I’ve found these cards included with vinyl LPs I’ve bought recently: a link and a code to download the MP3 tracks of the album.
Great example of a generous brand – giving away something and providing a moment of delight for no real added cost.
This guy knows what it’s all about: sometimes the best thing to do is get on your bike and go for a ride. Inspiration is most likely to happen in the corner of your eye when you’re least expecting it.
Beautiful film with great beats too!
Relevance, simplicity and humanity will distinguish brands in the future
Scott Bedbury
A New Brand World by Scott Bedbury was the first branding book I bought (from the incomparable, block sized Powell’s books in Portland, OR.)
I picked it up again recently and it was great to re-visit what Scott was saying about brands almost ten years ago. So much of what Scott was saying rings true – “brand strength not brand awareness”. And he seems to have predicted the impact that social media would have on brands: “everything matters”.
My favourite quote is the one above though. It’s the last principle of the book and he’s got a reverent, sage transcendental tone going ,like he’s suddenly realised what its all about. It seems like the best advice to brands ten years on: be relevant, simple and human.
Let me know if you want to borrow the book!
Don’t mess with Texas is such a great example of a social marketing brand: a tough challenge, insight, bold creative. It’s got it all!
The state of Texas had a problem: there was a lot of litter everywhere. Their research highlighted that most of the litter was made by males aged between 25 and 40 throwing litter from pick-up trucks. Further research with this audience highlighted that they were proud and protective of their state.
Neither of these are ground breaking insights. But it’s the way the insight was used to craft a brand that speaks to the audience that is so effective. The campaigners had the humility and wisdom to look past their perspective on the issue and use a different hook to achieve the same goal.
Don’t mess with Texas!
Groundhog Day is one of my favourite films.
Phil Connors’ experience is all about taking and the drudgery that comes from that. The clock flipping over. His approach is entirely selfish: shortcutting the system – using it to exploit people and get rich. And he gets stuck in a loop going nowhere.
But during the party it transpires that he’s changed. He’s been helping people. He’s no longer just eating cake and punching Ned Flanders in the face. He’s learned the piano to help people have a good time! He’s helping x do this and y do that. And suddenly he’s not stuck anymore. He’s broken free. He’s realised that life is about giving. About enabling others. He’s become generous.
(Wait for the tenuous brand connection. Oh here it is.)
It strikes me that this is what brands should do. Realise life is about what you make happen. Who you can help? What unexpected thing can you do? Be generous.
This is the last bag of Santa Lucia Naranjo available anywhere.
It’s from a Square Mile – a coffee roastery who specialise in coffee from ‘-’ – small, single estates from a specific place. The soil type, micro-climate and preparation of the beans result in distinct characteristics that roasters like Square Mile try to bring out and emphasise. And when coffee from a micro-lot runs out its gone. It might be back next year, but maybe it’ll be different.
This whole approach, of micro-lots and emphasising differences in flavour, is called third wave coffee. And it’s exploding: micro-roasteries, coffee shops and blogs are popping up all over.
Compare it to Starbucks / Costa / Nero / Illy, which is all about trying to eliminate those differentiations in flavour to create a repeatable, recognisable coffee. Sure, these companies rescued us from the terrible stuff that passed off as coffee before, but now their approach seems McDonald’s-esque. A frapa-capa-chapplino tasting the same anytime anywhere.
So where is your brand? Is it stuck in second wave? What can you apply from the third wave approach?
- Celebrate difference. Recognise that people maybe don’t want a homogenous experience and see where you can offer variety and interest.
- Talk up to your customers. Third wave coffee respects their customers ability to understand and care, thereby engaging them more. Whether it’s the great chat at Federation Coffee, or a small card supplied with the coffee telling you how to make it at home, recognising that people want to and are capable of learning is the way to go.
- Bring stories to the front. These stories give reason and meaning to the difference, so bring them out. The packs on the front of Square Mile coffee are a great example:
- Scarcity is OK. When it’s gone, it’s gone. That creates demand and increases value.
- Less is more. Third wave places have much smaller cups. Move over Venti. Often no S/M/L choice either. But’s that’s all part of it – quality not quantity.
- Increase the touch points. Third-wave stores often have many more touch points: equipment for sale, barista lessons at Prufrock coffee, coffee subscriptions as well as more time to chat.
What can you do with your brand to make it go third wave?
An old vending machine repurposed to sell DVDs
From an art project in Brixton Market – each DVD contains a minute of someone else’s time.
I loved the work by Charles Avery in the British Art Show. Since 2004 he has been depicting his imaginary domain The Island through texts, sculptures, drawings and even taxidermy.
The show included a giant drawing called the Port of Onamatopoeia – detailed with mystical tribes, inexplicable slogans, never-seen-before brands (with beautifully rendered signage) and symbols of unknown meaning. I loved looking at the drawing: immersing myself in these details and trying to figure out the relationship between these things and the culture they represent.
There’s something intoxicating and bewitching about made up worlds – whether ‘fictional’ ones like Avery’s or Jorge Luis Borge’s Tlon, or ‘real’ ones like standing in a 7 Eleven in Thailand, surrounded by brands we don’t recognise – they’re engaging because we want to figure them out.
One of the things I love about the Field Notes Colours subscription is the design dialogue from each edition and the next.
The original brown kraft covers gave way to the first edition of vibrant orange. Then flipped across the colour wheel to blue. The innocent, primary coloured, ‘Country fair’ edition was followed by the rather sinister all black ‘Raven’s wing’ cover in time for Halloween.
After 10 editions they’ve finally lost the logo. Given the space normally reserved for the iconic wordmark over to the owner to say whatever they want to with the enclosed Letraset.
This edition is called the ‘_________ edition. I really admire the playful and humble approach of un-branding. The cover design is so iconic that it’s still immediately obvious to those who know.
There was a big ole furore this week when the UK government’s business advice service, Start-up Britain, suggested businesses go to the cheap US crowd sourcing site to ‘get a logo’ rather than hiring a UK design company.
I agree with the design press that it’s pretty shocking that the government didn’t promote UK design businesses ,many of which are are the very SMEs that they’re trying to encourage.
Crowd sourcing a semi anonymous designer via free pitch process is a bad idea too. You get what you pay for and $200 doesn’t get you much: No understanding of what makes your brand unique, no competitor research, no insight. In short you get a cookie cutter logo.
But some of the reaction from the design community felt a bit defensive. Maybe we should recognise the probem and do something about it rather than complain?
How about forming a club? A bit like considerate builders, but for designers.
Stand for something. A public code of conduct that helps clients know what to expect.
Recognise members. A badge of honour that can be displayed by companies that adhere to the code.
Celebrate and communicate to help people understand the design process, showcase successes and break down the walls between designers and clients. One of the first missions could be to explain the difference between a cheap logo and a brand, which is something the UK government could do with understanding.
