results because of a four-letter word-TiVo. In some ad agencies one can sense that TiVo really is a four-letter word in the most derogatory sense. This reporter decided to follow the actions of what such advertising giants as Ford Motor Company and Shimano are doing creatively to solve the TiVo problem.

What is the "TiVo problem?" It is all about consumers who fast forward through the commercials associated with television shows that they watch and capture in their TiVo systems. Madison Avenue refers to this as "ad avoidance." Advertisers call this their worst nightmare.

Another term used for TiVo is DVR, which is short for Digital Video Recorder. Nielsen Media Research predicts that DVR ownership rates could reach 10% by the end of 2005, and explode to 41% by 2009. These numbers beg for an immediate and radical solution if broadcast advertisers are to continue using television as a promotional medium. The most intriguing aspect about the whole TiVo issue is that the solution involves the continued use of advertising, but in the shows themselves.

Television show product placement is at the heart of this solution and both Ford and Shimano are using the same award winning national sports show, Inside Sportfishing (www.insidesportfishing.com) to complement their traditional advertising campaigns through extensive product placement. What do I mean by product placement? It is the creative placement of actual product IN the TV show itself. Done in such a way that the products become an integral and important part of the storyline and show itself.

The Survivor reality show is known for its rather blatant attempts to promote certain products, followed closely behind by Donald Trump’s hawking of the goods and services of those companies that advertise on The Apprentice. Many consumers are turned off by product placement that is clumsily done. Michael Fowlkes, founder and Executive Producer of Inside Sportfishing, developed his show over a decade ago, and decided to use the entire format to gently, yet persuasively, promote the shows sponsors. "I went to Ford initially because their trucks literally sold themselves," states Fowlkes. "All we had to do was figure out ways to showcase the F series trucks in action. It wasn’t all that hard because fisherman drive trucks."

Fowlkes went to see Richard Landfield, a 20 year Executive Member of the Southern California Ford Dealers Advertising Association, and pitched him on his concept. Simply put, Fowlkes told Lanfield, that the F series trucks were the perfect vehicles to tow his fishing boats around. From running down the rugged Baja peninsula and Central America, to hitting famous fishing holes and bass lakes across the American heartland from Texas to as far north as Alaska. The fit was a natural for Ford, whose trucks are consistent leaders in nearly every truck study concerning the toughness of a truck.

Landfield took the concept to Dailey & Associates in Los Angeles, the agency representing the SCFDAA. They jumped on board and haven’t looked back since. "I was worried about how Inside Sportfishing would integrate the trucks into the series," concedes Landfield. "After I saw the first program, you could see how Michael was proving our trucks were Ford Tough." Landfield went on to say that Ford’s whole advertising campaign was based on the slogan "Ford Tough." During his show Fowlkes would run the trucks through the harshest terrain, which drove home the point about the trucks being "Ford Tough". "When someone watched one of our shows, and was even remotely interested in a truck, he was talking to the nearest Ford dealership after the show was over," says Fowlkes "Dealers love the show because it works. It helps them sell trucks."

Fowlkes then steered his attention to another major player in the sport fishing arena, Shimano, which is well known for it’s rods and reels, bicycle, and snowboard products. Once again, Fowkles vision for Shimano was to showcase the reliability of Shimano’s fishing gear but to do so in a non-intrusive manner.

The President of North American operations for Shimano, Dave Pfeiffer, quickly jumped on board with Inside Sportfishing’s program the minute he learned about Fowlkes’ promotional philosophy. "Placement of product within the content of the show has been very effective for us," states Pfeiffer. "Michael has a great understanding of how and why we make products the way we do for certain techniques or markets and he instinctively is able to portray them just the way we want. He makes it a point not to be too obvious about it though, so the product really is weaved into the total experience."

Pfeiffer has also been concerned about the TiVo challenge lately. "There is no doubt that TiVo presents a problem for advertisers and promoters alike," warns Pfeiffer, "we know our products will be a major part of the action on the show." Pfeiffer knows that one must develop alternative advertising strategies but didn’t necessarily consider sponsorships at first. "Shimano does not tend to go out ‘looking’ for sponsorships," says Pfeiffer, "But, we know a good fit when we see it (www.insidesportfishing.com) and then pursue building the kind of relationship that works for both of us."

Fowlkes is now building yet another strong element to his overall programming presentation. After meeting Rachel Gershwin, Director of Marketing & Development of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of San Diego, Fowlkes was immediately drawn to the concept of helping out not just one child and family, but an entire group of kids and their loved ones. "It is amazing how many kids and families are interested in fishing wishes," Gershwin says, "Michael’s idea of having a boat trip for a number of children and their families was a brilliant idea."

