The TW BrandBlog

From Culture Buzz: “Adidas recently launched a huge advertising campaign called adidas: Celebrates Originality. The famous brand with the three stripes has decided to continue its action throughout the USA. Its latest campaign, created by LA 180 agency and named “The Left and Right Project” took place in two different phases. In the first phase adidas brought together contemporary designers from the West Coast (Upper Playground in San Francisco) and the East Coast (Surface2Air in New York). Each team got one shoe of a pair of giant Superstar sneakers (THE adidas hip hop sneaker). After 3 days of customization the two sneakers were sent to Los Angeles where phase 2 started in the form of guerrilla marketing. The super-sized Superstar shoes were transported to Venice Beach where Californians could admire them.” 

So, so very many brands think so, so very much more of themselves than they should. This is a common phenomenon. So, which are you: Jet Li or Todd Weeks? They both think that they are all that, but only one of them is truly bada**.

I know of very few brands with the candor and humility to admit that they may actually be Todd Weeks. Admitting that you have a problem, says AA, is the first step to recovery. Don’t be deluded in the mind.

And, for a treat, I am posting the (album version of the) longest music video ever (a record previously held by the King of Pop, Mr. Michael Jackson).

The full version can be seen here.

Now stop prangin’ your head against the desk—get to the Beats; it’s the Streets. Do something with your brand life. Fair play.

In their new campaign, airing during the Champions League, Nike is reinforcing that their soccer (fútbol) brand is all about ME and all about YOU.  Brill! 

How does one handle unsightly scaffolding outside of their building during renovations?   

Instead of being a nuisance, this scaffolding now became a landmark on a landmark.  And, with 20,000+ hits on Google, Scholz & Friends, look like a bunch of cor blimey geniuses.   

Brands on top tend to stay on top. I wrote, months ago:

In 1923, a survey was conducted of the top 25 brands. In 1983, the same survey was executed. 23 of the top 25 brands were the same. 19 of the top 25 brands from 1923 still held their leadership position in their category.

What does this mean? Minds don’t change; leader’s lead. To enter a well-established category against mature category leaders is maniacal and suicidal. And yet, everyday, thousands of companies across the U.S. do exactly that.

Here is more proof from Macworld today:

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Amazon launched its MP3 download service last September, but as of February 2008 customers trying out the new service are not coming at the expense of Apple’s iTunes Store. A new report from market research firm NPD, only 10 percent of AmazonMP3 customers had previously purchased digital music from iTunes.

iTunes recently claimed the top spot in the music retailer market, beating out Wal-Mart. However, in February Amazon claimed the number two spot, just behind Apple in the number of a-la-carte music tracks downloaded by consumers in the U.S.

That’s not to say that Amazon is close to Apple in sales. According to NPD, iTunes digital music sales are still 10 times that of AmazonMP3 on a unit basis.

The research also showed that 64 percent of AmazonMP3 sales were to males compared to 44 percent for iTunes. AmazonMP3 showed unexpected strength among young adults (consumers aged 18 to 25), but only 3 percent of their customers were teens (age 13 to 17).

In contrast the iTunes Music store sold nearly a fifth (18 percent) of its music to teens. NPD also pointed out that iTunes has a strong franchise in gift cards used by teens and Amazon has a relatively small base of teen CD buyers.

“While it’s still very early in the game, there’s no evidence that Apple customers are deserting iTunes for a new alternative, either because of price or DRM restrictions,” said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD. “Amazon may simply be opening new markets from their existing consumer base and introductory promotions.”

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Amazon is likely to pour gobs of resources into this project, but unlikely to see high returns. Why? Because Amazon, in the mind, stands for “online bookseller.” iTunes, in the mind, stands for “online music store.” Amazon has never been as profitable as when they focused solely on books. What should they do? Focus. What are they most likely to do? Hire an army of consultants, pay millions of dollars, and streamline the site for a *better* MP3 purchasing experience. What will this amount to? Diddly.

I am going to abandon the exclusive use of the “vs.” format. Why? Why not. Stop whining.

Atmosphere (Slug, aka Sean Daley; Ant, aka Anthony Davis) is a brilliant underground hip-hop duo from Minneapolis, MN. If you haven’t heard of them, you’ve been sleeping too long. They have built their brand slowly and steadily over the past 10+ years. While thousands upon thousands of artists came and went with blinding speed, Atmo continued to grind along. This slow buildup is essential to a brand. Fads and trends (such as Zubaz, Pogs, or Mims) become “so overexposed, they make Paris Hilton look like a recluse.” (Thank you, Barack Obama, for that gem.)

In order to promote their forthcoming album, “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold,” (releasing April 22, 2008) they have been running a series on YouTube called “Paint It Gold.” Each week, they sit in Slug’s basement, answering questions from fans. The show is not glitzy and glammy—it is shot with two handheld camcorders on tripods. The low-budget feel speaks to Atmosphere’s positioning; it strengthens their brand.

In their most recent webisode, they received two questions that, from a brander’s standpoint, are rather intriguing. The first question inquired about Atmosphere’s feelings on illegal downloading. Here is a transcript of their response:

Slug: I can’t really say I’m mad at it; I can see how it’s fuckin’ up the industry. You know—

Slug: There you have it. I know for a fact that there are lots of people, in the beginning of our career, who would’ve never heard of us had it not been for file sharing and things of that nature, you know? And people like us, we’ll adapt. We’ll figure it out. You can’t download a t-shirt, you know, right? We’ll figure it out, man, you know, like, whatever—we’re like cockroaches! Arrrrgh! Swashbucklin’!

