she, being: Brand

she being Brand 

-new;and you
know consequently a
little stiff I was
careful of her

--Excerpted from "she being Brand", by e. e. cummings, 1926

While e. e. was talking about something else entirely, it's hard to imagine anything more talked about in marketing than branding these days. In the technosphere, where I live, branding means so many things. Some sexy, some...not so much.

The video attached is a great case study, on branding. Please watch the beautiful, funny, sexy, sexist, insert your pejorative, expletive-enhanced adjective here video at right. Pause, finish laughing/smirking/lusting/snarling, and think about it.

You like? You dislike?

For a moment, imagine you're the women. What does the video say about them?

Now imagine you're the product manager, of the real "Ps" product from Adobe. Everyone knows what product they are talking about in the video. Now you're the product manager's boss. The VP's boss; now the CEO. What does this say about all of them?

That video sure offers a lot of differing emotions, for something meant to be so tongue in cheek. Truth is, there's a lot of branding-type stuff going on here, some is a +1 and some is a -1. But all of it affects the brand. Now, I don't profess to be a branding expert, but perhaps I'll be allowed by the subject experts a little leeway here to (at last) make my point:

Branding is simply everything you say and everything you do. Nothing more, nothing less.

It used to be so much simpler, or so I thought. In one of my early career junior marketing positions, at a large technology firm in the mid-1990s, we set out to create a new logo--one that would really "reflect our modern brand".  Logo = identity project = new brand, right? While a brand identity (of which a logo is a key piece) is a part, it is certainly not all of it.

Your logo, identity, messaging, sure. But just as certainly  your product, how well it functions, how easy it is to use, how your company runs, its culture, its leaders, its people...all the way to the building management. How you dress. How intelligently you speak, your word choice. Whether you answer your phone or let it go to voicemail. Whether you can be counted on when the chips are down. Who you hang out with. EVERYTHING says something about your company, and you the individual.

Beg to differ? Try being a jackhole to a customer, and see how quickly you find your way escorted out the door.

The Magnifying Glass

Most of the core tools of branding is fairly old school, but no less applicable today than it was decades ago. The relatively new play in branding is of course social. But just because the players are still evolving at a rapid clip doesn't mean you can treat it all willy-nilly. It is not "Amaze"; you must still respect your core brand on any web site. One little 140-character whine is the shot heard round the world, and can bring shock and awe faster than you can type your response. In the same way, showing the grace, poise, elegance, and even humor can enhance your brand. (At least when wielded correctly. Talk to your PR people, they know what they are doing!)

I strive to teach the people who have worked for me to be at least aware of how the world might perceive them. Its a little like dressing in jeans and T-shirt at a formal black-tie event. You will get noticed. For bad, or for good. Some folks may like that you bucked the system. Some may think you're insulting them. Now, you may not care what anyone thinks of you at that event; but somehow, someway, someday...you might. And what you did and how you were perceived will determine what happens next.

Back to the Fs video. I really admire how Adobe the company and especially their brand executive, Ann Lewnes, reacted. Remember, that video did not come from Adobe, it was a one-off gone viral by a very crafty, independent creative, Jesse Rosten.

Ms. Lewnes presents Confessions of a Digital Marketer at the Forrester Marketing Leadership Forum in 2012. While I strongly encourage you to listen to her video all the way through, skip ahead to 14:35 for the Fs video response.

Does her response affect or change your impression of Adobe?

How's your brand these days?