Look Who’s Talking About Circle®Brands!

“When venturing into uncharted territory, like Circle®Brands has boldly done by upending the traditional approach to branding, it’s nice to know we’re not alone. I’d like to share some thoughtful comments and words of encouragement from a variety of esteemed colleagues. We value their support, as it can get lonesome out here when you’re a category of one.” ~Susan Murphy, President, Circle®Brands

Susan,  WOW Very – Very – Very Cool! This is a DRAMATIC Difference!

1. I’d like to understand your pricing model and terms (do due diligence)

2. I’d like to get your stuff “loaded” into the marketplace

3. I’d like to explain the B to B world that MEP “owns.”

I think there’s an opportunity for you in that space.

Doug Hall

Founder & CEO

Eureka! Ranch

USA National Innovation Marketplace

www.PlanetEureka.com

www.USAInnovation.org

Susan, WOW!!! I love what you’ve done. Can we chat next week?

Karen Karen Post

The Branding Diva®

www.brandingdiva.com

www.braintattoo.com www.oddpodz.com

Susan, Your concept is AMAZING and truly unique. So many people struggle with developing brands. I know there are people out there that need you.

I would be very interested in learning about the process of marketing through closed deal. If I know of someone who can use your service, I will definitely send them your way.

Sandra Sellani

The Sellani Group Brand Strategists

Author, What’s Your BQ™ www.whatsyourbq.com

Hi Susan:

I am impressed with your forward thinking and creativity.  I think you may have hit on something here as I think you will see more people than ever trying to “break out and break away.”

I would be available Wednesday or Friday between 9:30 and 11:30 MST for a phone visit, if that fits with your schedule. If not, it will have to be one day next week.

Regards,

Carol Frank
BirdsEye Consulting
Acclaimed Author, Entrepreneur
www.carolfrank.com

www.luckynapkin.com/carol-frank

Dear Susan:

I love your thinking!  At this point we are in the works with a fairly large company that will be licensing Carolyne Roehm’s name and designs, thus we will not have a need for 1-800-IN-BLOOM although I love the idea. Maybe some one else will fit the bill in the future.

Congratulations on your company it seems extremely innovative. Thank you for your patience and for contacting me.

Keith Granet

Granet & Associates
www.granet.net

www.interiordesign.net/article

Thanks for the email, Susan.

I love it!  You obviously know what you’re
doing with naming!!!

You have a great foundation here, to do
some really solid marketing of your business.

Love the “service” thing…fantastic positioning
or differentiation in this market.

Congratulations — you’re way ahead of most
startups!  :-)  And certainly most purveyors
of flowers….

best regards,
Graeme Thickins
Founder & President
GT&A Strategic Marketing Inc.
www.gtamarketing.com
Author: “Branding & Marketing to Win
in the Knowledge Economy”

Susan,

What a great idea. WE Do the Math® at 1-800-CPA-MATH. Brilliant.

Allan Boress CPA, CVA

www.allancpa.com

Noted CPA and sales and marketing professional

honored as one of the

“100 Most Important People in the Accounting Profession.”

Glad to see this on wsj.com.

Good luck with Circle®Brands! Cool concept.

Best,
Jeff

Jeffrey Zaslow
Wall Street Journal, Reporter, Author & Co-Author of “The Last Lecture”

www.wsj.com

www.thelastlecture.com

Opportunity Knocks NOW! This Is The Best Time To Start A Business!

In a recent Time Magazine “10 Questions”  author Robert Kiyosaki had an inspiring answer to this question: Are there opportunities to create new companies in this turbulent economy?

“This is the best time. When times are bad is when the real entrepreneurs emerge. Entrepreneurs don’t  really care it the market’s up or down. They’re creating better products and better processes. So when somebody says, ‘Oh, there’s less opportunity now,’ it’s because they’re losers.” ~Robert Kiyosaki, author “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and his new book, “Conspiracy of the Rich.”

Check out the full story Time.com/10Questions. or watch the video here.

