Ries' Pieces

Audi's Visual Hammer. An opportunity missed.

                In 1986, CBS broadcast a 60 Minutes segment about Audi entitled "Out of Control." The show chronicled the tendency of the Audi 5000 model to suffer from "unintended acceleration."

                (Three years later, the culprit was discovered. “The major cause," according to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "appears to have been drivers unknowingly stepping on the accelerator instead of the brake pedal.")

                Consumers, however, blamed the car instead of the driver. Audi sales in the American market plummeted. From 74,061 vehicles in 1985 to 12,283 vehicles in 1991.

                In 1990, Audi hired my Dad to help them revive the brand following the crisis and downfall. I remember the case well and was curious about what his exact ideas for Audi were so I dug up a copy of his report. Al’s advice: "Don't try to fight a bad perception. Just change the name."

                Not a bad idea. It has taken Audi another 20 years of struggling to finally get where it is today. Enthusiasts speak to the quality of the cars, but for decades the brand suffered from the crisis and a weak sounding name.

                What if they had listened to Al’s advice? What if they changed the name? What could they change it to? Sometimes there are no good alternatives.

                But in the case of Audi, they had something right under their noses. Audi had introduced a four-wheel-drive model called "Quattro" which Al thought was a good automobile name. And it is! It also focused the brand on a key feature: four-wheel drive.

                The Ries advice: change the Audi brand name to Quattro and import only four-wheel-drive vehicles to the United States.

                What was even more interesting was a single line buried in report: "Interestingly, the four-circle Audi symbol is a natural extension of the Quattro four-wheel-drive concept.”

                Too bad Al didn’t have me and a copy of my new Visual Hammer book to help him sell that idea to Audi. He could have made the point that four circles are a powerful visual hammer for a four-wheel-drive vehicle with a four-wheel-drive name. It would have been brilliant!

Redesigning a Brand

    So you want to start a business? You’ve got an idea, you see an opportunity in marketplace and you plan to work hard in building your business, but where do you start?

    You start by building a brand.

    There are lots of ideas and opportunities and people who work hard, but few ever become truly successful because they don’t know how to build a brand.

    So how do you build a brand? You need to do three things: get focused, be first and become famous.

    You need a focus in order to stand for something in the mind.

    You need to be first in order to establish authenticity and hopefully create a new category.

    And in the long run, you need to become famous because PR is what builds brands. Since a brand can’t talk, you’ll need a spokesperson get the message out via traditional media, social media and word of mouth.

    Build a brand still isn’t going to be easy. You’ll also need some tools to get your brand in the mind. You’ll need the right name, the right verbal strategy (a nail) and the right visual (a hammer) to drive that nail into the mind of the consumer.

    May sound gruesome, but in today’s tough and competitive climate brute force is needed. Nobody said branding wasn’t messy.

    Recently, my friend Audrey who is a personal trainer decided to make a change in her life. She wanted to start a new business.

    She had always been gifted at helping people decorate and organize. Unlike your stereotypical “decorator,” Audrey is very practical and thrifty. With the tight economy, she thought there might be great opportunity for her idea. To be the opposite of a high-end decorator who goes out and spends thousands of your dollars buying stuff to make your house look great. Audrey’s idea was to take exactly what consumers have and simply reorganize, restyle and reduce the clutter in order to redesign their homes to make them fantastic.

    Audrey has a great idea and she also sees a great opportunity, but she still needs to build the brand.

    Audrey got some pro-bono help from a friend. Here is what he suggested for her brand:

        The brand name: Simple Redesign

        The verbal nail: Restyle, Reuse, Reduce

        The visual hammer:

        The website: SimpleRoomRedesign.com

     I wasn’t impressed. So I decided to give Audrey my advice and I thought you might be interested in reading about it.

    In theory, generic names like Simple Redesign sound like a great idea. They tell prospects exactly what it is your business does. And they give the illusion your company is bigger than perhaps it is.

    At the beginning of the 20^th century, generic names were all the rage. When most businesses were small and local, the advantage was in being the opposite: big and national.

    At that time, brands like General Electric, General Mills and Standard Oil stood out. The problem is that over time, as lots of people jumped on the generic bandwagon and most companies were national, the advantage was gone. You can't build a company with a name like GE now.

    Today, launching a brand with a generic name is a killer. There are just too many brands in the marketplace. A generic name gives your brand little protection or power.

    Look at the word “Natural.” There is a big trend towards more natural products and foods. But using the generic word “natural” in your name doesn’t work. There are too many brands with similar names and so none of them stand out.

    The same is true with a generic word like “Simple.” On the other hand, “Redesign” is a nice word for Audrey’s business. It implies the restyle, reuse, reduce concept.

    The final misfortune of Audrey’s initial branding effort was that the website and name didn’t even match. SimpleRedesign.com was taken so she had to use SimpleRoomRedesign.com  

    Big mistake. If you can’t get the url, you shouldn’t use the name. These days, checking with GoDaddy.com has become a regular part of our naming sessions.

    Instead of a generic name like Simple Redesign, what could Audrey use as a brand name?

    The strategy of personalizing a brand has a lot of advantages. It leads to a proper name and has the spokesperson built right in. Think Papa John’s, Forbes, Ralph Lauren, Dell and Charles Schwab to name a few.

    Audrey is a terrific and perfect name to use for a brand. It is usual yet easy to spell. So I suggested changing the name to Audrey Redesigns.

    Luckily when you have an unusual name the chances of getting the url increase dramatically. AudreyResdesigns.com was available.

    The verbal nail Audrey was working with was really nice. I love “restyle, reuse, reduce.” It is repetitive and reinforces the concept of Redesigning instead of just interior designing.

