John Winsor

Throw Out the Ego

It always seems like the most interesting things happening in marketing are at the grass roots level. While no one would call Spin Master a small toy company, with over 600 employees, it always seems to be doing some innovative things. Their launch of Bakugan Battle Brawlers, a game played with balls that become monsters when they're rolled across the magnetic playing board, is a a case in point. To get the momentum, the company got out where the kids were. They hit summer camps and local fairs to introduce the somewhat complicated game to kids. They've combined this with a variety of other marketing including a half-hour show on cartoon network.

It's worked. According to the New York Times, Bakugan is sold out.

It seems, the momentum has been created because of a couple of factors. First, Spin Master baked the marketing into the product, making the same narrative for the game as for the TV show. But, bigger than that, they left their egos at the door. As the Times quoted Anton Rabie, "We have no ego about where the ideas come from."

Ubiquity

When I first glanced at this page from the New York Times last week, I assumed it was an article about Target. Who wouldn't? Sure the target here is a little different than the logo. But, Target's target logo has become so ubiquitous that it even has more cultural weight than a red target in and of itself. It's a great example of brand singularity and clarity.

Kinesthetic Awareness

I stopped by the Cats gymnastics facility last night to see Harry and Charlie, my 6 year old sons, do a gymnastics workout. It was a buzz with energy. What a cool thing to see all of these kids workout. As an athlete myself, I was amazed at the kinesthetic awareness these kids had. I was especially struck by a ten-year-old girl as she stuck the landing from a front layout flip with 1.5 twists and then casually looked at her friends and said, "I'm just not sure about my pigtails." They all felt so comfortable as they hurled themselves through the air.

As I observed, I thought about brands and their kinesthetic awareness. Companies like Patagonia and Pangea Organics, hurl themselves through culture with such grace and connectedness yet other brands seem so unaware of how to interact with the world around them. Is it that some brands spend too much time gazing at their navels? Do they focus on the wrong things and become out of touch with their world? Whether it's an athlete or a brand kinesthetic awareness must be practiced regularly.

How kinesthetically aware is your brand?

Jumping on the Bandwagon

What happens when two companies advertise their respective products in the same 30 second spot? It’s intrusive and disjointed. Still, does doubling up on ads boost both brands? What if one brand has poor memory recall or is associated with poor quality? Does it bring down the other brand? It will be interesting to see the effects of “double-branding,” and in particular, on this spot for HP computers and the newly released action-film, “Jumper.”

(via Erin Booth)

Solving Problems

There's nothing like offering a solution to a customer when they're frustrated. You'll surely win your way into their hearts. In LAX Samsung has set up power polls for the traveller with a dying cellphone or computer. Pretty cool.

Brands becoming Media

I was standing in line at Starbucks to get my ussual soy mocha this morning when I noticed music, XM radio and books. I know, I've seen them before. But, it struck me that great brands tend to become media companies over time. Look at Nike and Nike+. Talk about start a conversation for a market! Really what's a great web site other than media. Today, it's abut more than having an ongoing conversation with your customers, it's about facilitating a conversation a relationship between your customers. And, what better way than to start making the media content yourself.

Service Versus Price

There is a brand value continuum that we all know. It’s between service and price. In any marketplace the ability to survive is predicated on how well you can do one or the other. Either you are the best at providing great service or at providing a great price. So, if we all know, why can’t we do it?

A case in point. A couple of weeks ago my wife got me a new digital camera for my birthday. I had, unfortunately, given her the wrong model number. In an effort to get the right camera she drove to the Denver Mike’s Camera store 40 miles away. (She’s a saint) When I tried to exchange it for the camera I wanted in the Boulder Mike’s Camera store I was told that I’d have to return it to the Denver store unless I could get the Denver store manager to agree to allow me to exchange it in Boulder. Bridget finally got a hold of the Denver manager after a few calls and got approval for the exchange. It took another 3 calls to track down the Boulder manager who wasn’t sure what to do.

So, after a week of hassles, I returned the first camera and went to Circuit City to pick up the model I wanted. I was saddened by the outcome because I’ve been a Mike’s Camera customer for over 20 years. In that time, I’ve seen the store dwindle, like many other specialty camera shops, with the rise of digital photography and internet shopping. You’d think with these radical shifts the folks at Mike’s would be doing anything to keep customers happy. Their only competitive advantage is service.

It looks like Mike’s is stuck in the middle.

Phoenix Brands

What makes a brand become popular again? Is it a group of mavericks that rediscover and reapropriate a brand from days gone by or something else? Lately, I’ve rediscovered such a brand, The North Face. By the time I started to get into climbing The North Face had already sold out to those of us at the core of the market. We thought there were just too many posers wearing the brand. From posers the brand then became hot in the urban market. It looked like TNF would be another washed up brand that chased the mass market. Being in the outdoor business, the business story of TNF was just as circuitous, jumping from owner to owner all wanting to grow revenue any way possible.

As a board member of both the American Mountain Guides Association and Black Diamond Equipment I’ve had the good fortune of staying in the loop of what people talk about when it comes to the best gear. In the last six months, The North Face is a brand that is a part of that conversation.

How did this happen?

With all of the effort put into chasing the masses it still anchored itself in the outdoor business by attending the Outdoor Retailer show, when most big brands were walking away, and continued the dialogue with the core market. TNF also stayed committed to its team of outdoor athletes, supporting their adventures, and using their stories to stay connected.

The North Face is getting the opportunity to have it’s cake and eat it too by staying connected to the authenticity of the core market and using it to inspire the rest of their customers.

Whole Foods' Trust Problem

I love Whole Foods. Its brand has come to embody trust and transparency. When you walk in the door you are inundated with knowledge about how to live a more healthy life. At Radar, we often used Whole Foods as an example of an icon for trust.

The announcement that John Mackey had been participating in a Yahoo Financial chat room for the last 8 years under an assumed name, rahodeb - a play on his wife's name, Deborah - was shocking. Mackey would often bolster Whole Foods' point of view and criticize its main competitor and take over target, Wild Oats. The title of one of his final posts sums up his actions best, "Congratulations to Hubris and Goodbye." At the time he was referring to another chatter with the screen name, "hubris2000," but the title seems to carry deeper meaning.

CEO's often forget that their actions are a reflection of the brand. And, Mackey's are a blow to Whole Foods.

Getting Closer to the Customer

Most of the time, auto insurance is the last thing on my mind. I'm happy with my insurance and would only really think about it when I needed to use it.

Lately however, driving to the Denver airport I've noticed that State Farm has been working with the E-470 Tollway to provide roadside assistance. While I've never notice an ad for State Farm, the brand has become top of mind as I see the signs and trucks on E-470. It's all about getting marketing as close to the customer as possible and State Farm has done an excellent job with this program.