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Proven big ideas for companies with bigger plans

When brand ubiquity occurs, people search and find brands even when they aren’t
looking. The brand’s reputation precedes its presence. It garners evangelists online and
off. More important, brand ubiquity conjures up a universal thought in your markets’
minds—the single compelling reason they need your product or service RIGHT NOW!
All have a common purpose: to not
only move people to buy their brand over
a competitor’s brand, but to perpetuate an
everlasting brand that holds a cherished or
respected place in the market’s mind.
We wrote this for CEOs, VPs, agency-types, entrepreneurs, brand managers, MBAs and
everyone else hoping to influence new business through creativity. Each spread is 300
words or less so that the big idea showcased is both a quick read … and a quick “get.”

WE HOPE YOU FIND IT:


VISUALLY STIMULATING & CREATIVELY INSPIRING

STRATEGICALLY EYE OPENING

A “GO TO” REFERENCE


WORTHY OF SHARING

STREET SMART

A BIG IDEA
BRAND UBIQUITY
The idea for this book evolved from a fascination with brands and the place they reside in our brains. Every day, we are
surrounded by brands that elicit an immediate and visceral response in our heads—and sometimes not always in a good
way. But the most successful brands carve out a niche in our zeitgeist. They become a part of our universal culture and
thus become ubiquitous in our minds (if not in our media).

When brand ubiquity occurs, people search and find brands even when they aren’t looking. The brand’s reputation
precedes its presence. It garners evangelists online and off. That’s more than marketing gold.
That’s marketing Californium-252!

But what were the single decisions that create and extend ubiquity in a market? Can we identify a brand’s Big Bang
moments? Can we trace the strategy back to find where the brand crawled out of the primordial soup of obscurity and
developed the legs that carried it toward ubiquity? Can we see when brands evolved?
That is what is truly fascinating.

We wanted to create a single place where we can


share proven and yet-to-be-proven successes—slam
dunks, trending campaigns and total flyers alike.
Some of the brands discussed here will be as
familiar to you as your family. Some may seem distant
cousins. And others, no doubt, may come across
as long-lost crazy uncles, who may either redeem or
doom themselves over time.

But all have a common trait—a conviction in an initiative,


decision or moment that became the foundation for
their brand position … and a generous predisposition
to share that strategy with all.
UBIQUITY_ A Big Idea

We love ideas. Big ideas.


Game-changing ideas.

Never born in a vacuum,


game-changing ideas are
sparked by a need or
opportunity—something
that makes us stop and
say “eureka!”

When we saw what was


happening in today’s
online world, we had an
idea. Write a book.

Better yet, let’s invite a brigade


More specificly, write a book of contributing authors to
about Internet Marketing … participate—from young
about proven and yet-to- entrepreneurs to seasoned
be-proven strategies, CEOs, each willing to share
events, tactics and eureka their game-changing ideas.
moments.
And don’t just print it.
Put it online. Follow
the successes. Track
progress. Sure, make
it an incredible visual
presentation. More
important, make it
come alive!

This book is an idea.


A big idea.
This is UBIQUITY.

And we’re
certain Follow the action at
it will trigger microarts.com/ubiquity.
other ideas.

Together, let’s share and spark the next big idea.


Products
that speak
volumes for
themselves
By Peter Getman, Principal Branding Director MicroArts Creative Agency
Sometime the big idea that seed brand ubiquity is a campaign water bottles that don’t leach chemicals into your drink. And it is quite
theme. Sometimes it’s a go-to-market strategy. And sometimes the possibly the best-looking insulated water bottle you’ve ever seen.
big idea is the product itself.
Simply put, Bamboo Bottle Company makes a better water bottle—
This is the case with the Bamboo Bottle Company brand. the best reusable water bottle, in fact. And as the first of its kind,
that’s the only big idea this brand needs right now.
The hip little brand was founded around the idea of creating the most
environmentally friendly water bottles—clean, reusable and safe No spin, no magic and no shenanigans required. The product itself
speaks volumes. We just have to tell the story.
Design by Community. Community by Design.
By Jake Nickell The basic concept behind the way we do things at Threadless is
definitely the best thing we do in terms of Internet marketing.
Co-founder That is, we have become an amazingly productive, talented art
community. We do very little in terms of advertising. Most of

Threadless our growth has been from word-of-mouth. The word-of-mouth


happens because we are a community of people passionate
about t-shirt design and art in general in our every day lives. We
talk about it because it’s what we are interested in. Nothing is
forced. We are friends that love to show our friends what we’re
working on. Instead of running ad campaigns or buying key-
words (though we do do some of this), we prioritize doing
awesome things that people want to talk about and be a part of.

Of course, this wasn’t all planned. Threadless started as a hobby


because I myself was very passionate about design and wanted
to make real things out of the things I saw my friends creating
on their computers and posting online. The true power behind
Threadless is that it is rooted in people’s passions and hobbies.
Take your friend working his creative job at the local design
shop making flyers and logos for the local plumbing company.
He goes home and starts working on personal projects. Well,
now he can actually do something productive with his hobby
and post his work up to potentially be made into products.
And you better believe he’s going to go tell you to vote on his
work. That’s how you build a community, create an inspiring
environment in which people want to participate as part of their
personal lives.
That’s the one thing we did
that changed everything. We
created an environment in
which a strong, fun little art
community could exist.
By Joe Pulizzi | Founder | Junta42 | Content Marketing Institute

PITCH YOUR NICHE


There are so many tactics to make Internet marketing work for a company; but for me, one overall strategy made the difference—choosing
a niche area to own. This meant finding an area within my expertise that Junta42 could own and position our brand as THE thought leader,
THE industry expert, THE go-to resource.

So many times, brands go too big or too broad when it comes to their online marketing strategy.

An accountant shouldn’t say they want to be the experts in accounting. That’s too big and, frankly, impossible. A more reasonable strategy,
for example, would be to position himself or herself as the leading accounting expert for small, retail-based businesses.

