John Winsor

The Sound of a Dying Brand

In a recent New York Times article about the success of the Donald Trump clothing line (go figure) Robert Passikoff, the president of Brand Keys suggested that that you can understand the power of a brand by playing a simple word-association game. He says, "You ask someone what Mercedes means, they say, 'Luxury.' You say BMW, and they go, 'Engineering.' Toyota? 'Reliability.' You say Pontiac and they go, 'Uh.' " He paused. "The 'uh' is the sound of a dying brand."

What word do your customers associate with your brand?

Social Co-creation

I spent some time yesterday with Dan Sturges, a transportation guru thinking about the future of mobility. Our conversation broadened my perspective on the idea of co-creation. I have always thought about co-creation in the context of capitalism and the company/customer relationship. Yet, in today's world where governments are having a difficult time solving some of the bigger issues that we face, including global warming, an exploding global population, the specter of desiases like the bird flu and natural disasters such as Katrina and the Tsunami, it is time for people to get involved in co-creating solutions.

A great example of this is happening in with global warming. After the U.S. government's unwillingness to sign the Kyoto Protocol or even acknowledge that global warming could be an issue, local communities are taking matters into their own hands. Seattle and 131 other cities representing over 35 million citizens and including New York City have decided to do something about it by signing the Kyoto Protocol themselves.

This is not only a great example of thinking globally and acting locally but also the power of citizens from a variety of communities coming together to co-create a solution to a problem that others are not willing to deal with. This kind of social co-creation and grass roots activism gives me hope that we can overcome the big issues that we, as individuals, have a hard time understanding.

The Corante Marketing Hub Launches Today

The folks at Corante launched the Corante Marketing Hub today, which includes my blog and nearly twenty other blogs concentrating on "the best writing and thinking on marketing across the blogosphere and beyond." I am very excited to be apart of the Hub and look forward to using it as a portal to keep me in touch with some of the best thinking in the marketing business.

The Hub is also a wonderful example of co-creation, a bunch of folks getting together to create something special together.

Participate in the Reputation Marketplace

I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of reputation and the potential it has to have a disruptive effect on marketing. The fluid reputation marketplaces, like ebay and Amazon, have certainly challenged the power of branding.

Because reputation can play such an important role in the way people relate to brands and companies, it’s important to think about how to make sure you stay engaged in managing your reputation in this bottom-up economy.

Here are some things to think about:

Research Your Reputation – Think about what kind of reputation your company has. Is the internal view of your company consistent with the external view?

Understand Your Reputation – Who really owns your products and brands: you or your customers? Is your company ready to acknowledge the illusion of control and start to listen to what people really have to say about you and your products?

Tap Into the Conversation – There is a current conversation going on in the world about your company. It’s hard to really listen to the conversations that are happening in the marketplace unless you get out of your office and seek them out.

Let Go – The idea that you can completely control your reputation is another illusion. While it can be valuable in the long term, try to let go now and then and focus on the relationship with your customers in the context of the journey. Enjoy the day-to-day experience.

Participate in Improving Your Reputation – The best way to start participating is to ensure that the actions of your company are consistent with your philosophy. Do you do what you say you’re going to do?

Thanks!

With Thanksgiving being celebrated tomorrow in the U.S. my thoughts have drifted to how lucky I am. It is you, the reader of this blog along with the readers of my books, customers of Radar and the wonderful people I get to work with that help make my work so fulfilling. So, thank you, dear customers, for allowing me the opportunity to participate in a dialogue with you.

Smell Your Customers

Jim Ferry made a great comment to the Be Customer Inspired not Relient post on my Spark blog that I thought was worth sharing.

Tom Matano, who designed the Mazda Miata, talks about being so close to the customer that you can smell the liverwurst sandwich he had for lunch. "Don't just listen... Smell the Customer" I kind of like that imagery.

I like that imagery, also. Thanks for sharing, Jim!

Being Proactive

I was very impressed the other day after receiving an email from Barak Berkawitz from sixapart, explaining that on Tuesday November 8th for three hours some problems occurred in upgrading the service that caused limited access to the TypePad application.

Barak's post is a great example of keeping your customers satisfied by being proactive.

Google Analytics

Google does it again! Google Analytics is sure to shake up the advertising industry by giving advertisers a new tool to analyze the results of their ads. Most agencies have avoided supplying these tools measure results to marketers and, instead, focused on creating beautiful ads and winning awards. 

It's all about results. Google's new product will certainly cause a ripple effect through all of marketing making advertisers demand the measurement of the ads they run, no matter the medium.

The Rigors of the Road

I'm sorry for the lack of posting this past week. Between coming down with a nasty cold and being on the road for the launch of Spark I just ran out of energy. That's why a got a kick out of Seth's post entitled "How to Run a Useless Conference" yesterday. If you're feeling like you're spending too much time sitting in conferences, it's worth a read.

Both books are getting some nice recognition. First, Beyond the Brand, is number 15 on the 800CEOread October Bestseller List. Likewise, SPARK, was #2 on the daily 800CEOread list on November 3rd.

Taking on Intelligent Design

I just noticed that Wasatch Brewery and their Brewmiester, Greg Schirf  have gotten back into the political fray witht their new beer, Evolution Amber Ale.

Wasatch has been stirring controversy for a while. During the 2002 Winter Olympics Wasatch launched of the 2002 “Unofficial” Amber Ale, which quickly drew attention from the US Olympic Committee and the official beer sponsor, Anheuser-Busch.

Another Wasatch brew, which gained national and international spotlight, was Polygamy Porter (“Why have just one?”). Schirf is also the former impersonator of Ben Franklin when he recreated the Boston Tea Party by dumping four kegs of beer into the Great Salt Lake as a beer tax protest that inspired the launching of his 1st Amendment Lager ("Give me liberty, or give me a cold one.")

Wasatch has now taken on the growing debate in Utah and around the country: should “intelligent design” be taught in science classes as an alternative to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution? by brewing Evolution Amber Ale. The label even includes a “Darwin Approved” seal explaining that the beer was “created in 27 days, not 7.”