Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2010

courtesy of Branding Strategy Insider

The new year is virtually upon us, and we can expect 2010 to be another fast-paced year of major transformations in marketing.  As the economy continues to recover, the popular “do-it-yourself” culture that has given rise to all things social media and automated will begin to include new structural elements of collective wisdom and remote computing.

The innovative team at Last Exit has produced a list of digital marketing trends that we think are well worth your time to read and plan for in the year ahead.  Without revisions, we offer it to you here for your consideration:

1. Facebook Replaces Personal Email: As Facebook becomes increasingly used as a verb (e.g.”I Facebooked you today”) in ways that Hotmail and gmail never were, it will be interesting to see the extent to which it will displace personal email as a communication tool.  It’s already completely permission based, there is no spam (yet), and no address book required – your friends are already there.

2. The Cloud Helps Open-Source Software Make Proper Money: Open-source software projects that were typically the purview of programmers and technophiles are now available to the masses. In one example, Beanstalk, a fully hosted, version-controlled code repository that uses the Subversion open-source project has created a subscription based service that – for a small fee – removes the hassle of setting up Subversions and maintaining servers.  Services like this can really only be financially viable with cloud computing infrastructure – so companies such as Beanstalk don’t have the huge upfront capital outlay for servers. With the right skills any open-source project can be commercialized this way.

3. Mobile Commerce -  The Promise That Has Never Delivered, Yet: Though mobile phones have, for a while now, delivered real benefits to global societies by facilitating the transfer of money, only recently has mobile device use extended to payment for goods and services. The game changer has – and will continue to be – the iPhone/iTunes platform.  In-app purchases on the iPhone can tempt users to buy small items, upgrades, updates, etc, while iTunes holds their precious credit card information.  All, of course, is done in seamless fashion, enough to promote impulse purchases.  It would seem like an easy task for this to be extended to other platforms with PayPal or Google Checkout, but so far it has not been done.

4. Fewer Registrations – One Sign-in Fits All: As consumers grow increasingly frustrated  and resentful about registering yet again on another website, juggling different IDs and remembering a dizzying array of passwords, information-managing services such as Facebook Connect and OpenID will becoming even more useful and will continue to be adopted at great speed through 2010.

5. Disruption vs. Continuity – Alternatives to the “Big Idea”: As the significance of social networks continues to grow, businesses are investing more in community building as a marketing driver. According to the recent Tribalization of Business study released by Deloitte, 94% of businesses will continue or increase their investment in online communities and social media and, for the majority of these companies, their marketing function will drive this investment. At the same time, as evidenced by Google’s recent release of “free floating” social tools, such as Google Waves and Sidewiki, there is an increasing shift toward online identity and social activity being an integrated part of the network as a whole, rather than concentrated within discrete platforms such as Facebook.

With the increasing emphasis on marketing and advertising through social networks and the increasing pervasiveness of social tools, marketing objectives come into conflict with advertising techniques. While advertising has often sought to distinguish itself and stop the consumer in their tracks with a disruptive “big idea,” the emphasis is now shifting toward persuasion through fitting organically into the consumer’s social sphere. It will always be the objective of marketing to provide creativity and novelty, but the way in will increasingly be one of persistence and continuity.

6. Self-Sufficiency: The Continuing Evolution of Web-Driven, Open-Source DIY Culture: Much has been said about the power and potential of collective intelligence, and many of the breakthrough solutions of tomorrow appear to lie in more effectively pooling the resources and intelligence of our increasingly networked world. On the other side of the equation, the power of pooled intelligence and networked resources have empowered individuals to take on more and more complex undertakings themselves.

From drawing on the collective intelligence of blogs and university open courseware to educate themselves, to services like ponoko, spoonflower and cafe press that facilitate small-scale production, to offline resource pooling like pop- up retail and collective office spaces, individuals are discovering that it has never been easier to try doing it themselves.

