The most ‘on-brand’ resignation letter I’ve ever seen

So, Steve Jobs has finally resigned as Apple's CEO. For me, the most interesting part of this story is the way in which he penned his resignation letter. It wasn’t bitter or self-pitying, it was just so 'on brand' in its tone and affections for Apple's staff and community. In it he said that he would:  "…like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee." and signed off with: "…and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you."

These are humble sentiments coming from a man that is regarded as having saved Apple in the mid-90's - wrestling it from the clutches of failure and turning dull PC's in grey boxes into a set of highly desirable products and design icons.

Rather than positioning himself as the saviour, I'm impressed with the way he's been able to put ego to one side and understand that although the brand wouldn't have sky rocketed without his intervention, the Apple brand experience, it's personality, the diversity of its game-changing products and its tone of voice have developed a life of their own and has become so much bigger than him.

It's hard enough to walk away from something you've given a lifetime's work to but to do it in such a manner deserves respect. Here's to Apple and good health to Mr Jobs.

Posted by Andy Cording, Brand Experiences Account Manager 

Are the wheels falling off your brand experience? A cautionary tale…

I love my bike. I shouldn’t, but I do. When I tenderly lifted it out of its packaging just after it had been delivered to me I was shocked and disgusted to find bubbles of rust beneath the paint, at the top of the forks. There shouldn’t have been rust on it, I bought it from new. And, when I’m charging up and down the roads and towpaths of East Herts the chain, more often than not, will unceremoniously slip off, leaving me coasting with my legs spinning like Wylie Coyote’s after he’s discovered he’s run out of road. Even though I end up with greasy hands after every trip; even though the saddle was designed by medieval torturers; and even though there are no gears and only one brake: I love this bike. It’s obviously a bag of spanners and I was so obviously ‘done’ out of £100 but I think I look great on it. You see, it’s one of those ‘sit up and beg’ bikes that you find in Amsterdam. You know the type: swept back handlebars and trendy light grey, skinny tyres. It’s the type of bike that only harmless eccentrics would buy, and that’s precisely why I bought it. There was no advert that persuaded me to buy it – I deliberately hunted it down on eBay. It was the next piece in the jigsaw of the brand vision that I had created for myself. Instead, I’ve been let down by a sub-standard product which has left me fixing my bike on the side of the road while other really trendy Home Counties dudes with more common sense than me vroom past and scatter me with dust in their brand new cabriolets. So learn from my mistake: if you want your brand to succeed, invest in it properly. Posted by Andy Cording, Brand Experiences Account Manager

Brand Experience: Reality bites for Abercrombie & Fitch

As far as live events go, the American reality TV show Jersey Shore is (for anyone under the age of 25) a global success. Never the less, as far as branded events go, the fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch are adamant it won’t be an event with their logo slapped all over it. So appalled are they with the behaviour of the show’s star, Michael ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino that this week they have reportedly paid him significant sums of money NOT to wear their clothes on screen in order to protect the brand they have spent millions of dollars cultivating. Given that this show is adored by fans all over the world you can see why they're getting a little hot under their preppy, pastel coloured polo collars.

Is this simply a highly effective bit of brand PR during the annual summer news slowdown (this subject was even deserving of 5 minutes airtime on BBC Radio 4!) or, heaven forbid, the beginning of an anti-sponsorship phenomenon?  Historically, brands have had ultimate control about whose svelte or ripped bodies their brands are seen on, but with the advent of YouTube and 24 hour rolling reality churning all spectrums of suspect behaviour out of our screens, brands could quickly find themselves having to spend more and more of their time and money in the bizarre situation of 'unpromoting' their products.

Not all brands have had the foresight or frankly the guts to do this - do you remember when Daniella Westbrook accessorised her whole life in Burberry? A&F, however, have always been outspoken and never shied away from telling the public what it feels which is why I think the much anticipated PR backfire won’t necessarily happen. Whether you think them arrogant or not, A&F have laid a very clear marker in the sand by stating that they are certainly not associated with the common 'dross' of reality television and instead are the exclusive label for those preppy enough to turn their backs on the quick fix of fame reality TV promises.

