Flying Start!

Happy New Year!

As we launch 2011, I hope this finds you wrapping up a successful
2010 and full of energy for a record-breaking new year.

We had an epic 2010 at Launch Control - original clients reaching
acceleration, amazing new clients and some exciting milestones
for our own Brand. I look forward to sharing lots of great news with you throughout
this year.

A new year is always a time of big dreams. I believe that "if you
don't have big dreams, you have nightmares" - but big dreams are
meaningless without the boldness to put them into action.

For many centuries, man dreamt of walking on the Moon. In a
famous 1962 speech, John F. Kennedy turned the dream into action,
resulting in the Apollo 11 astronauts walking on the Moon in
1969:

"We choose to go to the Moon – because that goal will serve to
organize and measure the best of our energies and skills –
because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one
we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win."

We had no idea whether the Moon was made of green cheese - let
alone how to put a man into orbit - but bold actions + first
steps in 1962 made it happen in 1969.

Don't be afraid to start your Moon Mission in 2011. No matter how
small the steps or how long it takes you to get there!

"Boldness changes everything."

Carpe Diem.

Gap (or "The Gap" to most) was an iconic American brand for a couple decades - great products, great branding, great advertising. They have unfortunately become, in my eyes, one of the finest examples of branding mediocrity in the world today. I can't think of ANYTHING they do well anymore. Can you?

I have bought staple items - khakis, jeans, Ts, shirts, - from Gap for 25+ years. (i even worked in a store at the world-famous King Of Prussia Mall over the christmas holidays in the 80s. Don't ask me to fold things.).

Their products were reliable + solid. 

Their stores were clean, well-lit and - at one point - widely imitated by other brands.

Their advertising was iconic. Remember the "Khakis Swing" spot?

Gap was a great, world-class brand. Admired. Imitated. (and yes, satirized.)

Now? 

Their products have become mediocre at best. Ill-fitting. Poor quality.  Only worth buying when on sale. Not on a par with competitors.

Their in-store experience has become horrendous. Dirty. Wrinkled. Good luck finding what you need in the size you want. Or getting someone to help you.

Their advertising has become predictable + formulaic. 

And that new logo. Really?

Will this company still be around in 5 years?

Is the Gap brand worth anything anymore?

What do they still do well?

Scott Kirsner recently visited our client SmartPak's offices in Plymouth to test Proportions, the custom canine nutrition product we recently helped launch + accelerate. 

I think its fair to say, even this soon after its announcement, that Apple's new Ping music service is a flop. What do you think of it?

Very surprising. After all, when was the last time Apple launched an underwhelming user experience? But do you want to bet against them getting it right (and very quickly)?

Great brands understand that the best way to get real user feedback is to put a real product or experience in the market where real consumers have to pay real money for it. Then they don't relax - they listen to what the user has to say, then incorporate the learnings into new, updated versions that get to market as quickly as possible.

And continue to repeat the process until they get it right.

Even though Ping is sort of lame, Apple looks to be on the right track with the new AppleTV. After many years.

BMW has followed this practice for decades - the 3 / 5 / 7 Series models are updated every couple years. Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and other great automotive brands follow this practice. The BMW website has a great model history that you can view here.

I began my career in 1991 at adidas, in product marketing at the brand's global HQ in germany. an enormous part of the brand's culture was the legacy of its founder, Adi Dassler, whose mantra was to "Test. Listen. Modify."

in 1993, i was lucky to be part of the team that launched a true game-changing product - the adidas Predator - that not only reshaped the soccer footwear market, but also helped resuscitate the entire adidas brand. the initial product that made it to market in 1994 was bulky, heavy and hard to wear for an entire match. but our team relentlessly tested the product with players of all levels, listened to their feedback, and successfully modified the product in subsequent releases until we had a truly amazing user experience. 

here is what the original product looked like, along with some of the original advertising:

(download)

Click here to download:

branding-lessons-for-startups-4-your-first-version-is-never-perfect-listen-modify-relaunch-repeat-geyJpgegwjloEcyjFvce.zip (65 KB)

When you launch your first product + your brand experience, don't worry that its not perfect. Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, is often quoted saying "If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late."

Just be ready to LISTEN to user feedback. MODIFY accordingly. RELAUNCH. And be ready to REPEAT. Constantly.

Are you doing this? 

If you haven't seen this amazing resource yet - make sure you check it out. A great curated list from the team at Y Combinator. Thanks to @jasonlbaptiste for including in latest Boston Startup Digest

http://ycombinator.com/lib.html

This fresh new way of making the mundane pre-flight safety announcement is an example of world-class Branding by Air New Zealand. When's the last time anyone paid attention to this announcement when "performed" by live flight attendants? I've been on close to 1,000 different flights in my lifetime and i've never watched the whole announcement.

