Gazette, Issue 1.

Proctor and Gamble has manofthehouse.com. For teens, the company also started beinggirl.com. For mothers, it started homemadesimple.com. Yahoo has thepostgame.com. Richemont (maker of Piaget, Dunhill and Montblanc) has net-a-porter.com. Increasingly, corporate brands are enjoying the success of their own custom content.

The New York Times reported last week about the prevalence of “brand-financed magazines” and their online companion sites in the fashion industry. According to marketing executives in the industry’s top companies, these editorial properties have been excellent marketing investments.

“The consumer is much more likely to engage with independent editorial content than with conventional, purely product-focused advertising,” said Max Vallot, marketing director of BLK DNM, which introduced their jeans brand and a magazine, Gazette, at the same time last May.

http://us.blkdnm.com/gazette/issue-1/stry/issue1/

Editing as a Brand Investment

The basic idea is not new. Corporate magazines and websites have been with us for quite awhile, but the practice has shifted. In the 1990’s, it was called custom publishing, and in fact I worked for a few of these companies. I designed a magazine for BMW called Momentum, and my creative team developed the inspiration, prototype, and carried out the first 3 editions of Diane for Curves Fitness Centers. We worked with Hearst to pitch Chris Craft boats with a luxury pub. There were dozens of custom publishing companies, which moved into integrated media operations as outsourced agencies for corporate brands. There is even an association, the Custom Content Council, which was called the Custom Publishing Council until changing their name recently. But just as corporations began pulling the agency research- and media-placement function in-house, they have also been dissecting the traditional model even further, and are now taking on publishing responsibilities.

There are so many benefits for companies wishing to start a custom content website that caters to their target audiences. These independent, branded, editorial products:

• build brand image and recognition, and increase customer loyalty.

• are more personal, direct and intimate. They can create a unique dialog with the customer in a one-to-one environment.

• capture valuable, original personal data about the desired customer.

• are free of the clutter that is competing for attention in a traditional media environment.

• earn more credibility, and are more authentic and engaging than traditional marketing.

• are terrific forums for starting a conversation with the target audience, which informs future R&D and product launches, development, and marketing strategies. (It’s the age of user generated content. Every customer enjoys playing a participatory role in products they buy.)

• offer more control. CMO’s and their marketing teams can play a key role in guiding the messaging and conversation with customers.

• are economically smart. When marketers consider the costs of traditional channels such as campaigns in print or broadcast, it’s a compelling argument to create their own media property.

There are so many benefits, in fact, that traditional channels like magazine publishing will likely continue to decline in success, even as we watch independent, brand-owned websites gaining ground.

Publishing, Without Publishers

http://www.dwayneflinchum.com/2011/01/13/content-is-king-online-again/

Tags: brand image, custom content, customer engagement, Gazette, integrated marketing communications, magazine publishing, marketing strategies
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He’s at it again. Mike Bloomberg made a savvy, if unpredictable purchase of BusinessWeek in October 2009, promptly hired new key editorial managers and redesigned the publication as Bloomberg Businessweek.

Now, as reported in The New York Times, he’s launching another print pub, this time for luxury market influentials. Move over Cigar Aficionado and Robb Report, make room for the hippest new king of the hill.

A controlled audience of about 375,000 readers (60% outside the U.S.) — current subscribers to Bloomberg FS data terminals — will soon begin receiving the lifestyle publication twice annually. The distribution calls for a bundled package, mailed via poly-bag along with Bloomberg Markets.

It stands to reason that luxury market brands would be the last strong category of traditional print publishing. Luxury branding is more often about a particular panache, ambiance and experience. That type of marketing and brand image need is served well by a permanent physical product, lushly styled images and lavish paper stock.

Disposable weekly news media that serve a mass audience have seen a dramatic decrease in ad sales, as demonstrated by references in the article to People, Us Weekly, and other celebrity/tabloid products.

In fact, one could envision how this evolution of publishing might continue: Luxurious print magazines continue to be successful when issued with less frequency, and delivered to a finite, elite audience accustomed to a high value model of purchasing transactions. Hence, the cover image of a wealthy Wall Street exec posing in front of his collection of Ferraris. (Note, this is certainly not your mother’s Town and Country or Connoisseur.)

While most of the traditional magazine publishing industry is reeling with ad pages in freefall, publications with rich production values that are catering to a select group of affluent readers, are performing well. The article cites the growth at Wall Street Journal’s W.S.J., which plans to publish 10 issues this year. Departures, which is sent to platinum and centurion cardholders, has realized increases in revenue of 42%.

