Advertising Agency In Boston: Tips and Tricks

The big news on Wall Street last year was the initial public offering of Internet search engine Google. If you were a visitor from another planet, you might be asking yourself, What big, sophisticated, high-technology company is behind the success of Google? Could it be IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, Oracle, SAP, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Dell, Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Philips or Siemens? Of course not. The brains behind Google are two Stanford students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who launched the Web site in 1998. Some six years later, the two founders are worth billions.

All the advantages:

With some exceptions big companies seldom launch new brands that become big successes, even though big companies have all the advantages. Big companies have the resources, the people, the credentials, the distribution networks, the media contacts. I can't think of a single advantage an individual entrepreneur has over a big global conglomerate. Yet there wasn't a big global conglomerate behind the success of brands such as Starbucks, Red Bull, Linux, JetBlue, Amazon, Yahoo!, eBay, Priceline, Monster.com and a host of others.

Nor for that matter was a big global conglomerate behind the success of most of the big brands of the past. Brands like Apple, Microsoft, Digital Equipment, Dell, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, SAP, Siebel, Compaq, Quicken, McDonald's, Subway, Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza, Papa John's, Wendy's, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Wal-Mart or Costco. I repeat. Big companies seldom launch new brands that become big successes.

Deadly sins

There are two reasons for this phenomenon, which we call the "two deadly sins of marketing."

The first deadly sin is timing.

The good book says, "There is a time to be born and a time to die." The time for a brand to be born is before the category is established in the mind. It was 14 years after the launch of Red Bull that the Coca-Cola Co. finally responded by launching its own brand of energy drink-KMX Does KMX have enough energy to overtake Red Bull? Not a chance. Once a competitive brand is established in the prospect's mind, it's almost impossible for a me-too brand to overtake the leader.

32-year head start

It was 32 years after the launch of Southwest Airlines that Delta finally responded by launching its own no-frills airline called Song. You can't give your competition a third-of-a-century head start and expect to build a brand. All the momentum is on Southwest's side. Not to mention the money and the resources. Imagine spending all day in the boardroom at Digital Equipment Corp. trying to persuade the chief executive and his staff to launch a serious 16-bit business personal computer before IBM did. No luck. We don't want to be first, said the chief executive. And I'm not concerned about IBM, he continued, because if IBM does go first, "we'll beat their specs."

Well, IBM did go first with the launch of the PC in August 1981, the first 16-bit serious business personal computer, a product that went on to dominate a fast-growing market. And Digital Equipment did follow with not one, but three different lines of personal computers, none of which made a dent in the marketplace in spite of their presumably better specs. IBM had become the standard, and if you wanted to participate in the personal computer marketplace, you were only a clone. Digital Equipment lost Too bad. Digital Equipment had the credentials to dominate the PC market. Brought to you by "the world's largest maker of small computers" was the tagline for Digital Equipment's new personal computer.

Imagine spending all day in a boardroom at Xerox trying to persuade the corporation to launch a desktop laser printer before the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet got strongly established. No luck. Too bad. Xerox had the credentials to dominate the laser printer market. In 1977, Xerox had introduced the 5700, the world's first successful laser printer.

Second sin

The second deadly sin is naming.

A big company wants to put its own name on a new brand. This is generally a mistake. New categories generally require new brand names. In spite of IBM's head start in business PCs, the company eventually lost out to Compaq and Dell, both new brands created especially for the personal computer category. To most prospects, IBM meant mainframe computers, not PCs (It's interesting to note how many marketing people chide IBM for not moving fast enough into personal computers, when in fact they were first. "Mainframe mentality" is their usual complaint.).

Imagine spending all day in the boardroom at Continental Airlines, trying to persuade management not to name its new no-frills airline Continental Lite. You have two choices. Either you can make the entire Continental system a no-frills airline (the preference) or you can give your new no-frills airline a different name than Continental. No luck. Continental Airlines crashed The company went ahead with Continental Lite, an airline that took off and then just as rapidly came down to earth, after losing many millions of dollars.

