We've moved...

Just a quick note to let you all know that I've officially moved this blog to its own domain.

You can now find The Brand Chef blog at the following URL:

http://thebrandchef.com

Come on by and see the new design, and, of course, the new posts! And don't forget to subscribe to The Brand Chef's blog feed...

Until then...

KEEP COOKING!
Andrew

"Advertising Agency" As A Brand?

"Open the kimono" is a phrase that I once heard, loosely meaning "everyone should share data. There should be no secrets between those in the meeting. As in a Japanese wife showing her husband her naked body by opening her silk robe or kimono." Of course, this means that all bets are off. Perceptions are laid on the table for the world to evaluate, comment on, and make public judgment on - for better or worse.

At Love Scott & Associates, the West Des Moines marketing communications company I work for, we're experimenting in a little kimono-opening research. We're asking simply,

"If public perception rules a brand, what is your perception of "Advertising Agency" as a label?"

It's a little risky when you open yourself to judgment, but without asking the right questions outside the walls of your company, you'll never understand your brand - nor will you understand the challenges that face it.


Of course, being a Twitter Poll, this is basically quantitative and not qualitative research, but it is an interesting peek into the public perception of companies that call themselves an "Advertising Agency."

I invite you to go take the simple, one-question poll. Polling ends Monday, June 8th, 2009, and after, I'll post the results along with some of the reaction and some questions that develop within Love Scott.

We look forward to seeing your results!

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Defend & Define Your "Green" Packaging

There’s a silly trend in packaging design that I’ve noticed while meandering down the isles of my local "UberMart." It's called Green Packaging.

You've seen ‘em. The brands that slip and slide their way through your subconscious and into your cart with the wobbly front wheel…

Spouse A: “But it says it’s 'green,' honey. It’ll help save the environment…”

Spouse B: “Horse Puckey (dear)… put it back.”

I see it this way… Sure, “Mega-CrunchyChip” decided to jump on the “green” bandwagon, but how? Their product is made primarily of sawdust, crude oil, and mono sodium glutamate (YUMMY), and that's all packaged in a cellophane / foil bag with oil-based inks printed on the shell.

What’s the green advantage there?

I can almost hear the suits theorizing across the boardroom table right now…

“If we reduce the amount of ink we lay on the bag (more white space -- tee hee), and maybe incorporate a little green leaf in the logo, consumers will perceive that we’ve ‘Gone Green.’ ‘Cuz branding IS all about perception, right?"

Again… Horse puckey. (Sir)

Green packaging.

That doesn’t mean green-colored ink or green paper. Heck, it doesn’t even mean recycled paper! Sure, it’s about the environment, but it’s also about your brand's disclosure. And, it’s about your consumers’ choices.

It’s important for consumers who want to make greener purchasing decisions to pay attention to the fine print. If you offer packaging or products that tout being “green,” then you need to give the consumers a little more than a “green design.” Give them a little clarity on why it’s green.

Here’s a short guide that can help lend a little “green” to your packaging design, and maybe a little credibility to your “green” brand.

Complete Compost: “Recyclable.”
This means that the product can be recycled, but it doesn’t mean that the manufacturer has done anything to make it greener through the manufacturing process.

Some Fertile Soil: “Made From Recycled Materials.”
This means that the product is made in part with once-used materials. But it doesn’t specify percentages.

Springy Greeny: “Made from 100% Recycled Materials.”
Made with pre-consumer waste left over from the manufacturing process, this means that no virgin materials were mined or harvested to make your product.

Screamin’ Green: “Made from 100% Post-Consumer Recycled Materials.”
In addition to saving on natural resources, post-consumer waste is the greenest category because it reuses materials once used by consumers. Many products will include a mix of post consumer and pre-consumer recycled materials.

Your green efforts aren’t about just “looking” or "saying" green. The process, your clarity, and your commitment to the environment will make TRUE green branding part of your consumers’ buying decision. If you try to fake it, you’ll end up with more than green on your face…

Food for thought…

Keep Cooking
Andrew B. Clark
--The Brand Chef

10 Tips for Improving Your Customer Engagement

They were once a prospect…. then a lead… then a presentation opportunity… Then… well, you know the routine. But now that you’ve landed this whale (for lack of a better term), what happens? You’ve finally contracted with this client. Does the attention to this particular fish scale back (no pun intended)?

Is it all about the conquest?

Is the honeymoon over?

Well, I’m here to tell you, it better not stop there.

Continued customer engagement is key to your business’ sustainability – the key to your success – and honestly should be the easiest part of your job. Or would you rather go on making cold calls and play the dog-n-pony for new leads every day?

Here are 10 simple tips that will improve your customer engagement.

