How to write a marketing design brief

November 4th, 2010

There are times when all business owners, whatever your size, need to brief something to a graphic designer, website creator or just the printer who is going to do your new business cards. The key thing to remember about design is that it is very subjective. It’s like art – one man’s dirty bed linen is another’s Tracey Emin masterpiece! So you have to be precise and detailed about what you do (and don’t want) and, above everything else, write it down! It is hard after the event to criticise a design submission if the brief was a rather woolly conversation over the telephone or in the coffee shop.

Can’t be bothered to write it down? Seems too much trouble? Then I’d argue that you either don’t really know what you are looking for and the chances are that what you get will not be what you wanted! If you really think about the following and put it down on paper, it will offer a road map to your designer:

  • your brand positioning (what specific benefit do you offer?)
  • what makes you different from your competitors (how can you differentiate yourself to be more unique?)
  • who your target audience are (be as specific as possible but also realistic in terms of how you can access your defined group)
  • what attitude statements you can apply to your potential customers (what do they like doing / have in common?)
  • your brand personality (are you a fun brand or a serious brand?)
  • your style and tone (are you about entertaining, educating or inspiring?)

And also be specific about where are you going to use the design (on business cards, on the side of a lorry, on a T-shirt?) – it makes a huge difference to the design style!

Yes designers are creative people and will naturally go off on design journeys but you only have yourself to blame if you haven’t give them the parameters in the first place. And it will put you in a much better place to critique their designs and refer back to the brief if you’re not happy.

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Detecting a no. 1 author

October 10th, 2010

Living in Cheltenham, I was only too happy to become a member of the Cheltenham Festivals of which there are four a year: jazz, music (which I know should include jazz but this is your more highbrow stuff), science (not too sure about this one) and literature. The literature festival started this weekend and today I went to Sunday lunch at The Daffodil, a converted art deco cinema that serves great food (www.thedaffodil.com) with Alexander McCall Smith. And that started me thinking; how do authors market themselves outside of the publisher’s publicity machine?

Well, I have to say, McCall Smith did a great job today. This 62 year old ex professor of medical law denies the unwritten author’s code by being as prolific as Barbara Cartland, writing 1,000 words an hour, and publishing more than one book a year. And today he was certainly master of his own PR machine. Whether nerves, diet or dislike of roast beef, it was McCall Smith who told his publicist that he was going to go without his own lunch and instead tour the restaurant, pressing the flesh of every one of us who had paid to see him. Impressive.

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Gold for the golden oldies as Aston Martin wins coolest brand title

September 28th, 2010

Apple iPhone has been knocked off its pedestal as Britain’s coolest brand with the announcement of the 2010 /11 CoolBrands top 500 that has put Aston Martin in pole position. As James Bond’s vehicle of choice, this super sexy sports car is a brand approaching its 100th birthday! Bond was first seen to drive an Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger, released 1964, and the long brand association was born.

Although Apple will have been disappointed t have been usurped for the number one spot, they do have the comfort that iPhone is number two, iPod number three and Apple itself the number 13th (lucky for some) coolest brands.

So what does this result say for the new kids on the block? Well, it proves one marketing adage that it’s not the brand name you need to change to reignite your fortunes, but the marketing behind it. Other well established brands in the top 20 include Harley Davidson, Ferrari, Chanel and Dom Perignon – all good vintages. And what do these all have in common to have stood the test of time? Well, they all stand for luxury, sophistication and a certain timelessness; in fact, they’re cool brands!

The brands are chosen by a combination of 2,000 consumers in a survey and by a panel of 35 designers, style magazine editors and website executives. Here’s the top 20 CoolBrands:

1. Aston Martin

2. iPhone

3. iPod

4. BlackBerry

5. Bang & Olufsen

6. Harley-Davidson

7. Nintendo Wii

8. Google

9. Ferrari

10. Dom Perignon

11. BBC iPlayer

12. Vivienne Westwood

13. Apple

14. Tate Modern

15. You Tube

16. Mini

17. Chanel

18. Ray Ban

19. Alexander McQueen

20. Jimmy Choo

Check out the full top 500 at http://tinyurl.com/35n7h64. And, if you think the committee have got it wrong, well there’s a chance for you to nominate your own favourite CoolBrand for the 2011/12 awards at http://www.coolbrands.uk.com/.

