I flew into Chicago recently, which is a hub for United Airlines. There were loads and loads of United planes there, of every size and shape…the ideal place for a unified, “united” brand image. But that wasn’t the case. Because the planes also were of every branding scheme. Once upon a time, when you saw United airplanes, they all looked like this: Then, they went through a re-branding some years back, keeping some elements of the “U” logo, but making major color changes: So far, so good. As always, it takes a while to re-paint planes, but soon, there were…

Ok I’ll hold my hands up here and say that in the past I was less than taken with Myspace…even so much as taking to calling it the annoying younger sibling of blogging. To an extent I do still stand by that assessment, but if Myspace is the younger sister then Facebook is the toddler that’s growing up fast! I have a Facebook account (and yes feel free to log on and invite me to be a friend!) and I use it for two or three different purposes. Firstly there is the social networking side of things. I got into…

Consumers are exposed to over 3,000 marketing messages a day. TV spots, radio ads, billboards, logos on t-shirts, packaging labels, coupons in the mail, pop up ads on the internet, kids selling cookies at the door – they are everywhere. And yet you think the consumers you want to talk to are going to filter through over 3,000 messages a day – just to find yours. And because this task alone is not daunting enough, most businesses decide to make it harder by hiding their messages. If you are not consistent in ALL your marketing materials, you are wasting thousands…

Today, I clicked on over to Netflix.com to see if my documentary about Allen Ginsberg was going to show up in my mailbox this weekend. Before I could click on “Your Queue,” I was greeted by a “Netflix Recommends…” window, that featured a documentary film about a man and his horse. Their love for one another ran deeper than mere friendship, it was so strong that it actually inspired a romantic connection… Here’s the movie’s description… “This documentary closely examines the sensationalized story of a man from Seattle who died from a ruptured colon after having sex with a horse…

When speaking to businesses about their brands, the most intriguing part of the conversation revolves around differentiation. What sets them apart from their competition. How would you answer that question? Many launch into their elevator speeches. A select few say ‘ they personally ‘ are what is so special. Most just give you a blank stare. It really is a hard question. There is no simple solution to discovering or developing what makes you different. It’s not easy discussing it in this environment for that matter. It can only be developed in a creative and highly charged setting. When I’m…

Branding is something you must do with your eyes looking forward, behind you and side-to-side at the competition, customers, partners and other industry forces. While your brand does describe the essence of your business and your solutions, it must be based largely on carving out differentiation in the marketplace you are playing in. You may claim to have the fastest widgets in the industry and base your branding largely on that fact. Well, what happens when your competition trumps you with something even faster? You’re entire brand essence is shattered. After all, you would no longer be the fastest. When…

About 20 years ago if you started up in a business you had to go down the “traditional” route to growth of that business. You had to trade in your local area – usually from an expensive shop or commercial premises. You had to turn a profit doing so, you had to market yourself in the mediums available, such as in the newspaper on the local radio or via leaflets hand distributed… Then when you finally had a firm footing in your local patch, you expanded. Not far, usually into the neighbouring town, but you expanded all the same. A…

Here is an interview I did recently with with Joe Balestrino of www.MR-SEO.com: Kevin: How did you come up with MR-SEO.com? Joe: I had just started my small business, focused on search engine optimization and knew I wanted to come up with a name that would be memorable and would help me brand my business. As a small web-based business, it is important to choose a name that has to do with your industry and will count in search terms. I liked MR-SEO.com but when I typed it into the search engines a bunch of guys were coming up that…

As I’ve said many times before – you have a brand whether you like it or not. What you can do is focus your brand so that you have a better opportunity to deliver a brand experience that customers will love and potential customers will be intrigued by. Let’s take a look at some… Branding 101 Basics: WHO ARE YOU? Take a close look at your company and why it exists in your market. What is your story? Sometimes the product or service that we are selling has a positive benefit within our local communities. If this sounds like you,…

For years the stars of the world were stars of music… and rock and roll in particular. However have you noticed a change just recently? It’s been a subtle switch, but noticeably businessmen and women are slowly edging into that “rock and roll” bracket. There are businessmen and women out there who are earning just as much as some rock stars do if not more…remember Robbie Williams when he was signed up for his solo career to the tune of £80million? Can you remember how he was jumping up and down for the media proclaiming he was “rich beyond his…