Strategy & Brand

Organizations that churn out a tired press release every time a deal is sealed, or donation made, are relying on an outdated way of working that just won’t cut it in the new world order. It’s time to do away with the generic, self-serving, homogenized, bland, corporate press releases that have plagued us all for far too long.

More than 70% of shoppers strongly believe that brands waste too much money on marketing and advertising.  Talk is cheap; experience isn’t; and the discerning citizens we’re all hoping to impress with our PR efforts know it. Organizations that have a relevant message and authentic purpose will have to cut though the meaningless chatter to make it in print, on the news, and over the airwaves.

So, what’s in a good press release? A good press release…

-Tells a relevant newsworthy story that has meaning and purpose outside the self-serving motivations of the author organization.

-Has all the important, interesting, noteworthy, and appealing details a journalist would need to write a thrilling article on your newsworthy subject. If your press release isn’t interesting the article about you likely won’t be either (if one even gets written). Remember, You’re Too Good for Boring.

-Is only sent to people who will actually want to see it, otherwise it’s just plain old spam. If you’re not sure who within a news organization to send the press release to, just make a phone call and ask the receptionist (pre-emptive calls are preferred to misdirected mail).

-Is written for two audiences- the journalists who will write about it, and the journalists’ readers. You have to make it relevant to both parties- make it clear that this press release is interesting, the subject matter is relevant to the community,  and the subject matter will appeal to the newspaper’s readers (and help drive newspaper sales and site traffic).

-Has the who, what, where, why, & when parts in the first paragraph or two of the press release. Journalists write articles with most important/pivotal/technical details first and least important details last- so it helps them want to write about your press release if it’s written like they themselves would write an article.

-Answers the questions people would ask if you were talking about this in person, or the negative thoughts/opinions/perspectives you’ll want to overcome. Use your vivid creative narrativity-soaked lingo to help overcome the obstacles and objections and answer the important questions.

-Is short and sweet- stick to one page in length. Be concise, but not boring.

“Omit needless words, omit needless words.” E.B. White

“It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.” Friedrich Nietzsche

-Conveys the brand- from content to tone, style, and method of delivery.

-Has an interest-catching and to-the-point title. The title and the first line should hook your reader.

-Is sent as a link in an email, or as a printed and snail-mailed document, not as an attachment and never as a fax. The fax machine has become irrelevant, so sending a press release via fax makes your press release seem irrelevant too (don’t be the reason newspapers and magazine still have to own fax machines- get with the times and send a pdf).

-If it’s sent via email, the subject line should make the recipient actually want to open it. Writing “Press Release” in the subject line is lazy, and boring. Just say no to boring!

-Is sent out timely. Not just ‘in advance’, but also when the timing is relevant. If you’re hosting a cycling fundraiser, wait to send the press release until you’re well into the planning stage and have details to announce- a date, a website, donor and racer info, etc. That you’ll be hosting an event, at some point in the future to raise money for a cause TBA, isn’t news. You shouldn’t write a press release until you have newsworthy reportable info worth reading about, writing about, talking about… Timing is everything.

Sometimes, the key to a great press release is breaking the rules- with purpose and intention. For example, BlackDog’s digital press releases always have a second page (in print it’s a front and back, but in its digital incarnation- it’s two separate rule-breaking pages). If you have a good reason for overturning the accepted norms, go for it- so long as it’ll convey the brand, meet the needs of journalists and editors, and get your newsworthy tale in front of your target audience.

“Conscientious Objectives: Designing for an Ethical Message” by John Cranmer & Yolanda Zappaterra… An inspired look at the correlation between messaging, design, and social ergonomics. Cranmer and Zappaterra brilliantly tackle the design world’s accidental mantra: “if it looks good, it is good.” Written to fill a glaring gap, this book addresses the impact of design on ethical, sustainability-oriented, purpose-driven messaging.

“Guerrilla Advertising: Unconventional Brand Communication” by Gavin Lucas and Michael Dorrian… This book explores a varied array of noteworthy experimental campaigns that chose brand experience and guerrilla engagement over the same-old same-old way advertising had always been done. While a few of the examples depicted are likely to cause a well-deserved cringe, this read is guaranteed to get your creative cogs wheeling.

“Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead” By David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan… An easy reading case study on how the Grateful Dead broke the rules on purpose, for a purpose.

“This One Time At Brand Camp” by Tom Fishburne… The collected and cartooned satirical “What Not To Do” wit of Tom Fishburne, inspired by brand builders gone enthusiastically awry.

