I, Michael Penny, support freedom of speech. Say what you please unless it inflames racial or religious hatred.

There has been recent publicity surrounding a drink called Cocaine, the newest energy drink to make everything you do last longer. It joins the market of other ‘turbo’ drinks like Red Bull, Monster and Mother. Cocaine is currently plastered on a huge billboard on Parramatta Rd. So what’s more tasteless, the name or the drink? If you’re going to ban something, make it the contents of the can, not the ad, because many of these drinks list more chemicals than Michael Jackson’s toxicology report.

Anyway, many free speech advocates believe a civilised society can self-regulate itself with regards to what is said and isn’t. Alternatively, people’s tastebuds will eventually do the talking for us and consign unsavoury products (and bad advertising) to the waste bin.

Make A Splash recently presented a seminar to a group of lawyers who were seeking to improve their firm’s branding and market themselves to a specific target group. Now aside from certain challenges lawyers face in marketing themselves, the biggest dilemma posed was how do each of them differentiate themselves from a competitor. I heard numerous remarks such as “The firm down the street does exactly the same thing as us. Estates, personal injury, conveyancing, some litigation. How do we differentiate ourselves? What makes us the preferred choice?”

Lawyers and many of us, including advertising agencies, operate in a world where we don’t offer a unique product or service. And because of this we need to manufacture something unique about our business, no matter how difficult it is. We often cite the example of the 3 major supermarkets. Woolworths is the fresh food people. Coles lets you save every day while IGA is full of local heroes. On the surface, these 3 supermarkets seem to offer similar products (albeit in varying line numbers and quantities) at similar prices. Yet apparently, Woolworths is fresher, Coles is cheaper and IGA has better service. See it doesn’t always matter what the reality is. It’s about giving your client and customer the perception that your business has particular features and benefits that your competitor doesn’t.

Clients often ask me whether or not their brand needs a profile on social networking sites like My Space, Facebook or Twitter? My first instinct is to say yes. On face value, it’s the latest step in a media evolution that started with Jesus’ soapbox and continued with Guttenberg’s printing press. It’s the medium of the moment so absolutely embrace it. It’s an opportunity for a brand to engage with a consumer in their own playground and allows the public to air positive thoughts about your product.

But what if it’s not all positive. What if people want to share negative experiences or competitors are looking to sabotage your business. There is a certain level of control you have to relinquish when you enter this realm but then again that’s what makes it so much more real. And in this age of ever increasing consumer cynicism, exposing your brand and being more vulnerable may be the key to effective 21st century marketing.

Taglines, straplines, endlines or slogans. Just some of the names given to that short sharp phrase that people associate with a famous product or service. “A great slogan should be seven words or less” the experts say, which probably reflects our abilities of concentration and our memory skills.
A slogan outlines your brand’s benefit to the consumer. VB tells you that the cold icy beer is great “for a hard earned thirst”. Nike tells you to “Just do it”, Apple tells us to “think different” while if you are looking to rent a car, “Let Budget drive your dollar further”. See lines don’t just tell us about a brand, they practically tell us how to think. If ever you think your brand doesn’t need one, maybe 10 of my favourites for the world’s most successful brands may change your mind. Can you guess which brands they’re for:

1.    Don’t leave home without it
2.    Just do it
3.    Melts in your mouth, not in your hand
4.    Finger-lick’in good
5.    It keeps going and going and going
6.    Good things come to those who wait
7.    Snap! Crackle! Pop!
8.    Let your fingers do the walking
9.    Volvo. For life
10.    Beanz meanz heinz

But be careful. Sometimes a brand can get it so bloody wrong. Just ask Tourism Australia when they asked “Where the bloody hell are you?”

The benefits of celebrity endorsements are very well documented. Customers are more likely to choose goods and services endorsed by celebrities than those without such endorsements. Plus with thousands of advertised messages hitting us during our ‘time-poor’ week, well-known identities will attract, and hold, our attention faster.
Finally, most importantly a celebrity who personifies your brand can communicate its values almost instantly with great long term results.

However, there are disadvantages too. There is the cost issue. The bigger the name, the bigger the price. There is also the danger of negative publicity surrounding your celebrity, like swimmer Michael Phelps and his bong smoking episode that saw Kellogs swiftly cut ties. You also have to ensure that you don’t have a “celebrity whore” whose name is attached to everything thus diluting the strength of the message.

But before you make a decision, apply the FRED system, which stands for familiarity, relevance, esteem and differentiation. It stems from a $6 million study interviewing 30,000 people around the world to find out why brands and their advertising efforts succeed and fail (Miciak & Shanklin, 1994).
Familiarity means people must be aware of the celebrity, and see them as friendly and trustworthy. Next is relevance, ensuring there’s a link between the endorser and the product, as well as between the endorser and consumers.

Next is esteem. Consumers must feel a strong affinity, and respect, with the celebrity for overall credibility. Finally, there is differentiation, where consumers should view the celebrity as different from all the rest.

Now, I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on who they think makes for a great endorser!

Times are challenging, and the post Christmas summer period can be doubly difficult as consumers watch their spending. However one silver lining is the increasing amounts of ‘distress media rates’ that media companies are selling. This refers to the advertising space they have been unable to sell for upcoming issues. They offer a last minute deal at a heavily discounted rate to anyone willing to advertise with them at short notice.

This is a cost-effective way to reach your target market and keep within your advertising budget.

According to Marlene Jensen, author of Pricing Psychology Report, $9.99 is perceived by our brains as being incredibly lower than $10. Dropping that 1 cent typically results in 10% to 20% more sales.