Simple, clear communications triumphant

Dear friends of simple, clear communications:

First read this
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
– First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Now read this
As amended by §203 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, federal law prohibits corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds to make independent expenditures for speech that is an “electioneering communication” or for speech that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a candidate. An electioneering communication is “any broadcast, cable, or satellite communication” that “refers to a clearly identified candidate for Federal office” and is made within 30 days of a primary election, and that is “publicly distributed,” which in “the case of a candidate for nomination for President . . means” that the communication “[c]an be received by 50,000 or more persons in a State where a primary election . . . is being held within 30 days.”
– Opening summary from the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (1.21.2010)

Now ponder this
How is it that our society got so far removed from the basic tenets of democracy that we allowed this legislative abomination called "campaign finance reform" to override the simple, noble principles of the First Amendment?

...and rejoice in this
That law has been tossed out by the U.S. Supreme Court, reinforcing not only freedom of speech, but respect for simple, clear language. The Supreme Court has essentially ruled that we the people have written down in our Constitution precisely what we mean and mean precisely what we have written down.

brandsinger

Why Main Street despises Wall Street

We hear a lot about resurgent populism – the anti-establishment anger that smoldered in the bosom of William Jennings Bryan in the 1890s and that flares anew in the breasts of Sarah Palin's followers today. President Obama scolds American banks in what some call a desperate resort to populist rhetoric. Tea Party conservatives attack Obama in terms that liberals dismiss as childish populism.

Populism is considered crude and simplistic. The colorful populist leaders of the 1890s – like Sockless Jerry Simpson of Kansas – were often uncouth farmers. They favored nationalizing railroads, giving everyone the vote, and passing an income tax. Horrors!

One streak that unites all populists – the original old-timey ones who wore no socks and the modern educated ones who mostly own stocks – is a delight in slamming Wall Street. You – the worldly viewers of this worldwide blog – are doubtless too sophisticated to condemn Wall Street. You probably see life as a complex interweaving of off-grays – not a simplistic interplay of good and evil.

Well, my friends, prepare to become populists. Our friend Charles R. Morris – author of The Trillion Dollar Meltdown and nine or ten other terrific books – shares these numbers on Merrill Lynch's revenue/compensation ratios. Read 'em and – not weep! – feel the boil.

Note that Merrill Lynch pay remains steady while revenues and profits plunge. Here are the actual ugly numbers:
Notice that in 2008 – thanks to government funds! – Merrill's silk-stockinged employees received just about the same 15 billions they received the preceding year – even though revenues and earnings went into negative territory.

Too jaded to be infected with populist indignation? Not now. I bet you're fixing to cast off your socks and grab a pitchfork.

brandsinger

Acura ZDX – A car commercial that sings

I was watching the Jets handily tame the Chargers – and had one thumb on my mute button (which is marked FOR CAR COMMERCIAL USE ONLY). But I froze... was blindsided... and was sacked by a stunningly captivating commercial... for... a... car. How often does that happen? This clip for the Acura ZDX actually makes you ACHE for the stupid hunk of metal being displayed.

So this is it: The 50% of your advertising expense that gets results. Check it out here and prepare for magic.

brandsinger

Managing acquisitions: How the big boys do it

Ever have a challenging acquisition to manage? You have a big, powerful company with high brand visibility – and you buy another big, powerful company with high visibility. Now you face a dilemma that goes back to the time when Rome conquered Greece. Do we just call it Roman Empire? Or do we say, "Greece, Brought to you by the Roman Empire?" Or do we call it Greco-Roman-Ville?

Now see, the really smart guys – the financial firms that rule the capital markets – hire the best consultants to do it right. So, let's take the example of Bank of America acquiring Merrill Lynch (oh, you remember the details... The visionary heads of the two companies were blind-folded and put in a swimming-pool drained of water and told to flounder around until they bumped into someone else... something like that.) Now, how should they visually merge these two notorious brands?

Voila! I just received an analyst report... and here's the solution: You put one name on top of the other name – like bunk beds! And look, there's a little blankie over on the right.

