So… while eating ‘garbage’ pizza (think way too many olives), we began discussing rabbits, amoebas and whether or not armadillos were cute or gross.

Armadillos aren’t most people’s idea of lunchtime conversation, but we were working to create an identity for a new start-up. Not just any start-up, but an extension of Custom Direct.

Combining our creative talent with technical expertise, equipment (and a little luck) we’re beginning a new venture into Fine Art Reproductions, and the marketing of art and artists. Our company needed a name – an identity – a logo and mark to help convey our brand…

We want to speak as artists, to artists; to convey an idea in our name, but not be too literal. Custom Direct, Marketing Communications is literal. Armadillo Editions is not. We want to build a company with a brand promise, which includes the ability to faithfully reproduce the artists’ original artwork, in a manner keeping with the quality and integrity of fine art printmakers.

So obviously we began with an armadillo - the little armor-plated mammal that rolls up into a ball when frightened.

Armadillos are homozygous. Each time they give birth, to a litter of 5 or more pups, EVERY pup in the litter has the EXACT SAME DNA. Each one is an exact reproduction of the mother and the other.

Amoebas also create exact reproductions ‘from the original’ but after some discussion, no one wanted to be thought of as a single-celled entity covered with hair. Well one person didn’t mind, but that’s another story.

“Hey”, someone said, “rabbits reproduce a lot, and they’re lucky!” Rabbit Reproductions didn’t sound right, though, because while cuddly and likable rabbits also conjure up thoughts of speed. We want to say “hand-crafted and methodical” not “quick and crappy”, but the idea of rabbits had some legs…

“How about a breed of rabbit?” one of us suggested, “maybe we can call ourselves The Dwarf Hotot or English Lop Ear. Now THAT would make a cool logo…” But then we came upon a photo of a bunny: a Holstein Cow with Big Ears and a fluffy tail… The NAME that called out to us: The Checkered Giant.

As companhias são reais para os acionistas, os funcionários e o mercado financeiro. Já para o consumidor o que existe são marcas, o que ele escolhe (e vai escolher sempre mais) é a marca que admira e confia.

As empresas são donas legais das marcas, mas as marcas são proprietárias factuais das companhias, que inspiram e influenciam os valores que chegam aos consumidores. Os valores das marcas nascem com a empresa, que os comunica ao consumidor através de suas ações mercadológicas.

Segundo Walter, a tarefa do branding é reduzida à definição dos valores da empresa o que acaba se tornando uma restrição ameaçadora, assim gerando riscos e prejuízos para a marca e a companhia. As marcas existem na vida dos consumidores, e não apenas na cabeça dos gurus do branding. Os consumidores participam e influenciam na vida das marcas tanto, ou às vezes mais, que a companhia. As marcas vivem dos valores que os consumidores atribuem a elas ao longo dos anos em que se relacionam.

A aventura que a marca se inicia quando sai de sua casa e começa o convívio com o consumidor.

Cada rótulo, embalagem ou folheto de um produto é um manifesto. O consumidor reage a esses manifestos através de dúvidas como: O que pensa, diz e busca essa marca? Com o que ela se preocupa? Com as pessoas, as discriminações, as guerras, o meio ambiente, o futuro? Valores e ideais serão cada vez mais um fator crucial na escolha do consumidor.

Cada vez mais o marketing precisa levar a sério temas como amor, honestidade, confiabilidade.

Walter afirma que as marcas transformam o mundo com os ideais e valores em que acreditam, expressam e transmitem, quer saibam ou não, quer o intencionem ou não. Toda comunicação carrega consigo o mundo pelo qual anseia, fruto do que valoriza. Ser uma marca significa ter em si o poder de comunicar conteúdos, pois marcas falam até mesmo quando estão caladas.

Sendo assim, o que são marcas generosas?

Instituídas por seres humanos, as marcas refletem seus criadores. Podem ser “mesquinhas” ou generosas. Marcas generosas buscam mais do que os seus próprios interesses. Elas determinam seu papel e nível de importância na construção de um futuro. Buscam dar voz a valores aos interesses duradouros, e não apenas momentâneos. Sabem que só é sustentável o que beneficia a todos. A generosidade das marcas vem de quem assim as idealiza. Só quem cultiva a generosidade pode criar e sustentar marcas generosas. Elas, que nascem da virtude dos indivíduos, inspiram as mesmas qualidades em seu público.

