Marketing is a big term. What is it in the context of a public-facing institution like a museum? What is it when you do not have a large or consistent marketing budget or even a dedicated marketing department?
We launched the Free advertising campaign for the Bronx Museum as they announced to the world, and particularly to the Bronx, that they would go free to the public. Museum advertising often speaks primarily to the converted. This was an attempt to start up a conversation with museum virgins.
So is Facebook your newspaper? If you are under 34 the answer is probably yes.
Even a year ago 48% of 18-34 year olds checked Facebook when they woke up. Sound familiar? It’s the morning paper. The difference is 28% do this before even getting out of bed.
My family is not really on Facebook much. They forgot my birthday.
This reminded me of traveling in the Yucatan as a 22-year-old and utterly forgetting my own birthday. Somehow the group I was with knew when it was even if I did not, and they actually engineered a make-shift surprise party for me. That was perhaps my most memorable birthday, though I'm not sure I would recognize any of those kind people if I bumped into them on the street today.
"What if company logos were honest" is a very funny blog post featuring the work of the artist and designer Viktor Hertz. It kind of gets you thinking though. I talk a lot about truth and why it matters for a brand. And yet look at all these great brands. They are jokingly being shown at odds with the reality of what they actually deliver.
I think this situation shows, among other things, that a brand is NOT just a logo. But at the same time, it points out how our brand associations really are not rational.
The key question a brand must answer is, "Who are we?" The best answer to this is one that is short and clear.
The answer cannot be, "this, and this, and, oh yes, this." No matter how complex the reality is, a brand's keynote expression must be immediately graspable if it is to have real power. And it still needs to be true.
In a recent conversation with a very senior person at a financial institution, my colleague was told, "I think private wealth managers will have a hard time seeing the value of branding—they see marketing as a cost center, not a driver of sales."
Hold it. How did we go from branding to marketing in one sentence like that?
Yesterday we had Thanksgiving dinner at our neighbors house. The kids—who have all known each other since birth—piled up their plates with whatever they wanted most (including Brussels sprouts), and our host asked each of us to express in a single word what we were thankful for. Answers: "Food," "Friends," "Family," "Death"...
