I wonder how many industries are like publishing… reading their customers backward. If you listen your customers might be telling you that your brand has got it all wrong. Not sure what I am talking about… watch this.

This presentation was given as the Keynote at the Digital Book World Conference by Shiv Singh - VP & Global Social Media Lead with Razorfish.

Definitely something publishing and newspaper industry-heads should look at.
Let us know what you think….

I don’t go gaga over websites too often, but this one just made my jaw drop. From the cutting edge design, to the complete integration from every digital touch point, to the overall inspiration based concept - this digital creation - hands down - wins in my book.

Lego Click: According to adverblog, LegoClick “is a a virtual canvas of ideas, inspired moments, quirky stories, solutions and tips, working as a collaborative plateform to inspire people.” In my opinion it could quite possibly be the best designed site, I’ve ever seen. In addition, the collaboration and brand integrated ethos behind the execution is what is truly genius. A must see for any designer and/or marketer!

Below is the short film that Lego did to unveil their brilliance. Go forth and explore Click! more….

A few days ago it was reported by numerous news outlets that a NJ based PetsMart location had fired an employee for “bringing his dog to work.” The story is a bit convoluted, but it goes something like this. The employee normally worked the day shift and as a favor to a manager, agreed to take on a night shift due to a staffing issue at that specific locale. In doing so, he on his own accord decided that he would bring his dog into PetsMart and leave it in the “Doggie Daycare facility for the evening checking in on it every so often.” A relatively non issue in that it is PetSmart and PetSmart has an open door policy to pets. Plus, remember the store was closed and no customers and very few employees were even there. The night shift seemingly went off with out a hitch, yet a few days later, the employee was called into management’s office and officially terminated under the guise of “theft of services.”

Now the first question that comes to mind is how does “bringing your dog to work” amount to a “theft of services.” That question was immediately posed by the terminated employee. And of course the corporate conglomerate not wanting to cow tow to pressure from a terminated employee’s questioning of their ridiculous actions justified the decision by stating:

“the doggie daycare service is a huge part of PetSmart’s business. Access to the store’s doggie daycare facility is ‘viewed as sale items the same way items on the shelf are. To use the facilities and not pay for it — it falls under the same lines,’” said PetSmart spokeswoman Jessica White.

Now this is where brands need to understand how the social space works. The social world does not stop and continue to go about one’s day just because a corporate “edict” goes out from the C-Suite. No one really cares if this was said by the CEO and treated as the 11th commandment within the confines of the company compound or even only happened in an isolated store in the bowels of NJ. The point is that consumer expectations around the brand have been breached and people have the power and means to voice their displeasure via social technologies like no tomorrow. And this is exactly what happened in this case.

On PetSmart Official Face book page over the course of the last 24 hours, their core fan base of 15,000+ have really stepped up and made their feelings heard. Sentiments of disappointment to outright treason are running rampant across the social sphere, so much so that it has forced PetSmart to issue an official statement and apologize for their lack of judgment. Too little too late IMO, but to date this is the only saving grace in this entire situation:

“We feel badly this happened and has upset so many people. We simply messed up. We didn’t handle it the way we should have, and we’re very sorry about it. Unfortunately, before we made things right with this associate, the damage was done. We’ve certainly learned from it. We still think PetSmart’s a great place to work …and we’re using this experience to make us better. We hope you’ll understand. -Jessica”

What this means is that brands need to rapidly understand that the experience they share with the consumer does not stop at 5pm; people could care less about who or what level made a specific decision and only care that it was a “Branded Decision” and see it accordingly.

And lastly, if people are only thinking that us social media freaks aren’t seeing this as what it is - business - period - think again! While I don’t subscribe to that type of business thinking I do honor it, and I’ll bring up one last business point. If I were a competitor working in their marketing department and saw what was happening, I’d be seeing dollar signs. I’d be all over the competitor’s FaceBook wall speaking directly to all the PetSmart fans who were let down by this lapse in judgment. i’d be literally taking market share from them one by one. In fact, I noticed that a few people were already saying how much better their company’s dog policies are compared to PetSmart. So this isn’t just about social media do’s and dont’s, it’s about business in the 21st Century!

The next film in the Twilight series came out at midnight. And it’s already grossing off the charts.
The thing that eludes me is that there’s been little to no branding for the film (that I’ve seen) and it’s still the most popular thing EVARRRRR (according to my 16-year-old sister). At this point I can only chalk it up to the unholy power of teenage girls. Someone please enlighten me.

All I know is that I will be avoiding the movie theater like The Plague, and hiding under my bed, with a stake in one hand and a big plate of garlic bread in the other.

Hello Kitty and I have been friends since I was in the 1^st grade.  I met her on a pencil set that was gifted to me and since that moment, we became best of friends.

Whatever she had, it always matched, was insanely cute and I coveted it all.  If the pencil was pink, so was the sharpener, the case and the eraser.  Same logo and color palette throughout and thoughtfully packaged.  Hello Kitty taught me about Branding.

Then she introduced me to her friends, Little Twin Stars, Tuxedo Sam, and My Melody.  Hello Kitty taught me about Product Extension.

When I needed appliances and interior decor, she had her with her own toaster, TV, bedding and more.  Hello Kitty taught me about Brand Extension.

When I went through a “Goth” phase, she started to don more black.  Consequently, she got a slew of new friends and a lot more popular.  Hello Kitty taught me about Brand Revolution.

You would think that Hello Kitty and I would drift apart over the years, but we didn’t.  Maybe because we were born the same year we seemed to grow up together. When I got my first Nirve beach cruiser, so did she.  When I started wearing MAC makeup, so did she.  When I entered into my career and needed a Mimobot USB flash drive, so did she.  Hello Kitty taught me about Brand Partnership and Brand Evolution.

HK is one wise little kitty.