Blog Elektroniker
By Tim Leberecht - January 8, 2012
In light of the Arab Spring and the rise of India and China, and propelled by social technologies, the concept of ‘soft power’ (the phrase was coined by Joseph Nye in his 1990 book, Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power; defined as “the ability to obtain what one wants through co-option and attraction”) is ever more relevant. Or, in marketing terms, Push is out, Pull is in. If an idea, aspiration, product, goal, ideology, culture, narrative, or national identity is attractive to its constituents, it minimizes the need for constant reinforcement and regulation – whether that is advertising, promotions, and other persuasive efforts, or bureaucracy, command-and-control, and coercion. Pull is powerful (as John Hagel illustrates in his riveting book The Power of Pull). It has a lot of Pull (pun intended) because one doesn’t have to push. It saves energy that can be invested otherwise, for example, in whatever “it” is that creates Pull. No surprise then that individuals, organizations, societies, and entire nations wish they could rely on it more.
Blog TotalDesign
By Nick de la Mare - January 4, 2012
When I was in the industrial design graduate program at RISD I became intrigued by the various, and profound, ways in which cultures understand personal identity. My particular interest was in 'material culture,' defined as the stuff we wear, carry, display and use to express who we are, what we stand for, who we want to be in the future and how we desire to be seen by the culture that surrounds us. The element that seemed most captivating to me, and became the basis of my thesis work, was the growing understanding of how the very nature of personal identity has shifted over time, most obviously from the start of the Industrial Revolution until now.
Blog Elektroniker
By Tim Leberecht - September 4, 2011
A lot has been written lately about the changing profile of the CMO, a role which faces an increasingly complex set of stakeholders and expectations (“10 Great Expectations: What CEOs Want From Their CMOs”) as it is engulfed by empowered consumers, big data, digital media pervasion, and accelerated technology innovation cycles. While CMO tenures have slightly increased to an average of less than four years, the role remains a hot seat. Technology savvy, analytics prowess, and strict ROI measurement are almost unanimously heralded as the key attributes of a successful marketing leader. The CMO is expected to be a business strategist, innovator, and change agent, while at the same time also acting as the brand evangelist, inspirational communicator-in-chief, and cross-functional collaborator. Tough one. How can today’s CMO succeed in times of hyper-connectivity when long-held beliefs are shattered, audiences are transient, and “software is eating the world” (Marc Andreessen)?
Blog Elektroniker
By Tim Leberecht - May 29, 2011
Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn yield unprecedented actual or virtual valuations. Social media empower and propel social revolutions such as the ones we are witnessing in Arab countries. Enabled by broadband technologies and mobile devices, entire industries are connecting with customers – and each other – in entirely new ways. Clearly, the Connected Age has arrived. A world population connected through ubiquitous, real-time, and social computing, and through more than 50, 75, or even 100 billion devices. A world where every thing is connected with everything.
Blog Remarketables
By Sabrina Sandalo - April 8, 2011
This week's collection of remarkable links, curated by the frog marketing team.
The eye catching Hot Wheels Campaign.
Would you get an Ecko Tattoo for a lifetime discount?
Steve Jobs for President! "Vote for me or I'll remote wipe your iPhone."
Blog On the Grid
By Kristina Loring - January 19, 2011
Did you miss the Energy ThinkIn? No worries, we captured it all on film to give you the highlights from the day. Watch the video below to see how we searched for our Energy Panda — a face that can encourage a wide range of beneficial consumer behaviors such as buying energy-efficient smart appliances and opting for renewable energy sources. The video talks with participants from the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative, Intel, GE and others who dove into our all day collaborative workshop to create an icon, and ultimately a brand, for energy itself.
Blog Accelerant
By Albert Tan, Senior Brand Strategist - December 15, 2010
I was recently asked by a co-worker how I define a 'touchpoint'. In pondering a bit more about this, I realized that in brand and marketing we often talk of touchpoints, but we might not get beyond the more common applications / definition. If we go a little deeper, touchpoints are actually often more holistic and sensory than at first blush.
Blog Accelerant
By Albert Tan, Senior Brand Strategist - November 3, 2010
These days, it seems every company has (or is planning) a person or division focused on “reaching out to the community” or “being part of the conversation” through tools such as Twitter and Facebook. Countless books, experts, and even entirely new agencies have sprung up around “social media” to help companies understand – and take advantage of – this new movement towards thinking about and doing marketing (and business) differently.
Yet despite the shining successes out there, what’s discussed less often is determining if and when leveraging social media makes sense for your brand, and more importantly, what the underlying POV should be to help craft an initial approach.
Blog Accelerant
By Sean Rhodes - October 26, 2010
What can we say about Microsoft’s Office that hasn’t been said before? Most computers, in every corner of the globe, have Office installed. From book reports to earnings reports, pitches to presentations, novellas to grocery lists, billions of people are using Office to take care of the business of their lives. It's a big story.
When we partnered with Microsoft to create a brand story for the launch of Office for Mac 2011 we quickly realized the product went way beyond productivity for the 75 percent of Mac owners that use the product. These students, entrepreneurs, and families use Office for Mac to create, mold, and share their ideas with each other and millions of Windows Office users. The brand we wanted to create needed to reflect how users turn to Office for Mac to bring their ideas into reality—how they connect their work to the world.
Blog Elektroniker
By Tim Leberecht - June 27, 2010
How to Be Viral Without Viral Marketing
As we’re inundated with hero shots of the iPad every day, on every billboard and the back of every magazine cover, it appears to be a good time to rethink the relationship between advertising and product, between marketing and innovation. It’s not that Apple doesn’t spend any money on advertising – no, it was pouring a whopping $500 million into its launch campaign for the iPad. But what is different is that Apple’s marketing doesn’t have to be clever or utterly creative. In fact, it is stunningly not so. No major social media campaign needed to be sparked, no user-generated content contest needed to be held. And while the ongoing tongue-in-cheek anti-Microsoft ads are undeniably cute, they are not really an advertising revelation. Gone are the days of the bold “1984” campaigns. Today, Apple has earned enough attention to forgo any ostentatious marketing, in fact, so much that a cleverly orchestrated campaign would distract from the brand rather than boosting it. The company simply displays its products – that’s all it takes. Apple’s products are viral without any viral marketing.
