by admin | May 28, 2014 | Brand strategy
Imagine if Kayak acquired Skyscanner and they decided to divide up the world, pursuing different markets for their travel-metasearch offerings. Or if Trivago decided to launch a second metasearch brand, and they decided to pick off different countries, targeting diverse demographics with different offerings. Multi-brand strategies (see Priceline, Booking.com and Agoda or Expedia, Hotels.com and Hotwire) work well enough in other categories, so why not metasearch? It hasn’t really been tried before, but the Momondo Group, created in 2012 after 18-year-oldCheapflights Media acquired Denmark-based Momondo, is giving it a whirl. UK-based Cheapflights, which has until now specialized solely in publishing negotiated flight deals, just launched what it hopes will be a harbinger of things to come — a flight-metasearch site in New Zealand. That’s a huge departure for Cheapflights, which has been a Top 10 online travel agent site in the UK, according to Hitwise. Cheapflights has flight-deal sites in the UK and Ireland, the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and South Africa, but wants to cash in on the hot, and presumably more lucrative, metasearch trend. Read more about this dual-brand strategy and how it will work here....
by admin | May 28, 2014 | Brand strategy
Patagonia, Hollister and Warby Parker are among the brands making effective use of Instagram to engage consumers, according to a leading executive from the social media platform. Jim Squires, Instagram’s director/market operations, discussed how marketers are leveraging its service – both organically and with paid-for ads – during the Advertising Age Digital Conference 2014. Outdoor apparel and equipment specialist Patagonia was one of several companies he drew attention to, praising it for focusing on a way of life, rather than simply uploading images of products. “They highlight, through Instagram, the outdoor lifestyle that their products enable. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an actual product shot inside of the photography that they do,” said Squires. Read more about how these brands created an effective Instagram strategy...
by admin | May 27, 2014 | Brand strategy
Yet another nail salon opened up in my neighborhood. I think that makes 20 in a three block radius. Like many men, a “nail salon” for me is a hot shower and a nail clipper that my Dad gave me 20 years ago. In my book, if the nails are trimmed neat and clean, then I’ve done my job. I don’t begrudge anyone — man or woman — who patronizes these establishments. But for me, color on the tips of my fingers and toes is way down on my priority list. Just ahead of starting a wasp circus. I walk by the new nail salon sometimes four times a day. And if I see the proprietor in the window I’ll smile and nod. Yesterday I introduced myself and welcomed her to the neighborhood so it came as a surprise when she looked at me contritely and did not introduce herself. Instead of shaking my hand, she grabbed my hand without saying a word not to shake it but to examine it. “You need a manicure,” she said. “Come inside now my girls need the work.” Most people would agree that this tact showed bad manners and bad business, yet this is exactly the way some brands approach social media. Read more about this topic of brand strategy and how you can avoid careless social media brand strategy from Frank Bocchino...
by admin | May 21, 2014 | Brand strategy
Samsonite products have been charged by a bull, caught in revolving doors, tossed out of cabs and mauled by the entire Pittsburgh Steelers football team. But they have not — repeat, not — suffered a beat down from a gorilla. Rather, that was a bright red piece of American Tourister luggage, not Samsonite, being manhandled by a primate in an iconic 1971 TV commercial. (It wasn’t a real gorilla, animal lovers; it was an actor in a monkey suit.) But Samsonite executives understand, and forgive, the confusion. The company eventually bought American Tourister and revived the gorilla character in its advertising, recognizing a breakout star when it saw one. Read more about Samsonite and their new brand strategy here....
by admin | May 14, 2014 | Brand strategy
Everybody knows that art often imitates life, and other times life imitates art. Sometimes these two opposite phenomena form a dialectic and complement each other in a fascinating cycle. A notable example of this right now is the way the acclaimed AMC series Mad Men depicts a 1960s advertising agency’s successes concerning brand strategy and consumer engagement (art imitating life), and how today’s marketing industry sees this depiction and successfully adopts many of these strategies in service of contemporary efforts to engage in advertising, brand building, and brand awareness campaigns (life imitating art). What follows are five such tips that the marketing industry can learn from Mad Men with respect to consumer awareness, building a brand, or just advertising in general. 1. If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation. Having created numerous brand strategy campaigns around products about which the general public was hearing negative things — Lucky Strike cigarettes in particular comes to mind — at one point early in the series Don Draper offered this wisdom to his colleagues and their client, Madison Square Garden, to inspire an ad campaign that “changed the conversation”. The concern was the perception that New York City was full of urban decay and Madison Square Garden would be a symbol of all that’s wrong with big cities. Draper offered a vision where something big, new, and ambitious like Madison Square Garden would be welcomed by the public if they did some brand building for it that painted the arena as a sign of a fresh, clean, beautiful new beginning for the city despite reality. Draper uses this aggressive and manipulative...
by admin | May 14, 2014 | Brand strategy
Creating an aspirational brand strategy is an unexpected move that can help evolve a brand from ordinary to extraordinary. Celebrity culture is more pervasive today than ever before, which is why synergizing attributes of it with a product can have fantastic results. This topic is addressed in Trend Hunter’s Branding Trend Report, where the concept of creating brand loyalty is characterized with manageable tips for businesses of any size. Creating an aspirational brand can be done in three simple steps: Advertise with excess: Targeting your demographic with seductive lifestyles like those of icons as seen within Socialite Persuasion will help enhance the exclusive level of a product. Celebrities and socialites are associated with excessive lifestyles and giving a product a Hollywood status makes it more appealing to those looking for a taste of the good life. Read about all of the three tips for creating an aspirational brand strategy right...
