The semantic blog

Our next Offline meeting | Between June 29th to July 10th

2009-06-23T13:16:00Z

Hi everybody!

Our next [pre-holidays] Coffee 234 is on track... The idea is to make "them" between Monday, June 29th and Friday, July 10th.

Each host (the ones who want to be in each city) will set the place, day and time...

I'm announcing our offline event in both Brand 3.0 as well as in LinkedIn Brand 3.0 Club...

In the Coffee 234 page (http://www.brand30.net/coffee_234) you'll find:

A Map to add a marker for your city/place
A Poll to propose and select the topic of this meeting
A bulletin to tell everybody that you are a host, where you are going to meet, and/or whatever you want

In Madrid

The Coffee 234 will be on Thursday, July 9th from 09:30 to 11:00 AM in Bajo Cero

All your ideas and comments are welcome to make this event superb!

What the hell is a brand?

2009-06-18T11:12:00Z

Some days ago, in the Brand 3.0 Club at LinkedIn, Ian West from One-Marketing (Rochester, UK) did this "looks so simple question".

Up today, he has received more than 40 answers (including mine). Those answers have certain differences and some issues in common:

The main difference is that that group is from "expert people" in the branding, marketing, communication, design,... arenas. So each answer looks like a definition. We could develop some clusters of definitions, however, the real issue is that all of them have the bias of the person who wrote it... a professional bias!
The issues in common could be summarized as follow:
- Few people agreed on other colleague definition (the "bullet who killed Hitler" effect)
- Almost none of the answers is simple; actually, some of them are enough complex
- Almost all of them consider people as a subject that are not necessary part of the definition

After reading them, I thought, the best definition is not the one that is comming from an expert (or under that point of view and/or bias) but the one that is comming from the people who are living the experience... It's simple, don't you think?

When I opened this community, my idea was (and continue being) that branding is a people issue, so the focus should be on the dialogue. Perhaps, this is one of those moments that a huge dialogue is needed...

So... What the hell is a brand for you?... Let see if we can arrive to something valuable!

Great regional branding effort by chance

2009-06-09T16:18:00Z

Probably you will remember the regional brand, Formentera. Probably, you will hum the song... But, almost certainly, after five minutes you'll forget the brand of the beer.

Great add for the wrong object.

To much love will kill you... (Freddie Mercury dixit)

2009-06-03T21:03:00Z

Once upon a time, there was a world in which some people thought that announcing the functional characteristics of a product / service was sufficient.

"You can buy a Ford T if it is black, with black leather upholstery... with one kind of engine and no further features". This worked so good at the beginning of last century.

With the time, things changed and now, a good number of "great theorists" have had no better idea than to do the opposite... "No features, it's time for emotions and feelings, to tell stories and metaphors"... And this is true, but to much love will kill you!

Neither one thing nor the other, or rather, something of both would be better...

The utility of the offer is still as important as when Adam nicely accepted the apple (he bought the "original iSin")...

Emotions, however, in the right dose are welcome... and this translates into:

Transmit emotions that are associated with what the company promises
Emotions are easily decoded by target audiences
A story that has a certain livelihood, nice to hear, but true (there are few exceptions that may have the taste of fantasy... e.g.: Ferran Adriá)
A valuable metaphor when needed by the company, the offer and the buyer ... No one has to be metaphorical to sell toilet paper (even though any excitement could be generated)

What I'm saying... Does it make any sense? Or am I in the state of "Lost in Translation"?

Do Advertisers (the great pretenders only... not all of them) realize that if there are emotions everywhere, all emotions would become futiles, and we'd finally wear our armor and helmet and filtrate everything?

Is it the fault of the gun? | Sales driven companies

2009-05-28T12:07:00Z

It is so important, a t the end of the month, to pay salaries, expenses ... no doubt about it ... That if we do not sold this doesn’t happen, too. But to think that this means that sales will take the reins of the company is somewhat different.

Let me put it this way:

Sales executes a plan designed by marketing (the only one responsible for the first row of the business’ income statements) which in turn responds to a business strategy which is coming from a specific and permanent company purpose (permanent in this case is not an absolute term)... And not the other way around!

However, it appears that in some cases, more than desired, things are not as well, moreover. They are exactly the opposite and I think that this is as saying that the gun is guilty, not the murderer... "It was the gun that killed him, not me pulling the trigger, nor the one planning the murder"

There are books written on sales, finance, marketing,… driven companies"... and there are many executives following their recommendations ... and the results are there!

