Generation C

From http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/generation_c.htm

"The GENERATION C phenomenon captures the an avalanche of consumer generated 'content' that is building on the Web, adding tera-peta bytes of new text, images, audio and video on an ongoing basis.

"The two main drivers fueling this trend? (1) The creative urges each consumer undeniably possesses. We're all artists, but until now we neither had the guts nor the means to go all out. (2) The manufacturers of content-creating tools, who relentlessly push us to unleash that creativity, using—of course—their ever cheaper, ever more powerful gadgets and gizmos. Instead of asking consumers to watch, to listen, to play, to passively consume, the race is on to get them to create, to produce, and to participate.

"Don't get us wrong: superior tools and no talent still equals useless content. GENERATION C is and will continue to create heaps and heaps of crap which, at best, will be appreciated only by inner-circle friends and family.

"However, when Canon (see above) tells consumers that its products 'leave one difference between you and a professional. They get paid', they're kind of behind already: talented members of GENERATION C actually DO get paid, as their stories, their observations, their articles, their pictures, their songs, and their books are noticed and bought by niche audiences, as well as (increasingly) by mass-media moguls eager for real-time, original content. Think thousands of 'My News' citizen reporters in South Korea, or tens of thousands of bloggers building personal brands (and thus warranting professional fees, and reaping advertising revenues). Or eBay-style marketplaces for content like lulu.com and redpaper.com, the latter describing itself as "a place on the Internet where any type of digital content no mater how abstract can be bought and sold by anyone interested in transacting it". Or the guy who recently created a feature length movie on his iMac using iMovie, for USD 218.32, which was apparently good enough to be shown at Sundance last month, with Gus Van Sant's backing.

"Content Creation—and four other 'C's: Creativity, Casual Collapse, Control, and Celebrity.

"Creativity: let's face it, we're all creatives, if not artists! (Notice we didn't say talented artists ;-). And as creativity normally leads to content, the link with GENERATION C is obvious. Which then brings us to Casual Collapse: the ongoing demise of many beliefs, rituals, formal requirements and laws modern societies have held dear, which continue to 'collapse' without causing the apocalyptic aftermath often predicted by conservative minds. From women's rights to gay marriage to not wearing a tie to work if you don't feel like it!

"What does this have to do with GENERATION C? Well, as a new generation of parents is slowly abandoning its obsession with children becoming doctors, lawyers or business executives, they are realizing that creative careers are not necessarily a dead-end road to poverty and family scandal. Creativity is about to be unleashed full force, following a classic Casual Collapse path to mainstream acceptance.

"In fact, as Richard Florida, professor of Regional Economic Development eloquently argues in his book 'The Rise of the Creative Class', a society in which the creative ethos is increasingly dominant is already emerging, with tens of millions of professionals in the US, Europe and Asia leading the way.
(Yes, TRENDWATCHING.COM realizes Casual Collapse warrants a full trend description by itself, so stay tuned!)

"Moving on to the C for Control: besides the need to be creative, control is one of mans' other fundamental needs. To be in charge, to be master of one's own destiny (or at least have the illusion of control ;-), is a holy grail for many. So... to make a big leap to the world of business: consumers happily find they increasingly have control over what they buy and who they buy it from.

"If we link this to GENERATION C, we'll see a shift from straight forward consumption to customization, or even co-production. The latter already takes place in a big way in the online world: just think of how Microsoft 'invites' millions to download beta versions of its software to test and improve it, or how a Google community aptly named 'What Should Google Do', attracts hundreds of devotees who will share their smart suggestions, if not ready-to-use content contributions, for all Google employees to read.
And how about www.ipodlounge.com (yes, yet another iPod example)? This is where GEN C-ers post iPod concepts they would like to see in stores one day, or have already created in their basement or garage (source: Steve Portigal).

"Last but not least, C for Celebrity. Not much has changed since Warhol's 15 minutes of fame. Most people still entertain the thought of being a celebrity, even a minor one. What has changed though, is that the implied waiting-time to get one's precious (and short lived) celebrity moment is over: members of GENERATION C can produce, display and then distribute to millions their own images, their creations, their 'content'.

