Becoming a Tradition-Synonymous Brand
In 1924, employees of the Macy’s department store, looking for a way to celebrate Thanksgiving, marched down 34th Street in New York City dressed in vibrant costumes, with floats, bands and live animals. This began an annual tradition that today is watched by over 44 million people each Thanksgiving morning and stands as the second-oldest Thanksgiving Day parade in the country.
For years, this was my only exposure to the Macy’s brand. Although I grew up in an area with no Macy’s locations nearby, it was one of the most well-known brands of my childhood, an achievement attributed solely to its name gracing the parade that played on the television every Thanksgiving morning.
I doubt I’m the only person who has that same story and brand connection – which, if you think about it, is quite a feat for a three-hour event that comes once a year.
Outside of fireworks shows and cookouts by the pool, to many Americans, the 4th of July means the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. Thousands of attendees and millions of television viewers tune in for the Independence Day tradition, spearheaded by a brand with little equity outside of its native Northeast, but which is now synonymous with the holiday and the event.
These are just two examples of how a brand has attached itself and eventually become synonymous with a holiday tradition. They’ve reached outside of their usual consumer audience and established brand equity with a portion of the marketplace with little to no brand knowledge outside of the name association.
In doing so, they did something no advertising or marketing campaign could do – they became connected to tradition.
Consumers love tradition. They love familiarity, regularity and nostalgia. Traditions bring out strong, deep, ingrained emotions within an individual, and to hitch your brand to this is to elevate it to this level.
In doing so, you provide a shortcut to the summit of the brand equity mountain – creating an emotional connection between the consumer and your brand. Once established, you have put your brand ahead of the pack within your space, as consumers who are unsure of the specifics of each brand within a category will ultimately choose the one they are either more aware of or have an emotional connection with.
For the most part, success in sales figures and choices from consumers across brands is even when it comes to core consumers and those who have strong brand loyalty. The difference between being at the top of your space and falling behind comes in pulling in the “unaffiliated” consumers – those with no preconceived loyalty to a specific brand, whose purchasing choices come from other factors, such as price, quality and, particularly important to this topic, brand familiarity.
Back to the Macy’s example. They are the crème de la crème of tradition-synonymous brands, not only because their name is attached to an event on a holiday that itself is synonymous with nostalgia, but also because watching the parade has become second nature to many families on Thanksgiving, who refer to it not as just a “Thanksgiving Parade” but as the “Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade” or even just the “Macy’s Parade.”
As such, if these same consumers were at a mall with their choice of department stores to enter, and had no prior knowledge of the ins and outs of the store brands available, odds are very good that they would tap into their emotional brand connection and choose Macy’s.
In the department store space, the majority of the brands are on equal footing. Their pricing is very similar, the products they carry don’t vary widely from brand to brand, and they all have sizeable presences in the consumer marketplace.
So how can Macy’s separate itself and drive consumers into the store and into the purchasing mindset? By being connected. It doesn’t hurt that the very thing they are connected with sits at the start of the biggest shopping time of the year – when the masses hit the stores at 3 a.m. on Black Friday, the images of the Macy’s parade are still fresh in their sleep-deprived minds.
Such is the goal for brands looking to find their tradition match – expand the brand, connect with consumers and become permanently attached to the event or holiday.
Branded on the Fourth of July
As June comes to a close, consumers begin to see the flood of red, white and blue wash over their favorite brands, as each looks to find a way to incorporate the Fourth of July into their branding, marketing and advertising efforts.
As with many holidays, brands can easily get lost in the increased noise of similar branding strategies – there are always the go-to ways to incorporate Halloween into branding, for instance – but the Fourth of July offers brands varying angles to which they can position their brand.
Branding on this holiday, and any holiday, must consist of careful and well-thought strategies that succeed in maximizing the inherent positive associations of the holiday but yet still stay true to the overall brand positioning. Going too far off that plan is a recipe for disaster, opening a brand up to seem as if they are willing to abandon their core brand principles in the name of an easy marketing campaign possibility.
Brands who understood how to walk this line and know how to connect the holiday to their branding characteristics continued to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
For instance, Brit + Co., an online media and e-commerce platform who has built their brand around providing women and girls with tools designed to teach, inspire and enable their creativity, created an email marketing campaign centered around the celebratory aspect of the holiday, highlighting some of their most patriotic and colorful merchandise. The design of the email matches the design of their website, promoting brand unity across all of the platforms.
Brit + Co. shows that they get how to fit the characteristics the holiday with the characteristics of their brand. Their brand personality is fun, quirky, creative and colorful – all of which can be used to describe their Fourth of July branding and marketing. By focusing on the beach/party atmosphere, they touch on their creative sides, showing people how to creatively throw their own Fourth of July soiree.
