AW in Review: Addison Whitney Brand Salsa Recap 9.11.15
Welcome to another edition of "AW in Review", our roundup of our latest brand salsa and Addison Whitney news and posts!
Don’t forget, you can stay up-to-date with everything from Addison Whitney by joining the conversation with us on our social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.
College Football's Top 5 Brands
College football is a big-time player in the American sports scene, with billions of dollars spent and millions of fans heading to the stadium each weekend. With this enormous influence in our sports culture comes the emergence once again of brands who rival the biggest corporations in the world in terms of their brand equity.
With this list, I attempt to rank the top five brands in college football today – and as with any list, there is sure to be some friendly disagreement on who is on the list, where they are ranked and who I snubbed. I looked at the brands who are the first to come to mind when thinking of the sport in general, for whatever reason – and those reasons were varied. Read More...
4 Ways Content Marketing Can Help Build Your Brand
Content marketing and branding should go hand-in-hand. However, there is often a disconnect between a brand strategy and the strategy around content creation, leading to a situation where an important aspect of brand cultivation is going untapped, without realizing the potential it has to move a brand forward.
But how can we bridge the gap between the two? Here are four ways content marketing can help build your brand. Read More...
Brands Find Ways to Reinvent Themselves for Foreign Markets
There’s always been a mystery associated with foreign brands, but some have found ways to use their homegrown origins to give themselves a completely different brand image in foreign countries.
For instance, Pabst Blue Ribbon has taken its authentic reputation as an American Icon and repositioned itself in Asian markets as a luxury beer. To an American who has never paid more than a dollar for a can of PBR, this may seem ridiculous. However, American exports often already connote luxury and high price point, so by emphasizing its American roots, PBR was able to ride on the wave of other authentically luxury exports from the United States. Read More...
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
College Football’s Top 5 Brands
College football is a big-time player in the American sports scene, with billions of dollars spent and millions of fans heading to the stadium each weekend. With this enormous influence in our sports culture comes the emergence once again of brands who rival the biggest corporations in the world in terms of their brand equity.
With this list, I attempt to rank the top five brands in college football today – and as with any list, there is sure to be some friendly disagreement on who is on the list, where they are ranked and who I snubbed. I looked at the brands who are the first to come to mind when thinking of the sport in general, for whatever reason – and those reasons were varied.
One constant that is seen throughout this list is a high level of on-field success – in fact, there are a combined 45 national championships and over 4,000 all-time wins claimed by the schools on this list. While wins and losses alone don’t determine a strong brand, success does bring an ease to the branding process – people want to associate with winning teams, and they have more attachment to the overall brand when they come out on top more often than not.
However, winning was not the only factor in determining brand strength, but it was a benefit for those brands who have experienced more wins that losses throughout their histories.
The gold helmets. Touchdown Jesus. Notre Dame Stadium. The list of iconic brand elements could go on for the Irish, and that doesn’t even include the millions of fans around the world (and the millions of those who root against the team).
Notre Dame’s branding efforts correctly center on their many traditional and well-recognized aspects, which provide a link to their successful past (11 national championships and a record seven Heisman trophy winners), and proof of their relevance across cultural and generational bounds. No matter their record, interest in Notre Dame remains at the top of the list, as does their brand.
According to a recent report, Ohio State’s football program is worth over $1 billion, which is far and away the most valuable program in the nation. This brand valuation is a key force in driving the strength of their overall brand, providing a wealth (pun intended) of exposure, top-rate facilities, opening new revenue streams and allowing the school to put monetary support behind the football brand strategies necessary to keep them at the top.
They are the flagship school in a football-crazed state and an alumni base that crosses the globe, helping expand the brand equity outside of the Buckeye State borders. The combination of outstanding monetary support and brand awareness with the spoils that come with being the defending national champion have helped the Ohio State brand continue to excel.
At the opposite end of the spectrum of brand strategy from Notre Dame is the University of Oregon Ducks. Where they lack in years of success and iconic brand symbols they make up for in and instantly recognizable visual brand portfolio.
