The End of Advertising

Imagine a city stripped clean of all its advertising. No billboards. No posters. No Adshels. No nothing. In December 2006, this fantastical statement became a harsh reality for São Paulo, Brazil. Known as ‘Lei Cidade Limpa’, the Clean City Law, it was an initiative of Mayor, Gilberto Kassab, and intended to cleanse the city of what he dubbed its ‘visual pollution’. 

Michael Canturi, a designer at Coley Porter Bell, won the company Blue Sky competition, and chose to go to Sao Paulo to investigate. This is his post. 

External Testing For Brand/Taglines

                   Image: PototoJunkie 

1. It is difficult to assess a new brandline without some context. Even the best brandlines benefit from some explanatory introduction.

2. Brandlines generally take years to really build equity. To test them ‘cold’ is not an indication of how successful they could be after years of use and equity has been built around them.

3. Respondents tend to get too caught up in the executional details of a tagline rather than the conceptual side. For example they might concentrate on a full stop/period between the two words or get fixated that the brandline isn’t grammatically correct ie doesn’t contain a full sentence.

4. Exposing respondents to a new identity and its possible applications in a short interview situation doesn’t in any way replicate the real world experience of seeing the brand repeatedly over time.

5. If a brandline is to be shown, it ought be shown in some sort of context, perhaps with the identity as a whole, even in other applications (ad, exhibition stand, etc.). However, there will then be issue of trying to disentangle which bit of the new identity and tagline has what effect on respondent response.

6. There are issues of secrecy: respondents may ‘leak’ the idea to others, to competitors which whom they may also have a relationship, to the press, to colleagues who may ‘leak’ it further.

7. There are also issues of politics: will an external respondent feel ‘hurt’ if their comments are not taken on board? Will they use the fact that they were asked as a way of showing some favouritism versus those who were not asked?

8. In research situations when confronted by stimulus material that people are unfamiliar with, especially in a business context, there seems to be an overly rationale and negative response. Respondents often want to appear ‘clever’ by being critical rather than looking for the positive.

9. There are cost and time implications of conducting external research.

10. If ‘testing’ does happen, it is better to talk about the thinking and concepts behind the new identity and brandline; for example spend 30 minutes talking to some customers about the strategic direction and personality of the company rather than a crude (and forced) exposure of the brandlines. It should be possible from a wide discussion to understand if the brandline should work. If brandline has to be shown it is better to do it with other elements, generally explaining why things are as they are and leaving pauses for spontaneous responses. It is silly to pretend that the situation is anything but artificial so why not take the respondent through the thinking like it would be presenting into the company. The respondent will at least be able to judge brandline intention against objectives and have a meaningful discussion. It is better than a barrage of questions administered via questionnaire.

11. Ultimately the decision on brandline and brand identity is a CEO decision. It is a question about business strategy and direction and how the company projects itself. The logo is the company’s identity. Input and counsel to the decision is very valuable but at some point the leader needs to make a decision and set a path forwards. 

Coley Porter Bell Red Nose Cross Dress Day

One of the things I like about Coley Porter Bell is dress up Friday. Not because I am in inveterate dresser upper but because it is done out of a such a good spirit. It is not a management directive, somebody makes a suggestion and if there is enough momentum for the idea around the office, people dress up. Some of the themes from the past have been "posh" Friday (when a chap with a double barrelled name was leaving), "chav" Friday (chavs were invented when I was away but it seems to be an update of Essex man/woman - all sheeny track suits and bling), "animal" Friday (dress as animal of your choice) and "accident" Friday (look like you have had an accident).

This Friday was cross dress Friday, and we did it for Red Nose Day. Here is the group picture:

Taglines

I have been thinking about taglines recently. It is a difficult subject. There is very little literature that I can find, nor so many rules, on what constitutes a good one. My thoughts are: 

1. Taglines should be the end point of a strategy or strategic process. It seems to me that too often they form the start of a process; people trying to think of a tagline before working out what they want a it to do. 
2. Taglines are given undue prominence. We all remember a couple, but it is probably difficult to recall more than half a dozen. If so few burn into our consciousness why do organizations spend so much time on them?
3. More often than not taglines are all about internal agendas; who has the power to decide, to influence, to 'own' the tagline internally. The amount of meeting time, argument, politicking and money spent compared with the recall of tagline can be quite alarming. 
4. Taglines act as a shorthand for where the company wants to head. Some taglines may be very short-term and some very long-term but they will reflect a direction. 
5. Taglines generally need context or meaning around them. They are too short to really mean much in themselves. They become, at best, a hook upon which to hang lots of meaning. 
6. Taglines have impact. They are generally short and colloquial but not always (one of my favourite is "never underestimate the power of playstation" which is quite a mouthful)
7. There are no rules about how to generate them, or who can generate them. Or even whether you need one.

Here are, according to The Tagline Guru, the 100 most influential taglines since 1948. 

As I have never written the taglines that I have been involved in creating anywhere this is a little list of the ones I can remember; just for me. Sorry if appears a little indulgent, but I losing brain cells rather more rapidly than I used to. 

Play On (and on and on and on and on) - LEGO

Know Your Stuff - Virgin Money

________ better  - NYSC

A revelation in every cup - GMCR

Human Energy - Chevron

No funny stuff, just money stuff - Virgin Money

People Changing Politics - DEMOS

Welcome to the New Frontier - Frontier communications

A Better Cup of Tea - Twinings

Trust your car to the (Texaco Star Logo)

Bring It - New Jersey Nets

Testing mobile upload and ID cards

According to an article in today's observer, last year 80% people were in favour of ID cards. This year it is 80% against. I am curious to find out more.