What do you meme by that?

A meme is a universal symbol that immediately conveys meaning no matter the culture or context of the symbol's origin.  It can be an icon, a word or phrase, a tune, a fashion, a color, etc..

It's actually an idea and its associated attributes, crystallized into a symbol that evokes a cultural response.

Several examples:

Red Cross for the organization and it's purpose
the military directive, "charge!"
The eagle representing the USA
Mortar & pestle standing for pharmacy
the circle/slash depicting "no".

The term was first coined by an English geneticist, Richard Dawkins, in the mid-seventies. It wasn't until the 1990's that the concept was adopted by several pioneers in the marketing communications business.

The use of memes, i.e., symbols, have been in use in marketing since the first craftsman carved his or her initials on the bottom of a pot and the trademark was born.

But the definition and study of memes in the marketing arena is recent. Two books, Geoff Ayling's Rapid Response Advertising and Jay Conrad Levinson's Guerrilla Creativity, speak to better marketing through memes. Primarily, they concentrate on messaging and marketing. (Levinson’s book draws heavily from Ayling’s.)

The implications for branding have not been isolated by either, nor by anyone else I'm aware of. So, here goes:

The first thought might be to adapt an existing meme to represent your own business. Lots of entrepreneurs do this, usually with the aid of an advertising media salesperson. They choose a piece of clipart that represents, say "pharmacy". In their directory ads, on their coupons, in their mailings, the RX symbol or the mortar & pestle becomes the dominant visual. This does identify the product category, but it does not differentiate the pharmacy from competitors.

So in general, familiar, frequently-used memes are not effective branding elements.

However, it is possible to adapt an existing meme with favorable attributes and associations that are not thought of in the context of your product category. This utilizes a definition of creativity: the combining of two or more disparate elements to make something new.

An example might be the use of the word "Doctor" in the context of auto repair - The Car Doctor.

You can claim the meme as your own in its new context, but beware of imitators. Once you've created the link between a meme and your product category, others will follow.

So you had better establish your meme-based brand quickly and forcefully.

More on memes in branding in future blogs.

Martin Jelsema
Signature Strategies
Helping smaller businesses profit from the power of branding

303-242-5975

www.signaturestrategies.com

Taglines and platitudes

Taglines, slogans, positioning statements, or whatever you want to call them, are usually five-to-eight-word phrases that are supposed to differentiate your business, product, service or event from your competition.

Y2K Marketing, a network of no-nonsense marketing consultants founded by Richard Harshaw and Edward Earle, have a great way to evaluate taglines.

After hearing or reading a tagline for the first time, if your reaction is "Well, I should hope so!", you're hearing or seeing a platitude, not an effective tagline.

I mentioned a moving company in a recent blog with whose tagline is "the caring moving company". Isn't your reaction to that line, "well, I should hope so!"? That's a platitude.

Effective taglines are difficult to craft. That's why so many turned out by wordsmiths sound good but mean nothing.

But taglines can be evocative, define a context, or express an idea if it's based on the central core of your organization. There's where you should start. Once you've captured the essence of your organization in a tagline, subject it to the "well, I should hope so" test.

If you discover your best efforts result in a platitude, I suggest you look to your business core. Perhaps it needs to be rethought and revamped to reflect a truly differentiated offering.

Martin Jelsema
Signature Strategies
Helping smaller businesses profit from the power of branding

www.signaturestrategies.biz

Differentiation is not a tactic.

It's not a media selection. It's not a specific appeal. It's not a copywriting technique.

To really differentiate a company and their offerings from their competitors, they must identify and adopt a meaningful (to customers) and desirable position. It must be unique as well.

Then comes the vital part: they must make that differentiator the core of their business. All activities must surround and support the difference.

Some who've set good examples:

FedEx : their entire business was structured around the differentiator - overnight deliveries, guaranteed.

Hallmark: "When you care enough to send the very best" is the watchword in product design, TV commercials, store promotions and everything else they're associated with.

Home Depot: "You can do it. We can help." That slogan reflects the position of being helpful. So Home Depot has weekend classes and demonstrations. They hire knowledgeable and personable trades people to answer questions, counsel customers and configure projects. They give us confidence that, with their help, we can do it.

One could define the differentiator as the "corporate culture" expressed through words, image and deed. It begins as the corporate vision and is then translated and transformed into the BRAND and the brand promise by keeping true to the position.

At every decision point, the first consideration should be, "How will this decision affect or reflect the brand?". This is true in every department and every function, from establishing employee benefits to setting delivery schedules.

Stay true to the brand, its position and promise.

