A friend once told me that he learned in a college business class, “Don’t communicate to be understood. Rather, communicate so you won’t be misunderstood”. This quote in one form or another is generally credited to WWII General Douglas MacArthur. However, regardless of its source, it’s great advice.  Another quote by MacArthur is “Never give an order that can’t be obeyed”.

As a history buff, I have repeatedly read how some battles were won or lost over poor communication. The order given was understood to mean something different. Especially in the Civil War, orders that were worded too politely often left too much discretion to the receiving officer, and resulted in a delay of action that gave the enemy the upper-hand. Phrases like, “When you think it prudent” or, “At the time of your choosing” gave too much room for poor interpretation of the message.

I think of these quotes often. I think of them when I am having trouble comprehending what someone else wants. I think of them when I am trying to communicate my wishes to someone else. After years of reflecting on it, I have concluded that it is not the responsibility of the hearer to parse together what might be said, but rather the job of he speaker to be very clear in what they say. It’s ironic that in this day of multiple forms of communication (twitter, facebook, SMS, etc.) misunderstandings seem to happen as much as ever.

Now think of this in terms of your branding and marketing. Should your reader or hearer be responsible for figuring out what you are trying to say to them? Or is it your responsibility to make a clear declaration to them about your products or services? Is trying to be cute and hoping that they “get” the clever (but often vague) message worth the risk of being misunderstood? My guess is probably not. I hearken back to the Monday after each Superbowl when everyone talks about the funny ads- but can’t remember what product they were attempting to promote.

So, when it comes to communicating the virtues of our business or organization, I think we should take the advice of another “officer”- Dragnet’s Detective Joe Friday, and stick with “just the facts…”.

Your worst case scenario is to successfully create a demand for your products or services when those products or services are not ready to be sold or offered. Or, as more often is the case, when those products or services aren’t as cool or professional as you marketed them to be. Think about it- We have all responded to good marketing that left us asking, “Is this all there is?” or saying, “This is not what I was led to believe it was going to be”. If that is the case with your organization, you have invested (or, rather, wasted) time, money and effort in telling your potential clients/customers that you care more about getting them than keeping them.

Conversely, The best case scenario is when your successful marketing leads clients or customers into true experiences with your products or services. As an example of this, go to youtube and search for “unbox apple”. You’ll find tons of videos of excited Apple customers opening Apple products. Now watch one. Look at the attention Apple has paid to detail. There is a reason for the excitement- it’s simple, elegant, solid. And that’s just the packaging! Talk about creating an experience! When was the last time you recorded yourself opening a box?

A key part of any successful marketing effort is making sure WHAT you market is the best that it can be. Don’t just provide a decent product or service, but make it a positive experience. In a competitive marketplace, you probably won’t get a second chance.

At the center of this new building will be the “Target Room”. An orientation room that will focus on the church’s “Living On Target” program. In this room, we will be developing on-demand video projection systems to take users through the “Four Foundations of Living on Target”.

VIEW THE STILL IMAGES

I’m not the first to admit that the world-changing concept of wireless broadband has transformed my personal productivity. I now spend more time with my Macbook Pro at the local coffee shop or Panera Bread than I do at my desk. Leaving the constraints of an isolated office environment and working in the presence of vibrant laughter, music, and the smell of coffee fuels my creativity.  However, many people seem to feel differently.

More and more I notice men and women sitting in their vehicles outside of the hotspots with laptops perched in front of them. At first I assumed that it was because of time constraints. However, after observing this phenomenon I came to realize that many of these people spend more than an hour or two computing in their car.

I now realize that wireless internet has created an entirely new work environment all together. A totally untethered, private, and mobile “cubicle”. It also continues to prove that being “connected” doesn’t cure mankind’s propensity for isolation.

The branding battle begins. Will there be a clear winner?

In many organizations there is a silent war taking place. It may not even be a battle that you are aware of. It is the struggle between consistent branding and diversification. One side focuses on the categorization of a single branding while the other two focus of the branding of multiple categories. Believe it or not, you probably come into contact with all three branding architectures every day:

1. The “Branded House” – In this methodology, the company is the brand. All products and services within that company will be subsets of the primary brand. A good example of a branded house is Apple. They use a singular name across all of their activities. To all of their stakeholders they are know simply as “Apple”. They may have different categories/divisions (iPod, Mac, iTunes, iPhone, etc…) but they all have to fall under the scrutiny of existing branding strategies and standards.
2. The “House of Brands” – This architecture focuses of the branding of multiple sub-brands while the primary brand gets little or no attention. Proctor & Gamble is a perfect example. Under P&G there are dozens of brands, including Pampers, Duracell, Gillette, and Tide just to name a few. However, P&G gets very little prominence of itself, and adds no real credibility to any of it’s products.
3. The “House Blend” – This is an architecture based on the development of sub-brands with the added credibility of the the existing parent brand. Google, for example, started as a search engine then continued to establish the primary brand through offerings such as Gmail, Calendar, and Maps. Eventually, they began to acquire other, smaller tech companies such as Blogger, Picasa, and YouTube. These acquisitions maintained their existing brands but gained credibility through the primary brand of Google.

What’s the right choice?

Keep in mind that all three architectures are strategically sound. However, each organization needs to choose the methodology that fits. Making the wrong choice can have disastrous results.

Smaller organizations that are still focusing on gaining market share need to choose the architecture that will help them grow the fastest. A “House Blend” is most often the wrong choice in these cases. House blends thrive on the credibility of the parent brand. If a smaller company has a product or service that they would like to introduce into their existing structure, it’s usually a good idea to create a sub-category of their existing brand rather that creating a new brand for that product or service. This makes a “Branded House” architecture an excellent choice.

