We have all heard the horror stories of failed efforts to translate Western marketing approaches to a different culture (pictures of babies on Gerber's jars in Africa, the Chevy Nova in Mexico). While this often revolves around language and pictures, another more subtle requirement is consideration of the colors you use.

This chart gives a quick snapshot of which colors convey which emotions in major global cultures. While the effect would obviously be subtle, even subconscious, choose the right color can certainly help promote the right "feelings" towards your brand. Or, at the opposite extreme, you probably don't notice a lot of Japanese companies using black (signifying bad luck and evil) in their logos.

5. Train the Troops

While marketers have a tendency to focus on managing perceptions, Sunnie also had her eye on what she calls “reality management.”  “We needed to make sure that the idea of professionalism permeated the organization,” and this meant training all 35,000 of their independent sales reps to ensure perception communicated with the new brand strategy aligned with the reality of what customers experienced at various touch points. Channel partners established mandatory courses on estate and financial planning.   Noting that the sales reps were perceived as “too casual,” the company also suggested new standards for appearance, going so far as to arrange for discounts at appropriate clothing stores.   Similar deals were set up with beauty salons that coincided with a “make-over” contest, challenging sales reps to get their appearance in ship shape.  

The article referenced above (A 7-Step Guide to Brand Transformation, on the FC Expert Blog in Fast Company) shares lessons learned from Sunnie Giles efforts to reinvigorate the brand for Samsung Life Insurance. While life insurance may be quite a different field from your own industry, there are some valuable lessons in the article.

The most significant point, and one I've been meaning to right about for awhile, is #5, shown above. Marketing may set the direction for branding, but it is only through the everyday actions of anyone who is in contact with external stakeholders (most frequently and importantly, customers) that the brand promise is delivered. Therefore, part of any branding effort must include an appropriate investment in training and monitoring such teams as sales, customer service, accounts receivable, and even external channel partners, to make sure that their processes and behaviors are consistent with the brand message. No amount of advertising or promotional efforts can offset the issues that arise when a customer's experience with one of your team members is dissonant with the expectations you have set.

While this headline may seem rather unexceptional in today's age, there are a few things worth considering. First, a comment in this article states that "Previous efforts that offered rewards like discounts, airline miles and even real cash faltered." So many people now consider Farmville currency worth more than real cash? I wonder what the exchange rate is on this, and what it cost Microsoft to run this promotion with Zynga?

Also, and this is a bit off the beaten path, I wonder why no one ever considered using Monopoly (the game) money as an incentive? Especially Microsoft. After all, wouldn't that fit their brand image a bit better. Or maybe they are leaving that to Google.

Wouldn't it be nice to have the "build it and they will come" luxury? Obviously, Apple has earned this through some major innovations, but the response to the iPad seems pretty much as laid out in this visual. More reserved reviews aptly describe it as a big iPhone. But it will be a success, because it is from Apple.

Moving beyond just billboards, here are 10 clever campaigns that have stood out for their unique approach. Some of them do seem too clever by half. One is a traditional billboard by Google, that starts a chain of puzzles which, when solved, results in an invitation to submit your resume to Google. One wonders if using Google to solve the puzzles is permitted.

The photo above is a "paint by number" poster, where the paint is really intended to be gum. This was sponsored by Hubba Bubba, nominally to fight the problem of people leaving gum on the street. That may seem altruistic, but certainly Hubba Bubba saw it more as an opportunity to raise awareness of their various flavors, regardless of their "official" reason for the campaign.

OK, I'll admit to being a sucker for creative consumer campaigns (at least for purposes of posting them here - not necessarily for letting them influence my strongly-formed brand preferences). Several in this post on WebUrbanist have been shared already, but there are a few new ones, like this from McDonald's, helping you identify when it's, say, Egg McMuffin o'clock. The Sony PSP transparent billboards are also innovative, more so than the similar Nike ones.

For a little Friday afternoon fun, a reminder that good copywriting requires soul. Or wait, I'm sorry, I mean having no soul.