So what about online marketing? “Internet marketing” is huge and way too crowded. Wouldn’t it be better to find a niche, such as “search
engine marketing practices for Fortune 500 companies?”

Once that decision is made, the tactics make more sense.


For us, we chose the content marketing industry. Some of the tactics included:

• Repositioning the industry in all our content from custom publishing to content marketing
• Being where our customers and prospects were everywhere online, including LinkedIn groups, Facebook, Twitter and on key blogs
• Ramping up the creation and promotion of valuable, relevant and compelling content—often many times per day
• Writing the industry handbook
• Giving away as many trade secrets as possible (where others were charging for it)

All of this helped position us as the go-to resource for content marketing,
especially with the launch of our new membership site,
The Content Marketing Institute (http://contentmarketinginstitute.com).

Any brand can do this if it knows who its customers are and where they hang out;
realizes its content point-of-view; and truly acts like a publisher
(without the advertising revenues, that is). cb
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Todi is for
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Creating community to kick start

a brand.
By Peter Getman, Principal Brand Director, MicroArts
Todi USA, Inc. (www.TodiUSA.com) manufactures résumés are hosted and updated regularly at roes.

après athletic shoes, a new market category and www.TodiUSA.com. Also, friends and fans of each athlete can lever-

certainly a big idea of its own merit. Made exclu- N o w, i m a g i n e w h a t y o u c o u l d d o w i t h a age their social networks on Facebook, MySpace

sively for aggressive souls, Todi™ symbolizes the “Facebook” of athletes, as it were. You could spon- and Twitter to drive participation—whether to drive

spirit found deep inside an athlete’s core. sor scholarships for eligible athletes as determined scholarship and contest voting, game attendance or

Working with Todi leadership, our brand ubiquity by public voting; you could help athletes raise money plain old social fun. The goal? To create the viral spread

big idea was to seed the Todi brand via athlete to attend specialized camps; you could build aware- of Team Todi watching through www.TodiUSA.com.

scouts who find the hardest charging undiscov- ness about upcoming tailgates at events and tourna- It could prove invaluable to Todi brand awareness.

ered athletes in the USA. These aggressive souls ments; moreover you could follow promising athletes In the meantime, buzz for this new athletic lifestyle

will serve as our brand ambassadors. They are at the naissance of their careers—and interact with shoe is deafening. Month over month revenues

not necessarily the best players on the field, pitch, them. are doubling.

court, ice, or slope. But they are the gutsiest. To encourage public participation, Todi announces But even shoe companies take baby steps. Led

And they make up Team Todi™. each athlete’s naming to Team Todi via press releas- by a 22-year general manager who is also a tri-ath-

To highlight these ambassadors, the Todi scout es, posted on Twitter, Facebook and www.TodiUSA. lete, Todi is proving the model in New England first.

interviews athletes and creates comprehen- com and submitted to hometown newspapers, radio Then, watch the brand really kick ass nationally.

sive athletic résumés. All Team Todi athletes’ and TV stations eager for good news about local he-

Todi. It Takes A Pair™.


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An
BY JAMIE GROVE As a pure play, there isn’t much about our company that
isn’t game changing. However, I think the one thing that
sets us apart is our authentic voice. So many companies
VP, EVIL SCHEMES struggle to find a way to speak directly to their
customers; but because we’re all geeks here, that part
& NEFARIOUS PLANS comes naturally to us.
(aka Marketing) Most people point to our product copy as the best

ThinkGeek example. But it goes much further than that. When we


write the introduction to our newsletters, we’re writing
a letter to our friends. We talk about what’s going on in
the geek world (games, movies, tech) in a fun way,
because that reflects who we are.

This is how the company started from day one. And,


for us, the struggle is to maintain that sense of friendly
geeks serving geeks as we grow at a frenzied pace.

We do that primarily by hiring other geeks. Those geeks


are expected to bring and mix their geekiness into the
giant petri dish of ThinkGeek. The result of this ongoing
experiment is Awesomeness. It’s how we generate
custom products, crazy videos, clever shirts, and pure
fun that we share with others.

I heard someone the other day say that coming to work


at ThinkGeek is like hanging out with your best friends.
They’re talking about co-workers, of course, but also
about the customers.

If you strip away all of the geekiness of our business,


we’re not that different from many other retailers.
However, there IS something different about us. Some
retailers focus on sourcing tens of thousands of
products and lose their personality in the process.
Some retailers really tighten down their product
selection and tone as to control every aspect of the
conversation. In the middle, there’s us. We’re sort of a
cult retailer in that way. We find amazing product that
keeps people coming back to see what’s new but we also
know how to put on a great and fun show.

In the end, we’re just a bunch of over-caffeinated


monkeys flinging boxes across the world. I think
people like that. I know I do.
TURNING MOMENTUM INTO A
Last year, I made a movie. That movie had a website. And that website had
a place for fans to subscribe for email updates.

Pretty basic stuff, even for a guy who, until a year ago, thought AWeber was
the nickname of an NBA player.

The film was a documentary called “Lemonade” about 16 people who got
laid off and went on to do the most rewarding work of their lives. To
create initial momentum, I posted segments of the movie over the course of
the five-month production.

Because of the year it was released (2009) and the subject matter (hope), a
majority of subscribers tended to be victims of the economy themselves. To
me, it just didn’t make sense to charge the unemployed to see a film about
unemployment. So we decided to make it free to watch on Hulu in early
2010.

But that meant it was free for anyone with an Internet connection, which
wouldn’t have been much of an extra reward to the loyal subscribers who
were there from the beginning, many of whom donated money to the
effort despite being laid off.

So the weekend before it launched on Hulu, I held a digital premiere for


By Erik Proulx /
email subscribers only. For three full days, “Lemonade” subscribers could
watch the film in its entirety, at their leisure, for free on a password-
protected site. If they liked it, the only thing I asked in return was that
they mention it on Twitter with the #lemonademovie hash tag.

And you know what? Many of those same people who were rewarded with a
free film ended up buying the DVD anyway. And because of the thousands
of Twitter mentions, there was a built-in buzz for the launch.

