Experiential Marketing: Brand Experience for Brand Awareness

Experiential Marketing: Brand Experience for Brand Awareness: by Jason Li 2013 ©

Ever had a brand experience that was awesome?...

So good you HAD to tell a friend?... (like your first school yard kiss)

And it created a lasting feel good memory?... (like when you won something)

That’s why experiential marketing is a great way to convert prospective customers and gain referrals. (Just one marketing differentiation tactic and value creation method in the practical ebook guide The Goose Bump Effect)

Let’s kick off with a case study that highlights this straight away to prove this.

Experiential Marketing Case study: Lego Lego has been around for ages. I used to love Lego. When I was a kid I was inspired by battery motored vehicles I could build as seen on the television adverts. In fact, I was a dab hand at it – after 90 days of trying. The funny thing is, if you just ask me to build a quick card pyramid - I can’t be bothered these days; I’ve no energy, or patience. Sometimes the TV runs and if the programme is not terrible, I’ll let it run... yes I’m a LAZY GIT! But bring out the Lego, and I’m ready for the challenge. Lego is just a special brand experience. You can even visit Lego Land and get really inspired.   Each Lego set can be recreated by any visitor who is willing to have a go. It just takes seeing and liking one Lego set for a prospect to get ‘that urge’ to want to ‘have a go’ at recreating a master piece... and then BAM... before they know it they are at the Lego shop, box under the arm, and debit card flicking out to the smiley person on the till – as cool as the Fonz – a knowingly fleeced Fonz! That’s another sale, with no objection handling, no hard selling, or multiple questions or having to wince everytime that person you like on the phone is calling you. (I’ve been there on a call back with people in the past life, and you know you and them are wasting each other’s time, even though they are interested and talk to you... otherwise they would buy from me already.) PITCHED AND CLOSED in one smooth Lego Land marketing and sales environment. Thank you. And just when you are getting good at Lego, Average Joe or Josephine make that incredible Lego set as seen in the newspapers, and it gets ‘those urges’ going again.

Experiencial Marketing Brand Engagement is Selling

Ever been in a sales process when you are just about to close a prospect? (Or they tell you they are ready to buy?)

If you get lucky, a prospect starts to waffle about how they like your product and other ways they can use it, and of course their objections and why that’s not a problem because it does such a thing to make it worthwhile.

Of course, when you are selling, you have to go through this one prospect at a time. It’s pretty time consuming to go from an initial cold contact, questioning and education, and the rest of the sales process with the many twists and turns of involving other directors and more.

If you are paying for ten telesales, or ten retail sales advisors or ten field sales consultants with cars, then logically your business is closing and hearing the same set of objections from ten prospects at a time, over-and-over again. And that’s a lot of time and cost when you add it all up together.

(So park this time and cost problem as we go through this article.)

Part of selling is building a relationship. If they like you then they are comfortable disclosing company or personal details to your questions. Most sales people are likeable with clients and ask decent questions, and so can build good rapport. (Or else the sales person has to pay for expensive lunches and steep discounts to keep prospects engaged.)

But at the end of the day, what if after all this, the prospect just does not like the product or service your business offers and buys from another business offering a similar but better value package, or think your business is not focussed enough on creating value for the prospect, today or a year down the road?

This is where brand engagement and relationship advertising allows you to showcase your product, service, and company, and is one great way to differentiate your business from competitors.

A lot of people don’t like being sold to. I know sales people that make other telesales cold callers lives hell where I’ve worked when a call comes in, or when I’m shopping with them they give the shop assistant a curt: “I’m fine, I’m just browsing.” (So you’re not the only sales person who hates fob offs themselves, but angrily tells a cold caller to go away with abusive language that’s just short of psychologically stripping someone down, and you won’t help Mr Cold Caller in anyway. Yes, you’ve witnessed it too. And cruelly laughed your head off at that particular time. Wink.)

Experiential Marketing Case study: Nissan Nissan is not the number one selling car in the UK. In fact they’re not in the top three either, but they are gaining popularity. I’ve seen a steady rise on the roads in Nissan owners, and it’s not by accident. Here’s one of the ways Nissan used a brand marketing method to get prospective car owners to try owning a Nissan. In the 02 Arena, which has over 7 million visitors a year and one of the highest footfalls in the UK, there is a Nissan experience centre. The O2 is the world’s number one venue for live music events.  Where better to engage an audience where people are open to new happy experiences where they can create facebook posts for friends so they can ‘like’ away. What’s driving Nissan (Marketing Week) – article opens in a new window.

