In Mel Brooks’ History of the World: Part I, Moses comes down from the mountain heralding his 12 Commandments. However, two tablets fall from his grasp and break on the ground into pieces. Without skipping a beat, he touts his 10 Commandments.
Addressing a gathering during last month’s Online Media, Marketing & Advertising Conference & Expo (OMMA) in Los Angeles last month, Eric Hirshberg, president/chief creative officer of Deutsch LA, said that he once had 10 rules for marketing and advertising. But he decided to present only eight since “the other two sucked.”
Here’s an abridged rundown of the eight he shared with confab attendees:
- The Madonna principle. Hirshberg described Madonna as one of the best marketed brands of her time, observing that her “Sex Book” was pure branded content, an elaborate commercial for Madonna that spanned all media in terms of reach and coverage. The key point to take away from the Madonna example is that her content moves “across all touch points,” which makes for a most effective campaign. Hirshberg views The Apple Store as perhaps “the best ad of the past five years” because it covers essential bases. It’s a place to sell while at the same time elevate and change the perception of Apple.
- Make brand promises. Keep brand promises. He touted the branding of TGIF Restaurants as being the same as Chili’s yet with, figuratively speaking, more rock ‘n roll, and the slightly greater possibility, he quipped, of sex. TGIF’s ownership sees the value of keeping the music cranked up at their restaurants, giving them an identity beyond being just another eatery.
- No black sheep. When Volkswagen came up with a great performance vehicle at $80,000, it simply didn’t work because it was contrary to VW’s populist brand. The product was of high quality but it contradicted the brand. Clients need to avoid such black sheep. Hirshberg noted that Toyota, by contrast, went the right way. When they wanted to create a car with young, cool, hip appeal, it didn’t use the Toyota brand. Instead it created Scion, which has proven successful. Instead of going contrary to the Toyota brand, the automaker went with a brand new brand.
- Integrated people, not integrated departments. The agency holding company structure tends to separate divisions, with people housed in separate buildings or quarters. At Deutsch, says Hirshberg, “all of our creatives in different disciplines sit together, as one community, delivering one voice for every element of the brand.”
- People don’t hate advertising. They hate bad advertising.
- The most powerful ads make human connections, not advertising connections.
- Be a brand-driven organization. Defining brand, being true to brand is vital to clients who sometimes fall into the trap of instead being technology-driven, engineering-driven or sales-driven. Brands are what connect with people.
- Every business decision today is a brand decision. Rather than focusing solely on money, focus on developing a brand’s belief system. For Apple, it’s empowering creativity. For Volkswagen, it’s being the car for the people. For Nike, it’s the will to compete and succeed as embodied in athletic effort and excellence. This focus on the brand’s belief system will lead to a healthier bottom line than if the company chooses to concentrate strictly on turning a buck.