Branding does not escape to this, there are thousands of pages written with this kind of wonderful ideas (perhaps this is one more to add to the list ... you decide).

The brand experience is part of a marketing strategy which summarizes the intent of the business, conveys the purpose of the company (a call to action idea), and makes it a living experience that will add value and, of course, generates better incomes.

Is it so hard to understand? Am I missing something? Or am I completely lost?

Batman logo evolution

2009-05-09T23:36:00Z

CollegeHumor

Sometimes certain changes are not taking into consideration... Don't you think?

Campaign to stop talking about the re-branding of Pepsi ;)

I am with the brands

2009-04-14T23:35:00Z

A month ago, two TV Channels in Spain launched a campaign in"defense of the branded products"... We are hearing slogans like "We believe in brands" and/or "Do not stay white"... "We are with the brands"...

These ads are based on the principle that there is a war between branded products and white labels... and the second ones are winning the battle...

Wrong principles generate confusion

This principle is, at least, inexact... I was trying to think, remember, find examples of white label products, and I couldn't...The times of the big pop-corn bags are far away.

We are in a world of branded products and branded products... Yes!... One are owned by certain manufacturers and others are owned by the distribution. To be clear, the game is between branded products and DOBs' (Distribution Owned Brands), and the second ones are winning this round (not necessarily the game).

We choose DOBs' because the brand is telling something that we are able to decode, is functionally aligned with today's constrains and emotionally relevant. It's a simplification to think that the reason to buy is only based on price.

Example

The International Taste and Quality Institute (Brussels, Belgium) gave in 2008 the Superior Taste Award (3 stars) to Carrefour's Confiture Mure Cassis.

This make me think about the real reasons which could be behind the scene of this "défense de la non protégés"

Our first Coffee 234 | The results

2009-04-09T14:15:00Z

First Coffee 234 | The day after

Finally, on March 12th, the Coffee 234 took place in four different cities: Madrid (Spain), Bahía Blanca and Tucumán (Argentina), Barranquilla (Colombia). Thank you very much to the hosts in each city... Lourdes, Lupa, Roberta, Bruno and myself.

We were more than 30 people: Roberta, Irene, José Antonio, Mike, Nacho, Juanma, Damian, Any, Pau, Agus, Lupa, Michael, Carolina, Eilyn, Franklin, Natalia, Juan Carlos, Liliana, Lourdes... People with different backgrounds as polititians, executives, company owners, students, psychologists, reporters, sociologists... people from communication, branding and marketing...And the list continues...

The main results (probably, the ones who participated will post more details):

Similarities

Most of the conclussions of this first Coffee 234 are shared beyond boundaries, instead that the point of views and/or approaches to the topics were different.

In Spain the focus was on branding, in Colombia on Advertising, and in Argentina on communication and consumers.

Main results can be summarized as follows:

Dialogue: No matter where you live, the idea is that we don't want excesses in one direction communication... we want to dialogue. Employees with their companies,customers with companies, people with other people (peers)... In this dialogue, the keys are honesty, effectiveness, confidence
Boldness: Most of the companies (specifically the big ones) are paralysed. It looks like the ones that will win the game and have a stronger position after the crisis are going to be those companies that with effectiveness, speed and a challenging behaviour are doing something (including business model changes), and in certain cases with a doses of agresivity. Bold business that recognized what is going on around them could be the new paradigm
- In Spain the exception discussed was Telefónica and its decision about changing its brands and consolidating the business around two of them: Movistar and O2
- In Argentina it was stressed what Telefónica is doing (well) with Speedy, its ADSL service
- In Colombia it was said that few companies are moving in this direction (as well as establishing a dialogue), but basically because, they are not suffering (yet) the effects of this crisis as in other countries (industry structure based on small/mid size local companies) and people are "anesthetized" and do not react proactively
Filtering: Part of the collective madness is due to excesses of the media and people who seem to wish a disaster that gives them the opportunity of saying that they were right. Part of the crisis looks as a psycho-crisis
Care of the brand experience: This meant anticipation, opportunity, conscience. Companies should continue building their brand experiences (considering what it was said above). It takes a long time to build something especial, unique and different... and seconds to destroy it (e.g.: price wars, low quality, changes in raw materials...)

