With the growth of social media and transition into two-way channels of communication, brand identity is potentially stronger but more at-risk than ever before! In these current times, it is a common fear to lose your brand’s ‘voice’.

Before anything, we have to learn that the PR and marketing department (however important) do not run the show. The masses are the drivers, the controllers and passengers of your brand!

For instance, when McDonald’s launched their #McDStories campaign on Twitter, at a glance the whole thing was a total disaster, but with further inspection it actually benefitted the brand in a humourous fashion.

The intention of the campaign was to share happy farm stories about the brand, but within a few hours McDonald’s was subjected to pothead stories, tales of animal cruelty and just overall abuse.

This was indeed worrying for them and the whole campaign was labeled as a #McFail.

Here are some examples:

But as much as this seemed as a PR crisis, the whole situation was for one, hilarious, but also a great learning experience about being transparent. Its learning how to take the good in with the bad. It’s a lesson in being open and most importantly, how to take a joke!

Because this society that exists online is an ever-evolving (and unforgiving) creature that none of us have tamed. The fear lies from receiving just upright honest feedback, which we often just hate, which we think will damage sales and margins at every turn.

The fear should lie in not trying, not wanting to listen and not moving forward. Social media is a well-crafted tool for all to use, so we should just grab hold of it and figure it out together.

Is your brand ready for social media?

I don’t know how mothers do it. I don’t think anyone does, maybe not even mothers themselves.

They’ve got the sort of love that’s too big for words and need not be understood. The sort that is patient with the demanding, wailing kid in a toy store and is able to put up with a million “Why(s)”.

The kind that knows when we’re lying to their face but still let it slide. The love that is able to push through angry thoughts and slamming doors.

It’s a special brand of love that looks at all our flaws and us and is still able to say, I love you everyday.

And there are a million different ways to encompass and materialise our gratitude and thanks for this kind of love.

Here are just but a few examples of saying thanks to the universal feeling of constant caring we get from our mothers:

Red Bull, Thai Commercial

P&G Thank You, Mum

Tencent, Your Companion Of 12 Years

TC Bank, A Mother’s Courage

What is your special brand of love?

[Image by Patheck]

There are a lot of facts that stick in our minds and imageries we just can’t shake. Whether it’s the 2D illustration of Colonel Sanders, the theme song to The Simpsons or the smell of a freshly brewed cappuccino, we all just know it! But what if I told you the one thing you remembered most about a particular brand or franchise, was absolute bull?

Let’s begin. Humpty Dumpty? Who was he?

Because there was not a single mention of an egg in the whole poem! He could have been a porcelain vase as far as I’m concerned, let alone it being strange all the kings’ horses and men were involved in some medieval egg reconstruction procedure, even if he was one. But still, when we think Humpty we think of him as a beige oval with a face and limbs!

Quick! What’s Star Treks most famous line?

If you shouted “BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY!” aloud to your monitor, you are not only insane for talking to an inanimate object, you are also wrong! Members of the Enterprise would say, “Beam me up” or “Scotty, beam us aboard”, but never once did they say “Beam me up, Scotty”. I know its nitpicking here, but for a one-liner to carry the entire show, at least get it right!

Similarly in Star Wars when Darth Vader is having a warm heart to heart with his son Luke on the Death Star.

Quick! Double or nothing! What is the most memorable line in Star Wars?

What’s that? “Luke, I am your father?”

Wrong again! It’s “No, I am your father!” after Luke accuses him of killing his old man.

This goes on, like “Elementary, my dear Watson” was never used in any of the Sherlock Holmes books or “Play it again, Sam’” was never uttered in Casablanca.

There are a ton of things we associate with brands, whether it be tag lines or messages that we occasionally misinterpret but does this really matter? Humpty Dumpty is still a classic nursery rhyme and Star Wars is still an amazing trilogy.

As long as the message reaches us, its okay if we twist it or miss out a few words. The message and the product still go hand in hand, and it speaks to us in our own individual way.

And we get it! And it sticks with us!

What sticks out most about your brand?

