Corporate Eye

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Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

5 Ways to Position Your Brand as Eco-Friendly

eco-friendly-brand-mugBy positioning your brand as eco-friendly, you’re accomplishing two goals.  First, you’re getting on board with a popular trend, and second, you’re helping to save the planet.  That’s a good combination!  But what steps can a company take to position a brand as being green?  Take a look at the suggestions below to get started.  It’s easier than you might think to be able to tell consumers your brand is green.

1. Your Company has to be Green Internally First

The first step to repositioning your brand as eco-friendly is to make changes inside.  Your customers aren’t going to believe messages claiming your brand is green if your employees don’t even recycle.  Instead, make sure that your employees are with you in your efforts. 

  • Encourage recycling.
  • Use recycled products.
  • Encourage telecommuting.
  • Reduce travel by using more video conferencing and webinars.
  • Choose to work with suppliers, distributors, and business partners who are eco-friendly.
  • Initiate internal programs to encourage and reward eco-friendly living.
  • Appoint employee advocates to lead the effort.
  • Pursue ways to reduce electricity consumption in your office.
  • And so on. [Read more…] about 5 Ways to Position Your Brand as Eco-Friendly

Websites, Branding and Splash Pages

enter_site_buttonToday, I’d like to get your opinion on splash pages on websites.  Personally, I don’t like them.  While they certainly add value to pornographic websites or websites that advertise alcohol and there is a need to prequalify people before they enter the corresponding site, I can’t think of many other instances where I find them to be helpful. 

Frankly, I have very little time, and I’d imagine most consumers feel the same way.  I certainly don’t have time to watch a flash animated screen play a marketing message while I wait for the “Click Here to Enter” button to appear.  And I’m a marketer!  If I feel that way, what must non-marketer consumers think? [Read more…] about Websites, Branding and Splash Pages

Microsoft Asks Employees to Spam Friends and Family

internet-explorer-8It’s not a secret that employees can be some of a company’s most powerful brand advocates.  However, that brand advocacy can’t be forced.  In a move that hinges on unethical, Microsoft leaders asked each of the company’s employees to send email messages to at least 10 friends urging them to download the latest beta version of Internet Explorer 8 (and supposedly last before the official launch of IE8). 

But wait.  There’s more.  Microsoft didn’t just ask employees to annoy their friends with useless email.  For some bizarre reason, the leaders of Microsoft thought it would be a good idea to write the spam email message for employees, so they could simply cut and paste it into a new message then spam away!

The Register got to see the email in all its glory when a Microsoft employee did as he was told and spammed his friends with it.  Seems the recipient of the IE8 spam email message could tell his friend didn’t write it based on the writing style.  Wonder why?  Let’s take a look at a snippet from the email courtesy of The Register: [Read more…] about Microsoft Asks Employees to Spam Friends and Family

Google’s Worst Brand Extension Bites the Dust – Goodbye Print Ads

google_print_ads_mistakeGoogle’s worst brand extension has finally met its demise.  Last week, Google announced that Print Ads is getting the ax.

In 2006, the brand that dominates the web launched its new Print Ads product.  Print Ads was Google’s attempt at making money in traditional media, Print Ads was marketed as the perfect way to bring a new revenue stream to newspaper publishers and to provide more relevant advertising for consumers.  Turns out, it didn’t work.  No surprise there.

What went wrong?  First and foremost, Google expanded into a business it had little experience with and lost focus of its core brand strength – dominating the online world.  The extension didn’t make sense from the beginning.  On the flip side, newspapers are in a fast decline.  Google Ads won’t revive them, no matter how great Google thinks they are.  [Read more…] about Google’s Worst Brand Extension Bites the Dust – Goodbye Print Ads

Toyota Looks to the Next Generation Brand Champion

On Tuesday, Toyota made a move to leverage the power of a brand champion by naming Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company’s founder, as the company’s new president.  Brand champions such as Hugh Hefner for Playboy and Steve Jobs for Apple can play a powerful role in developing and promoting a brand image and promise.  Brand champions become living embodiments of the brands they advocate and protect, and often become celebrities for no other reason by their role as the face of those brands. 

For Toyota, which posted its first loss in 2008 since the company was started in 1937, naming Toyoda as the new president could provide a perceived sense of security to consumers and stockholders who associate the brand champion’s last name with the company’s success.  Of course, Toyota doesn’t operate based on the word of its president.  Instead, it’s very much a consensus organization, but nevertheless, Toyoda brings a sense of heritage that harkens back to a time when the company could do no wrong. [Read more…] about Toyota Looks to the Next Generation Brand Champion

Are Your Sub-brands Embarrassing Your Primary Brand?

scionOn Saturday morning, I opened the Yahoo! home page and saw a featured article about celebrity children who tarnish their parents’ names.  I had to take a look and see who the writer tagged as the biggest embarrassments to big name musicians.  I couldn’t help myself.  As I looked through the list of less-talented offspring, I started to think about how the same thing could happen to corporate brands. 

Are your sub-brands embarrassing your primary brand?

Of course, the first rule of branding is consistency, but sometimes a well-known company brand can support a wide variety of sub-brands successfully.  However, what if a sub-brand fails to perform well?  And what if that sub-brand draws a lot of unflattering publicity?  The answer is clear if that sub-brand is not bringing in the revenue the company needs, but what if that sub-brand is driving huge profits?  Does the company protect its main brand and let go of the sub-brand, or does the company keep the sub-brand and let the chips fall where they may? [Read more…] about Are Your Sub-brands Embarrassing Your Primary Brand?