As marcas generosas são líderes que mostram caminhos, exemplos que inspiram. Elas, que falam às multidões, têm o dever de assumir a responsabilidade que um tal poder implica. Marcas nascem por uma necessidade, vivem porque são contributivas. Morrem quando já não correspondem ao que as criou e vivificou.

A viagem das marcas generosas é guiada por uma herança grega, a constelação de três estrelas, a Bondade, a Beleza e a Verdade. A Bondade assegura o benefício, característica do que é útil. A Beleza garante a atratividade, propriedade do amável. A Verdade assegura a integridade, qualidade do confiável.

E, porque elas dão voz ao melhor, ao mais belo e verdadeiro, ao que todos admiram e desejam, o destino das marcas generosas é o sucesso. Que sejam insubstituíveis é mera conseqüência.

Fonte: M&M Online

Shot in France, Spain, India and Japan, the travel-themed ad entitled, ‘Where will life take you?’ is artsy, even dreamlike with only fleeting glimpses of leather goods and a soundtrack of stirring guitar music. And unlike Louis Vuitton’s print ads that usually feature celebrities, the commercial shows misty and sun-dappled images of ordinary people in exotic locales as questions like ‘What is a journey?’ flash on the screen.

Although the majority of the movie theater I was in laughed once the commercial ended, I loved it!  As a LV owner and fan, I felt connected to the brand again in a way that Kanye West and Jessica Simpson just wouldn't understand... thankfully. 

What do you think?

I write quite a bit about the modern "pirate" as it relates to New Media.  AdRants has highlights from a talk given by Brian Collins about branding and the original pirates:

"Back in 1748, if you had the misfortune of being a single bobbing ship at sea when a tattered vessel with a skull and crossbones crossed your path, you knew instantly what to expect.

"You're fucked." (Collins, verbatim.)

"As you sail closer," he continued, "the brand promise is reinforced by everything you see."

A cannon fires, shots go off: the brand promise becomes brand immersion. In three hours, maybe less, the brand delivers everything it promised: death, pillage, and maybe a not-so-promising hostage situation.

The fulfillment of the skull-and-crossbones "brand promise" remained so consistent over fifty-plus years that, by the 1800s, pirates didn't even need to waste gunpowder. They had only to raise the black flag to yield the desired results (surrender, animal fear, free doubloons and maybe some teabags).

Pirates (TM!) succeeded because they connected brand promise to performance."

This is a great demonstration of what a brand is and how it becomes "trusted."  The whole post is worth a read!

ATP vs Pitchfork was predictably awesome. One of my highlights of the weekend was the Los Campesinos! set on Saturday evening. The reasoning for this is a pertinent topic for this blog.

This set was the 5th or 6th time I've seen them, and it was easily the best. Their proficiency has improved dramatically, and their sets have become really tight. But what takes them to the next level is their overt enthusiasm. Showing how much they care makes us care.

As Gareth Campesinos! mentioned on stage, playing at ATP is their "Wembley stadium, Knebworth, Pyramid Stage...". The entire band looked like they could combust with sheer excitement at any point during their set, and this only enhanced their performance.

Passion, pride, enthusiasm, enjoyment, gratitude. These are emotions that create bonds between the band and the audience (ignoring the fact that the band are massive fans of the festival anyway, and formed part of the audience for the remainder of the weekend). It makes them human, and enables a connection. We as the audience feel complicit in their success, and this makes us support them louder and longer than ever.

To use Saatchi & Saatchi's terminology, Los Campesinos! are a lovemark. "Lovemarks are a relationship, not a mere transaction. You don’t just buy Lovemarks, you embrace them passionately".

An example of a lovemark brand would be Innocent. They have shown the benefits of stripping away the corporate jargon, and being real. Conversational copy, grass-roots events, open AGMs and a very obvious passion in their smoothies. This can connect the consumers to the brand, and inspires them to become devotees.

Like Innocent, Los Campesinos! have a stellar product underpinning the emotional bond, and there is absolutely no reason why they cannot replicate Innocent's success in their indiepop/tweecore sphere. They come with my highest recommendation.

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O vídeo acima é uma homenagem da Nokia ao clássico game Snakes presente em praticamente todos os seus celulares (ou todos mesmo?) e faz parte da nova campanha Go Out and Play para sua (agora) plataforma N-Gage.

Acesse o site para jogar uma divertida versão humana de Breakout!

