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We have a service that scans the Internets for us to find news on the naming industry (such as it is) and we are a little puzzled by something that popped up on our radar this week.
A post to a blog at SusanSuarez.com (post now deleted but archived here) titled "Vayton, The First Naming Company" caught our attention. We thought we were pretty good with the history of the naming industry and this Vayton being the first in the industry was new to us. Seemed like we might be needing a remedial lession in the industry. So we had an intern start digging. The first line of the post (from earlier this week) read "Looking to brand your company, website or blog? Vayton Brand Capital is a name creating, brand management and domain..." but we couldn't get much more than that since the post by a work-at-home mom was pulled. So we looked elsewhere - and found a pattern. Something big appears to be happening at Vayton this week since at least four (now five) blog posts were written about them by people around the globe. Just this week (and evidently only this week - we couldn't find anything earlier) we've got the work-at-home Mom, an Indonesian language blogger who was compelled to write favorably about them... in English. Then we've got Gizmondo News (sounds important, no?)- whose other posts rave about a small promotional products firm, a small compaints registration firm, a small custom printing firm, and a small PVC banner maker. And last, a blog about web advertising and SEO that seems, well, a little odd. (In one paragraph we have a double exlamation point, triple questionmark, and an ellipsis with fifteen dots. And with all that extra punctuation there is no room for spaces following the end of a sentence... though there IS room for spaces both before and after commas.) Frequent readers know that I am inclined to give organizations the benefit of the doubt when it comes to advertising tactics, but I'm finding that this tactic is getting my blood pressure up. It appears that Vayton has paid for placement on blogs - and that the blogs that took them up on the offer are of a sort that add no value to the advertiser, and might in fact take credibility away from the brand. Even if no money changed hands - something must have happened to get this mini-avalanche of blog postings to occur. We suppose there's nothing actually immoral about getting little-known bloggers to link multiple times to your site to get a boost in web visibility. It just feels a little underhanded. We have a bit of a mantra at Stokefire (one among many, actually) which is this: "If we wouldn't tell people about it on our home page we should be doing it." That includes taking on questionable projects, working for questionable clients, or undertaking questionable advertising practices. Of course this does not mean we'll be bragging about our own branding strategies here... It's more about the fact that we wouldn't feel like we were 'caught' if word got out about how we market ourselves. So... how about you? Are you undertaking advertising practices that you would embarass you if they were found out? If so, why? Remember... your brand is who you are when you think no one is looking. Sadly, someone is always looking. We're not ashamed to say that sometimes it's us. (Heck, if we didn't check out the competition how would we know if our services were providing good value?) Note: We've exposed questionable practices before and welcome input from anyone that can shed light on the situation. When we get something wrong we'll admit it. And maybe even send a nice box-o-hotness along to the folks that help us out. The guys at Vayton seem quite capable and well respected, so we'd love to hear about how this thing slipped into the mix. Back in April there was a news blurb about Pizza Hut changing their name to Pasta Hut. Everyone thought it was an April Fools prank. Then... two days ago we see this:
I'm pretty sure this is still a PR stunt - especially given the fact that pastahut.com is listed as an online auction portal belonging to one Kevin Smith. And if it isn't a PR stunt, well... Kevin is about to become a very rich man. (Note to big companies going through a rebranding: DO NOT ANNOUNCE YOUR NAME UNTIL YOU SECURE THE WEBSITE. Even if you might be able to go to ICANN and protest - why not just do it right in the first place?)
I've been hearing this phrase a lot lately - especially in press releases. And it scares the crap out of me.
