:::Mr Burns Mates with the 50 foot tall Woman!:::

Imagine a giant, glowing, lumbering presence walking across your city.

Think Attack of the 50 Foot Woman / Mr Burns when he was radio active repeating 'I love you'... over and over again.

Today that's effective marketing.

Its stunning, slightly absurd, large, enters on a large scale and you cant ignore it. The gigantic penetrative Marketing Campaign.

Today's marketing needs an edge. There is on on going cut and paste derivative trend;

Hokey folkey warmpth, soft edged marketing. Think Sportsgirl, Portmans, Cocolatte, even Johnston and Johnston are going that way, from pasta to car manufacturers spouting tales of generational allegiance to their brands including Barilla and Volvo.

Cocolatte - I don't think these girls were at Woodstock.

Then there is the twee self effacing campaign think iinet and Buzz Insurance.

Does mocking yourself/the company make the campaign more successful?

Pre on trend Viral marketing, online social networking positioning, Hipper than hip so now it hasn't happened yet and very individual...to see a hard copy version the free VICE magazine Melbourne it is a perfect example of this niche platform and can be found at indy haunts and cafes. For the informed its blatant and completely transparent - I am sure it works.

What is interesting is that it all still leans heavily on the visual. So the Artistic Director and Photographer are pivotal - so some things don't change.

There is the sound bite that can rocket an unknown artist to stardom - anything associated with an Apple product is testament to that big. Brand + tune  (hand in hand) = a vertical market. Sure the multi faceted campaigns have to hit the mark from every angle but god what a perfect trade it creates.

So lets face it we all have to be a bit of a 'Radioactive 50 foot tall Mr Burns hermaphrodite' in the ad sense these days. The world just keeps getting savvier and the white noise of commercial competition louder, deafening us now. So how does one stand out from the crowd?

I might take a swan dive off the perceived common reality board into an altogether unplumbed depth... called genuine sincerity.

Image from a very personal shoot I directed with Paul Louis Villani a brilliant photographer

Currently I am marketing myself as a brand here on my blog and what is my Unique Selling Proposition?

I rely on two plain and simple rules: 

• I mean what I say and say what I mean. 
• The content is genuine its my own perspective.

We all have a unique set of reference points that we filter everything through - as do businesses, companies, and or individual staff / departments that purvey the message.

Not quite 50 feet tall in a gown I have made.

We know and hear sincerity on a very base instinctual level - even if it is in the guise of super slick marketing, sometimes we get it - it gets us in reality and the bond is set.

Otherwise its just white noise.

Image reference for last two photographs here

Jealosy and the Truth

I once read that jealousy can be a very insightful tool. It is a sign. I believe this to be true.

It shows you what you want - from the gut.

No filter...its unpleasant...

like the urge to be sick,

no one wants it.

But...

it does happen from time to time so why not take this unpalatable human reflex and examine it until it becomes useful.

We all like to think it doesn't happen to us we are enlightened and aligned enough with our own wants and desires that it wont occur within us. We are enlightened beings - this written by me the woman who just saw someone with a better bob than mine, at the supermarket of all places. We snuck glances back and forth through out the entire fruit and vegetable department. Truth is she won - meh hair just wasn't on the top of my priority list today, besides she was naturally olive I cant compete with that and perfect hair.

What makes you jealous?

There are so many things I can say that I am not envious of, I applaud others successes and endeavors, usually they have earned it.

I am talking the kind of afront to yourself that's like a slap in the face, one you didn't see coming. Showing you what you chose not to pay attention to.

They are the telling emotions we should stop and listen to.
Perhaps they are instincts screaming something at you.

Don't dismiss it, listen to it.

Its as unpleasant as rising bile but my my it surely is valuable.

Next time when it happens listen it just might be your gut connecting to your brain shouting listen to me!

::: BRANDING ::: Sending a Consistent Message

I have worked with branding for over 20 years and always thought I truly understood the concept. I've designed logos and brands, knock offs, look a likes and had ridiculous briefs to answer including changing the Nike 'swoosh' by 10% for a large scale retailer it was a huge challenge as was emulating the Adidas 3 stripe track suit without a law suit being applied. I have studied style guides, adhered to branding rules and restrictions recreated AFL logos, had a close relationship with Elmo and Big bird for Sesame Street and yes I thought I understood intellectual property, marketing and branding.

 It was only recently however that the perfect definition of branding presented its self and it all dawned upon me as if new.


Suspended in mid air driving on a tall bridge over Melbourne city a dirth of visual stimuli around me I hovered above a slew of bland factory walls in my periphery, I was enjoying that nothing zone of relaxed motoring then my vision was punctuated boldly by a lone sign.

There was no image just a word in signature format and colour and I knew what it meant.

I knew what the company produced, the interior design, the price range and level of service I would expect. Why I even knew the return policy the company size, could visualise uniforms and merchandising.

That is effective branding!

A clear and consistent message that changes just enough to encourage us just enough to keep coming back. I love a Mom and Pop business and a good family business is what this world has been built upon. I believe in the small guy, the under dog and never say die.

But...

as we all keep whining about how hard it is to compete things for small business just keeps gets tougher. The fashion labels I know that have survived within Australia have been taken over by umbrella companies, receive substantial government backing or are large enough to diversify and react to the global economy where the money is hemorrhaging of shore and will takes decades to realign - apparently our insatiable appetite for new 'fluff' - physical filler, cheap goods has tipped the scales and our small change is flooding into countries where labor is dirt cheap. Our local industry has died and we are at the funeral complaining.

We are decimated by a heavy intake of data in our daily lives and by 11am our delicate brains are overwhelmed, we truly do not require this much information, its an assault to our senses.

Mentally to sift through or find the time to get to what we desire or need can be exhausting even with effective search engines, perfectly designed designed shopping malls and online stores.

Which brings me back to my recent epiphany regarding branding. As a Fashion designer I scoffed at branding and knew that it was all largely a matter of perception especially in regard to clothing and the perceived amount of 'worth' attached to a brand.

Now however since my 'brand' recognition moment I see it almost as a relief. We know what to expect from a brand, it will be a measurable predictable experience, we know what we expect to pay and how that purchase or experience will go.

While our collective mere human brain is fried by stimuli, brand recognition and consistency provides as much comfort and relief as the 'shop down the road' or 'store down the street' owned by the Mom and Pop.

I don't love it but I finally admit I get it.

There has been a notable marketing shift over the past three years or so into the trend of the 'hokey' and 'homely' the 60's and 70's twee. Its being recreated by the large corporations to convince us they are human after all. 

Designed to warmly embrace us soft edge marketing convinces us the inexpensive or luxury goods or brands are loving us back -just like the family business of days gone by or so we can dismiss the child's hands in the third world county that helped fashion the item to keep margins down ensuring the transaction more attractive to us.

The evolution of branding and marketing is now beginning to shape us, shift wealth and effect world economies.

Its something I find very interesting.