7. Info-Art: Where we once had pop-psychologists and pop-philosophers, we now appear to have pop-statisticians and pop-economists. The growing wealth of data and the access to rich and diverse data sources that are significant by-products of information networks have made the art of data analysis a defining skill of our time.

At the same time, the skill of elegantly visualizing that data has become a defining art of our time. The art of the infographic is becoming increasingly pervasive as people look more and more to the growing amount of data at our disposal for insight, and more refined as the interactions of that data becomes more complex. Expect to see greater innovation spurred by more elegant ways of capturing and visualizing information by a growing number of info-artists.

8. Crowd Sourcing: Across many industries and organizations, crowd sourcing will become a growing tool as part of various outsourcing strategies. Organizations will mobilize the passionate special-interest groups to not only carry a message but also to lead and take part in activities on their behalf. From political canvassing to software development, from people journalism to environmental activism, expect to see huge growth in crowdsourcing models provoked and led, in large part, by digital social media strategies.

9. More Flash, Not Less: Outside of the obvious brand sites, micro-sites and media sites (video, games, etc.) where it appears absolutely necessary, Flash has often been looked down upon if not completely discounted by both techies and search engine optimizers. It seemed to face an uncertain future as a viable tool for serious websites and applications such as eCommerce tools and corporate websites. However, Adobe’s rich media tool has enjoyed the grit and determination of its advocates and external development community. Now, several tricks, authoring tools and server side scripting workarounds have meant that Flash-built websites no longer serve up a single, impenetrable page. They offer deep, searchable, indexable sites that will allow acute, detailed traffic and behavioral analytics and search engine optimization.

As websites continue to increase in their importance as a company’s storefront, the demand for rich, brand-extending experiences will also increase. Further proliferation of  fast broadband will reduce download issues while the adoption of Flash on mobile devices will dramatically increase and fuel reach and the desire/need for highly usable, brand transporting, conversion oriented experiences.

What do YOU think about these trends?    What will you do to capitalize these emerging trends?

Differentiating Yourself

By Alice R. Heiman

Are you selling marketing services, insurance, real estate, financial services, printing, web design, telephone systems, office products, staffing, internet access? How do you stand out in a crowd? With so much competition these days how are you acquiring new customers and retaining the ones you have?

The key is to build Relationships, understand, educate, help them choose the best solution and then continue to serve and educate.
In order to differentiate yourself you have to figure out how you are different from others who sell the same thing and then position yourself that way. So you have to know why people buy from you.

Why do people buy from you anyway? You need to know what the reasons are so that you can capitalize on them. Salespeople often have a long list of product features and benefits that differentiate their products. Unfortunately, none of these may be the reason that people actually buy from them. There are usually only two or maybe three key reasons and those reasons are unique to each customer. Find those reasons.

Know why people buy from you, don’t guess. Ask your customers. They can tell you exactly why they chose you over the competition and why they stay. Typically it has a lot to do with you, the relationship you build and the education and service you provide. Since few companies have truly unique products and services the way to stand out is by understanding the customer and serving their needs.
Once you know why people buy find more people like them. Target your market. Don’t try to sell to everyone. Find the group that you can relate to, are most knowledgeable about and most comfortable with. This will make selling much easier. Specialize in the product or service that best serves your target market and lead with that. Trying to sell everything to everybody will not help you stand out from the crowd.

Many salespeople bombard prospects with information. Instead stand out by asking good questions and learning about their needs then match the features and benefits of your product with their needs. You will move the sale forward much faster this way and learn more quickly when it is not a good fit before too much time is spent on either side.
If things are moving forward educate. Remember your job is to help the customer make a good decision on the best solution, which may be yours. Chances are the prospect needs more education on your industry and possible solutions in general. Find sources of information and experts on the topic to help them learn. Your job is to help them make the best possible decision even if that excludes your product or service.

Know your competition. Who do you compete with? What are their prices? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Do they offer something you don’t? How is their customer service and follow up? Although you want to say as little as possible about your competition and never want to bash them in any way you need to be prepared to answer questions from prospective customers. Sometimes the truth is that you have nothing over the competition as far as features, benefits or price but you can match them and you know the prospect’s industry, understand their needs and are focused on helping them reach their goals. The truth is sometimes people make their final decision based on the fact that they like you, but don’t take advantage of that. If you are not the best solution to their problem this could backfire on you.