Martin Jelsema

Signature Strategies
Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding

Living up to the brand’s promise

I've not posted a blog in several weeks. My wife and I have been moving. What an experience!

Particularly after we've lived in the same home for over 30-years.

We "downsized", which for us means squeezing all the stuff we've accumulated into a townhome. It never occurred to us to get rid of our seldom-used possessions. You never know when you'll "need" them.

Anyway, we had a ton of valuable stuff to move.

So we went with a "world-class" moving company - the one with the slogan, "The Careful Movers".

Only they weren't. Careful, that is.

The "trained and experienced" staff weren't trained in a least two areas: how to be careful, and why it's important to the customer and to the van line to fulfill the promise of being careful.

Another way to put this: the crew (and be inference and practice the company management) did not embrace the brand.

They were not prepared to deliver what the brand promised - careful moves. We see this happening in all sorts of businesses. The founder or the sales manager or the ad agency develops a tagline and pastes it on all promotional and corporate materials. They believe they've differentiated their brand - made it unique.

But the brand is more than the words of a slogan. The brand is the promise and the fulfillment of the promise. Hence, all employees, agents and associates should understand what the promise is and what part they play in fulfilling it. If "careful" is the by-word, then just telling employees to "be careful" isn't enough. They must be trained and measured on how careful they are.

The brand is only as strong as the implementation of the promise behind the brand.

Martin Jelsema

Signature Strategies

Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding.

www.signaturestrategies.net

Spirit of Service?

That's Qwest's slogan these days.

Their service for the past eight or more years, particularly as expressed by customer "service" people, has been terrible. I've personally experienced excessive hold times, inflexible policies, rude reps and unresolved problems.

So do I believe Qwest's Spirit of Service? No I don't. In fact it is a reason to scoff at Qwest.

It takes more than a new slogan and a memo to all employees to make a major change, and even then it might not be enough.

So the question is, can Qwest regain credibility on the strength of this campaign?

I don't think so.

Their solution requires a major merger and a radical separation from their current brand associations, including - no, especially - the name.

And most importantly, they'll have to change their way of doing business. They should go back and resurrect the Spirit of Mountain Bell.

That's when I'll consider returning to land line service.

Martin Jelsema

Signature Strategies

Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding.

www.signaturestrategies.biz

Tension: required for effective brand

Two recent experiences have started me thinking again about brand uniqueness and familiarity.

Both clients resorted to an informal "market research" poll to determine if a unique brand concept was "meaningful".

In both cases, the results were obvious: friends and associates went with the familiar rather than the unique.

This type of research is usually instigated because the entrepreneurs are not comfortable with a fresh  concept. They, too are seeking comfort just as intensely as they are novelty. Comfort often wins out at the expense of a differentiated brand, so the brand never raises above the static. But one unstated goal is met:no one is offended or challenged.

Commonality has never generated buzz.

Novelty in face of conformity produces tension, and if there's anything that produces buzz it's tension.

So a little discomfort in the branding process is both healthy and effective. Go for it!

Martin Jelsema

Signature Strategies
Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding.

www.signaturestrategies.biz

Consistent and conscious messaging helps build differentiated brands

Recently, the term "messaging" has become linked with Branding. And they should be associated. They always have been, but we just didn't use the term messaging.

The essence of a brand, especially a corporate brand, is the communication of the company's positive and unique attributes expressed through the company's"personality" to significant stakeholders .

Messaging - using words and graphics and any other sensory stimuli available - is the verb used to convey the action of developing the integrated communication of brand. It is also the process of crystalizing the essence of the brand, of developing the "brand story" and expressing it uniquely.

Now you may get some direction from a corporate mission statement, but that document is not a brand message. Usually the mission statement begins with a phrase like; "XYZ Inc. will become the leader in every market segment we ever wish to compete in..." That's an internal goal or vision. For a small business in particular, the brand message should speak to customer concerns - solving a critical problem or fulfilling a compelling desire.

The messaging may contain specific language you hope customers will adapt - like ordering a "Grande" instead of a small cup of coffee at Starbucks.

It may be the adoption and consistent use of a particular color to arouse a particular emotion. (Even though I never understood why you'd want to do business with "Brown").

It could include a guarantee, a customer bill of rights, a tagline, hang tags, icons and images, an unusual type face and other elements that help covey the spirit and purpose of the organization.

But each of the elements must be part of an integrated team to create and maintain a strong impression that leads to the positive and particular perception you want your customers to acquire and maintain.

So I suggest starting the branding process by establishing your message. Then integrate the message carriers to develop a clear and impactful identity.

Martin Jelsema
SignatureStrategies
Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding

www.signaturestrategies.biz