Brandoctor's blog

Guinness Storehouse - Good things do come to those who wait

by: Petra Despot, brand consultant

A strange thing caught my attention the other day while I was having breakfast in my kitchen. Right there on my fridge, among numerous magnets from various cities from across the world, was a single magnet with a brand name on it. It stood out proudly, right in between magnets from Boston and Paris, probably bearing more associations then half a dozen magnets on that fridge. The magnet was a beautiful Guinness pint, bought in Dublin in the Guinness Storehouse.

Guinness is most definitely my favorite beer brand, so no wonder it found its place on my fridge. Guinness has the whole package - the taste, the story and the experience. As a consumer, I simply love it. As a brand consultant, I admire it for communicating its brand values so consistently and through every touchpoint with the consumer.

Even though each of their commercials tells a different story, they all involve us on a personal level. They successfully unite the brands heritage with a modern and surprising twist, always reminding us that good things come to those who wait. It’s the legendary Guinness slogan, made to turn around the negative consumer opinion of the length of time required to correctly pour a pint of Guinness from the tap, usually quoted as 119.5 seconds. It’s glorified in every Guinness commercial and told in every Dublin bar by the bartender pouring the pint of Guinness. It even comes true at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, where I bought my fridge magnet.

The Guinness Storehouse is probably the best place to taste the Guinness experience (and the beer, too). It is an old Guinness Brewery turned into a brand museum, perfectly combining the old industrial heritage with the contemporary edge. Every visitor has an opportunity to sense the Guinness brand passing through seven floors, with each floor telling a story of great taste, tradition and heritage. Walking through different floors and stages of the Guinness brand, you are not only a spectator, but also a participant in the unique brand story.

After a two-hour walk through Guinness’ history you get to taste the beer – the perfect Guinness pint, right from the tap. At the top floor of the Guinness Storehouse, drinking my pint and overviewing the Dublin skyline, I finally realized that good things truly do come to those who wait. And bought the magnet. 

 

Thank you, Steve!

by: Anja Bauer Minkara, director & senior brand consultant

Thank you Steve for making our lives simpler. Your genius and perfectionism has simplified our lives. The proof that your brands are simple - is my three year old who uses the iPhone without a problem. When my son has nothing to do, he takes my iPhone and plays games. He tried the same with another mobile brand but got quickly frustrated and threw it on the couch. Thank you for introducing him to the world of technology.

Your products and communication have connected with not just needs of consumers, but with their hearts. We love Apple and we love Steve Jobs. 

I remember the first time I saw Think different ad, I didn’t even care what it was for, but I cared what it stood for. It stood for standing up for what you believe in, listening to your inner voice, for being different but being proud of it. 

He to me presents everything that a leader needs to have, the vision, perseverance but also the heart to move people with his words, whether the commencement speech at Stanford University or the words he thought for the Think different ad. 

As a brand consultant, naturally I have my personal favorite, the one where Steve talks about brands. Enjoy it! Thank you, Steve.

 

How to sell the brand to your employees

by: Jelena Mezga, brand implementor

 

“People are your company’s most valuable asset”. How many times have you heard this sentence before? I bet too many. Hearing it time after time, made me wonder – do brand owners really find this true? Do they invest in their employees and treat them as the brand’s strongest ambassadors? Do they know that the brand first has to be lived and felt from within?

Investments in internal branding are recognized within only a small number of companies. The owners of Croatian brands hardly perceive the fact that all their employees must be familiar with the brand foundations or better yet, they must “live the brand”. They have to become brand’s ambassadors; for they are the main touchpoints in delivering brand promise. They must have a sense of belonging and feel they want to spread the brand’s story. If employees do not believe in the brand foundations, the company cannot expect them to communicate company's beliefs and philosophy convincingly.

There are many tools to help employees understand and meet company’s philosophy. Facebook (as a company) is doing that very well. Facebook’s main brand values, such as connecting, friendly, sociable, relaxing and fun are deeply rooted in the company culture. Facebook is trying to find creative ways to make the company more open and connected. They employ good and open-minded people from all over the world, they frequently organize cultural and company events that are motivating and insightful for employees. They make parties and awesome barbeques on roof tops. Almost every week they bring someone from outside Facebook to talk about their business or real life experience such as the famous American journalist and the leader of the women’s liberation movement Gloria Steinem or Marc Andreessen the co founder of Netscape and member of the World Wide Web Hall of Fame. Employees also enjoy a variety of benefits such as discounts, free breakfast, lunch and dinner at their Cafè, free ice cream and Red bull in summer, free laundry service, shuttle service, 50% reimbursement on gym fees, etc.

