Think About It

When you sit down with a team from Point of Vision, you may think of us as a principal, a project manager and a designer. What you may not know is that you’re also sitting down with a magician, an adventure traveler and a punk rocker.

For a small company, Point of Vision has an impressive cast of players with diverse backgrounds.

Some of us have lived all over the world. Others are native Atlantans.

Some of us are single. Others are married. A few of us have kids.

Some of us love living in the city. Others have found our homes in suburbia – and beyond.

Our interests range from hockey ... to dancing ... to knitting.

We think differently, too. Some of us have technical minds, others think visually, and others express ourselves best through the written word.

We have big idea people with a knack for imaginative, inspiring concepts. We also have detail-oriented people whose creativity is geared more towards finding a clever way to bring a brilliant concept to reality.

All this diversity isn’t the result of random luck. We’ve made a point to hire people with varied backgrounds, experiences, working styles and lifestyles. We think it helps us do a better job.

When we put together a client team, we know we’re going to have someone whose perspective matches up well with the way the client perceives things. We also like to have someone on the team whose perspective is different. We believe that the interplay of various viewpoints yields the clearest, most thorough thinking and the best outcomes.

In some workplaces, individual differences are tolerated. At Point of Vision, they are truly cherished.

And in the end, we respect every viewpoint because we know that no matter how differently we may see the pathway, we are all working toward one goal: the advancement of your brand.

We like to think we’re on the ball. We’re always looking for new ways to communicate our clients’ brands that will enable them to grow and prosper.

Yet we’ve never asked a client, “Have you thought about a strategy for marketing in virtual worlds?”

Virtual worlds, where people interact via 3-D images on the Web, have exploded in popularity. The site Second Life alone boasts “millions of residents from around the globe.” Some companies, seeing this new opportunity for exposure, are stepping into alternate universes with storefronts, events and even one-to-one marketing.

So why aren’t we recommending virtual marketing to anyone?

It’s not that we don’t appreciate the cool factor. We love cool. But in our advice to clients, we’ve never been about cool. We’ve always been about smart. And we think the smart move here is to wait, watch and learn.
 
Today, virtual marketing has too many unknowns. What return on investment can it deliver? Do participants in virtual worlds welcome or resent companies coming into their alternate universes? How do the demographics differ among the various virtual world sites, and which “metaverse” is the best fit for a given company or organization? We just don’t have the answers.

Some niche agencies are pushing their clients into this new world, despite the unknowns, saying that now is the time to jump in and start learning ahead of others.

We disagree. We say, now is the time to watch closely and learn from what others are doing.

So we are watching. We’ve seen the American Cancer Society organize a Relay for Life on Second Life that raised more than $100,000. We know that companies are using virtual worlds as focus groups, asking people to give them feedback on new products.

As we watch, we’re thinking about how our clients could benefit from the unique aspects of virtual marketing. At the same time, we’re asking tough questions, like, “How would we know who’s really in a virtual world focus group? Would we trust the opinions of alter egos as key informants in refining a product or service?”

Until we see the right fit, we’re not going to encourage anyone to take the leap into a virtual world. The way we see it, being one of the first settlers on a new marketing frontier is an ego boost. But from a business perspective, it’s not that important to be among the first to enter a new realm.

We don’t buy the hype that trailblazers are guaranteed to be the biggest winners. Later arrivals who offer something better can be as successful – or more. Alta Vista developed the first Web index, but today Google is the undisputed champion of Web search.

Of course, there are scenarios where early experimentation might make sense. A company whose target market is online gamers would find a captive audience in a virtual world. A company whose brand is centered on being a pioneer, especially a technology pioneer, also might benefit from jumping in ahead of the mainstream. In such a case, we wouldn’t be concerned with the direct return on their investment. For that pioneering client, riding the first wave in the tide of virtual marketing would be a brand-building move, not a sales move. Any revenue they generated through their virtual presence would just be gravy.

For most companies, we think there’s more to lose in investing in a medium that’s still a mystery than there is to gain from being a pioneer. So for now, we’re keeping our clients in the real world.

What do you think? Do you spend time in a virtual world? What kind of marketing do you think could work there? And when is the right time to experiment with virtual marketing?

As customers have become savvier about marketing, some critics have suggested that brands don’t matter anymore. The modern customer supposedly sees brand marketing as mere hype pushing one product that’s really no different from another.

But in these days of toxic toys and poisonous peanut butter, we see that yes, brand does still matter.

Beneath the slick campaigns, a brand – a well-developed one anyway – really is a promise. That’s how brands were born in the first place, as a quick reference point for quality and reliability.

And no matter how sophisticated customers become, they still want promises they can count on. In some cases, they want those assurances more than ever. For example, the typical Generation Y consumer is deeply concerned about how products are grown and manufactured, how a company treats its employees and so on. (Read more about marketing to Generation Y in a previous post.)

The critics say it isn’t so, pointing to the increased popularity of store brands. But look deeper into this growth area and you’ll see another story. Store brands are succeeding because they’ve shed the old generic image. We no longer find big white boxes emblazoned with “CORN FLAKES” on the grocery shelf. Instead, we see the emergence of private labels such as Target’s Archer Farms. The current Archer Farms ad campaign, complete with bucolic farm scenes and poetic copy (“a masterpiece made for every palate“), is proof that even the store brands are building true brands, brands with promises that go beyond the traditional “lower price” position.

If customers do think that brand marketing is just fluff – and yes, sometimes they do think that – then as the brand stewards, we have to do a better job. We have to communicate our brands in a way that shows we are different.

