If it is possible to overdo branding for a city, Columbus may have done it.  The reason for the differentiation is real.  The logo is just downright cool.  The slogan, “Unexpected, Unforgettable” is really good, (except that I forgot it and had to look it up while I was writing this blog.)

The idea exceeds the reality in my estimation.  At least a dozen of the world’s most famous architects are represented, Meier, Saarinen, I.M. Pei, Kevin Roche, etc.  There are some neat buildings and the parks and landscaping is exceptional for a town of 40,000 people, but a vast majority of those people have houses and yards and businesses that detract from the town’s brand image.  And  of course, many of the town’s modern buildings did not age well.  They look out of date now.

I found myself deeply enjoying the town’s reputation for the first hour, being ho hum for the next hour, and finally deciding, “what’s the big deal?” in the third hour.

The line buried in the copy was “One brush stroke does the work of two.”  The visual demo had two brushes laying two side-by-side stripes of paint that converged into one.  But it was shot at an angle which made it hard to see, and was built into a montage of multiple images which was beautiful but unimpactful.  Thus the client and the agency took a potentially meaningful idea and hid it in :30 seconds of me-too copy.   The footage is beautiful and I am sure it is on the agency’s reel, but it could have also been great advertising.

There is a lesson in this for all of us.  If you are lucky enough to have a real idea, don’t hide it.  Focus on it.

I understand that when it came time to send out resumes, he got the highest return of his class.  But vs. the previous blog on The Chief Story Teller, I am going to give this young man’s effort a “Near Miss” because when I went to Google to find him, I was not able to.  I could track him down thru the school and would do so if I wanted to discuss a job with him, but all the pieces were not put together quite well enough for him to benefit completely from his differentiation.  He has some more work to do.

You don’t become a KILLER BRAND just by following the principles, you have to finish the drill.   The principles put you in position to become a KILLER BRAND.  They don’t get you there.   My new book, in development now, KILLER BRAND™ Marketing, is about converting strategy to marketing plans and finishing the drill.

The promise of “covers any surface universally even” is new in the spray paint category, and the actuator over-cap on the aerosol can is just down right cool.

The commercial does a good job of demonstrating that the canister can be sprayed at any angle, including upside down. This product feels like a potential big idea that has not quite been made one yet. I wonder what is the biggest idea here? Multi-surface coverage or paintability?

By the way, the packaging looks way better in commercials than it does on the website, so much better that I wonder if it’s the same.

Look it up and let me know what you think?

The product is called anti jet lag relief emergency booster.  I think “anti” jet lag and “relief” are contradictory.  Are they guarding against the effects of jet lag or repairing the effects?  If I glance at this product, or in Malcolm Gladwell’s jargon, if I blink at this product I get it, but the minute I start thinking about it, the confusion sets in.

This is the opposite of simple.  I wonder what it really does.

The Fat Burger unit is minimal and dated. The food is good. Once you stop in, the marketing is clear, the concept makes sense. They explain the name, that in 1952 when Fat Burger was founded that the concept of “fat” was good. It reflected the post WWII economy that arose after the “lean” times of the 30′s. For example, the term, “you’re in Fat City,” was coined. Now that I know that, I will never again wonder why Fat Burger is Fat Burger. Even if you do not know that fact, Fat Burger as a name sets up the expectation of a fat, juicy burger. But I have known of this chain for over 30 years and never stopped in before. Thirty years as an aware non-user is not a good reflection on any marketing plan.

Down the road is Habit, with arguably the best, biggest nicest burgers of any fast food restaurant ever. The name Habit sets up no expectation for me. To weaken it further, the name Habit is followed by no generic in the signage, not Habit Burgers, just Habit. And the logotype for Habit looks like it might be a Mexican concept. The official name is The Habit Burger Grill. But from the road I read only Habit.

Don’t get me wrong. Both of these companies are successful. Fat Burger has been in business for 56 years (3 years longer than McDonald’s); Habit for over 25 years. But in my opinion, each could benefit from better marketing.

I am not commenting on whether the idea is a good one or not. In fact, I don’t know because I am not an electric user.

But I do know that the name and linkage is not as differentiating as the idea, and just does not do the idea justice. They try, with the mnemonic device of the man changing his head with one in the medicine cabinet, but there are so many other devices that could have been used that would have related more to the device itself losing its head. I could not help but think of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow for instance with the razor personified as the headless horseman, or something of the ilk. There is a world of difference to me between a razor with a replaceable head and a user with a medicine cabinet full of replaceable human heads.

What did you think? Did this idea work for you?

Two points are worth learning from this advertising.

First, there is a potential big idea in one of the spots where two men in an office are bantering about how much certain things cost, their haircuts, one’s tie, etc., when a woman eating a dollar double hamburger from McDonald’s enters the conversation.  The potential big idea is when the voice over introduces the language, “dollar millionaire,” a new way to talk about dollar menu promotions.  But the campaign does not develop this as a big idea.  It is not even in all of the spots in the campaign.

Second, McDonalds also misses the opportunity to make this idea link to their brand.  Could be McDollar Millionaire.  Could be McMillionaire.  But the language is used generically.

Prudential investments have created the idea of a Retirement Red Zone defined as five years before or after retirement.  Having a critical time zone before and after retirement seems like a legitimate idea but calling it a RED ZONE seems weak to me and I’m a big football fan.

Even if Red Zone is not overused, it’s misused in this idea. The Red Zone in football is within 20 yards of the end zone, and certainly does not include the +/- idea.  It isn’t 20 yards before and after the end zone.

I think this could have been a more uniquely described idea.

Coke Zero has been introduced and according to John Brock the CEO of Coke Enterprises the bottling corporation, is a resounding success already. You may wonder, as I have, why Coke needs both Diet Coke with no calories and Coke Zero with no calories. The answer is “taste.”

It turns out that Diet Coke was never meant to taste like regular Coke without calories. It was a totally different taste system from Day One. Even after failing with Tab because of taste, Coca Cola brought out another “diet” cola without the coke taste system either. Diet Coke has succeeded of course, but there are still countless Coke drinkers who don’t like the diet version. When they switch to diet colas, they usually go somewhere besides Diet Coke.

Enter Coke Zero. Coke Zero is based on the real Coke taste system, and is the first diet product that is.

Introducing Diet Coke years ago without the Coke taste system is fuzzy logic to me, but I guess it has turned out okay. I cannot tell a really big difference between Diet Coke and Coke Zero, but armed with the facts will now become a Coke Zero regular drinker as soon as they switch from Aspartame to Splenda.