If you’re being disturbed day and night with unwanted robocalls, you’re certainly not alone. The YouMail National Robocall Index estimates that over 14 billion computer generated phone calls have been placed so far this year in the U.S. What can you do about them? Wall Street Journal tech reporter, Joanna Stern, has this piece of advice:

“When robots call, don’t answer. Experts from the FTC and Federal Communications Commission told me that letting the systems know you’re a real person may get your number placed on a more valuable list of confirmed live humans. If you don’t recognize an incoming number, let it go to voice mail. If you pick up then realize it’s a robocall, just hang up.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal 06/28/2016

The post How to Stop Robocalls… or at Least Fight Back appeared first on The Good For You Network.

Stop, look up from your phone, and look at the world around you: everyone is staring at theirs. And while Pokémon GO users are traversing cities to catch Pokémon, advertisers want to catch a little of that Pokémon magic. Brands and local businesses are already recognizing the consumer engagement potential associated with Pokémon GO. In this webinar, attendees discovered how the app uses real-time location data to create an augmented reality for users to catch Pokémon in their own homes and in public places like libraries, concert halls, gyms, parks and sidewalks.

Just as doctors are said to make the worst patients, so it can also be said of most advertising agencies, PR firms, and the like.

They are called upon to diagnose and prescribe the most effective marketing treatments for their clients, but will fail to recognize those same symptoms in themselves. It is one of the greatest ironies in the communications business: the masters of communication are, very often, poor communicators about their own businesses. And to make matters worse, the business they call home is in shark-infested waters rife with competitors.

Having swum in those waters for most of my career (and I’ve got the bite marks to prove it, mind you) I attest you can place most agency communication shortcomings into three buckets: Authenticity, Differentiation and Focus. Building a professional services brand is challenging enough, to be sure. But the ad agency business is on its own level of high resistance. Here’s a brief look at some of the hardest challenges for any agency, large or small, to overcome.

1. Agency Brand Authenticity

In a business that gets paid for only telling the positive things about its client’s brand (unless compelled to do otherwise by virtue of government mandate) this seems a little counter-intuitive. However, many agencies today have an authenticity problem. Yours does too if:

• It positions your senior-level people as the new client’s “team” knowing full well they’ll likely never see them working on their business.
• Your agency has ever implied that the new client will get the same brilliant award-winning work that was done for another client, even though that same brilliant award-winning team is no longer there.
• In pitching business your agency claims other expertise they don’t have.
• Your agency intentionally proposes low fees to win business, then makes up for it in future ‘out-of-scope’ or “mission-creep” billings.
• Account planning makes recommendations weighted to those marketing channels that drive profit to the agency rather than results for clients.
• Your agency neglects to differentiate between current and former clients on your roster.
• Your agency inflates employee numbers, billings, or client growth.
• Your agency justifies any or all of these practices with “that’s just the way the game is played.”

When you select a supplier for your agency; do you not expect authenticity from them? Many agency/client relationships, through mandatory audit as a contractual condition, are compelled to be truthful or risk losing the account. But in the vast majority of other agency/client dealings, bending the truth can occur, and makes clients suspicious, strains business relationships, and weakens the partnership bond over time. And for the ad agency’s own brand, habitual obfuscation, exaggeration, or misrepresentation is more than poor business form, it’s a grave threat when exposed.

2. Agency Brand Differentiation

We’ve all been there, waiting for our turn to pitch. Across the hall, the competition waits, too. And then there’s the team after that. Everyone looks more or less the same. The scene is symbolic of the challenge, in the broader sense, for your agency’s brand to differentiate, and thereby stand out, above and beyond, the other competitors in the marketplace. Ad agencies are great at emphasizing brand differentiation to clients, though many are ineffective at differentiating themselves. They seek to stress brand differentiation by virtue of their latest campaigns, awards, client wins, etc. They speak of process and systems for this or that. And finally, they wrap it all up in a very creative package…and then they lose the pitch.

True brand differentiation takes the shape of value only your agency can own. This value is strategically defined and then validated through this filter:

• The value is extremely important to your target customer(s).
• Your agency has unique, sustainable competencies (and strategic intent) in delivering this value.
• Competing agencies are not delivering against it (nor would it be easy for them to do so in the future).
• The value you represent is unique, compelling, motivating, understandable and believable.

To be competitive, differentiation in an over-crowded industry is not optional. But it will most likely stay on our list because it’s easier to fall in line than to stand out.

