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Winner: BP

BP is the tentative winner this week with its bold decision to appoint an American as its new CEO.

Finally, the company seems to be taking steps that make sense. This appointment sends the clear message that BP is shaking up the management that helped get it into the Gulf mess.

But, folks, they’re only a tentative winner for two reasons: 1) the change of leadership apparently won’t happen until October and, 2) it was U.S. officials who announced the news, pipping BP to the post and even leading BP to initially deny the news.

Let’s start with #2. Rule #1 of brand crisis management response is to assert affirmative, positive and undisputed control over your response. A news leak like an oil leak reflects lack of control. So the news of the management change might be welcome, but the way that news got out serves to re-enforce the image of a company that is still at loose ends.

As for the delay in the change until October, fact is this too runs against brand crisis management. If a change needs to happen, then making it happen fast–and being seen by the public to make it happen fast— is very important. Again, BP isn’t doing this.

Still, the shake-up at the top is a big one since getting rid of the current CEO, a walking brand disaster, signals a big improvement. Now BP needs to telegraph its seriousness by taking control of the way big company news reaches the media and speeding up the transition process.

Loser: Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio is bright, promising and charismatic. He’s got the tea party behind him and is the GOP candidate in his race for U.S. Senate… Why on earth does he seem to be losing ground to Charlie Crist?

Simply put, the problem is that the tea party does not have political legs.

Bottom line, the answer to Rubio’s falling poll numbers has to do with independents, moderate Republicans and the huge swathe of people in Florida who are not extreme. Many of these people might be attracted to aspects of the tea party movement, but the closer we get to actually voting for someone, the more likely they are to see tea party affiliation as a real negative. After all, we saw the tea party in another form almost two decades ago: its name was H. Ross Perot.

Folks, the squeaky wheel of activist conservatism and American populism might be getting the grease (i.e., a lot of media attention) right now, but when election time comes the buzz and passion of a new movement will matter less than appealing to the widest group of voters possible with the most credible candidate possible.

Fact is, Crist is perceived as being reasonable; Rubio is in danger of being perceived as too doctrinaire and unpredictable because of his outsider status. And in Florida, as in the rest of America, reasonableness and predictability almost always wins over ideology.

Rubio seems to know this and has been careful to distance himself from the tea party label. Months ago, he said: “When you talk about the tea party, remember, I'm a Republican." But he also knows that it was his outside, populist status and his appeal to a vocal conservative base that has gotten him as far as he is right now. He can’t distance himself too much or he will lose their support as well and be seen to be backing away from his principles.

Rubio really is in a bind. But it’s a bind that’s shared by the Republican party.

There’s a big lesson in this for Republicans looking for a reshaping of government in their favor this November: You simply can’t rely on the tea party. The most passionate, most vocal and most media-covered portion of the electorate will not win you the office. At the end of the day, a politician’s Target Market has to include independents and moderates and these voters will go for the candidate who is likable and least extreme. Conservatism might go a lot farther in November, if it remembers the middle and doesn’t go too far right now.

And, remember, things are always easier when you keep marketing and branding in mind.

Today's Tantillo Takeaway:
American voters favor moderate political brands.

John Tantillo is an AMA member and president of the Marketing Department of America, a New York-based marketing firm.
http://blog.marketingdoctor.tv/

Posted by Elisabeth at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Winner:
Toyota has gone through some of the toughest marketing waters known to man: the court of angry and relentless public opinion.

But, folks, it’s the way a brand reacts that matters!

Beginning with the dignified and effective response of its top executive, Akio Toyoda, to a congressional panel several months ago in which he committed himself and his company to aggressively promoting safety, things have been turning around.

Bottom line, even if the sudden acceleration problems had proven to be 100% Toyota’s fault, their cars were still statistically very, very safe. Not only that, but the general consensus is that Toyota builds reliable vehicles.

Now, in a further vindication of Toyota, the U.S. Department of Transportation has done some preliminary research into those sudden acceleration accidents and has found that many were caused not by technical malfunctions but by driver error (something which Toyota was claiming early on but backed away from in the face of growing public anger).

Fact is, Toyota has done three marketing things absolutely right in the face of this worldwide brand crisis: 1) once it was clear that they had to apologize and promise to do better (despite the actual facts about their vehicles’ safety), they did so in an incredibly forceful and constructive way; 2) they continued being Toyota, a great company with a commitment to reliable and safe cars, and thus didn’t do anything else to mar their relationship with their customers (basically they let individual customer satisfaction bear the bulk of the marketing load) and 3) having put themselves in a sympathetic position to public opinion, as new facts favorable to them emerge, these facts have an even bigger impact on improving the company image (everyone feels sorry for the person or company that has been wrongly accused but has worked hard for redemption).

Sure, some analysts point to Toyota’s sales numbers in the new car market slipping behind not only GM but also Ford in 2010, but look at those figures again and you see that what really happened. GM and Ford expanded their market share by a couple percent (not a surprise in the current post-bailout climate); Toyota’s market share slipped but by little more than half a percent –not too bad in the face of a major public relations disaster.

Simply put, Toyota is positioned for a powerful brand recovery thanks to their decisive public response and the top to bottom marketing integrity of this great company.

Bonsai!

One other deserving mention under the winner column this week: Apple.
Like Toyota, they’re getting some bad press, but, folks, the key here is to focus on how they respond as a company. At first there was some waffling, but the Steve Jobs spoke decisively about just how they are going to fix the antenna problem on the iPhone telling the world that Apple is “working our butts off” in an around the clock effort that entails bringing cots into the engineering department. That’s responsiveness and that is great marketing!

