branding | Words For Hire

Aging, Relevancy and Branding Tales

August 16, 2010 by Karen Swim

Once upon a time there was brand that defined a generation of professional women. However, after only 34 years, is this brand ready for retirement? It is a question examined in the Wall Street Journal story, “After Targeting Younger Consumers, Liz Claiborne Hits Snag” (read full article at online.wsj.com). It is a fascinating look at a once iconic brand and its failure to age gracefully.

The article details a series of factors that have contributed to the brand’s now shaky position in the market, It is a cautionary tale for up and coming and established brands. When I first read the article, I was struck by how much I had forgotten about Liz Claiborne. Before reading this today, if asked to name clothing lines, this one would never have come to mind.

Liz Claiborne fell out of favor with their market but also with their biggest customer, Macy’s. Couple this with questionable management decisions and you have a brand marching to the graveyard of “used to be big.” The latest move will make it difficult if impossible for the brand to return to its glory days. JC Penney who has aggressively tried to revitalize their brand in recent years may not attract the same audience that once loved Liz.

We can all learn from the Liz story, don’t allow your customers to become bored with your brand. Listen to your market even as you expand to to add new customers and keep it fresh in the marketplace. And if the person leading your company has 11 straight quarters of losses, it may be time to keep the brand but retire the leader.

Posted via email from Marketing, Musings and More from Karen Swim

I’m not a Doctor but I Play One in My Dad’s Head

July 23, 2009 by Karen Swim

When I met my biological father met I was working on health care reform and attending caucus meetings in D.C. I have had many, in depth conversations with him translating medical terminology, explaining the endocrine system and demystifying pharmaceutical labels for him.

In a mind sometimes tumbled by ever increasing signs of dementia, he holds fast to his description of me as “the one who went to medical school and knows the doctor stuff.”

My client and friend, Janet is kind enough to talk about me with her network of briliant thinkers. One of those thinkers refers to me as “Marketing Genius Woman in Detroit.” The label is a combination of Janet’s words about his own unique perception of what those words meant to him.

The descriptions are not what I would assign myself but both bring home the realiziation that people will describe you based on their experience with you filtered through the lens of their own perceptions.

We all have a self-assigned set of keywords for our position, character, relationships and values. We “market” them to the world in words and actions. But, in our interactions with others they may create their own set of long tailed keywords that not only describes us but our position and reflection in the other person’s life. Who I am is answered in each encounter by how you see me.

As a company, it validates the need to communicate marketing messages that will be reinforced by your customers experience with you. The great opportunity is to then extend that great branding with additional distinctions. So, you go from being “company that sells great X” to “company that sells great X and treats their customers like royalty.”

In life, your keywords give clues to your character and relationship with others. In life and business branding, your actions and interractions can reinforce (or not) your messaging.

While I did not pick “one who knows doctor stuff” or “Marketing Genius” (yes, I secretly love this one) I embrace them. The two very different descriptions reflect my passions and experience but most importantly serve as a reminder to me to share that with others and never minimze the impact that you have on another person’s life.

How about you, have you ever had any funny or not so funny experiences with keywords assigned to you by others? How did it affect you?

Authenticity, Transparency and Poetic Musings

May 26, 2009 by Karen Swim

Written by Karen D. Swim

The sky blushed with soft shades of rose, clouds softly rolling in darkening the sun
A heart that was heavy lifted as emotions floated on the wind, I exhaled and the sky blushed.
Soft droplets of rain falling gently from the folds of lavender robes as a clap of thunder trumpeted the arrival of a majestic display of power and humility
Branches bowed low in worship, leaves danced in delight

Emotion seeped from hidden spaces, riding waves of tears pushing past floodgates of fear
The sky blushed and I exhaled.

____________________________

Over the long weekend I began reading a fabulous book, Collapse of Distinction: Stand out and move up while your competition fails (NelsonFree). (Big fat huge hugs to Kelly Erickson for the book!) There are a wealth of lessons which I will share liberally in later posts, but the book got me to thinking about authenticity and transparency.

We all agree that transparency has its boundaries. We do not need nor want to know the intimate details of everyone’s life. We need not be privy to every dark thought or struggle. It is my belief that ultimately it is not transparency or authenticity we seek; we crave humanity.

We want to know that there are real live people who think, breathe, cry and don’t always have the answers behind the logos and branding messages. We want to know that you feel, and care about many of the same things we do.

Yet, we require that humanity in a silo. In my own life, it is time to bleed the lines. I have always been fairly “transparent” yet I realize that my self imposed limits may be stunting my own growth. I am a writer desiring to grow, stretch and learn yet until now have been fearful of sharing certain kinds of writing on this blog.

Yes, there is a fine line to walk here. You cannot do what you feel in spite of what your market wants BUT to innovate and grow you must be willing to test.

: Image by krandolph via Flickr

There are many things we use and like that we never could have predicted.

McKain’s book inspires the question of whether we want to be different or do we truly want to be distinct? I am not out for fame, fortune or even market share but I do want to be my own class. I want to be wanted for me and not as the writer or marketer that is like so and so.

To achieve that end, I have to find my own voice and be willing to make mistakes along the way. I must break down silos and share the other pieces of me – yes the bad poetic musings, the half baked fiction and the often really good ideas that emerge from the schizophrenic process.

How can I be authentic in the market if I am not first true to myself? While I will not use this space as a laboratory, I will blur the lines as I create that crayon in the box that is clearly marked “Karen.”

What about you? Do you want to be different or do you want to be distinct?