The corporate culture is best seen at the Facebook offices, which are fun, friendly and leisurely. Employees are allowed to write on walls, skate in the office, and play basketball or table tennis, so they could face a hard-working day more easily. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to get the job done efficiently, and the employees to be satisfied.

The important thing is that no matter what your job is at Facebook, whether you work as an engineer, in the sales department or somewhere else, you always work for the same goal: you are helping people to connect and share with other people they care about.

Companies should invest more in their employees since they are an important part of the chain and a crucial touchpoint between the brand and the consumer. They also have to understand that this is the right way to increase the brand’s financial value. Facebook is an excellent example. How are things at your place?

 

Naming a baby, a pet or a brand

by: Maja Benčić, naming consultant & copywriter

 

I suppose most of you have encountered naming in your everyday life, whether it was picking a name for a pet or a baby. However, naming a company, a product or a service, differs greatly from naming your dog.

Firstly, when choosing a name for a pet or a baby, you follow your own taste. You can’t be sure what your baby will be like when it grows up, so you can sometimes meet a loud and outgoing Miran (miran an adjective meaning calm in Croatian) or a fragile and gentle Petra (petra a noun meaning rock in Latin).

Your child will be branded by his name during life. If you give him or her an unusual name, other children could make fun of it. But if you give him or her a normal, usual name, it won’t say much about his or her personality or behavior.

When naming a company, product or service, you cannot allow yourself making a mistake like with Miran or Petra. If your brand were meant to be loud, fun and dynamic, a name like Miran (calm) would be the exact opposite of the name your brand should carry. Also, the more similar your brand name is to your competitive brand names, the more you have to invest in communication and awareness. Originality definitely pays off here.

One of the hardest things with naming brands is putting aside your own taste and choosing the most suitable name for the brand, which will communicate the easiest with the target group. The person picking the name, usually the brand’s owner, has to realize that sometimes he or she is not the target group for the brand. 

The name is the most used verbal representative of the brand and probably will stick to your company, product or service for a long time.

Although the name alone cannot embody the image of your brand completely, it does it in alliance with the slogan, visual identity and communication. Still, the best names include as many attributes from the brand image as possible and clearly communicate what this brand is about.

Some of the brand names I really like are:

• Silk - soy milk, my absolute favorite, simple, smooth and inviting
• innocent - fruit juice so pure that it contains nothing but fruit
• BlackBerry - you all know what that is, it’s black and has buttons like fruit seeds
• Wii - home video game console WE can all play with

And if you brand name is really beautiful or brand loyalty is high, don’t be surprised to meet people named after the brand. This trend has already started with some kids named L’Oreal, Chevrolet, Armani or even ESPN (after the sports channel).

MIB Pivac – Branding lessons from Vrgorac

 by: Petra Despot, brand consultant

 

I love analyzing Croatian brands - what they stand for, how they differentiate from their competition, how they communicate and interact with their consumers. I always love to see when Croatian brands do well - when they communicate their values consistently or when they try to engage with the consumer on a more personal level. So when I saw a brand from Dalmatian Zagora (i.e. one of the most traditional parts of Croatia) doing just that, I was more than positively surprised. 

The brand was MIB Pivac (meaning Pivac Brothers Meat Industry) - a traditional Croatian brand of meat-processed products, coming from the small town of Vrgorac in Dalmatian Zagora. This part of Croatia is certainly not an easy place to grow a brand, yet somehow MIB Pivac has done a very good job. Throughout its visual identity, packaging, point of sale, TV commercials and online communication MIB Pivac has consistently communicated the story of authentic Dalmatian tradition, great quality and genuine family values. 

Every touchpoint with the consumer tells the story of the unique brand heritage. The logotype features the fortress of Vrgorac as well as the name Vrgorac to emphasize the geographical authenticity of the brand. The product names on the labels are written using handwriting-like typography in order to give a home-like feeling. The people’s faces on brand photographs and posters project the same authentic image and bring back childhood memories of going to the marketplace with your grandparents.