In a relaxed branded experiential environment, sales people can build rapport, educate, persuade, educate some more, and have decent conversations where there is no pressure and give real value.

People who are at your branded marketing events will have set aside plenty of time to spend there and are willing to disclose all their needs, wants, objections, problems and why they are there.

You see, when selling, if you can get the objections, then your answers are really information to help them justify in making a buying decision... provided you provide the right information.

At your branded marketing experiential event, the prospect can see you are very good and likeable, and as they have relaxed their guard, are more willing to disclose and tell, listen and make a vision of how your product and service can fit well in their life.

And as what you have done to the brand is likeable, they know other decision makers will concur too.

And of course, as you know the target market very well, your company, product and service offer will be extremely strong and very compelling to a prospect that makes an effort to spend time on your site.

Experiential Marketing Case study: Top Shop Do you remember when Kate Moss launched her own designs for Top Shop? She posed in the windows as a model as tourists and the fashion world got a buzz at such a unique event. It worked a treat. The ‘Supermodel in the window’ really differentiated Top Shop from other clothes shops in London. Why is this important? Top Shop don’t claim to offer high end expensive clothing, but the event was memorable and allowed the public to see Top Shop as a leading fashion shop for the general public. Top Shop became a destination for fashionable girls where the target market required affordable clothing. (The ebook has a section on Marketing Strategy and research techniques to test if new products and innovations have a chance of being accepted by your target market).

Experiential Marketig Builds Brand Loyalty

If you are good at understanding your target market and your product/service offer is genuinely the best in the market, you will have more interested people than you think.

Sales guru Nicholas Read calls this latent needs – a similar idea to market research.

If you introduce your brand in the right way you make it a pleasure for prospects to engage and interact with your product. (Making your product a pleasure is a key secret to success – see the ebook Marketing Strategy section.)

In fact, a great experience has in many studies transformed dull boring brands into life. People learn by doing and experience. (Engaging the sense better than your competitors is another secret – see the ebook Differentiation section.)

This will shift attitudes, beliefs and allow prospects to match yours with their long-term held values. Most importantly the prospect will agree with your offer, which is key in getting a prospect on your side as they move through a sales cycle and convert themselves into becoming a customer.

Referrals

Ultimately, a happy prospect will tell others about their enjoyable experience.

In this day and age of social media, this form of word-of-mouth allows you to gain free advertising and broad awareness.

Experiential brand marketing allows prospects to align with the way you want them to see your brand positioning.

And so you can expect facebook likes and Tweets galore if you’ve done your homework correctly and provided an added value experience.

Experiential Marketing Case study: Northumberlandia In the UK there are 1000s of places to go for a walk. Many of the walks are pretty similar so it’s not worth it most of the time to bother travelling to a destination many miles away. But if you want a walk that attracts thousands of people from around the country then you need to create something of great value and is absolutely worth doing to compensate for the travel time. Northumberlandia is just that walk that hits the spot. At Northumberlandia, you are walking over a lady’s body. When you stand on the head you get a great view of the body and can see all the people winding their way around to the head. The 19 hectare public park on Cheviot Hill has been shaped so that you can have a great unique experience which you cannot get anywhere else in the UK. You can try a number of walks, or surf the net for a similar walk, but if you want a walk like this then you have no choice but to go to Northumberlandia. As written on the website: ‘Northumberlandia is a unique piece of public art set in a 46 acre community park with free public access and 4 miles of footpaths on and around the landform.’ It is a project that has been researched and deliberately created to offer a very different walk. Would this entice you to walk Northumberlandia if you liked to go on walks? Would you refer others to this without any resistance or much objection? http://www.northumberlandia.com/ - The Lady of the North. The Land Trust 7 Birchwood One Dewhurst Road Birchwood Warrington WA3 7GB

Bonus: 

How not to engage your prospects. Never, ever do these promotions.

1. A Gangnam style dance to promote a funeral parlour in the town centre.
2. Shock machines to prove heart attack tablets are quick at easing pain.
3. Provide a complement of nasty viruses to promote computer anti-virus software.
4. Create a dangerous assault course to prove pets will do anything to try to get to your pet food.

Further reading:

How to increase profit by creating value

Why London Bridge is England’s worst tourist attraction

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Brand Beckham (How David Beckham’s Brand is successful)

Brand Beckham (How David Beckham’s Brand is successful): by Jason Li 2012 ©

These days we all love brand Beckham...

Whether you’re based in USA, England or China...

But why is Beckham a global icon when there are millions of sports people?...

