The Best Brands Have Nicknames

The best brands have nicknames as either a catchy substitute for their government name or a characterization of their persona. A few of them, even the biggest fans, don’t even recognize them by their real name. I’ve sat down and put together a list of the nicknames that we’ve grown to love and the big personal brands that they title:

“Diddy”

Sean John Combs (music executive, entrepreneur, hip hop icon)

“Pele”

Edison (Edson) Arantes do Nascimento (retired Brazilian football player)

“Air Jordan”

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (retired American professional basketball player and active businessman)

“Bono”

Paul David Hewson (Irish musician and lead singer for the rock band U2)

“Primetime”

Deion Luwynn Sanders (retired American professional football player, baseball player, and NFL Network commentator)

“Bond”

Sir Thomas Sean Connery (there’s only one original!)

“The Donald”

Donald John Trump (American business magnate, entrepreneur, author)

“Magic”

Earvin Johnson Jr. (retired American professional basketball player and active businessman)

“Cool Joe”

Joseph Clifford Montana, Jr. (retired American professional football player)

“Broadway Joe”

Joseph William Namath (retired American professional football player)

“Biggie”

Christopher George Latore Wallace (American rapper, hip hop icon)

You gotta’ love a personal brand that with one word allows you to immediately identify with a lifestyle of accomplishment and credibility. 

For the brands that keep you talking,

http://www.jessemillsonline.com

Heineken’s Walk In Fridge

Who says that the domestic beers have all the fun?! Budweiser and Bud Light usually get most of the props when it comes to the laugh-out-loud factor, but in my opinion have gone dry with their recent “Drinkability” campaigns. Heineken’s newest commercial is a male spin-off of the infamous “Walk-in Shoe Closet” scene from The Sex and The City movie. However, instead of a shoe closet there is a walk fridge, filled with Heineken that a group of men are absolutely fanatical about. I think this campaign was clever and unexpected for the Heineken brand. I look forward to seeing what splashes they have up their sleeves in the future. Enjoy the clip below:

For beverages that make a splash,

http://www.jessemillsonline.com

Personal Branding Taxes: Reconciling & Recalibrating

WHAT WERE YOUR BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS IN THE LAST YEAR?

It’s funny how your taxes can expose your glaring areas of improvement. This is not just financially, but on an even deeper level, your ability to make sound judgments and decisions for your life, your business, and your bottom line.  Looking at your disappointments from the last year may not be easy for you. Don’t worry as you’re not alone. It’s not easy for many people, so they write it out of their minds. They’d rather pretend it never happened and hope for the best. However,  it’s hard to build a successful business if you live like an ostrich with your head buried in the sand. It’s with your eyes open, looking around that you’ll make the next 12 months better than the past 12 months. The last 12 months happened and you have experience from it, both positive and negative… Today you’re going to learn the next step that will enable you to really profit from that experience.

First, you must start with this in mind: RECONCILE WHAT YOU DID WRONG IN THE LAST YEAR.

You need to be totally honest with yourself and spend time on this one. DON’T RUSH IT… but really go for it. If you’re ruthless in tearing your business and life apart, you’ll get a chance to find and face the core problems. You need more than a surface look. If things don’t jump out at you, look again and look harder. This really is a treasure hunt. I’m the same as you. I certainly did not do everything right last year. I can’t undo what has happened, but all points are important to how I drive myself and business forward in the next 12 months.

Secondly, you must: RECALIBRATE AND MOVE FORWARD.

Putting together all your disappointments and failures from the last year will be one of the most important exercises you’ll do all year. It is not only important to acknowledge these shortcomings, but also to take your time to commit to doing it right in the future. Your true growth is measured in your ability to reconcile and file successfully in the future. This is not an overnight process, but through your diligence, a positive change will manifest itself… Ready to roll ?

To your success,

odarte kojo

The New Branding Backpack!

Voltaic Solar Backpack

We need to pack! Navigating new and uncharted frontiers in brand marketing require new tools. The days where one broadcast/media platform seemingly solved all of our brand marketing needs are dead and gone. Besides the fact that our consumers have way to many options, they are also inundated with more messages than ever before. So, how can we equip ourselves to capture and sustain mind share amidst all the clutter? We need to pack our new branding backpack, let’s take a look at some brand marketing techniques that can help us weather a “make or break” economic crossroads for our brands…

Pack some headphones:

Ultrasone 2200_630x headphone

Traditional  advertising was not built to embrace consumer dialogue. It was more of a lecture of sorts. Now, as our communication landscape is changing, we have to listen more. Expanding our communication into a two-way dialogue isn’t merely encouraged, but it is essential to our success. Driving engagement through interactive micro-sites and communities that allow users to upload, comment, and customize content will grow the mind share and organically adopt to the specific preferences of consumers. On a very basic level, Nike iD provides an interface where users can build and design their own custom Nike shoes and accessories. This movement towards a more personalized outreach engages our consumers in the process and builds a more intimate connection with them amidst the clutter of messages they are recieving.

