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Coca-Cola remains the world's most valuable brand, but Apple is challenging it for this position. Similar to 2011, Coca-Cola achieved the top spot in Interbrand's annual ranking of global brands. Interbrand considered each brand's sales performance, its influence on consumer choice and its strength in driving earnings or a price premium. The company only included brands with sufficient publicly available financial data in its ranking process. It is suggested that today's best brands are aware of their own humanity and the humanity of others. A brand is a living business asset. It is a concept, a feeling, a unique promise that grows and develops. A brand will not perish as long as it is kept alive in consumers’ minds. Those brands that are among the top 100 best global brands constantly nurture their brands to keep up with a rapidly changing world.
It is suggested that from Shakespeare to Spielberg to Soderbergh, there are really only seven different types of stories. At the core of every brand is a good story waiting to happen. The challenge is finding a story which best suits a particular brand, and then telling it skillfully, believably and—if consumers will be invited to join in the story—extremely carefully. TBWA's global creative president, Rob Schwartz, led a discussion around the book Seven Basic Plots, which explains that seven archetypal themes recur in every kind of storytelling. Humans are psychologically programmed to imagine stories this way. Schwartz suggested seven plots that can provide a blueprint for figuring out what a brand story should be when there isn't one, or isn't a strong one. The seven themes are: - Overcoming the monster
- Rebirth
- Quest
- Journey and return
- Rags to riches
- Tragedy
- Comedy
Learn how consumer emotional involvement builds brands.
An additional comment: Consumers may carry brand images on their bodies because of their emotional involvement with a brand (as is evident in the original scoop). The flip side of the coin is human billboards (people who tattoo advertisements or brand logos on themselves). As is evident from the following link, it may be advisable to serve as a human billborard for brands that will be around for some time: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/sad-humans-stuck-tattoos-dot-coms-no-longer-exist-143845.
With a firmly established brand image, Apple indeed has the luxury of drawing consumers' attention of the features of its iPhone 5.
Making Decisions at the Speed of SightLiveScience.comThis question launched my project to use the scientific understanding of human perception to better understand why the thumbnail images that preview online videos have so much influence over the...
The ability to predict people's automatic and unconscious responses to subtle differences in everyday visual information is important because visual images often influence our experiences, both online and in stores. Science may assist in uncovering methods for increasing online user engagement, particularlly during a time when (some) consumers' experiences are becoming increasingly digital.
Leona: "You may have seen the cake and candles on Google.com yesterday. That's because it was the company's birthday. Google turned 14, and everything about the company has changed/grown up a lot over the past 14 years.
Leona: According to ISO 26000:2010 ‘Guidance on social responsibility’, a vulnerable group is a "group of individuals who share one or several characteristics that are the basis of discrimination or adverse social, economic, cultural, political or health circumstances, and that cause them to lack the means to achieve their rights or otherwise enjoy equal opportunities”. The concept of “consumer vulnerability” also depends on the specific external circumstances in which consumers act and operate, such as economic and financial conditions or social disadvantages. This link reflects the need for consumer education, corporate social responsibility and the suggestion that sustainability may be an important consideration when developing innovations for emerging countries.
Leona: The social media landscape changes so quickly that it is nearly impossible to keep up with all the tools and platforms that are available. A few free tools are discussed.
Leona: The first in a series of posts which will explore various hidden and puzzling aspects of social media.
"It is often suggested that social media can be used to bully and torment others, but social media can also be used to help those in need..."
Leona: According to a report from Nielsen NeuroFocus, a company that specializes in neurological testing for consumer research, some stereotypical marketing practices aimed at men and women over the age of 60 may not be relevant anymore.
Leona: "Affluent consumers expect the same level of service from an app as they do from an in-store experience". It would therefore be to the advantage of luxury marketers if they manage to translate the mobile touchpoint into sales. It is mentioned that affluent consumers are enthusiastically using their mobile devices to research products, make purchases and connect with brands. The introduction of tablets, particularly the iPad, provides opportunities for rich-media displays, providing luxury marketers an appealing platform for showcasing their products and inviting interaction from their target market.