And how does Beckham appeal to such a wide audience?...

(How does he keep his hair in place all the time?)

David Beckham Brand in development

As a football fan, in the early days I only saw Beckham as a Manchester United player who was the best crosser of the ball in the world.

(I’m not a Man Utd fan, but I do enjoy watching them play attacking football.)

One of the main features of a wide midfield player or winger is to have great acceleration and dribbling skills, plus a cross at the end of it. If you’ve ever watched Man Utd play, all their wide players had exceptional pace from Best, Giggs, Kanchelskis to Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Beckham; he had no pace, cannot dribble, cannot beat a man. In fact, he’s useless at this. You could watch him for 90 minutes and still be waiting for him to break into a sprint.

So did the ruthless football manager guru Sir Alex Ferguson play Beckham because he wanted to play with ten men (Liverpool had given up winning league titles recently – only joking, it’s just a matter of getting the best out of Stuart Downing right?).

No.

What you have in Beckham is a player who is average at running with the ball, but over average for a wide player in terms of accuracy when distributing the ball. Beckham was the best person in the world at curling the ball from the wide right position into the path of a striker to nod one in. Put it this way, if a Hobbit was marked by Alessandro Nesta the great AC Milan centre back, Beckham could cross the ball in from 30 yards into the space between defender and Keeper and make the Hobbit look like he out jumped Nesta. Yep, that’s pretty good.

So why run and cross, when you can simply just... cross the ball from where you’re stood?

Witness the balls Beckham put in the box in the Champions League on route to winning it against Inter Milan and Juventus in 1998- 1999.

The second differentiator from other football players are his free kicks. David Beckham became the most famous free kick taker in the world. He consistently bent the ball around the wall.

So in football circles, he became known as exceptional at the delivery of the ball.

Victoria Beckham

So David Beckham went on to meet Victoria, get married and have babies... we all know this story.

We also know Victoria and advisors helped him develop his brand, and get sponsorship deals.

At the time of meeting, Beckham was one of the pin-up boys in the English league, Victoria a worldwide known singer for the Spice Girls.

If you remember the early chat shows, David was a nervous wreck on the shows and Victoria did all the talking. When he spoke, it was a bit of a quiet mumble and she took over the difficult questions.

But hey, slowly but surely non-football fans got to get to know the shy David Beckham who had no opinion while Victoria was his spokes person.

David Beckham is Golden Balls

And then David went from shy to an under wear model.

The first time I learnt about these shots in the Daily Mail, as a football fan, I didn’t really take much notice. I thought it was just a nice way for him to earn a bit more money on the side and learn a new trade... why not?

But then everyone was talking about the pictures... so I had to sneak a look. Come on guys, how many of you sneaked a look too?

I’m not talking in a sexual way (nothing wrong with it if he turns you on), but out of curiosity. And before you say it, just reading this may make you think otherwise, I promise you it’s not. And all these defensive arguments do not mean anything either.

In fact I have to declare, I saw a TV show where the ladies were really quizzing the pictures and if some parts were photo shopped. Of course I had a good look... who didn’t?

But you know what... I don’t think any man in the world who is heterosexual did not for the first time have a proper look at another man. And it was both unnerving and acceptable because it was everyone’s acceptable football icon... David Beckham, not Beckham the model... even though it was a model shoot for underwear.

(Now I can wipe my brow after thinking of those nervy moments because I was looking at another man’s CROTCH.)

David Beckham & Diego Simeone

Football has a lot of controversial moments. I would say the sending off of David Beckham against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup for a foul on Diego Simeone will be one I will remember.

It’s not just because he got sent off. It’s because he got sent off for something that was absolutely rubbish and ruined England’s chances of going through. Beckham got sent off for the most delicate petulant trip. So minor it was almost not a foul. I think it went down as the most frustrating foul in England’s history!

Did you see it? Can you remember either shouting at the screen, or been curled up and sucking in your stomach in silence, arms folded as your teeth clenched and eyes fixed on the screen? Or looking across the room and amidst all the shouting  there was one fellow who was emotionless and staring at the screen with big eye balls...  that was the one that made you remember the moment. Ooooh it hurt. And that team... Seaman, Shearer, Owen, Tony Adams, Paul Ince, Paul Scholes... and so on.

From hero to zero in one second.

David Beckham Marketing

But you know what... that’s what made Brand Beckham even stronger. As much as we talk about and like a good role model... the world needs a bad guy.

At that time, Beckham was it. Then to play the game, he shaved his golden locks off, and WENT SKINHEAD.

Beckham lost a few sponsors and was on parole.