    But no verbal nail will get into the mind without a good visual hammer to drive it in with. A hammer is a key marketing element missing from many programs. For Audrey, her original “leaf” hammer was pretty but had no relation to her brand or her category.

     So if the idea is “Redesigning,” the idea of recycling comes to mind. The visual everybody associates with recycling are the three green arrows that indicate recycling.

      Now that was a perfect visual hammer for Audrey’s brand. So I redesigned the three arrows to simplify them and make them fit her brand name .

    The result is a logotype with a strong visual hammer that reinforces Audrey’s memorable “restyle, reuse, reduce” verbal nail.

Starbucks dumps “Coffee” and I think is likely to get burned

    Change can be good and many times change can be welcomed. Change is so powerful a concept that the word itself put Obama in the White House.

    But when it comes to branding, the best kind of change is usually no change at all. Sure, over the decades a brand needs subtle, almost unperceivable, changes to keep the brand current and fresh. But radical changes by well-known brands is most often a bad idea.

    Just ask The Gap or Tropicana.

    Today, Starbucks unveiled a new logo which drops its name “Starbucks” as well as the word it owns in the mind “Coffee.” What is left is a large green Mermaid.

    Smart move? I think not.

    Is the Mermaid the first thing you think of when you think of Starbucks? No.

    Is a Mermaid a powerful visual for a coffee brand? No.

    That’s why the Mermaid isn’t top of mind for Starbucks. It is a unique visual which is good, but it is not very powerful since it has no clear relation to the brand.

    Powerful visuals like the golden arches for McDonald’s, the cowboy for Marlboro and the chili pepper for Chili’s all have clear connections to the brands and their positions.

    Is the Mermaid simple? No.

    Powerful visuals should also be very simple in design. Over the years, Starbucks has done a good job of making simplifying its Mermaid. But it is still far more complex than visuals like the Nike swoosh, the Mercedes tri-star or Apple’s apple.

    But what is really troubling about the change is the explanation Chief Executive Howard Schultz gave: “Even though we have been and always will be a coffee company and retailer, it’s possible we’ll have other products with our name on it and no coffee in it.”

    No coffee in it? Is that a good idea for Starbucks? Apparently one of the reasons Starbucks took the word “coffee” off the logo is that they want to launch stuff that has nothing to do with coffee. This is a fundamental marketing mistake. A strong brand is focused and owns a word or category in the mind.

    The Starbucks brand was built on coffee and nobody knows that better than Howard Schultz. Seeing him so blatantly and arrogantly remove it from the logo is blasphemous.

    And not because Starbucks shouldn’t launch non-coffee products. Starbucks today is big enough that it can and probably should be thinking of launching non-coffee products.

    But not with the Starbucks name. They should think like Toyota and launch brands like Lexus, Prius and Scion.

    Instead, Starbucks seems to be planning line-extensions that will dilute the brand in consumers’ minds. And nothing is worse that a watery cup of Joe.

    Starbucks is also following the dangerous trend of removing names from logos and signs. While visuals are powerful, the reality is that they are much more powerful with the words attached. Remember when Prince changed his name to a symbol only? Bad idea. Other examples include Chili's restaurant using just a chili pepper to Shell gas stations using only the shell.

 

    The combination of the visual with the name of the brand is more powerful than the visual alone. Companies should never give up the chance to hammer the name along with the image. Only on rare occasions, for simplicity and fashion reasons, should a brand use a visual only. For example, Nike’s swoosh on a shirt or Apple’s shinning apple on a laptop.

    Conventional thinking suggests that words are really not necessary. A typical comment: “The Mermaid is visual shorthand for 'coffee' much like the swoosh is visual shorthand for sports apparel."

    True. But what about the younger generation? Removing the brand name from a logotype makes it more difficult for kids growing up to learn what the visual stands for.

    In some ways, it’s like saying a well-known brand doesn’t need to advertise because “everybody knows what the brand stands for.” But over time, memories decay and without constant reminders even a well-known brand will lose some of its identity.

    Will dropping “Starbucks Coffee” from the logotype hurt the brand tomorrow?

    Probably not. But marketing strategies are not designed for the short term. They’re designed for the long term.

     And in the long term, the Starbucks brand is likely to get burned.

Non-Profit Rebrand: On the House 2010

            As part of my ongoing partnership with Matchstic’s On The House project, I have helped transform another non-profit brand this year.

 

            Last year it was the Swift School. And On the House transformed the branding strategy and identity for a relatively new school that works with children with dyslexia. The success of that On The House project has far exceeded expectations. It shows that it isn’t just about doing good work, success also depends on building a powerful brand in the mind. Enrollment at the Swift School is way up this year. But more importantly, the students at Swift feel a new sense of pride about the themselves and their school.

 

 

On The House 2010

 
            This year we worked with the Atlanta Union Mission. The Atlanta Union Mission is a non-profit that was established in 1938 for individuals in crisis that were displaced by the Great Depression.

              Seventy-two years later, the Great Depression of 1932 is ancient  history but the Atlanta Union Mission is still going strong. The Mission provides emergency food and shelter, residential recovery programs and transitional housing to as many as 1,200 homeless, addicted or disenfranchised men and women and their children.

            The Challenge: Help a 72-year-old brand founded during the Great Depression update its image, clarify its mission and focus its message.

            The Name: Atlanta Union Mission.

            In the early part of the 20^th century, long, generic names were all the rage. General Electric. International Business Machines. American Telephone & Telegraph. Standard Oil. When most businesses were small and local there was an advantage to sounding big and scopy.

