When you have no real differentiation, and you are selling a commodity product, and you don’t really give a damn about doing any better; you resort to gimmickry.

I had a case of deodorant can failure this morning. I pressed down on the trigger of a new can and no freshness came out. I looked closer at the can and saw this:

WTF?!! Someone invested effort, brain …

“Boring!!!” I hear you say. Who gives a blip about blenders, right? I certainly have not thought about one at all until now.

Have a look at this excellent viral marketing idea: http://www.willitblend.com/

How’s that for a sustained marketing campaign that cost next to nothing compared to your usual buy ad-spots for glossy perfect ads approach.

I know which blender I am getting next…

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” Mark Twain.

Australians are going to the poll this weekend. Essentially to choose between two parties who are about as differentiated from each other as brie and camembert.

Images from wikipedia

Going for the majority may well be a good thing to do in …

Since buying the Thinkpad line of products from IBM a few years ago, Lenovo has been busy transitioning the product line branding.

The Same Product, Different Stickers blog post on Lenovo blogs provides an interesting insight into the transition process from a product badging viewpoint.

The lessons are:

Consistency is important, but not a blind rule to be followed.
Consistency goes beyond mere badges and logos.
Transitions must be given time …

“Can’t beat a skybox! All the excitement of being in the sky, with the security of being in a box!” Marge Simpson.

Many of us dream of flying high. And yet, time and time again we retreat to the safety of boxes. Boxes created by our collective, societal expectations.

We have more choices than ever before to live the live we want. We are wealthier than 90% of the planet’s …

This is a fun example of authenticity in product naming - a dust collector is … well a dust collector!

Designed by Sebastiaan Straatsma and spotted on core77.

Angus and Robertson, one of the bookstore chains in Australia, is taking a “pay us to stock your product or go away” approach with publishers.

When does the drive to make a profit cross over to clear-cut greed? What is the definition of greed? A business, by definition, must make a profit; but how far should a business focus on making a profit before it starts eroding its offerings?

For …

GIO Insurance’s advertising ends with “we don’t just listen, we do”.

Contrast this with my post on NRMA’s ads which detailed exactly what they have done (number of claims paid, families helped etc) in the aftermath of storms.

“This above all—to thine own self be true”

… this is the challenge of authenticity: it’s quite easy to talk about and not so easy to do. If authenticity is hard for people to achieve, it is even harder for businesses.

…

The humanity has been driven out of most branding programmes, replaced by an ever-growing list of clever-sounding jargon and “tools” designed to manipulate rather than engage with consumers. It …

Nick asks: “If we guarantee products, why not service? How can you claim a commitment to customer service without being willing to back it up with a guarantee?”

He then goes on to use U.S. Bancorp as an example how a service can be guaranteed. Read the full post on FusionBrand.

The ANZ Bank has (had?) a $5.00 Five-Minute Teller Queue Guarantee, where you get $5 if they …