Thompson Brand Partners

Holiday Inn

I've noticed that the global hotel chain Holiday Inn has recently rebranded.

Made famous by the Bing Crosby movie that originally contained the song White Christmas, this is a US brand with real longevity and I would expect has a lot of brand equity with the American public. Having travelled in the states, it certainly is a ubiquitous brand that appears at the roadside of every town and city wherever you are.

In the past few years, it has spread its wings into Europe and built a solid mid range chain that trades on the US equity quite heavily in my opinion. They've also expanded the offer with the brand extension 'Express' and I've stayed in these places and they're just fine.

It's certainly a crowded old marketplace in the hospitality sector with the big chains vying for custom in very difficult (or 'challenging' as they'd say) market conditions. 

Interesting, then, to see that Holiday Inn chose right now to launch a new brand. I'm a big fan of bold, confident brand behaviour right at the time when a lot of your competitors and hunkering down, riding out the storm. 

When I first read about the rebrand I thought:  yes, good move, time for a refresh, evolve the timeless brand on to meet the needs of a new market and a different world. Then I saw the logo. 

Ah. 

Okay, It's modern, slick, uses the previous brand colour (albeit brightened up) and has some distant visual cues from the previous iteration. It didn't ring true for me - it felt definitely like we'd lost the baby with the bathwater. No doubt they'd done their homework and the endless rounds of qualitative and quantitative research told them that now was the time for a more radical brand change. Who am I to argue? We've been in that situation many times. But instinctively it just doesn't feel right. This is a brand with real heritage that seems to have been overlooked and isn't part of the brand any more. And that's a shame.

See what you think - here's the previous brand in a few iterations:

And of course, this is the genealogy of the brand:

We can see over the years that they've evolved and developed the brand to meet the needs of a changing market. But there's something cool about taking a brand's heritage and moving it on.

Here's the new boy:

Maybe I'm making a big fuss about something that's not really there. I'd be interested to see what other people think. Of course, it will all be in the wider visual identity as a brand is always more than just the logo. But when you see a hotel logo on a roadside, it IS the brand and the first thing you see when arriving at the hotel. 

Holiday Inn have ditched their distinctive script type for a bland, me-too, modern affair that is italicised in a nod to the old brand and the big H in scripty style gives some clues, but that's it. It's a shrug of shoulders moment.

One final thought. 

When the classic UPS brand was 'evolved' a few years ago, it caused a huge fuss in the brand world, not least because the original logo was created by famous designer Paul Rand in 1961. When Futurebarnd unveiled the new brand it had controversially banished one of the most distinctive elements of the brand, the bow-tied parcel. 

In theory they had dramatically altered one of the world's most recognisable brands, but looking at it more closely (and with the benefit of hindsight, admittedly) the newly rendered brand feels like a logical step forward. It feels like it's still in the spirit of the brand - solid, credible, modern.

No Logo

At the end of this week, global coffee chain Starbucks will be trialling unbranded coffee shops in its home town of Seattle. This remarkable move has been prompted by their loss of ground against competitors in the US Europe and signifies a move back to their roots as a 'corner store' coffee shop that's in the heart of the community.

This raises the knotty issue of global brands trying to hoodwink consumers by 'debadging' their offer by creating a perception of a non-global, more caring and genuine experience. Interesting times. What next - Nike without the swoosh or Coke without the famous bottle?

Some commentators have likened the behaviour to a brand 'mid life crisis' with Starbucks not very clear at all about their true brand positioning. Externally it does sound like they aren't very clear about ultimately what their brand stands for and they seem to have ended up in a place that they're not particularly happy with (with which, coincidentally, large swathes of consumers concur).

It's very ironic that Starbucks are seeking to emulate the very coffee shops they wiped out in their quest for global domination - this was well documented in the essential but controversial No Logo by Naomi Klein. It seems like a sceptical and schizophrenic move for a global brand of this stature. One could argue that Starbucks are going through a necessary phase where they need to refocus on what they are really about and take stock of what their customers really want.

My view is that Starbucks have set the bar very high in this sector and all their competitors see them as the benchmark against which they measure their product, service and brand. Whilst everyone else has been concentrating on raising their game, Starbucks - the main brand - have let things slip. It no longer has the cool edge it used to and is now part of the accepted mid market, volume provider. It actually doesn't give them many places to go after that, other than diversifying and exploring new markets.

They could do worse than take their lead from brands like Nation of Shopkeepers in Leeds (mentioned in a previous post) - part of a global chain but essentially 100% local with people, events, bands, art all sourced in the city it lives in. It's the only way something like this will work.

But do you know what - I believe the very people they are trying to reach with a cool, underground, un-branded approach will run a mile when they discover that it's Starbucks - a brand wolf in sheep's clothing.