Oregon is capitalizing on their strong visual branding elements to build their brand strategy about how they look – completely with a full set of flashy uniforms that seem to change every week. They highlight their visual elements in all aspect of their brand strategy, from recruiting to marketing to the game day experience.
Alabama is one of the top representations of the power of brand advocates. Located in a state with no professional sports teams but a love of college football that is almost unsurpassed in the entire nation, Alabama has built a loyal fan base that carries its brand near the top of any rankings.
Despite their recent dominance, there were some stretches where the on-the-field product wasn’t top notch, but the loyalty of their brand fans did not waver, showing how strong the brand has ingrained itself in the people in their fan base.
When the three-lettered abbreviation for your school name carries as much verbal branding weight as any other full-named team in the country, that’s not a bad place to start when describing the strength of your brand.
The University of Southern California – USC – has long carried the torch for the west coast in the college football world. They have about as close to the perfect ingredients for the perfect brand as one school can get, where they can pull from years of success on the field, an idyllic location in the heart of Los Angeles, a famous logo and color scheme, prominent alumni and many more.
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Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
4 Ways Content Marketing Can Help Build Your Brand
Content marketing and branding should go hand-in-hand. However, there is often a disconnect between a brand strategy and the strategy around content creation, leading to a situation where an important aspect of brand cultivation is going untapped, without realizing the potential it has to move a brand forward.
But how can we bridge the gap between the two? Here are four ways content marketing can help build your brand:
- It Helps Define Who You Are
However your organization or brand decides to communicate what makes them unique and what makes them who they are, the message will be spread via your content marketing. Finding your niche and your expert area is vital in raising a brand’s reputability, and therefore where consumers will see it as the thought leader. Content marketing and content creation help you streamline your brand, and not waste time and energy trying to be everything for everybody.
- It Keeps Your Messaging Consistent.
A consistent content marketing messaging strategy is crucial to building both a strong brand and strong thought leadership credentials. Audiences and consumers appreciate when they can trust an organization, and when they have a sense of what to expect when interacting with them. Whether it’s an opinion piece on a new law or communicating a groundbreaking new best practice, when establishing a brand message that stays true to who the brand is, consistency is key.
- It Highlights the Best of the Best Within the Brand
Every brand and every organization has their “rock stars” – subject matter experts, innovative strategy developers, or any employee that stands out among the crowd. Putting these people at the forefront of a content marketing strategy and maximizing their exposure to the areas in which your company excels can drive positive attention that will in turn drive forward your brand and its thought leadership standing.
- It Helps Tell Your Brand Story
You can’t just create a brand and hope that your consumers and the industry will embrace it. Just the same, you can’t become and expert with a few unconnected blog posts. You have to develop your story – and then you have to know how to tell that story. For brands, the story can be anything from a theme behind your logos and name, or a strategy that links your branding efforts together. Whatever it is, your story needs to connect with the audience, and with a strong content marketing strategy, the story can be told that sets your brand apart.
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Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
AW in Review: Addison Whitney Brand Salsa Recap 8.28.15
Welcome to another edition of "AW in Review", our roundup of our latest brand salsa and Addison Whitney news and posts!
Don’t forget, you can stay up-to-date with everything from Addison Whitney by joining the conversation with us on our social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+
New Traditions: The Trend of "Southern" Brands
Popular brands like Southern Proper, Southern Tide and Southern Marsh market themselves with a combination of a sense of heritage and a distinctly southern
n character to appeal to the collegiate and young professional market.
This strategy has proven extremely successful, and these brands have become ubiquitous on college campuses and in post-grad life throughout the southeast. Read More...
Luxury Brands Leading the Way in Social Media Branding
Brands are taking full advantage of the benefits in engaging with their audience on social media, and these efforts are led by a number of luxury brands, according to a 
recent report by Shareablee, a social analytics company.
For a brand, this connection with their audience and subsequent positive audience opinion goes a long way in staying among the crème de la crème of brands, a characteristic which in itself can propel a company to success. Read More...