"In fact, Borders -- the US book retailer -- recently launched a GENERATION C trial with Xlibris ('where writers become authors'), a print-on-demand company that offers writers a USD 500 starters kit, providing them with everything they need to get a paperback to market, including all phases of production and a cover (source: NYT). Borders will sell the Xlibris kit to its customers, and after publication of a paperback, will sell the books (which are printed on demand, not in bulk) in its stores in the author's local market.

"OPPORTUNITIES
"So what does the above mean? In order to profit from the GENERATION C trend, as a professional or organization, make sure you not only provide consumers with the means to create and distribute content (from USD 999 professional cameras to the free global distribution network that is the internet), but also acknowledge deep human needs for control and for exposure. Get your customers involved with the design of your goods and services, have them deliver input on your processes, allow them to customize and personalize your offerings. And above all, never underestimate how much creativity is hidden deep down in all of them. Only 10 years ago, to most companies, the C in GENERATION C would most likely represent consumption. Times have changed. So... be creative!"

Funny Glossary of Branding Terms

Some examples:

Brandpa
A grand old brand.
i.e., Royal Mail, Jim Beam, that Jesus Fish thing

Brandicapped
A brand that has the courage to soldier on for decades despite its crippling issues.
Relevant cases: MySpace, America Online

Amperbrand
Any brand that conjoins with one or more additional brands without any effort to clarify or minimize its name.
As with PriceWaterhouseCoopersDraperPrice

The full article here: http://designtaxi.com/news/353329/A-Tongue-In-Cheek-Guide-To-Branding-Terms/

From the Editor of HOW Magazine

In the September 2012 issue of HOW Magazine, editor Sarah Whitman says:

“Back in the day (say, 2010), marketing gurus were telling their disciples that, most of all, they needed to have a well-designed website and e-newsletter so potential clients would be able to easily find them. Fast-forward two years and the self-promotional landscape has been transformed. Sure you still need to have a kick-ass website and e-newsletter, but merely having an online presence isn’t enough. You have to know how to use it to find qualified prospects.”

She goes on to say that your marketing package now includes a myriad of social media platforms, each with different looks, rules, and strategies. But just being present isn’t enough; you have to deliver timely and valuable content. When everybody is clogging inboxes with news and promotions, be the one that people click on and read by consistently delivering quality content.

Furthermore, your target niche should be smaller than ever. Says Whitman, “All the old marketing tenets still apply. But unless you pair them with a solid web and social media strategy, you’ll be casting your line into an ocean rather than a pond of qualified prospects.”

This reminds me of the 13th Immutable Law of Marketing: the law of sacrifice. You have to focus on one thing, be the leader, and let go of the rest. Be a specialist, not a generalist, to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace.

Social Media No Match for Face-to-Face

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/05/14/why-most-successful-branding-and-sales-talk-happens-offline

"Today’s consumer marketplace is highly social, but not because of particular platforms or technologies. The businesses that will be the most successful in the future are the ones that embrace a model that puts people—rather than technology—at the center of products, campaigns and market strategies. Those who achieve the greatest success will recognize that there are many ways to tap the power of today’s social consumer."

Social networking has always been an important part of marketing. As you put more energy into online media, don’t forget that personal relationships are still at the heart of good business. The more you can listen to your customers and interact with them one-on-one, or face-to-face, the stronger the relationship will be. Technology only helps you get there. It is not an end in itself.

Case Study: Selling More Chocolate

from the Wall Street Journal article by Elizabeth Holmes

When Godiva wanted to get people to eat more chocolate, it had an 85-year brand history to overcome. People think of Godiva chocolate as a special occasion gift or treat. They are used to choosing one piece out of the signature gold box. To increase sales, Godiva needs to make its product an everyday pleasure.

One way Godiva is increasing sales is to sell in more locations. You now see Godiva chocolate on grocery store shelves. Another way is to introduce individually wrapped chocolates for sharing and “self-treating.” Finally, Godiva is offering more flavors, fillings, and forms.

Products such as wrapped squares of solid chocolate that fail to sell are being phased out.

Through the expansion, Godiva is maintaining its high-end position on the price scale.

