Playback in Vegas

Been a spirited few days in Vegas at a branding conference exploring the latest thinking on where brands are going in today's marketplace. Lots of juice. Good amount of reality checks. And a parade of really talented and articulated brand marketers with strong points of view. If speakers were beverages, we saw Coke Classic, A&W Root Beer, Naked, Jones Soda, and Monster.

Back in town. Back at work. Back to class. See you soon.

Empowered Health and Living Brands

Talking with a colleague of mine last week, our conversation led to an interesting
place, one that continues to stick with me:

EMPOWERED CONSUMERS POWER BRANDS.

That was it. The simplicity of the idea caught me off guard. But it made a lot of sense.

It cleared a lot of what I've been thinking about lately with regard to brands, and why some win and some lose. Brands like Apple, Whole Foods, NIKE as well as Dell and Scion (build your own) underscore a powerful concept at work today. Brands that are able to empower their customers and make them feel a part of the brand, are more successful than those brands that don't.

Let's face it, successful brands have a way of putting the consumer in a position of power that ultimately power the brand beyond its competitors.

I call them Empowered Health & Living Brands. These are any brands in any category that give consumers information, education and confidence for the purposes of making their life better and more enjoyable. The above brand, Vitasana multivitamins, talks about "adding a little life to your life." While the ad was done a few years ago during the height of the growth of natural supplements, the tactic still rings true today.

Powerful brands get that way by empowering consumers.

Shoestring Creative Solutions

A stack of Monopoly money. A pair of googly eyes. Actors playing it over the top.

Geico adds to its Gekko, Cavemen and celebrity sidekick series with a stripped down, dumbed down solution around the money you could be saving with Geico.

Genius or just annoying?