Branding VIRAL

Las marcas y sus estrategias evolucionan a la par que evoluciona el mercado y los Públicos Objetivos a los que las marcas pretenden dirigirse. Un ejemplo es la marca Orange que, viendo el ambiente de cambio y revolución que se respira entre el público al que se dirigen, hace unos meses empezó a enfocar su comunicación de marca a ese concepto, el cambio. Ésta fué su campaña en TV, en la que la estrategia para lograr recuerdo -la repetición a todas horas- no cambió:

Bueno, pues aquí teneis una foto del graffiti que "algún gamberro" ha hecho en los paneles publicitarios de Orange que tapan una obra a pie de calle en la Puerta del Sol.

Y mi mente perversa enfocada al Branding me hace sospechar. ¿Alguno de los muchos indignados que han pasado por ahí ha tenido la ingeniosa idea de aprovechar la marca para proclamar el cambio global? ¿O algún ingenioso creativo ha tenido una genial idea para viralizar la marca en el lugar que en España simboliza el cambio político deseado por el público joven al que se dirige la marca Orange?

El hecho de que esas líneas que forman la frase "Change Global" no tachan el logo, sino que dibujan una cabeza con el logo dentro me haría decantarme, pero puede que sólo sea una simple y publicitaria coincidencia. Aún así, enhorabuena por la ingeniosa idea sin importar de quién haya sido.

Brandin-selling

It's is not really related to branding itself, but this outstanding campaign is worth to mention.

An on-line selling campaign from the company Tesco in Korea based on a very creative use of media.

The video itself explains it all. I just have to say congratulations to Cheil Worldwide, the Korean agency responsible of the campaign. (Cannes already did it with the Media Grand Prix and a Gold Lion).

A brand is not just what a company says, but also what a company does. They listened the consumers and proved it in a profitable way. With this action Tesco raised sales and gave the image of being modern and congenial. Great perks to your brand can be achieved without sending any (at least direct) message.

BrandiN-GO's

Here you can see two great campaings that use intelligence and creativity to show us an important reallity which affect us.

The first is an amazing spot that tries to make parents realize how important giving example is for children. Some years ago I heard a quote which I'm totally agree to: “Children don’t obey, but imitate”

Advising kids about the good way is far less effective than walking it.

The second campaign, more recent and less known, deals with the silence regarding women abuse. So, it deals with our fear more than with our values.

Campaigns from NGO’s are more common every day. And they are, step by step overcoming the thought that marketing, and therefore branding, are intrinsically evil.

Marketing is a weapon and, as all weapons, it makes easier the attain of an objective. And the objective of NGO’s is praiseworthy.

The best element an organization can have to make the best of Branding is a good product. NGO’s product is goodness, I cannot think of a better product.

Congratulations to these campaigns and to the NGO’s that fight the bad things of this world with powerful weapons.

BrandIN-G-life

¿How important are brands in our life?

Go a bunch of centuries back in time. Take the catholic baptism. Take the confidence and love for the bread your mum elaborates and this special dish your grandma uses to cook on special celebrations. Take the meaning these celebrations have to you. Take the master artisan that you are learning from as an apprentice. Take the novelty and their titles which you hate (but envy deep down). Take religion and all its power. Take the artists you know and their patrons. Take the guy that speaks out loud in the middle of the town’s square and its convincing skills…

Take all this, come back to today, and you’ll have brands. A huge amount of big or small, cool or boring, kind or evil, lasting or ephemeral brands that surround our lives and give them entertainment, context, and, in many cases, sense.

BRAND (part 1 of 2)

What is a Brand?

Nowadays, there is still many people that would say that a Brand is the name (and the logo) of a particular product. But this definition is as shallow as saying that your lucky shirt is just a piece of Fabric.

The same way this shirt is not only its physical components, a brand is not just a name and a logo. The proof is that, even when it seems that both are really important, logos of many brands have changed during its history, and even the names of some of them. And their essence (the feelings that they trigger inside us) remain the same.

So, can we conclude that the important part of a brand is its “essence”, that is, the ideas that surround it in our mind?

Continues in the 2nd PART >>

BRAND (part 2 of 2)

Regarding a lucky T-Shirt, obviously the important part is its “essence”. The moment when you got it, whom you got it from, the important moment when you was wearing it… in short, the confidence that you feel, and the memories you recall when you wear it.

But it happens that, one day, the shirt starts getting old, the cloth wears out and the print becomes blurred... and even when you have a big engagement with your Shirt after all those years, it’s not enough to keep wearing it in the important moments. And this can result even before the shirt gets old if you find a new shirt that you like better.

The same happens with a brand, consumers’ love can dilute, or can be replaced with something else. The difference is that brand managers are aware of this and, when it comes the time when the brand stops being a good Casanova, they just carry out a great brand makeover, changing this “essence” which seemed the cornerstone of the brand.

So, if neither its “tangible” elements nor its values and ideas are the brand’s soul, since they can be changed. Which is the key piece of the brand jigsaw?

Precisely that, the change, the flexibility to be what they want to be for whom they want to be loved by. The same as the best products are those that understand their market better, the best brands are those that understand their target better.