Bring a change of clothes:

ANSI Class 3 Motala Reversible Jacket by Helly Hansen

Where traditional efforts focused on hefty ad purchases, some modern brand marketing efforts  are leveraging experiences through co-branded programming. For instance, on a previous post this summer I highlighted the efforts of Grey Goose Entertainment, this leg of the luxury lifestyle beverage brand specializes in “exploring the meaningful, transformative, and original in popular culture.” Some of their efforts include partnering with the Sundance Channel to produce “Iconoclasts,”a  television series which includes candid profiles of the pioneer minds that drive sports, entertainment, and culture. This co-branded programming allows both brands to share a coveted outlet and reach consumers that have similiar taste and lifestyles.

Bring a notebook:

HP Touchsmart TX2Z Series

New growth in interactive technology allow brand marketers to effectively measure the success of their campaigns.  By collecting data like click through rates, traffic, and other general preferences we are enabled to make strategic correlation between the message we conveyed and how it was recieved by the consumer. Analyzing these metrics can improve future content  for better effectiveness and deliverability.

In our new branding backpack we have to prepare ourselveves with the tools to not only share a message, but also to create branded experiences. It is a new frontier that we are embarking on and at this economic juncture the decisions we make  a more critical than ever. In the branding industry, “agility is stability”  and it’s important to not just stick to a core vision but to modify the elements to contemporary changes in your consumers lifestyle and taste. By effectively delivering a balance in this matrix a brand can postion itself for lasting consumer mind share and tailor itself for permanent fashionability. What are you putting in your new branding backpack?!

For tools that help you navigate the storm,

www.jessemillsonline.com

Quicksilver: Treading the Economic Tsunami

“A tsunami in surfing is a thrilling prospect, but the tsunami in business is terrifying” – Quicksilver Ceo, Bob McKnight.

With the current economic climate brands are seeking more efficient ways to meet their bottom line. In many cases this boils down to balancing lower costs, while still trying to find innovative ways to maximize performance. Through Microsoft’s “People Ready” campaign they have put together a series of animated commercials that illustrate how their business solutions provide ways to  navigate a tough economy. This 30 sec. clip is a very engaging and creative look (voice-over by Bob Mcknight) on how they provide technology to help businesses save their bottom line:

“You have to do things at the speed of light to stay ahead of the wolfpack” - Quicksilver Ceo, Bob McKnight.

To compete in these times brands have be smarter, faster & stronger. An integral part of that is telling brand stories that people and business can connect to. I think this is what this whole Microsoft “People Ready” campaign is all about.

To brands that weather the storm,

http://www.jessemillsonline.com

The Best List 2008: Ideas: Levi’s Unbuttoned

This marketing campaign is an edgy, unadulterated take on a brand that has been a permanent fixture to the global fashion scene; the Levi’s 501 jean has been a classic wardrobe piece to closets for generations.

The new “Unbuttoned” campaign takes a contrasting vantage point into the lifestyle of it’s modern consumer as they liberate themselves from traditional societal conventions and inhibitions. It encompasses the freedom of  individual expression that is unique as each custom denim fit. It is very entertaining. Please enjoy a few below:

#1

the best of the set…

#2

“this is my 35th time”

#3

“some things are better left undone”

Through “Live Unbuttoned” Levis dares us to create our own lane, with no apologies. Cheers to the team at Bartle Bogel Hegarty that conceptualized this campaign. They understood this brand and accomplished their goal to “utlize the act of unbuttoning the Levi’s 501 jeans as a symbol of personal expression and revelation.”