The idea was received so well by the Make-A-Wish Foundation that they expect to make copies of the taped show, and plan to use them throughout all their local chapters in the U.S. "The more we talked, the more I fell in love with the project," Fowlkes says.

Fowlkes is in the process of negotiating with additional sponsors who’ve expressed a keen interest in becoming a part of the series. Considering the content and nature of the show, sponsors should be lining up to get involved.

With new advertising challenges cropping up, seemingly every day, led by such new technologies as TiVo, advertisers have to get involved with creative programming. Product placement, particularly the type of product inclusion that "blends seamlessly into the shows is the key to success." Selecting the right programming partner then becomes the most critical action to be taken.

Bruce Prokopets, Executive Editor of Press Direct International

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Motorola Chairman/CEO, Ed Zander had some harsh words for Apple regarding the simultaneous release of the iPod nano with the Motorola ROKR, but, more importantly, he had admonition for his own brand as well. Having a lot of previous success with the RAZR, the ultra sleek and stylish flip phone, Motorola believed it had permission to take the next step in production: phone + music. What Motorola failed to recognize is that brand permission relies upon the perspective of the customer, not product offering.

Zander publicly admitted, “People were looking for an iPod…we may have missed the marketing message there.” The moment a small handheld device is paired with iTunes, consumers expect no less than iPod. There is no replacement for the “sexy” design of the iPod, and with the release of the nano, an even thinner, elegant shape, the ROKR was left looking “like another cell phone.” RAZR was successful because it was a cell phone that challenged the design of cell phones; it was a brand that claimed, “you can do better.” Consumers were even more disappointed when they discovered the ROKR only held 100 songs (because their iPods held at least ten times that much). In fact, research shows that the phone is being returned at a rate three to six times the industry average.

At a glance, the TV advertising for the ROKR was misleading as well. Actors in the commercials walked down the street listening to music while their shadows and reflections danced in the background. When the phone rang, the shadows and reflections returned to normal. While clever and pleasing to watch, the commercials mimicked the iPod/iTunes commercials too closely, bringing the images of the black silhouettes against the simple colored screen backgrounds to mind. Immediately, the customer set higher brand standards than the ROKR could ever achieve. The customer wanted iPod.

Even after selling a quarter of a million ROKR phones in the third quarter, the ROKR is still seen as a failure because customer beliefs and trends were not considered. As a result, behaviors were not inspired to change. Motorola does not have the same permission of the iPod. iPod completely redefined an entire category (MP3s), becoming the must-have music player within the marketscape of electronics. In fact, if the idea of phone + music was the real vision, iPod should have then branded a phone. In this case, the brand needs to be iPod in order for the customer to feel important and identified. Motorola’s focus was completely upon product benefits. Motorola needs to understand that product offering is what it is; brand is what the consumer is.

At Stealing Share we heavily promote the concept of brand strategy over the table stakes of price, product attributes and sales propositions. Table stakes may work for a short time, but eventually everyone makes the same offers, asks for the same amount of money and satisfies market demands in order to merely stay above water. Brand trumps this stagnant consumer cycle, adding personal connection, commitment and identification to the purchase decision. If Motorola had a stronger brand, or continued to create products more like the RAZR, perhaps the time would come when the brand was able to diversify into the music realm. Right now, Motorola is a phone model offered by cell phone providers such as Sprint and Verizon. Motorola would need a completely new position in order to break free from a purely product-driven existence. Apple achieved a higher brand status upon the release of the iPod. With an actual brand identity in addition to a reputation for creative, innovative design, Apple was able to branch out and produce the iPod. Brand is what allows differentiation and long-term loyalty; it allows iPod to be iPod by no other name.

Soon, Apple Computer will get a taste of Motorola’s predicament with iTunes, but on an even larger scale with Intel processors. Incorporating the Intel Inside technology into Apple’s model will prove both challenging and potentially dangerous to the Mac brand. What will Mac need to do with its brand messaging to include Intel, an already potent brand coursing through the market space? Will they need to downplay Intel in order to maintain the integrity of their brand? Or will Mac slowly be converted to an Intel brand? It will be intriguing to see whether the Intel Mac will be a ROKR, RAZR, or iPod. It is difficult to predict whether or not Mac is truly ready for this new addition.

Thus, the battle between brand and product is no fair fight. The success of a product remains in sales numbers while the success of brand expands into every fiber of the business and the consumer. Brand, by nature, will always have the upper hand because it does not stand alone or next to the competition. Brand is placed above product and category with an army of consumers to bolster its every movement within the market.

Molly Sunderdick
Brand Strategist
Stealing Share, Inc

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