Imagine telling someone that your solution is not the best for them and referring them to someone that can provide what they need. The credibility you build will last a long time.
If after educating the prospect your solution is still the best then follow up and deliver what was promised. Be persistent but don’t be a pest. If you have several competitors the ones who don’t follow up will be gone. I can’t tell you the amount of business that is lost for lack of follow up. Standing out in the crowd means having excellent follow up. If you are afraid to follow up because you are not sure if the prospect is still interested then ask. Perhaps they are just busy or need to communicate a different way. Communicating in their preferred method is another way to standout. If you can’t reach them by phone, ask how they prefer to be contacted.

Build great relationships, ask great questions, know your competition, be prepared to educate, follow up and you will find yourself standing out from the crowd.

AOL Repositions Itself As Aol.

 

courtesy of MediaMemo

What’s in a brand image (logo) that sets the tone for the brand itself?  Alot.

 

As of December 9th, Time-Warner is splitting the sheets with AOL who returns to becoming a publicly traded corporation.  On May 28, 2009, Time Warner decided to cease operations with AOL, and spin it off as an independent company once Google’s shares cease at the end of the fiscal year.  Time Warner reports that its shareholders will receive one AOL share for every 11 Time Warner shares that they own.

By anyone’s account who has used for followed the AOL brand from it’s popularity early in this decade, the brand has continued to struggle to maintain it’s once dominant market share.  Today, the company has made some bold moves to restructure its operations, hiring former Google executive Tim Armstrong to lead the effort to bolster content and functionality.  Don’t count AOL out just yet.

So how has AOL chosen to make this refreshed direction known to their users and the public?  With a new logo, of course, designed by the creative minds at Wolff Olins.  According to AOL’s corporate release:

“The identity itself is a platform for expression and creativity reflecting the content, products and services which AOL offers.  Some of the world’s best creative artists, including Universal Everything, GHAVA and Dylan Griffin created art and animations for the brand.”

The new brand identity will be fully unveiled on December 10, when AOL common stock begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

But will it be enough to reposition the aging brand in the minds of consumers who may associate it with the speed of dial-up?  Only time will tell.

What do you think about this new position?  Does it help you to think of AOL in a new way?

Reno Tahoe USA is “Far From Expected”.

It’s been a long road for the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitor’s Authority to get to this date.  Today the RSCVA Board approved a new campaign tag line for our region – “Far From Expected”.

Personally, I don’t consider this aspect of the overall effort all that critical to the campaign’s success, although it certainly does need to convey the essence of the brand in an immediately memorable way.  The previous suggestion “A Little West of Center” was not received by local politicians (and many citizens) as appropriate or inspiring.

I would disagree with those who didn’t like the first suggestion, as “A Little West Of Center” tied nicely to Reno’s well-known “Biggest Little City In the World”.  But then, this campaign isn’t about Reno – it’s about our region.  “Far From Expected” seems a bit of a safe compromise – and while shorter for many to easily remember, it doesn’t invite questions about it’s meaning – which I think may have been a good element to invite tourists to wonder about and discover meaning for themselves.

My personal opinions aside, “Far From Center” conveys the essence of this new approach – embracing our region’s oddities and uniqueness, and I applaud the RSCVA and its agency Mortar for getting this key element approved so the campaign can move forward and hopefully reverse the 11 year streak of visitor declines that have affected businesses throughout our region.

What do you think about “Far From Center”?

(Before you suggest your own creative positioning tag line, be sure to read and investigate the research that went into deciding this campaign was needed, and what the public – the keeper of our brand, thought).

Old Brand, New Tricks

I caught this posting on Marketing Profs, and thought really relevant and well written.  So much so, that I’m going to take the lazy route, and simply repost it here for your reading pleasure.

