World of Warcraft Addict

The unfortuante thing about the virtual world is the fact that you can go offline anytime yo want. Just watch this video and you can see what we will be up against in the future.

The Narrative World

We live in a world made up of stories. Some fabricated. Some true. But for the most part, we as consumers love the story that comes with the brands we love. Now we have a problem. Every story is beginning to sound the same.
We ran into this recently at the Austin Game Conference. The whole push was developing a narrative that was believable. When over 80% of your games out there have to do with fantasy, we have a problem. Why fantasy? Well, maybe because half of us out there wish we were somewhere else fighting elves and orcs? We don't know.
So how does this involve branding? The key to your whole brand is the brand narrative that's behind it. What story is being developed? Is it being developed by the firm or by the end user?
The consumer wants to identify with the narrative in a way that it impacts their life in a positive way. A positive experience with the brand equals promotion. A positive experience allows the consumer to become an advocate of your brand. Now how does revolve around fantasy?
Fantasy is getting old. Gamers are looking for a new experience in the virtual world. Consumers are looking for a better narrative in the world of brands that they live with. Connectivity with narrative is the approach that every graphic design firm, advertising firm, branding house, web design shop, and so forth should try to achieve.
Developing the story is the power of the brand. The brand encapsulates the story and helps present the story in such a way that the user, or consumer, has no choice but to talk about it and share it with their friends. You achieve that, you have brands that become legends.

Games, Games, and more Games

We've been at the Austin Game Conference for the last day or so. This is an amazing opportunity to see what's on the horzon for branding and marketing. As we all know, everyone and the grandmother from the marketing community is trying to cater to this demographic. Why? Well, beacuse it's a true community!

Well, there are tons of big wigs here. Everyone from Michael Dell to Robert Drobish of K2 Networks, is speaking at this event. But where is the brandng and marketing community? Well, what we've noticed is that, these gaming companies recruit from the inside. If you want a job in this community, you need to be apart of this community (or at least know someone on the inside and understand it. When was the last time you played WoW for 6 hours straight?). That's the way we work though. Comapnies all over this globe recruit from within. The reason is simple. These recruits understand the culture. This showed us something.
Look if you really want to create or enhance a brand that lasts long in the eyes of the consumer, then you must understand the culture. Speak the language, look the part, and know the content.
If you're a marketing company that's clamouring to reach a new demographic in this gaming community, you need to recruit someone that understands that communuty. Because if not, you will not get out of the box and do something innovative. Consumers are bored. Do something new, but don't patronize the community and the culture it represents.

Brand Kiosks? Interactivity Renewed.

What exactly is brand interactivity anyway? Well for starters, it's an approach to allow your target audience to look, feel, smell, and sometimes even taste your product or service. Secondly, brand interactivity allows media and material presented to be remixed by the end user. WOW! What a concept.
We met with our future partner Touchmate yesterday. They provide kiosks that are fun, hip and creative for companies that want to further engage their clients and customer brand experience. There's no other kiosk maker like them in the market. That's why they'll be number one very soon. Blink Consulting decided to partner with them because they stand for what we all want, a hands-on, stimulating experience with the brands we love. And if you throw media on there that can be remixed by the consumer, you have a winner.
In case you haven't been on the forefront of trends lately, kiosks are becoming a neat and innovative way to promote new and exciting brand experiences. Just think of it. You want to order a new pair of shoes. Well Foot Locker doesn't either have the style of shoe, the color, or even the shoe itself in the back. What if they had a kiosk in the store where you can not only find the shoe, but design it the way you want it and have the colors you like? Yah sure, it may cost a couple of more bucks on top of the 80 to 90 dollars you're already spending, but it's worth having shoes that nobody else has. It's a win-win for everyone.
How about a new movie coming out? They have a kiosk designed specifically to promote that movie. You can see trailers, play games, preorder tickets and purchase merchandise in one location. Yah, of course the web can do that too, but kiosks give the consumer another avenue to engage with your brand. They can touch your brand and see things on a kiosk that aren't restricted to the size of pipe they have coming into their house.
Brand managers wanting to increase awareness to consumers need to give kiosks some serious consideration. Then hire us to design the campaign for you.

Bachelor Number Three, What's Your Brand Name?

Really, what's in a name? A name in business could make you or break you. Names like Cascade and Close-Up are cool, and cultural icons like Nike and Chevrlolet aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Technology, however, has opened up a whole new economy. In that economy, there are tons of companies clamoring to make their fortunes or capture a particular chunk of market segment. New economy means new business. New businesses mean new brands to asscoiate with.