            Today, it is different. Today, generic names make poor brand names. The ear hears the name and doesn’t distinguish between uppercase and lowercase. A generic name is a description, not a brand. Almost all the best-known, most valuable brands in the world are proper names not generic ones. Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Apple, Disney, Ford, Susan G. Komen.

            The one stand out is General Electric. But G.E. is No 1 or No 2 in the categories it competes in and more importantly it only competes against other conglomerates with equally poor brand names. G.E. hasn’t succeed in new technologies like computers and got out of the consumer appliance business. Remember, just because G.E. can violate a law of branding it doesn’t mean you can too.

            Atlanta Union Mission is a very long and very generic name. So long that most people inside the organization and in the community call it by its acronym AUM. AUM is even worse than Atlanta Union Mission. AUM? They need to have a name people will use and that stands for something.

            The most focused word they have is Atlanta, because that is the market they serve. Atlanta differentiates them from their competitors which are the large international charities.

             “Union,” what does that mean? Today it has a much different meaning than it did. Back then it was used to show that the organization was “non-denominational.” Today it means “labor unions” and voting for Obama. This isn’t a political action committee, so using the word is confusing and worse polarizing.

            Mission is a nice word, it conveys action and purpose but gets lost.

            The suggestion was to drop Union. And to shorten the name to “Mission Atlanta” my choice. Or alternatively “Atlanta Mission” the clients choice.

            Starting over from scratch isn’t always an option for a brand. The Atlanta Union Mission has a lot of support in the community and without a huge budget a totally new name would not have been the best decision. Here we have simplified and shorten the name to its core elements. And most importantly will help get people to use the name and not an acronym.

 

            The verbal nail

            The current tagline for the Atlanta Union Mission is “Saving Lives with Your Help.”

            Like most taglines it is not specific enough. Is this a school for lifeguards?

            No, the Atlanta Mission is a charity that helps people who are homeless get back on their feet. They help them with emergency assistance and with on-going educational and transitional programs.

            Therefore, the word that Atlanta Mission needs to own is “homelessness.”

            The verbal nail that drives that word in the mind is “Ending homelessness.” That is a tagline that is specific, memorable and emotional.

 

            The visual hammer.

            The current visual is an old-fashion lamp post. The new visual is a lantern.

            The concept of "Shining The Light" has been a core element of the Atlanta Mission brand. This idea is retained while modernizing it with a new spin on its meaning. Instead of waiting for people to come to it, the Atlanta Mission will strive to bring the "light" to those who need it. The lantern is also a visual that can be incorporated in many creative ways. Giving people lanterns as they walk the streets. Using lanterns at fundraising events etc.

            The mark also now includes a simple cross at the heart of the lantern representing Christ as the central force of the Atlanta Mission. If you are a Christian group than it is best to disclose this in an open, honest and friendly way.

  

            The official launch of the new Atlanta Mission brand will be in Jan 2011. So this is a sneak peek. I feel very proud to have participated in this project. And look forward to the next On the House experience.

Brand Makeover for the Swift School

  

    I am proud to announce that the branding makeover of the Swift School is almost complete. The process has taken many months but the results are extraordinary.

    Just to recap, back in April 2009, I was part of the On The House team that donated a total of $100,000 worth of services to a local non-profit organization in Atlanta. The winner of the prize was the Swift School, a non-profit school that serves elementary children with dyslexia.

    The mission of On the House was to give a branding makeover to a non-profit that was doing great work, but was not reaching its full potential due to weak marketing materials. The winner would get a strategy consulting from me, brand identity work, logo design, website design, photography, video production, brochures, printing and trademark counseling all for free.

    It is all too common that companies think that the name, logo, color, tagline, website don't matter. That if you have a good product or service you will succeed no matter what. Well, this is simply not true. Succeeding without a strong brand is enormously difficult.

    The changes that are being implemented right now at the Swift School are going to go a long way in helping to increase the school's visibility and credibility in the community.

    Like most brands, the Swift School is trying to find a way into the mind of the consumer. The way into the mind is always the same, the way in is with a narrow focus.

Here is how the team helped the Swift School:

1. The Name

    Originally the full name of the school was "The Swift School." But the "The" was an extra and unnecessary word that just made the name/logo longer.

    The emphasis should be on the one word that differentiates the brand and that is "Swift." It was recommend that the "The" be taken off the name. And for "Swift" to be the word that is the largest and most visible in the logo.

    Removing the "the" also allows for a shorter and easier to remember website address. I purchased www.swiftschool.com which amazingly was still available. Before the school was using the much longer www.theswiftschool.org.

2. The Word

    Every brand needs to focus on one word to own in the mind. This is difficult for most for-profit companies to do. It is even more difficult for non-profits which are concerned about being inclusive not exclusive.

    But focusing on a word doesn't mean necessarily leaving anybody out. Brands need to focus on a word so that people can file the brand in the mind. It is easier to file a specific idea than a general idea. Walgreen's is called a "drug" store even though they sell a lot of other stuff and could more appropriately be called a "personal items" store.

    Before the Swift School talked about "serving children with dyslexia and language-based learning differences." While that might be correct, it is way to long. And "language-based learning differences" is too vague. They needed one word that would cover almost all that they do.

    That word is "dyslexia." After all what is dyslexia? Dyslexia is a learning disability that is neurological in origin and is characterized by difficult with accurate and/or fluent word recognition. In other words, dyslexia is a difficulty with reading.

    Dyslexia is the one word that covers it all. It is a word that is already in the media and in the mind. And it is now the word that Swift is focused on.

