Actually ‘Lemon’ is a classic VW advert created in a time when their ‘think small’ campaign was voted best of all time by Ad Age, (and even referenced by Don Draper in Mad Men!)

Their unconventional advertising campaigns which turned seeming faults into benefits was a major hit. It was these early campaigns that laid the foundations of VW’s reputation for quality, reliability and trustworthiness. Brand values the car buying public would NEVER question.

Until last month, when VW’s widely reported emissions scandal broke.

By now we’re all familiar with the story. VW employee raises concern that software may ‘infringe legislation’ back in 2011. Then last years tests revealing certain models were emitting up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, ultimately leading to a dramatic confession that it deliberately installed the cheating software.

Shares went into free-fall (the company losing $22 billion in two days), CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned and various global sales bans have been imposed on VW diesels. Credit Suisse latest estimate suggests the scandal could cost up to $78 billion, which will eclipse BP’s losses relating to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster.

As branding experts with a sister company specialising solely within the automotive sector, the marketing aspect of this story holds particular interest.

Not least because of our recent high profile re-branding of ‘Mer’ car care. The significance being the Germanic repositioning solution we created, shaped in part due to the extensive focus group research we conducted, which evidenced loud and clear that German automotive manufacture was a highly desirable thing; ‘Made in Germany’ being synonymous with authority, reliability, excellence and trust.

Of course, VW’s cars are still well built, drive well, and are reliable (although our Marketing Director is definitely looking slightly less smug in his Passat these days), so beyond the current catastrophic financial implications related to recalls and lawsuits, does brand really matter?

The short answer is ‘absolutely’. From a branding perspective, your car defines your identity publicly. But then in today’s brand driven world, so do most brands you build your life around.

Like lots of those other brands, VW’s brand represented a distinct market advantage to the consumer. In the super competitive automotive market lots of the claimed ‘product advantages’ could actually be obtained elsewhere – Kia, Ford, Honda… but only a VW is a VW. If you wanted your car to say all those things VW had come to represent, about you, there was only one choice.

With brand such a strong purchase driver, it’s no surprise VW fans now feel betrayed.

Over in Wolfsburg, The marketing people have of course gone ‘DEFCON 1’ attempting a coordinated damage limitation exercise across its sprawling multi channel media machine.

However, VW has arguably missed the window of opportunity to lead the conversation. In a crisis situation like this the brand responsible should take ownership of the issue immediately and become a hub for information. During the time elapsed since the scandal broke, there seems a distinct lack of consistent commentary.

Notwithstanding their speed of reaction, VW must now totally rethink what they stand for – then critically how they can get the consumer to believe they’re not lemons for buying a Volkswagen.

With the summer BBQ season in full swing, booze brands get a natural boost—but what makes a consumer pick one bottle over another? While personal recommendations from family and friends are the biggest influence, research company Crowdtap found that alcoholic-beverage consumers are also very brand-focused.

A brand’s history and tradition was the second biggest influence on a purchase, and more than 90 percent said they would personally engage with a brand.

Here’s a look at Crowdtap’s other findings, along with the most valuable alcohol brands worldwide.

Originally sourced from: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/infographic-recipe-successful-booze-brand-165971

When it comes to creating a successful logo for your brand, it seems simplicity is key.

Udemy, an education marketplace, examined logos from 50 brands on Fortune’s 2015 World’s Most Admired Companies list to figure out what their beloved insignias have in common.

The infographic below, Deconstructing Successful Logos, breaks the designs down by color, typeface, shape and a few other criteria. And here are some key findings: Of the 50 logos analyzed—for brands including Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Facebook and Walt Disney—red and blue were the most popular colors. Also, 43 of the top companies use no more than two colors in their designs.

“There are only so many design ideas under the sun as far as logos go,” said Shannon Hughes, senior director of marketing for Udemy. “Logos don’t end up being that different for top companies. A simple design is most easy for consumers to understand.”

Udemy also polled 1,000 people about the top 25 brand logos from Fortune’s list. The survey found that consumers’ favorites include Amazon, Apple and Starbucks, while most respondents preferred round logos (like BMW’s or Target’s) over square logos, even though square and rectangular logos are more common.