“The Elements of Content Strategy” by Erin Kissane… The charming, pink-haired, content-loving strategist we’ve come to know as @kissane has captured the nitty gritty how-to’s of content strategy and compiled them into a concise little manual that would make Strunk &White darn-right proud. A brilliant guide for accidental and aspiring content strategists alike.

“100 Best Annual Reports 2010” edited by B. Martin Pedersen… A collection of 100 annual reports that convey the brand, utilize design principles, and create distinction. If boring isn’t for you, this book might be.

For more reads we recommend, check out the Top Shelf  Part I.

Narrativity: [nar-uh-tiv-uh-tee]: 1.) the degree to which your brand spunk, funk, credibility, attitude, and vibe shines through your messaging. 2.) Your voice, your verbiage, your tone.

While preparing for a wine-touring camping trip to Watkins Glen, I began perusing the websites of the nearby Seneca Lake wineries and plotting my prioritized must-see, must-visit list for the alcohol-inspired excursion. I was frustrated to find that, with a mere handful of exceptions, every winery’s website looked and sounded the same, and they all lacked personality, pizzazz, and panache. Armed with an adventurous spirit, I finally gave up pre-planning my wine trail route, and decided to wing the whole experience. I visited several wineries I liked, several I very much didn’t, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d accidentally by chance driven right past my dream winery and missed my one chance at true varietal bliss.

If every brand looks and sounds the same, has same perspective, purpose, product, it doesn’t matter which winery you visit or which brand you choose. The one is as good as the other, and if you’ve had one you’ve had them all. If you’re distinct, worthy of note, and you hide behind  the same humdrum look, feel, sound, and practice as everyone else, no one will ever know you’re worthy of their time or attention. When everyone is just a different shade of beige, popped from the same drone mold, we’re all being robbed of an opportunity for preference and our worlds all have a little less color in them. Boring is thievery by complacency.

Narrativity is one of the ways bold brands with a story to tell differentiate their experience, brighten their color spectrum, and tell their too-good-for-boring tale. Your brand’s story is made up of your brand’s real-life, day to day, actions, decisions, products, events, partnerships, sponsors. It’s who you are, how you work, what you do, and why you do it.  Narrativity is the voice, tone, and verbiage you use to tell that vivid, appealing, authentic story. Narrativity is like a person’s distinct vocabulary and speech pattern. It’s the words and phrases you own, and it’s what makes you sound like you, instead of just like everybody else.

Here are a few examples of vibrant, saucy brands that have high degree of Narrativity:

Urban Daddy: A racy, random, irreverent city guide for liquor drinking, women loving, wannabe jet owning, good humored James Bond types the world over. After reading an article or three from Urban Daddy, you and your grandmother could both pick their work out of a line up blind-folded (if it was being read aloud).

Harley-Davidson: Harley doesn’t sell motorcycles, they sell freedom, self-expression, great escapes, and the open road. Harley’s “grab life by the bars”, “leave well enough behind”, “out to free the world” attitude is captured in and on everything from their advertisements to their annual reports.

Kraken Rum: This edge-of-the-world nautical brand is steeped in legend and only distilled for the fearless, seafaring, adventuring, unshaven at spirit. Once you’ve heard a Kraken ad, you can’t help but read the Kraken bottle and the Kraken story using their narrator’s speech pattern- it’s that alluring and distinctive. Kraken’s tone is so consistently conveyed with such a distinctive verve that their narrator’s voice and their content’s verbiage isn’t ever separate from the story, it’s part of their story.

For a sneak peek at Kraken’s vivid storytelling in action, check out their tale of the man-eating, ship-wreaking, sea-monster The Kraken, via their website.

Coffee Fool: Coffee Fool comes with a warning: their coffee is so fresh and delicious, everything else will taste bland and stale in comparison. What the warning doesn’t mention is that everything’ll look and sound bland in comparison as well. While other coffee roasters talk in coffee-speak about notes and tones and soils and geographies, these guys have a style all their own…. An example: the description for their only-brewed-on-Fridays flavor, Vanillamykahlua, proclaims it: “Tastes just like it sounds, with a little Hawaiian rumble in the jungle.” And the description for their knock-your-socks off bacon-flavored brew: “If everything tastes better with bacon, then why not coffee too? Our bacon flavor is not just roasted – it’s spit roasted. It’s so aromatic, you’ll be instant friends with your work colleagues and … any neighborhood dogs.”

