Category: Branding

An Instagram worth a thousand words

Posted on by Emilie Buckman

Some might assume that the news of Instagram’s Android debut being delayed would disappoint my nerdy, amateur photographer self.  They would be wrong.

The social media site and app does seem to fit with my compulsive need to take and share pictures.  And I am excluded from joining because I actively refuse to join the cult of Apple.  But I am not particularly disappointed by the delay nor am I completely sold on Instagram’s potential for something beyond a photo sharing site.

My first hesitation is about the app and it’s fairly petty and more than a little pretentious.  With the ability to filter every picture into an “artistic” shot, I worry about oversaturation and a lack of ability to discern between a truly great picture and a picture that just mimics something truly great.  While I support art for the masses, I don’t think all pictures are created equal even if they are created by the same filter.   I mean, how many color distorted photos of cups of coffee or someone’s lunch are truly great pictures? Or how many do we really need for that matter?

But my second, and more valid, concern about Instagram is the need of its own social media site.  You can upload your Instagram photos to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc.  It’s the redundancy of existing sites that has me concerned.  Obviously, for personal use it doesn’t matter as much but for marketing it might.  Other social media sites were able to find a unique niche for businesses that elevate them as a branding tool.  While businesses are using Instagram and using it well, I am not sure the site itself is a necessity.

I guess I am a little curious for the Android version to be released.  But not to join, instead I’m interested to see if my Instagram-apprehension is well-founded or not.  Though, I am willing to place bets that in a few months I’ll back track on everything I just said.  And then you will be able to enjoy all the vintage looking pictures of coffee cups I can upload.

By any other name

Posted on by Emilie Buckman

It’s fascinating to me when people attempt to change their names.  Like a kid from high school who spent his formative years known as Robby but all the sudden college came around he wanted people to call him Rob.  It makes sense; names ending in y usually aren’t taken as seriously as a solid one syllable name.  But that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be uphill battle.  People are creatures of habit and it’s going to take a lot of “Oh, I go by (insert new name) now” before it’ll stick.

If it’s hard for an individual person to change their name among their social circle you can only imagine the difficulty facing a company opting for a new name!  People spend a lot of money in advertising and marketing to change how the name of their company or product is perceived.  But I have to believe sometimes they wish they could just scrap their current name and start anew!  (I’d guess at least one person after the oil spill suggested BP just change their name and hope no one noticed!)

But Sunsweet is trying to do just that.   I was pretty impressed with the bold move of this Sunsweet Ad attempting to rename prunes as Plum Amazins.  I am not embarrassed to admit it took me a few seconds to recognize that this wasn’t a new product but rather a new name.   Prunes have a serious stigma and are often the butt of jokes.  I think this is the rare case where a name change might actually be easier than trying to change their connotation.  You can say all the wonderful benefits of prunes but it doesn’t change the fact that they are prunes.  Despite the obvious challenges of a name change I think this was probably their best strategy.

Although, I still don’t plan on going out and buying dried plums just because you don’t call them prunes.  But here’s to hoping other people don’t make the same connection!

Celebrity spokespeople

Posted on by Brian Lee

I was watching a Kia commercial featuring Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, and I thought to myself, wow he is one un-charismatic spokesperson. What are advertisers thinking when they choose such boring celebrity spokespeople?

Griffin endorses Kia, AT&T and Subway, among others. That’s odd to me, since Griffin is not even a fan favorite; for example, his jersey is not even in the top 10 most popular, according to the NBA.

Remember, there are criteria for picking a celebrity spokesperson. First, they have to be credible, and I highly doubt Griffin is. For example, what does he really know about Vizio products? Why isn’t he endorsing more athletic apparel?

There also has to be brand compatibility, and it seems unrealistic that Griffin would ever drive a Kia or eat at Subway in real life. The only criteria he fits is attractiveness, and that’s because he’s a good basketball player. However, his robot-like personality diminishes that attractiveness.

Think Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. They were good athletes and they were charismatic. These aforementioned brands should have spent the money on somebody else.