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Brand

The 6 Hats of a Chief Brand Officer

Chief Brand Officer (CBO) – it’s still a fairly new term in the business world, or at least it’s still fairly unused. So what exactly is a chief brand officer? What does a CBO do, and what value does the CBO bring to an organization? Let’s take a closer look.

First, if you haven’t already read Branding Spotlight: What is Branding? and Branding Spotlight – How to Develop a Brand, and you’re not clear on the basics of branding, then take a moment to read those posts. Then, come back to this post and read on to learn more about the role of a chief brand officer. [Read more…] about The 6 Hats of a Chief Brand Officer

A Case Study in Consistent Branding – Puccino’s

I came across an excellent example of consistent branding on one of my favorite design blogs today, Brand New, that creates a clear message to a targeted audience which customers recognize and have quickly come to expect – Puccino’s a coffee bar with franchises in the U.K.

Check out some of the pictures of Puccino’s cups, signs, sugar packets, bags and more below, and notice how there is no doubt that these items come from the same company and deliver the same brand image – irreverent humor for a less formal audience.  Puccino’s hits the ball out of the park in terms of meeting the 3 key components of developing a brand – consistency, persistence and patience. [Read more…] about A Case Study in Consistent Branding – Puccino’s

Branding in the Spotlight – What is Branding?

The role of branding in business and marketing has grown significantly in terms of prioritization across the corporate and small business worlds, particularly with the advent of positions such as chief brand officer and chief imagination officer. The question remains: what is branding?

Despite branding’s move to the spotlight, the vast majority of businesspeople still don’t have a firm grasp of what branding truly is. In fact, I dare say that many businesspeople view branding as another funnel of expenditures by the marketing team that does little in terms of generating ROI.
[Read more…] about Branding in the Spotlight – What is Branding?

The Generation Gap Among Digital Consumers Is Getting Bigger

The generation gap among digital consumers in the U.K. keeps getting bigger according to new research from Ofcom.

Every day, more people consume more digital media, content, and communications. The research found that the average U.K. adult spends over half of their waking hours engaged in some kind of media or communications activity. The use of multi-screen multi-tasking by 99% of U.K. adults enables them to conduct 11 hours of communications and media activities in less than nine hours each day. And U.K. adults’ media and communications consumption will continue to grow.

The Ofcam study found that U.K. adults spend an average of 3 hours and 52 minutes watching television each day and an average of 3 hours and 3 minutes listening to the radio each day. 97% of U.K. homes have digital TV and 48% of U.K. radio listeners have a DAB radio in their households.

Online and mobile content consumption continues to grow, too. The study found that 82% of U.K. households have Internet access and 93% of U.K. adults have mobile phones. 61% of mobile phone users have smartphones, and 16% of U.K. households are now mobile-only, meaning they no longer have landline telephones. The average mobile subscriber in the U.K. sends 169 text messages per month. On the other hand, the average residential consumer receives fewer than nine pieces of mail in the post each week and sends fewer than seven pieces per month.

Ofcam surveyed U.K. adults and children and found that the “Digital Day” is very different for adults over the age of 24 compared to young people under the age of 24. As you’d expect, younger people spend far less time listening to the radio each day than older adults and view less television each day than older adults.

Following are a few findings from the study about the digital consumer generation gap that brand marketers should be aware of as they develop their marketing initiatives:

  • Young people between the ages of 16-24 spend as much time engaging in text communications as they do watching television whereas older people spend more time watching television.
  • Young people spend half of their time “watching” media viewing live television (i.e., not viewed from a DVR), while older adults spend more than two-thirds of their “watching” time viewing live television.
  • Young people spend 65% more time using social media each day than older adults.
  • Young people spend 163% more time using their smartphones each day than older adults.
  • Young people are three times more likely to get their news online than older adults.

The digital consumer generation gap gets even bigger when you look at the habits of children. Ofcam found that smartphones are the most used device (after television sets) among children between the ages of 12 and 15, and tablets are the most used device (after television sets) among children between the ages of six and eleven.

Understanding the media habits of U.K. consumers is critical to ensuring your marketing campaigns get in front of the right audiences at the right times. Make sure you consider these digital media consumption trends before you invest in a marketing campaign that won’t drive the return on investment you need.