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Advertising Agency In Boston: Tips and Tricks
The big news on Wall Street last year was the initial public offering of Internet search engine Google. If you were a visitor from another planet, you might be asking yourself, What big, sophisticated, high-technology company is behind the success of Google? Could it be IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, Oracle, SAP, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Dell, Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Philips or Siemens? Of course not. The brains behind Google are two Stanford students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who launched the Web site in 1998. Some six years later, the two founders are worth billions. All the advantages: With some exceptions big companies seldom launch new brands that become big successes, even though big companies have all the advantages. Big companies have the resources, the people, the credentials, the distribution networks, the media contacts. I can't think of a single advantage an individual entrepreneur has over a big global conglomerate. Yet there wasn't a big global conglomerate behind the success of brands such as Starbucks, Red Bull, Linux, JetBlue, Amazon, Yahoo!, eBay, Priceline, Monster.com and a host of others. Nor for that matter was a big global conglomerate behind the success of most of the big brands of the past. Brands like Apple, Microsoft, Digital Equipment, Dell, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, SAP, Siebel, Compaq, Quicken, McDonald's, Subway, Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza, Papa John's, Wendy's, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Wal-Mart or Costco. I repeat. Big companies seldom launch new brands that become big successes. Deadly sins There are two reasons for this phenomenon, which we call the "two deadly sins of marketing." The first deadly sin is timing. The good book says, "There is a time to be born and a time to die." The time for a brand to be born is before the category is established in the mind. It was 14 years after the launch of Red Bull that the Coca-Cola Co. finally responded by launching its own brand of energy drink-KMX Does KMX have enough energy to overtake Red Bull? Not a chance. Once a competitive brand is established in the prospect's mind, it's almost impossible for a me-too brand to overtake the leader. 32-year head start It was 32 years after the launch of Southwest Airlines that Delta finally responded by launching its own no-frills airline called Song. You can't give your competition a third-of-a-century head start and expect to build a brand. All the momentum is on Southwest's side. Not to mention the money and the resources. Imagine spending all day in the boardroom at Digital Equipment Corp. trying to persuade the chief executive and his staff to launch a serious 16-bit business personal computer before IBM did. No luck. We don't want to be first, said the chief executive. And I'm not concerned about IBM, he continued, because if IBM does go first, "we'll beat their specs." Well, IBM did go first with the launch of the PC in August 1981, the first 16-bit serious business personal computer, a product that went on to dominate a fast-growing market. And Digital Equipment did follow with not one, but three different lines of personal computers, none of which made a dent in the marketplace in spite of their presumably better specs. IBM had become the standard, and if you wanted to participate in the personal computer marketplace, you were only a clone. Digital Equipment lost Too bad. Digital Equipment had the credentials to dominate the PC market. Brought to you by "the world's largest maker of small computers" was the tagline for Digital Equipment's new personal computer. Imagine spending all day in a boardroom at Xerox trying to persuade the corporation to launch a desktop laser printer before the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet got strongly established. No luck. Too bad. Xerox had the credentials to dominate the laser printer market. In 1977, Xerox had introduced the 5700, the world's first successful laser printer. Second sin The second deadly sin is naming. A big company wants to put its own name on a new brand. This is generally a mistake. New categories generally require new brand names. In spite of IBM's head start in business PCs, the company eventually lost out to Compaq and Dell, both new brands created especially for the personal computer category. To most prospects, IBM meant mainframe computers, not PCs (It's interesting to note how many marketing people chide IBM for not moving fast enough into personal computers, when in fact they were first. "Mainframe mentality" is their usual complaint.). Imagine spending all day in the boardroom at Continental Airlines, trying to persuade management not to name its new no-frills airline Continental Lite. You have two choices. Either you can make the entire Continental system a no-frills airline (the preference) or you can give your new no-frills airline a different name than Continental. No luck. Continental Airlines crashed The company went ahead with Continental Lite, an airline that took off and then just as rapidly came down to earth, after losing many millions of dollars. Then there's Kodak, a company that is paying the price for not giving its new digital camera line a different name than Kodak. Kodak means film photography, not digital photography. The irony is that Kodak invented the first digital camera (back in 1976.) Yet the Kodak name locks the company into the past. Like Digital Equipment and IBM, Kodak had the credentials, the organization and the resources to dominate an emerging new category, but not the foresight to recognize that a new category needs a new name. The exception One exception should be mentioned. In 1994, Bill Gates asked Richard Barton to develop a Microsoft CD-ROM idea involving travel guides. Barton convinced Gates that the CD-ROM idea would fail, but that an online travel agency might succeed. Furthermore, he persuaded Mr. Gates to give the project a different name than Microsoft. Richard Barton called Microsoft's online travel agency "Expedia." Seven years later Microsoft sold control of Expedia to USA Networks for an estimated $1.3 billion. How Strong Is Your Brand? Do You Really Know? Do You Care? Would you like to take a simple test to see where your company's brand is now? Click on the link below: http://www.brandidentityguru.com/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html then click on the button to the right that reads, "Take The Brand Strength Test". This is a very quick and easy way to see where you fall short in your marketing, advertising and branding efforts. It will also show you where you are strong. Take the test if you dare... you may be surprised at the results! Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru (http://www.brandidentityguru.com), a leading brand consulting and market research firm located in Easton, Massachusetts, USA, near Boston. Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation. Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations. Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Simon (America's largest shopping mall manager) and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies. Scott White is a very enthusiastic speaker and has the gift of being able to explain the principles of branding in a compelling and entertaining manner so that people at all levels can understand.
