I have spent lots of time working on SEO strategies over the last few months. For years it was getting more and more complicated, but now it looks like it’s getting simpler again with the latest article by Matt Cutts of Google which puts an end to pretty much all external link building. So, how do you continue to rank your sites when Google have so much power and how do you try and force your way up the SERPS (search engine results pages)? The simple answer is that you don’t. What you have to do now is build a brilliant product or service, gather great reviews and then encourage social traffic through all of the main channels (including Google+). It’s a slow process, but the old saying ‘grow slow, grow strong’ is now 100% correct for SEO too.
Category: branding
Back in 1884 my great, great, great Granny, Elizabeth Lyle started a soft drinks firm in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. It grew and grew and survived two world wars, but sadly didn’t survive the death of my Grandfather Edgar Lyle in 1964, when the business was sold to Hooper Struve, which was in turn later bought by R Whites. His own father Alexander Lyle who died in 1953 was credited on his death with being the man who invented Ginger Beer.
I still have all the paperwork relating to this and all the others recipes that were left to me by my own Granny Jean Lyle and I promised my own father Anthony, I would bring it back to the market when I had the required experience and funds to do so. I started this process in the summer this year.
But today, this has been blocked by a rather superior trademark firm from London Venner Shipley who have contested my trademark application for the name ‘Lyles’ in the area of class 32, which loosely relates to soft drinks.
The fact that our name is a family name and the business started before their own clients’ is irrelevant. because they own a trademark and have employed expensive but illiterate lawyers (who like to use tautological expressions to sign off letters). Yes, yes, I will withdraw my application immediately, asap and promptly Messrs Venner and Shipley.
I think that’s quite sad. I also think it is truly awful that they have been allowed to send such an appallingly written letter to let me know.
For the record, the Trade Mark Office staff have been fabulous and were genuinely trying to find a way to help me get around their lawyers, but if I can’t work with my own name, what’s the point in putting my heart and soul in trying to rebuild an amazing family business and who can really afford to take these firms on?
I am a bit of an Apple fan, so when my good pal Andy Hanselman bought me this giant book as a gift, I was looking for the right time to sit down and get started on this 600 page monster. As it happened, this time didn’t seem to be materialising, so I sat down to read it anyway and I’m extremely glad I did as it is completely brilliant and inspirational, if not a little sad. You can buy it here. I recommend you do.
What it does is go through the history of the way the business developed as well as give a real warts and all account of the man himself. there’s no doubt he was a completely obsessive and extraordinarily odd man, but he was also driven by passion for detail and a search for quality like we’ve never seen before.
I advise anyone who ever asks that you have to focus on quality to build a brand, but this is what Jobs did everywhere – throughout every single aspect of the business. And, I’m convinced that this is why Apple has been so successful. That and the fact that he had an amazing design partner in Jony Ives and between them they had incredible vision too.
A few highlights for me.
1. As an understanding of why differentiation is critical – “It’s better to be a pirate than to join the navy”. Most products that come to the market do so in flocks, following a market leader. Apple deliberately and methodically went the other way.
2. On having an enemy for the whole team to focus on – “Throughout his career, Jobs liked to see himself as an enlightened rebel pitted against evil empires, a Jedi warrior of Buddhist samurai fighting the forces of darkness. IBM was the perfect foil. He cast the battle not as mere business competition but as a spiritual struggle”
3. On why the little things matter too – Jobs father had taught him that a drive for perfection meant caring about the craftsmanship, even for the parts unseen. Jobs applied that to the layout of the circuit board inside the Apple II. He rejected the initial design as the lines weren’t straight enough”. This point is again critical. Most businesses do the big things just fine. The ones that go onto become great brands care about the little things too, as this is where differentiation and ultimately, perfection lies.
Anyway, enough from me. read it. It’s an amazing and beautifully written book.
Mountain Dew are trying very hard to create a position in the market for their version of a lifestyle energy drink. I’m sure none of their target audience actually need the extra burst of energy, but they are at least carving out a very clear position when you look at them against the likes of Red Bull, Monster Energy and more recently, No fear. Mountain Dew is owned by PepsiCo, so they have the budgets to do great stuff, but I still love the energy in these films.
The position they have created is less serious than Red Bull, it just has more energy. Red Bull has gone super high budget and from research I’ve read they are more appealing to the parents than the cool kids. Interestingly they are offering the chance to get involved yourself, which has to be a great strand for future competitions.
Good work PepsiCo.