"As with all of our important decisions, we took a very strategic approach to engaging the market of potential jersey sponsors," said United President and CEO Kevin Payne. "We wanted to be sure we found the right partner, and on the right terms. We're thrilled to have this relationship now with Volkswagen, which is ideal from our point of view - a multi-national company with a strong brand, a cultural understanding of our game, a commitment to our community, and a reputation for thinking a bit out of the box. For us, VW is a perfect partner."

In addition to the traditional advertising and promotional benefits often found in sponsorship agreements, Volkswagen was insistent on providing the fans of D.C. United some added value while attending games at RFK Stadium. Volkswagen's fan initiatives include the Volkswagen Garage, a new interactive area located behind the north goal at RFK Stadium. The Volkswagen Garage will serve as a hospitality area and vehicle showroom with space for 1,000 people. The Garage offers a unique brand experience and features: soccer based car games, FIFA Xbox 360 stations, live T-shirt screen printing, branded merchandise, hammocks and Adirondack chairs for relaxation, and a whole lot more. Volkswagen will also be a participating sponsor of D.C. United's Soccer Celebration located in Parking Lot 8.

"The 'brand' we put on our jersey is extremely important to us," said United Co-managing Partner Victor MacFarlane. "We believe that the D.C. United brand stands for something significant and the 'brand' on the front of our jersey has to be compatible with our vision. Volkswagen fulfilled and exceeded our wishes. They are a company committed to excellence and customer service with an international reputation for both. Will Chang and I are delighted they have become our new partners."

On game days, Volkswagen's commitment to the fan experience will extend beyond the stadium and soccer celebration. All fans driving to United's match on Thursday, against Chicago, will be treated to complimentary parking, courtesy of the new presenting sponsor. Going forward, the first 50 Volkswagens to enter lot 4 on gamedays will also be treated to a complimentary spot.

"Since Volkswagen is new to the greater Washington D.C. area, we wanted to find opportunities to support the local community and D.C. United was an obvious choice," said Stefan Jacoby, president and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America. "D.C. United is a great soccer team, committed to success both on and off the pitch. The team philosophy, mission and fans closely mirror our own corporate philosophy and customer base."

In addition to the partnership with D.C. United, Major League Soccer and Volkswagen today announced a partnership that makes Volkswagen the official automotive partner of Major League Soccer. The partnership delivers MLS league and collective team marks and logos and marketing assets at league events such as the Pepsi MLS All-Star Game and MLS Cup, Major League Soccer's championship game.

"We're excited to partner with Volkswagen, a global brand with tradition in Football, Futbol and Soccer," said Doug Quinn, president of Soccer United Marketing. "With Volkswagen's roots already embedded in the sport, this is a partnership that makes sense at both the club and league level."

Volkswagen's jersey sponsorship element makes the company the first group to adorn the front of United's shirt in club history. Traditionally, the space is recognized as the most valuable inventory a soccer club has to offer and is reserved for a crest that supports the team, sharing in the organizational goals and ideals. Authentic and replica jerseys and other merchandise are now available in the D.C. United team store at RFK Stadium or by calling 202-546-7023. Fans that have previously purchased a 2008 authentic or replica jersey are able to have a Volkswagen logo added to their merchandise, courtesy of Volkswagen, by visiting the team store or the jersey stand inside C gate on game days.

Elements of the new alliance will be on display Thursday night, when United hosts Chicago. Tickets to the match are available at http://www.dcunited.com or by calling 202-587-5000. Group tickets, package plans and individual tickets to United matches, not including SuperLiga games and the Los Angeles Galaxy match on June 29, are also now available for sale. For more ticket information or to purchase ticket packages, log on to http://www.dcunited.com or call D.C. United at (202) 587-5000.

80fi-ve is a new website developing team offering fresh and innovative solutions to its clients. Our goal is to design professional, modern and up to standard websites at reasonable prices for individuals, small and large organisations. 80fi-ve is more than a web design team. It is also an Internet marketing team based in Malta offering Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Logo Design, and Web Templates. If you landed on this website to go to the next level in marketing, please feel free to explore our work and contact us to learn more.

Currently we are giving a new look to are website. Hopefully our website will be ready by Summer 2008. It won't be fully ready as we will be updating it regularly. One of the reasons we created this blog is to keep you up-to-date with our updates and changes. Therefore it will be wise to visit us regularly.

Thanks!

The new tagline "say yellow to the future" is apparently going to further this goal.

A new ad campaign by Gotham is helping to support the re-branding and get the digitally-focused super-futuristic look out there.