Find out more design tips in the infographic:

Originally sourced from: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/heres-what-most-popular-brands-logos-have-common-165884

While many brands spend millions of pounds across the globe in a crusade to make consumers fall in love with them, Mars is bucking the trend and is instead trying to resonate with its shoppers on a more human level.

Speaking to The Drum global chief marketing officer Bruce McColl called the expectation of consumers to love a brand “one step too far” and admitted that Mars is “not a big believer” of love and loyalty.

“For most people out there buying our brands they don’t love us; we just have to accept that,” he said. “It goes against some of the popular stuff out there, [but] it’s hard enough to have relationships with real people. If you think about the people in your life; your family and friends how much time do you have to really connect with them? To ask consumers on mass to have that kind of relationship with brands is one step too far.”

McColl said the real challenge comes in accepting that you won’t be loved and then realising how the insight might shape your marketing strategy.

On the flipside the opportunity is that while consumers don’t necessarily love Mars, “They don’t reject us either,” added McColl. “The real challenge is they don’t really think about us – nobody wakes up and thinks ‘what does Snickers have to say today?’”

To address this Mars is trying to generate ideas that resonate with consumers on a more human level and layer it up with emerging technologies to “make that explode”. For example Mars’ recent advertising for Snickers has focussed around the tag line You’re Not You When You’re Hungry, a simple insight that the FMCG company realised could be used to create engaging adverts.

Mars is currently working with vloggers for a YouTube digital campaign and has just launched a Tinder marketing push which tells you how hungry you’d have to be to match with a person on the dating app.

Mars is also continuing to explore how it can use technology not just as a communication tool but as a way of serving its consumers after the successful roll out of Petfinder, a website that helps people adopt cats and dogs.

Article sourced from: http://www.designmantic.com/blog/infographics/ten-commandments-of-logo-design/

Logo design requires deep and intricate knowledge. It involves a great deal of brainstorming, thinking process and knowhow of, if not very advanced, at least the most elementary of rules and principles governing logo design.

Most logos created by small businesses and startups, especially the ones created with the help of DIY logo design tools, lack when it comes to nailing these basic principles of design. Hence, below is an infographic—a sequel of, “10 Commandments of Typography” and “10 Commandments of Color Theory”— that offers a holistic snapshot of these basic principles of logo design with the help of applied examples to make things easy peasy to grasp!

Running a creative agency, everyday we’re brainstorming ideas, designing ad campaigns, writing copy, taking photographs, building websites – and so on. However, we’re probably best known for branding. Working with clients, we create new brands, build them and reposition them. Branding is regarded by some (me included) as the most important weapon in the marketeers arsenal today. Get it right, and the customer is putty in your hands(!). But I’m often asked why people buy brands, and are some people immune from a brands influence?

What is the purpose of a brand?

My definition of a brands purpose is to create something the target customer needs that they can’t get elsewhere. They are the two boxes which must be ticked. Of course when we say brands lots of people think of high end premium labels – maybe a fashion house, luxury watch brand or prestige vehicle. But branding applies to every day products too – creating differentiation between commodity items from sugar to frozen peas is an even more important role for branding when customers can’t explicitly see a difference.

At a higher level, as CEO of Saatchi Kevin Roberts said “brands build loyalty beyond reason” Two of many examples are Adidas and Nike. Go to a sports store with just these two brands and most shoppers will be strongly drawn to one or other. Lots would go on to make a purchase ‘beyond reason’. This means that even if they were presented with an alternative product at the same price or even slightly cheaper from the rival brand, and told by an expert that the other product had more features, performed better, and would last longer; the customer would STILL purchase their favoured brand – in spite of the facts.

Another good example is iPhone – when customers found out it was made by Foxconn in China – they still brought it because of the Apple brand, designed by Steve Jobs. Ditto Lexus which is made by Toyota. A company perfectly able to make a very high end vehicle, but would people have paid £50k+ for a Toyota? Ask Volkswagen who created their greatest car the Phaeton. Arguably worth the £60k asking price, but nobody brought it – why? because of the badge.

