Tagline : Butt of Jokes?

When people attack a company, the first one to get hit is the tagline.

In 1987, Scott Baker designed the current, so-called "Pac-Man Logo" for Microsoft. The new logo has a slash on the ‘O’ that made it look like Pac-Man, hence the name. In 1994 Microsoft introduced a new tagline Where do you want to go today?, as part of a $100 million advertising campaign. Needless to say, it was widely mocked.

In 1996, perhaps tired of being the butt of jokes like "what kind of error messages would you like today?", Microsoft dropped the slogan. Later, it tried on new taglines like "Making It Easier", "Start Something", "People Ready" and "Open Up Your Digital Life" before settling on the current "Your potential. Our passion."

~ Satish Chathanath
Call : 9884011654
Mail : csadhy@yahoo.co.in

Client Presentation

Client Acquisition Presentations? Hours and hours of number crunching, pots of coffee, packs and packs of Gold Flake Kings... you hit a great presentation. Catch some sleep, jet your way to client's place and... And... present it. I really like it if my client, after my 20 minutes gyan, says leave the presentation with him or send him the e-file. In fact I encourage them to use my presentation to present it to their superior bosses.

If the presentation can make them look and feel smart... you have the second line of management backing you as a preferred vendor!!


~ Satish Chathanath
Call : 9884011654
Mail : csadhy@yahoo.co.in

Forrester on B2B Blogging

A recently published study from Forrester Research raises a new question: Are businesses of any size benefiting from blogging?

A new study by Forrester Research reviewed 90 blogs run by business-to-business companies in the Fortune 500, and surveyed about twice that many B2B marketers. Like most businesses, these companies want to use the Internet to reach their customers. But because B2B companies are selling to people who follow their products professionally and not for pleasure, they face a greater challenge than companies that sell primarily to consumers.

Forrester doesn’t recommend that businesses give up on blogging, however. Instead, it suggests that they spice the blogs up.

I think companies should move away from drab 'this is me' messages to 'customer insight' messages, presented in an absorbing way. Probably get a blogger and not just a 'press release' writer to do this. Does your marketing write your company blog?

Chinese Whisper - Brand Lesson

At times, Branding can be like a game of Chinese Whispers. Whisper a complicated word into the ear of the first participant in a group and by the time it comes back the word is lengthened or shortened and changed beyond recognition. Try playing the same game with a very very simple word instead. Fair chance that it will remain intact even after a few rounds of whispering.

It is the same with Branding. Have a complex brand positioning, the purpose is lost even before it crosses the chain of management, marketing, sales. Forget the crucial player in the chain - Customer.

Then why do more and more brand owners come up with complex marketing messages. Because they think complexity equals deafening impact and more importantly it will make them look good. But in reality, your brand should be a force of ONE. Just one word. One association. Powerful without dissipation. For example Google means 'Search'; LinkedIn means 'Networking'. What's yours? That is understood by all in the chain from CEOs to the salesgirl in the retail store to the courier pick-up guy.