Can you see Delta, USAir, United or any of the other grand old airlines doing this? They would rather show expensive aerial shots of their planes flying over mountains like they have for the past 50+ years while a rickety, old, tenured, dues-paying-union-member flight attendant snarls at us.

Your Brand is an experience comprised of everything you do. And everything you do communicates your Brand. It doesn't need to be a video, just a fresh new way of delivering an ordinary experience that makes people say WOW.

Wish i could fly Air New Zealand. I bet they'd give me the whole can of diet coke...

“Great brands are on a mission. What is yours?” 

A big dream to change the world. The vision to revolutionize an industry. An unshakeable belief that things can be done better.

Not a vague “mission statement” developed in sleepy offsite meetings then hung on the wall to be ignored or paid lip service to.

A clear mission is inspiration to you, your team and your customers.

When Google was created, its founders’ goal wasn’t to “build a new kind of search engine.” Instead, they embarked on a mission to “make the world’s information accessible and useful.” A bigger dream. More room to innovate. More opportunity to dominate. A clarity of purpose and culture that leads its market (and arguably, the world). Anyone heard from the other companies who were building “innovative new search engines” when Google was launched - Northern Light, HotBot, Excite, WebCrawler, Ask Jeeves, Ask.com, Dogpile, AltaVista, Lycos, Infoseek, Go.com, Netscape, MetaCrawler, and All The Web - lately?

Other great brands + their missions that show in everything they do and the experience they deliver to their raving fans:

Whole Foods launched in 1980 with a mission “to provide a more natural alternative to what the food supply was offering at the time.” They are now the world’s leading retailer of organic + natural foods.

Panera – not a quick serve restaurant, but “the neighborhood bakery.” 

BMW – not a high-performance, German-engineered luxury car, but “the ultimate driving machine.”

Lululemon – not a yoga apparel company, but “creating components for people to live longer, healthier, more fun lives.”

Nike’s mission is clearly global domination of the sports industry, with a focus on athletes - "to bring innovation and inspiration to every athlete in the world. (and if you have a body, you're an athlete.)" 

Not having a clear mission shows just as clearly, often weakening the Brand's value:

What is Microsoft’s mission now? The company + brand grew meteorically when built around the mission “A PC on every desk and in every home – running Microsoft software.” A big, awe-inspiring vision.

Sony? A brand that led with innovation + design for decades has fallen far behind Apple, Samsung, LG and others. Maybe its due to a less-than-inspiring mission: in a recent letter to shareholders, the Sony corp. said it is it's mission "to become a leading global provider of networked consumer electronics, entertainment and services." Vague. Uninspiring.

Startups can set themselves apart with a big + unique mission. Witness the success that Jules Pieri + her Daily Grommet team is having with their mission to grow “Citizen Commerce” and the growth that SCVNGR is seeing with their creation of a “Game Layer” on the world.

Is your new brand on a mission? Does your team live + breathe it? Do your customers experience it in everything you do?

David Knies is founder / principal of launch control - www.launchcontrolgroup.com - a Boston-based provider of outsourced marketing leadership + branding services to early-stage ventures. Contact David at dk@launchcontrolgroup.com to learn how launch control can help with strategic branding + marketing services.

Branding Lessons For Startups (2)

“Your logo is not your Brand. It is a symbol of your Brand experience.”

There is an enormous difference between your Brand and your logo.

Your logo is a symbol. It is not an experience. Your Brand is the experience that your logo stands for.

So many companies of every size + growth stage get this wrong. As a new venture, it is critical that you understand the difference + ensure you deliver an honest, unique Brand experience from the earliest stage. 

“Logoing” is the creation of Brand identity and putting it on different areas of your Brand experience – your website, emails, powerpoint decks, Facebook / Twitter icons, packaging, advertising, a store entrance or other sales and marketing materials.

Branding is what you do everywhere that your logo appears.

Logoing is talking the talk; Branding is walking the walk.

There are countless examples of companies who think they have launched a Branding (or even a rebranding) campaign, when, in reality, all they have done is to spend some money on a logoing effort. Airlines, cable TV providers, or cell phone companies are repeat offenders in the “Logoing not Branding” area.  Millions spent annually on TV spots, direct mail campaigns, in store marketing materials and signage. “We have a new logo! We bought our competitor! We have new phones! We have new planes! We have a new jingle!”