According to the article, Chanel, Cartier and Porsche are all booked for the premiere edition of Bloomberg Pursuits, and about half the available allotment of ad pages are committed. Marketers of luxury brands are clearly searching for the right channels to build their brand image and connect with those consumers who possess enough disposable income to fit into their target audience. Those traditional channels to reach wealthy customers have changed.

With this launch, Bloomberg is continuing to build an armada of online and offline publishing properties, all strategically serving a similar business-minded audience of professionals in a broad range of financial services. With Pursuits, he ventures once again into an industry that is presently seeing cataclysmic shifts from print to online content, and at a time when the 1% community of wealthiest consumers are under more scrutiny than ever before.

Successful publishing has always been defined by the ability to reach a like-minded, cohesive community of readers with relevant content. Pursuits, delivered to the 1 percent, sounds like a fertile market opportunity to me.

From Bloomberg, a New Luxury Magazine

Tags: Bloomberg, business strategy, BusinessWeek, Luxury Magazine, Pursuits
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Donny Deutsch recently spoke about Tim Tebow and he made an interesting point: We as Americans are often much more intrigued by athletes and celebrities that are being bad, than we are by the ones who are just working and persevering, trying to deliver results. It seems true, but American ideals are still rooted in the triumph of free will and the human spirit, in the underdog who prevails.

Tim Tebow was a phenomenon in professional sports during the second half of the NFL season. Dismissed by professional football experts, he came off the bench, played in the face of overwhelming adversity and criticism, and humbly guided the team to the divisional championship.

Now, cut to Jeremy Lin. Haven’t heard of him yet? If not, it should only take one or two more 38-point games like the one he had for the New York Knicks on Friday night. Twitter is aflitter after his performance against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

It’s been only 6 days — and 4 games — but in a New York minute, Mr. Lin has already garnered observations about his talent that teeter on the brink of legendary, even drawing comparisons to Michael Jordan. Until February 4, Lin had endured several years of rejection and was largely overlooked by the recruiting system of NCAA basketball as well as the NBA. The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Lin was talented, but told by Pac-10 schools that he would be considered as a walk-on. He was assured that he would be able to play on the team at Harvard, and chose to play there.

Being Chinese/Taiwanese, and playing for Harvard, placed Lin on a long, crooked road to achieve his dream of playing in the NBA. According to the Wiki, Sean Gregory of Time magazine wrote, “Lin was scrawny, but don’t doubt that a little racial profiling, intentional or otherwise, contributed to his under-recruitment.” Harvard is hardly a breeding ground for NBA all-stars; the last time an NBA player was recruited from Harvard was 1954.

The story is also not unlike the one told in the movie, “Moneyball,” which also takes place in northern California, only about 34 miles from where Lin grew up, in fact. It’s fascinating that in professional sports leagues, where hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake and winning is so incentivized, talent cannot be more easily identified and nurtured. Lin signed a modest 2-year deal with the Golden State Warriors in July 2010, his hometown, and favorite team growing up. The Asian-American population in San Francisco celebrated and followed Lin, but he never started a game, saw limited playing time, scored very little and on three occasions, was reassigned to the farm-league “Reno Bighorns.”

On December 9, the Warriors waved Lin and he was signed briefly by the Houston Rockets, but also let go again just before the season began on December 24. The Knicks claimed Lin off waivers on December 27, and made him third-string point guard. On January 17, he was once again reassigned to the D-League team, Erie BayHawks. On January 20, Lin had a triple-double, scoring 28 points and was called back to the Knicks three days later.

Now, having started 4 consecutive games, Lin has also led the Knicks on a 4 game winning streak. Since 1976, no NBA player has scored more points in their first three starts. Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve never seen it.”

And yet, why could no one see it? The story also reminds me of many anecdotal references in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers. Lin was not recruited by top, west coast universities, but he led Palo Alto High School to a record of 35-1, and a state championship as a senior. Gladwell makes the point that these instances are not so much a matter of personal triumph, but rather more about the history, the odds. Stories like the one of Jeremy Lin may seem unusual, but they are actually quite predictable if you look at his early success. It’s just the illusion we’re presented with because he was sidetracked and fell into such an uncharted, circuitous route to professional basketball. Also, there clearly was either conscious or unconscious bias because of his Asian heritage. Exceptional talent in basketball is not supposed to be Asian, much less attend Harvard. It’s yet another reference to perceptions of brand image, or perhaps in this case, to stereotypes.