Good news: You don’t have to lose sight of your brand’s tried-and-true persona to participate in the quest for deeper engagement at the new social sites. Just think of the social-media generation as a silver-dish serving of people who already want to talk to you; you just need to make them feel comfortable doing it. Easier said than done? Not necessarily. Here are a couple of older brands that are getting it right:

Sharpie, well past pushin’ 40, managed to tap into an enthusiastic user culture in a way we’re pretty sure no other pen brand has. Its Sharpie Uncapped gallery enables fans far and wide to express, in vivid (and permanent!) color, how they incorporate the inky wonders into their creative undertakings.

Think about the number of years kids have been using Sharpies to scribble on jeans, decorate casts and prettify their Converse tennies. Now there’s a fun place to show all that off? Score!

Little Debbie, who first made the scene in the 1960s, is using flickr, Twitter, Facebook and blog outreach to promote a cupcake Share-a-Thon this fall. A series of Smart cars demonstrate Little Debbie’s commitment to the eco-cause, and are also outfitted like the cupcakes themselves. Thus far, the aging mark has done a tasty job of reminding fresh generations of its relevance.

Now, not all instances of successful social-media outreach are even intentional. Case in point: When gay couples were finally permitted to wed in Vermont, 31-year-old ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s celebrated by renaming its Chubby Hubby ice cream Hubby Hubby within the state. Thousands of blog posts and twitter updates later, they realized they had a winner.

How’d these old-timers manage to wow a fresh-faced crowd? At ad:tech Chicago this year, reps from Ben & Jerry’s and Sharpie said they felt social media was just in their DNA. That is to say, the key to winning hearts hasn’t changed with time or tech: It’s still about communicating a message in a relatable way.

What are your thoughts on this?  Is social media quickly becoming an integral strategy for these and other brands in the market?  What kind of social media integration have you experienced that you think is a good use of the media?

Simple Tips For Renewable Energy Companies To Build Their Brand.

As we’ve all experienced more in this economy than in any other recently – you can’t make a sale unless the value of your product or service is clearly understood.  This is especially true of the rising “green” sector of our market, as many new and emerging companies struggle to find new prospects and buyers that are willing to spend their precious budget on a new product or service.

We believe that nearly everyone prefers to be considered environmentally conscious.  In this current recession, the costs of “going green” and the confusion about how to actually do it is just enough for most consumers to throw their hands up, and surrender to their comfortable habits. This is just one reason it can be a real challenge for sustainably oriented renewable energy companies to clearly market their value today, and gain enough momentum to launch their product or service line.

Add the perception that their products usually come at a higher cost to what is often a very complex set of industry related language, and you’ve got a formula that turns new consumers away in frustration and fear.

From our experience, many emerging renewable energy companies speak in their “native tongue”, using a high degree of acronyms and technical language without simply communicating their basic values.  If they can’t provide a convincing brand message to their buyers about their economic and personal value, it’s doubtful they’ll make or continue sales.

So what can renewable energy companies do to overcome these initial challenges in perception?  Here are a few tips they might consider…

Get Local

While we’d encourage any renewable energy company to maintain their own corporate online presence through a company website, we’d encourage them to also offer individual landing pages that show their products locations and installation.  Not only will this help with their online search engine rankings, but it provide a local portal for people looking for their products in their own backyard, and helps provide new and existing customers with a sense that the company is a community entity, and not a cold, distant corporation.

Speak Your Customer’s Language

As many renewable energy companies are founded by technical and academic professionals, the language they’re familiar with often becomes the messaging to their public – and this intimidating form of communication can lead new customers to leave their sales process before buying.  To be truly successful, you need to present your information to the public in a user-friendly way that easy for your potential customer to engage and relate to on all levels.

Don’t Just Advertise, Build Conversations

Social media channels provide one of the best platforms for engaging new customers and prospects in an ongoing conversation that can help leverage leads into sales.  Current customers can serve as testimonials, and share their passion about the renewable energy’s product or services to new contacts.  We highly recommend that renewable energy companies use social media in their overall marketing strategy – while giving traditional media its due as an integral part of any campaign.