They just don't want to get it too far out there...the spots are not on YouTube yet. Instead, they are housed at the completely unhelpful and difficult to navigate corporate website right here.

The key change, and the one that is best positioned to help Yellowbook moving forward, is the newly designed print directories and redesigned user interface at yellowbook.com because, let's be honest, difficulty of use is the major reason that most people skip the yellow pages these days. It's just easier to type the name into Google.

No advertising campaign, no matter how good (or, in the case of the current campaign by Gotham, no matter how much it over-promises) can overcome the fact that Yellowbook has just been tough to use.

The paper phone books are bulky and annoying and the brand blew its position as "grand compiler of information" by letting search engines steal a march on it.

I remember clear as day when I first started searching on the internet how I used to go to places like yellowpages.com to find things and was frustrated by how difficult it was. Then Google came into my life and I have never been back to a yellow pages site.

If Yellowbook can fix the utility issue and make their product something that consumers actually want to use, then they have a chance at success. If they can't, then this campaign is just throwing good money after bad.

Nem bem o TrendWatching.com lançou seu relatório mensal de tendências abordando o tema ECO-ICONIC, ECO-EMBEDDED and ECO-BOOSTERS e o Google já está surfando essa onda.

Já está disponível em sua loja online o Recycled Mini Wireless Mouse que, como próprio nome diz, é um mouse earth-friendly feito e embalado com material reciclável.

Com resolução de 800 dpi e dongle wi-fi que pode guardado dentro do próprio mouse quando não está em uso, o brinquedinho pode ser comprado por US$ 19,20 nas cores azul ou vermelha.

fonte: Crave

Are they all done by the same art director? No diversity in typography and color and all seem to be the product of a passion for painting. 

Investigating further, Italy turns out to have a new logo and visual identity. Brand New has this great story.

Sorry Andrew that this title is just a pastiche of your own but that's just what it says to me when I see Kate Moss and skulls and all the visual imagery that has been flooding MySpace and the internet as of late. Skulls, dripping something (paint, you perverts) that says 'my eyeliner after an emo surge'. Surely to be racist I could say normal women see it as 'cool' and an extension of their teenage years, I see it as 'uncool'. Agent Provocateur was expensive-classy-upmarket and in their 1920s phase of models looking like Monroe (you could imagine Dita Von Teese or Christina Aguilera wearing their new stuff) when they smacked this 'Let them eat Kate' crap. 'Let them eat Kate' is the kind of phrase any rapist would be really fond of. You had a hot website and a hot idea (to capture any bit of the 'mansion' and set is as a wallpaper) and hot products but seriously. To keep up the profanity I started, oh FUCK OFF now. My one hundred quid for knickers is gonna go to I.D. Sarrieri now or if I want to embrace my kinky but not emo side, I'll try Coco de Mer.

If you haven't blushed so far because of talking about knickers in public...

...I'm not on the 'bring Kylie back' bandwagon either because she's too much of a good girl now after her cancer moment. Yes she's a brave woman but cancer will make anyone a tad more humble and it's not AP's idea. Please scratch this and dump Kate. Or let them (m)eat Kate. Even if not many others have, it's enough to see her face plastered everywhere. In a bad way. We'll forget it ever happened. I can't wait for all the magazines to simply praise this and put it on a pedestal. Oh my God.

“Casa de Economii si Consemnatiuni”, caci de aici vine acronimul, trebuia sa-si pastreze si conserve valorile, ca sa nu mai vorbim ca ar fi trebuit sa le si puna in practica. Vorbeam de traditie in primul rand, de notorietatea pe care o are (cine n-a auzit de CEC?), totusi a fost fondata in 1864 (!!) si are peste 7,600 de angajati (estimat in decembrie 2005). Oamenii de la sate mai degraba au auzit si au incredere in CEC, decat de vreun Millenium sau OTP bank, nu?!?

In fine, ca si consummator de servicii bancare, pot spune cu sinceritate ca daca CEC-ul mi se parea total lipsit de incredere in trecut, o institutie financiara veche, cu functionari “de pe vremea lui Ceasca”, acum si mai mult o resping si nu ma atrage deloc in asemanatarea cu ideea de o banca a secolului 21.