3. The Tagline and Battle Cry

    Never underestimate the importance of a tagline. A good tagline should become the battle cry for your brand. A memorable call to action for employees, consumers and prospects alike.

    The use of alliteration, repetition and rhyme are all good ways of making your battle cry memorable. For example: Shop till you drop, Toys for Tots, or Loose lips sinks ships.

    The new battle cry for Swift is: Success with Dyslexia Starts Here.

    Obviously the alliteration of Swift, Success and Starts makes it memorable and drives the Swift/Dyslexia connection into the mind.

4. The Color

    Before Swift's color was dark green. But the uniform colors also offered a choice of green, blue, burgundy, or white shirts. That is way too many colors. A strong brand should focus on one color.

    The color selected to focus on was royal blue. The uniforms will only come in a choice of white or navy blue each with the swift name/star.

 

5. The Symbol.

    The guys at brand identity house Matchstic developed the "Star" as the symbol for Swift. It is very helpful if you can have a visual for your brand. And not just a squiggle that has no meaning but a visual that reinforces an idea in the mind.

    A brand like Nike can get away with just a swoosh, but only because Nike was first in a huge new category and they then backed up that symbol with hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising every year.

For most brands, it is best to use a symbol that has specific meaning and relevance to your brand and sets it apart from the pack. The "hut" for Pizza Hut. The "ticket" for Blockbuster. The "lime" for Corona. The "cowboy" for Marlboro. 

The star is perfect for Swift. The has the alliteration again with Swift. And the designers make it unique my overlaying the "s" and star. The star speaks to the potential of each Swift student to achieve success in school.

5. The Logo.

The logo takes the brand name, symbol, tagline and puts them together in a visual nugget that is then used everywhere. One of the most important things not to forget in a logo is legibility. Way too many designers try to make a logo pretty and forget that people also need to read it. Especially from a distance.

Here is the logo designed by Matchstic:

6. The other elements

If you have kids in school, you know how critical car magnets are. New Swift car magnets may seem like a trivial element but they are something that will have an immediate and important impact in the community. The magnets are being made by Branders.com and will arrive next week.

A new blue uniform shirt will be given to each student for the photography and video sessions which will be in November. Kids will still be allowed to wear the old logo shirts for the rest of this year. But all new uniform orders will have the new logo. And next year only the new logo will be allowed.

The website design has been created and is absolutely amazing. When you have a focus and a visual to play with creativity flows. The star is going to be something that can be used across many platforms. A star had such an emotional and relevant impact. The new website will go live in January.

It has been a wonderful project to be a part of. On the House has given an amazing school the brand strategy and brand identity it deserves.

Here is a recap of where the Swift School was in terms of its brand identity to where it will soon be.

 

 

 

Related posts:

Overview of the On the House Project

The Situation at Swift: My analysis of the branding issues

The Strategy for Swift: A summary of my strategy report

On the House Website

Matchstic Website

Ries & Ries Website

My general advice for marketing a non-profit.

How Crocs Crashed

  Success is sometimes your own worst enemy. Just ask the management and stockholders at Crocs.

  A hot brand ends up in one of two different ways. It burns bright too fast and fizzles. Brands like this are known as fads. Or a brand burns hot then continues at a steady simmer. Brands like this are known as iconic.

  Believe it or not, whether your brand will become a fad or an icon depends on your strategy more than you think. The good news is the fate of your brand is very much in your control. The bad news is it may be too late for Crocs.

  While it’s true that no strategy could have turned the “Pet Rock” into an icon, many brands could have been saved from the fate of faddom.

  Brands like Crocs and Cabbage Patch could have been saved by better strategic decisions.

  Let’s start with the story of how Crocs took off. Then we can cover how Crocs crashed and burned.

The Rise of Crocs

  In the Western Rockies of Boulder, Colorado, in 2002 three longtime friends and created a lightweight antimicrobial foam they called Croslite using a technology created by a Canadian laboratory in 1999. They molded it into a boating and water-sports shoe they named “Beach.” Thank goodness, they abandoned the Beach name and the shoes became known as Crocs. The shoes quickly caught on and developed a loyal and vociferous following.

  By 2005, revenues were $108.6 million, net income was $16.7 million for a net profit margin of 15.4 percent.

  By 2006, revenues jumped to $354.7 million, net income was $64.4 million for a net profit margin of 18.2 percent.

  That same year, the company riding a wave of success sold shares to the public raising more than $200 million making it the biggest stock offering in shoe history. The company used the money to ramp up manufacturing, diversify the line and acquire new businesses.

  Things were looking fantastic, or so management thought. In 2007, Crocs hit a high-water mark of $847.3 million in sales with a net profit margin of an astounding 19.9 percent.

  In 2008, the wave came crashing down. Sales dropped slightly to $721.6 million, but the company lost $185.1 million. Crocs had to slash 2,000 jobs and its stock price has plummeted 76 percent. Today Crocs has millions of dollars of debt and a huge surplus of shoes.

  What caused the collapse of Crocs? Many articles have blamed the economic slowdown. But could the recession really be the reason for the fall of $30 Crocs? I think there is a far more likely answer.

  When a brand is hot, it is hard to predict anything but a bright future ahead. It seems anything and everything you do is a good move. But nothing could be further from the truth. A hot brand must be managed very carefully.

Here are the keys to keeping a hot brand “hot.”

1. Dampen Demand.

  Suddenly everybody wants to wear Crocs, buy a Cabbage Patch doll or stay warm with a Snuggie. There are lines of prospective customers and mass hysteria.

  Every company's dream right? But what to do next?

  The worst thing to do is over-produce. If you flood the market with your product, it can lose its appeal. Some people will buy it who don’t really want it. While you may rack up some amazing short-term sales, long term you will undermine your brand’s specialness and exclusiveness.