Why? Because it shows that the naming industry is inept. Evidently there are people in our industry giving clients talking points that can destroy a naming project in a matter of seconds. The phrase "the name evokes" is a back room conversation that you might overhear during a strategy session, not something you place in a press release. It is jargon... and it is jargon that takes away from the effectiveness of the brand once it is discussed openly. Here are a sampling examples I've come across through press releases and marketing materials in the past few weeks... Apologies, but I can't help but comment. The new name evokes two important aspects of the band. The philharmonic aspect alludes to lovers of harmony and quintet alludes to the band’s five members.And last...Interesting. Previously I thought that quintet was the description of a group with five members. Now I learn that it also evokes this quality... the name evokes visions of middle-aged men basking in a communal shower of smoke and bonding over one of the most basic, yet complex, leisure items known to man – the cigar. The good folks over at a A Hundred Monkeys have an interesting post that comes to a similar conclusion as I'm about to, but they say it thusly: Good work stands on its own merits. <--The linked post is well worth a read.Here's the deal. The client should never have to use words like "evoke" or "indicate" or "associate" to justify their name to their audience. When we developed "webmeadow" for a solar powered programming firm we didn't load the executives up with tips on how to explain what their name meant. We helped them to understand the ways they could show what their brand was about and how their voice, image, and message could be made more compelling. We helped to design programs that take advantage of the stuff webmeadow evokes - we did NOT develop talking points that have the company execs stripping apart the name to say things about how strong the connection between the company and the name may be. A Hundred Monkeys is (are?) right. The moment you have to explain why you chose a name - versus, say, showing people through your marketing and programs and actions - you've shown that you're not confident that the identity can stand on its own. It indicates very clearly that the name doesn't stand on its own merits. The same can be said of logos, brochures, and marketing campaigns - the moment you have to explain them you strip them of their power. All of this has made me go back to our own processes to see if we ever use the sort of language that might inadvertently lead to an executive trumpeting about how our name evokes some sort of connection. And it was there. It's part of our evaluation process - we check to see how many different things a name might evoke and how many of those are relevant to the brand. Damn. Thankfully we take the time to show the connections rather than list them out as "being evoked." But still... Damn. I'm off to try to fix it.
It's rare for us to do any sales promotions via our blog, but today we've been compelled by events to break the trend. If you're not interested in seeing us abase ourselves just check the greatest hits links on the right and forget this post ever happened.
We at Stokefire have been watching the news (mostly via The Daily Show) and paying attention to politics (again, thanks to Jon Stewart) and wondering when all the doom and gloom everyone is talking about was going to begin hitting firms like ours. Well... We're starting to see it a bit. Quite a few folks who have been laid off from financial institutions are looking to start up businesses on their own. Minus all the financial shadiness of course. A handful of them have called us asking for help. Unfortunately our service rates aren't exactly structured to be attractive to people who are getting ready to tighten their belts. $350 or more per hour is a lot to pay when you don't have more money coming in to fill the bank account. We feel your pain. Which is why we're doing this: Through the end of next week (October 10, 2008) we're offering a package for people who have been laid off, are worried about being laid off, or are getting ready to leave their current employer. Our small-business consulting and contract rates are being adjusted through October 10th as follows: Hour 1: $300 We know you're hurting. We figure you could use some company in your pain (but be warned that we might whimper a bit for the last few hours.) Feeling your pain may help us build character, and we know its the right thing to do, but damnit... that's a whole lot o' money we're not making... right along with you. Sorry, the maximum number of hours we can offer during this promotion is seven. After that we revert to our list-price rates. But seven hours is more than enough time to give most startups the strategies (and perhaps even name and tagline guidance) needed to get a business off the ground. (Actually, many of our startup clients get what they need in just a few hours.) If the economy keeps tanking we may continue this promotion, but for now we're optimistic that someone somewhere in Washington or Wall Street can get the economy moving again soon. Okay, so maybe we're not optimistic. But if we don't say that we are you'll just assume we're going to keep this going forever and that you can take advantage of these prices whenever you want. And this is gonna end at some point (perhaps four years from now, depending upon the upcoming elections...)
Things seem to be picking up steam around here - with a slew of interesting opportunities from major organizations and partners. Everything from Forestry & Paper advocacy to HDTV on your cell-phone to Senior Citizens Rights groups... it's diverse, challenging, and incredibly fun.
