The view that a brand should tell a story rather than just have a ‘positioning’ is not new in marketing circles. However, for CEOs who often already see marketing as the ‘soft’ side of their businesses, investment in story-telling may seem too esoteric a notion, and one with questionable commercial benefit. But the outcomes of … Continue reading
This web ad from Japan for the Tosando Music School is the latest viral tearjerker. In testimony to its crafting, you won’t need to understand Japanese to follow it or to be touched by it. At a time when brands are building increasingly complex digital communications programs, and are turning to oblique forms of branded … Continue reading
There are now two distinct approaches to the development of brand and creative communications strategies. This is the view of the chair of the UK Account Planning Group’s Creative Strategy Awards, Adam Morgan, based on his review of the case studies submitted for the 2013 competition. According to Morgan, “’Washington Planning’ involves focussing on the … Continue reading
Recently the fashion world has been abuzz about a new web film from French perfume house Guerlain for its signature Shalimar fragrance. The almost six minute long “The Legend of Shalimar“ has been hailed by many as setting a new standard for mega-production advertising. It has also set a new standard for epic brand story-telling. … Continue reading
Earlier this year, on a sweltering March day at Melbourne’s Moomba festival, I was intrigued to see every second person walking around with a curious looking hot snack. Not only did this choice seem incongruous with the temperature, but people were queuing for over 10 minutes in the mid-day heat to get one. What was … Continue reading
The 2012 post Can the Commonwealth Bank’s “Can” beat the other big four banks reviewed the authenticity of the brand promises of the major banks. This made the case that Commbank’s superior technical systems could allow it to credibly build its “Can” positioning to stake out brand leadership amongst the big four. As outlined in … Continue reading
According to Roy Morgan’s February 2013 Consumer Banking in Australia Customer Satisfaction Report, the Commonwealth Bank – for the first time since April 2000 – attained the highest customer satisfaction rating of the big four banks. This achievement adds further support to the case made previously on this blog that the authenticity of its “Can” … Continue reading
The post Why brand authenticity is critical for customer satisfaction outlined the perspective that customer satisfaction is a product of brand authenticity. That is, if what a brand has and does clearly supports and lives up to its brand promise then its customers are more likely to be satisfied. This post explores the validity of … Continue reading
If customer satisfaction is about meeting or exceeding expectations, then why do so many companies measure satisfaction without considering what they are actually promising their customers? This post draws on recent observations by Simon Wood, Head of Stakeholder Management Research for TNS UK, to explore the relationship between brand authenticity and customer satisfaction. There are … Continue reading
In general Australian FMCG brands were late starters in the use of digital media. Now many have used their mass market penetration to play ‘catch up’ through promotions and other incentives to generate Facebook fans. The results, according to social media analysts, are Facebook pages that are high on fans but low on engagement. Essentially, … Continue reading
Brand Truth - Brand Strategy Consulting, Melbourne 