The rise of the indie corporates

There's a very cool bar recently opened its doors in Leeds. 

Before it became cool, it used to be one of the worst examples of a corporate chain bar - homogenous interior, no point of difference and packed to the rafters with dangerous individuals binge drinking overpriced continental lager. In short, I never went near it.

When I heard that a really interesting bar had opened in its place, I had a look at the website. It's called Nation Of Shopkeepers. Now any place named after Napoleon's slight on our fair isle is interesting straight away and it gets better. Live drawing sessions, DJs, live bands, great looking food, art, literature..the list goes on. This place is really owning some serious territory in the Leeds cultural/social scene. And nobody's doing it to this degree.

On visiting the place at our recent book club, we continued to be impressed - shabby, boho chic, obscure interior decoration and cooler than though furniture selection (all second hand shop stuff, nothing matching) continued the vibe. Excellent wall art/illustration by Leeds collective Nous Vous is the icing on the cake. It's a masterclass of played down coolness.

Imagine my surprise when I found out this oasis of indie is in actual fact owned by a global hospitality chain. My reaction was mixed. Firstly, full marks for the big boys giving the management team the scope to really inject some personality into the place and make it their (and Leeds') own - they have succeeded.

 

Secondly I couldn't help feel a little bit disappointed and actually slightly hoodwinked. This is completely irrational of course, and I have no excuse to feel this way - I'm a brand consultant after all.  But it does feel a little like the big boys are pretending to be small and 'going undercover' (definitely close to the Innocent/Coca Cola debate that raged recently and don't forget Howies are owned by Timberland). There are some very cool independent bars in Leeds and interestingly they don't feel as 'independent' as this one does. 

We come back to the power of branding once more and ability to create an identity for a product or service that will connect with its target audience. I have to say on the evening we were there it was doing a pretty good job of it, with the bar filled to the rafters with the cool boho types (and us) and nobody seemed to be complaining.

I'll go back. And do you know why - they've got it pretty much bang on on. 

Corporate or indie? 

Does it matter as long as they've got their product and experience right?

Sorry isn't the hardest word

Whilst our politicians are most reluctant to use the S word, some of our brands are behaving in the most contrite fashion. In the past seven days, we've seen two of the big brands come right out and apologise for being out of step with their customers.

First up we had The Evening Standard launch a remarkable campaign in advance of their new redesign relaunch. It was all apologies, literally. As I don't live in London or read the paper when I'm there, I can't really comment but I've read some interesting takes on their behaviour which is definitely a new way of thinking for them. Renowned for being a cynical, miserable rag, it sounds like they're looking to turn over a new leaf: "We want to reconnect with the greatest city in the world and we are prepared to fight for what is best for London and Londoners. We are going to be more upbeat, more representative and more positive" said somebody high up...

Secondly, we had M&S out of step (for once) with their vociferous, large breasted, female customers. Apparently M&S charged more for the large bra sizes and this has really cheesed off the ladies for whom a larger size means stumping up more cash in return for M&S bras. 

There has been a carefully orchestrated online campaign (the power of the web again) urging the high street giant to see sense and not charge extra for the larger sizes. Fair play to M&S here too - they correctly gauged the temperature of the debate and move pretty quickly to price their underwear on a more equitable level. On top of that, they took the communications opportunity with both hands and ran a series of ads that I think not only ate humble pie and apologised, but increased their brand profile and equity. Masterful.

Playing with your brand

I came across these new summer can designs for Coca Cola this morning (thanks to Jon Moss) and I think they're really, really good. I think they are a perfect example of having a bit of old fashioned fun with your brand. 

It's very common on brand world for clients to be over protective of their brands. And I can understand this when they have invested so much in the property but this can sometimes lead to an overly sterile brand approach. Coca Cola in previous years could have been accused of this type of approach, but in recent times they have led the way in the global soft drinks sector (Innocent purchase et al) and these cans are another example of how they are streets ahead of Pepsi in terms of how they are connecting with their consumers and expressing the brand in a cool, fun way.

These cans just make you smile. They are as fun and witty as a big, corporate brand will stretch to and I think the barbecue one hits the spot for me (but then again, I love barbecues any time of the year). In terms of design, they are pretty well executed and these king of simple graphics integrated with a logo are hard to pull of successfully. 

It looks to me like there was a good client/design agency relationship that's resulted in a successful answer to the brief. In some shape or form I bet they used the words "we'd like you to have a bit of fun with our brand". I love it when that happens - it means you have a client that has the vision to push things within the confines of the brand and they trust the designer implicitly with their brand. A marriage made in heaven.

Graze

Every now and again one comes across a service, product or brand that has so well considered that it really is a genuine joy. I believe Graze is one of those brands.