Gaining Brand Trust in a Share Economy
The success of the share economy lies in how its brands cultivate trust.
These brands focus their efforts on making consumers feel that they are interacting with people they can get to know, even if it is through the relative anonymity of the Internet. Read More...
4 Ways Brands Can Top the Class in Back-to-School Branding
The days are getting shorter, there’s a chill in the air (at least for some of us) and football is back on the TV. That can mean one thing – be ready for the return of school buses during your morning commute and a flood of back-to-school ads coming your way.
So, sharpen your pencils – here are four examples of how various brands can get an A+ in back-to-school branding. Read More...
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
4 Ways Brands Can Top the Class in Back-to-School Branding
The days are getting shorter, there’s a chill in the air (at least for some of us) and football is back on the TV. That can mean one thing – be ready for the return of school buses during your morning 
commute and a flood of back-to-school ads coming your way.
Back-to-school marketing and branding have graduated (it wouldn’t be right to not throw in a few school references) to big-time status in recent years. What used to consist mostly of stores putting their lunch boxes and notebooks on sale has turned into a major opportunity for companies to brand an entire time of the year.
The numbers speak for themselves – according to a recent report, in 2014 alone, back-to-school spending reached nearly $75 billion, with an average per-family spending for K-12 students coming in at $669.29. With that type of consumer activity and the area for opportunity that exists for brands to become a part of the experience, a strong branding strategy should be the first lesson for brands.
So, sharpen your pencils - here are four examples of how various brands can get an A+ (the last one, I promise) in back-to-school branding:
- Let Your Strengths Shine. For some brands, this time of year is ideal for reaffirming an already strong brand position. For brands like Elmer’s Glue, Bic and Crayola, the knowledge that consumers will instantly recognize their brand when doing their back-to-school shopping allows them to bypass the normal starter brand strategies and focus on highlighting their timeless products and classic brand characteristics. Among the mass of available supplies lining the store shelves, even the smallest brand equity can go a long way
- Stand Out from the Crowd. When it comes to brands that are looking to make a mark in this space but don’t have the built-in recognition needed to put their product branding at the forefront, the focus should their brand strategy around their uniqueness and differentiating qualities. Whether it is a new technology or a standout design, figure out how to make the consumer pause on your brand when scanning the shelves.
- Know Your Audience. Not every student is the same, and neither is every consumer situation. For brands, cutting through the clutter and giving their brand messaging a chance to succeed is driven first and foremost by knowing to whom they are speaking. Is your brand one that resonates with college students? Then highlight how the brand can help that make the dorm room shine. Is your fan a hit among kindergarteners? Brand yourself to speak to them and their parents, who will be making most of the buying decisions.
- Capture the Spirit of the Season. Back-to-school is full of hope, anticipation and excitement. Make sure your brand strategy fits these emotions. While the inevitable end of summer can be a sad proposition for a child, the chance for a new year and new adventures is what is going to drive their excitement about school – and if a brand is positioned correctly, their excitement about that brand.
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Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
Luxury Brands Leading the Way in Social Media Branding
Brands are taking full advantage of the benefits in engaging with their audience on social media, and these efforts are led by a number of luxury brands, according to a recent report by Shareablee, a social analytics company.
After analyzing over 100,000 brands and 600 million interactions, the brands that stood out included some of the most well-known in the fashion and automotive world, including Mercedes-Benz,
who took the top spot and was followed in second by BMW. The fashion world rounded out the top five with Valentino, Michael Kors and Victoria Beckham all finding success in the social media realm.
That these brands are finding most of their successes on the more visually-based platforms should come as no surprise. The strong suits of these brands lie in their visually appealing products, speaking to a number of their brand characteristics that carry weight and recognition when seen.
This is shown in the report where the average number of brand followers on Instagram increased nearly 250 percent – these brands are taking advantage of the mainly image-driven platform that Instagram provides and showing off their products and visual aspects of their brand personas.