Differences

Latin America has a clear advantage (unfortunatelly) based on the ability of people to live in "permanent state of crisis". What we could learn from this is that the solution recides in each of us, that the world doesn't stop, that "Daddy" (Government, companies, Obama, UE...) is not going to come with a magical solution.

In Spain, one of the issues that arose during conversation is the pressure of DOBs' (distribution owned brands) against branded goods and the lack of ability of certain companies to deal with this situation.

Also in Colombia, they suggested to organize these events more frequently... and other things related with the dynamics of the meeting , that I believe could be solved directly by Lourdes (the host there)... Any suggestion?

Next Coffee 234 will be in June (probably first/second week)... We hope that more people and cities join us!... In the waiting list are Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Brighton, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Jerusalem, London, Los Angeles, Mumbay, New York, San Francisco, Toronto...

They only need a host... Would you like? The host must only propose the place, the day and time, and takes some notes, photos, videos (what they really want)... That's it!

=========

El Primer Coffee 234 | “El día después”

Finalmente, el 12 de marzo, se llevó a cabo el primer Coffee 234 en cuatro ciudades diferentes: Madrid (España), Bahía Blanca y Buenos Aires (Argentina), Barranquilla (Colombia). Muchas gracias a los anfitriones en cada ciudad... Lourdes, Lupa, Roberta, Bruno y yo.

Fuimos más de 30 personas: Roberta, Irene, José Antonio, Miguel, Nacho, Juanma, Damian, Any, Pau, Agus, Lupa, Michael, Carolina, Eilyn, Franklin, Natalia, Juan Carlos, Liliana, Lourdes... Personas de diferentes áreas y con intereses diversos: políticos, ejecutivos, empresarios, estudiantes, psicólogos, periodistas, sociólogos... personas de la comunicación, branding y marketing... Y la lista sigue...

Los principales resultados (probablemente, los que participaron darán más detalles):

Similitudes

La mayor parte de las conclusiones de este primer Coffee 234 son compartidas más allá de fronteras, incluso considerando que el punto de vista y/o el enfoque de los temas fue diferente en cada lugar.

En España, la atención se centró en la marca, en Colombia la publicidad, en la Argentina la comunicación y los consumidores.

Los resultados principales pueden resumirse en:

Diálogo: No importa dónde vivamos, la idea es que no queremos excesos de comunicación unidireccional... queremos diálogo. Empleados con sus empresas, clientes con las empresas, personas con otras personas (pares)... En este diálogo, las claves son la honestidad, la efectividad (conducente), la confianza
La audacia: la mayoría de las empresas (especialmente las grandes) están paralizadas. Parece que los que ganarán el juego y tendrán una posición más fuerte después de la crisis serán aquellas empresas que, con eficacia, rapidez y un comportamiento desafiante están haciendo algo (incluyendo cambios en sus modelos de negocio), y en algunos casos incluso con cierta dosis de agresividad. Empresas que con audacia y sin dejar de reconocer lo que está sucediendo alrededor de ellas podrían convertirse en un nuevo paradigma
- En España, la excepción que se debatió fue Telefónica y su decisión sobre el cambio de sus marcas y la consolidación de los negocios en torno a dos de ellas: Movistar y O2
- En Argentina se hizo hincapié en lo que Telefónica está haciendo (bien) con Speedy, su servicio ADSL
- En Colombia se dice que algunas empresas se están moviendo en esa dirección (incluso establecimiento un diálogo), sin embargo se reconoce que no sufren (aún) los efectos de esta crisis como en otros países (la estructura de la industria está basada en empresas locales pequeñas y medianas) y, por otra parte, la gente parecería estar "anestesiada" y no reacciona de manera proactiva
Filtrado: Parte de la locura colectiva se debe a los excesos de los medios de comunicación y personas que parecen desear un desastre para así tener la oportunidad de decir que tenían razón. Parte de la crisis se ve como una psico-crisis
Cuidado de la experiencia de marca: Esto significa previsión, oportunidad, conciencia. Las empresas deben seguir construyendo sus experiencias de marca (considerando lo que se dijo más arriba). Se tarda mucho tiempo en construir algo especial, único y diferente... y sólo segundos para destruirla (por ejemplo: guerras de precios, baja calidad, cambios en las materias primas...)