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It’s a dog’s life

August 27th, 2010

I really don’t know why we use that expression because, for all you committed dog owners out there, we know that the life our pampered pooch leads is one we would be more than happy to adopt ourselves in a parallel universe. As if we don’t pander to their physiological around the clock needs enough – feeding at the appointed hour, going for regular comfort break walks, letting them have their forty winks on a comfy bed – we also contribute to a multi-million pound industry that has developed to market to us, the susceptible dog owner.

Just some of the marketing ploys that I have become increasingly aware of are:

  • Pet friendly hotels; now some of the most prestigious boutique hotels actively encourage us to go on a short break with our four legged friends http://www.petfriendlyhotels.com/
  • Pet insurance has been with us for a long time but it is now becoming increasingly segmented with different tiers of cover to make the caring owner guilty of just opting for ‘basic’ cover. My dog is ten years old and his insurance renewal came in today – they wanted over a 200 per cent increase! So, I turned to those friendly meerkats and found a much better deal http://www.comparethemarket.com/more-products/pet-insurance/
  • Dog food has gone from being a choice of mass produced wet or dry to mirror the human food development into niche diet, premium and gourmet options. But even that doesn’t compare to the latest K99 ‘puppy sundae’ (ice cream to you and me) van catering to over heated pooches with ‘dog eat hog world’ and ‘canine cookie crunch’ flavours http://www.trendhunter.com/photos/82037
  • Dogs can now have as many toiletries, vitamins and supplements as their preened and paranoid owners, to treat anything from dry skin to stress, as well as undergo a range of alternative and natural therapies
  • Building on our desires to make our pet a member of the family, pet photography is becoming fashionable with people even dedicating themselves to this area of work
  • And don’t get me started on the vast array of dog clothing; animals should be animals at the end of the day, not design accessories

But, as in other areas of our society, there is a marked division appearing in pet ownership between those that care for and (can afford to) indulge their pets and those that either can’t or won’t. With the Christmas season soon to be upon us (doesn’t the build-up start as soon as the children go back to school?!) please remember the now infamous Dogs Trust adage ‘A dog is for life, not just for Christmas.’ http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/az/a/adogisforlife/default.aspx

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Celebrities and brands – a marriage made in heaven or a blind date disaster?

July 6th, 2010

Brand owners have long used celebrities in an ambassadorial role in an effort to associate their brand with the celebrity lifestyle and hope to reflect in their glory. Using a famous face can be a real shortcut to brand recognition and is therefore a tempting strategy. Whether it’s an A-list film star or a family friendly D-list soap star, having the right ambassador to represent the brand can boost the bottom line. But, whilst the celeb can bring Midas touch rewards at the height of their fame and popularity, it’s a risky strategy, as it can become a minefield when something goes wrong, with the fall-out often reflecting equally publicly on the brand.

It was back in January 2008 that Kerry Katona was finally dropped from Iceland’s advertising campaigns after reports of her alleged drug taking became too much for the frozen food chain. Chosen because of her status as one-time ‘mother of the year’, Katona seemed to epitomise the brand’s slogan ‘That’s why mums go to Iceland’, but the reality was somewhat different.

More recently, the golden boy Tiger Woods’ tarnished private life lost him the brand ambassador roles with both Gillette (lending a whole new meaning to ‘the best a man can get’) and AT&T (when ‘scoring birdies’ in the US PGA Tour had nothing to do with golf clubs!).

