It was a weird start to the day. Having gone to bed very early the evening before (poorly daughter had kept me awake for much of the previous 3 nights) – I had missed all the news on Twitter and so awoke with no idea about the terribly sad news of Michael Jackson’s death.

They say that you always remember where you are when you hear shocking news – and so there I was – in the kitchen, robotically preparing weetabix and bagels.

I turned on the news and the media circus was, as one would expect, in full swing.

From the myriad of documentaries that were given pride of place in the programming schedules (and I viewed 3 consecutively) – they all seemed to have been splitting Michael Jackson’s life into 3 sections:

1. The early years – how he started, the Jackson 5, the Jacksons
2. The King of Pop – how he changed music, broke down barriers of ‘colour’
3. Whacko Jacko – how we went off the rails, his appearance, ‘the court case’, self destruction and his debts

As true marmite lovers know –  all brands, and in particularly with superbrands – thrive on ‘brand loyalty’ – people grow to love their ‘brands’ so much – that they won’t hear anything negative said against them, they become protective of their brand, and no matter what slurs are made against that brand, it takes a lot to switch true brand loyalty.

Superbrands are superbrands because they are able to sustain ‘loyalty’ over a significant period of time. It’s not really about ‘Michael Jackson’ himself – but more about the values, beliefs and feelings we as ‘consumers’ associate with him. What does Michael Jackson mean to you? That’s the loyalty factor.

Michael Jackson as a brand has been growing this loyalty for over 45 years – and so his superbrand status is truly embedded.

In reality, even shocking allegations of child molestation, whilst not great for the brand, didn’t really do much to dent the brand power. The several millions of people tuned into ‘the verdict’ is testament to his brand strength and reach – with people from all over the world screaming and crying at the ‘verdict’ – as if it was one of their closest family members. And personally, I just didn’t believe it. Call me naïve if you wish – but whilst I figured he was clearly a shrewd businessman, I really couldn’t get my head around him being anything other than emotionally ‘innocent’.

And it isn’t surprising – many of us around the 40 ish age – grew up with Michael Jackson. I know in my household – my mother’s Sunday morning cleaning ritual was supported by Shirley Bassey and anything ‘motown’ – and The Jacksons featured heavily – so I was about 7 when I was dancing to ‘I want you back’ with a duster in my hand.

And so it went – each time he reinvented his brand, giving it a new edge or angle – we all followed his journey.

It’s a rare thing to find a person who hasn’t got the ‘Off the Wall’ album (somewhere) or who watched the Thriller video in awe, with a household of friends – video-taped it and then relentlessly endeavoured to replicate the steps in perfect sequence to showcase at the school disco! (Or perhaps that was just me and my friends!).

Thriller was such a ground breaking event in music – treasured by billions of people of all ages. In fact, when my mother died and my sister and I were sorting out the house – we found the Thriller video which she had recorded years earlier, and kept (video cassettes in the era of dvds!) alongside video recordings of our family. She clearly couldn’t part with the tape – even though she no longer had a video recorder! And I took it home with me – dogged and worn with the fingerprints of my family and friends – an old video recording of Thriller – but such sentiment and value – loyalty to the brand.

Prior to going it alone, I worked in a global consultancy – when we did our 3 day intense management training seminars, the supporting music was Michael Jackson’s, ‘Man in the Mirror’ – strategically selected because of his power to connect emotionally with audiences.

Whilst the media are keen to advise us of just how much debt he is in and what a terrible mess he’s made of things – £400 million, (or it is billion!). Then at least from a financial perspective, we can all rest assured that the death of a superbrand is good for business.

The debts will pale into insignificance with new album sales, downloads, memorabilia, tribute concerts – and long may they all continue. It’s a shame it takes his death to give his range of music more airtime, and for us all to remember his outstanding achievements and contribution to music.

As I said earlier – a brand isn’t about the ‘object’ ‘product’ or ‘person’ – it’s about the values that the object, product or person instils in the hearts and minds of the consumer. And over the years, Michael Jackson has given us so much to value – such value builds a barrier which makes it difficult for any negativity to penetrate.

I found the ‘Wacko Jacko’ emphasis in the programmes I watched last night – distasteful, but that’s because they are not part of the values I associate with Michael Jackson – and from a psychological perspective – once those values are embedded, as any brand manager looking after a ‘superbrand’ will tell you, they are excruciatingly difficult to shift.

The tributes from people who really knew Michael Jackson all seem to concur with the fact that he was a genius talent, a genuinely nice guy, shrewd in business, yet gentle and childlike, often introverted – and through pressure, he lost his way. Fame beyond fame – but at what cost? He had so much to live up to – it was interesting when his sister was talking about the pressure surrounding the lack of success of the HIStory album – to learn that even though this was deemed a ‘failure’ – it still had more sales than most recording artists could even dream of achieving. The bar was certainly high!

I may have seen him a few times (in concert), I certainly never met or knew him. And so, my views about Michael Jackson can only be based on what he and his music has meant to me over the years.

Genius talent and King of Pop for sure.  There’s no doubt his music will continue to be played forever.  And yes, my children have already been introduced to The Jacksons and Michael Jackson,  as we dance around the house with our dusters on a Sunday morning!