Diferencias

América Latina tiene una ventaja clara (desgraciadamente) sobre la base de la capacidad de las personas a vivir en "permanente estado de crisis". Lo que podríamos aprender de esto es que la solución reside en cada uno de nosotros, que el mundo no se detiene, de que "Papi" (Gobierno, empresas, Obama, UE...) no va a venir con una solución mágica.

En España, uno de los temas que surgieron durante la conversación es la presión de DOBs' (marcas de la distribución, o mal conocidas como marcas blancas) en contra de artículos de marca, y la falta de capacidad de algunas empresas para hacer frente a esta situación.

También en Colombia, se propuso organizar estos eventos más a menudo... y otros aspectos relacionados con la dinámica de la reunión, que creo que podrán ser resueltos directamente por Lourdes (la anfitriona allá)... Sugerencias?

El siguiente Coffee 234 será en junio (probablemente en la primera/segunda semana) ... Esperamos que un mayor número de personas y ciudades se unan a nosotros ... En la lista de espera están Amsterdam, Atenas, Barcelona, Brighton, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Jerusalén, Londres, Los Ángeles, Mumbay, Nueva York, San Francisco, Toronto...

Solo necesitan un anfitrión ... ¿Te gustaría? El anfitrión debe únicamente proponer lugar, día y hora, y tomar algunas notas, fotos, videos (lo que desee)... Eso es todo!

Robert Johnson | The departure point

2009-04-04T23:44:00Z

Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues musician, among the most famous of Delta blues musicians. His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 display a remarkable combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend.

Considered by some to be the "Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll", his vocal phrasing, original songs, and guitar style have influenced a broad range of musicians, including Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck, Jack White and Eric Clapton, who called Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived".

Some people who love blues use to say that before him, there was nothing (he would have had a pact with the devil... it was said!)...

Is anything before your company call to action idea or you are one of those who also pacted with the devil?

Source: Wikipedia

Gram Parsons | Country music accepted by Rock & Roll

2009-04-01T15:11:00Z

Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons was a member of the International Submarine Band, The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. He was later a solo artist who recorded and performed duets with Emmylou Harris.

Parsons died of a drug overdose at the age of 26 in a hotel room in Joshua Tree, California. Since his death, he has been attributed to helping to found both country rock and alt-country.

In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #87 on their list of the 100 Most Influential Artists of All Time.

Probably, one of the main issues to stress about Gram is that because of the poetry in his songs, he was accepted by "Rock & Rollers".

The creativity and innovation in the way he wrote and tehreafter played his songs was useful to be understood (decoded) by other tribes. Empathy with others allows us to be in the minds of a broader audience. Don't you think?

Sources: Pablo Bessouet & Wikipedia

Social Networks & Communities

2009-03-27T13:43:00Z

Last week I was in a conference at IE University where I participated in a round table discussion about online communities, actually about building a compelling brand experience in university online communities.

The first issue that I discovered was that in Spain, round tables are rectangular, and discussion means independent presentations of the three/four speakers... And questions is an unpleasent situation, not because of the kind of questions but because it's difficult to make it happens.

Any way. the issue is that before the event I was thinking about social networks and communities. To make it simple, a social network is the online support needed to build a community. However, the community is a pre-existent phenomenum. This means that the social network allows a better connection beyond geographical boundaries of an especific community.

We are a community, the so called "Brand 3.0" community, and we are supported by Webjam as a social network enabler. Following this path, Brand 3.0 is creating a new relevant and unique experience which basically is already known by all its members.

And here come my questions... If we are an unique community:

What can I do from my side to improve participation? (remember that we have the Coffee 234 -I'll publish the results of the first offline meeting during these days, the WikiSemantic -where all Brand 3.0 members are co-editors, polls, forums, inspiration areas, spin-off Webjams, friend Webjams, Brand 3.0 Template,...)
Are we really a community? Are we talking?
Do you know people who could be interested on joining this social network? If so, what are you waiting to invite them ;)?
What can you do to improve our participation, conexion,... experience?

I look forward to hearing your candid comments!

BTW... In few days, our non-monthly newsletter (if you are not a member and are interested on receive it, just signup the newsletter form), and take note that our URL has changed to www.brand30.net (if you are promoting this Webjam, first of all, thank you very much, then, please change the URL in your promotion... :))

Muddy Waters | From acoustic to electric

2009-03-26T00:57:00Z

McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician and is generally considered "the Father of Chicago blues". He is also the actual father of blues musicians Big Bill Morganfield and Larry "Mud Morganfield" Williams.