It was the right decision, too, because for three days in February it was the
#1 film on Hulu; and it also got press on CBS Evening News with Katie
Couric, FastCompany.com, and NPR’s “On Point” with Tom Ashbrook.
MOVEMENT

Founder / Please Feed the Animals

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Simple
OhMiBod is a music vibrator that pulsates in sync to the music on your iPod®.
Feel the music.™ Inside and out.

OhMiBod combines the hottest product of the decade with the hottest topic on the
Internet. iPod meets sex.

The company set out to be the first vibrator to be openly discussed in social circles.
After all, it is just sex.

Its big idea was simple. Invent and own a new market category of music vibrators.
As the brand launch agency, we positioned the OhMiBod brand to be the Coca-Cola,
Xerox, FedEx of music vibrators in the minds of women all over the world. We seed-
ed the brand by launching a highly personalized Internet public relations campaign,
leveraging perhaps the largest, most viral topic of conversation on the Internet: sex.

Initially, we reached out to a select few hundred influential bloggers.


We did so INDIVIDUALLY, personally inviting them to beta test OhMiBod in the most
silver spoon manner possible. We fostered sincere ongoing relationships with each of
them. After all, bloggers are people, too. We nurtured them; and they became our first
brand advocates.

Today, bloggers are your first customers. Treat them well. Treat them like royalty … and
they will introduce you to ROI.

We gave our bloggers the regal treatment. And OhMiBod went viral. The inbound hy-
perlinks to OhMiBod.com on both “music vibrator” and “vibrator” are in the thousands.

When you Google “Music Vibrator,” OhMiBod is the first organic search result. In fact,
Google just “Vibrator,” and it is organically fourth out of 90+ million competitive pages
for this term.

Today, OhMiBod successfully symbolizes “music vibrator” on 17,000+ blog pages,


260,000 web pages, and hundreds of mainstream publications—including O, the Oprah
Magazine. Many bloggers posted their favorite playlists and even created iMixes on
iTunes®.

Within the first 30 months, OhMiBod sales have reverberated in 28 countries—leaving


fewer people to lament that they “can’t get no satisfaction.”
On Avvo.com, you can find more than a thousand And in a litigious society, sometimes if you
lawyers rated with a prominent EXTREME CAUTION.… provide ratings, you get sued. Just nine days
We rate lawyers. And if they have been disciplined by after launch, Avvo was sued by a sanctioned
their state bar, we bring that information to light attorney who was aghast that we had the
in bold orange text. temerity to rate him with a CAUTION. Instead
of folding, we went to court. The case was
Prior to Avvo, the legal directory business model was thrown out by a judge. Turns out, we—like
dominated by pay-for-play advertisingthinly veiled as everybody else—have the right to provide
a superlative directory. A small group of “elite” authentic ratings on any product …
lawyers, who were willing to pay the most, touted even attorneys.
their “Best” or “Super” designations. Avvo turned this
model upside down by providing detailed profiles of Our users know they can get guidance
all lawyers, showcasing the good, the bad and untainted by financial influence. The end result?
(occasionally) the horrendously ugly in the Avvo is now the largest, most trafficked legal
legal profession. directory in the world—surpassing established
competitors (with lawyers who all seem to be
great) with multi-million dollar
advertising budgets.
Today, 65,000 of the practicing attorneys in the
country have engaged with Avvo—still the only legal
directory that rates lawyers on a platform where
lawyers cannot censor negative reviews. And they
are getting more business than they can handle.

If that’s not a case for authenticity, what is?


When what we now call “the social web” was in its infancy, I had taken a keen interest in the
changes that were happening right in front of my eyes.

I was also well aware of the need to surprise and delight our customers with unexpected
developments; and my early interest in blogging allowed me to connect with people who
were early blogging innovators.

At that stage, one of the emerging brand challenges (and this challenge continues),
was the way in which brands were being incorporated in user-generated content.

As a way to surprise and delight the assembled crew of marketing directors,


I would ask a leading question. What do you think your customers think of
your brand? Generally, people would respond with the key elements of
their messaging: the three pillars, the four core messages and
so on. The more enthusiastic would refer to focus groups
or market research.

I would then ask other questions. What do you think your


customers would write about your brand on the web?
What stories do you think they’d tell their friends when
discussing your brand? Again, the
response would be on-brand, on-message.

“Shall we take a look?” I’d ask.

I’d type in a few brand keywords and


sit back. But rather than look at the
screen, I’d watch my clients— their
eyes widening. I’d watch their
mouths gape. I’d watch them
reel back in their comfy
boardroom chairs.

There’d be outrage. There’d be


shock. And then it would
transform into fascination There’d
be calls to “shut it down” or “refer
it to legal.” But the great human
folly written large is a compelling
thing to observe. Pretty soon, we’d
compare photos, stories and
anecdotes—all with brands,
products and logosthere
on the center stage.

Social media—it’s a circus without a


ringmaster—and maybe, even for the
most conservative brands, that’s part
of its attraction.
Healthy Branding for Small Fries
Jill Litwin, Founder
Peas of Mind

When Jill Litwin began cooking meals for her friend’s son as an alternative
to canned green beans, she had no idea she was on the path to launching a
business. Her goal at Peas of Mind is to “better feed kids today.”
That’s why today you’ll find Peas of Mind creating foods that are a spin on
childhood favorites. Realizing kids will be kids, this San Francisco-based
company develops new products that creatively blend (some might even say
disguise) healthy ingredients in familiar foods such as fries and pizza.