We've just wrapped up some really cool projects for an international health safety organization, a kidswear company, a fight-wear company (we didn't know that category existed a couple weeks ago), a family counseling franchise, and perhaps the hippest business process consultants we've ever met. It's been a great summer... But it just got better yesterday. Out of the blue we got a call from the Community Business Partnership down in Springfield. (That's where we learned how to turn the idea for Stokefire into the big bucket of awesome that we are today.) Someone nominated our firm to be included in their Hall of Fame - and we got accepted. Or is it inducted? Not really sure... Anyhow, it's all going down today at around 11:30 in our old digs. We'll be talking with CBP's board of directors and our old counselors, sharing the stories of our growth and successes (Two Fortune 500 clients, winning a contract away from the biggest branding agency in the world, more partnership and contract opportunities than we can keep in our heads, and a ten-fold increase in revenue per hour over the last two years. Oh, and mentions in the New York Times, the Washington Business Journal, and the Chicago Sun-Times. And keynotes at ASAE and ACCE... and AIIM.) Looking back on it I'm amazed we've done it. Heck, I'd be amazed if we'd done half of it. I rarely take the time to thank our readers, and that's certainly a failing of mine. We get about 150 per day (not a huge base, but certainly enough for us) with the occassional spike into the thousands when I say something particularly relevant or perhaps inflammatory. But I fully acknowledge that this blog and you - the readers - are a large part of the reason we're successful. People encounter our opinions here, send them around, and essentially invite new entrepreneurs and business leaders to learn about our organization, offerings, and philosophy. About half of our conversations with prospective clients start with "So, we heard about you when someone forwarded me this post from your blog." So...  We woudln't be where we are today without you. Y'all come back now, y'hear?  I've been floored by Microsoft's response to the popular Macintosh commercials. Why? Because it took 'em more than a year to respond - and they had to use ideas (and hardware) that Apple developed first. To me, this campaign appears to open up incredible strategic opportunities for... Apple. The commercial is posted below for all to see... First, they're embracing a persona developed by the folks at Apple. The first shot in their new ads is of the lovable nerd type guy Apple created to represent the PCs. Sure, this might be a cute way of starting an ad - but it opens them up to a rather powerful Apple response. How's this for a closing kicker for an Apple advert? - Microsoft: Copying Apple's Ideas... Since 1984The other big problem? Well, it turns out that the "I'm a PC" campaign was made at least in part by... wait for it... ...A Macintosh. Apple couldn't ask for a better lead-in. I anxiously await their response. (Incidentally, Stokefire converted to an all Macintosh environment about a year ago. Best thing we've done for our business in a long time.)
I was asked to provide an industry review of a book nearing publication. I typically provide these sorts of things without fuss, as I see it as a way to keep tabs on where the industry is heading. I'm 2/3 of the way through the book and I'm not sure I can finish.
For the first time ever when reading a book about branding I find myself thinking - or even saying aloud - "No, that's completely wrong" or "That's so wrong that I wish I could slap you across the face." So... I'm not going to be reviewing the book. At least not officially. The idea behind the book is that Branding is dead. This is actually an idea that is actually worthy of discussion. I've read some great books that explore this concept - that consumers today are too savvy to be swayed by branding. That we don't buy into the whole Design Is Life concept that Apple has at its core. Rob Walker's recent book (that I was not asked to review, mind you) did a great job examining this concept. Interestingly he finds that almost everyone thinks themselves immune to the efforts of marketers... usually while in the act of sipping on their Grande Cappucino as they buy their Graves tea kettle at Target. So, back to the book I was asked to review. It explains branding as the stuff companies do to establish themselves in the consumers mind. But in chapter one he begins to give examples of what he considers to be branding. Those examples include:
These things are not branding. These things are execution. They're PR, marketing, advertising, and talent. Branding relies on execution to succeed, but really happens before execution begins. Branding is what might've led Budweiser executives to realize that their beer made men feel virile, and to consider how this might be communicated to the target market in a way that would make men want their product. Sexy girls might just work. Incidentally, the author claims that many people won't remember which brand of beer sponsored the advertisement, but I'd argue that when your brand produces about 30% of the products on the shelf (or whatever that significant number may be) you don't really care all too much whether or not they remember your name. You've got products in each price tier, so if you get 1/3 of the dollars from beer drinkers moved to buy the category you're doing pretty damn well. What really gets me is that he's a great writer. He tells compelling stories. It's just that the whole book derides something that he names incorrectly. It's like reading a book about how ice cream is evil, and then figuring out that he didn't mean "ice cream" he actually means "lard." As I flip back through the pages of the book I find that I am becoming quite illogically irate. "Branding is a hope wrapped in a desire inside a fantasy" is a direct quote from the book. That ain't branding. That's a marketing technique. Figure out what people want to connect with and then tell them that your product will get them there. You advertise the effect the audience wants. It's how we've become a nation of people who believe soap can make us beautiful. If anyone ever really sat down and thought about it they'd see the truth in the "hope wrapped in a desire inside a fantasy" he mentions. Soap can get us clean and it can make us smell nice, but if we expect to go from a loser to a beauty queen just by rubbing a bar on our face we're deluding ourselves. The companies that get branding are the companies we think about without thinking about it. The president of Starbucks had the idea to make his establishment "The Third Place" where people would hang out between home and work. This worked great until he lost focus and it morphed from a cool place where people could soak in the atmosphere and hang out into a place where everything from the music on the stereo, to the cups, to the coffee machines... The core brand remains, but its effectiveness has been dampened due to the fact you can't see the Third Place for all the CD racks, credit card applications, and advertisements on the walls. Branding is not what most people think it is, which is why most branding projects fail. The Subservient Chicken might've been great PR, but unless it was supposed to sell whips to poultry lovers it was piss poor branding. To us at Stokefire Branding is still very much related to those branding irons they used in the Old West. The shape itself wasn't that important - it was what the mark indicated about the animal it was branded on. If your ranch was down in the valley and had the best grass in the area your brand stood for the fattest livestock in the area. That could've been a Lazy W or a Diamond Bar... the graphics didn't matter. What mattered was what qualities people assumed that the livestock with your mark would have. Your brand is what makes you different - really different - not what advertising gimmicks you offer up to get people to talk about you. So... anyhow... I'm thinkin' I'm not writing that book review.
