Soldier of Love - Sade the brand queen

Very few brands can gain attention after c.10 years without consistent communication with their their consumers. Sade has managed that.

Very few brands can re-create their visual identity and be incredibly captivating. Sade has managed that with the cover art for their new album.

What brand would easily generate 1 million sales in its first week after being absent for a decade. Yes, you've guessed ! Sade.

If Sade were a product its brand equity would be off the scale, by being unique, authentic and the best at what they do.

Marketers - start emulating brands like Sade - the brand queen(and kings).

Gladwell book: $25 vs free - experience is priceless

Malcom Gladwell's latest book - what the Dog Saw can cost you nothing if you go to his website and download his articles from the New Yorker. (I wont include the link...just to make you work a little bit harder if you want to read his stuff for free).

I chose to invest $25 to download the 'priceless' mp3 audio book version, and Its money truly well spent. I get to hear the author breathe fresh life into his work, and hear him re-tell all the stories. I get to feel what he felt when writing it, and share his joy, surprise, fear and confusion. I get to build a relationship with him (of sorts), and it only cost me $25.

The publishing industry is in shock, and charging for content you can find for free is pretty audacious. With e-books (and Amazon) keeping prices at c. $10 it will be a tough task to create more value via price rises.....and I fear for authors who don't look to innovate with these new book mediums.

But if you know your consumer well enough you realise that they will pay more for a special experience such as a 'tried and tested' audio book....As I said - you can get it all for free, but who wants free when you can get true experiential value for such a small investment.....

Just do it

There aren’t too many opportunities to immerse yourself in the business and marketing world at the movie theatre, so take advantage of two great films showing in selected theatres right now.

The September Issue

This narrates the creation of American Vogue's seminal ‘September’ issue (in 2007). The standout drama comes from the fascinating relationship between Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington, where methodical and meticulous editing alongside visionary creativity coexist - beautiful and truly fascinating.

Art and Copy

The film is a masterpiece that tells the magic stories behind seminal ad campaigns such as ‘got milk’, and of course 'Just Do it' from Nike. It's so much fun to revel in the journey of the campaigns and become mesmerized by the genius and talent of the protagonists.

The simple way I connect both films is that in these industries breakthrough success can only arise from three things:

• passion for what you do
• rejection of mediocrity
• Unbridled joy at expressing your creative self

Check them both out now !

The World's softest sock

So what makes a great claim?

1.It must be simple
2.It needs to have stopping power
3.It needs to be believable, (or at least make you feel that its believable)
4.It needs to make you buy
5.It needs to make you come back and buy again

Well this one certainly meets all 5 criteria. My wife has purchased 4 pairs of these socks in the last 4 months, and at c. $8-10 a pair (in stores) they certainly are high margin for the manufacturer and retailer alike.

I cannot figure out how they substantiate this claim "world's softest sock", unless of course they test each and every sock in the world for softness (unlikely)…..or perhaps this counts as ‘marketing puffery’ (more likely)?

In any case its fantastic marketing, because it works !

Twitter 101 – Smart Twips and Top Links

As a fan of Twitter and self taught user (via trial and error) I have collated dozen's of sources to write a 2 page guide called "Twitter 101 - Smart Twips and Top Links". It's ideal for beginners and intermediate users. Find it at the following link.

Hope it helps and please leave comments on the blog.