For classic brands with modern agility,

www.jessemillsonline.com

The 2008 Best List: People: Christopher Nolan

Since 1939 “The Batman Brand” represented the epitome of protagonist stealth, prowess & escape artistry. From it’s original DC comics print form, to TV series & on to big screen film it has set the modern standard for superhero figures in mainstream culture. However, going into the new millennium & after a few poorly executed films there was a lot of skepticism surrounding what identity the brand was going to represent moving forward. Who would take on the daunting task to reposition this brand back to prominence? Director Christoper Nolan responded by saying, “let’s start from scratch!” Let’s examine a few cuff-links of Mr. Nolan’s…

Cuff-Link #1: Start From Scratch-The Man behind The Mask

At the close of the 21st century the brand had gotten overly commercial and watered-down. So, in his Batman directorial debut, Batman Begins, he put the strong emphasis on exploring the origins of the Bruce Wayne character. He explored the values, training & outcomes that shaped him into the protagonist audiences had grown to love. It was the most vivid and realistic  depiction to date of the man behind the mask.

Cuff-Link #2: Keep it Simple-He’s Batman

Once he established a strong identity for Bruce Wayne, he didn’t neglect to focus on the comic book superhero traits we had grown to love. With a few technology upgrades to the “Bat-Mobile”, a new fighting style  with weaponry to match, there were a few new touches, but only to equip the figure for his contemporary setting.

Cuff-Link #3: The Arch-Nemesis

Christian Bale was a formidable Batman in comparison to the early 90’s Michael Keaton. However, the true test is in replacing one the most violent sociopaths to ever grace the big screen- The Joker. The nemesis was most recently played by the great Jack Nicholson in the Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film &  Nolan had some big shoes to fill. He responded by casting, the late Heath Ledger & to his credit they turned in the most gruesome and sadistic portrayals to date. It was a performance that begged us to question, “how do you stop villain who commits crime just for the sake of psychotic meaningless?”

In 2008 Christopher Nolan revived a Batman brand that had seemed to lose it’s cultural touch. By starting from scratch, Nolan was able to rekindle the story that has intrigued American culture for almost 70 years. We responded to his efforts resoundingly, by making Nolan’s “The Dark Night”  the highest grossing film of 2008 and top 5 all-time. Let’s close hearing Nolan’s take:

For brands tailored for contemporary taste,

www.jessemillsonline.com

The 2008 Best List: People: Kobe Bryant

“Kobe” has been known to be a great basketball player, but also as the self-absorbed superstar that broke up one the most prolific dynasty’s in NBA history. His personal life was mostly noted for a very sloppy and public extramarital sexual assault scandal with a hotel receptionist in Colorado & he has been, with the exception to Barry Bond’s one of the least liked superstar sportsmen in the modern era. Nobody has denied his phenomenal talent on the basketball court, as he has often been compared to the likes of Michael Jordan & before the age of the 30 he is already being acclaimed as a hall of famer. His numbers don’t lie. However, until recently, he hadn’t been able to project the amicable superstar persona that the modern day sports fan had been accustomed to. His failure to make the right moves, be at the right spots & control his message severely tainted his image. I don’t know if Kobe saw the scowls on fan’s faces, or heard our grumblings, but Kobe was inspired in 2008… Kobe was inspired to brand.

On the court, it had been all about Kobe. With a laundry list of public gripes with Phil Jackson and Lakers GM Mitch Kupcheck amidst trade rumors, fueled by a young unproven nucleus, there would be growing pains. However, somewhere along the way Kobe decided to play for the future. Instead of forcing, he is finessing. Playing the role of facilitator, cost him a little off of his personal averages, but it earned him his first NBA mvp in 2008. Coupled, with a trip to the NBA finals and a renewed rivalry with longtime foe, Boston Celtics, they were headlines made for prime-time media.

When Kobe was accused of sexual assault 5 years ago (which he was acquitted for), we thought we viewed the public demise of Kobe as a pitchman, but since Kobe has worked to reposition his brand marketing portfolio. In the last two years, Kobe picked up a new deal with Sony, as coverman for their video game NBA 07′. Kobe also acquired a deal with Coke owned Vitaminwater and was featured in campaigns along with Lebron James, Dwight Howard, & his former “championship compadre” Shaquille O’Neal. And though they kept him under the radar for a while, Kobe never lost the brand marketing giant, Nike. His shoe has seen a steady increase in sales and his contract was recently renewed in 2008 to be the featured frontman for their Olympic basketball shoe, the Hyperdunk. Kobe went on to “wear the shoe” as the captain of the 2008 USA Oympic Men’s Team and his last minute heroics  led them to gold in Beijing 2008 for the first time since 2000.

The most notable endorsement featuring Kobe  in 2008 had to be that of Guitar Hero World Tour, where we finally showed the lighter side of the Kobe Bryant brand. The ad features Kobe rocking the mic, with fellow sports men Alex Rodriguez, Michael Phelps, and Tony Hawk on the back-up. It was the first installment of their campaign inspired by the 1980’s pop culture hit, Risky Business, with Kobe & crew clad in pajamas-all to the tune of the track, “Old Time Rock and Roll.” Check it out-it is hilarious! :

We’ve talked about him for all the wrong reasons in the past, but we were talking about him for all the right reasons 2008. It was great year for the Kobe Bryant brand!