Life is all about choices.
Compromising on your heritage and history is a choice.
Giving up what most defines what you are for the sake of making a populist statement is a choice.
Lying to protect yourself, deceiving to postpone retribution, covering up to escape persecution, these are choices.
Defaming an opponent and sowing untruths in order to gain a competitive edge is a choice.
Drowning out dissenting voices and clamping down on negative feedback are choices.
Sticking to outdated values, philosophies and values is a choice.
Being me-too, safe and ordinary is a choice.
Allowing badly thought-out ideas to affect your reputation and image is a choice.
Not taking a risk is a choice.

If your brand isn’t making an impact, it’s not because the world isn’t fair, or that people are stupid, or that others just don’t get what you want to say; it could be because you made a bad choice, and haven’t taken responsibility for it.

Are you making the right choices for your brand? If things aren’t working out, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate those decisions, and make another choice.

Yes, life is all about choices, and every choice has its own set of rewards and consequences. But what’s great is that you can choose again, and again, and again, until you get it right.

A recent video circulating online depicts a real-life scene in an Air Asia aircraft where the in-flight safety announcement is presented in a, shall we say, rather refreshing manner.

It’s classic off-the-cuff, everybody’s-doing-it-so-why-should-we rule-bending behaviour by a brand that’s pretty much known to not always play it by the (airline) book. The man behind the announcement, Quinton Dinesh Thomas, a senior flight attendant attached to the no-frills airline, said that his motivation for the quirky, spontaneous script adjustment was so that passengers would sit up and listen to what would normally be a dull, routine affair.

In effect, he turned an aural blind spot into something memorable and engaging for those passengers, and over 340,000 people online (at last count); all just by adding a little human touch and personality to an otherwise dry formality.

Some might argue that there are lines that ought not be crossed when it comes to serious (and especially regulate) content, but really, isn’t the objective of any communication to actually get people to listen, absorb and respond?

Isn’t it funnier when a comedian deviates from his lines and ad-libs a response so unexpected that it elicits similarly unpredictable reactions from his cast members, thereby enhancing the delivery of authentic emotions on screen?

Isn’t it more exciting when a rock star improvises on an arrangement or melody during a live session to make it a unique experience, something that doesn’t sound as if you’re listening to a CD back home?

There’s a time for well researched, thought-out scripts, and a time for split-second magic; the trick is knowing when to cross the line, and when to pull back.

So what can your brand do differently to make your audience sit up and listen?

Like the Air Asia announcement demonstrated, it doesn’t need to be something huge; it just needs to be something great.

As people get older, habits change, routines break and relationships come and go. But one thing that’s pretty constant (at least in MY life and that of the millions other kidults!) are cartoons!

Anything animated, from the likes of the daytime re-runs of the Looney Tunes, more mature, up to date comedies like South Park and Archer, to the even weirder and twisted like Super Jail or Metalocalypse found on Adult Swim.

Here’s the thing; not so long ago, cartoons would find a certain niche, a certain demographic or psychographic that they’d like to tackle when wanting to land a prime spot on a children’s network, and exploit the heck out of it! Let’s use, As Told By Ginger for this example.

A not so good looking or popular girl, with equally freakish friends, from a single parent home, just trying to get by life one day at a time. You can already tell what the episodes were like; from wanting to be part of the cheerleader clique, to getting her first kiss and dealing with her parent’s separation. The show had a good run, and every teenage girl in a similar situation (which I assume is a lot) felt that emotional bond with Ginger.

Okay, so those were cartoons of the 90’s.

Today, I have come to realise cartoons don’t seek out their targets like they used to. They’re so utterly weird but brilliant, so specific and even terrifying, I sit and wonder how they managed to get green lit in the first place. And you think I’m talking about the more adult themed shows, but no! I’m talking about Adventure Time, Spongebob Squarepants and the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Shows shown at 4pm, targeted for those school-going kids.

Shows like The Regular Show; where a blue jay and a raccoon work in park maintenance, alongside characters like a walking-talking gumball machine, an albino gorilla and a high-5 ghost, getting sucked into alternate dimensions and slacking off as much as possible. You know, the average stuff you went through when you were 12.