How much do you think they paid for this? Nothing wrong with it. Just... arbitrary. (I hope not much.)

brandsinger

Harley the Hog: Once Harrison the Highbrow

Not many symbols of macho intimidation have their origins in baskets of potpourri, but that's about the case for Harley rrrrraaaahhhuuummbubbbbubblebubble Davidson. Once a dainty scooter on which big brother transported the pharmacist's daughter, Harley Hogs are now firmly planted in our culture as machines on which young rebels risk their lives and sweaty old guys rest their butts.

These vintage ads come from our friend Jay Livingston who copped them from a website called Sociological Images. Yeah! We've got to start hanging out there! Who knows, we might find a rare photo of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano actually doing something to shut down terrorists.

Of course, here's how Harley-Davidson is positioned today. Looks like the target customer is a fuzz-ball cradle-robber. Clearly this brand has come a long way from the time it served as a complement to argyle sweaters and pic-nics.


brandsinger

Post-Christmas meditation on writing

“But it is well written.” These five words follow a critical comment such as, “The characters were thin and the plot was a cliché.” Then comes the line, perhaps after a frown, “But it was well written.” An unwatchable two hours of wretched film-making – but so well written!

People think of “the writing” itself as a distinct element of a work of art – as if writing were a separate line-item like set design or catering. This tendency is the product of our age of specialization. There is one team responsible for programming, another team for historical accuracy, a nutritionist, of course – oh, and writers.

The writing, however, cannot be separated from the rest of the production. There can be no excellent writing if the people come off as cardboard and the plot makes no sense. How can dialogue be praiseworthy if spoken by characters who are not believable – or if not representative of an idea or force that is relevant to the production’s purpose? Writing serves the artist's concept and shapes it. Writing cannot be extracted from it and examined separately any more than milk can be taken out of a hot latte.

The same holds in business – and in life. Words are actions and actions speak as if with words. There is no “We shall never surrender” without Churchill the wartime leader embodying a policy of national defiance. There is no “Just do it” without the flashy shoes and the mystique of champions. The words “You are under arrest” come inextricably linked to the act of cuffing a suspect.

In the day-to-day life of business we come across examples of polished, picked-over prose… found in a piece of communication that has no definable purpose. Can a press release that has no strategic reason for being and no defined audience be well written? Only if you could deem a sauce spectacular if served on a plate with nothing to go with it.

Writing is the expression of a project and the project itself, the idea as well as the means for conveying the idea. Writing is not a removable part of something. It is the something.

brandsinger

Fragility of brand value

Brand valuation. The very phrase makes some clients weak in the knees. "You can tell me how much my brand is worth in US dollars?" Yes. Weakness spreads from knees to hips to throat.

Or so I am told. That never happens to my clients. Because I have never had a reliable way to value brands. In fact, I have always doubted and derided models that tell you how much a brand is worth. Remember the old line about McDonald's? Burn down every store around the world and the brand name alone would be worth billions. That's a pretty rough way to treat a client in order to get at brand value.

My beef against purported means to value brands is that brands themselves are fragile and evanescent. A name like Enron or Arthur Andersen might seem to be worth billions one day and then, poof, with one damaging revelation, be worth less than an empty Dr. Pepper bottle. What kind of "value" is that?

Or take Tiger (and you can, now). A month ago his biggest branding problem was that Nike owned the TW logomark and his brand portfolio was a mess. Just the kind of problems that highly paid brand consultants love to tackle. Then a couple of weeks ago, he has a little spat with his wife, and poof. Suddenly Tiger's brand inhabits empty-Dr.Pepper-bottle-dom.

Oh, we can define a brand as an "intangible asset," sure. As such it should yield to a method of numerical valuation. But how lasting or useful is such a number? For me, a brand is a fragile little flower petal in the meaty hands of a tow-truck driver. One slip and poof, down goes your value.

Our Chase CEO Bill Butcher used to say, "Today's peacock is tomorrow's feather duster." A perfect scenario for a highly valued brand heading for trouble. Cock-a-doodle-do... then poof.

brandsinger