If you want an actual but quite alternative review of the six favours of Mountain Dew, then look no further than the brilliant review by a chap from Arkensaw called Patrick. My particular favourite is when he mixes them all together and then describes the flavour as ‘Just like I remember it. Just like Diabetes’
Thanks for sending me the links to my very talented colleague Ben Bradley.
Updated finally but well worth a watch. People, Authenticity, Service, Simplicity is the Essential make up for any brand
This is a guy called Paul Bennett speaking at the Economist Conference and it as changed (again) the way I look at things.
His four words:
People
Authenticity
Service
Simplicity
Can be applied to any business in any field. If you get them right, you can create a clearly differentiated successful business and a successful brand.
Stick with it as he does come across as a bit superior and has one of those funny mid Atlantic accents. There are a few more killer points that come across to me too.
1. Play well with others. We will achieve more by working as a collective and working together.
2. Be transparent and listen to feedback. If you have things to hide, customers will see it and tell others.
3. Look for people with passion behind the eyes.
Just brilliant simple stuff. There must be a part two as it does end…
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Okay, cards on the table. Social Media is a waste of money. Wanking in public. Fake engagement. Corporate flim-flam to pretend you understand the wily ways of the youth market and does nothing to drive bottom line profits.
So, there. I’ve said it. It’s out. Now i’ll show you why I think it has some basis in truth.
It’s all to do with the ‘Halo Bitches’ who spoil it for everyone else.
So, why don’t I define what a ‘Halo Bitch’ is?
They are the ones who hang out with your brand in all or any of the social channels. Not because they actually care about your brand, but because they care about being seen hanging out with your brand. They have no intention of purchase, they want to glory in the halo of being seen to be aligned with what you do. They clutter your feeds, with the occasional gracious share amongst their peers to remind others which brands they want to be seen as associated with.
But as the brand owner we have to get over the fact that we have fewer likes and far fewer followers than Peer X or Brand Y, but the ones we do have actually buy from us. They are genuine customers and have a value that is infinitely higher than any Halo Bitch. ever will deliver.
So my challenge is to you to hunt out the Halo’s and kick them out. Give yourself more time to truly engage with those who deserve it and warrant your love and attention.
It’ll save a fortune in the long-run and be fun doing it to. Go on, I dare you.
Excellent Halo Picture courtesy of RAR who uses garbage to make jewellery and other wearable objects
A nice post about some of my earlier work by my good Pal, Tim Garratt.
Brewdog are a brand that took on Diageo and won. I like them, I like their beer and I love the way they deliver their brand. Consistently good and consistently rude.
The temptation with success is to slowly creep into the realms of the other corporates that dominate the market. So far, Brewdog have resisted and for me made one the most brilliant ripostes to the ASA for telling them off for using rude words in their promotional material (well, pretty much everywhere to be honest.)
In the ASA ruling, they were told off and have removed the offending rude words.
But in the Drum today, Brewdog’s co-founder, James Watt, has responded to the ASA in a perfect Brewdog voice when he said,
‘Those mother fu*kers don’t have any jurisdiction over us’
I hope they now keep their promise and put the rude words back on the website. And, if you have any spare cash, the Brewdog ‘Equity for Punks‘ scheme would be a good place to invest it as I think this brand is going places.
I’ve been saying this for a while now too!
We always rent villas or apartments when we go away on our annual holidays, there is nothing wrong with hotels, they just don’t work for us as a family. The extra space an apartment affords us in a city is welcome and for us works out better and makes for a more relaxing break.
Our recent trip to New York is a classic case, we looked at hotels (this is how the New York authorities would like you to visit) but again went with an apartment – this time in Harlem which added greatly to our experience (only in a good way). It was in a street that was very reminiscent of that used in the US sitcom ‘Different Strokes’ (you need to be a certain age to remember this!).
We booked the ‘Brownstone’ through a website that we use regularly for holiday bookings, we know and trust it –…
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I have been watching in admiration for some time now as to what Land Rover have done with their brands and i’ve come to the conclusion that they have quietly gone away and completed the most successful brand segmentation exercise of our generation. The way their range is segmented ensures that there is almost a product for all of us, whatever our life stage and however strong (or weak) our desire to show our wealth and success. Each of their individual products offers a potentially different brand experience.
So firstly a bit about the history of the company. It’s currently part of the Jaguar Land Rover group, a subsidiary of Tata Motors of India. When this takeover went through, most people would have assumed the brand would struggle. But it hasn’t. It started as a product by Rover in 1948 and only became a stand alone brand in 1978 with the launch of the Range Rover and survived despite numerous changes of ownership of the holding company. Perhaps it’s low point was as part of the terrible British Leyland (who also produced the Marina, Allegro and Princess – All truly awful cars).
