Brilliant Campaign – UNICEF + Threadless + Needs For Sale
When artists Christine & Justin Gignac want something new – be it a trip to Las Vegas or a new pair of custom Adidas shoes, they create a painting of that item and offer to sell the painting for the price of the item. They have been doing this since 2007 on their website, Wants For Sale. An extremely creative idea made better by offering to do the same for charities they want to support by inspiring others to donate through the purchase of their art pieces on their website, Needs For Sale.
Now BBH New York and UNICEF USA have teamed up with Threadless and Justin & Christine to create and sell a line of collectable t-shirts that will cost the exact amount of the relief service that is depicted on the shirt. So for a tidy $300,000, you can sport the world’s most expensive t-shirt and delivering a heap of desperately need aid via air cargo transport.
I love this idea. Where in your branding could you put this kind of thinking to work?
Digital Strategy Begins With Your Customers
In his recent post – “Use Your Digital Strategy to Differentiate” on his blog, digalicious, Rich Nadworny points out “that for many, a digital strategy means deciding to have a blog, or putting up a Facebook page with the goal of gaining X number of followers”. Further he asks, “ …how does this differentiate you? His answer is right-on, it doesn’t! No amount of great content will counter-act a poor customer experience across the continuum of multiple digital touch points they demand. A digital strategy is about connecting the dots across your entire organization. It isn’t about your Corporate Communications tweeting a link to your next press release or product announcement, it isn’t about redesigning your website to be search engine friendly, and it isn’t about setting up a company YouTube channel.
It starts at the core of your organization. Who is held accountable within your company for customer experience? Is it the customer service department or is it integral to the DNA of your entire organization? Is your customer data accessible across the company or does it live in line-of-business or departmental silos? Where does customer feedback fit? Do you actually do anything with it? Are you modifying business processes or making organizational changes to better deliver on the customer experience? This is where a digital strategy begins.
Customer Experience Management
I just returned from the Adobe Enterprise Partner Community Days Conference in New Orleans, LA. While there were a number of interesting presentations, one of the most engaging was by Bruce Temkin, entitled “The 6 Imperatives of Customer Experience”. His blog is called “Customer Experience Matters”. It is a gold mine in terms of great, to-the-point info-graphics that highlight the research Bruce and his organization is doing. See below for example:
As a start, check out his FREE e-book, “The Six Laws of Customer Experience“
The Art of Story in Presentation
Nancy Duarte’s talk at TEDx East from Duarte Design on Vimeo.
How would you like to present your Brand’s next big idea with the precision and passion of Apple’s Steve Jobs iPhone introduction or Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech? A friend sent me an email this weekend with the link to Nancy Duarte’s video presentation at TEDx East on Vimeo (embedded above). Having recently read Nancy’s book, “Resonate“, the video codified the elements she puts forward in the book:
- Connect with your audience empathetically
- Craft ideas that get repeated
- Rely on story structures inherent in great communication
- Create captivating content
- Inspire enthusiasm and support for your vision
The video is 20 minutes long but well worth the investment of your time and attention.
Starbucks New Logo – So What?
Starbucks Corporation has unveiled the latest version of it’s corporate logo. Gone is the outside ring with the words “Starbucks Coffee” and a larger version of the Siren — a “celebration of the siren in a much bolder way“. Yawn… but is this really what Starbucks should be focusing on? As someone who spent most of my career in the service of iconic brands like McDonald’s, Microsoft, and Oracle — this represents thousands of hours of Starbucks employee’s time. As a customer or a stockholder do you feel this is where the company needs to be focusing this kind of investment? I think not. Don’t get me wrong, this type of effort can be very powerful if properly focused — I was at McDonald’s when they rolled out the I’m Lovin’ It tag line and it was remarkable how our marketing efforts were reinvigorated around the globe. I just don’t get the feeling that this is that type of change within the company.
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