There’s a Brand Opening in Hollywood – Who Can Fill Oprah’s Shoes

Calling all females in Hollywood!

Oprah Winfrey announced she is leaving the Oprah Winfrey Show after 25 years as the face of afternoon television for women — a role that helped position her as one of the most powerful women in entertainment and the world. The official end to her run as the queen of daytime TV is scheduled for September 9, 2011 — plenty of time to position a successor.

Those are big brand shoes to fill.  Who can step up to the challenge?  Some might point to Ellen Degeneres who is already positioned firmly with her own talk show, but Ellen and Oprah represent very different brand messages and images.  Ellen is a comedian at the core and Oprah is a reporter.  Both connect with audiences in different ways and audiences have very different expectations from them.

So that brings us back to the question — who can fill Oprah’s shoes?  Who can step up to the plate and build a similar brand position?  Let’s face it.  Oprah Winfrey’s power and influence transcended the afternoon talk show circuit.  She became a global influencer of everything from the beef industry to publishing, entertainment, and many areas in between.

What do you think?  Can another person fill Oprah’s shoes?  Can you think of anyone who could be up to the challenge?  Who has a brand image and message that could rival Oprah’s — if not now then in the future with a bit of positioning and promotion?

Image: Flickr

United Breaks Guitars – YouTube to the Rescue

First the backstory –

In Spring 2008, musician Dave Carroll took a United Airlines flight heading toward Nebraska for a 1-week tour.  Due to carry-on bag restrictions, he had to check his $3,500 Taylor guitar.  While sitting on the tarmac, another passenger brought everyone’s attention to the United Airlines baggage handlers who were throwing Carroll’s guitar (among other things) into the plane in a manner that left little hope for survival.  After 9 months of phone calls and discussions with a myriad of United Airlines employees, Carroll was finally told that United Airlines would not compensate him for his loss.  You can read the full story here.

So what did Carroll do?  He turned to the power of the social web, namely YouTube, to share his story — and it worked!

Carroll wrote a song and filmed a video called “United Breaks Guitars” (which is very funny) and uploaded it to YouTube on July 9, 2009.  You can view it below (or watch it here).  As of today, not even two months since it’s release, the video has been viewed over 5.3 million times.

Word got out and the video became a big enough viral sensation that United had to respond.  They contacted Carroll and offered to compensate him for the damages done to his guitar, but Carroll declined the money and asked United to donate it to charity.  He uploaded a new video on July 10th in which he describes his discussion with United, which you can watch below (or view it here on YouTube).

On August 17, 2009, Carroll uploaded the second song and video in his 3-part United song series.  As of today, just two weeks later, already nearly 300,000 people have watched the video, shown below (or view it here).

Carroll is now writing the third and final song in his United series, which will be released on YouTube with a corresponding video soon.

There are two things marketers must learn from this story.  First, the social Web is a powerful tool with the potential to make or break a brand.  Make it work for you, not against you.  Second, United breaks guitars.

Yahoo is not a Search Company

According to Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz, “We’re not a search company.” You might ask, then what the heck is Yahoo? According to Bartz, it’s a site that creates a complete experience through social, mobile and video components.

The Yahoo! we know today is just the tip of the iceberg of where the company and brand are going in the future. The challenge will be repositioning the brand that has for so long been associated with search and as the brand tagging along behind Google, into a brand that delivers a more experiential and less transactional promise.

I’m rooting for Yahoo, and I think repositioning the brand could be what saves it.  I give props to Carol Bartz for recognizing that the online market has changed and for trying to catch up.  There is deep value in the Yahoo! brand, and watching it struggle in recent years has been unfortunate. 

The repositioning of Yahoo! won’t succeed overnight.  It’s going to take time, investment and patience.  According to Bartz (and despite all the rumors and negative press to the contrary), the majority of Internet users still visit Yahoo!  Perhaps the shift in brand perception among consumers doesn’t have to be a rough road.  Only time will tell, but it sounds like Bartz is on the right track. 

Watch the video interview with Bartz to hear her take on the future of Yahoo! firsthand. 

What do you think?  Can Yahoo! rebound?

Image: Flickr

New Kraft Logo – A Yoplait Ripoff?

Last month, I wrote about the new Kraft logo on the Corporate Eye blog.  You can check out the old and new Kraft logos below:

This month, it turns out that Kraft has more problems with this new logo than I originally thought.  Word is out that the logo, which took seven months to design and who knows how much money, is a bit too close in appearance to the logo for Yoplait in Europe.  Check the similarity out below:

What do you think?  Too close for comfort?  Yes or no?