Also, non-profit, experience-based organizations such as churches thrive on branding simplicity. For example, in a church with multiple ministries it can be tempting to create a new brand/logo for each division (House of Brands or House Blend). However, this creates internal competition. Each brand begs for attention from the attendee and struggles to be recognized as “part” of the main brand. Many times, each ministry feels the responsibility to develop their own brand, which can consume an enormous amount of energy. Instead, try focusing on your main brand and simply categorizing ministries under that brand. For example, if Faith Church has a children’s ministry, it wouldn’t have it’s own name…it would simply be the “Faith Church Children’s Ministry”.

Conclusion

Choosing the correct branding architecture is crucial to the success of your business or organization. Research your market and the success of your competition. Determine what is expected from your company. Then, stand by your decision by developing guidelines on branding usage to guarantee consistency.

With a brand new structure and design, the new layout brings a level of consistency and flexibility to our online home that wasn’t in our original design.

We will continue to tweak areas of the site over the next few days. We look forward to your feedback in the comments.

Picasso in 1973

Last week we focused on the importance of clearly defined project leadership. This week we will be focusing on the negative impact of mainstream branding and how to overcome it.

Pablo Picasso, one of the most misunderstood and unique artists of the 20th century once said, “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” What did he mean? Why would a man that affected the artistic world in such a unique way say such a thing? Google it, and you’ll find plenty of interpretations and opinions.

First, it’s clear by his life that Picasso did not promote plagiarism. It’s also clear that he never “copied” another artists in the basic sense of the word. What he DID do, however, is “copy” and “steal” from nature. Picasso was famous because he found the fundamental artistic forms of objects. He understood his subjects in his own way and transferred that understanding to canvas. What I believe he was bringing forth when he said, “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.”, was this:

A good artist will paint his subject in it’s perfect form, as it exist in reality.

A great artist will take possession of his subject’s form and make it something deeper and more meaningful.

How does this apply to you? In preparation for a branding campaign one of the easiest and most tempting things to do is “copy” another company’s creative image. Many times at the beginning of a project I will ask new clients, “Are there any companies that you feel have an image that you are attracted to?” Roughly half of the responses are usually very successful, highly marketed brands such as Apple, Nike, and Coca-Cola. Why? Because, in reality, many are attracted to the “success” rather than the “image” of these companies. Do not let that admiration of success turn into unoriginality. It can be a death-trap for your campaign.

Instead, TAKE POSSESSION of the fundamentals of the designs. Instead of looking at individual companies, find a common theme among successful companies you admire and evolve it into something that fits you. Here’s a simple exercise that will help you get started:

Gather 5-10 marketing items that you REALLY LIKE (remember, don’t choose them just because they are successful). Also, gather 5-10 that you REALLY HATE. Once you’ve got a good selection in each category, forget about them as individuals and begin to look at the fundamentals; colors, shapes, textures, font styles, motion, layouts, etc. Build a list of your observations. Soon, you’ll have a column of some common elements that exist in the likes & a column of common elements that you dislike. This list will be invaluable to you and your creative team. If you focus on fitting all of your creativity within the boundaries of the “likes” while steering away from the “dislikes” you will progress much faster through the creative phase.

In a very short time you will find that you are well on the way to developing your own, unique brand. Plus, it will be a brand that fits in with your vision because you took possession of fundamentals that you were attracted to.

Take me to your leader

During the next couple of weeks we are going to be focusing on a subject that has baffled the most brilliant of minds; How to avoid a branding disaster (aka. How to have a successful branding campaign). Over the past decade we’ve learned to spot a few, avoidable signs that could lead you to wasting an incredible amount of time and money. As they say…it’s not rocket science. But, it is only learned through experience.

First, we’re going to start with the very foundational principles and lead up to the more specific guidelines to help you get the most out of your campaign.

Everyone’s got an opinion. That’s a wonderful thing. The opinions of our customers are what drive us to excellence on every single project. However, imagine this scenario:

We are working extra hard to produce a logo for Bob. After getting the initial samples ready, we send it to him. Then, just for kicks, we send the samples to some other people that he knows; Sally, John, Mary, & Edward.

After a little time, Bob is very happy but requests some minor changes. He is, obviously, the one who understands the vision and purpose behind his logo and is the most qualified to suggest revisions. However, shortly after this, Sally, John, Mary, & Edward all send back their suggestions and recommendations.

Sally thinks the color is all wrong.

John is not sure about the concept and would like to see another version.

Mary loves it.

Edward is indifferent.

This is all fine, but what happens next? Should we consider the opinions of Sally, John, Mary, & Edward equal to the opinions of Bob? Should we tell Bob that we won’t be able to make the “minor revisions” he requested because John isn’t sure about the concept?

The answer is obvious. From the beginning, Bob was the decision-maker. In this case, his opinion is the only one that matters. By introducing other people into the conversation we’ve only hindered the creative process and, inevitably, Bob will second-guess his decisions. Eventually, the logo will no longer be Bob’s. If it ever gets done It will be the product of least offense. The lowest common denominator between all opinions.

As silly as all of this sounds, it happens everyday. Companies and organizations make the step to start a new project only to have it crash because too many people have a hold on the steering wheel. Instead, understanding and applying the following principle will save you a HUGE amount of frustration.

Before starting on a project ALWAYS determine who the decision makers are. Choose one or two people that understand the vision and purpose behind the campaign. Make sure that they are confident enough to lead and make the final decisions.

Most importantly, make sure that they are the only ones giving orders and requesting revisions. And remember, without clearly defined leadership, any project can (and most likely will) fail. Save yourself the trouble and establish project leaders in the beginning.

You’ll be glad you did!