Sadly, it is time for the Blirt! story to end. Premature? Yes.

But, as always a strategic decision. In business, as in life, when an opportunity comes along that is too good to pass up, you sometimes need to take it. This is essentially what is behind my decision to close the book on Blirt and take on a challenging but fantastic new role.

You’re probably aware of my previous experience with Delfin Lend Lease before starting to write the Blirt! story – well I’ve accepted a national role with my previous employer that requires this change in direction.

It wasn’t an easy decision, especially after working hard to grow a new business in a tough climate. However,
opportunities like this are rare & I believe this change in direction is the is the right thing for me and my family.

To all of Blirt!’s clients, I thank you for your business and trust as we have worked with you on your creative strategies.

Any new work that you might have can easily be taken up by our Senior Designer Bobby White.

Bobby is an incredibly talented designer and has been behind most of what we’ve produced this year. Bobby has his own design consultancy, so is more than capable of continuing the great work we’ve already done. You can contact Bobby via his consultancy; www.one9.com.au

Craig Hindman has been the creative mind behind our early design work and all our audio visual delivery, and again, Blirt has been blessed with extraordinary talent. You can contact Craig via his consultancy; Himy Creative – www.himy.com.au

For more strategic marketing and communication requirements I have a number of options of which you might like to consider, please contact me & these we can discuss in person.

The story for Blirt! will officially end on June 11, 2010.

To all our clients, suppliers, partners & friends I sincerely thank you for your business and support over the last 18 months. It has been a pleasure to work with you.

Yours sincerely
Stuart Leo
Blirt! Marketing

Why?

How you answer this question determines where your brand efforts (read time & money) get placed. Misunderstand what a brand is and you can find yourself spending time & money on things that may not matter as much as you thought.

What is a brand? It is certainly not a logo or icon.

A brand is the perception retained following the mix of experience one encounters with a person, or entity.

It has been a long held belief that brands are thoughts and ideas. True in part, but brands are more than just thoughts or ideas.

Thoughts and ideas without purpose behind them are scattered and inefficient.

Behind every set of good thoughts and ideas must sit a single minded purpose.

People perceive brands under the context of human characteristics. Ask someone to describe a loved brand and you are likely to get the description of a dear friend.

A good brand should embody purpose, thoughts, ideas and personality.

That’s why at Blirt it’s not just about good ideas. It’s about good ideas that have purpose. It’s about good ideas expressed in a personality that fits the purpose.

Brands are a mix of the objective and subjective. To put it in a philosophical way (because that always makes it clearer.. sic!), brands are a mix of substance and form.

Substance is that which is foundational. Change the substance and you change the very foundation you are built on.

Form is the outward expression of the substance. Form is allowed to respond to change.

Purpose, thoughts and ideas are substance.

Personality is form.

That’s why we say at Blirt; spirit (purpose) + mind (thoughts and ideas) + body (personality) = brand.

The best way to understand and build brands is in a personable way. Because, after all, people perceive brands under the context of human characteristics.

Here’s where you can start to focus your time and money.

The personality of the brand is how you look, act or feel. In the personality bag goes logos, icons, avatars, sounds, smells, colours, fonts – any visual cue that brings to mind the purpose, thoughts and ideas that embody the brand.

Where does the majority of subjective arguing happen in marketing departments? Around colours, pictures, logos, icons, fonts and pictures.

Does it matter? Well, ‘yes-ish’, from a design and brand personality perspective (form). But, it in the scale of things it matters far less than the substance of the brand.

How you look might determine a first impression (which is important), how you act will determine a lifetime of relationship.

Get the weighting of time and money onto the right parts of your brand strategy and you will find your teams spending more time talking about how to be the brand and less time arguing about colour schemes.

Understanding brand, your brand, your competitors brand’s and the consumer’s desired brand is the first step in any serious marketing strategy.

Do you make more money by jumping the price back to it’s original or do you hold a lower price for an going price competitiveness.

Recently reported in Harvard Business Review was a piece of research that found more revenue was gained by utilising a third option. That option being a steady climb back towards the original price.

Read the full article here.

Marketing is a war of perceptions, not prices. Understanding how consumers think is the first step to insight.

You can get it here:

You can download the report here
http://www.psfk.com/psfk-good-brands-report-2010

Have a safe and happy Easter.

http://adage.com/images/random/0310/starch0310/

Welcome to a new year. A year that, given the economic and cultural circumstances we find ourselves in, promises to be at least as surprising as the last.

What the end of 2009 and and the beginning of 2010 has brought is some stabilisation in the volatility experienced during the previous year. This stability paves the path for 2010 to be a year of investing in the long hard climb to growth.

The year presents much opportunity for smart, creative marketing strategies. What must be remembered is, opportunity can only be realised through investment.