Those new brands need names. Those new names have to compete with everyone else and those companies that want a peice of the pie that have been around for a while. The perfect example would be the Campaign for Real Beauty.

Now what do we do? Your name could mean everything in the minds of the consumer. Let's look at some names. What do names like Accenture, Citi, Chili's, Tiffany's, and the ever famous Cingular, remind you of? We all recognize these names and we know what services they do. But what do they do in your mind? What do you think of when you hear these names? How do you feel about names such as Rupert, Hilda or Homer? When I think of Hilda, I think of some massive Ukranian gym teacher with a nasty mole on her cheek that has a deeper voice than my dad.

In branding, you have to give people what they want. If you're talking Scope for mouthwash (What!), or Google. Google is a household name. Love 'em or hate 'em, the realtiy is that you use them in everyday conversation. You "google" people and companies all the time. It means "search" and it stands for "search". Google means information at our fingertips. And that's what you want in your brand name, everyday use in common language. What does your name say to people?
If you're struggling with your business and are having a hard time getting brand recognition in an already crowded marketplace, try looking at the thing most of us will never forget, the name. Or you could give us a call. (512.535.5124)

Listen to your Brand Audience

Have you ever wondered what other people are saying or have said about your product or service? Not what YOU said, but what they've said.
This is where companies and the American bravado get into trouble. We spend so much time talking about who we are and what we do. We spend very little time talking about what we're not. I think bravado and the state of modern-day advertising and marketing go hand in hand. Bravado doesn't make the company, it actually kills the company. Look at all the big timers that are hurting right now; Dell Computers, General Motors, MCI...oh I forgot, THEY GOT KILLED! Gone are the days where you as a brand get to toot your own horn. Gone are the days we as marketers get a good client and beat their chest for them. That's too many fists and a big headache. So what if you made a lot of money. The reality is that you just did, Mr. Big Time Marketer and Advertiser, what we all hate; you were unoriginal and plain. We get enough of that everyday as it is. The last thing your audience needs is a positioning strategy or product that gloats that "we are better than you!" What is this, recess all over again?
Branding is about presenting what's already there. You, Mr. Company, are a living, breathing organism. You're not a product or service. So if you have something you want to promote, promote it geared around the culture of your corporation. If that doesn't work (it usually doesn't because companies are too old and bloated-that's another story), try embracing the community you want to sell to and hear what they have to say. You might get something useful out of the deal. Look, the last thing anyone wants in a relationship is "stuffy". So all you big guns out there boring us to death with your boring brands and gorilla chest beating, save it because the public has spoken. You should try to listen to what they're saying sometime.

Thanks Apple and Nike. You embraced the community and the community responded with love. You actually listened.

And the Award for the Best Brand goes to...

Sorry it's been so long. SXSW. What more can we say?
What's in a brand? One of the most common misconceptions when it comes to branding is that most people think it's just the "face" that is applied to you product or service. Or perhaps, when you think of branding, you think of a logo.
Branding is more than a logo or a pretty face that makes your company look good. Branding is the soul and essence of your company caught in one image. That "logo" represents everything that your company stands for. When people see your logo, they need to recognize what you stand for, and identify with the personality of your company.
Most branding books would say that psychologically speaking, we as consumers recognize first shape, then color, then what the logo actually is or says. That's all true. But the other side of that psychographic coin is that people also identify with what, and who, your company stands for.
Let's take K2 for example. One of the best brands out there in the marketplace today. When you see the K2 logo, what do you think? Snow? Ice? A bunch of crazy thrill seekers tryng to kill themselves? Well whatever it is, you're probably on the right track. K2 as a company has captured the essence of what they want to communicate to the general public and their demographic. It doesn't matter if rollerblading scares the snot out of you. When you see K2, you know what they are saying to you: "Go ahead. Try it. It'll be the biggest thrill of your life!" So what do you do? You don't run out and buy the fastest K2 rollerblades they have to offer. But we guarantee you that the thought crossed your mind. And guess what K2 just did? When you finally get the Forrest Gumption to get off the couch and get some exercise, K2 rollerblading is going to cross your mind. Hell, you might even spend a couple hundred bucks!
That is the power of good branding. The companies that have the strongest advocates, have the strongest brands. In turn they have some of the strongest companies. Notice K2 doesn't do a whole lot of advertising. Why? They have you to do it for them.