“You will never get your kids to stop eating fries and pizza,
that’s why we’ve made them healthy and nutritious!”
It’s no wonder parents are stuffing Peas of Mind products into lunchboxes.
And it’s no wonder kids are stuffing their faces with something that is ac-
tually good for them—whether they know it or not.
So here’s some food for thought. Sometimes, branding is not always about
changing behavior, but discovering new ways to leverage existing behavior.
You just may have them eating out of your hands.
www.peasofmind.com
Anna Street™ is the original customizable fashion handbag. a Designer Studio in Barneys New York, as well. Barneys selects
You design it—create it. They sew it. fabrics that are exclusive to their stores. It’s great for high-fashion
You sel ect the bag shape, style, strap, hardware, fabrics and bow retailers like Barneys because they take on no inventory. They
styles to capture the look in your mind. The combinations are simply link customers to the Barneys Designer Studio for Anna
infinite. www.AnnaStreet.com. Street handbags. Customers design and pay for custom handbags
Initially, customers would come in to the Portsmouth, N.H. studio at Barneys online; Anna Street sews and delivers the handbags
and create their look by selecting all the various options. Then, one short week later.
Anna Street’s seamstresses would sew their one-of-a-kind bag. Additionally, this chichi handbag shop is partnering with popu-
The company expanded to three studio locations on the “Rodeo lar fashion bloggers that love the brand and have the traffic, fans
Drives” of New England and found the brick and mortar rents to and followers already in place. Instead of simply advertising on
be crippling. their websites, Anna Street will partner with them by placing the
Then they nailed it. At least, we think they have. Designer Studio directly on their site. The bloggers leverage their
Anna Street is recreating the customization aspects of their stu- traffic and share in the financial success of any sales generated.
dios in an electronic form and launching Anna Street Designer We anticipate tremendous success for both Anna Street and its
Studio online. Customers will soon be able to drag and drop dif- blogger partners, whereby reported revenues will far and beyond
ferent handbag looks until they design just the right one. exceed banner advertising in the same space.
But here’s the big idea. Instead of investing aggressively into When you start with a sexy brand, enable endless possibilities and
driving traffic to the Anna Street website, let’s use that Designer add one big idea to make your brand ubiquitous on the Internet,
Studio to monetize other websites’ traffic. increased revenues are in the bag!
Working with our web team at MicroArts, Anna Street will pilot
STAT:
Brand Anna Street
Market Category Fashion Accessories
Product Custom Handbags
Revenues < 1 Million
Big Idea Monetize other people’s traffic
via hand bag customizer
INNOVATION IS A PITCHED BATTLE
Some brands are products. Some are pure attitude.
For NEMO, design and speed of innovation are built into its DNA.
NEMO is a spirit. The brand is about taking customer feedback, needs and ideas and
turning them into implemented innovations … now! This spirit urges its
It is not a rah-rah spirit. Nor is it a candy-coated line in a marketing campaign. employees to constantly advance and execute improvements within one
NEMO Equipment, Inc. exudes an authentic, sincere and honest spirit— season. It’s a nimble process that is not laden with interoffice memos,
one infused throughout the company, which makes state-of-the-art meetings, multiple formal presentations and multi-level approvals.
mountaineering tents. It is a living breathing culture. And you’ll feel it every Rather, it’s a can-do attitude facilitated by impromptu conversations,
time you interact with the brand, at every touch point and with every employee. stand up huddles, over-the-weekend engineering and “let’s go” approvals.
As a result, NEMO tents were named among the 100 best And they’ll tell everyone they know about it. Being ultra-responsive
inventions of the year by TIME and Popular Science magazines. yields brand evangelism.
(Their air-supported tents require no poles. How cool is that?)
Given the brand’s responsive spirit, it’s no wonder even U.S. Special
Accolades are great. Customers are even better. Most brands don’t Forces rely on NEMO innovations.
even recognize customer feedback with a reply. But for NEMO,
proactive responsiveness becomes contagious. It’s only human nature.
When customers realize their feedback has been considered and NEMO is built to innovate on the fly.
actually implemented, their affinity for the brand grows instantly. (And sometimes, it’s literally a fly.)
®

Competitive spirit is good. It can be the difference between sound strategic


creative and game-changing creative.

Sound strategic creative supports a brand that

Recognizes a consumer need

Addresses that need with a superior offer of value

Differentiates its offer from competitor offers

Entices the purchase

But game-changing creative wants to beat the snot out of the competition. So it
does all this while simultaneously repositioning all other brands in your market
category ideally in one sentence.

For example, cat litter is estimated to be over a $1 billion industry in the U.S. …
and growing. The number one reason consumers buy cat litter is for odor control.
World’s Best Cat Litter™ truly does control odor the best. Its name is already
a tagline. But its slogan?

Buy the Best. Or Smell the Rest. ™

Here’s one big idea—one single line—that repositions the rest of the market
as inferior. Plus, its cadence has phonic stopping power, significantly aiding
consumer recall.

Let your competitive spirit keep pushing you past strategically sound creative
toward game-changing creative. Even in the cat litter market, it’s a dog-eat-dog
world. Be the top dog. Tell your market why.

TREAD FAST.
You can’t always be the brand that invented the market category.
But here’s what you can do: when you follow in someone else’s
footsteps, improve the footsteps. Fast.

Take the case of Chaco shoes. They didn’t invent the world’s first
sports sandal. (Teva owned that position.) But they improved them.
They made them fit better.

Chaco, then called Gecko, improved the sports sandal by focusing


on function and creating a brand truly fit for adventure™. “We never
tried to fake you out,” says Brandan Hill, “with design elements that
suggests performance but don’t actually perform, suggests comfort
but aren’t comfortable, suggests eco but aren’t eco.”

Chaco shoes featured sticky rubber outsoles, a strap that pulled


through the midsole to allow for a customized fit, and ladder lock
buckles that wouldn’t get ripped off in white water—a problem with
prevalent Velcro straps.

Think of what they were up against. They were second to the market.
They changed their name. Yet, the Chaco brand still trail blazes and
dances in the minds of its consumers because it was a successful
“fast follower”—the very next to leverage, build upon and improve
the original product or service.

There’s always room for a brand to own second place—and create


a distinguishing niche there. Third place, however, is typically way
back in the dust. For example, there is Coke and Pepsi. …
There is Hertz and Avis.