I called your firm for an estimate for a brochure. I spoke with your communication strategist, forwarded marketing and communication materials, liked you on Facebook, and looked forward to a proposal. BlackDog declined the opportunity. I thought that you didn’t have time to write a proposal. I offered to forgo the protocols, agree on a budget, and proceed. BlackDog just flat out refused the work. Who refuses work?

First things first…I am sorry that you were disappointed by our response and that your efforts were likely delayed by our decision.

2.) Asking BlackDog to create a brochure is like asking BMW to make a little red wagon.

3.) BlackDog does and will thoughtfully decline project opportunities. We take our work personal and your business serious.

The official story (and long of it) is that BlackDog Strategy & Brand integrates the efforts of spirited brands that want to know how they can do what they do differently, simpler, and smarter. We align bold brands that challenge the boundaries, explore the limits, and harness their unique organizational competencies disrupting business as usual and creating new possibilities. We operationalize bold brands that are undaunted by the popular world view; brands that refuse to pay lip service to lofty missions or shallow pursuits.

We don’t spin communications or create noise at BlackDog; we humanize relevant brands that keep it fresh and real; brands that connect their Big !dea to what truly matters. We don’t fabricate shallow myths and we’re not persuaded by the demand for contrived hype. We partner with authentic brands that have people centric priorities, a story to tell, and a genuine contribution to make.

We champion the efforts of those that view their work as a vocation and recognize their accountability to society.

The short of it is that the organization that you represented likely wanted to create awareness but A.) didn’t have anything to say or B.) wanted to say what everyone else already was or C.) wanted to concoct a perception not based on reality.

I can say for certain that we never just decline an opportunity without putting up a good fight and making a strong case for substance, relevance, and authenticity. Selling out, mimicry, and the good ‘ole “tired” and true method of doing things the way they’ve always been done just isn’t for us and mediocre should never be for you.

We are taking an industrial product to new, broader markets. Should we be  concerned with losing the confidence of our existing and loyal markets?

It is critical that you first understand the markets that support the product lines now to wisely interpret the direction, synergy, and prospective untapped markets moving forward.

Diversifying into new areas of business demands thoughtful consistency to avoid unintended consequences. Coherence emerges when brand owners and developers understand the target audience’s needs and point of decision preferences. Consistency maximizes and provokes awareness; assuring current markets while encouraging new target audiences to “try” your product. Consistency is the quality that evolves the past forward, ensuring that the history and diversity of time and change come together seamlessly; communicating dependability to customers. Assuming that you know who wants it and why, consistency will be the certain challenge to manage through market expansions.

We can’t seem to get a handle on just who our customer is to create a customer profile. We aren’t sure how to determine who our customer is without revealing that we don’t have a clue. Does it matter if sales are consistent?

One of my favorite magazines, UTNE Reader published an excerpt of an article from imprint that I think addresses this question adequately.

Spray Tips

by Caleb Neelon, from imprint

Spray paint dates to about the 1920s, but the history of the spray paint can in its familiar form begins in the early 1960s. By the early 1970s, it was an art medium in the hands of New York kids, who quickly figured out that swapping out the factory nozzle for one from a can of oven cleaner gives a fatter, cleaner line. They also found that nozzles from cans of spray fixative give a narrow, clean line perfect for detailing. By the mid-1990s, enterprising graffiti writers had figured out how to bulk-order these spray tips and were reselling them to other graffiti writers.

Then there were the paints themselves. In the mid-1990s, European spray paint brands such as Belton and Montana really paid attention to graffiti writers, sponsoring projects and even giving star graffiti writers their own signature color of paint. Graffiti writers knew all the nuances of spray paint—coverage, overspray, color intensity, compatibility with other brands—and all of those other details that no weekend warrior out spray-painting his metal deck furniture is ever going to see.

The two main American spray paint companies, Rust-Oleum and Krylon, have always played blind to graffiti. While Belton and Montana each have several hundred colors, Rusto and Krylon have kept their color palettes to about a dozen or two at a time, forcing graffiti writers to shop at out-of-the-way discount stores to stock up on colors  available only for a season or two. Since you can’t mix spray paint colors without a lot of fuss, this is annoying. Krylon, a onetime favorite, has been so watered down that it’s simply useless. Along the way, they switched to a “fan” spray tip—the worst for any kind of artistic use—and even worse, made the fan tip more difficult to replace. Graffiti writers pay close attention to nozzle quality and its ability to accommodate a variety of nozzles. Krylon simply removed itself from the artistic-use market with this one move.

