Opinionated Blog

By: Andrea Shillington
Whether you’re an entrepreneur working on your next big idea or the leader of a well established company, in today’s world of choice, I’m sure, at some point you’ve contemplated how to stand out. Now, we are not just talking about how to be better at this, or best at that; we are talking about boldly going where no brand, in your industry, has gone before.

We boil it down to three simple basics:
1. Start with a genuine purpose (other than to just make money).
2. Get specific about who will buy (even more specific than that).
3. Be truthful, courageous and consistent when you go to market- loose the hyperbole and marketing speak.

To illustrate this point, let’s talk about one of the most saturated markets on the planet: coffee. Vancouver based Ethical Bean delivers its promise boldly starting with its name right through to its charitable work on a local and global scale. In this case, the company is born from its desire to make a difference in the world of coffee. From freeing farmers of harmful pesticides to leaving a minimal impact on the environment. Ethical Bean is about much more than taste, roasting and the latest flavour shot. As a result of their ethical cause, they are capturing the hearts of coffee drinkers who actually care about what they put in their bodies, where things come from and how it impacts the planet. Furthermore, Ethical Bean expresses themselves by speaking the truth. It’s not just marketing speak existing on a few items, no one can remember or care about. Their Tagline “Just. Better” is a promise. A promise by which the company behaves, makes difficult decisions and chooses to live by everyday.

There are many other, bigger companies with far deeper pockets like Starbucks offering ethical, organic and environmentally friendly products. What makes Ethical Bean stand out: is that they have started with a genuine purpose; chosen a specific audience; and are delivering on their promise with every package, bean and QR code. They are doing it better because they are being bolder about their beliefs and backing up their claims with real actions. As customers, we have no reason not to believe them. No reason to think its yet another green washing parade.

Ethical Bean is a product that has and will continue to disrupt people's choices and attract like minded people. We give them an A+ on being a brave brand.

If this article peaked your curiosity you may also be interested reading…
Blue Ocean Strategy
Start With Why by Simon Sinek
Winning Without Pitching by Blair Enns

Or just speak to us!

By:  Dann llicic
Going through the rebranding process in your organization can be tough, even if everything goes smoothly. In our experience, there are six things that usually get in the way and we want you to be aware of them.

1- The CEO or leadership team is not involved

Too often we see the rebranding efforts beginning in the marketing department instead of with the CEO. Branding is a CEO level initiative because it deals with the fundamental definition and expression of the business. The brand consultant is the worst person to deliver the brand to the organization. It can ONLY be delivered by the CEO as an expression of their vision for the organization’s future

2- There is no budget allocated

Not having a budget for the rebrand usually means that the project has not been taken seriously yet. Yes, there will be strategy and design fees but the bigger costs come in the implementation and execution. How tragic it is to go through all the work and then to find out that there is no money to execute properly.

3- No internal point person to drive the rebranding implementation from the inside

Most brand consultants and designers are wonderful people but they cannot successfully govern the intricacies and politics of your organization alone. Either the CEO or someone closely linked and authorized by the CEO must drive the process for it to be taken seriously.

4- No visual evidence of change

If you’re going to go through the effort of rebranding then it must be as conspicuous as possible. The brand does not exist in the words in a policy manual (of course you do need one of those too) it must exist where people will notice and feel it. New paint, new logo, rearranging furniture, new signage and a host of other tangible changes let people know that the rebrand is real and alive.

5- Not having a roll-out plan

When will the rebrand be complete? How and when will we tell our staff?How and when will we tell our customers and clients? How will we tell the public? If these questions are not answered from the beginning then all kinds of hell can break loose. If the roll-out needs to happen over time then that must be communicated clearly to all involved. Having a plan and somebody accountable for executing it will give all stakeholders comfort that the rebranding efforts will stick and be meaningful.