Not the first in your market? That’s OK. … But step lively.

www.chacousa.com
Should a brand target a narrow market and build momentum from there?
Or should it try to appeal to nigh on everybody?

I would have bet on the former. So while in conversation with Kevin


Williams and Jenie Fu at OgoSport, we tossed this subject around.

Designers of “active play” toys, OgoSport bounced its brand into the
$20 billion toy market with the idea that the true value of a toy is the
gazillion things your imagination can do with it. “Look at the toy
industry today,” says Fu. “They’ve taken imagination out of play.”

Video games dictate rules. Toy manufacturers dictate ages and genders.
And no longer can a plastic stick transform into a sword with which to
slay a dragon, or a bat to hit the game-winning homer, or a magic wand;
it’s a highly mechanized light saber to fight Sith Lords. And that’s it.

But look at what a red rubber ball can be. It’s a kick ball, dodge ball, bat
ball, wall ball, roof ball, peg-the-kid-in-the-head ball and myriad other
kinds of ball—dependent only on the rules and imagination of the user.

OgoSport’s toys are the modern-day version of the classic playground


ball. Except way cooler. The company’s brand is based on the very
wide appeal of “open play,” meaning there is no wrong way to play.
The founders position the brand as a leader of open play inventions.

And I was sure they were missing the point.

For me, the sweet spot of this brand was its ability to bridge generations.

I was the youngest in my family. My next older brother was 13 years


older—practically a generation. My happiest moments of catch were
between me and my much-older brother or my dad. I could imagine
an OgoSport tagline of “Play between generations.”

Then I realized I did exactly what they wanted me to do: I placed my


own values onto OgoSport toys.

On the other hand, show OgoSport toys to people with closer siblings,
and they’ll think otherwise. They won’t imagine tossing a disc with
grandma, but making up all sorts of games—and changing the rules to
ensure whipping the snot out of their siblings.

OgoSport is changing the rules of branding. … And, as they grow,


they’ll probably change them again—just like their market.
“ “
TAG
—suddenly, you’re not it.
Let’s face it. Sometimes, your name can be the most influential element in your brand position.

And sometimes, it can represent the biggest risk.

Take, for instance, the company called Incentive Systems. It made, not surprisingly, “incentive
management systems for large sales enterprises.” And that might have been dandy … until a
competitor’s tagline becomes, advanced incentive systems™ or proven incentive systems™.

With that name, the company marketed the entire market category and not their unique value
within it. In turn, you could use the company name, Incentive Systems, as a tagline under the
top three competitive logos. And it would have been true.

If that happens, your name is mud.

Yet, arguably, Incentive Systems invented the category. It couldn’t afford to let this happen.
To avoid its thunder being stolen, the company evolved its brand name to Centive.

If a competitor can claim or modify your name as a tagline, consider changing it.Your employees
won’t mind changing the stationery. Your vendors won’t mind changing the invoices. If done right,
your customers will be delighted. And your competitors? They just might hate it.
The issue:
World Series of Poker is the world’s
biggest poker brand. As big as it is,
however, interest in the brand was
cyclical, centering around two major
events.

The solution:
To leverage seasonal interest into
year-round brand experience, you
have to work your ass off all year.

The quote:
My strategy is to take up as much
online real estate as possible. If you’re
doing just SEO, you’re failing. If you’re
not doing PPC, local, search, news,
video, and images—if you’re not cov-
ering all your bases—you’re giving
business away.
Olivier Amar, SEO Consultant, Over-
ank / Whiteweb Marketing

The results:
Through online and viral engage-
ment and groundbreaking alliances in
broadcasting, digital media and cor-
porate sponsorships, the World Series
of Poker has maintained interest in the
off-season.

In fact, the World Series of Poker


brand was named the 7th most ad-
mired sports brand in North America
by the Turnkey Sports Survey, trailing
only the more established NFL, MLB,
NBA, NHL, NASCAR and PGA Tour
among sports properties.

Are
Their new challenge:
Keep fans interested.

Your new challenge:


Want to build a brand online?

Ante up.
you all in?
Doing that whole brandy verby thing.

The Holy Grail in brand ubiquity is when your brand name symbolizes an entire
market category—and becomes a verb!

Xerox it. FedEx it. Google it.

Fax it?

In 1843, Alexander Bain patented the basis of what would become the fax machine. Yet we
don’t Bain it … or HP it … or Brother it … or Cannon it … or Panasonic it … or Anyone-Else-
Who-Makes-Fax-Machines it.

It’s a shame.

In 2010, the latest craze in water sports is stand up paddle boarding, commonly know as SUP
or going SUPing. Originating in Hawaii from Beach Boy Surfing, the modern day SUP market
is still fairly unclaimed. In fact, Google (there’s that verb again) “stand up paddle boarding”
and you’ll get entries for:

Standup paddleboarding | Stand up pad


Stand-up paddle boarding | Stand-up pa
Paddlesurfing | Paddle surfing
The market can’t even decide how it wants to spell itself. So until someone catches
that wave, we’ll have to go SUPing.

When you’re ready to enter a market, can your name be a verb? Ask around. Twitter it, even.
ddle boarding | Stand-up paddleboarding
addle surfing | SUP surfing
Name Sullivan Tire

Sullivan Tire Location 50 Locations in New


England
Web http://www.sulliv ...
Bio Tweeting from Sully
headquarters. Tires and
Building relationships that drive brand loyalty. Rightfully so, service brands Complete Auto Service.
should be based on the quality and level of service the company provides. But Lover of Boston Sports!
beyond doing your best for your customers, how else can you distinguish your Oh...we like cars too!
brand—especially if it’s a service people would rather not think about?