Now, where did I put my matching Burberry sock and underwear set?

Posted By Andy Cording, Brand Experiences Account Manager at The MotivAction Group

…and the best branded world record goes to...

I stumbled across this list of world records set by some of the world's biggest brands the other day, as part of their brand communications campaigns.

At number four, in homage to one of Belgium’s most famous export:

To mark the release of The Smurfs 3D movie, Sony created Global Smurfs Day. Eleven countries, including the UK, helped set a record for 'The largest gathering of Smurfs in 24 hours', with 4891 people donning blue paint and Smurf hats for the occasion.

At number three, one of the more bizarre parties I wish I’d been invited to:

IKEA set a record for the 'Largest crayfish party', with 4967 people attending events at 19 stores in the UK and Ireland. The crayfish party is a Swedish festival to mark the start of the crayfish season and is usually accompanied by copious amounts of schnapps.

At number two, one bar bill I’m glad I didn’t pick up:

The Antique Wine Company set a record for the 'Most expensive bottle of wine'. The item in question was a standard 750ml bottle of 1811 Chateau d'Yquem, which was sold for £75,000.

And finally, my favourite:

Warner Bros created the 'Longest red carpet at a film premiere' for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. It stretched 455m from Trafalgar Square to Leicester Square in London.

Posted by Andy Cording, Brand Experiences Account Manager

Good Brand Ambassadors are Vital to Brands

I attended a really fascinating workshop this week run by Karen, our Account Director for a major telecomms client. Our team at MotivAction are running some store openings around the UK and part of that process involves us selecting talented young brand ambassadors to be the face of our client during the launch. What was pleasing to see was a) just how bright, enthusiastic and eager our ambassadors are and b) just how much work our team puts into training them.

However, the aspect of the workshop that really stuck in my mind was Karen's talk about brands. It was a very insightful overview about the fact that a company or organisation's brand is so much more than simply their logo. She reminded them that our client’s brand is actually the way the organisation is perceived by their customers; the way the brand behaves and the things it represents. It just seemed to sum up quite nicely everything that MotivAction works so hard to achieve on behalf of its clients.

Posted by Andy Cording, Brand Experiences Account Manager

This week’s new brand experience stuff

Our Design Team has been working on creative brand experience ideas for installations intended to showcase young film makers’ short videos. The gallery concept displays short excerpts from the film and interviews with the production team, as well as memorabilia from the film. A central installation runs VT of all nominated films across multiple screens in a main event hub (aka the food and drink area!).


Dump the ‘Golf Sale’ sandwich board and get an ex skateboarder to cut loose with some ‘sign spinning’ for your field marketing. Attention grabbing and highly entertaining – great for steering traffic to your local presence.

Mobile home anyone? Nice idea for temporary event space, and pretty economical, inflatable marquees are attractive and work for anything from an oasis for high street shoppers to hosting a Big Fat Gypsy Wedding!

And finally, a bit of retro. Old stuff is cool (at least that’s what many of us 30/40 somethings are claiming to help us feel in touch with trends!). One the latest products we’ve used is the retro-style photo booth. Old fashioned, but with the latest technology - great quality photo strips, touch screen, customizable and green. Say cheese!

Experience This! Live Brand Experience Ideas

Here are a few of the ideas our Brand Experiences team have been looking at recently

Let It Snow - Snow Globes

We’ve been looking at alternative uses for our Snow Globes that toured the UK’s shopping centres in a brand experience campaign so successfully over the Christmas period. Ideas range from housing live challenges influenced by TV show ‘The Cube’ to creating a unique 5 minute holiday where people get to put their feet up, relax on a sunlounger and enjoy a mocktail and massage.

On the Move

Some of the latest designs for mobile marketing – from creating a front room on the high street to a focal point for newspaper distribution at festivals.

 

Green Graphics

We continue to be big fans of eco-friendly brand print solutions.