Cum spunea cineva mai priceput in ale brandingului…e o banca pentru veverite :)

• MARKETING/

Pratiquez la publicité bookmarkable (archivable)

Le « bookmarkable advertising », voilà une technique qui devrait permettre à vos campagnes de bénéficier d’une exposition plus importante. Mais savez-vous ce qu’est une pub archivable ? Réponse par Adverlab.
> Via Adverlab

Brand tags : une idée géniale

Alors que les “tag clouds” sont en voie de disparition, Noah Brier (stratège chez Naked, à NY) vient de créer un outil de veille de la réputation super sympa. Le concept est très simple : on voit le logo d’une grande marque, à laquelle on doit associer un mot ou une phrase de façon instantanée. Les résultats sont très instructifs !
> Via Blog de Nuit

Après le retailtainment, le retailtainight

Après le retailtainment ou l'art de transformer un lieu/centre d'achat en lieu de divertissement, bienvenu au "retailtainight" ou l'art de prolonger l'expérience client après la tombée de la nuit.
> Via Les Idées qui parlent

The accompanying avatar is this:

I then print the following logo on return labels and stickers.  I currently am using the Paper Source labels in chartreuse and pool.  I have then used the logo and made matching cards to attach my pacifier keepers and stitch markers to.   With these new designs there is a continuity between web and print elements.

I wanted a design that is simple and fun.  I tried to recreate the feel of the Japanese sewing tape I use for pacifier keepers yet still have a hint of my own drawing style.  I appreciate any feedback you may have.  Is the logo too simple?  Would you be enticed if you just saw these images to check out my store? 

Here are a couple more images of my first run of packaging an order last week with the new logos.

Often, the thought is that "professional dress" just means to put a suit on; or formal dress mean to put on a floor length evening gown - or a snappy tuxedo; and then "casual dress" means to show up in your throw back sweats from the "college scrunge" days and look like you're about to clean the bathrooms or haul hay.

First, let's be clear that "professional dress" is mirrored by whatever your industry standard is of professionalism. Surely, I wouldn't show up in a 3-piece suit at a construction site unless I want to give the impression that I'm an auditor or an attorney.

Second, there are some beautiful clothiers who can provide you stellar professional clothing and then you put it on your body without knowing your correct body shape and this beautiful piece looks frumpy and wrong. I've seen grown men put on beautiful Armani suits and tuxedos and make those clothes look like they were wearing suits they just lifted out of an old trunk - baggy and very unprofessional.

The difference comes in the FIT. And, fit is everything from your BODY SHAPE; your BODY SIZE; whether you have good fitting undergarments (these can make or break an outfit!); and your demeanor. Put on a Christian Dior dress and walk around like a bowlegged woman and you won't look any more sophisticated or professional.

BODY SHAPE: Are you exactly the same size as you are on top as you are on bottom? Then why are you buying outfits where it's the same size on top and bottom unless you proportioned that way? You're either a triangle, rectangle, circle of square. You need to know what you are and what works well with that body shape. Your height will determine where the end of a jacket should end, and a skirt, and a pant leg, too. Your arm length determines where a sleeve should end. You don't look very powerful if you look like you swiped your daddy's shirt and are wearing something that's obviously way too big for you.

BODY SIZE: If you've gotten bigger - then you've gotten bigger. You cannot "squeeze" into something two sizes smaller and expect to just fool everyone that you're that size. In fact, the only person that is fooled - is you. FIT is more important than size. I attend LOADS OF MEETINGS each week and I've never yet seen someone run up to someone else, peek at the tag inside their clothes and say "my you've grown". Never. Who cares what the label says inside? What does that matter? What's most important is does it fit and work correctly with YOUR BODY when you get it on.

UNDERGARMENTS: Men and women - know what fits right. A tight pair of boxers does nothing for your beer gut or your thigh dimples when you're wearing a pair of pants. Wear what FITS and use QUALITY. This can be said for clothing, too. Quality goes a long way. Nothing worse than to see a great white shirt on someone that's WAY TOO THIN in fabric and material causing you to get a "bird's eye view" of everything that should be private.

DEMEANOR: Be the best at whatever you do. So, if you're working a fairly high-end gala event, you better not only have great quality clothing on - you better be a great quality person in those clothes. 70's style makeup, a hairstyle that's a remembrance from the 60's, cheap clothing with spaghetti straps that are no longer really holding up your dress, and cheap earrings that you try to pass of as antique when they're really just OLD don't work. Even with the best of clothing, if you walk liked you're a pack mule, or fling your arms around like a gorilla, speak in double negatives "there's not nothing we can do about it", have no clue how to handle yourself at a dinner table or meeting, they will all ROB YOU of whatever the QUALITY CLOTHES may have temporarily given you. If that's where you're missing the boat, then it's time for you to go to finishing school or take a business etiquette seminar.