American graffiti writers are fiercely loyal to Rust-Oleum, however. Rusto is legendary as the thickest and most durable of all spray paints. It’s not for finesse: The thickness of the stuff precludes detail work, but there’s nothing that’ll last like it. Unfortunately, Rust-Oleum is busily making a switch to a “female” cap—one where the little post between nozzle and can is connected to the can, not the nozzle. It’s a small detail, but they wouldn’t have done it if they had listened to the people who know their products best.

European spray paints took a while to arrive in U.S. markets, but they’re here now and easy to find. American graffiti writers who would go through hundreds of cans of Rusto in a year are now using Belton, Montana, and a new arrival, Ironlak. These European spray paints can cost twice as much as their American counterparts, but artists are artists and they’ll pay the price to make their work.

Excerpted from imprint, the content-rich online outlet of Print, a bimonthly magazine about visual culture and design. http://imprint.printmag.com
Read more>>

Garland Pollard, a writer, web editor and SEO consultant writes “Is there too much branding?

He continues, “… must we all be so concerned with branding? Isn’t a good brand really the result of a moral, well-run company? Isn’t it better that hospitals focus on patients, and let the “branding” speak for itself? Do churches really need to “brand” themselves, or is it better that they focus on saving souls? Do we really need for banks to have visual identities, or do we want them to treat us properly when we make a deposit? Is the most recent mania for branding yet another management fad that we use to obscure coercion, duplicity and manipulation?”

Taking those in bite size pieces:

“Is there too much branding?”

A.) No, there is not “too much branding” anymore than there are too many interesting, purpose driven people making honorable contributions to the world.  There is far too much talk about branding and too many quick fix, faux solutions applied that actually distort the power of brand.

“Must we all be so concerned with branding?”

B.) Yes, in global and competitive markets we should all be concerned with branding; differentiating our organizational value in a memorable way is critical to vitality.

“Isn’t a good brand really the result of a moral, well-run company?”

C.) Yes, exactly! A good brand is the result of a moral, well-run company. But how does a working community define a moral company and align a well-run company without a shared identity and concerted purpose?

“Isn’t it better that hospitals focus on patients, and let the “branding” speak for itself?”

D.) Yes, hospitals should focus on patients. Healthy “brand philosophies” align the operating objectives of hospitals with the patient needs and expectations.

Appreciating that everyone, from patients to our nation as a whole, expects more than just advanced health-care today demands that hospitals offer more than quality recovery.

E.) Strong brands rarely, if ever just emerge from the operational routine to speak explicitly and align strategically.

“Do churches really need to “brand” themselves, or is it better that they focus on saving souls?”

F.) This not an either or proposition. Churches most certainly need to distinguish one from another in an effort to save souls. Churches passionate about their “call” want to speak beyond the pulpit to the people that are hoping for a message of hope and membership. Pentecostal? Down-to-earth? Fiscally transparent and accountable? Humanitarian outreach focused? Missions supportive? What a church represents is a story worth telling.

“Do we really need for banks to have visual identities, or do we want them to treat us properly when we make a deposit?”

G.) Yes, yes, and yes. A compelling brand ensures that your teller will treat you properly when making a deposit. The goal is to align what you do and how you do it around a simple, relevant and meaningful concept (brand promise) that can be delivered consistently provokes interest and woos customers.

I attempted to make a deposit with the wrong paperwork just recently. A logo on the slip would have been time saving for everyone waiting in line.

“Is the most recent mania for branding yet another management fad that we use to obscure coercion, duplicity and manipulation?”

H.) Identity matters. Buyers report that a cohesive brand for a relevant product/service eliminates the mental tug of war that they face when they make buying decisions.

“Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath
Why do some ideas make powerfully indelible impressions and others just don’t seem to stick at all? Chip and Dan Heath have the answer to what makes some ideas “stickier” than most. The official how-to guide on crafting and conveying ideas that capture attention.

“The Designful Company” by Marty Neumeier
A designful writer, editor, marketer, or advertiser  crafts messages that are relevant, alluring, meaningful, transparent, accurate, and that actually matter. The Designful Company addresses the ways that divergent thinking can help writers align a brand’s messaging with its operations to maintain relevance and drive thought-leadership.

“Content Strategy for the Web” by Kristina Halvorson
The ultimate intro guide to creating, organizing, and managing web content that works. Halverson covers everything from auditing your existing content to figuring out your site architecture and long-term content management.

“Brand Digital” by Allen P. Adamson
Loaded with case studies, research, and the hard-earned wisdom of industry experts, BrandDigital offers an insightful perspective on developing brand presence, touch-points, recognition, and engagement through digital mediums. An outstanding follow-up to Adamson’s book “Brand Simple: How the Best Brands Keep it Simple and Succeed.”