Dear AT&T, just where are these “More Places” where I can find “More Bars?” I’d love to find them so that I could use my beloved iPhone more often. None of your customers seem to be able to tell me. Nor do the hourly employees with bad attitude in your stores. Or the automated menu I get when I call your “Customer Service” lines. Nor does your slow, flash-heavy website. Or any of the emails you bombard me with. But I’m psyched to get an email today letting me know you’re opening a new store in an obscure town in the middle of Illinois that is halfway across the country from me in a place I hope to never visit! And I love the ads of you draping landmarks across the USA in your orange cloth while telling me to “Rethink Possible.” How soon can I get an iPhone on Verizon?

Dear United Airlines, have you done anything more than have a few meetings since learning that 9+ million of people have watched (and nodded their heads in agreement to) the “United Breaks Guitars” video?   Fixed the baggage process? Used the opportunity to create innovative new ways to communicate with your customers? Created a way that people who have delayed baggage can enjoy frequent flier perks on their next United flight?

Do consumers smile when they hear the word Microsoft? Years of logoing without true understanding of Branding. As is often said, “Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with your Microsoft product.” And, apart from an Xbox, is anyone ever excited to get a Microsoft product? Ever heard anyone say “WOW! I always wanted a Zune!!!” or “OOOOH Windows 7! How did you know???” or “I just love that Clippy thing that pops up to help me whenever I use Excel!”

Each of these companies have repeated, enormous missed Branding opportunities – why spend all that money logoing if the Brand experience you provide is subpar? Everything communicates, not just a logo or your advertising.

Think of the Brands you love + the Brands that you don’t. I’ll bet that the ones you dislike are merely logoing and not Branding themselves. They’re probably talking the talk, but not walking the walk.

As a new company, ask yourself whether you are Branding or logoing? What experience does your logo stand for?  Is everything in your company focused on delivering this experience? Are you gaining or losing customers with your Brand experience?

David Knies is founder / principal of launch control - www.launchcontrolgroup.com - a Boston-based provider of outsourced marketing leadership + branding services to early-stage ventures. Contact David at dk@launchcontrolgroup.com to learn how launch control can help with all your marketing + branding needs.

Great Brands begin with a mission.

Fast Company profiles Mark Parker + the athlete-focused design culture at Nike, and how it has led the creation of a world-class Brand since day 1 - "Its the voice of the athlete. and we're committed to that"

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/148/artist-athlete-ceo.html?page=0%2C0

Nike's mission reflects their relentless focus on the athlete as the core of their Brand: "to bring innovation and inspiration to every athlete in the world. (and if you have a body, you're an athlete.)"

Who are you focused on? Are you inspiring them with your innovation?

Branding Rules For Startups #1

“Branding is what they say about you after you leave the room.”

There are many definitions of Branding. I define a Brand as the experience that you + your company provides – and everything that is part of that experience.

Your Brand is not just your logo / name / tagline - that’s your Brand Identity. Creating a name + logo isn’t Branding.

In short, BRANDING IS EVERYTHING YOU DO. And everything communicates. 

Branding is everything you do – your product. Its features. Its packaging. Its reliability. Your Website, tweets, customer emails, Facebook page, demo table, advertising, business cards, tradeshow booth, office space, load time on your webpages. Even the person who answers the phone – and their tone / attitude.

As a new Brand, its important to think of everything you do as part of your customer experience – and design it to be special from the beginning. Because your customers will believe that how you do any one thing is how you do everything.

Your Branding efforts will separate you from competitors. They will make your Brand special + create raving fans that tell other people about you. Zappos is a great example – they don’t sell anything that you cant buy somewhere else (and probably cheaper), and their only “product” is all a service. But they have practiced exceptional Branding to set themselves apart from . I recently heard someone (whose name unfortunately escapes me) say, "Zappos sells f*** shoes, they just do it better." How do you feel when the cable provider spends millions to tell its story but then tells you the cable guy will come between 12 & 3? And then he shows up at 5. You’re not saying good things about them. Bad Branding.

As you reflect on all of the areas where you can Brand your company, think of Brands you admire. They probably do more than sell a great product with their logo on it. They understand that “everything communicates.” (I’ll skip the obvious Apple reference.)

What do you want people to say about you when you’re not in the room? What are Brands that you think get this right and/or wrong?

Branding Rules For Startups is a new series of best practices from world-class brands by David Knies, founder / principal of launch control - www.launchcontrolgroup.com - a provider of outsourced marketing leadership + branding services for early-stage ventures. Contact David at dk@launchcontrolgroup.com