“Buying tires and auto service is never a fun purchase for most people” says 1,591 1,729 102
Mark Gillard, advertising manager of Sullivan Tire, a New England chain with following followers listed
more than 50 locations. AND
COUNTING!
So it’s no wonder many service-oriented brands rely on spokespeople, mascots, and
proxies to represent them. GEICO has a gecko. Aflac has a duck. E*trade has a baby. Tweets 4,858
Sullivan Tire has Boston sports. The people of Sullivan Tire have an authentic love
for Boston sports. And it shows.
Favorites
Sullivan Tire weaves their fandom into the brand way beyond advertising. They live it.
Following
“Our enthusiasm for Boston-area sports helps us promote the personality of
our brand,” says Gillard. “If you see a baseball star on a TV commercial, that’s
one thing. But if you can interact through social media, you become more than
just a tire company; you become a fellow fan. And when customers do come
in the store, they feel familiar and feel a personal involvement—and now don’t
feel so bad putting tires on the car.”

Today, customers and potential customers can talk sports with Sullivan Tire via Twitter
and Facebook. Or they can find out what sports star is appearing at what location.

Could they take an even stronger position with their fandom? As Boston sports
fans ourselves, we’d love to see a Twitter post as bold as “Today we have great
discounts for Red Sox fans. Yankee fans always pay full price.” View all ...

This recommendation no doubt would make boardrooms a little uncomfortable.


But this sort of message will resonate in New England—their culture and their
target market.

And that just might give the Sullivan Tire brand even more traction.
last post about 2 hours ago
FOLLOW US

IF YOU FOLLOW SULLIVAN TIRE, YOU


MIGHT JUST WIN TICKETS TO A RED SOX
OR CELTICS GAME SOMETIME!

Have 2 tix for Monday’s Red Sox


game. How shall I give them away?
18 minutes ago via web

@MetalMo You haven’t seen the Sox in 7 years?


That’s a Red Sox Nation sin! #redsox
RT & Follow & win a pair of tix to Monday’s Sox game!
11 minutes ago via web in reply to MetalMo
#redsox
6 minutes ago via web

That’s the spirit! RT @37ft2in 13-3! RT @SullivanTire:


PATRIOTS SEASON PREDICTION: 12-4 #patriots
7 minutes ago via web
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YOUR CUSTOMERS
ARE SPECIAL.
ARE THEY GETTING
THE MESSAGE?
For some, mass customization is a nightmare.
For Timbuk2, it’s a brand strategy.
Timbuk2 Designs, Inc. arguably reinvented
the Pony Express messenger bag—a tough-
as-hell bag that is as functional as your day
demands and as funky as your style desires.
However, that wasn’t the big idea that stitched
Timbuk2’s iconic place in the market’s mind.

TIMBUK2’S BIG IDEA: OFFER BAGS MADE-TO-ORDER,


ALLOWING CUSTOMERS TO CHOOSE THE COLORS AND
DESIGNS THAT REFLECT THEIR PERSONAL STYLES.
To be sure, that philosophy may have been
easier when founder Rob Honeycutt sewed
each bag himself. But today, San Francisco-
based Timbuk2 still practices “just-in-time”
manufacturing to customize messenger bags
—quickly and tens of thousands of times
a year.
If you can do it, it makes perfect branding sense.
People naturally embrace brands whenever
they are made to feel special—a simple
idea, really. And you can’t get any more
special than customized, which is why we’re
seeing big brands jumping on the mass
customization bandwagon (e.g., NIKEiD and
Vans Customs shoes).
Timbuk2 still manufacturers custom bags in
the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District—
their mission fulfilled: creating brand loyalty
by delivering high-quality products their
customers can truly make their own.
That’s one way to own the competition in the
brand loyalty game.
THE LIFESTYLE WRAPPED IN YOUR BRAND
WHAT IS A “BE GOOD-DO GOOD” LIFESTYLE BRAND?
It’s when a brand becomes a piece of a consumer’s identity … or at least a
desired perception of that identity.

When you manage a “be good-do good” brand, there are two major
market cultures you need to cater to:
1. Those who truly live the lifestyle your brand represents
2. Those who aspire to live it

Guess which one is bigger. If you said #2, you win a burrito.

In 2009, EVOL Burritos launched its “be good-do good” lifestyle brand to
clearly differentiate its value from the rest in the frozen burrito market—an
established segment within a frozen foods market that totals nearly $30
billion in the U.S. alone.

is
backwards—a symbolic mirror of their consumers’ values. It’s also the
beginning of an evolution in food manufacturing. EVOL operates under
the philosophy that it’s natural to give animals the humane lives they
deserve; it’s natural to source fresh ingredients from sustainable, cage-
free and green sources; it’s NOT natural, however, to inject hormones,
antibiotics and preservatives into meat and dairy; and it’s totally natural
to want to help your neighbors and protect your environment.

The company website admits that they don’t have all the answers.
But they’re trying to be sustainable, green, and philanthropic.

So are we as consumers.

We may not raise our own chickens. We may not even recycle every
bottle. But we’re trying.

And at $2.99 a burrito, it’s an easy way to aspire to a higher ideal.

Your customers may not be able to truly live the lifestyle you represent
24/7. But, in EVOL’s case, they can feel just a little better about
themselves when that microwave dings.

Isn’t that was branding is ultimately about?


Taking a Page from Our Own Book
Educational leadership as a brand strategy
By Peter Getman, Principal Brand Director, MicroArts

UBIQUITY, this book, is it a big idea in of itself?

MicroArts Creative Agency is a brand strategy agency specializing


in Internet marketing. We’re also publishers of this book. For a long
time, we were comfortable with our size. We selected our clients
as carefully as they selected us. And by remaining nimble, we re-
mained laser-focused on providing a high level of service to an elite
number of clients poised for hockey stick growth.

When clients shared their success stories, we are happy to have


played a part. But recently, we decided to grow our referral network.
Aggressively. Systematically. Smartly. And we brainstormed dozens
of ideas to do so.

This book matured into our big idea. (We hope.)

Moreover, we believe this book could be an integral part of all its


participants’ big ideas—another way for them to achieve brand
ubiquity, as well.