But hey... the bad moody looking boy in rehab appeals to a lot of people.

Nobody is perfect, and over time people did forgive. Those that made mistakes or liked the bad boy got to know Beckham and gave millions of people around the world a new role model.

David Beckham England Captain

Being the England captain and that free kick against Greece to book a World Cup place was the tonic. Having given the Argentineans an advantage in the 2008 World Cup, now he was the hero as the outstanding player who scores the winner in the final qualifying game to take England to the next World Cup.

Rehab sealed.

David Beckham the ambassador for English Sport

Now Beckham has ambassadorial roles such as a role in the Olympics 2012, meeting Nelson Mandela and David Beckham academy.

These days David Beckham is a polished English export who represents what is good for the country.

Brand Halo

But remember this; first and foremost Beckham won trophies as a football player. Doing what he did, he was absolutely the best at putting the ball on a plate for strikers.

As a take away, Beckham initially became a brand built on his ability to fulfil expectations as a footballer in almost every game he played. If he could not, then he would never have played for Manchester United over so many seasons and games

The brand has evolved over many years, from the haircuts to his personality which is now stronger as an ambassador and spokes person who everyone listens to.

Mum and dads like him as a clean role model, girls who like a bad boy like him, and people who want to identify with a person who makes mistakes in the general public will learn from his recovery to the straight and narrow. In fact, even if you hate David Beckham... it means you will secretly grow to forgive and love David Beckham. It’s complex. It’s Beckham the master psychologist.

If Beckham initially started investing his focus on his image and brand first, then there’s no way he could have been an exceptional footballer.

As you can see, you can be an exceptional brand and differentiated based on how good you are without focusing from the start on trying to artificially create a brand identity. So focus on marketing strategy, be known as being the best at what you do for your target market first, and the brand will develop a halo afterwards.

If you’re not the best at satisfying customers, then worrying about your brand image and changing your logos is very unlikely to solve your long-term problems. As one football coach said to me whilst we were watching some new players on trial: “You can’t polish a turd!”

Further Reading:

Charlie Sheen sex tweets: Why you must appeal to psychological control

MacDonald’s Hidden Hypnotic Brand Marketing Tactics Revealed (and its copy able!)

Brand Beckham: Where next for pioneer David? (Opens BBC website)
Brand Beckham: Will the LA Galaxy exit change Becks' sponsorship appeal? (Opens Marketing Magazine website)
Romeo Beckham to appear in Burberry ads (Opens Marketing Magazine website)
David Beckham suspicious full bulge shooting ad with Guy Ritchie for H&M Bodywear brand underwear (Opens Daily Mail website)

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Apple or Stephen Hawking or Harvard University: Which is the most intelligent brand?

Apple or Stephen Hawking or Harvard University:  Which is the most intelligent brand?: by Jason Li 2012 ©

A bit of fun....

Which brand is the best representation of intelligence?...

Where humankind can say this is how clever we are?

Contenders

I thought of Garry Kasparov as a definite contender – the man is a chess genius and it’s pretty much impossible for any human to beat him. But then, the only thing that can spoil his credentials, if you can spoil his credentials, is to say that chess people play for hours-on-end every day going over the same situations and practice moves. I know how practice can improve your performance from playing football as we used to practice free kick routines sometimes to mix things up, and even those who were not the brightest seem to look like they did something clever.

However, this definitely does not detract from Kasparov as a proven chess genius over a very long period of time as he has beaten other dedicated professionals fair and square.

Sir David Attenborough is possibly the world’s most famous natural history film-maker. Whether it involves plants, global warming or prehistoric dinosaurs... Sir David Attenborough can tell you the facts. Every programme he presents is absolutely fascinating.

However, his brand is based on learning facts and regurgitating natural history facts in the most interesting way. As much as I love and admire his work and style, a memory expert could well copy Sir David Attenborough and provide a credible imitation. Again, this is not to take away from his deserved super brand status in this subjective question. Sir David Attenborough is an excellent and close contender too (beating millions of other worthy intelligent brands).

The top three intelligent brands

Many people judge success based on money and funny enough – success. Apple is therefore the most successful product brand in the world. At the time of writing, Apple was the company with the largest capitalisation in the world. The business world is occupied by very motivated, dedicated, clever, educated, smart and ambitious people in the world. Apple is ahead of all competitors at the moment and so must be in the top three.

Smart people go to university as a norm. You do get exceptions, but in general, if you’re smart you go to university. HarvardUniversity is well known around the world as a destination where many of the world’s smartest people go to take in more information in their specialists interests.