But brand owners don’t always drop celebrities going through a rough time. When Kate Moss’s alleged cocaine use was on the front of all the newspapers she suffered the blow of having her contracts with Chanel, Burberry and H&M cancelled. Conversely, Rimmel kept Moss on and rode the storm. Whilst possibly not back to her peak of popularity, Moss has since rebuilt her reputation and now has a clothing line in Top Shop and her own perfume.

A new celebrity tie up announced this week leaves me rather perplexed; Victoria Beckham was appointed the creative design director at Range Rover with her first project being the new interior of the Special Edition Range Rover Evoque. The brand owners say that this is a smaller, sleeker vehicle so can only assume Victoria is doing her own version of ‘Pimp My Ride’ for size zero fashionista WAGs?!

A great article that includes this and another 11 celebrity endorsements that went wrong is on T3 http://tinyurl.com/34vvbmm and includes the classic of Bill Wyman endorsing a metal detector (not very rock and roll but perhaps because of The Rolling Stones ‘Money, that’s what I want’?).

Back to the everyday, Morrison’s is another supermarket that has used celebrities to raise their presence, particularly in the south. Who can forget Denise van Outen and Top Gear’s Richard Hammond wheeling their trolleys across open countryside to get to the fresh food in a Morrison’s supermarket. In a change of strategy, their new ad, which breaks mid July 210, uses children instead of celebrities. So is the power of the celeb fading or are there still sufficient numbers of us gullible enough to believe that Sharon Osbourne shopped at Asda to keep this phenomenon alive?

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Brands put the boot in after England World Cup defeat

June 29th, 2010

Now that the much-hyped England World Cup football team have returned home after their trouncing by the Germans, brands have had to re-evaluate their planned ‘England win’ executional strategies and instead ‘put the boot on’ for the purpose of brand marketing.

Jumping on the Frank Lampard goal that was not given in the England – Germany game because the linesman from Uruguay did not see it, Asda have grasped the marketing opportunity and are offering anyone with a Uruguayan passport a free eye test!

As reported by Marketing, the first two newspaper ads capitalising on the defeat ran the day after the game by two car companies. Kia ran an ad in The Times to promotes their seven-year warranty with the headline “Oh well, at least our warranty beats the Germans”. Nissan chose The Sun to promote its GT-R with the headline “One match the Germans didn’t win”. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/2dznawa

Interestingly, the Nationwide sponsorship of the England team runs out at the end of June, just days after the crushing defeat. Their exclusive renewal period ran out earlier in the year but they claim that the brand is still in talks about the future. At least Sunday’s dire result should have brought the price down if they are still interested!

If not, who else could take up the mantle? Here are just a few of my suggestions but feel free to send me your own:

  • An obvious choice would be Avis who could adapt their well-known brand slogan to, ‘We must try harder’
  • Or, how about an oil company (topical industry at the moment!?) with Esso’s old slogan ‘Put a Tiger in your Tank’!
  • A tea brand makes sense – either the about to be revived Tetley Tea Folk for ‘the Gaffer’ or the PG Tips chimps (needs no further explanation!)
  • Or how about Bahlsen’s Messino that is trying to steal share from McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes brand with the slogan ‘the future’s oblong’
  • And back to sport, Nike’s brand slogan would sum up what we all think ‘Just do it!’

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Brands through recession

May 23rd, 2010

A fascinating article in yesterday’s Guardian Money has shown how our spending habits have changed through the worldwide recession. Here are some of my favourite highlights:

  • Women are eking out regular salon hair and beauty treatments by another couple of weeks – so good news for off-the-shelf brands – with premium health & beauty brands continuing to hold up (the little ‘lipstick treat’ effect) with only a very small percentage of women trading down to cheaper options, preferring to be more thrifty with their preferred brand. For more on health & beauty in the credit crunch, go to http://tinyurl.com/2w7fkhb
  • 1 in 8 fashion shops have closed and new clothing has taken a big hit apart from the cost-conscious that have rushed to Primark and the stronger fashion labels, such as Burberry. But us women are nothing if not inventive and the recession has caused both a revival of knitting and sewing and a trend for personal looks created from charity shop bargains as well as a strong second hand trade through swishing. One brand busting the trend with record sales is Agent Provocateur, apparently driven by more cosy nights in?! For more on fashion in the credit crunch, go to http://tinyurl.com/39yy9nq
  • The onset of the credit crunch had a marked impact in food retailing with Marks & Spencer and Waitrose customers reputedly trading down to Sainsbury and Tesco and their customers deserting for Aldi and Lidl. What had been a growing demand for quality and healthier foods stopped almost immediately as did sales of the relatively expensive ready meal. Instead the country enjoyed a return to home cooking and the adult packed lunch became a common sight – great news for Thermos. For more on food in the credit crunch, go to http://tinyurl.com/2eg34cl

But a really interesting learning from the recession is that the period of austerity seems to have instilled a return to old-fashioned values with consumers now starting to look for trusted value over cheap and disposable, which is a trend that brands in all areas should respond to.

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Brave new world of the freelancer

May 19th, 2010

Research for Britain’s Brain Gain by PCG (www.pcg.org.uk), the professional association supporting freelancers, contractors and consultants, shows that there are an estimated 1.4 million freelancers in the UK. Together they apparently contribute £82 billion to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) across all sectors of the economy including manufacturing, services, finance, healthcare and education.

Drawing on these resources, Business link have provided updated guidance for businesses about ‘hiring a freelancer or outside contractor’ at http://tinyurl.com/3ykszoa

Business Link suggest that it is appropriate to hire a freelancer when:

  • You need to employ someone straight away
  • You need the worker to use their professional judgment about the work
  • You know the type of expertise you need but you don’t have time to research and specify the job role
  • The length of time needed for the particular expertise is limited or may be subject to change

This is all undoubtedly true but their reasons seem very safe and risk averse. In my experience, a freelancer can be both a breath of fresh air and a powerful boost to a business owner looking to make a step change to their business. If selected wisely, your chosen freelancer will come into the business with a new pair of eyes and a raft of relevant experience. Outsourcing is a key way for SME owners to stick to what they are good at and contract in specialists in the disciplines where they are not.

But how does it work from the freelancer’s perspective?

Yes, some professionals are forced into freelancing through redundancy or employment change but freelancing is actually a positive career and lifestyle choice, giving business specialists a variety of benefits including:

  • Flexibility – the opportunity to take control, the freedom to choose when, where and how you work
  • Variety – the chance to work for a wide range of clients, building on and developing existing knowledge
  • Higher return – the opportunity to achieve an improved remuneration per hour, based on the perception of your added value
  • Work-Life Balance – the freedom to plan your on time, improving your quality of life

As technology speeds up sourcing, and frees up new ways of working using online platforms, it is now possible to find someone to take on almost any business challenge; in fact, some companies operate as entirely virtual organisations. And the same technology empowers professional freelancers to achieve their business and personal aspirations in this brave new world. So, what are you waiting for?

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The future brand marketing dilemma

May 6th, 2010

We live in exciting times; this year’s election campaign showed just how marketing techniques have changed with the inaugural TV debates completely dominating the views of the electorate and causing huge changes in popularity for the party leaders that took everyone, including them, by surprise. Equally unexpected was that the impact of social media was not as strong as predicted beforehand when people were anticipating the Obama effect. So what does that teach us? Only that we, as brand marketers, can’t dominate the conversation any more.

Even with top class on the job training and continuing professional development, these are challenging times for brand marketers who were trained to believe that their job is to influence consumer behaviour through persuasive brand messages. But is anyone listening any more? The consumer is more powerful than ever before and has access to more information than our predecessors could have dreamed of.

And, where information used to only normally be available from the brand owner, and therefore controlled, the voices that prospective consumers listen to when making a purchase is their peer group, over which the brand owner has no control. The Internet and Google allow me to search for anything and interrogate the information without any recourse to a brand owner.