What your seeking is what is the best by your industry standards and quality to shine through from the inside out - period.

People Are The Brand -

Maria Elena Duron

Chief Buzz Agent & Connections Coach

click my name to Google Me!

www.buzz2bucks.com

“building brands and higher level connections”

And really, who doesn't enjoy a good read in the sun? While gossip blogs made a few painfully old dumb-blondes-can't-read jokes, Jennifer Pozner chose instead to point out the cognitive dissonance of "one-woman brand-maker for Playboy, Stuff, G.Q., Baywatch, V.I.P., and numerous other my-boobs-move-media devices" reading AEM's excellent tract against corporate creep.

A brand is a symbol, perhaps also a phrase, that connotes very particular meanings and qualities, and most essentially, that is standing in for a product. The most successful of brands don’t just suggest a specific idea, but actually come to mean them. In other words, if you looked up Busty Blonde in the dictionary, you might just find Pamela Anderson. The product could be any number of things, from Baywatch paraphernalia to men’s magazines. It’s a powerful thing to attach Anderson’s name and image to a product; people might purchase it because they’re attracted to her and want to find out more, but many will also pick up a product for the simple reason that it’s Pamela Anderson. You know that you have branding power when someone will buy something simply because your name is on it, even if that thing is totally unrelated to your work and identity. Celebrity perfumes, for example.

The tricky thing about a person actually becoming a brand is that you run the risk of your body actually becoming the product. Women, already commodities, are particularly vulnerable to this trading in flesh. Like Victoria Beckham in this provocative/misogynist Marc Jacobs ad, women can be tumbled into an enormous shopping bag and carried home, dangling a pair of twiggy legs that aren’t even recognizably human.

Except, in this case, where the varnished doll-like legs are recognizably Posh. Victoria Beckham, of course, is a perfect example of successful branding. From the beginning, the Spice Girls were built on the idea of five distinct women with easily defined and internally consistent personalities. This premise allowed femininity to include such meanings as sporty and…scary? (read: not white), thus propelling the concept of girl power to the global scene. By way of this, the Spice Girl industry also established the notion of girl power as an explicitly commercial tool, one that initiated pre-teen girls into the role of consumer.

Most brands rely on association, but Victoria Beckham’s selling quality is made perfectly explicit: she’s Posh. That quality sold her as a performer and cultural icon in a way that her voice never could. And then she married a hot footballer, thus completing the image: together, she and David Beckham embody wealth, style, and stardom. Sustained by a limitless wardrobe of little black dresses and heavy eyeliner. Posh is the definitive celebrity—a branding that draws on her work, family, and personal history, but that ultimately returns to a toned body in a tight dress.

Lots of people have branding power. The DVDs-For-Infants series Baby Einstein wouldn’t sell a single disc without the moniker of a certain woolly-haired genius. Masses of Americans will line up to see “the next Will Ferrell movie” or purchase the next John Grisham novel whether or not they know or care about the plot. My question is, can women only have this branding power if it’s centered on their bodies? After a brainstorm with duckingbeamers, it looked like the answer was going to be yes. Sure, Madonna’s been a powerhouse for years, but her success began with selling sex and has continued to be about a continual reincarnation of her body. To be clear, I do not intend to judge Madonna or Posh Spice or Pamela Anderson for building successful careers on their physical appearance. I assume they’re all smart and savvy, and I’m not interested in debating the right or wrong of it. I’m just curious: does the marketplace allow for a woman to wield this kind of commercial power if it’s not sexual power?

Then we thought of Oprah. Oprah can move mountains, books, voters, millions of men and women to hum “Happy Birthday” while washing their hands. Rather than displaying her body for consumption, Oprah’s the Queen of Talk. Of course, the public has continually scrutinized her weight over the years, and perhaps there is a connection between displaying your body as a sexual object or bait, and displaying your body to establish a common ground with viewers, the everywoman.