6- Not enforcing the company values

If the hiring, firing and overall operations are not rooted in the company’s core values then it is unlikely that anyone inside will take it seriously. The values must be conspicuously displayed for everyone to see (not just in the employee welcome handbook or policy manual). It is not uncommon for some people to quit once the company’s values have clearly been articulated - but in general these people quit a long time ago - they just still happen to be drawing a paycheck though. The best companies make a big deal about their values and look for those traits and evidence in the people that work for them. Remember that it is your people that deliver the brand experience of your company and that experience, if it is to be consistent, must be based on the core values of your organization.

I am sure all of you have seen the Mac/ PC commercials where you see Mac's point of view: where it's the reliable, cool and hip versus the unreliable, clunky and old school operating system! And I am sure you have to agree that Mac has a much better differentiation strategy than the PC, but why is it still a PC dominated world. Maybe Macs position of pointing out all the pains and frustrations are just not to convert users? Maybe people don’t care for an unreliable operating system - but rather they are scared of change. Or maybe, like the cell phone, people want to upgrade their operating system - so they can get the next cool trend.

Brand evangelists and marketers can all agree that Apple has done a brilliant job of differentiating themselves by merely simplifying an operating system and reinforcing it with great customer service. Although we constantly see Microsoft upgrade their processor - they still don’t change their service model or fix the “buggy, crashing” operating system. Why is that. Do they know they are giving Apple a competitive edge... Do they even care?

One has to wonder who will win and rule the computing world?

Yes Macs are cool and PC’s are more prone to crashes and viruses - but yet there are significantly more PC users than Mac users, at least 70% according to one statistic. So whose brand is stronger? The fact that the PC does very little to defend itself makes me wonder why everyone isn’t on a Mac already... The campaign has been going since 2006. But then I realize that "PC" is not even an actual brand that belongs to one company; therefore it cannot stand up and defend itself against the onslaught of Mac inspired insults. Microsoft occasionally takes the helm, these days with their I'm a PC and I'm 5 years old.

It’s similar to the Volkswagen trend, and the movement that followed when they first made their comeback in the car world. Volkswagen created a Jetta club - the trendy, urbanites drive Jetta's; this was their differentiation strategy to give re-birth to an old, tired brand. We have been witnessing these cool trend setting brands for years - but is it really enough to gain market share over competition or is it merely just a trend that will pass? I mean really - you have to admit - there are way more geeky computer nerds than cool, creative computer guys.

I was a PC user but switched to Mac, and I am happy about it. I mean, the time I save on my Mac versus a PC because of crashing and virus scans, I was able to finally take a vacation!!!

I am young - I am cool... hey! I am a Mac!
Will this message alienate the Old, Traditional, Corporate types that don't consider themselves super cool? i.e. big businesses.  and eventually drive them into the arms of their good old PC.? The devil they know all too well.

Recently after being in a long-term relationship I found myself to be fabulously free and single. As an out-going, independent, modern gal my first instinct to meet new people was to go through the inconspicuous, the “be-who-I-want-to-be” route of on-line dating.  Through this experience I became acutely aware of all the branding involved in this modern world of dating.

At my disposal the three dating services that popped out at me were Plenty of Fish, Lavalife and E-harmony. In short, Plenty of Fish resembles the traditional night club of the dating scene, Lavalife’s positioned as a urban online lounge or a trendy coffee shop and E-harmony has replaced the traditional “meeting through friends” scene. Not only are the on-line dating companies specialized and target specific, I too was becoming a commodity.

After a couple of weeks of sending smiles, “ping-ing” people, or checking profile photos and passing judgement, I found myself browsing and selecting potential candidates with no substance or merit. I was picking out my ideal man like I was shopping at the grocery store - looking for good colour, freshness and ideally, some firmness.

In the end I came to the conclusion that online dating only succeeds through our failure and desperation of finding the “happily ever after”. It does amaze me how consumed we - social interactive beings- have been trained to communicate with the least amount of effort ever. We have become a digitized generation, lowering our social skills through the use of social online networks.

After my experiences online this fabulous commodity has gone offline, appreciating the real life - with real people.

To be continued....