Superbrand indeed – yet also an all time icon!

Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – a graphic design and marketing services agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of graphic design and marketing – covering social media marketing and website planning and website design.

]]> http://www.carvillcreative.co.uk/blog/michael-jackson-boy-man-superbrand/feed/ 0 http://www.carvillcreative.co.uk/blog/whats-in-a-photo-can-you-judge-a-book-by-its-cover/ http://www.carvillcreative.co.uk/blog/whats-in-a-photo-can-you-judge-a-book-by-its-cover/#comments Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:35:17 +0000 admin http://?p=598 Tweet

As someone happily involved in ‘social media’ – I’ve had to get together a ‘photo’ that I was happy to share with the masses.  My Twitter profile, my ezine profile, my Digg profile, my UKBF profile, Facebook, Linked In etc etc etc…

The photo I originally posted across these sites – was one taken by the camera on my laptop.  It was small b/w and to be honest I didn’t think too much about it.

It was only when I received a comment from someone asking why I looked so miserable as it was putting them off ‘following me’ – that I looked at the photo with fresh eyes.

The comment coincided with an article I was reading in New Scientist ‘ How your looks betray your personality’.

The idea that a person’s personality can be glimpsed in their face is not a new suggestion – it dates back hundreds (if not thousands) of years.  (The Chinese Ancient Art of Face Reading – to name but one!)

First impressions do count.  Malcolm Gladwell, in his brilliant, brilliant book ‘Blink’ (a book which sets out to scientifically prove that first impressions do count) – cites a scenario where a Senator was elected purely on the basis of his ‘square jaw and stature’ (yet no leadership competence to back it up) – but his height and looks alone got him into the position.

Apparently within a tenth of a second of seeing a face (that ‘blink’ moment) we have already passed judgement and made our minds up about that person.  And once that perception is in place, it’s a difficult one to budge.

Research has shown that dominant looking men rise in ranks more so than their ‘baby faced’ colleagues.

And those that are more ‘attractive’ are perceived as more socially outgoing, more fun to be with, more successful, powerful, healthy and intelligent!

So is there any substance to our ‘snap decisions’ about people?  Malcolm Gladwell and those featured in ‘Blink’ would say yes.  And the New Scientist feature suggests that there is ‘tantalising evidence’ that our faces do indeed portray traits of our personality.  Yet also includes the views of those psychologists that put forward the view that we can ‘engineer’ what our face portrays.

So as you spread your ‘photo’ (or personality) across the social media landscape then perhaps consider your photo more carefully.  I’ve now got one that’s definitely a little more ‘me’.  Something I hadn’t even thought about before… but will do from now on!

To read the New Scientist feature in full http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126957.300-how-your-looks-betray-your-personality.html?full=true

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Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – a graphic design and marketing services agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of graphic design and marketing – covering social media marketing and website planning and website design.

I don’t think it was a conscious decision of mine to set my ringtone at the ‘traditional old fashioned phone ring’ available.  I went through the usual pattern of listening to all options (about 3 times) and then decided to settle on that particular one.  And yes, when on a train, when the tone fires – at least 10 people in close proximity start padding at their pockets or digging around their bags.  

Not terribly original – and indeed, not that differentiated, pretty classical and un-offensive.

So is my ringtone part of my personal brand?  Should we judge a person by their ringtone?

I’m always curious to hear and see who answers some of the more ‘quirky/annoying/ridiculous’ tones you hear.  On a recent commute a smart and dour looking pinstripe suited chap (complete with trilby) intrigued me when he answered to Chris De Burgh’s ‘Lady in Red’ – such a juxtaposition – through my marketing eyes a personal identity ‘clash’ of major proportions.   Not quite sure what I thought about the chap following that – but I definitely thought there was a softer centre to his rather polished exterior.

A client of mine told me a story just yesterday about one of his fellow Partners whose ringtone is set, at the loudest possible volume, to the wondrous ‘Scotland the Brave’.  I asked if he was Scottish (tying in with my personal branding theory) and if this was a demonstration of his patriotism – but no, he’s not Scottish, but he is a bit of a technophobe and it’s like he can’t figure out how to a) change the theme and b) lower the volume!

Is it part of your personal branding?  Well – let’s consider going to a job interview, or meeting a new client for the first time – and your phone ringing (let’s just assume for this post that we haven’t silenced it, which of course we would have done) and out rings some ‘hard core rap’ or ‘thrash metal’ complete with obscenities.  Do you think it would help them to made some judgments about your character.  Very probably.

The explosion of the ringtone industry is clearly testament to the popularity of users being able to select personal ringtones, which would suggest that users are looking for a ringtone which fits with who they are, or at least sets out to make an impression.

Personally, I can’t help to build a picture about a person when I hear their ringtone.  If I ran a survey asking ‘what is your ringtone’ – I think I would build a picture of the owner – which rightly or wrongly would give me a perception of their personality.  Perhaps it’s a question we should build into interview techniques.