Loser:

A few weeks ago, we looked at an error GM made when they tried to force a name change onto their employees and, ultimately, consumers. In that case, they wanted to have the more formal Chevrolet replace the popular Chevy.

That was a mistake and they were smart to backpedal.

Unfortunately, the YMCA is making a similar mistake but in the opposite direction. They are re-branding their organization more informally, shortening YMCA to the “Y”.

Fact is, people have been calling the YMCA the “Y” for years, so on the surface the change doesn’t seem like a big deal. But this name change is a mistake, because it’s unnecessary. A brand change should never be done simply because it can.

Bottom line, why eliminate YMCA? Coke has never done this with Coco Cola. There’s something valuable about keeping brand continuity with the past and by officially dumping it’s longer, formal name, YMCA is endangering that continuity.

Moreover, what exactly is this going to achieve? The old YMCA logo was already a big Y. Unfortunately, this looks like spin-the-wheels branding, the kind of knee-jerk updating of image that makes consultants feel good but does little for their clients.

And as if there weren’t enough reasons not to do this, why make the Village People unhappy (not to mention, doing away with free advertising every time their song YMCA is played)?

And, remember, things are always easier when you keep marketing and branding in mind.

TODAY'S TANTILLO TAKEAWAY -
Rebranding should never be done just because it can be done.

John Tantillo is an AMA member and president of the Marketing Department of America, a New York-based marketing firm.
http://blog.marketingdoctor.tv/

Posted by Elisabeth at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A guest post from Linda Sedloff Orton

Evolution has compelled our brains to use vision primarily to flee from danger, seek a mate or to search for our next meal, and that “vision trumps all other senses,” writes Dr. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist, in his book Brain Rules. It also helps explain why a well-made video advertisement or other compellingly crafted video goes viral on YouTube.

Video is a marketing tool that can be used to educate, entertain or engage better than most marketing tools because it compels the viewer to take action. It also drives organic results online. According to Forrester Research, a keyword-tagged video is 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of a Google search result compared with a traditional Web page.

What do I do first?
Creating web-video is similar to the creative process of any product or service. A story must be designed that evokes the right feeling from viewers, and if it is a branding piece, it must leave viewers able to recall the name and unique sales proposition of the service or product. If the video requires a call to action, then it must be clear and have an action that can be analyzed, such as a unique URL, e-mail or phone number that will help you track responses.

Firstly, one must determine a clear goal, such as whether it is to communicate a brand, entice recruits or present case studies. Once a specific goal is agreed upon, the creative team must present different approaches. Will the video present visuals through stock photos, footage and a voice-over, or will it be filmed with live people? Will these people be actors or firm professionals? In some industries, such as law, actors are not allowed to represent a real practice. Will the piece be humorous or will it be a traditional story line with a beginning, middle and end? Will music support the video or will it guide the piece as the theme music in a major motion picture to evoke emotion? These are all decisions that need to be carefully assessed before production.

Action!
Once goals are established and the direction of the piece is agreed upon, the fun begins. Shooting a short video should not take hours. If the ultimate piece is to be two to three minutes (research shows viewers drop off substantially for business videos after 2:30 minutes), your subjects should not be in front of the camera for more than 30 to 45 minutes.

Determine if the video is to be scripted and if words will be read off a teleprompter or cue cards. If the talent will be interviewed, will the interviewers be cut out of the final piece? Who will be writing the questions? If you leave this to your producer, it helps if they know your industry. Ask your video production team if they will perform research before questioning senior members of a firm or company. Ambience is also an important consideration, so agree on lighting. Will the look be natural or are you seeking something dramatic?

If the people starring in the video are experienced speakers, they may respond well in front of a camera with just a bit of guidance. If, however, the representatives are not “naturals”, consider hiring a communications consultant to work with them before the shoot.

The Cutting-Room Floor
This is where the magic happens and where random pieces of footage blend together with b-roll, music and voice-over to come together and form a powerful communications tool. The modern day business video is part movie, trailer, white paper and website. It needs to communicate the key ideas that are identified by the client with the production firm in the creative process.

It’s key to determine who will edit transcripts or audio. Will it be the client or the producer? Who will direct the visuals? Some companies have treasure troves of photos from their worldwide offices that they want included to make the piece feel more personal. Agree on as many components of the finished piece before editing begins in order to produce a video that meets everyone’s expectations.

Marketing and Distribution
Your video is in the can. You’ve signed off and agreed that it will reside on your website. This is only the first step in ensuring that your piece will garner maximum exposure. Web videos should be coded using proper xml code so that Google picks up the video and enhances the results of the Web page it sits on.

It should also be uploaded to as many of the major video portals as possible, including YouTube, Vimeo and DailyMotion. Proper descriptions should be included in the information section. Consider pushing the video out as part of an ongoing marketing campaign through e-mail and through social media links like Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. To heavily promote a video you can even consider building an inexpensive advertising campaign through YouTube, Google, LinkedIn or Facebook where instead of driving clicks to a website, you drive them to the video.

Linda Sedloff Orton is president of Intelligent Video Solutions, a Rye, N.Y.-based corporate video production and marketing services firm for professional services groups. Linda can be reached at Linda@intelligentvideosolutions.com.

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