Considered one of the greatest bluesmen of all time, Muddy Waters was a huge inspiration for the British beat explosion in the 60s' and considered by many to be one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.

He was the first one who, playing blues, went from acoustic to electric guitar!...

In 2004 Waters was ranked #17 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Inspiration is also to go beyond the traditional boundaries of your sector and take ideas from others... Do you go in that direction?

Below, you'll find another inspirational stories!

Paco de Lucía , John McLaughlin , Al Di Meola | Musical dialogue

2009-03-20T01:29:00Z

Probably one of the best examples of art + technic, functionality + emotion, shape + form, individualism + coordination

Webjam vs. John Doe Brand Experience

2009-03-18T14:58:00Z

All this began a few days ago when I decided to centralize the newsletters of Brand 3.0, Allegro 234, Brand 3.0 Club in LinkedIn and other social networks in which there is a community of people that maybe (and only maybe) can be interested on how we are doing. In total almost 5,000 souls!

The theme continues on the waiting list and this is because the company I chose to send the newsletters made me enjoy the worst brand experience that can be imagined.

This made me think that there is something to learn, and comparing it with a great experience will show the differences.

I'll try to be objective, and assume that what I'll say is an opinion and may be wrong.

I named the E-Mail service company "John Doe" because I want to show a comparison of brand experiences, good and bad, and not to use this post to denigrate a company with people who, maybe, had one really bad day.

The comparison will be between Webjam vs. John Doe!

The brand experience is based on a dialogue between people

In Webjam, we have an honest relationship, pleasant, warm, interactive with the team behind the company. Even with its founders, they are part of the tribe and behave in that way, they are concerned about the success of their enterprise, sharing it with us in the system. They participate and encourage participation, they are attentive to what is said and done, and they also say and do, they surprise us. They are connected with reality.

In John Doe, the relationship begins to distrust its future client. The customer has to prove that he/she is a good person with good intentions. No dialogue, there is an instruction manual to follow. No time to analyze situations and then make a decision, and despiting that the decision could be wrong, they defend their original decision as fanatics. The founder is politically correct, but is more concerned about the system that with those who use it (even considering that these are the ones that allow him to have a good life thanks to the income they generate). For example, I sent an email to the owner of the circus, his response was "Thanks for your comments, I think that you have done the right thing, but I don't know how I can help you (if the CEO, Founder, etc. can't help you, then who).

Brand experiences presuppose honesty, mutual respect and trust

In Webjam when something good happens we celebrate and thank (all of us, doesn't matter our role with the company). Without exception, we respect (though politically incorrect) and assume "a priori" that we can be trust in the other. Even when there is trouble, when something goes wrong, when it does not work, there is honesty in reporting the facts, and that makes us believe (still) more in Webjam value proposition.

John Doe is following an ideology similar to that of the "preventive war". People are not honest, the customers are the enemy of the system and/or may cause damages. There is no mutual respect as they maintain a position of power that allows them to decide what is right and wrong based on rules that are tailored to give the answer that they want every time. You must trust the company because it has a some labels in the footnotes of its website (LOL), but as the customer arrives without labels, there is no reason to trust him/her. Still accomplishing their requirements, they are able to maintain their previous position, now without reason (one of their last emails said something like "what you did is correct and has solved the initial problem, but now we want you to send an email to each person telling them to enter our website and register on your list of newsletter ... If I can send 5000 emails from my server, I would not need the services of this company ... Am I right?)

The brand experience is valuable if it can demonstrate true benefit to all parties

In Webjam we have the perception that the company is ahead of us and is trying to do that every day. At any time we are amazed looking at how it grows, how it gets more funds, how it applies those funds in improvements (Technical. .. we dont' see but enjoy them ... and applications that we quickly add), how it grows and celebrates.

In John Doe, you have to give firts and then expect to receive, you must pass the test to see if it is accepted or rejected (by a system). They are what they are and that is a lot, because what they do is perfect, unique and incomparable ... No improvements, no suggestions, no points of contact between company and client, except those designed into the system. You send a message and in less than a minute you get the answer ... "The system has recorded your message. When someone sees it, he/she will answer" ... Maybe I was wrong with "John Doe" and should have called this company "Hal 9000" (2001 Space Odyssey computer)

Conclusion

Brand experiences are built on time and you have to work on it every day and involve all the people who is concerned about it.