So, the current range, works like this
1. Land Rover Defender
- Who would drive it? – Farmer types, people who work on the land and want genuine off road ability, will drive it with welly boots on and then hose it out, when the smell gets too bad.
- What do they want people to think of them for driving it? – That they work on the land, need tough work tools and don’t care much for comfort or refinement.
- Celebrity Twin? – Oddly, Singer John Meyer drives one, Top gear’s James May wants to be seen in one and so does Charlie Boorman and Ewan McGregor.
- They may also buy? – Wales or perhaps A Toyota Hilux, but that’s not very British is it?
- Brand threats – The surf dudes taking over the brand and making it too cool and trendy.
2. Land Rover Freelander 2
- Who would drive it? – A light off road user or someone who wants a bit of security for the winter school run at a bit of a bargain price. More of a security seeker than a status seeker.
- What do they want people to think of them for driving it? – They don’t much care, they like what it does and how it makes them feel (secure) more than they care what people think.
- Celebrity Twin? – There aren’t any. Celebrities don’t drive Freelanders. But i’m happy to be proved wrong if anyone can find any visual evidence to the contrary.
- They may also buy? – Anything by Kia or Hyundai or maybe Toyota.
- Brand threats – Apathy. Does anyone care enough about the Freelander to buy it with more heavily warrantied cars available for less money?
3. Land Rover – Range Rover Evoque
First thing to notice here is the switch into the Range Rover model names. It’s a distinct step up-market and the first of the status driven models.
- Who would drive it? – It’s the new showy iPod generation with money. A ridiculous amount of money for a quite simple (but brilliant looking) car. More female than male.
- What do they want people to think of them for driving it? – That they have arrived. They are the new, new money.
- Celebrity Twin? – A very clever brand association with Victoria Beckham from the outset positioned it right in the glamorous hot spot.
- They may also buy? – Mini Convertible, Porsche Cayenne, Audi Q5, BMW X6, Jaguar F Type convertible in white.
- Brand threats – Overexposure. It’s a very fashionable car and could fall out of fashion as fast as it arrived as soon as the next big celeb is seen in something newer.
4. Land Rover – Discovery 4
Again, it’s not a coincidence that this is a step back out of the range Rover model listing. It’s back to the functionality being foremost and ‘flash’ being the follower attribute.
- Who would drive it? – Hunting, shooting and fishing brigade, or people who regularly go to Gymkhanas but aren’t so wealthy they could own Belgium if they wanted.
- What do they want people to think of them for driving it? – That they need a serious off road tool but don’t need the new money status to go with it.
- Celebrity Twin? – Bear Grylls and Billy Piper (not together obviously).
- They may also buy? – Toyota Landcruiser but they could consider an Audi Q7 or BMW x5 at a push, but both are more statusy than they prefer.
- Brand threats – Underinvestment. This is a real range staple and should be very profitable but the risk is in not continuing to develop the product and keeping it fresh enough with clever hidden tech that is expected and others are offering.
5. Land Rover – Range Rover Sport
This is easily my least favourite model. It’s quite divisive product and for me harks back to the ‘Loadsamoney’, Wall Street, lunch is for wimps culture of the power crazy 80’s.
- Who would drive it? – New money through and through. Scrap dealers (there’s a wrapped pink one at the tip where I live), property developers, online entrepreneurs.
- What do they want people to think of them for driving it? – They’ve made it, they own the road and you don’t/haven’t.
- Celebrity Twin? – 50 Cent, Rod Stewart(!), Pamela Anderson, Kelly Brook, Stephen Ireland aaaaaaaargh it’s a load of plastic people.
- They may also buy? – A Lamborghini and have it chromed.
- Brand threats – Reliability. The people I do know who have had one have all had terrible trouble with them. A new engine costs £10k+ which could economically write cars off even at only 5-6 years old.
6. Land Rover – Range Rover
Range Rover, the choice of the really wealthy. Few could doubt that this is anything other than one of the finest cars in the world.
- Who would drive it? – Old Money, or the seriously rich. It’s for the landowners of old and the genuine landed gentry.
- What do they want people to think of them for driving it? – They don’t care, they own everything in the world anyway.
- Celebrity Twin? – Prince Harry, David, Beckham any Lord who hasn’t lost everything on a game of cards .
- They may also buy? – Belgium, or a Toyota Landcruiser V8.
- Brand threats – Jordan and the Hip Hop generation owning them and devaluing the sheer plutocracy of the brand. And again, reliability.
So what would I buy?
A Mercedes.
Read into that what you like.
Johnny Lyle's new brand thinking 