Branding by Design

http://www.fastcompany.com/1830073/9-principles-for-great-branding-by-design

Busy day, so I'm just going to quote the article:

1. Branding and design are, to a large extent, inseparable. "A brand is not your logo or ID system," says Brunner. "It's a gut feeling people have about you. When two or more people have the same feeling, you have a brand. You get that feeling via smart design, which creates the experiences people have with the brand. Everything you do creates the brand experience, ergo design IS your brand."
2. If design is the brand, stop thinking of branding and design as distinct disciplines. "It's all about integrating design and brand," says Doucet. "We need to cease thinking of them as different disciplines. The essence of the Apple brand comes through its design. Take the logo off a BMW and you still know it's a BMW."
3. Brands need to create an emotional relationship with people. "We are all emotional beings and we have emotional relationships with brands we trust," says Brunner. "Designers need to make that happen. A designer must take the values and assets of a company and transform them in a special way that connects with people emotionally."
4. Designers need to "get" the essence of the brand. "For designers to build a great brand, they have to understand it," Hill points out. "You need to understand its history, its values, and what it means to people. Can you imagine designing the latent Jeep without understanding the brand archetype of what it means for a product to be a Jeep?"
5. Design needs to be strategic from the outset. "For design to have a major impact, it's got to get involved at the strategic level," said Hill. "It can't be an afterthought or superficial trappings to be put on post product creation. Samsung's brand became powerful only after they put a Chief Design Officer in place and made it a priority for the company."
6. Integrate design early in the process to drive innovation and create solutions. "Good designers approach design as an opportunity to ask questions," says Doucet. "Solution generation starts by questioning initial assumptions. Rather than ask myself 'How should I design Widget X?' I need to be asking 'Do we really need Widget X or is there a better solution to this customer problem? So a designer needs be there at the beginning and be connected to the decision-makers. For example, at Braun, Dieter Rams sat across from the owner of the company."
7. Don't overdesign. "With the increasing emphasis on design in the world today, it's important to avoid the 'over-designed syndrome,'" says Hill. "A simple, well-thought-through, authentic design is often the best. Everything doesn't need to be redesigned; sometimes what we have in hand is better than what we seek. It's not all about being different; it's about being better. If Levi Strauss wanted me to redesign the patch on the back of their jeans, I would look in their archives for the original."
8. Use design to continually reinvent the brand. "Some folks think they know branding," says Doucet. "Figured it out long ago. 'Hi. I'm someone you'll like. You'll know it's me because I always wear a red polo shirt (pantone 185 to be exact) with blue pants and a yellow belt.' You can't think that way today. Brands need to allow themselves to constantly update, and be much more fluid. Look at Google; they morph their logo for special occasions. Constant change is a big part of who they are."
9. Use design to make a difference. "Design can make a difference in how we live," says Brunner. "Take sustainability. A lot of what is done in that area is 'making bad, better.' We're taking wasteful things and seeing how we can make them not so bad. We need to start thinking about how we can use our design tools to encourage people to change. You do that by making 'doing better' also be fun, interesting and (importantly) the path of least resistance. And you do it in an encouraging, not controlling, way. Design needs to do that in order to reach a larger audience than just the small group that is socially driven.

Book Review: The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

by Al Ries & Jack Trout

Some of the 22 laws are surprising and counter-intuitive. Number 12 in particular: the Law of Line Extension. Almost every company that achieves success with a brand begins extending that brand with multiple products. Case study: 7-Up, the uncola. 7-Up was the most popular alternative to regular cola, and had 5.7% of the soft-drink market in 1978. It then introduced a half-dozen variations, and by 1993 its share was down to 2.5%. Today, who even knows where to get 7-Up? The company's focus changed from a small, focused, profitable segment to a diffuse mix of flavors that keeps losing market share. On the other hand, Pepsi was a distant second behind Coke in the sixties when the company decided to narrow its focus. Remember the Pepsi generation? That campaign targeted teens exclusively, and within 20 years had closed the gap to 10 points.