Most of us are aware Harvard University had two mega successful commercial students – Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. Even though they left before completing their degrees, they still choose Harvard which means there will be other students like them at the university.

Stephen Hawkins is world renown as a leading physicist at Cambridge University. Cambridge University itself is pretty much on par with Harvard, just not as glamorous. Hawkins has to be in the running as he develops new theories which mathematicians and physicists are playing catch up to understand. To develop new ideas explaining the universe and put your reputation on the block as other physicists test your ideas for holes (pardon the pun) is both brave and smart if the world has to wait for you to provide a theory to advance everyone else’s knowledge.

My vote

People at Harvard University can replicate what Apple do, and likewise those at Apple could easily create a university like Harvard.

I believe if Stephen Hawking learnt to programme, he would have the capacity to programme software or design products at Apple, and of course lecture at Harvard. If Stephen Hawking dedicated to chess he would definitely beat some of the top pros.

However, I’m not sure if there are more than only a handful of the people at Harvard University or Apple who have the original thinking in science and mathematics on the same level as Stephen Hawking. There will be brilliant specialists in design, art, science subjects and mathematics. However, Stephen Hawking is advanced in all these and more. Original thinkers who can explain black holes and quantum gravity in the universe only come along once in a generation.

For me Stephen Hawking is the most intelligent brand in the world.

(Stephen Hawking wins £1.8 million Fundamental Physics Prize - December 2012)
Daily Mail article, Universe Today article.

Maybe a mathematician will work out a formula to work out which is the most intelligent brand one day.

Do you agree? Ask this one question to someone you know as it will be fun to find out what people think. How did they arrive at their chosen intelligent brand?

If you liked this article, you will really make my day if you forward it on. J

 

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Unique Selling Point (USP): Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II

Unique Selling Point (USP): Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II: by Jason Li 2012 ©

Queen Elizabeth II has been in rule for 60 years (in itself a unique selling point!)...

During this time many celebrities and aristocrats have gained popularity...

But it is Her Majesty the Queen who is still the main recognisable brand of the UK...

Soon you’ll discover it’s down to her unique selling points (USPS) that competitors cannot match...

And as you read this you will feel ready to share your love for the Queen too.

What are the celebrities and aristocrats main unique selling points?

Think back over  last 60 years. We’ve had huge celebrities in the UK such as David Beckham, the Spice Girls, Beatles, Daley Thompson, Ewan McGregor, Stephen Hawkins, Hugh Grant, Sean Connery, Banksy, Kevin Keegan, Victoria Pendleton, Bradley Wiggins, Tom Daley and so on.

These are worldwide names with great appeal and fan base. In fact, some of these names dominate their category and are instantly recognisable brands. Sponsors throw millions at them because of their appeal to endorse their products.

So what unique selling points allow celebrities to be loved and recognisable?

1.       Fame Game

If it’s down to the fame game, then no-one batters the media like the Kardashians or Katie Price or David Beckham.

Near enough on a daily basis you will see an article of certain celebrities tweeting or being photographed. It’s impossible to get other news sometimes. You’ll just be peppered by news on certain celebrities. In fact, these days’ newspapers like the Daily Mail and Huffington Post actively feature celebrity gossip articles as they are so popular and it gains huge readership.

The Queen in reality cannot get this type of reaction. Yes a statement or a picture may be released regarding The Queen, but in reality, the journalists know that daily celebrity news gets more interest.

2.       Star in a film or sports event etc.

Many celebs star in events or tournaments which can dominate the press again.

Think of football. Beckham won the Treble with Manchester United and during that season would have been in the press regularly during the football season.

When you are starring in something popular and make society happy, you become incredibly popular.

Take Simon Cowell, since he has starred in X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent he has become a nationwide name. Telling people they cannot sing and watching people beg for his approval is a unique selling point that no-one else commands on earth.

3.       Give fans something to follow

Celebrities are usually born out of something that viewers or listeners can follow.

Take cycling for example. I didn’t know who Bradley Wiggins was a year ago. But I do now as they media followed him every day during the Tour de France.

Then they talked about him leading up to the Olympics. During the Olympics he was interviewed and followed relentlessly, and after when he was the champion the media wanted to show the world how he has been celebrating.

The media gives the masses a chance to follow somebody, to get to know them and make them a hero; or at least famous in a very intense way.

What are the chances of The Queen starring on an MTV programme? Minimal. And therein lies another opportunity for celebrities to have a unique selling point that The Queen cannot compete with.