Brands also change perception. Guinness made Stout cool. Primark did the same for cheaply priced clothes. Cadbury created a whole brand around a flaky textured chocolate which originally nearly got canned BECAUSE bits came off. Lucozade is another great example. As a kid the very sight and smell of the stuff, and the crinkling noise of the wrapper made me feel ill. Who would have thought a product linked to sickness would today be one linked so strongly to fitness!

Brands also create memorability. 
We all remember brand campaigns such as the PG tips piano, Smash Martians, Henry cooper splashing it all over and the Milk tray man. All of this stuff is dreamt up by creatives like me in the boardroom

The evolution of the brand

Last week I was sat in a creative meeting with our studio manager and two designers staring at a big board with a picture of a man and women standing proudly in front of a big yacht. Having worked all their lives they finally purchased their dream boat and were going to enjoy their retirement sailing around the Azores. This was the target for a rebrand of a global Yacht Marque. Our new brand had to appeal to ‘Mr and Mrs Smith (Sailors)’.

Whilst others talked I started thinking about how branding had changed over the years. In the early days brands were more honest (except the ones telling you cigarettes were actually a health benefit). They simply said this is us / this is what we do / heres where you can buy our stuff. All very features driven and informative.

We then moved to Benefit based brands. Not what they did, but what that meant. Selling the sizzle not the sausage as salespeople say.

Branding then went down the Emotive / lifestyle route. Here the focus was taken OFF the product and its features and benefits and onto how a brand made you feel inside and how others viewed you. One of my favourite ad campaigns of all time is considered the first of this ilk.

 Created by my hero Sir John Hegarty for Levis rebellious Black Label jeans, this ad was the very first Levis advert NOT to feature the product – revolutionary at the time. Instead this was about a lifestyle statement, the copy boldly declaring ‘When the World Zigs, Zag’

Where will branding end?

With social media some say we’re going back to honesty – arguing your brand is what your customer says it is. However I don’t think were going to see Dudley Moores ‘Boxy but good’ campaign running for Volvo any time soon. In fact brand claims seem to be getting wilder. Look at Red Bull – a drink which gives you wings apparently. Although NOT according to a guy from the states who is allegedly suing the drinks giant for $13M for failing to sprout as much as a feather after drinking a can!

But what’s so wrong with these crazy claims? We all like to escape don’t we? We’re happy to pay to read books, watch films, go to the theatre. Who are we to criticise a brand like Harley Davidson that can transport a middle aged professional from Slough to a cafe in the States in the turn of a key. For a few hours on a Sunday afternoon he is a Jack Daniels swigging, Hell-raising Hells Angel in leather – back home in time for tea and Songs of Praise.

So I ask you, why shouldn’t brands have a tangible value? And why shouldn’t YOU embrace them? Fact is it’s very hard to overlook brands – even if you try. If you’ve got disposable cash, and unless you’ve opted out of the rat race, then maybe somewhere in the world theres a board room filled with marketing people staring at a picture of YOU; formulating a brand strategy for their new product – and working out how to get YOU to buy it!

WDA’s unique brand marketing approach drives business – and we have the figures to prove it.
Let us show you how this approach can help drive YOUR sales. Call today for a free initial 1 hour consultation on 01332 372728.

This article was originally published by the Derby Telegraph, click here to view

Kinship is everywhere. It’s empathy in action: a hug, a comforting word, the backbone of a friendship. Kinship is fundamentally selfless, intrinsically rewarding, a vital and extremely human part of being, well, a human being.

Kinship requires work, and while people inherently are driven by it, brands are not individuals and often do a poor job evoking similar feelings. Consumers have been skeptical of today’s brands’ intentions for some time now, and so is it any wonder they have such a hard time earning trust?

Martin Weigel, planning director at Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam, rightly said we have become prisoners of a metaphor, and as we’ve suspended reality for our metaphors, our brands ask consumers for what a person expects from his or her friends—loyalty, trust, attention, love, time—without putting in the reciprocally requisite work. In other words, brands need to reconsider their motivations and behaviors because no one is buying the be-our-friend act any longer.

