Marketing Lesson from the past - What your brand can learn from the good old days

Has brand marketing evolved beyond its true purpose? What can we learn from the golden age of advertising?

Many of you reading will have watched Mad Men, the popular TV show about a fictional advertising agency on Madison avenue in the 60s and 70s. The agency ‘Stirling Cooper’, was what would be described as a ‘fully integrated agency’ in today’s parlance.

They dealt in creative, media buying, PR and experiential marketing and design. Quite a broad set of services, but it was a simpler time in many ways, with fewer metrics and clients that were happy to entrust the agency with their reputations.

Things have changed quite a lot since the 1960’s. We don’t need to state the obvious and list all of those changes. Instead, why not look at the things that haven’t changed so much, and what we can learn.

01 - Keep your brand message simple

I love the clean and simple messaging of the Jaguar ad above. Some things to take note of;

• Using another well known brand in your space as validation.

• Having that brand endorse your product.

• Associating powerful words like ‘quality’ and ‘performance’ with the product.

• Asking a question which leaves the reader thinking they are looking at best in class.

Brands are so busy fighting for every pixel of attention now that using brand endorsements has become more of an event than a simple statement. This advert would know be ‘Jaguar x Champion’, somehow trying to force you into a joint campaign.

Transparency is something else to take from this. A quality which is so lacking in modern brand messaging yet one of the most valued attributes of the Gen X market of 2020. Just be honest, explain your product or service, an audience will appreciate it.

The lesson here is to roll back the years and try and work with people in your space. Don’t be afraid to ask, and think of the mutual benefits to both brands. If you have a supplier that is a well known brand, suggest some creative that will benefit them as well as you, they might even help pay for some of the media as a result. Just try it.

5 things you can do to improve your brand

5 simple things that you can do, in house, to help improve your brand.

This simple list should help you re-establish what you brand really is. More than a company name, more than a logo, what it IS. Once you feel comfortable with this, so will all stakeholders. Your brand is something people want to follow, but they need to know what it is they are following.

Do a brand SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis is simple, yet revealing.

So this might seem like Marketing BSc 101, but it really is very helpful. It will help you be honest, which is something else we will come onto, which in turn will help you strip back some of the noise around your brand. Don’t just do a SWOT from a commercial point of view. Try to take yourself out of the business and see the brand from another point of view.

Strengths

• What are some things you would not change about your brand?

• What gives it competitive advantage?

• What makes you proud about it?

• What investments have paid off and fall into this category?

Weaknesses

• What is something that needs working on?

• Is the brand clearly weak in certain areas?

• Is there negative feedback that can go into this section?

• Is there something that has been letting the brand down for a while?

Opportunities

• What does the market look like now as opposed to 2 years ago for the brand?

• What are some areas with which unlimited resources the brand could exploit?

• What are some areas that competitors are doing well in?

• What has technology presented to the brand in the last year that was not there before?

Threats

• What are you competitors doing that looks way out of reach for your brand?

• Are there major obstacles to growth? Finances, resources, customers etc

• Is there something at a macro level that will or could affect your brand? e.g. a pandemic!

• Is there a new player in the market or piece of tech that will directly affect your brand?

Look at your brand guidelines

Every brand should have a set of brand guidelines, or a style guide. These can be as detailed as you like, from how you use copy in photograph descriptions, to tone of voice in press statements. The point is that they are a bible for people to follow, not just the designers and creatives either.

The brand purpose, mission, vision etc. should be a pathway for staff and others to follow. Your team should use these guidelines as a de facto handbook for how to represent the brand, both in person and through their work.

Look at your guidelines from time to time, and review them. If something is not right, talk to someone or take some steps to refresh them. They are a road-map for everyone to follow, and if you get it right your customers will too.

Review your brand use of language

We’d hope that you have a digital platform for your brand i.e. a website. If not, you may want to look at that first… If you do, congratulations, you have a home on the World Wide Web! You may well also have literature in print, old promotional material, articles, PR and plenty of other things with words in, including social media.

Time to see if all the stuff that is still in use and active all a matches up! There is little point having a really positive article in the press with plenty of adjectives and inspirational quotes if your digital copy is flat and nondescript. Likewise if you have very black and white messaging on your website, there is no reason to have emojis and dancing gifs all over your social media. Refer back or add to your brand guidelines, but try to make sure your copy matches up.

Review your use of language and if necessary have a workshop with people involved in the brand to make sure you are all on the same digital page.

Plan an event for your brand

Planning that dream event can engender ambitious thoughts and ideas

We really like this one, as it doesn’t have to be an event for the here and now. It can be an event for whenever, but PLAN ONE. The event can be your brand Summer party, your client appreciation dinner, that drinks session for all your suppliers and partners. The point is to plan an event as you would really wish to have it, if all your sales break records and if you could have the event of your dreams.

Plan how the brand would publicise it, where would it be? What would the site branding look like? Who would you invite? What would the invitation look like? What would they say about it around the water cooler (socially distanced) the morning after?

Act as if. Act as if you are heading the right way and plan something to that affect. It will focus minds as well as encourage ambitious thoughts and ideas in the group.

Gather opinions on your brand

Use your friends for feedback, they will be honest!

This one maybe hard for those founders or creative directors to swallow. But put away your pride and bury your inner feelings and get ready to embrace some criticism. You don’t have to do a full blown survey (unless you want to) but it is a great idea to ask maybe 3 or 4 simple questions about your brand and send them to 10-20 people for comment. Ask them to be honest, explain that you are looking at the brand and its assets, and ask for some helpful opinions. Examples;

Hi Mrs Friend,

I am looking at re-tooling my brand a little bit and value your opinion. I wondered if you might answer these questions for me, with as little or as much detail as you wish, to help me figure a few things out. Please be honest and don’t hold back!

• Do you know what business my brand does?

• Do you find my brand exciting? Informative? Or neither?

• Is there another brand in a similar space to ours that does a better job than ours does?

• Give me some frank points on how you would improve the brand if you like. Pretend you are a customer or client.

Thanks Mrs Friend, feel free to phone these through if it is easier!

Yours thankfully etc etc

Use these 5 tips to improve your brand today, you will lose nothing by doing these exercises, but perhaps gain some valuable insight. If you need help or advice on the above, you can always ask.