Who is Mr Clean!

Brand Characters have been around for many years, probably as long as brands themselves have been around and advertising began. We all know brand characters, especially the really famous ones because we are exposed to them nearly every day. Who wouldn't think of Tucan Sam when purchasing a box of Fruit Loops or think of Aunt Jemimah's curves when pouring maple syrup on your pancaked. Funny enough a lot of brand characters have to do with breakfast food, especially cereal...I wonder why that is? I think it's probably because cereal is all so a like that they have to position it differently from all the rest, and because cereal is consumed hugely by children they have to find some way to relate to them and I suppose "critters" works, because they've been using it forever and continue to use it to this day. Brand character gives human or animal characteristics to a brand, it makes it easier for a consumer to relate to the brand in one way or another. Like the philledalphia cream cheese lady, those ads have really worked for philly, and especially the character herself, funny though how much cream cheese that woman eats and she never gains a pound..her motabolism must be through the roof!? Brand characters bring life to the brand, they make everything magical in some way or another, like Mr Clean can just swoop over a kitchen and make everything sparkling clean, or how Tony the Tiger can basically do anything and everything. It's an easy way for a brand to be recognized to, you know by seeing the older with the salt and pepper hair and beard that it's going to be an ad for Canadian Tire etc etc. I don't think the trend of Brand Characters is ever going to do out of style because it works, almost every brand could use a brand character in one way or another and it be successful, they just have to do it properly and effectively. It makes everything brand and products relateable, (if that is a word, lol).

Brand Story, the beginning of Virgin

The year was 1973 and Richard Branson had just hit the big 3-0. He was living in London England at the time and working for a large marketing company based just outside of London. It's not that he didn't enjoy his job, he loved it and he was good at it. However, he always felt like there was something missing in his life, like he was put on this world to do greater things. One sunny afternoon he was walking through the park accross the street from his apartment, where he went once in a while just to think and be on his own. He was walking through, when he passed by this younger woman sitting on a bench with an open guitar case infront of her playing the guitar and singing away. Richard was intrigued, he had never heard a voice as beautiful as this one. He put 3 pounds into the woman's guitar case and stood there to listen for a few minutes. Later on that night while out for dinner with some friends Richard brought up the woman in the park, and expressed to his mates how he really thought that this woman could make it in the music world. Jokingly one of his friends suggested that Richard himself should produce her music, everyone had a little chuckle, except for Richard who's wheels in his head were spinning, faster and faster. Richard spent the entire rest of the night sitting at the table in the diner, all of his friends had left but Richard on the other hand was dreaming up this multi-million dollar music label. He had papers everywhere, jotting down ideas, throwing around numbers in his head. The very next day he made a few phone calls to family members, business associates etc, and unfortunately no one was interested in investing other than his great uncle whom he hadn't spoken to in years. Later that day he went back to the park and with his luck the young woman was there again Richard approached her and told her about the music label that he was going to start and was wondering if she would be his very first artist to produce. The young woman laughed and called Richard crazy, and told him he would be able to start a music label when she became a virgin again (that is where the name Virgin came from). Later that week Richard met with his wealthy business man Uncle who willingly invested money in Richards "big idea" and helped him plan everything out. About a year later Virgin began, and Richard found the woman from the park, and indeed she was the first artist to record and produce music in Virgin's first studio. And, the rest is history, Richard went on to extend the brand to just about anything he could think of, airplanes, trains, mobile cell phones, clothing and the list goes on and on. Without a doubt with all the technological advancements there's no telling what Virgin will come up with next.

Brand Architecture, what it is and why it's important.

Brand positioning is something a company should put a great deal of thought into, before actually deciding what their positioning statement actually is. It is extremely important to make sure consumers know exactly what the brand is in the market and how they differ from other products that are similar. A brand has to decide what it is about them that makes them stand out above others, what is "special" about them. If a brand doesn't stand out in the market, it's not going to last, if a consumer has no idea if the product (brand) is better in someway or another and they have no loyalty to the brand itself, then they are just going to pick whatever jumps out at them, without putting any thought into it. How the consumer views the brand is also pretty vital, because they have to feel like they trust the brand in some way or another, and therefore could potentially become loyal to the brand and only that brand, which is ultimately what a company strives for.
Some examples of brands that have had great success in this department are Ford, Ford vehicles are build tough especially their trucks. Wendy's drive through is open later than most fast food companies. Subway is the "fresh" way to go when it comes to sandwiches. Mac is more advanced and easy to use. Wal-Mart is the constantly rolling pack their prices, and the list goes on and on.
I believe when there is a new brand, their positioning statement is the most important thing, the positioning of the brand should be one of the first things that is decided because it's what everything around the brand is based on. It gets confusing when it comes to brands that are very similar, for example Coke and Pepsi are pretty much the exact same thing they do differ in taste and their packaging is different, however I don't think I've ever known what the true difference between them is, and maybe they did this on purpose because a brand like Coke or Pepsi is something people are very brand loyal about, I think both of these brands need to better define themselves, not that they're not doing very well or anything but I think that it would be nice to truly know what the two brands are about and how exactly they differ so maybe people can have an easier time choosing one brand over the other.

What do you look for in a Personality?

Every brand has a personality in one way or another, whether they are exciting or not..there is always something that makes a brand unique. For this entry I decided to write about a few brands, without using any names, kind of like the game we played in class. Seeing as one of our favorite topics in class is talking about Coffee houses, I'm going to separately describe 3 different coffee brewers personalities and the reader (you) can guess which brands I'm describing, but I won't give the answers until the end of the blog. Alright, it shouldn't be too difficult so give it a shot!