For brands that inspire us to unleash our inner rock star,

www.jessemillsonline.com

The Best List 2008: People: David Axelrod

In the midst of one of the most critical social and economic times in recent American history emerged a protagonist with the audacity to hope for change; behind him was a strategy that was just as bold. David Axelrod, chief campaign strategist for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, manufactured the “Obama brand” for presidential success in one of the most precipitous national climates to date. Through the strategic utilization of key messages, innovate use of social media & grassroots fundraising efforts Axelrod built the vehicle for what has been widely regarded as one of the most historic presidential campaigns and elections ever.

Axelrod explained to Rolling Stone magazine,

“When we started this race, Barack told us that he wanted the campaign to be a vehicle for involving people and giving them a stake in the kind of organizing he believed in.”

As a political strategist for Anthony A. Williams in 1998, John Edwards in 2004, and Obama’s senatorial race in 2004 Axelrod was credited as one of the preeminent consultants in his field, however, due to the critical social, economic & cultural challenges of the 2008 presidential race it proved to be the most daunting. If this task could be all encapsulated in one message, it would be, “hope and change for the future.” He identified that the ideals of  “hope” and “change” weren’t absent from the American citizens psychology, but  they lacked a viable leadership figure that they believed could make it tangible. Connect-the-dot’s and you have “Obama.” The message of “change” not only encompassed his candidates reputation, but also his potential ability to get the job done.

The campaign’s central theme of  “change” was reinforced through the use of social media as the primary grassroots channel for the “Obama brand.” Axelrod drew a direct correlation between the demographics of a social media user and that of the 2008 democratic voter. Social media was used to propel messages and orientate constituents with Obama’s platform on the issues that mattered to them most like the economy, education & foreign policy. Due to the social media strategy efforts Obama garnered over 1 million myspace.com subscribers, 1.5 subscribers to my.barackobama.com, and over 4 million to facebook.com. These social networking platforms culminated into a sizeable subscriber database that encouraged constituents to not only share their testimonies and goals for the election, but also to effectively stimulate community activism for Obama as local catalysts for change. This interaction built an intimacy and trust that gave Obama a distinct social media advantage.

Principally, the campaign strategy was able to translate  into “dollars and sense” as Obama fundraised 635 million (over 3 times that of McCain) in campaign contributions which were considerably fueled through online grassroots efforts. a measurement of the effectiveness of Axelrod’s strategy and the preeminent indicator that belief in change was real.

As the winning campaign proves the belief in change, it also acknowledges the tremendous responsibility president-elect Obama has on his hands. One of the best values that Axelrod was able to cultivate is the personal stake every American citizen has to aide Obama in the process of achieving this national ideal.  He laid the framework for an unprecedented organization in all 50 states that brought a record number of people into the political process — many for the first time, many for the first time in a while. Now as the newly appointed senior advisor to the Obama administration the real work begins. As expectations are high, it remains to be seen if Axelrod’s masterful insights will continue to encourage citizen participation in democracy and their support of Obama’s leadership.

You take a fine fabric, mold it to your client’s behest & equip them to pursue their ideals. Now-that’s Bespoke Branding!

In the spirit of the best people, places & ideas,

http://www.jessemillsonline.com

Linda Loudermilk.

Linda Loudermilk has interpreted “sustainability” as something chic, luxurious & uniquely couture. Her clothing line, launched in 2005, features ‘luxury-eco’ his & her collections made of all organic fabrics: sasawashi, bamboo, sea cell, soya and other exotic self-sustaining plants. The garments are inspired by the notion that a sustainable lifestyle can and should maintain ‘fashionability’.

Loudermilk has also trademarked the “luxury-eco” term as a coined stamp of approval for sustainable services, products & business practices. By defining her own progressive niche and accreditation within her segment she has trail-blazed a movement. She was cited by Elle Magazine as being the “Vivianne Westwood of eco,” much for her ability build awareness to the traditions and techniques that drive modern fashion.

Many clothing companies claim to be lifestyle brands, but they fail in the day-to-day translations of life. Now, environmentally conscious consumers have options-they don’t have to forfeit their ’style’ for ’cause’ while they work, play & look impeccably styled for everything in-between.

For sustainable brands that style,

www.jessemillsonline.com