Alliant Labs

I stumbled upon this ad in my files and immediately realized why...

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:35:56 -0500

I stumbled upon this ad in my files and immediately realized why i kept it—it illustrates great positioning. Just as less is more when it comes to copy, the same is true for visual messages. In this case, WAY more.

Speaking of positioning, there is a great article about it from AdCracker that I have placed below. This is speaking to advertising, but branding and advertising have many similarities. In my years at an ad firm, I realized that an ad campaign was like a disposable brand for a company—each year we could change the message, the visual, the theme, creating a new “face” for the company. All while retaining/strengthening their core brand and position in their market.

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“You must express the position in a way that people really think.

Some examples.

Forget anything like, “The innovative leader in banking services, financial products and convenient technology.”

People just don’t think that way, they don’t use those kinds of words when thinking to themselves. So a phrase like that won’t stick in their minds.

Here’s something more like it: “South Africa’s only international bank.”

Another loser is, “Pizza Shack is the fun place for the whole family to enjoy a wide menu of delicious European and American dishes prepared with fresh ingredients.”

That’s too much. Who is going to keep a phrase like that in their head?

A winner would be, “Pizza Shack uses farm fresh ingredients.”

Keep it simple. Succinct. And see if your positioning statement passes this check list:

* Is it true?

* Is it easy to understand?

* Does it differentiate the product in an attractive manner from the competition?

* Is it expressed the way people will express it in their own minds, their own words?

Avoid generalities:
The convenient bank.
We take care of everything.
The airline with super service.

Be tangible, and vivid:
The bank on every block.
We’re #2, so we try harder.
Welcome aboard, your Highness.

Be specific:
Good to the last drop. Maxwell House.
Think different. Apple computers.
Quick as a click. Citibank PC banking.

Forget generic or ambiguous:
Get the sensation.
More like the woman you are.
You have the power.

You should present the same position in every ad. And do so year, after year after year. The “safety” position for Volvo is a perfect example. Don’t stray from that one core idea.

Unless.

Unless you need to change a position that really doesn’t reflect reality. “Safety” will only work for Volvo until a technology is invented that makes driving risk free.

Or unless your position has become stale, which is a particular vulnerability in trendy markets. Which includes everything from TV shows to fashions. In cases like these, a clever re-positioning can give an old product a new advantage in the marketplace.

Lay’s potato chips was once positioned as “Thinner, crispier and tastier.” More recently, as mentioned earlier, they have made the marketing decision to seek market share among lunch munchers with, “Let’s do lunch,” which positions the product as a lunch companion.”

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Reaching Results Together A benefit to being part of a branding...

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:03:51 -0500

Reaching Results Together

A benefit to being part of a branding and advertising firm is that we get to work with a wide variety of organizations that need to accomplish a wide variety of things. Most people work at one company. They’re focused on that one company – learning the audience, practices and culture inside and out. For branding firms, it’s essential to know all of their clients—understanding their business and audience almost as well as they do. Everyday branding professionals are learning new trades and developing strategies based on that trade or market to reach an audience or goal, which gives them a large repertoire of ideas and solutions for a vast array of problems.

As such, we’d strongly encourage you to include your branding firm in the brainstorming process when a new project is in its infancy. Clients often prefer to reach out to their branding firm once their internal R&D is complete, and they’ve already selected and budgeted a particular strategy and implementation plan. While they are the experts, it’s worthwhile to include the branding/advertising firm in the brainstorming process so they too can better learn, adapt and more effectively solve your communication challenges. They will likely have ideas and more importantly, they’ll be able to use their first hand experience with various approaches to avoid strategies that traditionally fail and pursue avenues that deliver results.

Welcome to Alliant Labs. Alliant’s “new” blog....

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:45:57 -0500

Welcome to Alliant Labs. Alliant’s “new” blog. This is a place for us to share things that are entertaining both inside and outside the design/branding community. You’ll notice below some past entries that we’ve posted prior to our official launch.

We also want to take a minute to talk about our new site. Our approach was to include more work, in a larger format and be as creative as possible in the way we presented it—as if to tell a story with each image or series of images.

We work with dynamic organizations that do really interesting things, so we wanted some of the images to give viewers an idea of what the project was about or what the organization does.

Enjoy the new site and if you need a distraction, check back to Alliant Labs.

What’s Your Positioning Horoscope? If you’re like...

Tue, 05 May 2009 06:43:27 -0400

What’s Your Positioning Horoscope?

If you’re like most people, at some point you’ve taken a minute to read the horoscope section in a newspaper or magazine. Did you ever notice that whichever one you read, you can find a way to apply it to your own personal situation?

Unfortunately for a lot of company and association brands, positioning is the same way. It’s not really unique…the positioning statement that applies to a product can also work for one or more of its competitors. Here are a few key questions you can ask to help determine if your Brand is suffering from a “horoscope positioning:”

• Is your positioning unique? That is, does it say something about your Brand that others cannot or, at worst, do not proclaim?

• Regardless of the format you used to build the anatomy of a positioning statement, can you plug your competitor’s names into it and does it still work for them?

• Do you have to add words to make it exclusive to your Brand, thereby diluting the focus of the original intention?

The truth is horoscopes and positioning statements do have something in common—they are typically meant to appeal to large groups of people. But that’s where the similarity stops. Whereas horoscopes apply to millions under one sign, a positioning statement must apply to only one product. If not, it’s surely not a good “sign” of things to come.

This was posted on Matt Davis’ website. He was the lead on...

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:18:58 -0400

This was posted on Matt Davis’ website. He was the lead on the BMW account at GSD&M in Austin. This film is captivating because it’s shot by an American in Bavaria using, what I believe to be, Bavarian actors. You’ll quickly understand the product placement in this piece (similar to the JCPenny Doghouse bit,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F2md4uGmMU). Anyway, I recommend watching it all the way through despite the temptation to click to the end. Believe me, you’ll have that temptation. Now, ladies and gentlemen, we present, The Ramp:

Click play above or watch at a larger size at the link below:
http://www.rampenfest.com/

If the message is strong enough, it may not matter what the...

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 07:02:04 -0400

If the message is strong enough, it may not matter what the design is. Yeah, yeah, I could have picked a better example.

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Below s a link to a great blog entry on the importance of copy. Just as a football team depends on an offense and defense, effective communication requires a great message and a great design to propel it. This is true whether we are thinking conceptually about a postcard, urging readers to register for a given event or persuading consumers that one brand is better than another.

In corporate design, it is reasonably assumed that designers should work towards assisting clients in delivering an effective message on both fronts—copy and design. Just as we explain the importance of certain colors or imagery over others, an equal amount of energy should be exerted to develop a great message, if necessary.

http://www.directcreative.com/blog/2008/07/08/5-ways-bad-design-kills-good-copy/

Branding. By Ze Frank PG-13

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:02:32 -0400

Branding. By Ze Frank

PG-13

Seen + Noted So the story goes that Honda fired the whole...

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:20:47 -0400

Seen + Noted

So the story goes that Honda fired the whole marketing team associated with the launch of the Honda Element because almost no 16 – 22 year olds purchased the car (target audience). Rather, every Grandparent from the east coast to the west fell in love with the car and made it instantly “uncool.”

Well, as uncool as it may have seemed, almost every carmaker has imitated this style since then. Looks like each ex-Honda Employee found a new job at Ford, Nissan, Kia, Scion (Toyota) and Chevy and kicked off their first year with a way to reinvent the box-car.

Let's See How This Goes

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 07:56:00 -0400

Sort of blog, sort of place to post things.