Why little brands are sexy

Having a conversation with another brand geek made me wonder - what makes it so hot to work with big shot brands?

So, you get social recognition (oh, you work for them.....ooooh), bigger budgets (oh, you managed that squillion dollar campaign.....oooooh), recruiter recognition (oh, you tick that box....oooh).

But little brands are sexy. Evolving, passionate, meaningful and unlimited potential. Sexy.

It is a hard choice as a marketer to say no to the platinum blondes of brands. However it is with little brands that you have the scope to do truly great work, shaping the positioning in the market, inspiring the team and being forced and allowed by your size to do truly creative marketing.

Some great examples: Mast Brothers Chocolate, Pom wonderful, Craigslist, McIlhenny Tabasco, Bacon Salt, Little Creatures, Cullman Liquidation, Carmans, Hummingbird Bakery, Honest Tea, Trunki, Maldon Salt, Fisherman's Friend, Monocle, Dumbo Feather. Filled with attitude, in touch with their customers and with brands that outweigh their org structure.

As a marketer, the small brand is definitely sexy.

Nope, don't care what its called.

And why should I? If it doesn't tell me what it does for me, what does it matter if it is called Loft, Links or Lollipops. Case in point: McDonalds. I know exactly what it does for me, not because of the name, but because of the brand.

Unless the name does something for me as a customer - I don't care.

Customers care what you do for them. If we delay until we find perfection in a name, its not focusing on the brand. Focusing on what really matters for customers and delivering that is real branding. Don't wait, do.

Urban observation: Unlaced...

Cool people don't do laces. If they do it is with a reluctant, just kicked on air. From Cons to this season's latest sharp lace up high heeled, fur lined and spike heeled ankle boot, it just doesn't do to be too tightly laced.

There are designer and even bespoke unlaced shoes, songs, forums, books (Ok - not sure this one is at all cool) radio programs, a facebook page and many fashion and footwear pages dedicated to the unlaced. There is even a how to...to not do your laces.

There are obvious parallels. But I wonder...at what point did it become uncool to be laced, or even, in control? Was it the translation of the prisoner shoe to the outside world, Run DMC in the 80s with their Adi's or did it begin with the rebellion against the corset?

Unlaced, a small detail, but a perfect signal that members of the 'unlaced' tribe will notice.

Cook kicks picture credit: how's your edge.

the many different faces of brand consultancy

We are currently going through a process of selecting a brand consultancy to work with and we are amazed, scared and excited at the different responses to the brief.

Branding is an inexact art with many different interpretations (there are 4.3m Google image results for branding process) and certainly my brief wasn't perfect. We are focusing on a visual look and feel to move a logo-mark to true brand expression.

From the same brief we received straight to art, perceptual directions, initial strategic thought with no clarification, no questions and some brilliant questions back to our business. Confusion. But it is a useful process for the reflection back upon ourselves, refining and revealing our thinking and aesthetic preferences.

Tips for branding consultancies responding to a similar pitch:

1. Read the material given (sounds simple).

2. Ask more questions! The companies who didn't did not think things through properly and responded slightly off the mark.

3. Use visual stimuli: to help discussion, taking things away from terminology and into hearts

4. Some companies repeated back the reasons why we hired them as original thought. Nice validation but sounded strangely familiar...and patronising.

5. Get passionate - we're excited and we need our partners to be too!

6. Customise. Let the customer and need drive the process, not the other way around. A process by numbers makes a client feel like just another number.

For some other thinking on how to delight potential clients and show them that you 'get it', check out this article in campaign, comments on being memorable, great suggestions on all stages of responses from experienced hands via the IPA who mention the classic - chemistry (note, this is more specifically directed at advertising)

This is by no means a complete list - what has your experience been, from either a client or agency perspective?

Meanwhile - we are excited about heading to the next stage!

Any brand can ignite a movement with its
customers, so long as the brand can move people to believe in a company,
to believe in a better way, and to believe in themselves - John Moore.

Thank you for the inspiration, John (brand autopsy blog).

Is the best creative in the building your Finance Manager?

Ongoing research by Humantific in a fascinating project to understand the design thinking process, Design Thinking Made Visible, found that some students in Business Schools had the same type of creative thinking, in the truest sense of the word, as creative students. And vice versa.

So - what innovation goodness are we missing out in our marketing-led ideation sessions?

Can you invite the Finance Manager, the bus-boy or the logistics co-ordinator into the room next time you have have an ideation session? They may just be the spark that ignites your next success.

If not - you may all just have had a lot of fun in the process. Great!

Let me know how it goes :)

Hat tip to @Rubyku for sharing the research project. Thank you, it's awesome :)

Why is it the inside that matters?

It has been hot here in London. Yes, you read right, an Australian calling London hot! Amongst the over-heated crowd I noticed patterns peeking out from beneath thonged feet (flip flops for non-antipodeans).

Why would someone go to the effort of buying shoes where you can barely see the pattern?

I was reminded of a time when a friend showed me his fine new work shoes, but was most excited by the inner lining depicting a sunset scene. Likewise, a hand-bag maker once told me that often, the reason people bought her bags was because of the lining (I too was seduced by the lining for my Nancy Bird bag). Recently I was researching a client's online experience and the one thing that customers repeatedly mentioned was their delight in the wrapping. Clearly the same occurs for Apple lovers given the recent spate of 'unwrapping' videos.

Expanding the thought, the same delight in discovering an unexpected interior occurs with houses (warehouse conversions), service and even people such as Susan Boyle.

I am not sure there is a straight answer to the question "Why is it the inside that matters?", but I think it can start to be explained by an overall concept of consumption=personal. It is that feeling that the design or moment is rare and can only be experienced by me (or a select few). They are all richly sensory moments, from the vividness of a pattern to the texture of fine silk lining. It ties into the notion of brand experience, or moment of truth for a brand.

One thing is for sure - it is at that moment that your 'thing' becomes personal. You connect. And the love and loyalty begin.

How can you create something special on the inside to delight your customers, and keep them coming back? Or have you already? Why do you think it is the inside that matters?

photo credit: nancybird