Leona: All the Grand Prix and gold winners in the category, Best Outdoor Ads 2011-12, from Cannes. Enjoy.
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Performance Inspired recently undertook a survey in order to find a correlation between successful companies and those that inspire their consumers. “According to our latest research, consumers are not only feeling inspired by certain businesses, but are acting inspired by spending more with these companies while evangelizing to others about their inspiring experience,” said Terry Barber, chief inspiration officer of the company. A validated set of drivers to inspiration was identifed, based on the survey. The top 10 companies that most inspired consumers were: 1. Apple 2. Wal-Mart 3. Target 4. Google 5. Microsoft 6. Amazon 7. Chick-fil-A 8. Starbucks 9. McDonald’s 10. Coca-Cola Respondents, for instance, had to rate companies in terms of being: Affirming (causes me to feel valued, appreciated as an individual), Credible (stands on its principles no matter what), Servant attitude (seems to genuinely care about people’s needs above profit), Visionary (has a compelling vision for making the world a better place), Story (is easy and fun to talk about with friends), Progressing (is highly innovative and causes me to feel empowered to reach new potential), and Authentic (is transparent and consistent in its actions). http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/2012/Best-Global-Brands-2012.aspx
"So you've come up with a great branding scheme for your company and you've got a great product or service that you want to sell to people... People will only develop loyalty to a brand if they can remember it, and a brand therefore has to stand out from the rest of the brands in its particular niche. A brand should firstly be easy to remember. That means being different – the brand should not be easily confused with anything else, such as a similar-sounding name or a similar-looking logo..."
One explanation for Esquire's decision to target male consumers on Facebook: They want to capture the attention of younger male consumers. "We are feeding them great content, showing them what we stand for. If it feels like we post a lot but it balances out all the baby shower photos, all the better.” Contrary to a stereotypical idea about targeting male consumers, Esquire do not extensively use pictures of scantily clad women it its posts to Facebook.
The times they are a-changin'. Retailers may have to reconsider referring to shoppers as “she”. It is suggested that men are "out-shopping" women in some instances, particularly in an online environment. Men who consult Pinterest indeed probably are a small group, and the question may be raised what the trend in emerging countries would be. Changing attitudes and changing expectations that have important implications for marketers - all the more reason for the study of Consumer Psychology.
Multichannel marketing is one of the hottest topics in pharma marketing now. But to create sustainable, measurable shifts in brand loyalty, companies need to focus on innovation. It is suggested that multichannel marketing creates brand ‘parity’, while innovates leads to brand ‘preference’. Innovation therefore is the game changer (in pharma marketing).
"Today's kids, destined to die younger, talk about what they'd do with five extra years..."
Leona: Indeed somewhat depressing/a wake-up call. An emotional appeal used in advertising.
Leona: According to its vice president of sustainability, energy is “the big kahuna,” for McDonald’s Corp., the world’s biggest restaurant chain. To cut the restaurant’s global annual energy bill (estimated at $2 billion), it is considering simple solutions, such as using more energy-efficient LED light bulbs, to complex, systemic changes, such as working with the WWF to rethink livestock-raising practices and its global food supply chain. It is suggested that consumers want to know where their food comes from and that sustainability should be considered in all business processes.
"Facebook plays a powerful role in building brand awareness.It, however, appears to have little direct impact on people's buying decisions..."
Leona: Ray Poynter suggests four disruptive changes that may take place in business and market research over the next 18 months, namely:
• Communities
• SoLoMo (Social Local Mobile)
• Automated testing • Text analytics
"Doug Rice imparts some crucial information for brands with the 12 Most Damage-Controlling Tools to Monitor Your Brand Online... ...The social web provides a platform for outbound marketing, but also serves as a platform for gathering information about what people think of a brand and enhancing customer service by responding to customers’ concerns. Doug provides valuable suggestions for monitoring a brand online...."
Leona: A in-depth-interview is a useful tool to explore complex or sensitive issues that cannot be investigated in focus groups or group discussions. It is often used in qualitative research.
"Shop.org asked this cast of children a handful of questions for a glimpse at how the next generation views shopping, both online and off..."
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