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Brand

Cause Marketing in Ads Boosts Brand Sales for Some Categories

If you’re in the business of selling personal hygiene products, then you might want to look into tying a cause to your ads ASAP based on the results of a new report from Cone and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.  According to the press release, the unique study followed the purchase patterns of 182 consumers after viewing ads with and without cause marketing messages included in them.  Those consumers were then sent shopping in a convenience store mock-up created for the study and asked to purchase items from four categories: shampoo, toothpaste, chips and lightbulbs.

The results showed a big jump in sales for shampoo (up 74% when the ad was tied to a cause) and toothpaste (28% increase).  The study also found that consumers spent twice as much time viewing ads with cause-related messages in them than they did viewing non-cause ads. [Read more…] about Cause Marketing in Ads Boosts Brand Sales for Some Categories

Google #1 for Brand Loyalty – Again

For the past 11 years, Brand Keys has conducted a comprehensive survey of brand loyalty among consumers.  This year 371 brands were included in the survey across 57 categories, and 26,000 consumers were surveyed about those brands in September 2008. 

The results of the survey are not entirely surprising with Google topping the list for the second year in a row.  Other brands appeared to be directly affected by the state of the U.S. economy with brands like Wal-mart rising (from 63 to 18) and brands like Hyatt falling (from 8 to 32). 

The top 5 brands overall are: [Read more…] about Google #1 for Brand Loyalty – Again

Trademark Violations – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Apple

Corporations have every right to protect their trademarks, including their brand trademarks such as product names, slogans and logos.  However, it’s important not to assume a false power with those trademarks simply because your company is bigger than others.

A perfect example is in the news this week.  In a cease and desist letter, Apple threatened the Victoria School of Business and Technology with legal action if the school doesn’t stop using their own apple logo, which they have been using without any problems since 2005.  Below are the two logos side-by-side.  What do you think? [Read more…] about Trademark Violations – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Apple

The Brand Champion Exit Strategy – Lessons from Apple and Steve Jobs

I often write on Corporate Eye about how important it is to have brand champions and brand guardians who truly believe in your brand and live your brand promise.  When those people become popular spokespeople for the brands they champion, the brands receive publicity boosts that can’t be denied. 

Examples of popular brand champions who over time have become physical embodiments of the brands they represent include Hugh Hefner for Playboy, Bill Gates for Microsoft, and J.K. Rowling for Harry Potter.  But what happens to the brand when something happens to the key brand champion?

This is a fate experience by Apple last week when an erroneous report on a Wall Street Journal blog reported that Steve Jobs had experienced a massive heart attack.  The result – a 5.4% drop in Apple share price that same morning, which brought the stock to a 17-month low.  The reaction of the market was swift and significant when word got out that the brand champion had fallen ill (regardless of the fact that the report turned out to be false). [Read more…] about The Brand Champion Exit Strategy – Lessons from Apple and Steve Jobs

Do You Know Who Your Customers Are? 7-Eleven Does

I found a great example of a brand that is learning who its customers are in a unique and indirect way. 

Did you know that 7-Eleven customers have projected the U.S. Presidential Election winner accurately for the past two elections and with uncanny accuracy in terms of how the votes were split?  Want to know how they did it?  Since 2000, 7-Eleven provides customers a choice.  Do you want to get your coffee in the Democratic nominee’s blue 7-Eleven cup or the Republican nominee’s red 7-Eleven cup? 

Turns out the coffee cup preference of 7-Eleven customers exactly mirrors the voting preferences of Americans.  In both the 2000 and 2004 elections, 7-Eleven Democrat blue and Republican red cups sold at a rate that directly reflected the final voting results from both elections.  Coincidence?  I think not.  [Read more…] about Do You Know Who Your Customers Are? 7-Eleven Does