Brand Champions

Brand Champion of the Day-Daniel Adams Butterfield, Taps Composer

Most Americans and many others around the world, are spending time celebrating Memorial Day today. A time to honor those who have fallen while serving their country during military duties for the United States. Every year I try to watch the laying of the traditional wreth at the tomb of the unknown soldiers in Arlington Cemetery. Today I watched President Obama doing so. It was a very moving experience.

During the proceedings at Arlington I listened to Taps a couple of times. While doing so, just like every other time, I am moved like no other piece of music makes me feel. A multi-sensory branding experience if you will. Unlike those other times, today I wondered about the person who wrote such a memorable arrangement. Today, we pay tribute to those who have served.

Today, I suggest that we also think about the person who composed Taps. The composer, Daniel Adams Butterfied, also served his country. Butterfield was a Union General during the United States Civil War. The piece of music that he is credited with composing has resulted in brand champions the world over for Taps. We should consider becoming brand champions of the composer too. He was a medal of honor recipient. Today, he is the brand champion of the day.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Brand Champion of the Day-Kevin Nalty, Video Guru

I just finished reading Beyond Viral. It served as my travel companion this week as I flew back and forth across the United States. The book was written by video guru, Kevin Nalty. Some of you might know Kevin as simply Nalts. His online persona if you will. Others are probably familiar with the viral videos that Kevin has produced or consulted. His videos have been as viral as any. But hold that thought.

Much of the book is devoted to ways of using video to execute a brand strategy. As a brand strategy consultant of course I am going to like that. But I also resonated with what Kevin writes in regards to marketing plans. He suggests plans that do not include video are missing the boat. I agree. Kevin goes on to say that those marketing plans that are limited to viral video are missing the boat too. I agree.

Like other social media, I those people and those organizations who are new to video channels think that they somehow have to shock people or develop some goofy message in hopes of going viral. Once people and brands understand the sustainable value of social media, including video, and how those are effective tools for delivering on-brand experiences, then the zaniness subsides. 

If your brand stands for silliness and your brand essence is about doing wacky things, then knock yourself out with viral strategies. Most brands do not, so stay with using video as was to communicate your core values and your mission to those stakeholders that you want to connect with online. YouTube is a great place to recruit and retain your brand champions in the 21st century. But, go beyond viral.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Oprah Understands Personal Branding

This week there is a great deal of hoopla over the fact that the Oprah Winfrey Show comes to a close. This week I am also in the midst of working with a client helping her develop a personal brand strategy. Like Oprah it is important that we all create a plan to guide our life and work. After all, if we do not, who is going to do it for us.

Like an organization, our brand is our name, and the associations that people make when they hear or see our name. Personal branding is the process of aligning our self-perceptions with the perceptions that others have about us. Ideally we want our perceptions to be in sync with those who we want to connect with. Oprah is a great example of someone who understands who to connect with her audience.

Fans and followers of Oprah are prime examples of brand champions. Those who passionately and enthusiastically advocate a brand. We all want and need others to champion our brand. But it starts within. We all need to understand who we are and what we stand for. We all need to create a personal mission statement and clearly articulate our core values. Once this happens we are more effective in connecting with the right fit in terms of other people, cultures, organizations and other aspects of our life and work.

We end up being happier. We end being more Oprah-like.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Can the United States Make Sense of Brand?

A couple of months ago I posted a few thoughts about multi-sensory branding during my stay in Lugano, Switzerland. I have sense, I mean since, had a great deal of dialogue on this subject. I had the fortune of presenting at the 2011 International Thought Leaders Conference on Brand Management at the University of Lugano. A brand champion interfacing with other brand champions. My session was on An Academic Enterprise Approach to Higher Education Branding. But much of the dialogue during the week last March focused on mult-sensory branding.

Just like my experiences at a previous conference in Berlin several years earlier, I was impressed with what organizations in Europe were doing with multi-sensory branding. In the States it seems like there are several sensory brand efforts, but they seem to be focused on one or two of our senses. Many of the organizations in Europe and other parts of the world take more of a multi-sensory approach, incorporating all five senses into their brand building efforts.  

Do you know that about 80 percent of brand and marketing is focused on what we see and hear, but about 80 percent of what we remember is based on what we smell, taste and touch. It seems that more and more organizations in the States are coming to the realization that brand is not about logos and taglines. Are they also ready to embrace a strategy that further makes sense of brand? Will they truly understand how to recruit and retain brand champions.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Brand Champion of the Day-Randy "Macho Man" Savage

This weekend I read that one of my all-time favorite celebrities, Randy "Macho Man" Savage had passed as a result of a fatal automobile accident. The "Macho Man" was one of the most colorful characters in the early days of the World Wrestling Federation. Along with Hulk Hogan and others, Savage helped build Vince McMahon's empire. Those guys knew how to effectively recruit and retain brand champions. They were brand strategists extraordinaire.

I was not a big fan of the WWF and do not recall watching many matches. I thought "wrasslin" matches were silly. I still do. But in the 1980s I did like to watch the interviews with what seemed like bigger than life people like Randy Savage. His wild costumes and deep voice were attributes only the "Macho Man" brand could pull off. I remember feeling the need to wear sunglasses when looking at him in his blazing glasses. I can hear him say, "Oooh Yeah!" right now.  