Then there's Kodak, a company that is paying the price for not giving its new digital camera line a different name than Kodak. Kodak means film photography, not digital photography. The irony is that Kodak invented the first digital camera (back in 1976.) Yet the Kodak name locks the company into the past. Like Digital Equipment and IBM, Kodak had the credentials, the organization and the resources to dominate an emerging new category, but not the foresight to recognize that a new category needs a new name.

The exception

One exception should be mentioned. In 1994, Bill Gates asked Richard Barton to develop a Microsoft CD-ROM idea involving travel guides. Barton convinced Gates that the CD-ROM idea would fail, but that an online travel agency might succeed. Furthermore, he persuaded Mr. Gates to give the project a different name than Microsoft. Richard Barton called Microsoft's online travel agency "Expedia." Seven years later Microsoft sold control of Expedia to USA Networks for an estimated $1.3 billion.

How Strong Is Your Brand? Do You Really Know? Do You Care? Would you like to take a simple test to see where your company's brand is now? Click on the link below:

http://www.brandidentityguru.c om/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html then click on the button to the right that reads, "Take The Brand Strength Test". This is a very quick and easy way to see where you fall short in your marketing, advertising and branding efforts. It will also show you where you are strong. Take the test if you dare... you may be surprised at the results!

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru (http://www.brandidentityguru.com), a leading brand consulting and market research firm located in Easton, Massachusetts, USA, near Boston.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation. Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Simon (America's largest shopping mall manager) and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

Scott White is a very enthusiastic speaker and has the gift of being able to explain the principles of branding in a compelling and entertaining manner so that people at all levels can understand.

Classified Ads That Get Results

Classified ads do not have the big market appeal that... Read More

LED Moving Message Displays

LED's are becoming more and more popular in all kinds... Read More

The Key To Marketing New Ideas!

Imagine tossing a pebble into a crystal clear pond on... Read More

Add More Pizzazz To Your Ad For More Profits

I recently completed a Marketing Makeover for an Ad that... Read More

Promote yourself on radio for free

Unless you have become extremely popular in your personal or... Read More

Do I Need Raised Letter or Full Color Business Cards?

If you've been searching around for business cards that will... Read More

Measure the Response of Your Advertising Campaigns by Using Promotional Products

For most companies, gone are the days of spending money... Read More

What Does the Back of Your Business Card Say?

Business cards with nothing on the back are wasted opportunities... Read More

7 Tips for Better Ads

The content of advertising is basically the same no matter... Read More

Avoid The Big Advertising Mistakes

Is your advertising copy getting the results you want? If... Read More

Radio Interview 101

Different Types of Station ContactReaching radio hosts (for the purpose... Read More

Why Your Ads Aren?t Working

The president of a manufacturing company recently asked me, "Why... Read More

Imaging Isnt Everything

Many home improvement contractors attempt to use advertising to expand... Read More

Marketing Tips - Advertising

Typical methods of advertising-newspapers, radio and television are effective if... Read More

5 Reasons Why Headlines Are Crucial To Your Website?s Success

Without a powerful headline, your message stands little chance of... Read More

Secrets And Top-Tips Of Mail Order Advertising

Good Advertising creates more production, thus greater consumption, faster turnover... Read More

Secrets of Getting Free Advertising

The opportunities for getting free advertising for your product or... Read More

Internet Advertising: How To Use The Golden Rule To Enrich Yourself.

What is the golden rule of internet advertising?Give, so you... Read More

In Advertising Bigger isn?t Always Better

If you have been following the recent advertising news you... Read More

Advertising on a Budget -- Part 2: Thinking Small

This is the second article of a three-part series. I'm... Read More

The Skinny on Billboards

Several years back the billboard people put a big picture... Read More

Never Be Caught Cardless Again: Five Tips to Help You Remember Business Cards

Sorry, I Don't Seem to Have a Business Card With... Read More

If You?re Tired Of Adverts That Don?t Work And Letters That Don?t Sell, Then You Must Read This

Over the 32 years I've been involved in sales, marketing... Read More

15 Tips for Better Yellow Page Ads

Yellow Pages advertising is one of the most popular forms... Read More

Direct Mail Catalogs & Brochures: Write Captions That Sell

Many prospects skim through catalogs and brochures, glancing at the... Read More