How do we do that? We go back to the three key building blocks of Point of Vision's Brand Framework

1. Define the brand position. Who are we? What does our brand stand for?
   
   
2. Pinpoint the brand promise.  What can a customer can count on us to do or provide? Ideally, our promise is different from our competition’s.
   
   
3. Back it up with brand proof. Give the customer a reason to believe you can deliver on your promise. Examples of proof are a unique business process, the talent and training of your human resources, or quality control measures. This is where you build credibility, and that’s invaluable. Even if your brand promise isn’t too different from a competitor’s, if you have the proof and they don’t, you can win the brand battle.

We find that when our clients nail down their brand position, promise and proof, they discover a new clarity in how to communicate the brand to others. And with this new perspective, they can show their customers, beyond a doubt, that the brand they choose really does matter.

What do you think? Post a response to this entry – or any previous Think About It item – by December 31, 2007, and we’ll enter you into a drawing for one of two pairs of tickets to see the Atlanta Thrashers in Blueland (that’s Philips Arena for the uninitiated).

For more reading, download our Brand Framework Brief (48k PDF)

 

We’ve said it before, and we mean it: Consistency is the holy grail of brand communication.

But let’s not confuse consistency with stagnation.

If a company hangs around a while, there will come a time when it will need to update its visual identity – the brand mark (commonly called the logo), typefaces, colors, etc., that are used in representing the brand.

So how do you know when it’s time for a change?

Certainly, when a company’s brand evolves, the look of its brand should change with it.  So, mergers and acquisitions, expansions, or other changes that affect what’s being offered – or to whom – all are legitimate reasons to consider updating the visual identity. In these cases, the look may need to change to reflect the new character or scope of the organization.

Even when the core company hasn’t undergone significant changes, sometimes a visual identity that looks out of sync with the market needs to be refreshed. Brand managers shouldn’t chase visual fads, but they should be mindful of long-term trends. For example, Miller Lite, Burger King and the Atlanta Falcons changed their brand marks in recent years to stay in step with a young market demographic.

Most often, a change in visual identity is both a design update and a reflection of a new corporate direction. Take Holiday Inn. The company has lost considerable market share to competitors like Hilton. So company executives are correcting their course by directing their hotels to update guest rooms and improve customer service. At the same time, the company announced a change in its brand mark, getting rid of the script “Holiday Inn” in favor of a more contemporary mark: a simple, white “H.” The update gets rid of the old, dated mark, but more importantly, it serves as a signal to consumers that the company has changed.

Another good example – always setting a good example – is Apple. Apple’s genius has been in updating its look by changing colors and typefaces, never abandoning the apple-with-a-bite-taken-out-of-it icon that holds vast brand equity. When the company was born in the 1970s, its brand mark was an apple with rainbow-colored stripes. In the 1990s, the apple icon – like the iMac itself – was dressed in vibrant colors to match the company’s creative, personal image. Today, Apple is more a personal technology company than a computer company, and a high-tech grey apple logo reflects this new direction. The updated colors show the company as fresh and hip, while the consistency of the apple icon tells customers that Apple is the same company they’ve come to know and love.

It’s wise for any company that is updating its brand appearance to ask whether there is an “apple” in its visual identity – something that people connect with so deeply that it should be preserved. Abandoning your entire visual package can alienate loyal customers. In general, it’s smart to hang onto a core shape, basic color palette or main typeface and use subtle changes to give the brand new life.

What companies do you think have done a good job in updating their brand appearances? Who’s missed the mark? Let us know what you think. Post your reply to any article on our blog by December 31, and we’ll enter you in a drawing for one of two pairs of tickets to an Atlanta Thrashers game!

We live in a short-attention-span world.

We face a barrage of information unlike any previous generation has known. As the newest facts and stories fight their way into our consciousness, they push out the ideas that held our focus yesterday.

This spring we were gripped by the worst shooting in U.S. history, on the campus of Virginia Tech. But by summer, those murdered students slipped out of our minds as we became occupied with the story of one former Virginia Tech star, Michael Vick.

This phenomenon also happens in the world of marketing. The day our spectacularly designed, perfectly targeted communications piece lands on someone’s desk, it may win them over. They may be completely sold on our product or service.

But before they get around to taking action, something happens. Maybe they have a crisis with their biggest client, or their computer system crashes, or their kid gets the flu. Or, your competitor’s communication shows up.

Stuff happens. And when it happens, things that were important yesterday are pushed out of their consciousness. And once those bits of information slip out, they tend to stay out.

That’s why we have to keep communicating. We can’t have one marketing blitzkrieg and then sit idle. Yes, there are times when we need a flurry of activity, like when we’re opening a new business or introducing a new product. But even then, it’s crucial to keep following up with more communication, to fight the inevitable loss of mindshare.

How can you keep a brand alive in their brains? Here are a few ideas:

1. Build an ongoing relationship using online tools such as blogs, e-mail newsletters or podcasts
2. Extend new offers via direct mail
3. Run ads in local media
4. Conduct search engine optimization, so when they get back to looking for what you offer, they’ll see your familiar name
5. Send a survey about your product or service
6. For business-to-business companies, write and promote a case study that demonstrates the value you deliver

Tactics like these should be built into a comprehensive communications plan, which will help ensure that you stay in touch with your audience at the right time and frequency, but not too frequent -- over-saturation yields diminishing returns on your marketing dollars and is just plain annoying, sullying your brand’s relationship with the audience.

If you keep communication rolling and consistently use brand-centered messages, you can win, despite the unrelenting competition for your audience’s brainwaves.

We know. It’s how we helped Bocktown Beer and Grill become the talk of the town during their grand opening and keep the buzz going long after. Read more about our work for Bocktown in this case study.