There are two reasons people do digital signage: One is to get their message (or someone else’s) out there. The other is to make money doing it. And not not necessarily in that order.
It’s at this very moment where the philosophy and impact of branding comes into play. How do you make your message look and feel like…well…you? What are the proper principles of branding and how can you apply them to your company, or your message, or your existence in a given environment so that you have that crucial impact on the customer or client?
Digital Signage continues to grow, embracing principles and practices from several other areas of customer and consumer engagement. The philosophy of branding for many network operators may be a new thing because in the past there was never a real need to brand the message. A static sign in a store was just wall covering, for the most part. But, with a dynamic medium the need is greater than ever, especially for merchandisers who want to differentiate themselves and use their network as a factor of differentiation.
What is Brand Strategy Insider?
Brand Strategy Insider is the branding blog of The Blake Project, a brain trust of branding experts that “…design, manage and build brands that drive revenue through differentiated customer experiences.” Pretty much the purpose of a digital sign for many network owners and operators.
Who writes it?
The blog has several contributors: Derrick Daye (Managing Partner of The Blake Project), Martin Lindstrom, Steve Rivkin, Al Ries, and Brad VanAuken. All of them write on various topics within the brand strategy universe, and all of them write very well. Occasionally, they will disagree openly on the blog, and it makes for some fascinating reading among branding experts.
The blog also has several contributors from various disciplines that dip into the psychology of branding, advertising, and marketing, even going so far as to understand the neuroscience of marketing.
What do they write?
In VanAuken’s book, Brand Aid, he cites The American Marketing Association’s description of a brand as a ‘‘name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.” In a nutshell, they try to cover the universe of branding, taking real-life examples of brands and breaking down the reasons behind their successes or failures. The blog has over 50 categories of branding topics.
The length of each post ranges from a few hundred words to over a thousand, sometimes, and they post just about every day. It can be a challenge to keep up with all the entries. But each entry is a deep dive into the topic at hand. At the end of every article, you should feel like you learned something.
Why should I read this blog?
Because one of the most important things we can do in our industry is understand the impact that digital signage can have on an audience. With a screen’s capability for dynamic engagement, the opportunity to connect a viewer with a product or service and, particularly, with the provider of either the product or the service, the need to understand how branding functions is paramount.
Another important reason is that all of us in this industry lead or work for companies trying to be leaders in a category, whether you’re a hardware provider, creative agency, or consultant. This blog is loaded with insight on how the big companies succeed and fail with takeaways you can apply to your own organization, regardless of size.
Three To Read
Because they write every day, don’t try too hard to read everything. Instead, dig through their posts and find the articles most relevant to your discipline in the industry. They do write some about digital media, including social media, but I have found their overall marketing and branding insight to be truly valuable to me and my work.
There are literally hundreds of articles on their site, all of them great reading. Here are three posts that can give you an idea of the depth of their knowledge and experience:
The Principles of Marketing – January 14, 2010
In one post, Al Ries puts forth a great acronym to sum up the principles he practices and educated in marketing: FOCVS, “…a word using the original alphabet of the Roman Empire…” It’s a great piece of education on marketing, and I highly recommend reading this one first.
GM’s Appointment Shows No Respect for Marketing – August 19, 2009
I had put this post in an earlier Clicks post of mine. I think this is one of the best lessons in marketing you can read. It clearly shows that marketing is a discipline you acquire thorough years of marketing experience, not years of loyalty to a company.
Brand Focus Leads To Power and Profits – December 21, 2009
“…line extension inhibits the branding process. When a company makes and markets a broad range of products under one name, it is extremely difficult to build that name into a powerful brand. ” For a long time, Japanese companies like Sony have survived on a brand that connotes power and profitability. Al gives us a little reality check and helps us understand that focus can drive profits much higher.
And One More
Forgiveness and the Tiger Woods Brand – December 16, 2009
Part of the allure of the Tiger Woods debacle is the impact his personal brand has on the companies he endorses, how much money companies would lose by continuing to associate with him, and how fast some of those sponsors were to jump ship. This post is from contributor Dr. Robert Passikoff, and I found this very interesting. Two weeks after Tiger’s “transgressions” hit the airwaves, my partner, Pat Hellberg, formerly of Nike, said, “Remember Kobe’s mistake in Colorado? Nike stuck by him then. Today, Kobe’s Nike shoe is the number two best selling shoe in the world. There’s no way Nike abandons Tiger.” Sure enough, a week later Phil Knight issued a statement saying Nike would remain with Tiger.
You can follow The Blake Project on Twitter as well.
Past BUs:
Bill Gerba: Digital Signage Insider
Ken Goldberg: Broad Thinking. Narrowcasting.
Do you read a blog I should be following that is worth showcasing here? Send me a link. If I like it, I’ll write about it.