So how does The Queen remain the most popular brand in the Royal Family, and what are her unique selling points?

1.       Head of State

She may not take part in sport, but she officiates and heads some of the most important events that affect our lives.

When a new party is elected to run the country, The Queen gives the nod. Imagine having that much power that it comes down to one person deciding the fate of a country.

2.       The Royal Family

She is the head of possibly the most recognisable and popular family in the world - even more than The Simpsons.

When the Princess of Diana was alive, it was because The Queen approved for Charles to marry her. The same has happened again with Prince William marrying Kate. Just by association, The Queen is closely linked with two very popular ladies.

Additionally, Prince Charles, William and Henry are also very popular. But The Queen is the most popular of all The Royals, and the most recognised.

If the other family members do anything that gets a lot of media attention in the press, it helps keep the interest in The Royal Family high. This in itself usually leads to more interest in The Queen.

3.       Wealth

The Queen owns some really famous and newsworthy assets that always gets into the press and is associated with her. Her assets can get press attention without her having to tweet herself to gain attention.

You have Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Crown Jewels as examples. Have you ever noticed The Queen’s collections are often mentioned in the press, such as her rare faberges eggs collection? Again, just by association to these she will be mentioned in the press.

4.       Feel Proud

Noticed how British athletes cried at the Olympics after they received their gold medals and sang ‘God Save the Queen.’

In fact, before many national games and tournaments ‘God Save the Queen’ is played and sang by the nation.

Which other famous person or brand has their own song played at important events and sung by the masses? This really is truly a unique selling proposition that she has all to herself. The Queen’s song makes you feel proud and signifies an important event.

That kinda makes The Queen important too.

5.       60 years and no mistakes

Yes, re-read that again.

60 years as the Head of State, and no terrible mistakes.

When you consider the number of ministers that make mistakes and resign, or stars caught in the press doing something deemed as wrong, or aristocrats and Royal Family members making bloopers – The Queen simply does not make mistakes.

To go so long and basically be perfect in her role, The Queen is the most trust-worthy brand in the world: bar-none.

Ultimately the above five USPs mean The Queen has without doubt the most unique selling propositions out of all the famous people in the UK.

Your unique selling proposition

What are the take-aways for your USPs?

It’s better to have more than one USP that is really important to people.

And as you’ve seen above, The Queen has USPs that really are unique that makes her more popular and important than any other famous person in the UK. People just cannot copy her.

If you like this exercise on USPs, then please share with others. You might have other ideas on this and can share them here for other readers.

Visit: http://www.royal.gov.uk/hmthequeen/hmthequeen.aspx - for official information.

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Why London Bridge is England’s worst tourist attraction

Why London Bridge is England’s worst tourist attraction: by Jason Li 2012 ©

DID YOU KNOW THE FIRST LONDON BRIDGE was erected around AD80 in the Southwark area?

And London Bridge is the MOST FAMOUS bridge in the world.

It was possibly made by the invading Romans, before the Saxons took over.

The bridge used to be made out of wood, not concrete like today.

Today it just looks plain, boring, and in a way it needs to be rescued... here’s why.

History of the greatest bridge in the world: London Bridge

In 1014, the Great Danes invaded Britain. They hurled spears and pulled the Bridge down, hence “London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.”

The next bridge was made of stone and had a road 20 feet wide with town houses on to pay the rent, 20 arches, plus a drawbridge. The bridge lasted 600 years and would possibly be the best looking bridge in the world at that point. In fact, it would still be the best looking bridge in the world today: a major tourist attraction, a world wonder.

Picture of old London Bridge - taken from this excellent blog: http://bldgblog.blogspot.co.uk/2007/07/wed-all-be-living-in-dams.html.

But again greed destroyed it as Queen Eleanor would not put all the money collected from tolls on the bridge into the upkeep and it fell into disrepair, leading to five arches of the bridge falling into the Thames again.

There was a Stone Gate House on one end where heads of traitors were put on poles, including the great Oliver Cromwell in the 17^th Century.

A new London Bridge was built in 1831 when the old bridge suffered from the great freeze. It was now built out of granite. However, measurements found the bridge had sunk 12 inches so a new bridge had to be made.

On the 17^th of March 1973 Queen Elizabeth 2^nd opened the new concrete bridge which still exists today.

Information summarised from this great resource: http://oldlondonbridge.com/index.shtml

Why did I try to stop someone seeing London Bridge?

I was walking down Tooley Street, just at More London when a girl says: “Sorry, I’m looking for London Bridge?” in a European accent.