Additionally, social media provides these luxury brands with the opportunity to connect to a broader audience than they have potential consumers – to follow BMW on Twitter or “like” Michael Kors on Facebook doesn’t cost a penny, so although a consumer may not be in the market for one of their products, a social media engagement can still be a feasible way to connect the consumer to the brand, which is especially powerful when that brand’s persona is one that is aspirational for the consumers, like BMW, who has a high-class connotation among its fans.
From a branding perspective, this connection is vital to maintain their hard-earned brand equity, which is one of the main factors to maintaining their status among the luxury brands. Without the influence in the online and social media realms, and without the ability to market to the masses, these brands would see a serious drop in their ability to compete on the global market.
For example, take Christian Louboutin, the #6 company on Shareablee’s list. The luxury shoe designer has a brand that is respected the world over for its products, but many of its fans are likely unable to afford to purchase anything from the designer’s line. However, they can still feel the connection through social media, which drives positive brand connotations among this same audience.
For a brand, this connection with their audience and subsequent positive audience opinion goes a long way in staying among the crème de la crème of brands, a characteristic which in itself can propel a company to success.
Image Sources:
http://us.christianlouboutin.com/us_en/LouboutinWorld#opi2240509114
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/report-fashion-and-automotive-brands-dominate-social-media/624319
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
AW in Review: Addison Whitney Brand Salsa Recap 8.14.15
Welcome to another edition of "AW in Review", our roundup of our latest brand salsa and Addison Whitney news and posts!
Don’t forget, you can stay up-to-date with everything from Addison Whitney by joining the conversation with us on our social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+
New Report Highlights Importance of Strong Employer Brands
Employer branding, which has a reputation of being an afterthought in the branding process, is showing its worth in organizations throughout the world, according to a recent report from 
Randstad Talent.
Building a strong employer brand is an often overlooked but necessary aspect of the branding process, as this report reiterates. Organizations must continue to look inward when building their brand, taking into account the needs of their employees and how branding efforts will impact this group in addition to their external audiences. Read More...
Brands with Long Histories Opt for Short Names
In recent years large and well-established brands that have long been able to rely on their long-standing history as the primary source of their brand equity have realized that, in a changing world, their past reputation may not be enough to propel them forward. In some cases, it is their impressive past which is the very thing holding them
back. Companies which date back to the 1800s and early 1900s run the risk of seeming outdated and/or stuffy, especially among millennials.
Several large brands in industries as varied as banking, real estate, and even phone books, have made it their goal to change this perception through branding. Read More...
Content is King: Brands See Benefits of Quality Content Creation
For brands, having a strong and prominent presence online is a vital aspect for success in today’s digitally-driven age. Consumers are spending more time online and more time researching their purchases, therefore raising consumer awareness to an all-time high. This is especially true in B2B services and more targeted industries, where there may be less competition for business, but 
also less overall awareness of the space.
If a potential consumer is looking to enter a space where they know little about the companies involved, chances are good they will be putting much of their purchasing decision weight into the online presence of those companies within that space. Read More...
Behind the Brand: How Morveau Watches Built its Brand
All brands, big or small, all have a starti
ng point.
When Luke Francis decided to build a company based on an innovative watch idea, he knew brand needed to be a strong asset in order to compete. He was entering a category flooded with mega-brands like Rolex, Fossil, Timex and thousands of others at the luxury, mid-market and economy levels, so he had his work cut out for him. Read More...
Find Your Trench Coat: Branding Success and Focusing on What You Do Best
A great brand usually begins with one thing it does very well. Louis Vuitton’s specialty is luggage. Christian Louboutin’s is shoes. Burberry’s had been the trench coat.
However, often when a company achieves success, it begins to feel as if it can do anything and forgets what had made it so successful in the first place. Read More...
Google's New Alphabet
This week, Google announced that it will make another step forward. For the first time, Google will be under the umbrella of another brand. The overarching parent role previously held by the 
Google brand is being transitioned to a newly created brand called Alphabet, a reference to all of the companies within it being “the letters” in the greater structure.