1. Realize your engagement starts on day one.
If it’s a cold call, if your business model involves lead generation, customer engagement begins with your handling of that lead. Set the tone of the entire relationship as soon as they pick up the phone.

2. Start at the beginning.
TRUE brand engagement gets the biggest return by starting with the Truth. You can’t define your customer’s unique positioning statement until you’ve dated for a while. So slow down and learn. And let THEM learn about (and from) you.

3. Make it easier to be your customer.
Does your business card have your cell phone number on it? If you don’t want to go that far, does it have a number on it where an actual HUMAN answers… maybe even you? Break the barriers you've set up to ward off telemarketers and spammers. Your customers don’t want to feel like they’re not part of your culture.

4. All customers (new or old) are created equal.
Sure, a whale gets more attention than a guppy, but keep that fact in the ledger only. Support, lines of communication, and reaction need to be consistent across all levels. Think of it this way… Do you have a favorite child?

5. Personalize and customize.
In another lifetime, I was a kick-ass waiter for a national restaurant chain. I knew, by instinct, that if I knew the customer’s name, their drink preferences, even where they like to sit, that my engagement would improve their experience while at the restaurant (not my flair). Results? Return customers. MUCH better tips. More promotional opportunities for me (never realized due to a job offer in the marketing communications world… from one of those customers… ironic?)

6. Know the difference between "New" and “Well seasoned” customers.
New customers have different needs and expectations than those you've had for years (even months). Do your research to understand and respond to these differences.

7. Ask.
Most people want to be heard. If they’re like a lot of our customers, they’ll make sure they’re heard… are you there to listen? They like being asked. The act of surveying your customers makes them understand you care. When you report the results of the survey back to them, that's a double confirmation of your engagement.

8. Show a little appreciation.
If a customer has shown you loyalty, how do you reciprocate? It can be as simple as a Friday afternoon lunch on the company. Or it could be going beyond stipulated expectations – at no extra cost to them. “Can you see how much we appreciate you?” Isn’t always a bad question to ask (yourself).

9. Give ‘em a little buy-in option.
Build a customer panel or advisory board, and invite your customers to join. You'll be surprised by how many want to participate, share, refer, and engage more as a result of their "one-on-some" participation. If you listen and act on what they have to say, that not only builds their loyalty, but also makes them more willing to reach out to prospects.

10. Use their network.
If a customer provides a referral, that’s like they're saying “These guys did good by me. You should use ‘em too.” And it’s a sure testimonial of an engaged customer to give a referral. Most customers feel better about the value of your brand when they refer you to people like themselves.

Simple customer engagement should be a daily routine – above lead generation, above self-promotion, and above working “in” the company. If you incorporate these 10 simple tips, you should see a great improvement in return engagement from your customers, thus making the rest of it seem easier.

Until next time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

What Are You Reading?

We have a long weekend coming up and I wanted to pick your brains for some good reading material. In recent years, I’ve constantly tried to keep a handful of books on my “To Read” list, but lately I’ve had trouble finding the time to search out and discover new material.

So, I’m leaving it up to you.

What have you read lately that…

A. Inspired you to be a better person
B. Motivated you personally / professionally
C. Made you laugh / cry
or
D. Twisted your idea of... (insert topic here)

Get it? I want you to give suggestions on what should I read next.

In turn, I’ve listed five of my all-time favorite books for you – with the idea that when we share knowledge we become a better community.

Orbiting the Giant Hairball, Gordon MacKenzie
Always the top of my list... Originally given to me by my friend and mentor, Mike Wagner (White Rabbit Group / Own Your Brand). It’s a fun, yet startling eye-opener that will inspire you to rethink how creativity can be integrated into the “corporate world.”


The Brand Gap, Marty Neumeier
Kind of an obvious one – seeing as though I’m The Brand Chef – but it’s seriously the base of my branding perspective and one of the most dog-eared book in my collection.



Made to Stick, Chip & Dan Heath
Ever wonder why some ideas “Stick” and others fade away like last week’s meatloaf? Chip and Dan Heath have created a wonderfully structured path to assure the “stickiness” of your next idea, marketing plan, or advertising campaign... Constructed from academically-tested theories and proven methodology, they take the techno/psycho-babble out of the equation for all of us to put to use in our next campaign. (Trust me, it was hard enough for me just to write that…)

Running With Scissors, Augusten Burroughs
One of a handful of non-business books I’ve read this year, “Scissors” is painful and amusing all at once. In a masterfully crafted memoir, Burroughs narrates some of his own personal triumphs and failures growing up in a… well... dysfunctional family (to put it mildly). Emotive and disturbing, Burroughs’ writing shows you a perspective of mental illness, alcoholism, and dysfunctional family-life that very few get to see.