One problem is the mistaken notion that advertising shapes culture. Rather, advertising has always been a mirror that reflects changes in culture, politics and industry. In the Era of Logic—the ’50s and ’60s—there was a scarcity of information, so products earned markets based on clearly stated attributes. Winning brands made whites whiter, fed families more easily and vacuumed hard-to-reach places.

Market saturation and mass media shifted us to the Era of Emotion. Prompted by booms of products and prosperity, conspicuous consumption kicked into high gear, and logic wasn’t enough. Your product had to make a prospective buyer feel something. A car was freedom on four wheels, jeans made you rebellious. This ego-driven style persists today, but it’s worn thin—its promises turned to platitudes, its emotion drowned in a sea of indistinguishable metaphors.

Let’s consider the world in front of us: massive amounts of products and information a mere finger’s touch away. This could be a truly exhilarating landscape for brands and marketers. The bad news, however, is that brands are still working with the dated tools from the Era of Emotion.

Most brands are looking at behavior but don’t question whether people’s internal motivations have changed. Spoiler: They have. Fragmentation of media and the power to the public collective, for example, are behavioral outcomes of deeper truths. Find those truths, and you transcend the “like us on Facebook” noise.

So what’s motivating people? What thoughts are keeping people up at night? Our access to endless information and socialization has given new life to age-old questions. Why am I here? What impact do I want to have on the people around me?”

Our success doesn’t lie in becoming more interesting or disruptive. What we need is purpose and to help people realize their purpose. To know your purpose as a brand is to know who you, as the brand, aspire to be. This defines your subsequent behavior inside the company, in your products, and ultimately how you impact the world. It’s the “why” your brand exists. Consider a few well-known, proven examples. Pampers helps parents care for their babies and helps toddlers’ development. Amazon enables freedom of choice, exploration and discovery. Red Bull energizes the world. Notice the commonality: Purpose transcends business and product (the what) and delivers on human principles (the why).

The “why” gives businesses and brands focus, a valued role to play in modern life and a depth that resonates with people. If you commit to a purpose that will truly benefit the world in some way, you are on your way to defining your brand’s role in people’s lives, and the way you communicate with them. It is within this dialogue between brand and consumer that we can find solutions, innovate and challenge the status quo. Ultimately, we can inspire others—our kin—to find their purpose.

Let’s shed the chains of our metaphors in this new Era of Kinship. It’s not people who need to do the heavy lifting—it’s our brands and us. Like a good friend, we have to help others find purpose and to give selflessly, empathetically and meaningfully.

Written by Abbie Walker, published on AdWeek February 24, 2014, 10:17 PM EST.

Abbie Walker is vp, strategy at brand experience agency Momentum Worldwide.

I got a funny email the other day from Sir John Hegarty, founder of BBH – this was in response to me flagging up an error in his book ‘Hegarty on Advertising’ (page 211 if anyone’s reading it). In the same book John gives a fantastic definition of branding and its value to all businesses:

“A brand is the most valuable piece of real estate in the world; a corner of someone’s mind”

Think about that for a moment. Re-read it. Taking that definition on face value you begin to understand that ‘branding’ is something that is relevant to ALL businesses, not just consumer facing retail brands.

Effective branding also directly drives business and increases sales. Maintaining the link (Sir John worked at Saatchi’s in the early days), Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts says that great brands “build loyalty beyond reason”. Meaning that some brands are so loved and respected that they enjoy success in spite of product or service performance when compared to competitor brands. When faced with a buying decision your customer will always ‘tip’ towards the brand they favour most. Your brand should sit at the heart of all your marketing communications. In doing so you build and reinforce what is essentially the core essence of your business. All too often clients approach us to ‘build a website’ or ‘create an app’ or ‘implement a social media campaign’ without having a strong brand to drive these communications – and maximise the commercial return.

When I say ‘brand’ I’m not necessarily talking about new logos or fancy graphics here – your visual identity may or may not need attention depending on the circumstances. What I’m talking about is the fundamental ‘brand positioning’ – what you stand for, why your customers should care, and why you expect them to choose your products or services over those being offered by a competitor.