Trust me, I identify. Iridium is a boutique. Never mind that I have hired the same creative directors and designers that worked at top global agencies on massive consumer accounts. Dismiss the fact that for 17 years, we have crushed it out of the park when given a chance to compete at an elite, corporate level. Few executives within the Fortune 1000 are willing to take a chance with their brand on a small firm that doesn’t have the pedigree. They prefer to keep going back to the same old pool of “usual-suspect agencies.” Note to large corporate brand- and marketing-leaders: Take a small, calculated chance here and there; reach to find something fresh and different. Think a little more like Billy Beane.

D’Antoni did, and he discovered quite an unexpected surprise. Lin has fought through the sludge of fixed perceptions, and that should be celebrated. He is the toast of New York. With each game, he is realizing increased pressure, but is also delivering on those expectations. Like Tim Tebow, like Victor Cruz — even the comeback of Michael Vick — Lin has defied the odds and focused on achieving excellence in the face of tremendous adversity. Everyone loves a comeback — and it transcends race and religion. Asian, African, Hispanic, Christian or not, poor or rich, the personal struggle that results in accomplishment is still the greatest, most enduring builder of brands. It’s still a story that makes us all well up with inspiration and pride and associate that name, Jeremy Lin, with a life-affirming experience.

With 38 Points, the Legend Grows

Jeremy Lin Is No Fluke

Lin’s Appeal: Faith, Pride and Points

Lin Keeps His Cool; Around Him, Heads Spin

Just Needing a Chance, Lin and Cruz and Tebow

Lin’s Success Surprising to Everyone

Coaches Say Knicks Have Found Someone Special

Sharing a Heritage With a New Knicks Star

Tags: branding, Harvard, Jeremy Lin, Linsanity, Linspiration, nba, New York Knicks, Stereotyping, Success story
Posted in Brand Identity, Business, Marketing, Media, Social Media | 3 Comments »

I hesitate to even publish this because I don’t particularly like marketing and branding pundits that constantly snipe at easy industry targets. This business is no walk in the park on the client management side — nor, as my many new grey hairs and battle-weary eyes will testify, is it any cakewalk on the agency side.

Our team was researching industry web design and messaging and came across an almost impossible irony. Two world-class branding agencies, owned by separate holding companies and all too familiar with each other in the competitive arena of corporate image consulting, with nearly identical homepage designs.

Landor, meet Interbrand. From the checkerboard grid design to the focus on 2012, not to mention the sprinkles of cross-industry client work interspersed across the page, this is a truly fascinating comparison.  How could two companies, so competitively positioned, be so closely aligned? There’s almost no distinction whatsoever.

The past 4 years have been difficult for everyone. For many years, we have had a few simple metrics in place that are designed to detect any warning signs about our future sales projections or threat to our business value model. They all went off like cold war sirens in July 2008.

As a result, we entered into what we all now realize is a protracted, worldwide downturn. But I think it sharpened our operations. We began reducing costs, but we also began asking some hard questions. We’ve managed through the great recession, and we spend a lot of time meeting to understand the industry better, to sort through the clutter and confusion of new technologies, new channels. We have spent maybe even an inordinate amount of time trying to look into the mirror, to mesh future market viability with our own skills and passions.

I play only a small part in this. Going to work each day at Iridium, I am surrounded by a small, but elite team of exceptional creative and business minded professionals. Regardless of their experience, unrelated to their vertical knowledge, it’s truly the best team I’ve ever been around. I enjoy the process. Watching the results of their work and commitment is a pleasure to behold. Not only are they excellent at the creative; their brains lean toward the strategically logical. They wonder why, they challenge every assumption about how our work might benefit the client.

From those seemingly indulgent meetings are distilled important ideas. We’ve chosen to understand our competition so that we may be positioned uniquely. We’ve decided to be bold and daring — just downright fearless — in our approach. We’ve collectively crystallized as a team and are determined to represent ourselves as we truly are: Our flaws, our strengths, our own desires, as well as how we are best suited to serve our client managers, to make their businesses better.

Take a look for yourself. Check out our recent updates to our website and feel free to share your comments with me at dflinchum@iridiumgroup.com, or friend us on Facebook at facebook.com/iridiumgroup.

Tags: branding, business strategy, IridiumGroup, marketing, unique, web design
Posted in Brand Identity, Business, Design, Marketing, Social Media, Technology | No Comments »