3/50 Project Adds Up To Brilliant Idea WE Can Put To Work, NOW!

Cinda Baxter, creator of the 3/50 Project  puts in simple terms how we can help stimulate the economy in a relatively painless way: “The idea is to commit $50 each month to locally owned businesses, total. Maybe that means rethinking where you currently invest your money, opting to pick up that birthday card or pair of jeans in a locally owned business instead of the big box you’ve been going to. Or maybe it means eating out once a month because you realize slamming the breaks on all spending stalls economic recovery. It’s just that simple.”

We encourage everyone to check out the 3/50 Project website to learn more on how we all can help! Brilliant idea Cinda!

Why Settle for a Bland Diet When You Can Have a “BAND” Diet at Denny’s?

Good Charlotte, Other Bands on Denny’s Playlist

Shared via AddThis

Las Vegas Resurrects Old Slogan

Interesting article written by Tamara Audi in the Wall Street Journal (5-13-09) noting Las Vegas’ return to their racy slogan, wherein she reports: Las Vegas has gone back to marketing itself as a place that will keep your secrets.

After a year of flirting with tourism pitches that directly addressed the recession, the entertainment mecca is resurrecting its successful “What Happens Here Stays Here” campaign, which started in 2003.

“We feel it is time to get back to our brand messaging,” said Rossi Ralenkotter, president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, in an email. Full story link here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124217791927013441.html

Is this a good move on the  Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Bureau’s part, or has the creative well run dry?

Starbucks Brews Up Tasteful New Ad Campaign

We must preface this post with the fact that we’ve been devoted card carrying members of the Starbucks Appreciation Society for quite some time now. That aside, and attempting to remain objective here, we find the new Starbucks Ads leave a good taste in our mouths. They’re subtle, simple in both text and graphics, and a perfect blend with Starbucks experiential fortitude.

Now for a little “Coffee Talk.” One of our heroes, Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, joins us for coffee in this video to discuss the new campaign. We think they really hit the mark with this one. Let us know what you think.

 

The R.I.S.E. of the Acronym? The F.A.L.L. of personality!

HLN for CNN’s Headline News. HGI for Hilton Garden Inn. Why would a company want to hide behind their initials? For whom does this form of ‘fast food’ branding work? (Where’s the beef?) Does it really break through and resonate with the consumer?

Branded Apps: The Next Frontier In Experiential Branding

Just finished reading a very interesting article at imediaconnection.com on what we believe to be the next frontier in experiential branding: Branded Apps. In the article by Matt Kapco, titled “Secrets Behind 3 Branded iPhone App Successes,” Matt interviews a diverse group at the forefront of this new form of branded communication tool that’s exploding in popularity and importance. What brand in their right mind wouldn’t want to be tethered to a device that is with the consumer practically 24-hours-a-day? A highly recommended read for new and old brands alike at: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/22121.asp

After reading this informative article we thought it might be fun to dream up a branded app ourselves. So, we put our thinking caps on and set out to select a company we thought could benefit by a branded app.

A relative newcomer to the experiential brandwagon and one of our favorites is the online shoes, handbags and now clothing retailer, Zappos! In a very short time the company has established itself as a benchmark leader in customer service and the brand itself is an online force with which to be reckoned. We thought that Zappos! would be a prime candidate for a branded Zappos! app, or “zAPP” as we like to call it, so we put together a wish list of what we’d like to see in a Zappos! branded application.

At the core of their company “culture” and a key element to Zappos! success is their customer service. They even publish a book annually describing their culture in detail, which is available on their website.

So, in a Zappos! branded app, excuse me…zAPP; the app would have to have the ability to set up a customer service chat with a Zappos sales rep from within the application. This would be great because their reps make the Zappos! experience legendary and the ability to do this without straying from the branded zAPP is a must to fulfill the Zappos! brand promise. Better yet, if that chat session could be initiated within the zAPP and include a phone connection where it automatically connects to a rep from within the program, where both rep and caller could talk over speakerphone and view the products in question; that would be a newsworthy first!