3. Agency Brand Focus

Closely related to brand differentiation is brand focus; another common shortcoming for agencies. This is a niche brand strategy that many ad agencies have chosen to ignore for the sake of business expediency in the majority of cases. And once again, agencies ignore the advice they give their clients. A widespread example is when an ad agency adds other communication disciplines such as digital, public relations or package design to their menu. It is true we are in an age of “integrated communications,” and ad agencies are in a unique position to be the client’s “general contractor,” orchestrating and taking the lead for the team of marketing specialists on the account, without becoming a jack-of-all-trades themselves.

Lack of focus and specialization, whether by discipline, category or industry, dilutes the strength of the agency brand by diminishing its assumed leadership expertise. For ad agencies, shrinking media revenues and tighter commissions, among other factors, brought much of this about. With the “Mad Men” days (as well as those full commissions) long gone, agencies sought to diversify and to even distance themselves from the label “agency.” Nevertheless, “one stop shopping” may yield customer convenience, but not the expertise of a specialist – a requirement of client brands today.

Looking Beyond A Surface Remedy

Agency brand issues of authenticity, differentiation and focus can’t be addressed with a new logo or a website refresh. These are issues that are at the core of the agency’s integrity, its ability to secure new business, attract and retain talented creatives and to build its reputation. In short, it’s all about the brand. How often has it been said that “the cobbler’s children have no shoes,” yet there are many ad agencies that are struggling or failing to reach their full potential for that very reason. Authenticity, differentiation and focus are the starting point for a serious workshop about Brand Insistence for your agency. Email The Blake Project to find out more about how we help agencies differentiate.

Digging Deeper

See the following articles for additional insights on this topic.

• Brand Positioning for Professional Services Brands gives basics on the essential components of professional services brand building, as well as the value chain you should consider in developing it.
• 9 Ways To Counter The Agency Dilemma reveals keys to differentiating an agency brand.
• 5+ Essential Strategies for Brand Growth outlines competitive positioning options for your agency.
• 9 Agency Pitch Strategies is an excellent primer on developing your own agency story.

The Blake Project can help you differentiate your agency brand. Email us to find out more.

Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Licensing and Brand Education

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By Alice Korngold, Co-Editor, Giving Thoughts Blog, and Author, A Better World, Inc.: How Companies Profit By Solving Global Problems… Where Governments Cannot Building successful communities with high employment, quality education and healthcare for all, and vibrant social services and cultural offerings are in the best interest of society and business. This coming November, we […]

Yet another reminder of the vulnerability of our electric grid. Rebecca Smith, energy reporter for The Wall Street Journal:
writes:

“The U.S. electric system is in danger of widespread blackouts lasting days, weeks or longer through the destruction of sensitive hard-to-replace equipment; Yet records are so spotty that no government agency can offer an accurate tally of sub-station attacks, whether for vandalism, theft or more nefarious purposes.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal 07/14/2016

The post Grid Attack: How America Could Go Dark appeared first on The Good For You Network.

Learn about the latest technology and discover the new cutting-edge ways that brands and retailers are connecting and engaging with shoppers.

Bi-coastal production company m ss ng p eces brings a wide array of cultures to the table for Google Translate, illustrating that food is a universal language. Director Josh Nussbaum’s colorful and sensual short, #EveryoneSpeaksFood, captures the journey of Small World, Google Translate’s free pop up restaurant in New York.

m ss ng p eces conceived the pop up restaurant idea with Google, designed all branding components, and produced every aspect of the experience, telling the vibrant story of the experiential event in the #EveryoneSpeaksFood film. The project was helmed by PARTY Executive Creative Director Masa Kawamura, who had recently joined the m ss ng p eces roster. Executive Producer Kate Oppenheim explained the impetus for the campaign, “Everyone Speaks Food is an idea that celebrates the connections that we build over a meal and the richness of food cultures around in the world. We were inspired by the way that Google Translate creates functional and personal connects between people everywhere.”

When Google approached the production company, the brief was starkly simple: create an experience that celebrates Google Translate’s ability to bridge cultural divides. Cam Luby, head of the cultural activations for Google’s brand marketing explains, “There is something very unique in how Google Translate can break down cultural barriers. Behind best-in-class AI is a very simple product that addresses one of the biggest obstacles to universal understanding: language. We wanted to demonstrate this to people in a simple and relatable way. The culinary metaphor was the perfect stage to demonstrate the role of our technology”.