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box, John Ortberg
Have you ever wondered your fate in honest, realistic, and spiritual terms? Ortberg, using the “game of life” as a metaphor for our “earthly” lives, neatly sorts out what’s fleeting and what’s permanent in God’s kingdom. Being “Master of the Board” is not the point. Winning the game of life on Earth is a temporary victory… Not my typical read, but an eye-opening conversation that contrasts well with my venture into Augusten Burroughs’ world.


As you can see, I have a pretty eclectic reading list. I welcome all ideas / genres… And I look forward to your suggestions. I will report back as soon as I've pick one…

Until next week…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
-- The Brand Chef

10 Reasons I'll NEVER Be A Social Media "Superstar"

What IS a social media superstar... me? you?

I may know one...

Over at GetANewBrowser.com, Andy Brudtkuhl (Twitter @abrudtkuhl) took a much more in-depth look at those that claim to be social media "experts." It inspired me to think a little more about what exactly a social media superstar "looks like."

And I decided I'd never be one... Here's why.

1. I’m over 35 (by just a bit).
2. I usually wear shirts with a collar (sometimes even a tie).
3. I shave at least every weekday (sometimes even on weekends).
4. I still use hair gel as a smoothing agent instead of as an “agent of change.”
5. I don’t own aviator sunglasses.
6. I don’t own an iPhone (but really want one).
7. I have difficulty buying coffee at Starbucks (although appreciate it immensely).
8. I know more about potty training than trend spotting.
9. Most of my friends have no idea what CRM, CMS, CSS, RSS, XML or “tweetup” mean.
10. Most of my friends think “Blogging” is something they did after a heavy night of drinking in college (but can’t remember with who).

Sure, this is all tongue-in-cheek, but what I do know is that "experts," or those that position themselves as "social media superstars" have quite a challenge ahead of them. As Andy said in his follow-up post,

"Experts are... always learning... thought leaders, and teachers..."

AMEN!

Here are two quick points.

1. I do know that TRUE Brands are built on branding perceptions using Truth, Relevance, Uniqueness, and Engagement.
   
2. And... Those in control of that perception will be the ones in the branding driver’s seat.

So watch out, ‘cause this social media interloper is comin’ in...

What's YOUR definition of a Social Media Superstar? Is it as simple as I've made it (don't answer that)? Is it more like Andy's description? Or, do you have a better definition?

Let's cook up some fun ideas...

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Uh... Better Late Than Never?

So, I picked up an issue of Advertising Age (actual print *gasp*) last week and slowly perused. On the cover article, reading,

"Brands aren't simply brands anymore. They're the center of a maelstrom of social and political dialogue made possible by digital media..."

as an opening quote from Jack Neff's article about Unilever CMO, Simon Clift.

Further, this was a direct quote from Clift while speaking at Ad Age's Digital Conference - a conference (I assume) full of brains MUCH bigger than mine. And to think of it, bigger than Simon's as well.

Ouch? Why insult Mr. Clift, you say?

Although sage advice, Simon Clift had a room chock full of marketing communications and advertising GENIUS, and he pukes out a statement like that? What the heck was he thinking?

I can only imagine the room groaning and writhing in their seats as he muddled through his "theories" about how social media and consumers are taking brands under siege - and that corporations, managers, and marketing ilk alike had better watch out!!!

Well, he's only about 2-years late with that opener... is he just now getting it?

I think so...

About a year ago, I wrote a post (somewhat disturbing) about making bad branding decisions; and that, in time, social media would determine the success of a brand. Can you guess who the branding agent was I picked on? Mr. Clift's very own UNILEVER!

In that post, I wrote a scathing opinion of Unilever's choice of using ragged, skank-pop star, Madonna as a role model for one of their shampoo lines; stating,

... here’s a warning to Unilever. Madonna is a Brand Mess. Like a hair stuck in the back of your throat, she’s simply… ACK!

And there you have it... Ack and all...

If you were at that conference, wouldn't you like to have more relevant information? More timely?

As a reader of the article, I certainly did...

How about HOW corporations should use social media for extension and definition of their brands? How about creating a discernible link between the need for social media as a Public Relations tool? (of which he touched on)

I'm sorry for the rant, but as an avid reader of Advertising Age and a HUGE proponent of social media in branding, I found this article and Mr. Clift's theories to be pandering and, honestly, boring.

So, when faced with the opportunity to speak to your professional peers -- the movers-and-shakers of your industry; if you can't be unique, at least make sure you're timely, truthful, relevant and engaging...

Just a little advice...

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
- The Brand Chef