1. I am a middle-aged female. A divorce with shared custody over her only daughter. I like to say I am a workaholic but anyone that knows me knows that's untrue. I graduated from University with honours in business and opened my own business just a year after graduation. It's a small herbal remedies store with vitamins and teas and candles, it is small now but I can see it growing within a few years. I drive a hybrid vehicle, because I absolutely despise taking public transportation to work, so it's the least I can do. I enjoy shopping and putting a little dent on the credit card now and then, especially when it comes to shopping for my daughter, she's exactly like me in every way. I am not a vegetarian, however I like to limit my mean intake as much as I can, but everyone enjoys a big juicy steak every now and then. I am not a trend setter in the least bit, unless it comes to promoting the products in my store, my daughter always tells me I dress and act much older than I am. I love exercising in every which way, whether it be playing with my daughter, or my Monday-Wednesday Yoga classes. I care about my appearance and about the impression I give out because it not only reflects the person I am, but also my growing business.

2. I am a 56 year old male, married for 22 years and have 3 wonderful children, 2 grandchildren and one more on the way. I have been in the construction business for 36 years, and have loved every minute of it, but cannot wait to retire in a few years. I have tough skin, and am a fairly simple guy, but anyone who knows me knows that I am a true family man, and that my Grandchildren's smiles make me completely weak at the knees. I think of myself as a very wise man, I had a great unbringing and a good education, which both had an impact on the man I am today. I enjoy outdoor activities, my wife and I own a cottage about 300km from our home, which we like to spend the summers at. I've always been a big outdoorsman, fishing, hunting anything that involves not being cooped up indoors. I drive a Ford F250, not the most environmentally vehicle, however I am not new-age and unfortunately havn't really gotten into the whole "eco" lifestyle most others have become accustomed to, but my wife and I are starting to recycle on a regular basis, which is the first big step I suppose. I'm not really big on change, however I am willing to experience different things every once a while.

3. I am a female in my early 30's, and I am at the peak of my career at a privately owned Marketing company. I started at the very bottom of my company, as a filing girl while I was in school, but after I was finished my business/marketing degree I managed to work my way up and am now one of the junior executives at the firm. I am not married (yet) but have been with my now fiancee for 7 years and we plan to be married next fall, we decided on a long engagement because we were both just starting out in our careers and were way too busy to truly start a life together. However, now that everything is starting to come together we are taking the plunge and want to have children right away. My fiancee and I just bought a house last summer, and our new favorite hobbies is throwing dinner parties. We have many friends that we met throughout college and co-workers too, but everyone looks foward to my husbands veal parmasian. I absolutely love to travel, I have seen a lot of the world, but am not even close to being finished, I want to experience everything the world has to offer. I am a materialist in every sense of the word, I enjoy expensive things, because I am a true believer in the more you pay for something, the better quality the product is. I'm a hard worker, which is how I got to where I am today, and believe me there is no stopping me now.

Ok, so hopefully these weren't too difficult, but do you have any idea what these coffee shop personalities are? Take another look if you need to and then scroll down for the answers.
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. 1. Bridgehead
. 2. Tim Hortons
. 3. Starbucks

Yipee if you got them all right!:)

Brave new Branding

It is interesting to see a brand truly extend, and do it well. The obvious choice in talking about Brand extension would be to mention Virgin. Virgin is a company that nearly cannot even be defined because it has branched out almost every way a brand can. Virgin has everything from cell phones and music labels, to trains and airplanes. Could it be time to wonder how much else Virgin could possibly do with its brand?

Sometimes Brand extensions don't really work, this usually happens because the extension has a hard time connecting witht the parent brand. The new product lacks similarity, so the consumers cannot make any connections with the new product and its brand. Another reason brand extensions sometimes fail, is because of inconsistent IMC messages, the brand is simply not doing a great job at promoting the new product and getting people excited about the product.

Companies have to be careful when extending their brands, having too many extensions could aid in the brand losing its entire personality, and lead to the consumers forgetting what the original parent brand was in the first place. Brand extension could also damage the consumers perception of the existing brand. I think that Brand extension is usually a good thing for a company, especially if it is a successful one. Getting your brand out there in as many possible ways as you can is great for building brand preference and loyalty among consumers.

Brand Loyalty (My thoughts on designer brands)

Coach, Fendi, Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton..these are are brands that I am not familiar with. I know of them because I am a girl, and I have plenty of girlfriends who enjoy designer brands, however I've never been the type of girl who needs to carry a designer handbag or wear designer shoes. I don't believe in spending an obscene amount of money on one particular item, why buy a $290.00 pair of shoes, when you can get 3 or 4 pairs for that price somewhere else. How is anyone going to be able to tell that you are wearing Aldo shoes as apposed to Prada, there are only a select few that could actually point it out on the spot.

Not to say that I am not loyal to any type of specific clothing brand, just not the expensive ones.

I really like shopping at American Apparel, it is a tad bit pricier than other clothing stores, but I shop there religiously because I really respect what they do, and what the brand is about. They are one of the only clothing stores that I know(especially in Canada) that does not use sweat shops (child labour) to make their clothing. Their clothing lines are always fun and vibrant, and although they have the same designs for a longer period of time than other stores, it gives me time to save up for my next purchase from there.

I am loyal to many brands, but for no particular reason. I love Dove shampoo and have a hard time using anything else, Dasani water is the only bottled water I'll drink, and I only smoke Belmonts. I don't necessarily think these products are "better" than their competition, however they are products that I have been consuming for a long time and I am comfortable with them and am satisfied with my decision when I purchase these items.