This past week's cover of New York brought to mind another woman with a small empire to her name, one known affectionately as "SJP, Inc." Sarah Jessica Parker was not only the star but the executive producer of Sex and the City, and, with the recent release of her clothing line, Bitten, and the May 30th opening of the SATC movie, she's proving to be as smart a businesswoman as ever. Emily Nussbaum's article (like all celebrity profiles) is a bit fawning, but she does make some effort to take on this question of branding: "There’s a case to be made that if she has marketed her own personality—funny, effusive, motherly, girlish—as a brand...this is a smart move...Like a single woman in an earlier age or a blocked artist in Victorian London, an actress growing older can easily find that her world is shrinking. That will never happen to Parker, who has made certain to seize control of her own larger-than-life image." Interestingly, SJP, Inc. may be the answer to our earlier question; her brand isn't about her body or sex appeal (the assholes at Maxim will testify to that); her look is stylish but not overtly sexual. Her brand is about some fabulous unattainable New York City existence. SJP is a fashion icon, and those kinds of things don't just happen. They're planned.

Because Parker is and cultivates an image as a person with brains and integrity, it's important to her to express a great deal of ambivalence towards the commercial aspects of her work. This ambivalence is a bit difficult to swallow. It seems that each one of her projects has to be reconfigured is "so I don’t feel it’s vulgar. So I don’t feel it’s just arbitrary or mercenary.” She both professes to a great deal of involvement in these projects (she designs the perfume herself, really!), and laboriously distances herself from them. Her clothing line is actually an intervention in the fashion industry: it "runs up to size 22" and has rock-bottom prices. This isn't just spin: Bitten offers really nice clothes at the astounding price of $8.95, and that's pretty cool. It doesn't, of course, make Parker a saint or render her business venture any less of a business venture! We're meant to give her points for feeling conflicted about her Garnier and Gap commercials, but ultimately, guilt or no guilt, she did the commercials, attached her name to a couple products, and took home the checks. As Jezebel points out, this is fine and harmless, and it was probably a good idea to keep SJP on television screens in the hiatus between TV show and movie. But wouldn't we respect her more if she owned up to her choices instead of denying them?

Nussbaum and Parker spend much of the article wandering through the West Village bemoaning the cupcakes and expensive stores and flocks of cutesy girls. Of course, even they have to admit to the SJP influence on the neighborhood and the gentrification both heralded and perpetuated by Sex and the City. Parker's in love with an old vision of New York, and laments the fact that "there’s just so much money now, and the city is so affluent, and all the colors, all the shops, the look of a street from block to block is just terribly absent of distinguishing coffee shops, bodegas. All of that stuff that made it possible to live in New York is gone." She has also always described SATC as an homage to New York City--but if for a second she imagines that some creative, democratic, and gritty version of the city appears in the show, she's got to be kidding herself. More than it was ever about sex, SATC was about money. It created a fabulous New York lifestyle, based on club openings and brunches, and tied to a carefully orchestrated series of product placements. Nussbaum ludicrously suggests that "you would have had to concentrate hard to notice [the products] at all," but seeing as the TBS tagline for SATC reruns is "More martinis, Manolos, and men on the way," I'm pretty sure that the message got through.

So far from being subtle, in fact, the writers constructed entire plot points around specific products: Samantha gets her boyfriend a gig as the "Absolut Hunk"; "Sad Mac" is what happens when Carrie's computer dies; Miranda becomes obsessed with her Tivo; Charlotte becomes obsessed with her Rabbit; Samantha vies with Lucy Liu over an Hermes bag; and Berger freaks out when Carrie buys him a Prada shirt. Believe me, I didn't have to search at all to come up with these brand names. But the product placements in SATC don't feel irritating or intrusive, as they might elsewhere--precisely because each one of these products is so integral to what the show is about: style, class, and consumption.

Nussbaum hints at the importance of money to the male/female dynamics on the show, but "as for Carrie, Parker rejects entirely my theory that she had any attraction, conscious or unconscious, to Big (or Aleks or Aidan, for that matter) because of his money. Carrie wasn’t like that! she says. Charlotte was, but Carrie wasn’t. Hey, she dated Berger, didn’t she? 'I really don’t think that money was a criteria. It never would have occurred to her to take money from a man.'" I guess it was just a coincidence that all of Carrie's boyfriends had money, that Aleks kept her for weeks in a Paris hotel, that Aidan offered to buy her apartment and the one next door, and that Big kept showing up in a long black town car driven by the faithful if unseen "Raul." Sure, she dated Berger, but she also insisted on buying him a Prada shirt; it was very important to her to live as a wealthy woman, even if she wasn't one. The fabulous New York lifestyle depended on Carrie dressing in very expensive clothing and being taken out to expensive dinners by rich men.