The resulting #EveryoneSpeaksFood campaign was a multi-faceted event experience which goes far beyond the tasks normally performed by a production company. Creativity was deployed on all elements of guest interactivity and engagement, and event details no matter how small, including the menu, decor, posters, the website and a globally inspired playlist. There was even a very special (and very popular) Small World donut cart, which distributed over 30,000 donuts to passing New Yorkers and prompted millions of organic social media impressions through Instagram, and custom Snapchat geo-filters.

Highlighting tasty dishes inspired by dozens of global cultures, artfully prepared by a cadre of 18 acclaimed chefs, the film piques interest in a pop up café featuring menus in multiple languages (necessitating diner’s use of Google Translate), and meals incorporating dishes from cuisines as far flung as Israel, Korea, Italy, Sweden and Ireland. The surprise and delight diners experience during this ‘very tasty experiment’ in New York City are all fodder for Nussbaum’s 2:44 film, which places the viewer right at the flavorful heart of the pop up.

Creative Credits:
Client: Google
Production Company: m ss ng p eces
Executive Producer, partner: Kate Oppenheim, Ari Kuschnir, Brian Latt
Director: Josh Nussbaum
Executive Creative Director, PARTY: Masahi Kamamura
Creative Director, PARTY: Jamie Carreiro
Head of production, partner: Dave Saltzman
Project Management Director: Brian Mitchell
Art Director: David Trumpf
Art Producer: Kari Anderson
Project Management Supervisor: Sara’o Berry, Kathryn Berk
Project Management Coordinator: Jonathan Figueroa, Zachary Kislevitz
Copywriter: Gideon Jacobs, Cassie Marketos
Designer: Jordan Bruner, Costa Damaskos, Stephane Rodriguez
Campaign Video Line Producer: Mike Prall
Campaign Video Production Manager: Jason Reif

Google
Head of Google Brand Creative: Michael Tabtabai
Head of Cultural activations: Cameron Luby
Marketing Manager, Google Brand: Ben Quesnel
Marketing Manager, Google Translate: Jesse Friedman
Head of Brand and Reputation, Events & Experiences: Michelle Rosen Sapir
Brand Marketing Manager: Kyle Gray
Marketing Manager, Social Lab: Jane Hall
Events Marketing Manager: Katrina Lau, Melissa Luu, Lorin Pollack
Brand Marketing Manager: Tracy Hepler
Communications Manager: Evan Barbour, Kara Berman

MP Shift
Co-Founder, The MP Shift: Amy Morris, Anna Polonsky

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Why do consumers keep brands in their lives?

For all the talk that consumers don’t care about brands anymore and that loyalty is a thing of the past, the fact remains that branded goods account for huge swathes of the purchased economy. So what is it that people are attracted to? Here are 20 motivations, in no particular order, for why consumers might not choose the many alternatives being offered them.

1. Familiarity – they know the brand too well to let it go – either because they have dealt with the brand for a long time or because the brand itself is one with a huge history
2. Goodness – they believe in what the brand stands for and/or the stances it takes and therefore the difference they can make through being aligned with the brand
3. Trust – they believe the brand will keep delivering them things they want
4. Convenience – they are not motivated to try anything new because they don’t believe the effort is worth it
5. Excitement – they associate the brand with something that inspires them
6. Outrage – the brand says or does things that others wouldn’t dare and they support it for speaking out
7. Interest – the brand keeps doing or saying things that get their attention
8. Exchange – the people they’ve interacted with from the brand have impressed them via their attitude and/or service
9. One of us – people want to deal with something that feels “local” and visible, rather than a corporate giant
10. Recognition – they feel that the brand has singled them out for rewards
11. Value for money – they believe no other brand will offer them the deals they get by staying with this one brand
12. Dependability – they believe it’s a better brand for them, meaning they have probably bought into a story that supports that status
13. Status – using the brand telegraphs important things, such as personal qualities, about them to others
14. Rebellion – staying loyal to one brand is their way of detracting from another brand that they don’t approve of or that they don’t want to see succeed
15. Authority – they see the brand as the leader in their field, and therefore they look to them for ideas and ways forward
16. Experience – they like what happens for them when they buy the brand
17. Ease – it’s too hard to change and/or there are financial disadvantages to doing so and/or they worry about what changing might mean or where it might lead them. They may also continue to buy because the brand is highly visible and readily available meaning they don’t have to think about where to find it.
18. Tribe – they are unabashed fans of the brand and they enjoy sharing that enthusiasm with others
19. Simplicity – they are drawn to the brand’s ability to break down the complicated into something approachable
20. Character – they like the brand’s attitude – it’s injected a fresh approach to often a staid or formal sector.