  Crocs did just that. The company rapidly ramped up production in 2006 which led sales doubling in 2007 but also created a fad not an icon. Instead of patiently fanning the flames, Crocs added fuel to the fire. Overnight everybody was wearing them and then nobody wanted to be wearing them.

2. Resist Line Extension.

   Crocs didn’t just flood the market with a wide variety of its classic Crocs in a rainbow of colors, it quickly added many other styles. Flip-flops, sandals and an assortment of other types of Crocs were developed. Especially troublesome was the fact that many of the expanded styles were meant to be attractive. The idea of Crocs is not to look beautiful but to be functional. If people want fashion, there are many other brands to look at.

  In addition, Crocs spent millions buying up other companies in order to line-extend. They bought Jibbitz which makes the do-dads used to decorate Crocs for $10 million. Buying Jibbitz was probably a smart purchase especially they kept the unique brand name. But Crocs made other horrible purchases like buying EXO Italia which made vinyl shoes like Teva and Fury Hockey which made sports-protection items like sticks, gloves, pants and elbow pads. There was even talk of launching Crocs clothing. Not surprisingly the expansion efforts fell flat. The Fury business was liquidated last year.

  The expanded line turned Crocs into just another brand. At first, Crocs had an enormous advantage because it owned an idea and an image in the mind. The multitude of styles undermined that image and destroyed the power of the brand.

 

3. Control Distribution.

  Crocs went from being available in just a few retail outlets to being available in every imaginable retail outlet. While that fueled sales, it also hurt the brand’s power with the distribution. Retailers no longer saw it special being able to stock Crocs.

  We normally recommend that new brands start with exclusive distribution deals. That way the retailer has an incentive to promote the brand.

 

4. Focus on Core Consumers.

  Crocs went from a sports enthusiast shoe to a shoe for everyone. A brand that tries to appeal to everyone ends up appealing to nobody.

  Croc loyalists saw Crocs on everyone and said Geez, they don’t make me stand out and look different anymore.

  The key to making a brand an icon is having a base of loyal consumers. Instead of chasing everyone, Crocs should have resisted that temptation and stayed focused. This is the key to keep a brand becoming a fad.

  What are the core consumers for Crocs? Kids, athletes, workers. Forget the soccer moms/dads, grandmas/grandpas, fashionistas and everybody else.

  Kids in particular were a big part of Crocs’ success. Kids are also great customers because they have feet that grow. Sure, Crocs may be indestructible, but when your feet keep growing you need a new pair every six months anyway. Kids also love the Jibbitz which allowed each pair to be personalized.

  Athletes are the customers Crocs started with. Athletes gave Crocs a natural distribution strategy of sporting-goods stores like Sports Authority. The shoe is not just trendy but functional. The anti-Sex in the City shoes.

  Workers on their feet. Nurses, doctors, chefs and workers of all sorts are the perfect target consumer for Crocs and could have been a long-term steady market.

 

5. Expand Globally.

  Crocs did understand the power of going global. But you should not try to go global all at once. Crocs used its stock-market cash to build manufacturing plants in Mexico and China as well as distribution centers in the Netherlands and Japan.

  That was way too much, too soon. Going global is important, but should be done carefully, strategically and slowly. Instead, Crocs flooded the global market with its shoes.

  Too bad. Crocs is a great brand with a great name built around a great idea. The missing ingredient was great marketing.

The Strategy for Swift

The Swift School

The current mission of the Swift School is “to prepare children with dyslexia and related language-based learning differences to be successful in life.  We will strive to accomplish this mission by teaching them specific learning strategies and skills and by identifying and fully developing their talents.  To do so, we will create an environment that is exciting, challenging and supportive.” A mouthful and not very memorable. Even the director has trouble remembering it word for word.

 

The first step is to focus on a word. While the Swift School helps students with a variety of language-based leaning differences, the most obvious one to focus on is dyslexia. Why don’t they just say dyslexia? Well, non-profits and educational brands often have trouble limiting their brand in any way. But you will never get in the mind with idea like “language-based learning differences.” You can be inclusive with your program but need to be exclusive with your messaging.

 

The Swift School= Dyslexia. So if the word is dyslexia we now need a way to verbalize the idea that is memorable.

 

The way a brand gets established is with word of mouth. But for word of mouth to flourish it has to lend itself to being passed-along. It needs to be short, simple, easy to remember, credible and differentiating. The message has to be one that parents, students, teachers or therapists feel comfortable and confident about sharing.

 

The “The”

The full name of the school is “The Swift School” and the website address is www.theswiftschool.org.

 

Having the “The” in the brand name is just an extra word that makes the name longer. It used to be that companies always named themselves that way, as in The Procter & Gamble Company.

 

But these days it just makes the name unnecessarily longer. Using the “The” takes the emphasis away from the most important word which is “Swift.”

 

Also in a listing or directory how do you alphabetize The Swift School? Under “T” for The or “S” for Swift? Confusing.

 

Having the “The” makes the site address longer and especially for the web, the shorter the better.

 

My suggestion is to just use Swift School as the name. Of course, this can be changed easily on most places except for perhaps the most important, the internet.

 

Since prospective students are usually referred by a therapist or teacher, the website is typically the first and most important place parents find out more about the school. Having a great website with an easy to remember address is an extremely important brand component.

 

Unfortunately, www.SwiftSchool.org is already taken by an elementary school in Bon Secour Alabama.

 

However, sometimes you just get lucky. www.SwiftSchool.com was still available! I couldn't believe the luck! I purchased it right away and will transfer it over to the school’s ownership.

