branding

Commuincation challenge, Research says our customers can't tell our cheaper product from our far more expensive version.

What to do? cloak everything in lush secondary packaging? talk about limited editions or celeb endorsements? mmm Starbucks would appear to be about to make a virture out of the fact, their $1 dollar coffee tastes the same as the $4 version mmm, this is going to be interesting.

Starbucks brews instant coffee for cash strapped customers

byStaff, Brand Republic 13-Feb-09, 09:00

NEW YORK - Starbucks, which built its business on selling $4 cups of coffee, is to offer customers instant or soluble coffee for less than $1, which it claims tastes as good as the real thing.

The Seattle-based retail coffee giant will begin selling an instant variety of coffee, called Starbucks Via, next month at selected stores.

"...Howard Schultz said that people being served the coffee could not tell the difference between instant and fresh brewed...." 

Now I drink a ton of coffee, am also very picky about where and what i order, so I find this at the very least an  intriguing challenge! hats off to Starbucks for giving it a go, especially for flying in the face of conventional brand planning.

Barck Obama the gift to new business

I have been writing a whole bunch of presentations lately on the lessons we can learn from Barack Obama's marketing campaign. Pretty much all centred on the thought that the internet changed in October 2008.

There are so many things to draw on from the opening up of visual equities to the YouTube rebuttals linked to sites like Fightthesmears.com

Todays cut on the story is building around the thought about optimised search via brand negative terms

"Brand advocacy grows with quieter advertising and looser brand control –just ask Obama."

There are many elements to Barack Obama’s campaign that have changed the way online communications should now be used. The SEO element using supporters generated content should impact on any brand with an online presence. Most brand sites do not account for consumers current search behaviour. The internet changed in October have you explained to your clients why?

Good Obama case history

Barack Obama’s digital agency

Earlier version of social networking element

BBC article about changes in search patterns

Chris Hughes ex Facebook was behind the mybarackobama.com strategy