Measure Success

Whatever initiatives any renewable energy campaign undertakes, it’s critical that every effort, every channel, every initiative have some form of tracked measurement.  Without a method to know exactly who is responding to your campaign, and why – you’ll not be able to make the needed adjustments to fine tune the campaign for ongoing success.

Those are just some very basic considerations – there are many more.

What has your experience been in trying to work with renewable energy companies recently?  What’s been your impression of their products or services?  We’d like to know about your experience in this sector, so that we can help this emerging economy grow faster for all our benefit.  Please share your insights  with us!

The Planting Of GReNO

It was just over 7 months ago when Morgan Tiar, owner of our community’s only sustainable “Green” store EcoReno, came to me with her idea.  While she and her husband Marc had started their store a little over a year ago, they’ve both been passionately dedicated to educating anyone who’d listen about the easy, simple changes you can make in your everyday life to become more ecologically conscious, and sustainable in your lifestyle.

“I want to start a local, green publication” she said.  And she asked for SmartBrand’s help to do just that.  There was no seed money, no sales force, no advertisers – not even a sense of how we might go about it.  But we both agreed it would be a great idea, and met a few times to explore the possibilities.

I had seen a recent publication produced by Starbuck’s called “Good Sheet”.  It was a simple fold-out flyer type of informational piece, filled with ideas and inspirational thoughts.  The most interesting part of the little pub was that it was on recycled paper, and appeared to feature soy ink in a limited color palette.   For me, this was a great model for us.

Within a few weeks, we’d coined the phrase “GReNO”, a play on being green in our town Reno.  We asked a few friends what they thought, and they all agreed it was the kind of brand name they would follow.  Next came steps to find a way to print the publication on as high a recycled content as we could – and we wanted to be sure we used soy inks.  We searched for days without luck locally – but then stumbled across an ideal solution – a local press at the Sparks Tribune could provide us just those publication types, and the entire piece could be printed locally.  What was better was the pricing, and even better, their service.

And so we set off to determine what our budget needed to be, and creating an ad price structure we thought just about anyone could afford in this recession.  Morgan worked diligently, raising her family of small sprouts, while also working with Marc to build their business at EcoReno.  While this was a labor of love, none of us took it lightly – and we did everything we could to pull it together with advertisers, designers, and serving as our own editors.

A few months later, the first edition of GReNO rolled off the presses – and we were as proud as new parents.  We spent all our free time folding the publication, our fingers black and green with soy ink.  What other time we could find, we distributed the publication’s initial 7,500 copies around the region – spending hours and our own money to spread its credo:

GRENO is a step in the right direction for solution and awareness, educating our community on sustainability.  As ecologically-minded Reno residents, businesspeople, and consumers ourselves, we saw a need for a publication that fellow green-minded people could turn to. A resource for green business referrals, advice, food for thought, and a sense of belonging.

You are not alone in feeling like we need to reduce waste, energy and If you would like to promote your green business in an environmentally aware low carbon-footprint publication, then GRENO is for you.

This small, organic publication does just that. A simple and locally printed publication on recycled paper with soy based inks, taking sustainability into consideration in the publication itself. Articles, columns, and provocative information – a manifestation – for our community to support your business and its sustainability mission.

Today, we’re happy to announce Volume 002 of our publication – now up to 8 full pages.  Twice the size as our first, packed with more than twice the content than our first release.  Our community has come forward to support us in ways we couldn’t have imagined.  Friends have helped sell ads, write columns, and generally give us the support needed to make it a reality.

Without our community’s support – there’d be no GReNO.  And without Morgan and Marc Tiar’s undying support, there would have never been the seed to plant that has grown into this amazing little paper for our community.

So stop by EcoReno as soon as you can, and pick up your copy of our little gem.  Feel it, read it, enjoy it.  We’re as proud as new parents.  Grab a stack of pre-folded copies, and bring them to your neighborhood stores and friends.  We need your help spreading this good information and news.  If you shop at WholeFoods here locally, you’ll find GReNO in the free rack distribution there.