The second question asked how the new revolution of social media and Web2.0 affects the underground culture. After joking around for a moment, Slug again fields the question with surprising insight.

View the webisode:

Apple has stayed bounds and leaps (it’s a bit awkward when phrased backwards, is it not?) ahead of the onslaught of me-too “iPhone killers.” Mobile mainstays like Nokia, LG, and Samsung have been rolling out their responses at a snail’s pace.  Only Nokia truly had a fighting chance at rivaling the “it” factor of the Apple brand.

Verizon customers were “treated” to their own iPhone-clone, LG’s Voyager.  The experience is terrible and unresponsive, and the phone vibrates wildly in one’s hand with every touch.  It’s clunky and unsightly, and the OS is unpleasant.

Soon, Sprint customers will join the touch revolution, the Samsung Instinct in June.

Last year, Nokia showed a teaser video of the sexiest iPhone clone.  There is no release date officially set, however.

The speed of these mobile mavericks’ responses has allowed Apple to infiltrate new markets worldwide.

When a military attacks from the sea, where is the best place to stop them?  Is it on their boats, as they run up the beach, or once they are well on land?  Obviously, it is best to stop them before they have any momentum. 

Apple is has claimed mental real estate for the hip smart phone.  With responses being disappointing (at best) and drastically slow, Apple’s brand equity in the smart phone category grows stronger daily.

Macworld writes, “companies will be able to produce devices that may have some similar characteristics to the iPhone, but are they going to be able to replicate a thriving third-party development environment?”  A thousand times no.

Read a very intriguing breakdown of this battle of the brands at Macworld.  Their take is that, once the AppStore is launched (which will enable iPhone users to purchase third-party developed software), the iPhone’s will soar even higher.

Even if another phone is able to match or outmatch the iPhone’s user experience, they are unlikely to spawn such a cult follwing, one, or breed such a deep development community.

Brands belong consumers.  Those three little words (just like three other little words) are very hard to say, and they mean a great deal.  The community around the iPhone makes it stronger daily.

The game has changed, indeed. Trey Parker and Matt Stone penned this delicious rant on Wednesday’s episode of South Park.

Here is a transcript:

Stan: Boy, I’m sure glad that’s over with.

Butters: Me, too!

Kyle: Yeah, but you know, I learned something today. We thought we could make money on the internet. But, while the internet is new and exciting for creative people, it hasn’t matured as a distribution mechanism to the extent that we should should trade real and immediate opportunities for the promise of future online revenue. It will be a few years digital distribution of media on the internet can be monetized to an extent that necessitates content producers to forgo their fair value, more traditional media.

Stan: Yeah.

Could that possibly be a stab at the RAIA fatcats, and (now) the movie-studio/television execs who are refusing to learn from the RAIA’s mistakes? Hmm. It makes a boy wonder. What makes a boy wonder even more is that Viacom deleted my South Park clip within 24 hours of me uploading it to YouTube. South Park promotes new media distribution, while Viacom polices the old school. Ugh.

NYOIL, a brilliant artist out of (of course) New York, spoke to a college about marketing the message.

“So, this is why I do what I do: it’s about marketing the message. We have a message…yo, we gotta market the message, ’cause it’s a pointless message if it’s not marketed.” How true!

His metaphor of checkers vs. chess is brilliant. A lot of us want to play our game on the board—we remove all of the chess pieces and put our checkers parts on the board. We can’t do that. We have to win at chess first, and then we can change the game.

On a personal branding level, this is so true. Master the game that is played, and then become unique in your own brand—create your own version of checkers, toss the chess pieces from the table, and teach the world a new game: your game!

Note his brilliant inclusion of the Chinese proverb: A bird does not sing because he has an answer. He sings because he has a song.

He released a digital EP, free for download, in February. Commenting on this Radiohead-like strategy, NYOIL said, “I’m constantly trying to develop new strategies to market music and developing significant business partnerships with new media. This is a wonderful opportunity to recognize bloggers as the future of hip hop press. A good blog is usually written by someone that would do it, has done it because they have a legitimate love for the culture.”

That sounds very much like Matt Mason’s brilliant manifesto:

The Pirate’s Dilemma. 

| View | Upload your own

But more on that later…

Is it a good or bad thing that Mac users are particular and unique? Is it a good or bad thing that this niche group despises those who don’t conform to their non-conformity? Apple, by treating The Establishment as the enemy, has created a cult following behind their brand.

They did it with their legendary Super Bowl ad, the infamous 1984.

And they continue to do it with their long-running “Think Different” campaign,

And the “I’m a PC/I’m a Mac” commercials.

Apple continues to more deeply root its brand into the fabric of the überchic, creative, well, snobbish types. This was done by design, from the inception of a new category—desktop publishing—to the launch of new brands to preempt market trends (including iTunes and ubiquitous iPod).I have a PC. It sits, quietly, switched off, underneath my desk. I have a Mac. It hardly ever gets shut off. If snobbery is a two-year stint without once seeing that dreaded “blue screen of death,” then sign me up, Sam!

Some claim to be tired of the OS wars. War is good; enemies are good—they keep things interesting. Interesting makes headlines and the Today Show. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have gotten shiploads more press than John McCain. The Wii would never have been so buzzworthy, were it not for PS3 and Xbox 360. And what makes Zipcar so fantastically enamoring? They antagonize the rental car industry!

Are people really tired of the OS wars? Hardly. Will they ever grow tired of them? It’s unlikely. Apple is smart enough to realize who their enemy is, how they are different, and how they can exploit those differences. What has spawned is a determined subculture that is radically sold-out for Apple—ready to shill out big bucks for cooler-than-life products for a cooler-than-life lifestyle.