A key part of an effective brand positioning is differentiation. Remember that your brand is competing in a race for attention against others in your category. To edge ahead your brand needs real stand-out. ‘Me-too’ brands that are essentially ‘the same but different’ rarely get to the top. You cannot be all things to all people (in fact, the most successful brands often polarise opinion).

When talking to a client about differentiation I normally ask my ‘Heineken question’ (inspired by the famous ‘only Heineken’ campaign): “What are the things that ‘only’ your brand offers your customers?”

Most brand owners immediately start to talk about the detail of their offering – price, services, product features. Some concluding that there’s nothing really that different, since lots of the competition are offering the same. Others arguing that they have something really unique – a ‘widget’ or a new service that is not available anywhere else in the marketplace.

However, a positioning based around these details will have a short shelf life, as they can ultimately be challenged – either a competitor will develop something to take away your advantage – or the market itself moves on.

An effective brand positioning goes deeper than this, tapping into the businesses very dna and uncovering the (often hidden) ‘nugget’ at the heart of your brand. The trick is to find something which is unique, something you can take ownership of and most importantly something which will captivate and engage your customer.

Uncovering the nugget at the heart of your business takes an experienced brand consultancy and a little bit of creative magic, but can be well worth the effort. With just a little investment in effective branding, your marketing efforts will become more efficient and more effective – giving you a much improved ROI.

So, go ahead and ask yourself the Heineken question. If you answer the same way as your employees, and your customers; then you probably have a strong brand – In which case, Cheers!

Lee Waterhouse is the owner of WDA, an award winning creative brand marketing agency based on Friar Gate. Lee is an experienced brand and marketing professional leading a team with the skills and experience to build, design and manage your brand – on and offline.

Based upon the opinions of leading marketing experts, business professionals and British consumers, Superbrands’ eagerly awaited annual league table of the UK’s strongest brands has just been published. Whilst luxury watch brand Rolex was a surprise winner ahead of the likes of Facebook, google and Coca-Cola, it was of course the Automotive brands which were of most interest to WDA.

In October we published Interbrand’s brand equity report (read story here), and how the best performing Automotive brands had seen positive value changes during 2012, with both BMW and VW up 18%, Mercedes up 10%, and Toyota and Ford up 9% and 6% respectively.  Indeed these Automotive giants again performed strongly here, with Mercedes-Benz placing 10th overall in the top 20 consumer brand results, one place ahead of arch rival BMW. Outside of the vehicle manufacturer category, it was tyre giant Michelin which won the General Automotive category, ahead of a number of other qualifying Superbrands from the tyre sector. Notable Automotive brand performers are as follows:

Top 20 Consumer Superbrands

10th – Mercedes-Benz
11th – BMW

Category Winners

Automotive Manufacturers – Mercedes-Benz
Automotive General – Michelin

Qualifying Superbrands

The Superbrands league is considered an important signal that a brand has communicated effectively and engagingly with its target. Click on the image below to read more about  Superbrands; or for a discussion on how your own brand could become a ‘Superbrand’  get in touch.

A great year for the Automotive sector with 5 of the top 50’s auto brands enjoying positive brand value changes. The sector as a whole outperforming all others in terms of brand value, ahead of both the financial and FMCG sectors. Whilst Coca-Cola remains in top spot, it is impossible to ignore Apple’s 129% increase ahead of both Google and Microsoft in the technology sector. Chart positions aside, the increasing fiscal values placed on these brands show just how much economic benefit is derived by their respective owners from ‘brand value’ – largely an intangible asset which is increasingly often worth more than a company’s tangible ones.
WDA have delivered branding and brand strategy consultation for clients ranging from global multi billion revenue companies, to SME’s and start up businesses, and everything in between. Regardless of size or market standing, the strength and relevance of your brand will almost always factor heavily in your customers decisions when faced with options to buy from you or a competitor. If you would like a chat to explore further how WDA might help your brand move up the charts,  then get in touch.