Cartoons today aren’t finding that gap in the market, or targeting those certain brand of kids anymore. They are not tackling teen angst or hormone imbalances. These cartoons just know exactly who they are and hope people will love them as much as they do. And one of the reasons they work is because they don’t try to second-guess what their audience likes.

Not everybody is going to love you and that’s okay! What better time to learn this vital message than as a kid? As long as you know who you are and what you stand for, that within itself creates a niche.

Is your brand staying true to what it really is?

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stop thinking up mission statements that mean nothing except to a handful of people at the top. It doesn’t matter how nicely worded it is, or how inspiring it sounds to the board member, or how cleverly it connects the different elements in your brand strategy; a mission statement is just that, a statement, and not, in fact, a mission.

Oftentimes, leaders spend too much time debating the words of a mission statement, and too little on really defining that very important something that’s truly meaningful, non-negotiable and absolutely worth doing.

Because when you have a crack team of individuals who are each experts in their own disciplines at your beck and call, you know the last thing they’ll do, and possibly the last thing you’d expect, is for them to just take your word on anything. But give them a compelling reason, a challenging objective, a pursuit with potentially lucrative and fulfilling rewards, and the only statement you’d need is “Go.”

So here’s what you can do.
Decide, with the best minds in your company, what your mission is. What difference you’re going to bring to the world, how you’ll transform the way people live, how you’re going to make things better. Then, act on it. That, in itself, is making your statement.

At Ganforhire brandsolutions, our mission is to build powerful, sustainable brands by telling true stories about them.

What’s yours?

Hey remember that beer ad?
You know, the one where hot men and women sit around DRINKING BEER?
Yeah, you know the one. No, not that one, the OTHER one. Oh, yeah, that one has people by the beach DRINKING BEER.

OK, never mind. Strike one. Let’s try something else.

Laundry detergent. Yes, for washing clothes. Yes, just toss a cupful of it into your washing machine. (It’s a washing detergent. Where else would you put it into?) Oh, and look, your clothes come out clean and shiny. Which begs the question; what else would a laundry detergent do? Cook your meals?

Strike two. Right, not getting anywhere. Let’s take… banking.

Oh yes, here’s a bank commercial that shows you can do your transactions online. And there’s another one. And another one. And which one is that again? And I should bank with this one instead of that one because it’s easier. No, so is that one. More convenient? Pretty much across the board. More branches? It’s online, who cares about branches?

Strike three. And… you’re out.

No, not you, unless you’re a brand owner who also thinks looking, feeling and being the same as everyone else is a good strategy.

That sticking to norms and conventions works because consumers are incapable of independent, intelligent thought.

That your audience is so simple-minded that wouldn’t be able to figure out what you’re trying to say without you hitting them over the head with it.

But you’re not, are you?

We’re pretty sure the first question you’re asking, if you didn’t know the answers already, is “Who is Greg Smith, and what does he have to do with branding?”

Greg Smith is, or more appropriately, was, a 12-year veteran of Goldman Sachs who, while having had his fair share of triumphs with the company, achieved worldwide renown (or infamy, depending on your view on things) for his strongly worded lambasting of his previous company in an opinion piece published in the New York Times.

You can read his letter here for the full story.

Back to the matter at hand. Whether you agree with Mr. Smith or not (and, trust us, there are many vocal advocates on both sides of the fence), there are some critical issues that we can delve into from a branding perspective in terms of the contents of his rant / confession / expose.

Here are just three.

#1: If you want to have principles, stick to them.

Goldman Sachs has fourteen business principles, which they tweak from time to time, but supposedly always adhere to. The first of these is Our clients’ interests always come first. When you read Greg Smith’s letter, it is the divergence from this principle that most troubles him. Principles aren’t just words on paper, or on a plaque on the wall. They are a guide for everyone within a company, a sort of set-in-stone compass. When employees believe that the people in power are diverging from them, they are likely to lose faith, or worse, come to the conclusion that since their superiors aren’t serious about keeping to their principles, then they aren’t obligated to either. What’s the point of having principles then, and what would the brand become with nothing to guide it?