It appears this post has been making the rounds on the Interwebs. We've gotten about 500 hits in the last couple hours - which is for us... well... a whole lot. Feel free to drop us a note here and let us know what you think. (FYI - the video was done without a script, though this was my second attempt to do it. And I used all Mac default software to produce it. For a higher quality video click through to YouTube and select Watch In High Quality on the right side above the Views count.)
I was asked to create a video answer to this question for Imagine Alexandria. I figure since I spend almost all day every day flapping my lips about stuff I'd do something a little different. This was my answer: Yeah, it's a bit hard to read, and there was a shadow over the top quarter of the white board... but that's what I get for doing a spur of the moment unscripted piece. How better to show what creativity is than to attempt to show it on the fly?
HS&P - a respected U.K. marketing firm filled with great thinkers and strategists has designed a new campaign for N&P - a financial institution also located over yonder. (Note - I use acronyms because that's what they use in the article announcing the change. And if they think that's okay then... well... Acronyms-away.)
The idea - which I believe is an excellent one - is to convince non-customers that switching banks is easy. Because, well, it is easy with N&P. I know of no real details about the promotion, other than it challenges people to make the switch, perhaps with a guarantee or incentive. The tagline? "Switch To N&P Today" Okay, so... points for clarity. But does this actually do anything other than tell potential clients what they want them to do? When was the last time any corporation commanded you to give them money and you actually listened? No fair referencing "Just Do It" since they definately command, but don't actually specify what they're commanding you to do. [Ed.: Send Stokefire Money Today. Small Bills Preferred. Lots of them.] Rather than tell people what to do, wouldn't it be more effective to show them what they'll get out of it, or more overtly indicate the ease with which the change will be made? Here's my problem: The campaign is supposed to suggest ease, but the timeframe indicated (Today) seems to be at odds with the message. "Today" is a pretty long time, especially if I hear the message in the morning. So... Great! I can come in at 9 AM and have a new bank within eight hours! Good thing I love lightly padded chairs and pens attached to chains." In our super-digital world we expect things to happen without real effort and without noticeable passage of time. Today just doesn't cut it. A better approach? Why not use the tagline to drive home the challenge - and to make the challenge a challenge to both the customer and N&P? I'm not an expert when it comes to Briticisms, but it seems something like "Got a minute? Then you've got a new bank." or perhaps a more realistic/honest approach like "Your New Bank In Thirty Minutes, Or the Pizza is Free." (I really should know if Dominos Pizza is across the pond before I suggest that one, of course. But the tie-ins are stupendous. What's easier than ordering pizza? Well... now changing your bank is!) The current proposed tagline takes no risks and will not be remembered long. At least that's what my own analysis indicates. I'll be watching with interest to see how the campaign is received by the real world. And I'll gladly eat crow if I'm wrong. I love the strategic work that HS&P does - and their approach to projects is admirable too... But in some cases a great brand idea can be hamstrung by the words used to convey it. I think this will be one of those cases. Barring amazing creative work and ground-breaking design this is one of those campaigns that may work internally to focus the effort, but that will be almost invisible to the outside world. Anyone think differently? Addendum: Forget about "today" as a timeframe. This site says it can get everything together - for free - so you can change banks on your own... and it'll only take ten minutes. I'm off to develop a name that suggests immediacy, talent, femininity, and the ferocious hunger felt by Sloths who constantly lament at their inability to move fast enough to get the best leaves. Or it was something like that, anyhow... |