 

Using a .com address has many advantages. Dot com is the gold standard domain for the internet. Dot org is typically used by non-profits, so it would be good choice as well, but since it is taken it is not an option.

 

And if you take the “The” out of the name (which I really think they should) you really need to take it out of the website address. Inconsistency will lead to confusion.

 

Of course, what is wonderful about the web, it that you can own multiple addresses and point them all to one site. All the www.TheSwiftSchool.org traffic can simply be sent to the new site www.SwiftSchool.com. Nobody will get lost or confused.

 

 

A new position for the Swift School

The Swift School uses specific teaching methods with small class sizes to help dyslexics succeed. The key words to focus on are dyslexia and success. These are what set it apart from other private schools, inspire hope and get people talking. Parents, teachers and therapists agree that going to the Swift School ends the struggle with dyslexia and starts kids on the road to success.

My idea for the brand message is this:

 

Swift School

Where success

with dyslexia starts

 

You can see how this will lend itself to word of mouth.

 

“My son had trouble reading and was really struggling in school, but now he is at the Swift School. Swift is where success with dyslexia starts. He is learning how to overcome his dyslexia with specialized teaching methods. I can’t believe what a difference Swift has made in all our lives. Who knows he could the next Richard Branson or Thomas Jefferson or Albert Einstein, did you know they has dyslexia too?”

Successful Dyslextics

When parents get a diagnosis of dyslexia usually they panic. What can we do? What does it mean? What will people say? They worry about how the child will ever be able to succeed in school and be a success in life.

 

It is very comforting to parents and inspirational to children to be constantly reminded of all the successful dyslexics in the world. There are no limits to what a dyslexic child can achieve.

 

Dyslexics can become the President of the United Stateslike Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and John F. Kennedy. Or a scientist like Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton. Or a musician like John Lennon or Cher. Or an actor like Tom Cruise or Harrison Ford. Or an athlete like Muhammad Ali or Magic Johnson. Or a general like George S. Patten. Or an entrepreneur like Richard Branson or Steve Jobs. Or an inventor like Thomas Edison. Or even the sexiest man alive like Patrick Dempsey.

 

To reinforce this idea, you should line the walls of the school with the famous faces of dyslexia. That way children, teachers and parents will constantly be reminded of all their child can achieve.

 

What parent or student would not be impressed seeing all the images as they toured the school? It tells them that Swift believes it is OK to be dyslexic and that the school believes that great success is possible.

 

As Charles Revson famously said, we are not selling beauty cream we are selling “hope in a bottle.” Swift is selling hope in a school.

 

 

Public relations

Swift should work hard at generating media stories about dyslexia. Media attention will help drive brand recognition and word of mouth. The goal is for Swift to become the go to place for dyslexia information.

 

One controversial idea centers on early intervention. The idea that if reach a child early enough in development you can actually retrain the brain and reverse the symptoms of dyslexia. In other words, “Dyslexia doesn’t have to be forever.” Getting parents to see the signs early and seek help right away is key. This idea that dyslexia doesn’t have to be forever would be very effective on the website and brochures.

 

You might put together a “Signs of dyslexia to look for in your pre-schooler” brochure or offer lectures and information to local pre-schools. You might find a local therapist to work with in order to develop some kind of screening test. The advantages of getting kids help early is clear. So Swift should be on the cutting edge of making this happen.

 

In terms of the school’s expansion, adding kindergarten seems like the first place to start. If you propose early intervention, having classes for five year-olds is key. Long-term however there is no reason Swift should not plan on being a full pre-K to 12 grade school.

 

As you are doing now, Swift should continue community outreach by offering seminars and speeches about dyslexia. The new website itself can offer lots of background information about dyslexia to serve as a resource for parents and prospects.

 

When anybody thinks dyslexia the first thing they should think of is Swift and go to www.SwiftSchool.com

 

Stay tuned, I'll be back with Matchstic's logo design soon. First step is the strategy then the design to reinforce it.

The Situation at Swift

 

The story of Swift.

The Swift School is a non-profit school in Roswell Georgia that teaches students in 1st thru 6th grades with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences.

The school was founded in 1998 by Gail Swift a long-time teacher at The Schenck School in Atlanta. When Gail wanted to retire from Schenck parents urged the beloved teacher to continue teaching privately. She accepted and in one room in her church Gail began teaching five students.

In 2000, a two room modular building was leased and the schools enrollment was up to twenty-two students. The school continued to thrive and expand and by 2005 was up to seventy students.

 

Clearly a larger and more permanent home was needed for the Swift School. So in 2006, after a board of trustees had been established, the school purchased a 20,500 square-foot office building conveniently located on 5 acres in Roswell, Georgia.

Unfortunately due to medical concerns, Gail Swift announced her retirement in 2006 and the board began a national search for a new Executive Director.

 

Swift found Elizabeth Strowd from the prestigious Fletcher School in North Carolina and wooed her to the Swift School. The Fletcher School also specializes in dyslexia as well as other learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders.

 

In 2008, the Swift School celebrated its 10th anniversary. With a new building, an energized new Executive Director and 120 succeeding students, the Swift School was ready to take things to the next level.

 

 

Winning the $100,000 On the House marketing make-over is just what Swift needs to get there.

 

 

The Challenge.

Nobody knows about the Swift School. Public awareness of the brand is extremely low even in the learning disability community.

The logo, materials and website need to be updated. But before any materials can be improved by the other On the House volunteers, the brand strategy needs to be clearly defined. No brand will get in the mind with a three paragraph brand mission. Brands get into the mind by owning a word.