So this year is undoubtedly a year of brand investment!

Just for fun – and with a tad of seriousness – is it possible to apply the principles of the world’s greatest investor, Warren Buffett, to a brand investment strategy in order to reap the success of a wonderful brand?

To put it another way, what does it look like to do some Brand Buffetting?!?

Well, what are Warren Buffett’s rules for investing?

Thankfully, Buffett has consistently answered this question in the same way for decades now (This version courtesy of Rotman Magazine Fall 2009):

Step 1 – Focus on a circle of competence i.e., focus on the stuff you really get.
Step 2 – Identify good companies in your circle of competence. For example, good structures, people and history.

Step 3 – Value the company by discounting the income stream from the business using an appropriate rate.

Step 4 – Compare the value with the market price. If the value is higher than the price by a margin of safety, invest.

Step 5 – Repeat step 1.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? If only it were so.

We’re not a finance firm, we’re a brand strategy firm. But, we believe brands are assets and they should be treated as such. A failure to invest in a brand is like letting squatters trash a beachside mansion.

So, how do we apply these ‘basic rules of investment’ to brands?

Let me rewrite them in marketing-speak for you.

Step 1 – Focus on what your brand does best.

If there is one thing a decade of easy capital & cash can do, it is to let brand owners feel that more and more brand extensions will be the right path. Brand extensions devalue the original brand*. Brands hold currency. Splash the currency about; it devalues. How long does an overexposed TV celebrity really last? Don’t let your brand end up being the compere on the 3am 1800 ad.

Step 2 – Identify good markets within your circle of competence. For example, depth, availability, need and sustainability. In good times we rush for the quick sale. Typically what we see is a major focus on retailing or shifting product, i.e. just let ‘em know what, how much and where. The price or incentive driven market comes to the surface. After a while, the easy cash dries up or everyone is simply as cheap as each other and no one can figure why a product is different.

Thanks to our esteemed PM and our stimulus pocket money, the flat screen market has been running hot recently. Listen to this quote from Gerry Harvey (Harvey Norman) in The Australian over the summer (Dec 26 – 27 2009), “The problem we’ve got is that our unit sales are going up enormously – you’re selling 30 percent more TVs than you were last year – but you can’t get the same dollars, and the margins are under pressure all the time because everyone is trying to sell it cheaper than the next bloke.”

That’s right Gerry, easy cash equals lazy marketing with little brand building and creation of sustainable points of difference. Anyone else looked at a wall of black flat screens in their local store and wondered if they really are any different?

Step 3 – Value the potential market by its return (sales revenue) on the investment made (marketing dollars expended). Simply put, how do you get your message to the most people (in your market) in the most effective manner?

Step 4 – Assess all the options and invest where the best return exists. If you take your message to the most people in the most effective manner you will invariably not be taking cheap options. Furthermore, if your message is one that is market driven (i.e., what customers want) you will not be responding to the competition’s offer but to the consumer’s heat & mind.

What is the end result? More people receiving a message from your brand that answers their present need. Add some creativity to make it engaging and relevant and you might just have a situation of increased sustainable demand. There happens to be a reason why Apple Stores consistently deliver one of the highest rates of sales revenue per square meter for any retail store.

Step 5 – With your increased levels of cash, market share and momentum, go back to step 1.

Whatever you do, don’t create Step 6.

So, how to buffet the ‘tos and fros’ of the roller coaster that is the current market? Be a Buffett with your brand.

*22 Immutable Laws of Branding (A & L Ries) – The Law of Extensions. The easiest way to destroy a brand is to put it’s name on everything.

See all the Superbowl ads for 2010 here:  http://adage.com/superbowl10/article?article_id=141954

Will the promise live up to the hype? Let’s wait and see.

What made the iphone great was solving the problem of no longer having to carry a phone and an ipod. Oh yeah, it looked and worked really, really cool.

What made the iphone even greater was the App Store that brought the wider market’s creativity to the iphone. Apple created the platform and thousands of creative people surprised us daily with the new apps and technology that were built on the platform.

What makes the iPad great?

I’m not sure, this is where the need that Apple have identified is fragmented. For some, it will be a great presentation tool. For others, a great entertainment device.

Will it replace a laptop? Maybe for some. Will it replace a phone and a laptop. Definitely not.

Will it be a massive new category? Maybe, maybe not.

What will make it great? I think the App Developers are more needed now by Apple than ever before.

Will I buy one? For $500 it’s worth the punt for the experience. Maybe that’s what makes it great.

A few little details have changed:

Our new street address:
153 Varsity Parade Varsity Lakes

Our new phone number:
1300 997 693

All lead to the same great creative thinking. View our contact page for full details: http://www.blirt.com.au/contact