Many of these characteristics hold true for corporate and business brands as well as consumer-facing brands. Technology may come and go but, as the list above shows, most of the reasons why people make continuing choices have a strong emotional basis. As Nigel Hollis astutely observed, “Brands work just as they have always done. Brands are signals of meaning in a morass of noise. A marketer that focuses attention only on the means and not the meaning is going to end up ignoring the real drivers of brand success.”

Of course, there may be more than one motivation. In fact, I would suggest that the most powerful brands look for ways to double up motivations in combinations that become a hallmark of dealing with them.

In an age where so much emphasis is put on how brands are going to generate customer loyalty, not enough attention is paid to perhaps the most obvious question of all: why on earth will they return? And therefore what should the brand continue to provide more of into the future? Brands that are followed for their excitement, for example, must keep that emotion constant if they wish to prosper. On the other hand, brands that are prized for their familiarity must find ways to remain relevant and yet still be immediately recognizable.

When brands abandon this primal customer motivation in favor of something that interests them more, they call into question the loyalty drivers that have gotten them to this point. Equally, brands that find themselves in trouble need to think about two things as they look to recuperate their reputation. Can they restore consumer interest using the motivation they did use? If they can’t, which new motivation should they be aiming for, and what will that say about their brand post-crisis?

The Blake Project Can Help: Accelerate Brand Loyalty And Growth Through Powerful Emotional Connections

Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Licensing and Brand Education

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This retail customer experience video audit and analysis takes you inside H-E-B, named The Best Grocery Store in America by Epicurious Magazine and #2 retailer in the Temkin Group’s 2016 Experience Ratings (beating out Amazon and Chick-fil-A).

related Brand Experience Briefs:

• Central Market
• Boston Marathon Adidas Runbase
• Whole Foods Detroit

transcript:

Which grocery store chain was named The Best Grocery Store in America by Epicurious Magazine?  It’s the same brand that beat out Amazon and Chick-fil-A in the Temkin Group’s 2016 Experience Ratings of best retailer.  I’m talking about H-E-B and this video audit and analysis takes you inside one of its locations in Houston.

You might not have heard of H-E-B — there are only 370 stores compared to Safeway’s 2200 and they’re all in Texas and northeast Mexico — but this brand presents a customer experience that elevates the mundane weekly chore of grocery shopping to new heights.

The store’s size alone makes the shopping experience different — most H-E-B stores are 70,000 to 80,000 square feet whereas the average grocery store is around 45,000.  It could be overwhelming but everything is laid out well so wayfinding is easy and there are lots of signs to help you navigate the extensive selection like this one that explains the full range of peppers from mild & nicey to super spicy.  The store also uses organizing approaches like color-coding their bulk tea leaves by the different benefits of each variety, like “red to wake up” and “yellow to be immune.”

H-E-B is well-known for its generous use of sampling stations including ones for sushi and for wine, and there’s even a cooking demonstration station.

H-E-B uses signs to convey its key brand attributes and brand personality like this one that about the quality of its organic cheese and this one for its meat department.  Signs also convey fun messages like “Life is Better with a Little Indulgence” in its bakery section and preparation and serving suggestions for produce.  Freshness is conveyed throughout the store including at the check-out stand signs.  H-E-B’s emphasis on healthful offerings is evident from features like a juice bar and a huge nutrition and supplement section.

Perhaps the most distinguishing aspect of the H-E-B brand is its connection to Texas.  The store has many categories that include extensive selections of products made in Texas like sodas and beer and you’ll find Texas-themed signs are all over the place.  Plus it boasts that it offers more Texas-grown produce than any other retailer.

Of course, H-E-B executes on grocery store fundamentals like having a pharmacy and florist and promoting their low prices with signs and coupons throughout the store. But it also has some very unique features like a fresh tortilleria, a hummus bar, a station to grind your own nut butter, and full-sized fast casual restaurant called Table 57.

The experience of shopping at H-E-B is so extraordinary that I included it in my e-book, Extraordinary Experiences: What Great Retail and Restaurant Brands Do.  Go to http://deniseleeyohn.com/extraordinary-experiences to get your copy today and learn how to design and deliver customer experiences that inspire customers’ love and loyalty.

The post brand experience brief: H-E-B appeared first on Denise Lee Yohn.

Ronald Urbach, Chairman of Davis & Gilbert LLP, described what to consider in order to stay ahead of legalities developing in Shopper Marketing.