The Eco-Banner stand is a paper based banner stand that is made from recycled and 100% recyclable material and printed with environmentally friendly inks. It comes in a small box and only weighs 3kgs making it exceptionally easy to transport. When the artwork is no longer relevant, it can simply be recycled at your nearest cardboard recycling centre instead of re-shipping banner stand cartridges across the country.  

Brand sponsorship - a good live brand experience?

Having seen the best football team in the history of the world give the best football team in England a lesson on how to play, I felt I needed to voice my opinion on a brand awareness sponsorship deal announced late last year by Barcelona football club.

It was mentioned that FCBarcelona will for the first time have a sponsor named on their shirt, ending 111 years of history. Their association with Unicef will remain, however the prominent name for next year will be The Qatar Foundation, a non profit organisation based in Qatar, home of the 2022 World Cup.

If you have a lot of money and are thinking of igniting your brand with a brand experience on the world stage can you think of a better way than spending £25 million a year on shirt sponsorship?

The biggest splash so far has been the PR around the deal. The Qatar Foundation are not on the shirt yet, however the brand awareness has risen enormously, and unfortunately not all the publicity is positive. The Mail Online reported that allegedly the Qatar Foundation has given money to a cleric who advocates terrorism, wife beating and anti semitism.

Not all publicity is good publicity when it comes to brand experiences and brand awareness.A successful 'Brand Experience' is not necessarily the one that captures the headlines it is the one that touches positively the people to whom it is targeted.

FC Barcelona sells around 1.2 million shirts a year, over 5 years that's 6 million shirts. If we say that at least 5 people not wearing a shirt will see someone wearing a shirt, the cost per person to the Qatar Foundation for that brand marketing is only £4.13 per person. That's not bad business. I wonder what they intend to do with this new awareness?

By Peter Lindsay

Brand Experiences – The Busyness!

Life’s been pretty full on for our Brand Experience & Live Communication team this month.

As well as the ongoing high street activity, store support and internal engagement events the team have just completed a national ‘Freshers’ roadshow around UK Universities as well as the  launch of  the Christmas campaigns (watch out for the snow domes!)

  

On top of this we’ve also launched our new Brand Experiences website. Having spent over 5 years delivering high profile experiential campaigns we thought it about time we made a bit more of a song and dance about it (you’ll be glad to know not in the literal sense!).

The site includes regular updates on the work we’re delivering as well as being a source for all the latest industry news and experiential campaigns.

Take a look at www.brandexperiences.co.uk – we welcome your feedback on what you find (or don’t as the case may be!).

The Power of the Mind

We were debating appropriate inspirational speakers for a client requirement yesterday which got me thinking about my own experiences of speakers over the last 12 years. The brief was somewhat woolly - inspiring, a story to tell, humorous, entertaining... and not much money (but ideally well known!). A pretty common brief truth be told.

Eddie Izzard struck me as a perfect candidate - 43 marathons in 51 days, and funny. Forget the funny...43 marathons in 51 days - what! how? why? I'm training for a half marathon - but 26 miles...not likely! But I am training, BMIs good, heart rate ok...blah blah...but this guy did next to no training. Sir Ranulph Fiennes was another who made me sit up and take notice - celebrating turning 60 with 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days, just months after a heart by-pass operation. Ok, he trained...but by climbing Everest when everyone (probably wisely) warned him against it.


Bear Grylls summed up why he's achieved - the difference he points out between similarly skilled poeple is some talk about it and some get on and do it...he gets on and does it.
 
The book, Bad Science (author Ben Goldacre - recommended) illustrates time and again the power of the placebo effect during clinical trials - help people believe they're capable/cured and just watch them achieve/recover. The Power of the Mind.
 
So back to the speaker thing. It is difficult to sometime pinpoint what we mean by inspiring - and sometime even more difficult to justify the kind of money some of the speakers charge. But having now reflected on my own personal experiences of speakers I've found the truly stand out candidates to offer me both short term energy and long term positive frames of reference. I can't tell you exactly why, and I may not make it up Everest but they've influenced many of my decisions at work at home and at play...and perhaps still yet will have me running 26 miles around London in April 2011 for a good cause.
 
Some classic, remodelled Eddie Izzard for light relief
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv5iEK-IEzw