You can also download the current copy of GReNO from our “homegrown” website.  That too has never had a budget – nor made any of us a penny.  More importantly, you can buy from good people and local community business owners like Morgan and Marc Tiar at EcoReno.  They need, and deserve our support to keep their work and passion in our community growing.  Go green…buy local!

Teaching Social Media

I was asked by one of our SmartBrand associates, Alice Heiman, to be one of several smart panel members including Michael Clawson, Camilla Downs and Dave Barnhart to present our experience and suggestions about how social media can help you grow your business and sales at this year’s Confab USA conference.

It was a very interesting, lively topic that encompassed three hours of varying perspectives and ideas to an audience of consultants and managers at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino here in Reno.  Our presentation will be shared online soon, which I’ll link here when it’s uploaded for reference.

From this experience, I confirmed my basic belief about social media – one size (and approach) will never “fit all”.  As unique as every brand is, whether a personal, professional or corporate entity, social media requires a very targeted, customized approach in alignment with the brand’s target market.  More importantly, social media is just one aspect of an comprehensive, integrated marketing campaign.  If the basics of that brand marketing aren’t in place, social media (for all it’s power and glory), will make little to no sense.

Presenting as a team to help this active group of consultants and managers was a challenge.  How can you provide some sense of strategy to a room of professionals who may not share the same end goal?  It seemed more helpful to simply provide some tactical information to them, and answer specific questions as they were asked.  And they were asked in droves.

Our panel did a terrific job of making sense from a variety of perspectives – while trying to solve a wide range of challenges from the very basic, to the very advanced.  It was really an honor and pleasure to be seated with these pros.

So my question to you is…how would you handle this kind of presentation?  What have you found helpful in providing good information to a diverse range of audience participants on a topic as broad ranging as social media?  Your insights are always appreciated here on SmartBlog.

Is Woolworths’ Logo Too Similar To Apple’s?

Most of us already know that Apple is famous for it’s aggressive defense of its brand image (or logo).  If they were willing to sue the Victoria School of Business and Technology for infringement, then certainly Austrailia’s Woolworths could have expected the same.  One key may be that Woolworth’s trademark is blanketed to extend to its entire range of products, including technology and electrical items.

Locally, Woolworths used to be a combination drug/convenience store, with a small counter style restaurant inside.  They served up some of the best milk shakes around, and a wicked ice cream sundae.  Today, the company sells a wide variety of products, including electronics.

A Woolworths spokesman put it this way: ”While we can’t rule anything out, we haven’t got any plans (when it comes to computers and gadgetry) at the moment.”

Looking at the example above, is their logo a stylized apple?  Woolworths say’s “no”.  It’s simply a stylized “W” with an “abstract leaf symbol”.  Some have gone as far to suggest that it’s a stylized consumer with outstretched arms, or even an apple being peeled.

I think you’ve got to admit to the similarities between the two logos, and in fact, Woolworths may be the seller of products that are similar to those of Apple’s.

But what do you think? Are the two logos too similar? Is Apple stepping over its bounds, and being too legally aggressive in protecting its brand image?

We’re interested to learn what you think – so please weigh in and comment.

Sparks Nevada Bets On “It’s Happening Here”

For those of you who frequent this blog, you’ll recall a somewhat heated discussion about Reno’s “sister city” to the east, and its efforts to define it’s tourism message with a new brand platform.

With less “bang” and more “whisper”, The Sparks City Council adopted a campaign platform aimed at marketing their community based on their perceived unique value – special events.  When proposals were first announced in conjunction with Destination Development International’s (DDI) research and recommendations, the public outcry could be heard even here in Reno – several miles away.  Many could not believe that public funds (reportedly $114,000) were spent on such a campaign awarded to an out-of-state agency.  Some, like me, wondered how they would accomplish repositioning The Rail City as “Nevada’s Festival City”, expense aside.  I believe hiring an out-of-market agency is a smart move as they can provide perspective often difficult to find within the community itself.