The brand experience can be destroyed in seconds... and that it is a serious problem...

Right of precendence

2009-03-06T10:50:00Z

At some point in history we lost our way ... Today, some people insist that we have found it... Did they say that seriously? do they believe in waht they are saying? And if so, what goes first?

Right of precedence 1: From learning and knowing

Here comes the first question on the right of precedence, assuming it is true that we can self-proclaimed that we are a "knowledge society" (seeing what happens over the world I think that in the last 50,000 years we have learned little): Are we a knowledge society or should we be a learning one? Particularly, I think that the desire to learn precedes the one of knowing and recognizing ... Why do we start from the back?

Right of precedence 2: Between the emotion and reason

We use to say there that a good branding process (as many other things) begins with the rationalization of thought and then the creation of something in line ... First strategy, then creativity.

However, and this viewed from a medical point of view, in our brain the limbic system has the right of precedence over the neo-cortex ... In simple: the emotions (which are driven by the limbic system) acts sooner and with greater intensity than the reasoning (cruelly managed by the neo-cortex).

Then: If the excitement is ahead of reason (BTW, smile is a unique and emotional capacity of the human beings ... no, no, no... hyenas don't laugh and dolphins neither ... and your panda-faced dog , less), why the hell we act like machines forcing things, our brains and even ourselves, to go up against? Is it not necessary first to dream, feel, create the big picture, and then rationalize it and create expressions that communicate the dream?

What horror, these thoughts in the mouth of a consultant ...

Right of precedence 3: Between market and make us buy

In a company, it is worth more to think about how to sell ... In fact, many of them give preference to sales rather than marketing ... This would be like blaming a gun for the death of someone instead of blaming the one who shooted him/her... No?

What comes before? The one who thinks, creates and establishes the relationship of the company and its revenues with the key audiences or the one who is executing that plan?

Thelonius Monk | Between insanity and genius

2009-02-23T15:29:00Z

Following the recommendations of Master Pablo Bessouet (probably one of those guys who really knows about music over this world), I’m beginning with some musicians who changed their worlds, and probably ours too.

Considered one of the most important musicians in jazz, Thelonious Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight No Chaser".

Often regarded as a founder of bebop, Monk's playing style later evolved away from that form. His compositions and improvisations are full of dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists, and are impossible to separate from Monk's unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of silences and hesitations (a style nicknamed "Melodious Thunk" by his wife Nellie)

Theloinus died in 1982, crazy… or perhaps as a misunderstood genius. In 1993, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2006, he was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation.

Sometimes, our experiences become relevant because of dissonances and unorthodox approaches to life…

What’s your case?

Source: Wikipedia

Brand 3.0 | Merging Webjam & Twitter activities

2009-02-19T11:21:00Z

From today onward for those who are interested on what it's going on here, I have opened a Twitter Group, Semantic-Branding, at Tweetwork.

So, this will allow us to make micro-blogging more useful for Brand 3.0 stuff

Relevant Issues
Questions
Ideas

I'd like to invite you to join this group

BTW... Don't forget the Coffee 234... And if you want, become the host in your city

Inspired by Yes | Not "Yes we can"

2009-02-12T13:19:00Z

Yes is an English progressive rock band that formed in London in 1968. Their music is marked by sharp dynamic contrasts, extended song lengths, abstract lyrics, and a general showcasing of instrumental prowess. Yes blends symphonic and other 'classical' structures with their own brand of musical style (from Wikipedia).

The broke the rules. There was not only progressive and/or symphonic rock band but also one of the first ones (if not the first) that in certain parts of its works used Arnold Schoenberg's dodecaphonic technique. Moreover, they mixed classical baroque music with basic English rock notes, and Indian and other Asian tunes.

You can hear the results... For the ones who were born in the '60s, perhaps this is an incredible memory, for others (the ones who loved and love Abba) something that happened in their youth without any other connotation. For the rest, perhaps something completely unknown.

However, the point here is not if you like or dislike this... For inspiration purpose, is to hear the music and think about your self and your company:

Did you blend some previously disconnected issues to create something new (Webjam founders for sure!) and fantastic?
What could it happen if you go beyond the traditional boundaries of your industry/sector to build something new (as Yes a British/Indian dodecaphonic composition)?
Did you stop to think that there are more than 8 notes to play your life/business simphony?
Are you aware of the kind of brand experience that could be create?