So I told her it was in the opposite direction. But, I advised she could see Tower Bridge if she walked along the gap alongside Ernst and Young as it was just two minutes away.

However she refused. She insisted on seeing London Bridge. She said she had come to London to see London Bridge.

Now, my knowledge of history when I was at Nursery school only extended to ‘London Bridge is falling down,’ I admit I did not know of Tower Bridge as a child. But I wanted to help a tourist see something spectacular like Tower Bridge so she could go home and say England is a great place to visit. But no, she did not want to see Tower Bridge - she did not know what Tower Bridge was - she knew of London Bridge.

What could I do? I tried to tell her to start at Tower Bridge and take the Thames path to London Bridge; it’s just two minutes away and I even pointed out how London Bridge is just a plain bridge. She was not having it. SHE CAME TO ENGLAND TO SEE LONDON BRIDGE.

And so I pointed her the way to London Bridge, and said at least from there you can see Tower Bridge and walk back.

What do you see at London Bridge today?

When you get on the bridge, you see... a concrete bridge and a tarmac road, just like any bridge anywhere in the world. The bridge itself is just so plain, so not fascinating that it really is just a functional bridge. Any bridge that crosses a stream in the woods has more character.

If there were no famous landmarks around and I did not know it was London Bridge, I would not even look twice at it. It really is that plain.

To save London Bridge from total disappointment when you get there, the good thing is that you can see other landmarks that are fascinating.

Even its younger sister Tower Bridge is a beauty to look at: while you are standing on London Bridge.

You’ll find the government always decorates Tower Bridge (see the Olympic 2012 rings), and it is the bridge that cameras always focus on by television broadcasters – as they ignore plain old London Bridge.

 Tower Bridge gets the official Olympic spotlight.

London Bridge just gets the GB colours like every other public place on the Thames.

 In fact, I once took a river boat ride and the tour guide said a few things about London Bridge as we passed under and people took pictures. But you could see the disappointment as they realised they were taking pictures of just a bridge. Then when the boat passed under London Bridge and you could see Tower Bridge, people got really excited and all the cameras were going crazy. Moreover, the boat stopped momentarily just in front of Tower Bridge for tourists to take plenty of gratuitous shots.

I do feel sorry for London Bridge, as big brother is the most famous bridge in the world. So how can the government turn London Bridge into a world wonder, the de facto tourist spot for engineers and photographers to visit?

The London Bridge Legacy

Why not have a historical timeline on the wall for tourists to look at while they walk across London Bridge, with pictures and illustrations.

On the outside of the bridge, why not decorate London Bridge so that it looks like it did when there were shops and the Stone Gate House so you can get a nostalgic feel of what it was like way back when. On the other outside wall, it could look like when it was built at another time period, say when it was just a wooden bridge 2000 years ago.

How about putting a few replica town houses on the Bridge for tourists to look out of? They don’t have to be the full version because the pavement is only so wide. In fact, there must be a way to extend out the bridge to create more walking space and the replica town houses.

I understand there will be security, health and safety, stepping on planners toes politics issues to consider, but hey, people say British are great innovators so the government should be able to find a solution to this.

Do you think London Bridge could be a better tourist attraction?

If you agree, why not share this article.

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Problems with brand marketing and rushing to make your own business cards

Problems with brand marketing and rushing to make your own business cards: by Jason Li 2012 ©

I have seen a few times in the past businesses that were struggling with strong competitors but denied their problems were more to do with focusing heavily on brand marketing. As someone who has a qualification in Marketing Communications and taught entrepreneurs basic marketing, you will probably find this a bit strange.

Here are some issues I have seen businesses focusing on using branding to solve:

1.       Creating a new brand to roll out as the main answer to increasing sales

2.       Needing to get the branding right first believing this will be the main customer attraction

3.       Spending lots of money on the brand as the most important part of the business budget

4.       Thinking creating a brand is the best way to start a new product or service; a brand based on internal values and beliefs only, without listening to the niche target market... even if it is with just starting to make a business card

Brand, business cards, logo, themes etc

These are all branding exercises that many businesses spend a lot of money on. It is in fact the bit that gets most entrepreneurs excited. Maybe because it is tied into the ego, a reflection of the self? If the brand is perceived as nice and shiny by the world, then the business owner feels accepted and feels reinforced in their quest to push their brand into everyone’s face.

It’s also where the business owner or directors may get the chance to get their creative juices going and possibly thoughts of leaving a legacy. If it is accepted by society, as written above, maybe it’s a nice way to claim superior creativity or intelligence of some kind?

