Beware the wolves in sheep’s clothing

With the launch this week of the new Xerox brand, we’re seeing the continuing trend of a B2B brand of stature borrowing the trappings of a B2C cousin, much like AT&T before it. And why not? Consumer brands are cool, dynamic, fun, and the really good ones create the kind of emotional attachment to their customers that’s really hard to compete against.

It’s a little unfortunate, then, that these B2B brands seem hell-bent on borrowing the wrong things. A friendly logo, a curvaceous typeface, the use of friendly language, and a library full of as many images of smiling friendly people as possible have become the oh-so-predictable signs of a formerly staid corporation undertaking a ‘transformation in customer-centricity’.

The irony, of course, is that the best B2B brands are anything but friendly. IBM doesn’t want to be your friend, nor McKinsey or Goldman Sachs, and certainly not someone like Oracle. What these brands all have is a very clear culture that drives their business, a clear focus on what they do for their clients (and what they don’t do) and, critically, a very clear value proposition. They ask for your respect. They don’t ask to be your friend.

As we move forwards into the future, and B2B brands increasingly pursue a genuine desire to be more customer-centric, what matters won’t be the creation of a new friendly face. For most B2B brands, what will be needed is greater clarity, greater honesty and greater simplicity around who they really are, what really defines their internal culture, what they really do for their customers, and what their value proposition really is. (And this, by the way, is what B2B brands can really learn from their consumer cousins such as Nike, Apple or Starbucks.)

After all, if you’re really a wolf, much better to celebrate your wolfishness.

24 January 2008, posted by Paul Worthington

The buck stops here

The mighty greenback is an American icon whose value comes in part from the fact it’s one of the most recognized brands in the world. For decades, as the international reserve currency, it has fueled growth, allowed countries to do business, enabled globaliization on an unprecedented scale, whilst simultaneously playing an unwitting ambassador for America around the world. More than that, it has deep emotional resonance. It has had elegance and unique beauty combined with myth, legend, adventure and mystique.

But as with all brands, image is no longer enough. For a range of reasons, including debt, the reality behind the dollar brand has been sullied. And now it looks as though the greenback is going out of style.

Just take a fleeting glance across an array of media and you’ll groove to a hip hop music video with Jay-Z clutching a handful of euros, read news that middle-eastern countries plan to move to euros as their reserve currency, hear about Iran’s Ahmadinejad mocking the dollar as a worthless piece of paper, learn about supermodel Gisele publicly refusing payment in dollars, and be in disbelief to know that even international drug dealers are preferring to do business in the euro.

Clearly, as this trend demonstrates, trust is an essential ingredient of all brands and their reputations, including currencies. The notion of trust (in the commercial world) has been mainly centered on the transaction itself, but not any more. It has dramatically moved on from trust in the product (or dollar in this case) to trust in the people behind the product.

So will the Fed reverse the dollar’s fall from grace and reassert its global role as the world’s reserve currency? Or does it acquiesce to domestic pressure, relieve credit-crunched Americans, and fuel investors’ desires for increased corporate profit? It’s a crunch time for the dollar, both as a currency and as a brand. As Churchill once said, ‘It’s only when you risk losing what you can least afford to lose that you learn to play the game’.

14 January 2008, posted by Dean Crutchfield

Where are the Arab brands?

Something interesting is happening in the Middle East. It has nothing to do with religious extremism or the price of oil. Arab nations are regaining the confidence and pride that they lost nearly 2 centuries ago.

Leaders from certain parts of the region have an ambition and economic vision, which, although seemingly farfetched, is becoming increasingly credible. At the most basic level, it is reflected in their creation of  the biggest shopping mall or the tallest building or even a ski slope in a dessert. It is all too easy to dismiss such exuberance by calling the region Las Vegas or Disneyland for adults, but that is to miss the point. And the point is that a new economic power is emerging.

Western companies have not been slow to see the potential. Most international professional services and hotel brands have a presence in the Middle East. Some of the biggest European and North American fashion retailers have franchised their brands in the region.

Saks Fifth Avenue, Banana Republic, Club Monaco and Forever 21 have opened stores in Dubai before hitting European high streets. Similarly, Harvey Nichols, Topshop and Debenhams are present in Riyadh before they opened anywhere in America. And this is not simply a retail phenomenon. The same is true for cafes and restaurants like Johnny Rocket’s, The Blue Elephant, Paul, Costa and Marble Slab.

Malls are being built across the Middle East. But from Cairo to Dubai to Damascus, very few international Arab brands are visible. Yes, Damas, Patchi and Bateel have small outlets in London but, presumably, they cater to Arab expats and tourists? The sad truth is that there are few Arab brands to match the region’s economic power and wealth. Emirates Group or Al Jazeera are rare exceptions to the rule.

The combination of massive wealth, new confidence and a vibrant art scene in the Emirates and Lebanon creates an interesting opportunity for brands in the Middle East. Not simply for copycat Western or Aladdin pastiche brands but for strong, authentic Arab ones. Lets hope we soon see some genuine, world class, modern, Arab brands.

2 January 2008, posted by Zia Patel