Parker denies that she show was about money and that it was about sex. Of course, Sex and the City is of special interest to this blog, as it was one of the first presentations of the sexually liberated woman, the first to ask if women could have sex like men. How unsettling, then, to see Parker now, promoting the Sex and the City movie while also refusing any implication in the sexual liberation movement. (Nussbaum condescendingly offers that "Kim Cattrall seems to be the last person waving the flag of third-wave sexual rebellion that the series championed early on." Sexual freedom is just so distastefully late-nineties, isn't it?)

With a disturbing "anxiety about purity" and a penchant for calling things "vulgar," Parker is busily explaining that Carrie never appeared nude or used profanity. I have to admit, this truly disappoints me. For one thing, as executive producer, Parker had to have some investment in what else was going on the show; even if she didn't bare much skin (except her midriff), the other characters certainly did, and that was part of what made the show provocative as well as great physical comedy (thanks to Kim Cattrall).

More than that, Carrie valued good sex, and her best and worst decisions were often motivated by sexual attraction. Even if she ended up with Big (and how could they not give the viewers what they've been trained to want?), Carrie seriously questioned these ideas of true love and marriage and family. Sex and the City was radical because it took sex seriously, but it looks like that history's now being rewritten in the interest of brand management.

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We all know that marketing in the online world is all about offering value to people that you want to buy your product. The more good times they spend with your product online, the logic goes, the more likely they will be to reach for an old friend when they are in the supermarket aisle.

But what really is value? In many cases, probably in too many cases, value comes in the form of a contest or sweepstakes. Do these things really work? You’d have to think so, since they’ve been around long before the internet was even a gleam in Al Gore’s eye. And by some of the most successful marketers in the world.

Here is one that I saw today for Pepsi. It’s aimed at teen guys, I suspect, and features Gary, a typical British football fan. Curiously, the site comes to us via the efforts of Pepsi NORWAY. I tried to find the Norwegian version of the site, but I was unsuccessful. However, one of the things you can do on the site is order a real pizza. From a Norwegian pizza place. If you do order one, I would at least tip the delivery dude an extra buck.

Branding of the Bands

We previously posted a topic on why bands should consider music licensing as an alternative revenue model - here's taking it a step further. Brands are starting to open up their doors to independent acts. We already had top shot mega stars in bed with brands (think Michael Jackson/Pepsi venture, 50 Cent and Jay-Z in a footwear deal with Reebok and even Axl Rose’s deal with Dr. Pepper for the release of his album ‘Chinese Democracy’ that has been in development for the last 17 years). What we are now seeing are lesser known artist hopping on the band-wagon. For instance, Apple, which had previously used U2 and Feist for iPod commercials, now chose a young unconsolidated singer Yael Naim for the release of their MacBook air commercial. In the experimental dance community, Groove Armada have just settled with Bacardi. The marketing deal encompasses recordings, touring and audiovisual content. A Barcardi representative cites:

Brands thus can represent a good alternative to traditional record labels: they got money and they're promotion gurus. Of course the branding will have to stay subtle enough so that the band’s image stays intact. Not many bands would agree to have a big Coca Cola sticker right on the bass drum, but hopefully brands won’t head that way. Here is an interesting article on the subject where a member of an indie bands muses:

Brand your band !!

Also, consider literally branding your band. All bands do this to some extent but not all see it as something crucial for their commercial success. I mean making a good quality logo, putting up decent posters, gig swapping with appropriate bands, handing out not only flyers but business cards, perfecting your personal live sound. Everything you do to make your band go a step forward should help people remember you and you only. Branding is the art of association and the more things your fans associate you with what they relate to, the better. That’s why selling merchandise is so important. A t-shirt bought at a concert doesn’t only stand for something to wear with a cool design, more importantly it represents a souvenir, an impalpable sensation of a past well being that you made possible. Merch shouldn’t only be for the money and the promotion; it should help your fans identify their everyday lives with your music (when using or wearing your merchandise that is).

Here's what Clif, who hosts the cool critical music blog Music in 2d has to say:

Mruff!

Of course, the obvious answer is that it's the whole flower that has the value. Without the petals the core itself is not that attractive. Yes you have to deliver on your core service but it is often the way you arrange the supplementary elements that delivers true value for your customers.

It's not so much what those supplementary elements are, but the different combinations of them that can personalise the brand experience for individual customers.

Looking for a competitive advantage? Why not experiment with different combinations of petals. You could come up with something new just by thinking differently about what you have.

Philip Dennett