This change is coming for one big reason: the founders of Google, now CEO and President of Alphabet, understand the value of brand architecture. Read More...
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
Content is King: Brands See Benefits of Quality Content Creation
For brands, having a strong and prominent presence online is a vital aspect for success in today’s digitally-driven age. Consumers are spending more time online and more time researching their purchases, therefore raising consumer awareness to an all-time high. This is especially true in B2B services and more targeted industries, where there may be less competition for business, but also less overall awareness of the space.
If a potential consumer is looking to enter a space where they know little about the companies involved, chances are good they will be putting much of their purchasing decision weight into the online presence of those companies within that space.
For instance, if a potential consumer is looking for a vendor to help their business with its printing needs, chances are good they don’t know all of the players in this industry. But when they start looking online, they see one company that shows up at the very top of a number of their searches. This company now possesses credibility with the consumer, who chooses to learn more about that brand. If the brand’s website is up to par, then the decision to purchase was effectively made by who sits at the top of the search rankings.
It’s been widely reported and researched that the vast majority of B2B purchasers are more likely to make a hire with a company or brand that provides them content in a meaningful way. Simply put, the content you deliver drives trust, brand awareness and credibility, which ultimately can drive sales.
And now, thanks to an update in Google’s search algorithm, creating content is no longer a “nice to have” but a “need to have” for brands that want to show up in the search rankings. Like keywords in the past, strong content now has a direct and significant impact on how high your site will rise on Google’s search rankings. Everything from blogs and social media to the main brand website, content truly is king when it comes to search and online optimization.
It is important to know that Google greatly favors quality over quantity. With the aforementioned changes, Google has begun penalizing and negatively impacting sites that distribute thin and irrelevant content for the sake of just having it. This is great news for brands who want to level the playing field in search and no longer have to worry about falling behind competitors posting endless strings of poor quality content.
Additionally, the level playing field also has given rise to those brands that have fully embraced quality content creation and are providing the informational, meaningful and interesting content that benefits their target audience. There are many variables that go into a brand strategy success, but one mustn’t forget to continue that strategy past the initial launch, or forget the importance of a strong online presence. With quality, search-optimized content, your consumers can find and research you easily and effectively, driving business results.
Who would’ve thought blogging could have such a great ROI?
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
AW Spotlight - Meet the Newest Members of the Addison Whitney Team
At Addison Whitney, our people are our most valuable resource. We are lucky to have such a talented group working throughout our offices, and in our AW Spotlight series we wanted to spotlight our employees, finding out more about who they are, and their thoughts on working at Addison Whitney.
This special edition of AW Spotlight features three of the newest members of the AW team - Verbal Branding Associates Ashley Chaffin and Joshira Maduro, and Brand Strategy Associate John Lineberger. All three joined Addison Whitney recently and have been very welcome additions to the company and to our Charlotte office!
Let's find out some more about these talented AWers:
Ashley Chaffin, Verbal Branding Associate
Give us your elevator speech – what do you do at AW?
When you’re watching a commercial and you think ‘who comes up with a name like (insert product or drug name here)?’ I’m one of those people you’re wondering about. As a Verbal Branding Associate, I’m responsible for coming with up with names for pharmaceuticals, commercial products, companies and really anything that can be named and branded. This entails taking all of the things that a client wants their brand/name to convey and putting into a nice, neat one or two word package.
What is your favorite brand and why?
Coca-Cola is my favorite brand because of their consistency and ability to keep the product in the forefront of the customer’s mind. I’m one of the many people who will order Coke, and only Coke, when I want a soda. When I see the script lettering and red together, I think Coke no matter what the letters actually read. I don’t need the label to have my name on it and I don’t need to see their commercials to want one – I always want one. However, since last summer, they’ve had me talking about my love for it thanks to the Share a Coke campaign. I can’t remember the last full week I went without seeing a social media post of a Coke bottle, and I share them myself when I find an Ashley bottle.