This morning I am conducting a personal brand coaching session with a client. During our conversation we will no doubt be talking about brand association. I will be sharing several examples of personal brand success. I might have to break out with a "Snap into a Slim Jim!" Today, Randy "Macho Man" Savage is the Brand Champion of the Day.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Brand Champion of the Day-Hard Rock

I have been out of pocket the past few days catching up on some offline duties. Now I am back in the blogging saddle and ready to rock hard. A few days ago I read about the upcoming Hard Rock International 40th Anniversary Memorabilia Tour which kicked off at the Times Square restaurant in New York this week. It took me about two seconds to realize that I have failed to recognize one of the iconic brands as the Brand Champion of the Day.

If memory serves me correct, my first introduction to a Hard Rock cafe was indeed the New York spot. I recall the experience to be one of a kind and one that I wished I could repeat in other places. At the time there were much fewer of them, and my home state did not have any. Now it is difficult to go to any major city around the world and not have the opportunity to visit a Hard Rock cafe or hotel. Hard Rock International truly understands what it means to deliver an on-brand experience. While each location reflects some of the uniqueness of the place in which it stands, the experience is consistent from spot to spot.

What is not to like about eating a good burger, listen to rock and roll music and look at interesting memorabilia? That is of course if you do not like burgers, rock and roll music or memorabilia? That is of course the point. Those who do are brand champions. Those who do not are not. Here is to a long overdue twist and shout out to Hard Rock International. You are the Brand Champion of the Day!

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Brand Champion of the Day-Colin Quinn

Have you seen Long Story Short? I have watched it a couple of times on HBO and would love to see it live. Colin Quinn takes the audience on a journey of the history of the world. His approach I describe as a study in nation brands. His one-man show is comedic genius for 75 minutes.

As someone who has an undergraduate degree in history and now a brand consultant, I love the way Quinn articulates the challenges of the world through the personalities and cultures of nations. Very similar to how brands compete. While laughing out loud funny, the real entertainment is the sophisticated insights he delivers.

Speaking of the past, my first encounter with Colin Quinn was in the early 1980s. I was one of a few people watching his stand up comedy on a Sunday night in a small club in New York. Because there was no one there, I had a front row seat and Quinn kept asking me if people confuse me with Larry Bird. Perhaps I should have stood up for my answer. If I would have stood upI have been a brand champion ever since.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Do You Have a Social Brand?

We all do. At least we all soon will be social brands. I know that many personal and organizational brands are newer to the social online world than others. Yesterday I listened to a top drawer news anchor who admitted that she just opened a twitter account. My first reaction was, are you kidding? Just joined? Then I slowed down and said, good for you!

I remember about three years ago when I was meeting with friends and ex-colleagues after work one evening. They were all giving me a hard time for embracing social media like this blog, Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In. A year later they were doing the same when I discussed the value of YouTube. My mates were especially hard on me because I was advocating social media over traditional media like television advertising as primary communications channels for enhancing a brand.

Now each and every one of those people are online socially, some more active than others. But they all work for organizations who have a social media plan. If your organization does not yet have a plan, here is your official invitation to join the party and become a social brand. Social brands understand how to recruit and retain brand champions.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Does the United States and Pakistan Need a Co-Branding Strategy?

I have been thinking about this question for the past several years. In the past week I have been thinking about this question more. As a brand consultant I am wired to think about such things. Like partners in the business world, the United States and Pakistan are in the process of determining how they should co-exist. Like partners in the business world will they determine it makes sense to develop a co-branding strategy for the United States and Pakistan?

A periodic review of mission and core values is important for all organizations. I anticipate that is really what the United States and Pakistan are doing now. Yes, policies and outcomes are important, but an overarching brand strategy guides those processes. An audit to determine how closely aligned strategic priorities are with mission and core values helps ensure sustainability for brands. An analysis of how closely aligned internal culture and external reputation is healthy too. In this case, evaluating how the  nation brands are in sync, or not.

A critical component of any brand development process is providing opportunities for stakeholders to engage in the efforts. Giving current brand champions the chance to share their opinions is necessary. The same holds true for potential new brand champions. Yesterday a kindred-spirit and fellow brand consultant from Pakistan and I were exchanging thoughts on Facebook about the opportunity for the United States and Pakistan to develop a co-branding strategy. We believe that the events of the past week point to the need to have a dialogue on this topic.

Of course our two countries have differences of opinions as to how to achieve certain goals, as my Pakistani brand friend Ali Hadi X and I might about how to create a sustainable brand strategy. But Ali Hadi X and I share so much more, in terms of the need for effective branding and that is what keeps us connected, even in trying times like these. We share common values and mission, even though our cultures might be a world apart. I anticipate the United States and Pakistan will come to the same conclusion. What do you think? Does the United States and Pakistan need a co-branding strategy?

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Brand Champion of the Day-Colorado Public Radio

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Colorado Public Radio. In the early days of CPR and in my earlier years, I must admit that I did not spend a great deal of time listening to public radio. In those days it was listening to sports on AM radio and classic rock on FM.

Over the years I learned to appreciate classic music as much as classic rock, and now it seems like there is not a day that goes when I am not listening to public radio while driving in my car. I often listen to public radio while I am in my office on my laptop. As I am now doing while writing this post.

The in-depth story I am now listening to about brain injuries suffered by American veterans from the current wars is one fine example of what public radio offers, which other quick flash bits of news other outlets do not value.

Public media like CPR have a greater understanding of brand and are effective in recruiting and retaining brand champion than many of their competitors. For all you bring to those in my state, Colorado Public Radio is the Brand Champion of the Day.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group