MIB Pivac is also a great example of a traditional brand using online channels to expand its target group and to get closer to the more urban, tech-savvy generation. It communicates daily with its fans on Facebook and has a pretty loyal and active followers base on Twitter. It’s really worth admiring to see a brand from such a traditional part of Croatia organizing “Pršut Tweetups” and reaching out to the rather demanding Twitter community.

Being consistent in communicating brand values paid off pretty well for MIB Pivac. For two years in a row the company was listed among ten most successful Croatian food companies. In 2010 it was also one of ten most successful Dalmatian companies with revenues close to €133 million and gross-income of €4.7 million.

MIB Pivac has succeeded in bringing together two opposing worlds, traditional one and modern one, and to communicate to different target groups. At the same time, MIB Pivac didn’t forget what its core values are. Which is both rare and worth admiring when it comes to Croatian brands.

More than a slogan

by: Maja Benčić, naming consultant & copywriter

 

Here are some Croatian examples of “more than” slogans I have heard lately:

“More than a game.” (a lottery company)

“More than movement.” (a gas station)

“Simply more.” (a daily newspaper)

“More than a comfortable flight.” (an airline)

“More than a door.” (a door producer)

If you have never heard of these brands before, would you know what exactly they are offering? And what is that “more” they are claiming to be or offer?

If it’s “simply more”, do you get coffee with the newspapers? If it’s “more than a door”, does it open automatically when your dog needs to get out? If it’s “more than a game”, do you get a consolation trip to Portugal if you don’t win the lottery?

These slogans are quite an unsuccessful attempt to communicate differentiation or anything interesting to consumers for that matter. The same slogan would work for their competitor brands. Or sometimes, for any brand – from shoes or digital cameras to restaurants or toothpaste, like the example: “Simply more”.

The fact is that a successful slogan has to carry a simple and memorable message, but it also has to be a call for action or answer the question: what is this brand really about, how is it different from the other brands in the category, what it is promising its consumers.

And if the slogan is fun and witty, it’s a bull’s eye.

Here are some examples:

“Nothing but nothing but fruit” (innocent)

“Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.” (Almond Joy)

"We try harder." (Avis)

“Think different” (Apple)

“Melts in your mouth, not in your hands” (M&M Candies)

So, would you buy a pair of sneakers from a brand communicating “More than sneakers” or from a brand communicating “Just do it”? 

Aviokarte.hr – Not flying together to the final destination

by: Petra Despot, brand consultant

There is an interesting Croatian website called aviokarte.hr. It sells airplane tickets, but it is mostly known for its guerrilla marketing efforts and for using the most unusual places to promote their web site. For example, their logo can be found clearly printed over a bridge, written on a deserted truck left by the highway or hanging from the top of a building in the centre of Zagreb. 

Those of you from Croatia have probably heard of aviokarte.hr or seen their guerrilla. But how many of you have actually paid a visit to their website, or better yet purchased a ticket via aviokarte.hr? I have seen their logo a million times in various places, and I actually liked them for their straightforwardness and simplicity. However, when I actually had to purchase an airline ticket I didn’t think of browsing through aviokarte.hr.

Their logo may be well imprinted all over Croatia, but has it been imprinted in the minds of the consumers as well? And if it has, what does it stand for?

When checking aviokarte.hr page rank on Alexa, it turned out they weren’t ranked in the top 500 Croatian web sites. Searching for their competitive advantage also led me to a dead end as their website was somehow lacking the “about us” section and on their Facebook profile there was a vague brand mission of “flying together to the final destination”. It turned out they weren’t even offering the cheapest tickets available so there went my last hope for at least a decent functional benefit. 

Although we may notice them and like them on a superficial level, aviokarte.hr is actually a great example of a brand that lacks a follow-through. Most of the time, a guerrilla stunt is just not enough to engage a consumer on a deeper level and to build brand equity. What aviokarte.hr needs to do is to back up its guerrilla marketing efforts with a stronger message of what it really stands for. You may have all the brand awareness in the world, but if your brand isn’t top of mind when making a purchasing decision, you may well be investing your money and your efforts somewhere else.  

You are all superstars!

by: Petra Despot, brand consultant

 

I have never been a fan of Lady Gaga nor have I ever truly understood all the hustle revolving around her phenomenon. I have been skeptical about her provocative appearance and the so-called controversy she’s been causing. For example, she put on a couple of dead animals instead of a dress. Even though this is shocking, Madonna’s been there and done that (or something similar) two decades ago. 

