Mindshare Marketing

We’re past the middle of April.  Spring has sprung, flowers are blooming, and it was snowing this weekend.  Snow.  In April.  Doesn’t that mean it’s getting colder, not warmer?

What many of you don’t know is that, before I decided to focus on business, marketing, and branding, I completed a degree in physics.  My specialties there included quantum physics (because it sounded cool) and atmospheric emissions (i.e. greenhouse gasses and global warming).  I’m proud to say that this means I understand certain concepts, like global warming, fairly well.  It also causes me to shake my head when I hear comments like the one above.

“Global warming” is a term coined by scientists, not marketers.  As such, it’s incredibly difficult to understand and even harder to explain.  “Global warming” refers to the average temperature of the entire planet increasing over time due to increased greenhouse gasses.  As a consequence, temperature extremes get worse - cold gets colder, hot gets hotter.  On the whole, though, the total temperature is going up because the colder colds can’t balance the hotter hots.

Confused yet?

You’re probably asking why I’m talking about global warming on a branding blog.  I want to talk about the term, global warming.  Like I said earlier, the term was coined by scientists who over-thought the phenomenon and failed to explain it properly.  In the beginning, there weren’t any problems - people noticed increased drought-periods, warmer summer temperatures, and record-setting hot days.  “Global warming” seemed like a great term and the idea gained popularity in the press and in casual conversation.

As spring days begin to feature snow warnings and our flower garden investments go up in smoke, people have begun to doubt the “warming” idea.  My own friends have argued with me about whether global warming actually exists or if it’s a political ploy to raise taxes.  I hear people on the radio criticize public figures for holding on to such an “inaccurate” idea about the climate.  It seems that linking your brand to such a weakly formed one as global warming is sapping brand equity.  Look out Al Gore!

Nowadays, people talk more about “global climate change” than “global warming” because they want to avoid debate and confrontation.  Politicians are distancing themselves from used to be a popular brand association.  It’s very similar to American students who travel abroad claiming they are Canadian to avoid the negative brand association.  Sad, but true.

Scientists, however smart they might be, tend to not think things like brand management through before they create a new idea or, in this case, internationally branded concept.  How thorough is your brand management team?  Have you ever created a product or message platform that has turned into a liability?  What can you do to proactively avoid the fallout from brand misunderstandings?

This past Thursday I had the opportunity to attend a free stock investment seminar through Rich Dad’s Education. I realize very quickly that the ’seminar’ was nothing more than a fancy sales presentation, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Anyone who’s read Robert Kiyosaki’s book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, is familiar with both his theories on becoming rich and his philiosophies about money.  I can’t say I agree with everything he has to say; at the same time, though, much of his work is very telling of the brand we associate with being “rich.”

What does it take to be considered rich?  A net worth of over a million dollars?  An annual income of over $100,000?  Where exactly do we set the definition?  The fact of the matter is, most of us associate “rich” with a lifestyle and attitude, not the money that creates either.

Bill Gates is “rich.”  Almost everyone in the country would agree with that statement.  I guarantee, though, that almost none of them can tell you how much money he’s worth or how much he makes in a year.  Why?  Because we don’t care - he’s “rich” and that’s all that really matters.

At the stock seminar, the speaker explained that becoming rich was all about changing mental assumptions about money and how it’s used.  This, in turn, changes your purchasing behavior and the way you interact with the rest of the working world.  How exactly?  Well, I wasn’t willing to pay the $5,000 for the rest of the workshop, so the answer is forever lost to those who buy on impulse at sales presentations … another interesting branded demographic that I’ll maybe address later.

How would you identify brand ‘rich?’  Would you peg it to money earned, money maintained, or attitudes towards money as Mr. Kiyosaki does?  In contrast, how would you define the middle class’ brand?  The poor’s?

This has always been one of my favorite concepts in marketing: it’s inexpensive, farily easy to implement, and wildly successful. Unfortunately, it still seems to be one of the most misunderstood concepts in marketing as well.

DirecTV is running a series of advertisements that make fun of “the Cable Company” and it’s inability to actually manage or produce a quality product. Until last night, I found the commercials merely boring - then I saw a new one. When asked how cable can better compete with DirecTV, one of the fictional managers suggests, “we go viral,” then makes a crack about the blogosphere and breaks into laughter. The message is that viral marketing and blogging are ineffective or otherwise poor ways to market their product.

I think it’s the word, “viral,” that we choose to describe this topic. In reality, “viral marketing” is the same thing as “buzz marketing,” the exact campaign DirecTV is trying to ignite with it’s anti-cable message. The more people talk about shady business management (whether real or fictionalized on TV), the more business DirecTV will gain in return.

Are there terms in your field that gain infamy despite the fact that they are useful, productive business concepts? Why do you think they have been misused?