29
May
Caption: “The Illusion of Choice.” For anyone moderately familiar with marketing, advertising, or even general business, it doesn’t come as a surprise to learn that basically 90% of the brands you seen on store shelves are produced by one of these 8-10 “mega-brands.” This image has been making the rounds online alongside the aforementioned caption, implying that while consumers may think they have the right to freedom of dish detergent, they’re pretty much supporting P&G or Unilever one way or another. Therefore, we are powerless against the corporate machine. But in any industry, be it consumer goods or wireless service or automobiles, consolidation is the trend. A new market is identified or created, deemed to be ripe with customers and cash, and lots of tiny brands begin to sprout up, all competing for this desirable new target. To better compete (through increased capital, better distribution, proprietary information, etc), the brands begin partnering or acquiring one another, creating brand portfolios and parent companies. Consumers are then left with a choice between Conglomo-A and Conglomo-B. It’s a little depressing to think we’re confined to forever support one of two or three corporate overlords. But fret not… this is when the opportunity for innovation is best! True, these big companies have money, and supply chains, and R&D. But the one thing they can’t do that startup brands can is move. Little brands can dodge and weave and change direction in order to meet demand, like speedboats. P&G and Nestle are like cruise liners, or even aircraft carriers. Huge behemoths that are slow and difficult to turn around. Media companies have glommed together over the past 50 years, bringing us the 42-minute TV “hour” and lowest-common-denominator programming. Huge companies need to appeal to the widest demographic possible. But now, through innovation and technology, we’re seeing brands begin to challenge those big boys. Netflix and Hulu posit that maybe video entertainment doesn’t *need* to capture 10 million viewers or rely totally on advertising revenue. YouTube has shown us that amateur videos of people’s real lives can be just as entertaining as scripted network comedies. The market is changing, and the behemoths are being tested. This can happen with the consumer brands in this infographic, and already is in many ways! Increasing demands for sustainable and natural goods have given rise to small, challenger brands like Method (good-for-the-earth cleaning products) and Trader Joe’s (all-original, often-natural groceries and packaged goods). These are the challengers that will begin to break apart the massive, monopolistic brand map you see above. There’s no “illusion of choice.” The real choices are just a little hard to see right now beyond the all-caps, screaming billboard of the big brands. But just wait— they’re on their way. That’s the natural flow of the marketplace.

Caption: “The Illusion of Choice.”

For anyone moderately familiar with marketing, advertising, or even general business, it doesn’t come as a surprise to learn that basically 90% of the brands you seen on store shelves are produced by one of these 8-10 “mega-brands.”

This image has been making the rounds online alongside the aforementioned caption, implying that while consumers may think they have the right to freedom of dish detergent, they’re pretty much supporting P&G or Unilever one way or another. Therefore, we are powerless against the corporate machine.

But in any industry, be it consumer goods or wireless service or automobiles, consolidation is the trend. A new market is identified or created, deemed to be ripe with customers and cash, and lots of tiny brands begin to sprout up, all competing for this desirable new target. To better compete (through increased capital, better distribution, proprietary information, etc), the brands begin partnering or acquiring one another, creating brand portfolios and parent companies. Consumers are then left with a choice between Conglomo-A and Conglomo-B.

It’s a little depressing to think we’re confined to forever support one of two or three corporate overlords. But fret not… this is when the opportunity for innovation is best! True, these big companies have money, and supply chains, and R&D. But the one thing they can’t do that startup brands can is move. Little brands can dodge and weave and change direction in order to meet demand, like speedboats. P&G and Nestle are like cruise liners, or even aircraft carriers. Huge behemoths that are slow and difficult to turn around.

Media companies have glommed together over the past 50 years, bringing us the 42-minute TV “hour” and lowest-common-denominator programming. Huge companies need to appeal to the widest demographic possible. But now, through innovation and technology, we’re seeing brands begin to challenge those big boys. Netflix and Hulu posit that maybe video entertainment doesn’t *need* to capture 10 million viewers or rely totally on advertising revenue. YouTube has shown us that amateur videos of people’s real lives can be just as entertaining as scripted network comedies. The market is changing, and the behemoths are being tested.