Greg Smith has this to say;

“Not one single minute is spent asking questions about how we can help clients. It’s purely about how we can make the most possible money off of them. If you were an alien from Mars and sat in on one of these meetings, you would believe that a client’s success or progress was not part of the thought process at all.”

Is this where YOUR brand is headed?

#2: Create and sustain a culture.

Greg Smith describes the “old” Goldman Sachs culture in his piece:

“[C]ulture was always a vital part of Goldman Sachs’s success. It revolved around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always doing right by our clients. The culture was the secret sauce that made this place great and allowed us to earn our clients’ trust for 143 years.”

But it seems that history, heritage and a strong ethical foundation pale in comparison to making billions from unwitting customers. When the emphasis is on the bottom line, then there is very little to stop a brand from losing its way. Detractors will say that business is all about making money (and this is double true when it comes to a financial investment giant like Goldman Sachs), but does that mean that we lose everything that made us unique in the first place just to make a quick buck? Or in the words of Greg Smith,

“Without clients you will not make money. In fact, you will not exist. Weed out the morally bankrupt people, no matter how much money they make for the firm. And get the culture right again, so people want to work here for the right reasons. People who care only about making money will not sustain this firm — or the trust of its clients — for very much longer.”

What’s your brand’s culture, and how has it worked for you?

#3: Trust building is business building.

“It astounds me how little senior management gets a basic truth: If clients don’t trust you they will eventually stop doing business with you. It doesn’t matter how smart you are.”

Greg Smith attempted to put trust in the spotlight again for business leaders, and in many ways, for brands as well. It doesn’t matter how cynical one may be, or how much one may think that Greg Smith had ulterior motives in saying what he said; the fact is, in today’s fast-paced consumer-centric world, trust is everything. The smallest slip-ups get spread like wildfire through social media and word of mouths, the slightest wrongdoings are broadcast to the world without fear or favour, and attempts to cover up mistakes lead to outcry, infamy and, if the Arab Spring is any indication, complete collapse.

How much of your business building involves trust building?

Whatever you may think of his methods, Greg Smith refocused the business world on integrity, trust and customer-centricity. The question is, will you heed his warnings and lessons, or shrug them off as mere disgruntled rantings?

Unless you’ve been hibernating or living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the KONY 2012 campaign that’s been making the rounds. It seems as if you can’t go anywhere without seeing Joseph Kony in one form or another; whether jamming up the news sites, filling up your Facebook timeline or garnering another million views on YouTube, it’s like everyone has their own take on the campaign.

Lest you think we’re here to impress our opinions for or against Mr. Kony, don’t worry; we’re not. It’s the aftermath of this perfect storm of a media phenomenon that we’re really interested in.

It’s the fact that a single perfectly packaged YouTube video could cause such a huge outcry, even though many people who are raising a ruckus don’t actually personally care about Invisible Children (the organisation that created and posted the video) as a charity. And it really doesn’t matter, because the point of this exercise, as so succinctly explained by the organisation itself, was to make Joseph Kony famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective), an objective that has certainly been achieved.

For those who think that sharing the video and buying the action kit is going to bring about a change in Uganda, we celebrate your optimism. Because if even 0.01% of the 60 million people who watched the video actually went out and did something constructive, it would have been worth the complaining and moaning and counter-arguments and accusations of blindly supporting a lost cause.

Over and above all that, it’s a testament to the power of Facebook and the social scene in general; with these tools at our disposal, it’s as if we’ve become a part of a worldwide police squad, where we, as common people, get to give the thumbs up or thumbs down to what the world should or shouldn’t be doing, who should or shouldn’t be trusted, what should or shouldn’t be in the spotlight.

It’s an empowering feeling, justified or not; the Kony event has proven that we can be the generals, the jury, the governors, the policy makers, the Batmen of this new world. The incredible reach and invasive nature of social media gives us a safe, almost untouchable platform to be the good guy who plays a part in catching the baddie, the knight in shining armour that rescues the damsel in distress, the hero that saves the world and gets the girl.

So who’s the Joseph Kony in your world? And with the limitless power of social media at your beck and call, what are you going to do about it?