Having being told about by word of mouth marketing (which is of course, the very best kind: trust is everything these days) I ordered a trial Graze box. Everything is incredibly well thought through. First of the online experience was superb - easy, intuitive, well branded simple. Basically you order a box with healthy snack food stuff in there for however many days a week you'd like it.

The box itself is really well put together too and the attention to detail is lovely, even down to the chilled pad keeping your fruit cool. This is a proper brand taking care of the detail even down to the sustainable angle and of course, each box contains 3 of your 5 a day. It's a no brainer.

Of course, it's very much a product of this time and of course, if I wasn't chained to my desk writing proposals I'd be down the allotment growing my own cherries. In the meantime, this brand is filling a food slot in my day that quite frankly usually gets filled by rubbish food, so why not eat well and feel better too?

It looks great too.

Not so innocent

It's going to be really interesting to see how the sale of 20% of Innocent to the great devil Coca Cola will impact on the brand. 

I've long been a fan of the Innocent brand and it consistently comes up in brand workshops we hold as a business that has a very clear idea what it stands for and who it's talking to. Along with Apple, it's consistently cited as an exemplar of brand behaviour and consistency with the product. 

There's been much talk in some circles of the huge impact this will have on the brand and in turn sales, but I'm not so sure. I think the brand is strong enough to weather the storm of association with a global brand, even if it is Coca Cola. There was a similar furore when Green and Black's sold out to Cadbury's and I'm sure it will have been the early adopters crying foul then. There's something cool about an indpendent brand that we discover and only a limited few know about but when the brand wants to grow, sell more product and be exposed to a wider audience then it loses some of its cachet. In truth what happens is if the brand foundations are strong enough and the vision and values deeply embedded then it will continue to occupy a strong position in the market.

Howies managed it incredibly well when they sold a minority share to Timberland to help them grow their business further and give them investment fro growth. I think the way they told their audience about the reasons why they decided to do it was one of the best 'un-spun' explanations I've ever read:

Have a read here.

I think at the end of the day, it's all about ambition. If you set out as a business or brand with a clear idea of what you'd like to achieve then it's all manageable and part of the process. Innocent have said that they are facing massive challenges in the market regarding competitors moving into their space, the current economy and investment plans needing funding. 

Somebody said keep your friends close and your enemies closer and I think that resonates in this discussion. Big brands are desperate to learn from the smaller brands and I think it's very true in this case - Coca Cola have failed on a number of new product launches recently and I think this new strategy looks like a new way of looking at things. Coke have promised to be almost a 'sleeping partner' and I think that's critical too - the heavy handed corporate approach just won't wash in 'Fruit Towers' I don't think.

I think that we'll see Innocent move from being the cool, challenger brand to an unassailable position in the sector, building on their already powerful (and much emulated) brand positioning. I'd like to see them take their bold thinking into other areas and if it takes additional external funding to make that happen, as a consumer of their products, I'm more than happy for that to happen. 

There's plenty of other upstart challenger brands knocking around for us to follow. Let me know what you think...

Nice brand thinking

The recent bout of snowy weather has had its benefits for creative agencies and cool brands alike. I picked up this story on the CR blog (a great source of up to the minute good thinking). 

London agency Curb delivered a 'snow tagging' campaign for their sports channel client Extreme at over 350 locations around the centre of London. CR are a bit snooty about it, but I like the thinking and I like the immediacy of the thinking - the agency and the client must have been really on the case to make this happen.

And you thought that the whole point of the snow was to behave like a kid again with snowballs and sledging...

River Cottage

This is the first in an irregular series of posts featuring brands we like (I even created a new category).

Give that we're a brand company, you'd expect that there's lots of brands we admire and I guess that's right to a point but there are remarkably few brands that get it so right. When I start thinking about the brands I love, there's always a common thread that's all wrapped up in passion and determination to get the product absolutely perfect and then make sure that the brand reflects that.

It may seem like an over simplification, but the most successful brands connect so perfectly with their target audience that it actually doesn't seem like a business deal is taking place (which it certainly is most of the time) and money is changing hands. As consumers of brands, we have our trusted brands that define who we are, influence our behaviour and sometimes change our lives.

The River Cottage is such a brand. I'm not really sure that the founder Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall would recognise that his baby has turned into one of the UK's most aspirational and influential brands. It's classic 'non brand' behaviour - just concentrate on being absolutely true to what you believe in and build it from there. You can simply tell there's no retro fitted brand values or proposition in action, just a crystal clear idea what they stand for and believe in.

TV series have turned into River Cottage experiences down on the farm in Dorset (I went to 'A pig in a day' recently) and in turn books have spawned restaurants and online. What I find remarkable is the buy in to the River Cottage brand as it cascades throughout the organisation without any overt brand 'guidelines'. Hugh has managed to get his people to believe in him and in turn River Cottage. This kind of belief can be incredibly powerful and motivating - most brands would kill for it.