So if concerned about your ‘personal brand’ and the impression you create – then perhaps consider your ringtone.  Create an extension of yourself – what you want to convey.  Remember, all sorts of people will hear it – so what message do you want to portray…

I think I’ll be changing mine pretty soon…

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Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – a graphic design and marketing services agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of graphic design and marketing – covering social media marketing and website planning and website design.

Call it what you will – whether you choose; ’slogan’, ‘tag line’, ‘powerline’ or ‘brand message’ – what we are talking about here - is a key message / description which quickly and simply – (without any ‘waffle’) communicates what it is that you do! 

So, here are some do’s and don’ts to consider when creating yours:

• Keep it short - never more than 6 words – it’s got to be snappy and ideally roll of the tongue. 
• Can it stand the test of time?  FCUK for England was initially an eyepopper – but overtime became damaging to the brand.
• If making a claim it has to be TRUE – if you are going to use a statement such as ‘least dropped calls (as AT&T did) – then it’s got to be a true claim.  Curry’s was banned from using ‘Unbeatable low prices’ – once it emerged that the chain was frequently more expensive than rivals.  So, if you can’t back it up – you can be challenged.  And if it’s a ridiculous claim – then audiences will be sceptical. 
• Make sure it means something - provide the audience with a clear idea of what you do -eg:  ’Results focused marketing solutions’ – or something factual brand value related such as Avis’s ‘We try harder’.
• Don’t alienate your audience.  L’Oreal changed their slogan ‘because I’m worth it’ to because ‘you’re worth it’ – providing the brand with a friendlier face.
• Check translation – I recently read an article which cited the case of food brand Frank Perdue’s – ‘It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken’ – translated in Spanish to ‘It takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate!  Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…

For a bit of fun – visit www.thesurrealist.co.uk/slogan  - it’s a site where you can enter any word and it will turn it into a catchphrase for you.  Who knows…you could find the perfect catchphrase.

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I was recently asked to comment in a forum relating to the 2012 Olympic logo.  The forum thread focused on the likes and dislikes of the logo – and how that now we are seeing more ‘animated’ movies incorporating the logo (to promote the forthcoming ParaOlympics) the brand seemed to be far more acceptable and meaningful when animated.  Having seen some of the animations of the brand, I totally take on board the point about the logo coming to life as an animation – but I suppose if any logo is turned into an animated format  it can possibly bring another dimension to how it is interpreted.   The ’2012′ logo is a ‘Brand’ – not just the logo or picture of the brand – like any brand it needs clear values and messages which are communicated when one sees the logo. 

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Given one of my related businesses is www.logotastic.co.uk – an online tailored logo creation and that the logotastic brand includes the use of fluffy clouds – I was amused to see this article in The Times recently.

“An inventor in Alabama has managed to create logos as foamy clouds. Francisco Guerro, who also makes fake snow for Hollywood, can create shapes up to 4ft wide, says his foam is environmentally safe and pops likes bubbles when it lands.”

So what’s the plan – to drop logo clouds from the sky?  The logo would have to be really distinct to work – wouldn’t it?  Even the most simple of icons – for example, the Nike tick, would lose context as a foamy cloud – and brands which depend on words, such as Sainsbury’s would possibly have trouble being legible (particularly at only 4 ft wide!).  I’m always open-minded however, and no doubt we’ll see Coke, Google and Skype clouds falling from above in the near future…

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Colour is a powerful force; it grabs you at a deep psychological level and helps you remember. The world’s most successful brands have made good use of this fact. We know that Coke is red, British Airways is red, white and blue, UPS is brown and Apple Macs come in all the colours of the rainbow. Their use of colour gives them instant brand recognition. But colour can also send out more complex messages, with each shade evoking a range of emotions.

To help you get it right it’s worth bearing a few basics in mind.

Colours roughly divide into two camps; the warm vibrant ones with lots of energy and zing, and the cool calm ones.  So think about what you want to say and then pick a colour that helps you say it. Once you’re happy, make sure the colour you choose appears on all your promotional material including your logo, website and packaging.

BLUE  
Calming and relaxing like sky and sea, blue is a spiritual colour. But blue can also be dependable, intelligent and conservative and is often favoured by financial corporations.

RED  
A headline grabber, demanding attention. It makes the heart beat faster and is particularly important in Asia, often being seen as lucky.

YELLOW  
Optimistic and positive. Some say it makes you alert, clear-headed and decisive. It is the colour of sunshine.

GREEN  
The colour of nature of health and calm. It soothes the emotions. Darker shades, like British Racing Green equals class and wealth.  

ORANGE  
Fun and outgoing, it can lift the spirits and is associated with youth and humour.

PURPLE  
Mysterious, psychic and creative colour, suggesting imagination and intuition. Traditionally associated with royalty it is also the colour of mourning for widows in Thailand.

PINK   
Light pinks are romantic, hot pinks are young and exciting.

BROWN  
Stable, traditional and lasting like the earth.

WHITE  
Pure, clean and simple. It is the colour of space and freedom but can also seem cold and alienating if over-used.

BLACK  
Classic, sophisticated and serious, maybe even a little sexy, but it is also the colour of death and infinity. Just a ‘blue’ is the colour for little boys in the UK, black is the colour for little boys in China.