 

Swift needs to narrow its focus to own a word in the mind. For example, BMW owns driving, Volvo owns safety. Or in business schools, Kellogg owns marketing and Harvard owns management. It is interesting to note that both Kellogg and Harvard offer a wide variety of business majors; it is not about limiting what you do, it is about focusing your message to perhaps not include everything you do.

 

We live in an over-communicated society today. With too many brands, too many media outlets, too much advertising. The only solution to these problems is the over-simplified message. An over-simplified message allows you to cut through the clutter and get into the mind.

What word should the Swift School own? How can Swift verbalize that position in a memorable and meaningful way? What can Swift do to increase brand awareness?

 

These are the brand questions we will address and answer. Each consulting assignment is different, we don’t have a formula. We dive in and figure out what is going on, what is needed and what can be done. We had a meeting with the Swift team on May 4th. I'm first am outlining the problem, opportunity and challenges. Then I'll give you my strategy in tomorrow's post.

 

 

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia not seeing words backwards. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin and is characterized by difficulty with accurate and/or fluent word recognition. It is typically the result of a deficit in the phonological component of language and often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities.

 

In other words, Dyslexia is a difficulty with reading in otherwise bright people.

 

Students with dyslexia typically have poor spelling and decoding abilities, problems with reading comprehension and a reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

 

In other words, students with dyslexia find school extremely challenging.

 

Undiagnosed dyslexics are often assumed by parents and teachers alike to be lazy and lacking in intelligence. They struggle in school and frequently experience failure which often leads to low self-esteem and behavioral problems.

 

Who is Dyslexic?

The numbers are astounding. 15-20% of the population has a language-based learning disability. Dyslexia is the most common cause of language disability which includes reading, writing and spelling difficulties.

 

Dyslexia doesn’t discriminate, it affects males and females nearly equally, and people from all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

In the greater Atlanta area of 5.5 million people it is likely that at least 40,000 elementary school children suffer from some degree of dyslexia.

Obviously, the market for Swift and other specialized schools is huge. There are thousands of students in need of help.

 

Despite the challenges, many dyslexics have gone on to great success. Some famous dyslexics include: Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Charles Schwab, Richard Branson, Ted Turner, David Needleman, Wendy Wasserstein, Pablo Picasso, John Irving, Hans Christian Andersen, George Patton, Magic Johnson, John Lennon, Harry Belafonte, Jay Leno and Tom Cruise.

 

No kid or adult should be ashamed of being dyslexic. It is a common disorder affecting millions of people.  And being dyslexic doesn’t mean a life of struggling with reading, there are now proven techniques and strategies that enable success and offer great hope.

 

 

Up next: I'll share my strategy for Swift. Until then, think about it, how would you position Swift?

When the going gets tough, get giving

When the going gets tough, get giving. These are tough economic times for everybody, especially marketing agencies and consultants. When things were quiet for us back in January, I booked some events, made some contacts and looked for some ways to give back. Giving your services away with coupons and deals just undermines your value. But giving it away completely to companies in need not only feels good it helps your community and builds your brand.

I choose to team up with other successful Atlanta companies so we could give an entire package of services to a local non-profit. One great benefit of this is that it can be an excellent case study to share with prospects. One of the most difficult parts of being a consultant is usually you can't discuss any of the great work you do.

I'm extremely honored to be part of the On The House team which is giving a $100,000 extreme marketing make-over to a needy non-profit. There was an extensive selection process with applications, interviews and meetings to choose the lucky winner.

The winner is: The Swift School, a non-profit school for grades 1 to 6 that specializes in teaching kids with dyslexia.

We start the process on Monday morning with a Ries & Ries half-day brand strategy session. Al & I will be working with the Swift School team and Matchstic to develop the marketing plan that will then be executed with brand logo design, website design, photography, videography, brochures and other materials.

It is going to be very exciting and I look forward to sharing the work and experience with all of you.

The idea for On the House was conceived by Matchstic, a brand identity house here in Atlanta run by Craig Johnson and Blake Howard. Craig recently interviewed me about the project which I'd like to share with you.

CRAIG JOHNSON: How did you hear about On The House?

LAURA RIES: Blake, Craig and I were all chosen as Top 40 Under 40 award winners by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in the Fall of 2008.

Few of the winners were in branding (a lot of lawyers and real estate executives), so we gravitated towards each other. They guys had read some of my books and I was intrigued by Matchstic.

Sometimes you just click with people and that is what happened with me and the guys. After spending an hour or so having coffee with Craig talking about branding and life he mentioned the On The House project. I instantly signed up.

CRAIG JOHNSON: Why did you want to be a part of On The House?

LAURA RIES: I wanted to work with Matchstic. I wanted to give something back to the local community. And I wanted to keep busy during this recession.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What makes The Swift School a perfect candidate for On The House?

LAURA RIES: The Swift School is the perfect candidate because they have everything but a brand. They have a wonderful school that nobody knows about with marketing materials that don’t do it justice.

The school is well respected by experts, lead by fantastic teachers, filled with thriving children and supported by loyal parents. But nobody has heard of it, the logo is dated, the positioning unclear and marketing materials in need of investment.

Like many non-profits all the money has gone into running the place. Many see the investment in branding frivolous. But nothing could be further from the truth.

After the On The House team gets finished with Swift, I think it will serve as a great example of how a focused brand well executed can succeed. Branding means owning something in the mind.  And for Swift strengthening and defining its brand will allow them to sell less and teach more, by making it easier attract students, teachers and donors.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What types of clients do you normally work with?

