This is what good branding is all about- forming a relationship with the consumer. So many brands make the mistake of building a one-sided brand that does nothing but take from the consumer. They learn quickly that consumers have little patience for such endeavors.

Hyundai is advertising what they call the “Hyundai Assurance.” And they predicate it on another move by the company from a decade ago…

Here’s wishing everyone lots of eggnog, plenty of gifts and giving, and a wonderful holiday season. Enjoy the break, come back renewed, and bring in 2009 with a bang!

BK is now making Flame, a body spray that captures the essence of flame-broiled meat and allegedly makes you completely irresistible. That’s right….it’s not a typo…Whopper-scented body spray. So you can smell like a processed, flame-broiled meat patty. This gives a whole new meaning to the idea of “have it your way.” Someone stop these people. Save them from themselves. Are we at Rock Bottom yet?

Ok, so I’ve been holding my tongue on Burger King…but enough is enough already. It really should go without saying that the Burger King guy is just weird. The one where “the King” is peeking through the bedroom window? A little creepy. From there, we saw a glimmer of hope with the Whopper Freakout ads…..they weren’t great, but at least we got rid of The King. But, a good thing just can’t last….so next , Burger King trots out Hootie….Hootie! Yes, as in the Blowfish…in a jingle that would make Old Navy cringe.

This “Whopper Virgin” taste-test…will that finally convince we Consumers to buy the Whopper? I mean, if a Transylvanian Sheep-herder who lives on rice and pond-water likes it, why on Earth, pray tell, wouldn’t we? After all, if HE likes, and I don’t, then clearly…CLEARLY…I’m the one with the problem. I’m starting to miss The King.

I ran across an article this morning about a Stove Top Stuffing campaign set to launch in December. The idea is that Kraft (maker of Stove Top) will provide heating in various bus shelters and provide cups of warm stuffing to pedestrians forced to wait in the cold for their bus. The campaign will be localized in the Chicago area, but is generating buzz nationwide as an industry first. Stove Top will be the first brand to use “heat” or “warmth” as a street advertising tactic.

This illustrates beautifully something we here at Mojoloco have been “warming up” to in the past few months. Branding, as we say, is all about the “experience you create.” Therefore, if your brand is, for example, about creating a family atmosphere, then you can embed this perception in the consumer’s psyche by creating that experience through some sort of event or mini-event much faster than you can by running ads in print or multimedia. Of course, the catch to this is that you have to be true to that experience day in and day out. You can’t be on your best behavior the day of the event and then fudge the rest of the year….you have to make it real. Consumers are quick to sniff out a fraud.

Bottom line, if you wish to be known for a certain sensation or experience, then create that experience for your consumer. Build a campaign around it. And then follow it up with daily reinforcement.

Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” Think about that and then ask yourself if your current advertising strategy is based in insanity.

I’ve spoken with several local small business owners this past week who, like many others, have cut their ad budgets due to the economy and declining foot traffic in their stores. The interesting thing is that they were all very frank about the fact that their advertising wasn’t producing great results even before they scaled it back. My question to them was: “if your tactics weren’t effective when you were spending $5,000 per month, what makes you think they will be effective when you’re spending $2,500 per month?”

The problem is not the amount of money they were spending. The problem is the tactics they’ve chosen. If they don’t work, then doing more or less of the same thing isn’t going to change that.

Bud Light has saturated the market with their new positioning strategy: “Drinkability.” I want to address this because this, to me, is a poster-child for a bad positioning strategy. There are plenty of examples, both nationally and locally.

The goal of any marketing campaign is to differentiate itself from the competition. Tell your market how and why you’re different from the other guy so that they’ll buy your stuff. Unique Selling Proposition (or USP) is one theory that explains how to do this. A strong USP is supposed to have three components (1) it should make present a specific, tangible benefit, (2) it must be unique to that brand, and (3) it should inspire consumers to change.

“Drinkability” doesn’t mean any of these criteria. So why pick that word? Bottom line: “Drinkability” is a smoke & mirrors campaign. Bud Light is trying to edge in on Miller Lite’s position of “tastes great, less filling.” After all, “taste” and “healthy” are two very strong USP’s. The question is: will it work? All I can say is that Mr. and Mrs. Consumer and their Consumerlings aren’t stupid.

Oxford University today released a list of the Top Ten Most Irritating Phrases. I admit, I am absolutely guilty of using a number of these phrases quite often. With all due respect to Oxford, however, if these phrases are used in fairly unique contexts, and not just 24/7, then they aren’t really so annoying. Right? After all, at the end of the day, it’s a nightmare trying to come up with unique phrases and expressions. I suppose we shouldn’t of all used the same ones…then at least some of us would be able to claim originality.

If you want to set yourself apart in your category, then have an original thought. Don’t be original in the same way that your competitors are original. Be truly original. Start by coming up with original words and phrases to describe your brand. Really, it’s not rocket science…

Actually, I’m sure there are a number of lessons to glean from the past few months of watching the candidates duke it out. But there’s one really, really important one. It’s a lesson about owning a word FIRST in the mind of the consumer…or, in the case of the election…the voter. Obama owned change. He owned it because he was the first to use it. That’s how it works in brand theory. Remember, marketing is a battle of perception, not products. It doesn’t matter what the truth is…it only matters what consumers believe. And, the brand that claims a word first, usually gets to own it.

Wow. It’s November 5, and I’m looking at a crisp, clear morning sky. I’m sure at least half the country is amazed that it didn’t fall on our heads last night. Whether the sky falls or hangs on to its celestial hooks for another 4 years…I’m just glad the election is over. So, let’s all take a big, fat, freakin’ pill, and just…move on.