The professional sports industry is one that has never been shy about strategically branding itself for these patriotic holidays. For the past few years, professional baseball leagues have welcomed the holiday with patriotic-themed, one-time-only uniforms and hats. From the lowest levels of the minor leagues all the way up to the clubs that make up Major League Baseball, teams across the country wear these uniforms and hats, which are supplemented by various red, white and blue accessories, from batting gloves and undershirts to bases and themed designs cut into the field.
In a vacuum, these special uniforms and hats can seem to fall within the realm of celebrating the holiday while without going too far outside their comfort zone – as do most uniform modifications. However, much criticism for these leagues when they trot out “special” uniforms is that they immediately put these items up for sale, seemingly proving that the reason for the re-branded product isn’t to celebrate or commemorate, but to make some extra money on merchandise sales.
The Fourth of July is a holiday commemorated by all Americans and has turned into a day to celebrate all things red, white and blue. Any time you can find a way to connect a brand to such a large audience, and to have a little fun in the process, go for it. It’s what the Founding Fathers would want.
Image Sources:
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/july-fourth-marketing-examples
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.
Marketing Mexican History
Just as we tuck away our green shirts from St. Patrick's Day, May arrives bringing us a new celebratory holiday. And consumers aren't the only ones celebrating.
A minor holiday in Mexico, celebrating a victory over the French at the Battle Of Puebla, Cinco de Mayo gained popularity in the 1950's and 1960's because of the Good Neighbor policy, an effort to build a better relationship between The United States and Mexico, according to National Geographic.
The commercialization of Cinco de Mayo began in the 1980s. American corporations were eager to appeal to the expanding Hispanic population in the U.S. and saw Cinco de Mayo as vehicle to tap into that market. Anheuser-Busch and Miller Company created Hispanic Marketing departments and began sponsoring Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Thanks to widespread marketing efforts, the holiday has evolved into a drinking holiday for many people. Cinco de Mayo has become to beer companies what Valentine's Day is to greeting card and candy companies.
So enjoy the discounts at your local Mexican restaurant, especially the chips and brand salsa!
Happy St. Patrick's Day
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In honor of old St. Patty himself, here's an homage to some notably original 'green' brands. Enjoy!
Valentine's Guide for the Guys
Valentine's Day is historically geared towards the ladies ... a pink & red inspired holiday with iconic imagery of hearts and chocolates and roses.
This year, we thought we'd refocus the Vday brand on the guys instead, and tapped into some of our own to find out what they would like for this 'holiday.' Some are giftable ... others are simply aspirational. Either way, we hope it helps you ladies to find the perfect gift for your man.
"Time, more time."
Brannon Cashion, President
"A good shaving kit ... maybe from the new SouthPark store."
Nick Irwin, Senior Graphic Designer
"...newspaper subscription to The Wall Street Journal or Barron’s; subscription to Sports Illustrated or Field & Stream magazine ... or even to XM-Sirius radio (a little pricey, but another one that can be shared, maybe listening to the LOVE channel)."
Bill Lippincott, Vice President
For the sports fan in your life, how about helping him show his team pride with some official gear from Fanatics.com?
Gadget lovers will appreciate being able to sync all their audio video devices with one universal remote.
Of course, you can always go old school and share your love with a simple handwritten sentiment. Or take a cue from our VP, Healthcare Group Andy Cuykendall, who remarked that his family doesn't celebrate Valentine's Day ... "We celebrate love for all 365 days." Aww.
National Name a Day Day
We all know Labor Day, April Fool's Day, Groundhog Day and Earth Day. These holidays are nationally known and often make headlines. In our lifetime, we've all probably celebrated one or all of these (one way or another). There are federal, national, religious, secular and lastly, weird and unusually named holidays. If you're taking entries, how do I get my holidays on the list? How do I make it official? I guess my first step is to research if any of my days are already taken.
Not surprisingly, I found that there is a "day" for nearly every day of the year. Some days have multiple celebrations. Most of the strangely named and unusual celebrations are not officially recorded by presidential proclamation or congressional records. Go figure. I did find a few I could get on board with: Book Lovers Day, Eat Outside Day & Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day. Some I would not be a supporter of: National Chocolate Covered Insect Day & No Pants Day which is celebrated on the 1st Friday in May, thankfully not at AW. When polled, a few associates came up with celebrations they'd like to add to the list.Read more
The Many Faces of Google
I don't know about you, but for some reason it always makes my day when Google features one of their custom logos. For those of you that have managed to miss this occurrence, don't worry. You're bound to catch one eventually. While usually these alternative logos are in celebration of holidays and historic events, Google also commemorates birthdays of famous artists and scientists. A special colorless logo has appeared in recognition of major tragedies, and on Earth Hour the site switched its background to black symbolize "turning out the lights". Google Custom Search even hosts a landing page called Blackle, that serves as encouragement to users to save energy. It displays a black background and uses grayish-white font color for search results. Considering the popularity of the search engine, these colors supposedly consume less energy. But, more importantly, the site is a reminder for people to take small steps in their everyday lives to save energy.