Think of it. We are tracking 222 game-changing brand ideas to be


shared in this book by rebel entrepreneurs, proven CEOs, marketing
gurus and downright crackpots. Each individual idea lives in a two-
page spread, both in e-book and printed formats. So in theory, we’ll
have 222 evangelists who are sharing links to their eureka moments
within their social networks—their peeps, tweeples, fans, followers,
homeys and curious bystanders. Being published is great for their
personal brand (not to mention our agency’s brand awareness).
Do the math. Our hundreds of contributors have millions of fans, follow-
ers, and connections on Facebook, Twitter and Linked-in alone. So, as a
result, the process of creating the book itself has skyrocketed our current
referral network—something that has taken me 25 years to earn.

Crazy really. It is a simple idea.

Additionally, we’re creating The 222™, a private society of UBIQUITY


contributors and an inner circle sharing and discussing marketing ideas,
strategies and tactics.

That’s going to prove to be an invaluable resource for the 222 of us who


participate—as well as all the individual brands we support.

Knowledge is power. It’s also powerfully exciting. Hold on to your socks.


We’re just getting started.
INTER
NET By Peter Getman, Principal Brand Director

MARKET
ING
ROI

/ Create content around high performing search terms. / A/B test pay-per-click programs and search words. / Invest in viral and
social media initiatives to pique interest and clicks. / Reach out to bloggers to encourage brand evangelism. / Create new land-
ing pages to support high performing search terms. / Get on Twitter and Facebook to deploy a series of customer engagement
programs. / Optimize your inbound links by nurturing relationships from related websites, associations and partners.
The Economist reported in 2006, that Internet marketing totaled $9.6 billion in 2001, $27
billion in 2006 and is expected to top $60 billion next year, which looks now to be a low
estimate.

Dell attributes more than $3 million in sales revenue directly to Twitter. Ebay found in 2006
that participants in online communities spend 54% more than non-community users. It's
no wonder that a recent study showed a direct correlation in companies' financial perfor-
mance and their online engagement levels. (The top 10 companies are global leaders in
technology. Imagine that.)

So how can your brand manager increase and measure Internet Marketing ROI?
1. Create benchmarks.
2. Increase conversions on current web traffic.
3. Increase traffic.

Trackable drivers of Internet Marketing ROI are dynamic and vast, but you can
start by establishing your brand’s Internet Marketing benchmarks by answering
questions such as:

• What's the current web traffic generated by each search word?


How many conversions per visit? … So what is the conversion value of that word?

• Is this web traffic data resulting from SEO or PPC?

• What's the current conversion value of each inbound link to your website
(blogs, viral programs, social media, partnership sites, email, etc.)?
• How many visitors choose online services that save your business
time and dollars?

Once you answer these questions, work at increasing conversions with your current
website traffic levels via A/B testing of your website, alignment with your sales process
and landing page creative that includes specific strategies and tactics, fine-tuned why-to-
buy statements, user click-path scenarios, prospect self-qualification tools, better targeted
demographics and relative branded creative.

This matrix gets large fast. But by honing your message and your user interface, you'll end
up with increased conversions to new revenues.

So now all you have to do is increase traffic to your website to really maximize conver-
sions. How?

Lather. Rinse. And repeat. Internet Marketing is never static. Never stop engaging. And
never stop testing. And never accept the status quo. The potential here is too great.
lessons I’ve learned
in 22 years in the brand agency business
I suspect these lessons are viable to any business and not exclusive to branding and Internet marketing agencies.

Selecting the right clients is equally as Don’t dread “walls.” Walls challenge you
important to your success as hiring the everyday, all day. It’s business. Some
right teammates. days, you sidestep them. Some days,
you hurdle them. At other times, you
tunnel under, smash through, pole vault
over or claw up. And some days, you
simply run into them and go nowhere
but to Headacheville. But in the long
run, walls are good; they keep the weak
from catching you.

“Going above and beyond” to create You can make endless mistakes in
customer loyalty doesn’t have to be ex- business and still ultimately succeed,
pensive; but it does have to be thought- except for one mistake: running out of money.
ful, unexpected and ideally surprising.
Just yesterday, our pest control com-
pany came to … well, control pests. My
six-year-old daughter, Zoe, follows him
around as she usually does and is in-
quisitive as per usual. But she then pro-
ceeds to talk about her birthday party on
Friday. Today, the pest control gentle-
man had to come back to finish up the
treatment. Zoe runs out to say hello and
is presented with a birthday card from
her friend, the pest man. Wow.
By Peter L. Getman

If you have a tumor in any area of your


company, be a surgeon. Being a shrink,
cheerleader, coach or friend does not
work. If it’s not a cancer, then be all of
these, just not the surgeon.