For me, Lady Gaga was all extravaganza and controversy just for the sake of extravaganza and controversy; she was never the real thing. I have always believed that she was doing a great marketing and PR job, but somehow the real authentic feeling was missing.

A couple of weeks ago, during an episode of Glee, I was suddenly enlightened because I realized that maybe “the real thing” was missing since I was never the real target group. She was after the little monsters all along and they were the ones who embraced and believed in “the Gagaism”.

All this time we were talking about the importance of the consumer psychographics and targeted communication, and there it was, one of the strongest new examples of both. Lady Gaga is targeting a group called the little monsters. They are all the different or insecure yet beautiful and amazing people wanting to be recognized as unique rather than freaks. And their mother monster is trying to evoke his or her inner beauty and self-esteem with each song, blog post or public appearance. When Lady Gaga sings “there’s nothing wrong with loving who you are” or tweets to her fans that they are all superstars, the target group truly embraces that message.

Lady Gaga has all the ingredients that build a strong and unique brand, whether we like her or not. From the relevant emotional associations and differentiation to targeted communication and the form of self-expression. And she has impressing statistics that back this up. Besides five Grammy awards (that certainly prove her value), she has over 10 million Twitter followers, close to 35 million Facebook fans and the last year’s earnings of approximately US$90 million.

I would say that Lady Gaga has taught us a valuable lesson, that you can’t be everything to everyone, but rather to choose wisely whom you will target. You can all be superstars if you stay true to yourself and deliver on your brand promise to your real target group. 

 

Creativity Unleashed

by: Anja Bauer Minkara, director & senior brand consultant

 

Take on the challenge of creating something wonderful and don't step down when the onslaught of client's criticism comes out.

That is what I tell myself to pep myself up, but usually as all the other agency people I step down from that worthy pedestal because we need pay checks.

But that is not just sad, but cowardly.

If all the agencies made a deal that they will create for the consumer and not the client, there wouldn't be backing down from an idea but solidarity that would result in better advertising, stronger brands and inspired consumers.

So who's in for the deal?

 

Thinking out of the shoe box

by: Petra Despot, brand consultant

I've been admiring a certain brand for a couple of months now. Not only is it inspiring, but it is also a perfect example how simple and sincere vision can bring major success. It used to be called shoesite.com, bit luckily enough they changed the name soon to zappos.com. At first sight, it is an ordinary website with the primary purpose of selling shoes. But since its launch, Zappos has become everything but a synonym for the online shoe store. 

The philosophy behind the Zappos brand is simple. Their focus isn’t on the shoe, but rather on the person willing to buy that shoe. Customer is everything in Zappos, so they set a simple goal - to provide the best service possible.  Instead of delivering shoes, Zappos has decided to deliver happiness.

The core of the Zappos philosophy lies within the company culture. Zappos is probably the only company in the world that has appointed CHO - Chief Happiness Officer, to take care of satisfied consumers. Each employee (including the managers) has to start from the bottom and spend the first several weeks at the call centre to get the rounded view of the company. All the applicants for the job in Zappos have to pass two tests - one to show their professional skills, and the other to show their personality. One of the questions at the job interview is “how weird you are on the scale of one to ten?” and is set to find out if the person fits the company culture. After initial training the new employees were each offered a $2.000 to quit, in order to get rid of those least motivated. Only 3% of all the new recruits take the offer.

When it comes to relations with customers, the aim is to go behind the traditional methods. Employees are encouraged to talk to their customers and to get to know them better. So it’s not a big of surprise that the longest call to the call centre lasted more than five hours. 

There are several interesting stories demonstrating the dedication of Zappos’ customer service. One time, after a long night of barhopping, the Zappos CEO made a bet with the Skechers representative that they could get info on the available pizza deliveries by calling the Zappos call centre. When the Skechers guy called, he actually got numbers and addresses of five pizza deliveries.

The other story is about a woman who wanted to return the shoes her late husband ordered before he died. The next day she received a refund for the shoes along with a condolence letter and flowers from a Zappos representative.

Delivering happiness really paid of for Zappos. Out of all the Zappos customers, 75% are repeat buyers. After years of making continuous profit, in 2009 Amazon bought them for more than $1 billion.

So remember, true and sincere emotion always pays of. It can all start with a vision as simple as delivering a bit of happiness by providing the best service possible.