Brand Characters

The most prominent brand character in the history of brand's is arguably Leo Burnett's The Marlboro Man. He was a rugged, rough and tumble man and that image was translated to the Marlboro brand.

Some other brand characters that come to mind are:

Ronald McDonald - The scariest clown I've ever seen. I am dressing up as him this halloween.

Tony the Tiger - Leo Burnett!

The Alexander Kieth's Scotsman - Turned out to be a pedophile. But added a sense of humor and fun to the brand.

The Canadian Tire Handy Man - I wish I was this guy, he has EVERYTHING! This typical Canadian man exemplified Canadian Joe's from coast to coast.

Brand Positioning

When companies are thinking of positioning themselves they can choose to focus on POP (points of parity) or POD (points of difference). I mean, seriously, do companies that use points of parity actually sell anything? "Hey, we are a Pizza company and we deliver!". HAVEN'T HEARD THAT ONE BEFORE. That's about as good as a new car company coming out positioning themselves as "The car that you can drive".

I mean, points of difference seems like the way to go don't you think? Like, "The car that can fly", or "The computer that has a brain", or "The alcohol that makes you make better decisions".

Brand Extensions

Rather than bore everyone with real life brand extensions, let's think of brand extensions that would be down right ridiculous.

Smirnoff Bottled Water - Is that really water in there?

Nike Reclining Sofa - Not exactly athletic

Tim Horton's Calzones - Something not to Canadian about that!

Bentley Economy Vehicle - ...

Microsoft Usable Operating System - Well that is just the most unbelievable thing of them all.

Brand Story

I find brand stories are a very under used marketing tool for companies. Is it legal to just make up a fake story? Because if it is, then I'm pretty pissed about those beautiful stories found usually on the labels of alcohol labels.

I always read the labels of the alcohol I purchase. I find that some of the most beautiful copy I've ever come across is on these labels. Whether it's Jim Beam talking about the generations and generations of Beam's to have looked over the companies proud tradition, or Smirnoff telling the story of Mr.Smirnoff being exiled from Russia and landing in America where he started "The cocktail revolution".

Here is the brand story for Carr's Crackers
"The story of Carr's Biscuits began during the British Industrial Revolution, when Jonathan Carr set up a small bakery in the city of Carlisle, England in 1831. The business thrived, and became so popular that only 10 years later it was granted Queen Victoria's Royal Warrant, an award that has been granted to Carr's by British royalty continuously since that time".

There is something mysterious about a brand with a story. Especially a story that took place many years ago.