“Art Direction + Editorial Design” by Yolanda Zappatera
An in-depth guide to conveying brand identity and connecting with target audiences through editorial design. Covers everything from layout design to color psychology, pull-quotes, and type- with excellent case studies and full illustrations.

“The Subversive Copy Editor” by Carol Fisher Saller
This University of Chicago Press manuscript editor shares her stories and advice to help writers and editors avoid squashing spirits, injuring egos, and create hostile relationships when editing someone else’s content- or trying to convey some else’s Big !dea. Saller’s tips and tricks are also helpful for navigating problem areas when you’re working collaboratively to engineer copy.

“Slide:ology” by Nancy Duarte
A practical guide to creating vibrant visual presentations- from the presentation experience to communicating your brand, color wheels, and font size.

“Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing” by Mignon Fogarty
The ultimate layman’s guide to grammar rules and their exceptions. It’s clear, concise, and has an excellent index.

“If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it.” Tennessee Williams

The hardest part of crafting an authentic brand narrative is excavating who you really are, what you really do, and why you really matter.

It’s easy rattle off a check-list of standard, homogenized, industry phraseology that mimics what everyone else has always said about themselves. But you can’t differentiate yourself with corporate bologna and cookie cutter content. Saying what everyone else already says just makes you sound like everyone else.

If your narrative, the way you’re telling your story, doesn’t flawlessly capture your real-life story, identity, and Big !dea – you haven’t gotten it right yet.

Excavating what really matters is rarely an easy task, and the process is exponentially more daunting, grueling, and gut-wrenching when you’re close to the story. In “Made to Stick,” Chip and Dan Heath help brand stewards understand what journalists have long called “burying the lead.” While explaining the “burying the lead” concept, the Heath brothers quote the hard earned wisdom of newspaper editor and communications professor Ed Cray: “The longer you work on a story, the more you can find yourself losing direction. No detail is too small. You just don’t know what your story is anymore.” [1] Instead of giving in, giving up, and settling for generic content, focus on what really matters: Your Big !dea, your points of differentiation, your unique perspective.

When you’ve gotten it right, your one-of-a-kind narrative will be inseparable from the real life organization. When it’s right, you’ll know it! It’ll feel authentic, ring true, and resonate with your customers, your employees, and your favorite barista at the corner coffee shop.

[1] Ed Cray, Professor of Communications at the University of Southern California. QTD In: Chip Health and Dan Heath. “Making it Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.” New York: Random House, 2008. P. 32.

What have you been wanting to brand but haven’t gotten a chance to yet?

A Public School (likely our next pro bono project). Every kid should know why they “attend” this place, what matters around here (authentically), what it means to belong “here”, what “we” collectively stand for, are made of and contribute to, and what the expectations and outcomes are beyond what everyone supposes is “obvious”.

Retirement Community

A triathlon with an interesting history and spirited purpose

A carnival in Brazil

Accountants

Water; a product or cause related campaign having anything (healthy) to do with water

Branded art that captures and expresses the sense of people and place that come together to action a significant purpose

A philharmonic or symphony

Peanut butter and jelly

A Brewery

Library system

An arts or not-for-profit cluster. Yes, Porter’s cluster theory can be applied to cultural and human services…

The City of Amsterdam

A life saving device

Parking garages

Bookstores

Cruise Ships

Advertising/sponsorship criteria for Oprah’s OWN network. Smart partners make for an indelible impact.

Extreme Sports Brand

Magazine

Surf Gear

A natural or man-made wonder of the world

Real toys

Tequila

The exterior and interior working space that inspires a community of renegades; function, look, and feel.  ”We shape our buildings and thereafter they shape us.” Winston Churchill

Something culinary

Ski’s

Visceral way-finding

Chocolate!

Something that teaches the world to sing

Mountain bikes

Cereal…This may be a pro bono project that we commandeer as a public service announcement one of these days. Not because we love cereal, but because we are unnerved by the blatant advertising deception embraced by the dirty few that ultimately misleads the busy many.

Check it out yourself…Read Serious Play for Serious Girl’s case study “General Mills: A Case Study on Corporate Values” http://www.seriousplayforseriousgirls.com/?p=601 or the Rudd Center’s original report: “Cereal FACTS: Evaluating the Nutrition Quality and Marketing of Children’s Cereals.” http://www.cerealfacts.org/media/Cereal_FACTS_Report.pdf

p.s. *We’d love to design William Gibson’s next book cover