- Posted 3/17/06 at 11:54 AM
- branding
- Leave a Comment
Five brands that got lucky
Effective branding is often a product of sending your message in the right way at the right time. The brands with the most resonant messages have taken note of market conditions and factored them into their communications.
Great branding doesn’t happen in a vacuum unless you’re a Dyson. Brand leaders have to predict what will be important to their audience when their message is in the market. It’s not easy, but several brands are doing it right, right now.
Five brands that are both smart and lucky:
1) Ford Escape Hybrid. Boomers have a tough choice when it comes to cars. They understand the long-term effects of emissions on our environment, but they still have to get the kids to school. Ford made it easy on them by developing the Escape Hybrid – an SUV even the tree-huggers can hug – and by sending the message via Kermit the Frog, an icon to those in the carseats as well as the driver’s seat.
2) Tab Energy. Normally, I don’t drink anything pink. But I may make an exception. This cola-slash-energy-drink is targeted to women, but the shot of caffeine combined with the notorious history of the original Tab give it a hint of bad-boy glamour. It has herbs, it has caffeine. It’s bad for you, it’s good for you. Perfect for today’s conflicted culture. Fuel to be fabulous, indeed.
3) Home Depot. Society is fascinated with makeovers – whether it be a fresh coat of paint for the nails or bedroom. And Home Depot knows that. You can do it continues to be their rally and speaks well to both the mr. I can do it in my spare time and the professional contractor. Home Depot knows a solid foundation will withstand any shift in a temperamental housing market or America’s pastimes.
4) FedEx. Relax they say, and relax you can, even if you are a nation of control freaks. FedEx understands that having reliable and simple solutions for navigating a complex marketplace is a must. And that at the end of the day, it’s all about delivery. Like their acquisition of Kinkos, which has proven to be more genuis than smart, FedEx continues to pave the way with relevant business solutions that make it easier to breathe.
5) In-n-Out. Time is everything, but then again, so is freshness. Well suited for today’s healthy fast food junkie, this family owned burger joint knows that in a world of process, process, process – that fresh off the grill, fresh off the farm and fresh out of the oven is what continues to work for their market. Quality, freshness, and service has been the tradition and remains the cornerstone of in-n-out’s that keeps it timely.
We all know that luck is often the product of hard work. Or, as McDonald’s founder and brandfather Ray Kroc put it, ‘the more you sweat, the luckier you get.
I am 
recent comments
I totally agree. And nothing wrong about being patriotic.
Great insights…I don’t think the audience cares who wins the awards, they just want to see the “show” so they have something to talk about the next day…and BTW- the Chrysler commercial was my favorite! Anything that promotes America building something again is ok with me…I guess I’m just a sucker for patriotism…
Nice article! It makes a great deal of sense. These companies spend so much to attain new clients but rarely put forth the effort to keep their existing ones happy. Everything is an argument or an angle. I guess they think we will forget.
I ask this lovingly Steve: by any chance, are you wearing a tie and nursing a martini?
Looking at Obama’s overall rising star these past years (and especially thinking back to who even knew his name prior to 2004), he is a media genius indeed. Yet at the same time, just as he’s not a Muslim (although 24% of the public still thinks he is), he’s also not the political Messiah his campaign painted him to be. In offering an opinion about this widening disparity between the myth and the man, which any Brand Girl is entitled to do, I simply pointed out some of his media missteps since taking office. Speculating that Obama might be a one-term prez unless he gets his media act and his policy act together—and playing nice with one another—is no more a diss than thinking Derek Jeter was playing kinda dirty when he faked getting hit by a pitch to get on base. That’s not dissing, and it’s not even playing party politics. It’s just stating the obvious.
And ’cause I can’t resist: when out with a girl, especially a bipartisan one, allow her a chance to take a full swing when at bat in a pennant battle of the minds. I’ll bet the house that she’ll get beyond first. And she won’t have to fake a thing either.
Funny piece but a faulty premise.
Obama is still a media genius. He’s controlling the debate and has accomplished more in his first two years than any President since FDR. Sure his approval numbers are down but we are in a the middle of a severe recession. Regan’s numbers were similar in 1982.
He has tried to be bipartisan but what does he get for it? The GOP even filibustered small business tax cuts (until two GOP senators who are retiring broke off yesterday). The public knows this. While they are anti-incumbent, they trust the GOP less than the Dems. And despite the GOP’s concerted efforts to block efforts to stimulate the economy (so they can hope to pick up more seats), the economy will turn around and the the POTUS’s appoval ratings wil improve with the rise in GDP.
And when out with boys, especially thoughtful ones, it’s probably not a good idea to diss Obama; not if you want to get to first base.