Then came allegations that the concept was not entirely unique, while a debate ensued over why it would be necessary to rename several of the City’s landmarks and community centers, including the Sparks Marina and central Victorian Square.

Needless to say, the announced “Nevada’s Festival City” drew criticism from many community stakeholders, although the process itself included several key representatives to help participate (and guide) the new brand’s development.

This week, Sparks’ “Brand Leadership Team” (or “BLT” – which, I have to say, could use a new name itself), proposed and adopted part of the recommended campaign direction, the tag line – “It’s Happening Here”.

Currently, the City “famous” for its festivals and events hosts some 60 annual event days throughout the year – from the large Rib Cook Off to much smaller endeavors.  The goal, according to this new campaign, is to develop up to 200 event days by 2013.  Many have seen this an unattainable in today’s current economy, and certainly not within Sparks’ capacity as a City to achieve.  Many question the four to five year plan that is to provide the time and infrastructure development needed to achieve this events based goal.

I met very briefly with Sparks officials off record to review this initiative before it was presented to the Council for approval.  And in that short meeting, noted the same problem I’ve personally had with this approach since its very inception.  I simply don’t believe that brand positioning should be based on an aspiration – but rather a leveraging of the best assets to promote the unique values of the company or product – in this case, the City of Sparks.  Sparks, if you’ve ever been there, IS unique in so many ways, but yet they aspire to “build” their brand perception rather than leverage what they currently offer visitors.

In the presentation given to me, the Brand Leadership Team notes that “branding (is) what you want to be known for”, while “development (is) what you have to do to ‘own’ the brand”.  While I understand the intent of those statements, my concern is one of timing in this overall effort – and the urgency to create a believable brand message that can be readily adopted by stakeholders and the target audience.  Once again, I’m reminded by the presentation that “Brands are earned.  You NEVER ‘roll out’ a brand”.  Personally, I can’t agree with that, which was the basis of the controversy to begin with this past February during DDI’s initial release.  Once you begin announcing your brand position – even in an informal announcement to media – you’ve “rolled it out” for review.  It may not be the anticipated brand experience or perception, but you’ve let your audience know what you intend to be known for, and invite questions and comments to that projected brand platform.  You (including municipalities) ARE a brand – the key is to leverage your unique values to your advantage.  Quit trying to be percieved as something you’re not – or worse yet – may not be able to achieve before the “promise” rings untrue.

I believe Sparks officials understand (and accept) the limitations of the 26 recommendations produced by DDI.  The BLT used these recommendations and research as a “guidebook”, and “a starting point in creating a brand” for Sparks.  I question the validity of those recommendations if they did not result in a sound brand platform that could be readily adopted by City officials – and Sparks’ stakeholders; including business and residents.  After all, the research came from those key groups, so why were they so openly rejected when reported?  That may be “water under the bridge” at this point, and the work of positioning Sparks as a viable, enticing place to visit still remains.

While “It’s Happening Here” may seem (to some) like a lackluster attempt to position the community with any memorable value – it may also provide the ambiguous positioning needed if the campaign’s infrastructure to support it cannot be produced in time.  And time will tell.  Personally, I don’t think the campaign’s tag line invites interest or investigation – but that’s solely my opinion.

In the meantime, our regional tourism authority, the RSCVA works diligently on a similar branding effort – but with very different results to date.  I believe they’re on the right track in retaining the San Francisco agency, Mortar, to develop a unique brand platform and message that will resonate with our target tourism market, while providing the kind of creative energy and momentum to carry the campaign from its intended launch in early 2010 for many years to come.

Given the 11 year decline in tourism to our region, can Sparks afford to wait four or five years to achieve its brand promise?  And in the end, will Sparks be able to depend on 200 event days a year to provide businesses and residents with the kind of tourism dollars to reverse the past decade of trending?

What do you think about these latest developments for Sparks’ brand today…and tomorrow?