Personal Branding: You Are What You Brand

From Britney Spears to Barack Obama, the way that an individual is branded determines their success and legitimacy in the eyes of consumers. Whether the individual is trying to sell cd’s or lobby for a vote, branding an individual is similar to branding a product. The creation of a successful artist, singer or politician often coincides with branding as well as talent. Celebrities and athletes use aggressive publicity campaigns that usually coincide with the release of a product. They also rely on agencies to decide which opportunities are best for them to accept.

This weeks Brand Rant discusses how an annoying ad for a headache remedy is seeing sales success, despite viewers dislike for the ad. And in the Brand Spotlight, we look into how Anheuser Busch and Miller Brewing Company are spending far less on traditional advertising. Also, Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon joins us to discuss how athletes are successful branding themselves.

Related Topics:

Read about the increase in sales that Head On has seen despite running what is seen as an annoying ad.
http://adage.com/article.php?article_id=120636

Watch the ad here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_SwD7RveNE

Budweiser and Miller are spending less advertising on network television
http://adage.com/article?article_id=120644

Tiger Woods could market ketchup to a woman in white gloves, read why here
http://www.wizardofads.com/default.asp?ArticleID=271

Tiger shows some of his personality here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tICYqiHRniw

See how Barak Obama has branded himself into a presidential candidate
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama_senate_recordjun12,1,5172091.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

See how Oprah has become the most powerful celebrity according to Forbes
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1365/is_12_35/ai_n15652746

Jeff Gordon has branded everything from wine to panty hose
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3022895&type=story

Britney Spears was once on top of the pop music world, now she is struggling after a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/arts/music/13brit.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Watch the VMA performance here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTFeOQk3Akc

Old Brands, New Tricks

This week’s show discusses how old brands are using new marketing techniques to reconnect with their customers. The show focuses on Ford’s attempt to market directly against its competition. We will also look into Wal-Mart’s first new tag line in nearly two decades. Wal-Mart switched from its “Always low prices,” tagline, to “Save Money. Live Better.” The campaign focuses on a recent study that found that families that shop at Wal-Mart save on average, $2,500 a year.

This week’s Brand Rant discusses how European automakers are upset that Chinese automaker Shuanghuan has been imitating its cars. And in the Brand Spotlight, we look into Ford’s recent campaign that put 80 drivers who recently bought cars from its competition, in a Ford car for a week. Ford did not tell the participants that it was for a marketing campaign, rather telling them it was for market research. Chase Abbott, sales manager at Laird Noller Ford in Kansas City discusses the new campaign. Also, John Schaufelberger, vice president of product marketing for Burger King joins us to discuss Burger King offering apple slices instead of fries in its kids meals.

Related Topics:

Link to an article that discusses the European automakers frustrations to Chinese car imitations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/business/worldbusiness/12auto.html?ex=1347249600&en=fbba25d80b4db225&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Link to an article that analyzes Ford’s new ad campaign.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/business/media/04adco.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Link to article on Wal-Mart’s new tag line.
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=67351

Article discussing Burger King’s new menu items.
http://www.commercialalert.org/news/Archive/2007/09/you-want-apple-fries-with-that

Hyundai’s new campaign that never shows images of its vehicles.
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=67104

Branding Wine

Wine has been growing its market share in the alcoholic beverage category in recent years. In 2006, wine consumption rose 2.6 percent to 209.4 million cases. It now rivals beer as Americans alcoholic beverage of choice according to a Gallup Poll conducted in July. By 2010, it is projected that the United States will be the world’s largest wine market. However, it is often difficult to brand a specific wine because of the vast array of wine choices in this country. The United States market consists of about 6,500 wines. Wine marketers have attempted to brand in a variety of ways including the labeling of the bottle, screw tops, and higher quality box wines. We took a look at how wines have differentiated themselves in this growing market.

This weeks Brand Rant discusses how Chinese wine makers are falsifying their contents to make their wine more appealing. And in the Brand Spotlight, we look into Subway and Dunkin’ Donuts decision to start selling pizza in their stores. Also, Mark Lyle, Brand Director for [yellow tail] joins us to discuss entering the sparkling wine category. Lyle discusses the rapid growth of [yellow tail] becoming the third highest wine seller in the United States in just six years.

Related Topics:

This article looks into the wine labeling problem occurring in China.
http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/212270.html

Subway and Dunkin’ Donuts enter the pizza market
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-09-09-pizza-subway-dunkin_N.htm

Yellow Tail works to market its new sparkling wine
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/magazine/current/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003634232

Unique wine labels are appearing more frequently in an attempt to attract buyers.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295782,00.html

Sports stars and celebrities enter the wine market
http://www.usatoday.com/educate/college/careers/Entreps/11-9-05.htm

A group has been created to educate young wine users
http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=21311

Gallo attempts to reach younger wine drinkers by advertising online
http://www.clickz.com/3624473