5 Core Steps to Building a Business Brand Strategy

Every business has a brand image attached to it, but the work that goes on before that brand image is launched is critical to long term success. The role of the business owner or brand manager is to determine what you want your brand image to be, and then define a strategy to make the brand image a reality.

Following are five core steps to help you get started with a strategic plan to build a brand for your business.  These are certainly not the only steps to brand-building, but they are at the heart of developing any brand strategy.  Read my 5 Rules of Branding post to learn the steps you should take to build your brand after you’ve developed your brand strategy.

1. Research the market.

Before you can begin thinking about your own brand, you need to understand the state of the market in which your business operates. Until you understand the existing market, you can’t fully define where you want your brand to be positioned within that market. Take the time to investigate the market, your competition, threats and opportunities. Then sit down and evaluate where your business fits in the existing market and where you want it to fit going forward. That’s your business’ position in the market. Once you know your position, you can define a brand message that accurately reflects that position.

2. Define your primary brand message.

Ask yourself how you want your business to be perceived by customers. The answer to that question determines the goal of your primary brand message. Next, you need to map out the steps to get to that goal. How do you need to present your business through marketing communications, employee communications, customer service, etc. to gain the reputation that will lead you to reaching your branding goal? Outline the tactics you need to take to build that reputation and the messages that will help you develop that reputation, and your brand image will grow organically in the minds of consumers. [Read more]

5 Elements of Logo Design to Build a Powerful Brand Icon

Creating a logo to represent your business and brand image can be an important aspect of your overall business plan, and as such, a great deal of consideration should go into selecting the best graphical interpretation of your brand’s value and promise.  Following are five of the most important factors to consider when choosing your brand’s logo.

1. Image

If you develop your brand effectively, over time, your logo will become the most recognizable icon of your business and product.  It’s important to choose a graphic that appropriately demonstrates your brand’s image and values.  Make sure no part of your logo could be considered offensive, and if your company is global or could become global in the future, make sure it’s not offensive in other countries.  Try not to be too trendy.  Select a design that can be timeless.  Creating a new logo in a few years can be expensive and requires a rebranding investment that you may not be able to take on in the near future. 

2. Color

The colors used in your logo are important not only in terms of production (see “Printability” below), but also in terms of how logos are perceived psychologically.  Do some research about the meanings behind colors, and take a close look at your competitors’ logos.  You want your logo to be appealing aesthetically, and you want it to help differentiate you from the competition. [Read more]

Madonna Strikes a Pose for Louis Vuitton Ad Campaign

The Louis Vuitton brand image is a high-end, high-price, luxury brand.  It’s a status symbol brand from France that many consumers aspire to own.  I’m not sure I completely understand why Louis Vuitton would select Madonna to pose for its new ad campaign. 

This ad comes on the heels of Louis Vuitton’s “Where Will Life Take You?” television and print ads that debuted within the past year featuring celebrities like Keith Richards.  The pairing of the haggard Rolling Stones guitarist and Louis Vuitton puzzled me at the time.  While I suppose Keith Richards is certainly well-traveled, I’m not sure if he’s the best embodiment of the high-class Louis Vuitton brand. 

It’s not new for Louis Vuitton to rely on celebrities to promote its brand.  Even if you visit the Louis Vuitton website today, you’ll find images of Sean Connery and a link to the story of his “journey” on the home page. [Read more]

Branding Lessons from the 2008 Presidential Election

The 2008 Presidential Election has finally ended, and the results provide a valuable lesson in branding.  In simplest terms, people are changing – quickly.  The social web has certainly played a part in making that change move so fast.  Never before has the exchange of information and ideas been easier or faster.  With the power of the social web and the word-of-mouth marketing it fosters, people have chosen a brand promise of “inclusion” over one of “exclusion”. 

In other words, President-elect Barack Obama ran a campaign based on an inclusive brand promise, while Senator John McCain’s campaign focused primarily on his core supporters, conservative Americans, with many people outside of that demographic feeling excluded.  While Barack Obama spoke of wanting to meet with world leaders regardless of the United States’ current relationship with them in order to start a dialogue and move forward, John McCain repeatedly stated that he would not sit down and converse with these same leaders.  At the end of the day, the majority of Americans supported the brand promise of inclusion and cast their votes for Barack Obama. [Read more]