bubblybrandingbeaver-blog

[bubblybrandingbeaver-blog]

#myNYPD

Government agencies and organizations have to be careful about their branding and marketing initiatives too. In New York City Police Department’s case, the hashtag it started is still going strong, but unfortunately in a negative way.

With a Valentine like this, #myNYPD is an abusive lover. Show NYC a little more of the tenderness & respect it deserves @NYPDONeill. pic.twitter.com/1pbKNlcrvU

— placard corruption (@placardabuse)

May 7, 2018

late 90s me had a huge hackysack advantage, given that the police observed no loud music when they got around to it 6 hrs later #myNYPD

— Dr. Crowbotnik (@crowbotnik)

May 1, 2018

How #mynypd does #VisionZero:. Double parking during pedestrian outreach making it more dangerous for people crossing the street. https://t.co/NxEn1XMjdO

— Ollie #carfree and proud Oliver (@Ollie_Cycles)

May 6, 2018

Considering that throwing on the lights/siren is literally the least they can do, I usually give this a pass....but c'mon #myNYPD look at that open space! You can be better than this!

— Cops in Bike Lanes (@CopsinBikeLanes)

May 5, 2018

#VisionZero You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.#myNYPD #VisionZeroIsAJoke

— Cops in Bike Lanes (@CopsinBikeLanes)

May 5, 2018

[bubblybrandingbeaver-blog]

One question I have in mind upon finishing the case “Fair & Lovely vs. Dark is Beautiful”: what should be the right strategy for a business/brand that hinges stably on a belief in certain characteristics such as Fair & Lovely with the word “Fair” in its name, if WOW had successfully changed people’s perception?

[bubblybrandingbeaver-blog]

One interesting aspect to think about when making brand architecture decision is the competitive landscape. 

In the productivity software suite market, Microsoft has been a dominant player with subbrands for each individual application (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint) for decades. When Google decided to enter the market, it also had to make a brand architecture decision and chose to first go with a branded house strategy for each individual application (Google Documents, Google Spreadsheets, and Google Presentations) before moving more toward subbrands (Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides) later in 2012.

Although I don’t know the true rationale behind this decision, I think it makes much sense. Google’s branded house strategy allowed it to leverage the equity of the strong master brand while presenting the functions and value proposition of the softwares in their early stage more clearly to the market than subbranding which required more communication efforts. When the suite gained more traction, Google also acquired more flexibility to move along the brand relationship spectrum.

[bubblybrandingbeaver-blog]

One of my key takeaways from the Singapore Airlines case is that strong brand image can negatively affect your business too. Thanks to the passengers’ association of Singapore Airlines with very high service quality, they expect more from the airline than from its other competitors:

“I always tell my crew that when a passenger flies another carrier, he probably expects only 80% satisfaction. If the crew gave 90% effort, the passenger will think the flight is pretty good. However, if the passenger flies SIA his expectation of being satisfied is already 110%, so if our crew gives 100% they will get a negative reaction. They have to give 120%.”

(From HBS case: Singapore Airlines: Customer Service Innovation)

Consequently, the companies with the strong image of excellent service might find themselves in a virtuous (or in some sense, vicious) cycle of continuous service quality improvement.

(Image source: http://www.fortheloveoftravel.net.nz/) 

[bubblybrandingbeaver-blog]

Just realized I have overlooked the fact that Frontera and Casillero del Diablo both belong to Concha y Toro for all these years! Those black strips (and thus Concha y Toro as a brand) are so faint that I barely paid attention to them...

[bubblybrandingbeaver-blog]

It’s really interesting to see Makita introduce this drill-battery-powered coffee maker for construction sites after learning about Black & Decker’s past struggle to eat Makita’s share in tradesmen market because of its too strong household brand recognition :)