LAURA RIES: We work with a wide variety of clients from Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Frito-Lay and Disney to entrepreneurial companies like The Republic of Tea and Papa John’s Pizza. We don’t specialize in any industry or company size. Our specialty is branding. We help companies to focus. A focus is the key to building a brand in the mind.

You are going to be providing a brand strategy session for the Swift School. Tell us about what you’ll be doing during the session.

My partner/father Al Ries and I are going to lead one of our brand strategy sessions. This is the core of what we do. We don’t have long term clients we only work on a one-day basis. This is the opposite of the way most consultants work. Most consultants study the situation, figure out the solution and present it to the client. We work together with the client to find the answer. That way everybody has ownership of the idea and understands how we got there. Many times there is internal conflict about what the brand is or should be, we help to resolve conflicts and get everyone focused and enthusiastic about the strategy.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What will The Swift School walk away with from that session?

LAURA RIES: The Swift School will walk about from the session with a marketing plan. Swift will have nailed down its brand focus and the exact verbalization of the idea.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What do you think is the most important rule in branding?

LAURA RIES: The most important Law of Branding is the Law of Focus. The way to build a strong brand is by having a narrow focus and owning a word in the mind. Ex. BMW owns driving. Volvo owns safety. Red Bull owns energy drinks. Target owns cheap chic. Zara owns fast-fashion. Nordstrom owns service. FedEx owns overnight.

CRAIG JOHNSON: How can non-profits organizations benefit from a well thought out branding strategy?

LAURA RIES: Non-profits benefit the same as for-profit companies from a strong brand. Strong brands are more successful. They have the ability to generate donations/support/volunteers/PR easier.

Even if you are doing good work it isn’t easy to get attention for it these days. We live in an over-communicated society. We are bombarded daily with thousands of images, sales pitches and charity requests. The only way to get above the clutter is with a focused brand and message. It is the same whether you are selling cars or curing cancer.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What’s your favorite thing about what you do?

LAURA RIES: My favorite thing is being able to work with my Dad. We have been working together since 1994 and he has taught me so much about branding and life. I love being able to travel around the world, meeting new people, learning about different business and helping them to succeed.

CRAIG JOHNSON: What’s the one piece of advice would you give a non-profit that doesn’t have resources to hire a brand strategist?

LAURA RIES: Many companies especially non-profits hesitate to focus their brand and message. They want to make there message as wide as possible. But this is a mistake. Your message and brand needs to be focused in order to get into the mind. You don’t have to include everything you do in your message. Also read my article: Marketing a Non-Profit Brand.

MBAs: Helping or Hurting Your Brand?

  

Is a good education the key to success? There is no doubt that reading, writing and arithmetic are important to get ahead in the world. But what about a college degree? What about a graduate degree? What about an MBA?

 

Whatever the value of these degrees are, you can’t get a job in corporate America or Wall Street without them. In particular, an MBA is the gateway credential into the corner office. So anybody who wants to be a CEO, a CMO, a CIO or a president, a vice-president, or a director of a company heads off to business school at age 27.

 

In particular, an MBA degree from Harvard, Kellogg, Wharton, Stanford, or a handful of other top-tier schools almost guarantees graduates top job offers and a bright corporate future.

 

But are these business schools giving our future leaders the skills they need to succeed?

 

Judging from the current economic crisis, something is amiss. Our companies, our banks, and our government might have the brightest and most educated people in the room, but I question their decision-making process. Most notably on Wall Street. With 40% of MBA graduates going into finance, this sector is in the worst shape of all, clearly something is wrong. What’s wrong starts with our business educational system. 

Read this article from Sunday's NYT's which also asks what is wrong with our business schools.

 

First of all, an MBA is not necessary for success. Many of the most successful people in business never even went to or completed college, let alone business school.

 

Leaders, visionaries and business successes like:

• David Ogily
• Bill Gates
• Russell Simmons
• Liz Clairborne
• Rush Limbaugh
• Dave Thomas
• Henry Ford
• Richard Branson
• Barry Diller
• Michel Dell
• Richard Grasso
• Larry Ellison
• Anita Roddick
• Sydney Frank

 

Second of all, an MBA could be harmful. School teach scientific analysis and logical reasoning. Students focus mainly on maximizing shareholder value often ignoring potential risks and long-term effects. Long-term ideas like branding are frequently dismissed or under-valued.

 

MBA schools graduate analytical, left-brain thinkers are often unprepared to deal with the realities of brands in the real world. What left-brain MBA students need to be taught is the value of an intuitive, holistic approach. In other words, right-brain thinking and marketing sense.

 

I wanted to go in marketing so I thought about getting an MBA. But what I realized is everything I would be taught in business school would be the opposite of the approach that Al preaches. To get good grades I couldn’t argue with professors, I'd have to play nice and I knew I would be miserable. But most kids don’t have the luxury of working with a master marketer like Al Ries. So they go and get an MBA.

 

There’s nothing wrong with an MBA. And there’s nothing wrong with logical, analytical left-brain thinking as long as it’s combined with intuitive, holistic right-brain thinking.

 

It takes both types to make the world go round. It takes both types to manage the affairs of a corporation, especially in the marketing department.

 

Too many companies are missing the big picture. They’re focused on the trees instead of the forest, on the short term instead of the long term.

 

Too many companies don’t have a “vision.” They’re so busy running off in too many different directions that they overlook the opportunity to develop a powerful brand that actually stands for something today and tomorrow.

 

Too many companies have boardrooms filled with only MBA graduates and left-brain thinkers. There is no diversity of thought so bad strategies are followed by more bad strategies and are these days followed by a bailout. To get these companies back on track, they need to invite in and listen to a few right-brain marketers. Sooner rather than later.

 

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