I leave you with Yes... Enjoy it!

Coolest & Gaps Results | Apple, the coolest brand experience

2009-01-28T13:25:00Z

With the participation of more than 1,000 people, during the months of October and November, Allegro 234 conducted the "Coolest & Gaps Branding Survey"

This survey is the first in which the question about the coolest brand has been opened without predetermined lists [spontaneous, not induced].

Through various media and online blogs, the survey has achieved a high participation level

1,314 participants
Europe 55%, the Americas 40% and Asia 5% [39 countries]
70% of participants working in areas related to branding, marketing, communications and PR

Coolest

The five coolest brands are:

Apple [with more than double of mentions than the second one]
Coca-Cola
Disney
Ferrari
Virgin

Two groups of brands follow the top five, including:

Adidas, Alfa Romeo, Illy, Moët Chandon, Nike
Agent Provocateur, BMW, Jaguar, Nestle, Norwegian Cruise, Patagonia, Red Bull, Starbucks, Volvo, Vueling

Even as these are the coolest brands, participants also recognize that there are things to improve:

Associate services: The product meets expectations, what it is around shows deficiencies
Warranty: The "small print"
Price: Brand premium price

Two important issues:

Communication is only part of the experience [Companies in the telecommunications sector and financial institutions have rarely been mentioned, less than 1%]
Coolest brand Experiences are those which are lived with the five senses

Gaps

On average, it is recognized that all companies, regardless of the sector they belong to, need to work on their brand experience

Those working in areas related to branding are more pessimistic than the non-related people, except in regard to the synthesis of their value proposition [what the brand says]

People fail to decode the message [marketing speaks a language that only they understand]
The aspirational is difficult to achieve and produces frustration [is sensed a lack of authenticity and realism]

Finally, in regard to the internal branding experience, 60% of participants believed that it is inappropriate and/or partially adequate in their business

Those working in related areas are more critical [they base their internal experience on communication]
Those working in non-related areas live the experience better because they are considering other factors that go beyond communication

You can read/download the full study here

Main contents:

The Coolest brand experiences: Global, by continent, by country (US, UK, Spain, Argentina)
The Gaps: General and splitted by people related and non-related to branding areas
Final conclusions: General and the specific cases of Spain and Argentina
Press Release and contact information

Thanks to all the people who made this effort possible (detailed thanks in the full doc)

To make it simple!

Metamorphosis

2009-01-23T11:52:00Z

In recent times, whether by things I've read, conversations I have had or ideas that I actually have, the theme of identity and image come back again and again.

As I said a while ago in a "post", it is difficult to explain my thoughts structure and how I came to this analogy that I'll write below ...

Let's talk about branding and let's do it seriously!

Metamorphosis

Some companies are tempted to renew their image and they beging this way... Because it is outdated, it's ugly, it's boring, they have money, in times of crisis it distinguishes themselves ... because it is "cool, you know?"

This effort is usually based on and limited to design of its brand and commonly advertised with messages like "we have a new logo" ... this could be simply considered as a metamorphosis of a worm to a butterfly.

Evolution

Other companies however recognize that something is changing and that change gives a new intention to its value proposition or extends its scope of business or improves what they are doing now.

Evolution means that the changes, in what the company is, are slow... It is the evolution of identity and in many cases need to be translated into a change of image ... It is proven, honest and real, what they are is different from what they were, and then they show it.

Without going into the religious aspects of the theory of evolution, they are moving from monkeys to humans, discovering that they can join the thumb with the little finger of their hands and walk on two legs.

Disruption

A few companies see that it is time to make the jump, to live and to make live a new experience, something truly, unique and different from what is already known.

There is no evolution, there is a cut and something new, but some issues remain because in the end, individuals who interact in this system are the same, their DNA remains... They maintain their call to action idea defined at the highest level ...

It is the disruption of identity, a sex change without notice ... It's also identity before image, but with a stronger need of working on a new image that tells what has happened ...

Few companies do it, few dare to do so ... Perhaps those in which the property is still present...

In sinthesys ... If you think that in your case, the metamorphosis is enough, please consider your point of departure, and point out that the butterfly, despite its beauty, remains an insect!