The authors' best advice is to not enter a mature market where one leader already dominates. Instead, create a new category where you can be the leader. They maintain that the human mind can only hold one idea at a time, and people stick with what they've been introduced to first. Federal Express owned "overnight." Volvo owns "safe." Crest owns "cavity fighting." But other toothpastes can claim other qualities such as "whitens teeth" or "freshens breath." Don't play on someone else's turf.

Another counter-intuitive law is that categories tend to split. (We tend to think that businesses consolidate.) For example, computers split into mainframes and minis. Then minis split into work stations and personals. Personals have split into laptops and tablets. Splitting a category is a ripe opportunity for a new company to establish itself as the leader in the new category.

Many of the marketing laws have to do with perception. They use a lot of examples from big corporations. However, these lessons can also apply to small business. Some important takeaways are to think long-term, narrow your focus, make sacrifices now for gains later. Also, use candor. People know when you are hiding something. Avis's "we try harder" campaign was successful because they acknowledged being number 2.

This book is a quick read, but gave me a lot to think about.

Rebranding

Rebranding an established company can be both exciting and scary. The fear is that a new image will alienate loyal customers. The exciting part is reconnecting with the core mission and setting new goals. The cost is high, without any guarantee of payoff. But what is the cost of standing still?

Every business goes through cycles of growth. An upward trajectory will eventually plateau, and then decline, if the business does not reinvent itself. Rebranding is a design process that requires the business owner to assess the marketplace now, serve the needs of customers now, and expand services into new areas that are in demand now. A lot changes in 5 to 10 years.

Rebranding is more than a "fresh coat of paint." It may involve a new name, a redesigned logo, redecorated office space, new signs, new website, and many other components. It may end up with the decision to drop customers or services that are no longer profitable. It will certainly involve thinking about more effectively reaching the people that are the best fit for the business. In other words, rebranding requires a business strategy as well as design strategy.

In the Wall Street Journal article "Extreme Makeover," Aja Carmichael talks to entrepreneurs who have gone through the rebranding process. Katie Adams of Katie Adams Neuro Muscular Therapy went to a professional rebranding firm when she opened a second location. They recommended she take her name out of the business name, drop the whimsical calligraphy and illustration, and use a crisp typeface and fresh rosette emblem. The new business name—360 Neuro Muscular Therapy—and promotional material has resulted in a doubling of gross receipts, on track to triple by next year.

Jack and Jason Dennis hired a local design firm to help rebrand their retail music store when they opened a downtown store in addition to their suburban location. "The rebrand was great for what the theme of the store was," says Jack. "Our business needed that level of professionalism to get it right the first time."

"Rebranding my company was totally worth it," says Katie Adams. "The process gave our company more of an identity, and it's become something of substance."


Read the full article.

Book Review: The Ultimate Marketing Plan

by Dan S. Kennedy

I liked the conversational tone of Dan's writing. He is not academic. His experience comes from working with businesses first hand. The book relates the ideas that worked. This book is aimed at small business owners with little or no marketing experience looking for ideas to promote their businesses.

Dan starts by emphasizing that you must have a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). The marketplace is more competitive than ever, yet if you research your competitors you will find most of them are saying the same thing. Stand out by being different. Your USP should evoke an emotion or tell a story. Identify your audience and figure out what will connect to them.

He then goes on to the "five steps to a buying or action decision."

"1) Awareness of need and/or desire. 2) Picking the "thing" that fulfills the need/desire. 3) Picking the source for the thing. 4) Accepting the source's price/value argument. 5) Finding reasons to act now." He emphasizes to address all the 5 steps and not to assume anything. After you have organized your presentation, make it exciting. Then always, always ask for an action.

The rest of the book is not ground-breaking, but does cover all the marketing options that a small business has available. Dan offers a lot of examples of all his suggestions. The book is punctuated with marketing "secret weapons" and marketing "sins."

The problem with this book is that his examples are poorly designed aesthetically. Many cross into sheer hucksterism. The book itself constantly plugs his "Insiders' Circle." I would be embarrassed to counsel my clients to do some of the hokey things he suggests. His favorite case study is Sun Your Buns tanning salon. I went to the website out of curiosity and saw three typos on the home page. He is not wrong about the marketing principles that he has discovered, but he doesn't seem to recognize the difference between shoddy and excellent execution.