Among one of the most fun Google logo alternatives was the recent observance of the 30th birthday of Pac-Man. This interactive logo contained an accurate recreation of the Pac-Man game that could be played in a browser. Google later released a permanent Google Pac-Man site. Another geeky way to have fun with Google is by designing your own home page at Google My Way. Give it a try. I promise you won't be disappointed!
Happy 50th Anniversary!!
The pill. No, not a pill, but THE pill. The pill that sexually revolutionized women and the control over their bodies. The pill that wrapped itself in religious dilemma and political controversy. The pill that to this day still raises concerns over morality and safety.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of this medicinal wonder. Often misunderstood, this hormonal remedy has walked a littered road of controversial backtalk and revolutionary movements. Therefore, like most things taboo, interesting, or just pretty, it has earned itself a Time magazine cover, adequately accessorized with a very detailed and fascinating article. I mean, I read the entire thing.
Whether you’re for it, against it, on it, or a boy, this article gives an intriguing outlook about the history of birth control as a concept, how it transformed into a drug, and ultimately how it became a way of life for many women...and, of course, the chaos that shadowed it.
Check out the Time article here, and leave your thoughts/feelings below.
FYI, today roughly 100 million women around the world use the pill.
Contributed by: Keri Lynch
Green Brands Put to the Test
We've talked a lot about how brands are trying to add "Green" to their corporate color palette, sometimes with real, valuable initiatives and sometimes with just words. (Green: Who Can Claim It? and Greenwashing) So in honor of this Earth Day, the 40th Anniversary actually, we'd like put some of those brands to the test to "verdify" how green they really are.
Last month, SunChips introduced the world's first fully-compostable chip bag. The new bags, made of plant-based materials, should fully decompose in 14 weeks (under typical hot composting conditions). A few weeks later, Snyder's of Hanover announced it too would be using sustainable packaging (on its organic line of pretzels).
I don't have a compost pile, much less the perfectly mixed 1-2-2-2-1 “hot" compost that SunChips recommends, but I do find the random scrap of trash in my yard after trash day. Would the bags eventually decompose in my yard or on the side of the road? We plan to find out.
For our Earth Day experiment, we have staked one of these composting bags to the ground to simulate errant trash. We will photograph our progress and share the results on the blog.
Administrative Professionals Week
Working in an office environment is great. There is fresh brewed coffee in the break room, your calls get transferred directly to your desk, your mail gets sent out promptly by simply dropping it in the Outgoing box, and you always have fresh pens and notepads at your disposal. It’s like magic. These little cohesive consistencies are what can keep each day from completely going up in flames, when chaos has engulfed everything else.
But it’s not magic. Well, it’s not wand-waving, spell enchanting magic, but it’s definitely something special. And it doesn’t just materialize on it’s own. There are a lot of hardworking individuals who are behind these seemingly simple tasks. But there is nothing simple, or easy, about being an administrative assistant. They, for lack of a better expression, are the glue, well for fun, let’s call them the super glue, that keeps an office and an office environment efficient.
This year, Aprils 18th to April 24th marks the National Administrative Professionals Appreciation Week, with Administrative Professionals Day landing on April 21st. Though you should always appreciate the hard work of your colleagues, especially your admins, this week is especially set aside for you to outwardly express your admiration and gratitude towards them for what they do.
Formally known as Professional Secretaries Week, before America got all politically correct in 2000 and updated the name/title, this evolving holiday was first created back in 1952 through the work of Harry F. Klemfuss, a New York publicist. He wanted to encourage more people, especially women, to consider careers in the secretarial field.
Fast-forward half a century, through civil rights and the bra burning years, the role of secretary as well as the gender has changed drastically. Administrative professionals are no longer Aquanet wearing, note-taking women, but serious business professionals. In fact, some prominent executive administrators are some of the highest paid people in corporate America. And they aren’t all women. Can we say Mark from Ugly Betty?
But whatever role they play in your particular office environment, they are the smile that greets you at the door and the ‘Have a nice day!’, as you leave. They are your organizational outlook and your personal reminder. They make your job easier.
So show your appreciation this week for one of largest workplace observances in any way you can. Flowers, candies, gift cards, etc. … and who doesn’t like to be taken out to lunch?? I’m just saying …
How do you plan to thank your administrative professionals? Leave your thoughts below.
Contributed by: Keri Lynch