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news Game news: 'GTA IV' hits 10 million, EA meets ESPN (AP via Yahoo! News) Real news from the virtual world: News and notes on the PGA Tour's top 20 golfers (USA Today) Get the latest news and notes on the top 20 golfers on the PGA Tour. These rankings are based 2006-07 PGA Tour results. UAL shares walloped by new posting of old news (Reuters via Yahoo! News) A nearly 6-year-old news story on the 2002 bankruptcy filing of UAL Corp resurfaced on the Internet on Monday, clobbering the airline's shares briefly as some traders mistook the report as current and plausible news. Asyncast delivers custom news to hands-free mobile devices (CNET) The company's Rocketron service allows users to set preferences for the kinds of news stories they want to hear, as well as filter controls for news they don't want. Young adults want less election news (UPI) EVANSTON, Ill., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. young adults say there is too much election-related news on Internet news sites, a university study indicates. CNET News Daily Podcast: The new Zune plays its tune (CNET) Microsoft lets "slip" Zune news one day before Apple's big shindig. Big ad group says Google-Yahoo is a bad idea. Who says real spies don't dig social networking? Game News: 'GTA IV' Hits 10 Million, EA Meets ESPN (CBS News) Real news from the virtual world: ABC News gets first Palin interview (Reuters via Yahoo! News) ABC News' Charles Gibson has snagged the first interview with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin since she was named the GOP's vice presidential pick on August 29. United Airlines hit by 5-year-old news (UPI) CHICAGO, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- United Airline's stock value plunged Monday after a 5-year-old news story was posted on a Florida newspaper's Web site. UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News (UPI) Spears wins 3 MTV Video Music Awards ... 'Wrestler' wins Golden Lion in Venice ... Report: MSNBC shuffles election anchors ... Iconic Astroland park closes ... News from United Press International. Site: news - Google News New Voices in Congress Will Change the Tone of the Democratic Majority - New York Times
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for advertising Ad-averse Mobile Users Will Pay to Avoid Advertising (Cellular-News.com) Mobile providers looking to boost their revenues through content downloads and advertising are in for a rough ride, according to a new study by market researchers TNS. A Web advertising dark horse goes on the offensive (Market Watch) While its rivals have been fetching multibillion-dollar acquisition offers from the likes of Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., online-advertising firm ValueClick Inc. has been busy digging its way out of a legal mess. Intergi's Video Game & Entertainment Advertising Network Has Largest Potential Reach in U.S. According to Newest ... (Centre Daily Times) Intergi (www.intergi.com), a leading video game and entertainment site representation company and advertising network, today announced that it now has a total potential advertising reach of 52.4 million unique visitors in the United States, topping other targeted ad networks - including bellwethers such as Advertising.com Games and Yahoo! Games. Based on the latest data from the August 2008 ... Largest ever advertising billboard at London Bridge Station (London SE1) A huge advertising billboard has been unveiled at London Bridge Station to promote the NSPCC and brighten up hoardings on the concourse. Online Brokerage Sites See Increased Visitors With Ramped up Online Advertising Efforts (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) comScore, Inc. , a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of the online trading and brokerage industry showing strong visitor growth to online brokerage sites coinciding with heavy online advertising efforts by several of the key brokerages. Advertising spend in Qatar crawls (MENAFN) Advertising spend in Qatar crawls Intergi's Video Game & Entertainment Advertising Network Has Largest Potential Reach in U.S. According to Newest ... (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance) DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla.----Intergi , a leading video game and entertainment site representation company and advertising network, today announced that it now has a total potential advertising reach of 52.4 million unique visitors in the United States, topping other targeted ad networks - including bellwethers such as Advertising.com Games and Yahoo! GCC advertising expenditure rises by 23.6% (MENAFN) GCC advertising expenditure rises by 23.6% NeoMedia and Format Dynamics Join Forces to Integrate Innovations in Online & Offline Advertising (Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance) NeoMedia Technologies, Inc. (OTC.BB: NEOM), and Format Dynamics, Inc., today announced a strategic alliance designed to accelerate innovation in both online and offline advertising. Bald Is Beautiful (Advertising Space) (CBS News) New Zealand's national airline is offering to pay bald travelers to use their heads - literally - in a new advertising campaign. Site: advertising - Google News US court upholds LA ban on billboards - Los Angeles Times
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