Ordinary to extra-ordinary

In the current marketplace where a lot of products are trying to get our attention, it is easy to notice there aren’t a lot of those that really make us excited. Just today, can you name 5 products or ads that sort of leave a deep impression? Chances are, minimal or nothing. The challenge for successful brands is to either stand out or be reminded of all the time. It’s survival not luxury. One of the reasons you are constantly reminded of Starbucks is because it wants to become your ‘third living space’. Your home, your workplace and you guessed it…Starbucks. They are trying for the state of coffee brand ubiquity. At one point, Suntec shopping mall alone has three. Starbucks? McDonald's? See the connection?

We know the Starbucks way is very, very expensive (McDonald’s too). Unless you have millions, chances are most of us needed to get around it or just keep reading this post.

These days, we just have too many things to mind and too little time to take it all. Research has proven that an average working adult will be exposed to hundreds of ads each day. The brain can’t handle all these ‘noise’ and we automatically start to filter or ignore. This instance, ignorance is bliss for our sanity sake. I do that all the time. From any marketer, it’s their worst nightmare. The only other way is to shine through winning design experiences or be simply extraordinary.

Take a look at this device on the left. Most of us would be unable to guess what this is or what it does at first look. Is it a lamp or even a star trek collectable? The moment you ponder, you stick around (much cheaper and more effective than 5 seconds of TV ad space). It is a bladeless fan that sucks in air and throws it out at very fast speed to cool you. It’s called the Dyson Air Multiplier, retails from US$299.99 onwards. Yes, it is just a fan and works exactly like one. Turn it on, close your eyes, you probably can’t tell the difference from a regular bladed one. However, if you put the Dyson along with the other fans in a store, it will be outstanding. I even want one myself. I should have written this before my 30th birthday. For more information on the Dyson fan, click on this link.


Picture taken from Dyson website.

Lets recall a recent trip to a hair saloon. Remember how they always try to sell us hair products? How about doing so while saloon customers are horizontal, staring upwards, having their hair washed. These customers can only look upwards at the ceiling (unutilized ad space) and that is where they should be placing their hair product ads! Throw in some sales talk from the hair stylist; I am sure hair care product sales will go up. What customers get is instant gratification of the products being advertised to them at the same time. Ordinary service, extraordinary effort to increase sales.

One of your brand consultant goals must always be to allow your brand or products to be nothing short of stunning. Keep your eyes on not only appreciating extraordinary things (hard to ignore) but also keep a lookout for the ordinary (try not to ignore) and make it extraordinary.

The key aim; reinvent the ordinary that upscale product or service experience. Create a brand tribe (Bladeless fan fans) that follows it and start profiting.

Please leave your comments if you have any.

What can being plain and simple do for your brand?

You probably know some of them pretty well. Muji, UNIQLO and even some FMCG brands found in supermarket have taken into it. Plain, simple without the thrills and spills of loud and colorful designs. Did our sub-conscious mind just hit the refresh button (F5)? What can we learn from this?

Plain can be a platform for promoting consumer self expression!

In my previous blog, I wrote about consumer these days wanting to self express. Having a plain brand fits here. Consumers are able to mix and match their own style to create their own. Consumers are self branding with no brands. Their combination is only limited by their creativity. Are you allowing your customers enough room to create? Probably you did. Do drop some hints, Asians customers need bigger nudges on creativity. This has again given opportunity for SKIN companies who are pimping up your 'plain looking' laptops and mobile phones. DELL has recently gotten into skin designs too.

Simple is the new LOUD
Lets imagine this scenario. Say you are scanning your eyes through the supermarket shelves trying to pick up your pack of BBQ Pringles for your stay home movie tonight. You are busy hunting for it. With Pringles trademark design, you probably can find it with an eye close if not for the clutter of other chips fighting for your attention with their fanciful packaging. While your eye sweeps, you chance upon a plain packaging that stood out from the rest. Minimal graphics, lots of white space, simple and plain colors. A 'relief from the shelve 'fireworks'. You may not pick it up and buy it but it may have successfully 'eye park' you for extra 2 seconds as compared to other brands just because it is plain and different. Kettle Chips is one good example of applying this principle. Even their packaging material feels different and premium. Nudie from Oz is another good example.  Plain to them means simple, fresh and higher prices.

With these principles in mind, doing less visually might just be doing more for your brand. Other sensory dimensions of the brand might need to compensate for this. Kettle Chips did so with its packaging material and premium pricing. Bottom line, your customers still need to get the intent about your brand, if not plain can mean plainly stupid.  Differentiation might not be as hard as it seems. Consult your brand consultant for some insights and ideas. It might be not as complicated as you think. Think different.