What is something about you that would surprise people?
People are surprised by the number sports I’ve played due to my general lack of coordination when doing simple things like walking. I’ve tried soccer, cheerleading (the most surprising to my friends), volleyball, golf, and currently kickball. The fact that I’ve only fallen once on the kickball field is both a surprise and a personal triumph.
Joshira Maduro, Verbal Branding Associate
Give us your elevator speech – what do you do at AW?
I am a Verbal Branding associate and I work on creating and screening names that truly align with the strategy that the client aims to embody in order better position themselves to their target audiences.
What is your favorite brand and why?
My favorite brand would be Google, because it has been so successful in capturing the mind-share of a vast majority of people so much that instead of “searching” for something on the internet, people “Google” it. They have such a big presence, and I love that they customize the Google landing page to connect with significant historical or recent events; it educates people and always strives to stay relevant.
What is something about you that would surprise people?
A few years ago, I took an eight-week Japanese martial art class, and was able to throw a 250-pound man over my shoulder!
John Lineberger, Brand Strategy Associate
Give us your elevator speech – what do you do at AW?
Technically, my job deals in establishing positioning, architecture, and messaging for clients. I help our department create strategies for clients that aid in their knowing exactly what to stand for, how to project that to their clients or consumers and how to organize their offerings in a clear and consistent way.
What is your favorite brand and why?
My favorite brand has got to be Chick-fil-A. It is a unique mix of high-quality food and customer experience with an entertaining and irreverent ad campaign. It is simple, yet compelling, and stands out in a busy fast food market. I also love to eat.
What is something about you that would surprise people?
I really enjoy travelling. During college I studied abroad twice, once in Cape Town, South Africa and once in Prague, Czech Republic. I also was fortunate to be able to spend a couple of weeks in Peru, getting to see Machu Picchu and travelling throughout the country. During the course of my travels I have bungee jumped, skydived, cage dove with Great Whites, ridden an elephant, trekked through the Andes and eaten a lot of strange food.
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.
New Report Highlights Importance of Strong Employer Brands
Employer branding, which has a reputation of being an afterthought in the branding process, is showing its worth in organizations throughout the world, according to a recent report from Randstad Talent.
The newly-released report found that 61 percent of human resources leaders studied felt that a strong employer brand is the most critical factor in attracting top talent.
Building a strong employer brand is an often overlooked but necessary aspect of the branding process, as this report reiterates. Organizations must continue to look inward when building their brand, taking into account the needs of their employees and how branding efforts will impact this group in addition to their external audiences.
Another stat that shows the shift in importance for employer branding is that 69 percent of organizations in India responded that they have increased their employer branding focus compared to where they were five years ago. This increase shows not only that these organizations are seeing the impact branding can have on their employee engagement, but also the rise in social media and online resources that potential and current employees have at their disposal.
These online outlets are prime spots for potentially damaging information to be posted, which can affect job recruiting efforts alongside efforts to keep turnover low. Without a strong employer brand, any negative piece of publicity will damage credibility with your employees, and will cause some potential employees to shy away, unsure of the true strength of the organization.
In these situations, it is important that employer branding either be included in an organization’s overall branding strategy and efforts, or that it follow a similar template for establishment. Strong brands can withstand negativity and thrive in showing the good that exists, which is especially important for internal/employer branding.
As mentioned before, not only can a strong employer brand assist in the recruiting and hiring of top talent, but it can also play into keeping that talent for longer periods of time. The younger generations of workers are inherently more transient than their predecessors – five years at one job is considered a long time, and very few spend their entire careers at one company. Because of this, keeping these employees satisfied and fulfilled in their roles is bolstered by a strong employer brand, which highlights the positive aspects of the organization and its benefits.
Randstad’s recent findings are a welcome piece of information for those advocating the need for strong employer brands, and as the numbers continue to rise, so too will the awareness of those not already on board.
Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
To learn more about Addison Whitney, visit our website at AddisonWhitney.com, or contact us here.