This can happen with the consumer brands in this infographic, and already is in many ways! Increasing demands for sustainable and natural goods have given rise to small, challenger brands like Method (good-for-the-earth cleaning products) and Trader Joe’s (all-original, often-natural groceries and packaged goods). These are the challengers that will begin to break apart the massive, monopolistic brand map you see above.

There’s no “illusion of choice.” The real choices are just a little hard to see right now beyond the all-caps, screaming billboard of the big brands. But just wait— they’re on their way. That’s the natural flow of the marketplace.

brands / consumer brands / marketing / advertising / illusion of choice / infographic /
3
Feb

Does a 5-year-old understand your brandmark?


This made the rounds on the intertubes a few days ago, but it was too great not to post here. I love any kind of feedback from little kids regarding marketing and advertising, because they aren’t susceptible to the same traps of bizspeak and buzzwords that we are. Some notable moments:

  • How deeply-ingrained is Starbucks in our culture that even a 5-year-old can identify their logo as “the coffee place”? I literally couldn’t articulate what coffee even was at that age, let alone tell you where to get some. The fact that this little girl both knows what Starbucks is and what they sell speaks volumes about its ubiquity in our lives.
  • Even more impressive: correctly identifying the pretty-abstract BP logo. Wonder if the Gulf Coast spill coverage actually cemented BP into the minds of America’s youth, setting the stage for massive growth once they all start driving?
  • The Bank of America logo “looks like a flag.” Mission accomplished, gentlemen.
  • The McDonald’s logo looks like it’s made of french fries. This blew my mind. Have I been missing this connection the entire time? Again— the mind of a child providing clarity and connecting visuals in a way I never thought of myself.
  • All of those large cat logos really need to start differentiating themselves better.

I loved this, and would love to see more. Marketing folks with kids: can we make these videos the new “Shit ____ People Say”?

17 notes marketing / logos / children / branding / brands / advertising / videos /
12
Nov

Big Corporations: Y U No Use Social Media?

Apparently, social media use among major corporations is on the decline. According to a new study, only about 60% of Fortune 500 companies use Twitter and/or Facebook to further brand interaction… and even more surprising, only 25% of the Fortune 500 maintain a company blog. Why have big brands seemingly given up on social media?

  • Lack of immediate returns. It’s the question every social media enthusiast dreads: “What’s the ROI on this stuff?” What’s the ROI on your office phone, Chairman? Social media is a tool that brands can use to engage with their customers immediately, frequently, and meaningfully. It’s not a simple investment with a set end date that will magically make you rich. It’s an ongoing method of communication with the people who write your paychecks: the consumers.
  • They don’t want to associate with “bad” comments. Big companies take big risks when they expose their brands to the potential slings and arrows of the social media community. A few negative comments might pop up on your Facebook wall. You might even see a critical Tweet or two. But while you may feel like these “negative” interactions are hurting your brand, wouldn’t you rather be a part of the dialogue than not? At least you have the chance to respond, refute, and repent if you’re in the game. Discussion of your brand is going to happen whether you want it to or not. You may as well be in the fray.
  • It’s too hard to keep up. Do we need a Google+ profile? What’s foursquare and why does it matter? How do we engage our Facebook fans on a daily basis? This point is actually quite justified— it’s difficult to create and master a social media voice for brands. There are quite a few moving parts, and those parts are ever-changing. But one way that Big Brands can stay on top of things is by declaring and owning one or two different channels. If you want to be a Facebook/Twitter brand, then share and comment your heart out. If you want to own blogging and thought leadership, post regular high-quality updates and engage on similar industry blogs. Yes, it’s tough to keep up with the latest social media trends. But if you pick one outlet for your brand to master and completely own it, your customers will see that you’re serious.

While it may seem like the “social media for big brands” fad is waning, I think it’s just a reorganization of priorities. They’ve all seen how these tools work, and (hopefully) they have people on staff who know how to utilize them for maximum efficiency. Facebook isn’t right for every brand. Twitter can’t be a unilaterally helpful marketing application. It’s up to each individual brand to reflect and determine which aspects of social media are most useful to them. Once we reach this next plane of adoption, I think we’ll be seeing some of the most interesting and unique social media efforts that big brands have launched yet.

30-Day Challenge #8

6 notes social media / brands / branding / marketing / corporations / advertising / digital / facebook / twitter /