Brand acceptance

Yes, we all love brands. We are a brand consumer society after all. Some brands make us smile like Lynx or M&M’s; some make us feel safe such as Aviva insurance; and some make us feel healthy like Boots.

So it’s not surprising businesses place a huge emphasis and spend on branding. Furthermore, when the graphic design agencies show you the first few concepts of logos and you start to visualise your brand in every local paper and on Google, you get an emotional high and are very happy to spend a load of money with your very helpful graphic designer – who is always very friendly too, did you notice? But hey, they are creating what you want and are usually brilliant at creating visual work: it’s up to you to see that you have jumped into branding so don’t blame the graphic designer. A lot of the work designers create is marvellous once you have nailed the marketing strategy for the business.

But why is the brand the starting point for many businesses, and should this be the starting point?

Substance over style

I’m pretty sure some old school business/marketing strategy people will not start with the brand first. It’s likely to be the brand consumer type of personality who is running a business who focuses so heavily on brands. If you are loyal to certain brands, or can easily fall in love with a brand, then you are a brand consumer.

At the beginning of your business, you should be focusing on creating an offer of value that suits your niche target market so that you create a business that is growing – because you have found the right value formula which prospective customers like.

Have you ever noticed that from the stage of finishing your business plan to a few months later down the line when your business has grown, some of the original ideas have changed? If you are in agreement at this point, that’s because your business had to tailor the offer to suit the market.

The offer is the substance, it’s what the customer says is of value to them; and as you know what they value the customer will definitely pay for it – now. You had to change the offers, even if it’s minute in the phrases you say, subtle pricing, terms and conditions, finishing, delivery, training and support... and so on. And if this is the case, spending a lot of money and time on the brand upfront before you know what is the offer that gets customers buying can waste a lot of your time.

In fact, the brand may need to change. That’s why you see brands in fact changing, from the name to logo designs to the slogan. It’s because a business has found the offer needs to change, and the brand needs to catch up with the offer. As you can see, it’s best to do it this way round rather than create a brand and sell an offer to suit the brand.

Brand strategy

You may come across consultants who emphasis that you create a brand and everything has to suit the brand. Stop! DO NOT PASS GO! Don’t get suckered into changing your business to suit everything according to a brand. If you make your internal business rules, offers, service and everything else to suit a brand, you will be inflexible and will not adapt to the changing tastes of the market, the consumer, and competitors who are innovating.

Imagine you have a brand that says for example you are an ultra cool holiday resort for young couples. Your ads like posters, leaflets, brochure, and website are just aimed at ultra cool young couples. What happens to these young couples five years later when they have more money, are not 21 anymore, are still relatively young, but have been to your resort for five years? Do you just say no, we cannot adapt and you cannot come back? How many of these regular customers will soon not be young and ultra cool in a few years? What if after trading you discover that ultra cool people generally don’t have much money, but geeky computer programmers have more money to spend at your resort? It’s a big problem if you strictly stick to a brand as the driver of business strategy.

Value led

At the end of the day, we only pay for what is of value to us. Have you ever looked to buy something and really did not even notice the brand much, or the brand was not the main deciding factor in your purchase?

Here are some examples: tuna sandwich, plasters, holiday T shirts, a scarf, chairs, memory cards, greetings cards, help-me guides and books, coffee mugs, and natural fruit juice. In fact, do we honestly really care about the brands of high street banks, petrol stations, some of the grocery shops or electric or water suppliers? Does what the supplier can do for you everymake a difference in your decision making process, or is it all just about the brand; everything else is secondary?

But what about some products you buy because of their brand, you may say? Well, isn’t your brand loyalty  because their whole product and service does what you want and the visual brand fits as part of their offer to you? Or the supplier has a history of providing what you consider good value? Would you buy Coca Cola if you really did not like it? Would billions buy Coca Cola if they did not like the taste? That taste has been refined over many years to get a formula that has just the right sweetness, fizz, viciousness, and feel.

Brand personality

Yes, a brand is more than just a logo or colours. Brand personality is very important too. However, focusing on creating value that get customers excited and willing to spend will do more for your business, and will save you money and time on branding. Once you have the right offer of value to the customer then your brand can develop from this – pretty much naturally.

Some brand personalities are absolutely brilliant, especially when you see TV ads using animals or cute characters. They can initially storm the market. If their offer is of great value, then they do well due to the right offer of value. If not, then it is likely that brand, although well loved, may start to lose customers who experience post-purchase dissonance: a bad buying experience.

So try to start with a minimal brand and minimal spending on branding, and get your offer right.

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