Then think of the success of comparison information sites such as Trip Advisor; I would never book a hotel abroad now without checking it out here first. I can choose to ignore what other reviewers say, but their comments will form part of my purchasing decision. Then, having made a choice, there are a number of ways that I can exercise that purchase either directly with the brand owner or via a third party, using the internet to compare cost and other parameters of my purchasing decision.

So is it a lost cause for tomorrow’s brand owners? Definitely not! There are still things that the smart brand owner can do to compete in this new emerging marketplace. The first is to embrace the change. Acknowledge that consumers want information and that they will comment on their experience of your brand. Don’t look to try and control all messaging; brand owners that take down negative comments from social media platforms or reviews from websites are just seen by consumers to be out of touch and their actions will further alienate their brand. Instead, engage with your consumers. Respond to negative, as well as positive, criticism. Being seen to be human and honest is a strong start to being seen as a brand for the 21st century.

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Nick Clegg brand (up)rising

April 20th, 2010

The last week in UK politics has been totally fascinating – and how often have we ever been able to say that?! I’m looking at it (as objectively as possible) from a marketing standpoint. Before last Thursday we had a weakening market leader and a strong challenger brand that, between them, were confident of monopolising the UK voter at the expense of all other brands in the market. That was despite the public anger about the financial crisis, where the bankers have been seen to have ‘got away with it’, and the complete loss of trust caused by the MPs’ expenses debacle. One of the basic rules in marketing is to identify and listen to your audience; and they didn’t. They thought it could all be pushed aside with a few apologies and then it would be back to ‘business as usual’ under the misconception that they are the only options open to the market.

The leaders lined up on Thursday with Gordon Brown and Labour expected to get a kicking as the incumbent government; being on the receiving end of the electorate’s frustration with the current financial situation and issues around immigration, defence, crime, health and education. David Cameron and the Conservatives were said to have it all to lose, with market expectations on him to steal the show, attacking Labour’s record with the sort of style and panache he displays at prime minister’s questions. Oh yes, and there was that other chap, Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats who many thought should be grateful to have been given the opportunity to turn up, whilst others thought his minority status was an unnecessary distraction.

And so they presented their (marketing) propositions with Labour and the Conservatives engaged in their usual sparring. Gordon Brown probably landed a few more punches than had been expected whilst David Cameron seemed decidedly uncomfortable and did not perform as imagined. And what both the big ‘brands’ ignored at their peril was the feisty number three brand. Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats had nothing to lose and were in the enviable position of not being accountable for the mistakes of the past twenty or thirty years. And Nick Clegg went for it, branding Labour and the Conservatives as the ‘old way’ of doing things and proposing a new, fair way. He struck a chord with the (target) audience and could, quite possibly, have changed the result of this general election.

They say that a week’s a long time in politics but the change from before and after last week’s debate on the UK political landscape is little short of extraordinary! As reported by The Guardian, before last week’s election debate, bookmakers William Hill gave Nick Clegg ‘at most a small chance’ of becoming the next prime minister. And by ‘small chance’, they meant it was about as likely as the Loch Ness monster turning up in the next five years. ‘And I’m not sure we weren’t taking more bets on the Loch Ness monster,’ said Graham Sharpe, the William Hill spokesman. Before the debate William Hill was offering odds of 300-1 on the Lib Dems winning an overall majority on 6 May. Today, William Hill is offering 20-1 odds on an overall Lib Dem majority and 12-1 on Nick Clegg becoming prime minister! What a difference an hour and a half TV appearance can make!

So, what are the marketing lessons to be learned?

  • Don’t underestimate your target audience – listen to them and act on their comments if you want to win their brand loyalty
  • Don’t assume your competition is the same as it always has been – that minority brand can do something to thrust it into the limelight and potentially steal your market share
  • Always expect the unexpected!

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