Next, how about a “SoleSearch” feature? Type in the style of shoe you are looking for, say…a pump. Then heel height, toe style (i.e. pointed or squared), lace-up, size, width, color or color combination, leather or some other material and hit SoleSearch! The available shoes that match your search criteria then start appearing like magic in the zAPP’s window! Incorporate the iPhone OS shake feature and make the SoleSearch even more fun! Pretty cool, huh?

But why stop there? What if we know Zappos! carries a line of shoes you’ve had your eye on but it’s not available in your size at the moment because it is currently out of stock and thus not listed? How about creating an alert within the zAPP that we’ll call a “Shoehorn!” Simply enter the product number and the size you’re looking for and when it becomes available Zappos! sends you a “push alert” via the “ShoeHorn” giving you the heads-up that the object of your desire is in. Zappos! could even expand the capability to automatically place the item on hold, say for three days, giving you time to purchase your dream shoes when it’s convenient for you!

Well, I guess it’s become obvious we could go on and on about the subject of branded apps. What other companies do you think could benefit from a branded app and what type of dream app would you like to see?

This is an exciting time for brands to take a serious look at harnessing the power and potential of branded apps. This new technology, in creative hands, can go a long way in redefining and strengthening the experiential brand.

BOOKmarking Vol. One

When it comes to brand marketing, there are so many great books so little time to read them all! 

Maybe the best way to judge a book is by the number of highlighter pens that were exhausted in the process of reading a book? Using that as my yardstick, here are my top three (for the moment).

Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands by Marty Neumeier. Like the “little black dress,” this is the ‘little white book’ with a BIG message. From the word “ZAG” this exceptionally insightful and engagingly authoritative book is an easy-to-digest keeper.

BrandSimple: How the Best Brands Keep it Simple and Succeed by Allen P Adamson. “KISS” this book ‘hello!’ Adamson has managed to cut through the morass of most branding books to make the most complex aspects of branding Simple to understand and reproduce. He poses a series of questions and provides real world examples throughout that offer a clear and actionable framework for any business.

What’s Your BQ? Learn How 35 Companies Add Customers, Subtract Competitors, and Multiply Profits with Brand Quotient by Sandra Sellani. Last, but not the least among them, Sandra Sellani’s tactical “work book” is clear, concise and compelling. I found it to be an invaluable tool, chock full of thoughtful “brandstorming” questions and practical checklists for any brand marketer.

There are many noteworthy branding books out there… What are yours?

Detroit’s Brand “D”-lemma!

One wonders if the “D” in Detroit’s newest acronym stands for “Duped.”  The “D” has long been associated with the city of Dallas, Texas. There is even a “D” Magazine (http://www.Dmagazine.com)which has been in print since October of 1974. If you Google “Dallas” +the Big D you’ll turn up over six million references. Can’t we be original here?

A city should “own” their brand…Dallas already owns the “D.” Detroit already owns MOTOWN and the WORLD knows it. Ask anyone where “Motown” is and they will point to Detroit. The city is going to have to spend a fortune to get people to associate Detroit with the “D,” especially if they know anything about Dallas. Why not work with what we have and save a lot of money in the process?

Motown does not have to equate simply with automotive and music, MO is “cool” slang for “MORE.” Even the Beatles stated, “give me MO,” (hear a tagline in there?) in a Hard Day’s Night. It’s just a matter of rebranding the MO in Motown to mean “MORE.” It should be our new “Mo!” The tagline for “MOtown” could be “MO of Everything”: MO Fun, MO sports, MO nightlife, MO business opportunities, MO friendly and on and on. How easy is that? (Oops, that’s another city!)

Further, if the city and the convention bureau were so dead-set on separating Detroit from the automotive industry, why in the world did they spend who knows how much on a souped-up hotrod, tricked out with a TV and DVD and make it a centerpiece of their video presentation and promotional efforts? Who’s zoomin’ who? 

Give me MO over the “D” any day!