Most importantly, what’s worth doing, is


worth doing passionately. Achieve this
and work is not work.
CAN YOUR NEW PRODUCT
AS A UNIQUE BRAND?
H
OW DO YOU RECOGNIZE WHERE A BRAND COULD THIS BE THE PRODUCT THAT CUTS THROUGH
STARTS AND STOPS … AND WHEN IT WOULD BE THE CLUTTER ENOUGH TO DESERVE ITS OWN BRAND?
SMARTER TO LAUNCH A NEW BRAND INSTEAD
OF EXTENDING AN OLD ONE? Prior to this innovation, the company has sold a
multitude of different shapes and sizes of knifes
Since 1995, French-based Baladéo has created, into dozens of markets—all sold under the Baladéo
marketed and distributed a range of outdoors brand name. To continue to do so with these new
accessories (travel lights, binoculars, compasses knives could be a risk; the design itself may be
and bags), as well as high-end cutlery items (knives, protected, but the idea is going to get copied,
corkscrews and multipurpose tools). branded and commoditized. Fast.
This, of course, seems rather diverse. But according But if Baladéo launches a new brand and becomes
to Baladéo.com, the brand sells a knife every known as the brand that invented the category,
12 seconds. they will always own that brand position.
And now, they have something new: two of the most- Perhaps they could brand it as “GRAMS™, forged
lightweight knives in the world, designed especially by Baladéo.” Perhaps they could push the brand
for the outdoors enthusiasts who weigh every ounce to retailers in its own point-of-purchase cases that
and gram before hitting the trail. emphasize the value of being lightweight.
At only 22 and 34 grams, these knives are sharp, Then, these new knives would be more than a great
strong, elegant, incredibly balanced and product idea; they would be a big brand idea—and a
entirely useful. pretty sharp one at that.
Based in Vista, California,
prAna has perpetuated
an authentic brand for
nearly two decades.
It’s simply in their
corporate fabric.
Authenticity. It’s arguably the best brand strategy.
In 1992, Beaver and Pam Theodosakis started prAna, a Authenticity enables brands to
company that makes authentic clothing that works well for • Hire people with like-minded values
their passions: climbing and yoga. Their slogan remains,
“Born from the experience.”
• Foster a company culture centered on
these values
Over the years, prAna (a Sanskrit work for “breath, life • Use these values as the foundation for
and vitality of spirit,” by the way) has continued to hire and EVERY company decision
participate in business with like-minded people who want to
embrace the experience, promote conservation and create
• Develop products that become an
positive change. And as it turns out, products born from the extension of these values
experiences of climbing and yoga work well for other passions, There are many brands in the outdoor industry that claim to
too. be authentic. And some are. There are, however, no arguments
about who does “authenticity” better. A brand is simply
That makes the prAna brand both authentic and aspiring. authentic or it isn’t.
Based in Vista, California, prAna has perpetuated an Moreover, authenticity is unlike any other brand position.
authentic brand for nearly two decades. It’s simply in their For example, prAna’s brand promise is not compared to others
corporate fabric. in terms of being faster, better or cheaper. It’s not compared
Do your products and people exude your values? Does your in terms of features, functions, technologies, innovations
company stand for something other than making a buck? If so, or superior benefits. It’s not a position that is compared in
humbly share your story over and over to like-minded cultures marketing speak stuffed with gobbledygook.
and markets. Its authenticity is simply valued by prAna customers who share
Your brand will become an aspiration to these cultures. like-minded values—people who value organic cotton, fair
And your logo will symbolize this aspiration. trade, alternative power and a desire to always reach for the
next highest ideal.
Or the next bomber hold.
Move an entire
market segment
upstream
Almost every mature market in the world is segmented into a spectrum of product categories that
spans from generic (or near generic) brands to the super premium offering—a Ford Fiesta to a
Lamborghini Murciélago, for example.

Brand managers and their agencies will often create brand extensions or create a new brand to
capture a second and third segment within the overall market.

To move the brand upstream in the market, there must be an increase in the consumers’
perceived-emotional values. This is created by a brand’s communication of its promise and is
confirmed by the actual experience with the brand itself.

An increase in perceived value can be purely emotional or it can be truly relevant based on
performance. Often, it’s a combination of the two that moves a brand upstream.

And what’s really cool is that it is not always the brand that moves upstream. Sometimes, the
efforts of a brand manager and the performance of a single brand can move an entire segment of
the market upstream.

In 1993, Clarient, Inc. was founded as ChromaVision Medical System, a company that made
laboratory instruments that doctors used to help manage breast cancer cases. In 2003, it changed
its proverbial oars to navigate a sea change within the cancer diagnostics industry.

Today, Clarient delivers world-class diagnostic test technologies to access and characterize
patients’ cancers. Their market is the thousands of pathologists who directly support a mature
market of cancer facilities around the world, spanning from thousands of community-hospital-
based facilities to a short list of major world-class cancer centers.

By targeting the thousands of community-hospital-based pathologists, Clarient allows smaller


facilities to compete with major cancer centers—globally—in terms of cancer assessment and
characterization. And now, with thousands of daily and world-class cancer diagnostics under its
belt, this company has moved its brand upstream while propelling an entire market segment of
community hospitals along with it.

In year 7, GE recognized this success and acquired Clarient for $580 million.

More important, the success of Clarient’s big idea has hastened the current of therapeutic
strategies used to battle some of the most-dreaded diseases facing humanity.
NEW DELIVERY
MECHANISMS
ARE BIG IDEAS.

We have been in an escalating boom of new


products entering the market—brands that
take old products and innovate new delivery
mechanisms that support the way we actually live
our lives.

In many cases, a new brand solves a problem the


consumer doesn’t realize they have.

Yogurt was for the longest time sold in more or


less the same package, a cup. If you tossed one
in your school backpack to take studying and
it got squished, it is just what happened if you
weren’t careful. Then along came Go-GURT®,
yogurt in a drinkable, squeezable packaging,
to solve a problem you may not have recognized.

UNTIL 1989, MOUNTAIN BIKERS HAD TO


STOP ON LONG TECHNICAL HILL CLIMBS
OR RISK TAKING THEIR HANDS OFF THE
HANDLEBARS TO DRINK WATER FROM
A BOTTLE. IT WASN’T VIEWED AS A
PROBLEM SIMPLY BECAUSE IT WAS THE
ONLY OPTION THERE WAS AVAILABLE.
BUT THEN MICHAEL EIDSON INVENTED
HANDS-FREE HYDRATION. MICHAEL
ENTERED THE HUNDRED-MILE
MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE THROUGH THE
TEXAS DESERT CALLED, HOTTER’N HELL
100. THE AVID MOUNTAIN BIKE RACER
HAD A DAY JOB AS AN EMERGENCY
MEDICAL TECHNICIAN, SO HE THOUGHT
TO USE AN INTRAVENOUS BAG DROPPED
INTO A TUBE SOCK SEWN TO HIS RIDING
SHIRT, WITH AN IV HOSE AND HOSE
CLAMP DELIVERING THE H2O.

It literally became an idea that held water.


And in an instant, the hands-free hydration
product category was invented, solving a major
problem many athletes didn’t realize they had.

CamelBak the company was born. Twenty years


later, you’d be hard pressed to see a mountain
biker without a CamelBak product.

Today, there is still incredible opportunity for


entrepreneurs to brainstorm and leverage new
delivery mechanisms for existing products.
So get those creative juices flowing.

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