John Drake

Changes in Idaho

Well, change is afoot at the agency... Long known as es/drake, the agency brand is evolving to be: Drake Cooper. We're also moving to a new location. Same people. More open space. More collaborative. The best way I can describe the new office is a combination of this and this. For those who know both these agencies, I know that seems weird, but it's true.

I always find change to be healthy and exciting.

A full new website will launch Jan 1, but in the meantime, happy holidays, from Drake Cooper.

Consumer Love and Selling Things

If you haven't read the 7-page Saatchi & Saatchi article in the December 3rd issue of BusinessWeek, it's a pretty important piece to check out. Not sure if it puts the agency is the grandest of light, but it's an honest commentary on our industry today.

My point in bringing up the article is not to simply recap it, but to discuss the subject of consumer/brand love when it comes to retail brands.

One of the things the article talks about is Saatchi's client, J.C. Penney and their much-lauded campaign built around the idea of Lovemarks, which of course is the basis of agency CEO Kevin Roberts' advertising philosophy. Penney's moved the account to Saatchi for this idea, and it's a powerful one. We all know that consumer love not only builds brand loyalty, but margins as well. For those who may have missed the end creative result ("Every Day Matters"), some recent Saatchi/Penney's TV can be seen here, here and here.   

However, according to BusinessWeek, sales haven't really responded to the Lovemarks-inspired work. Then, in somewhat related news, the lead Creative Director just left for Y&R. (To be clear and fair, it's worth pointing out that November same-store sales at Penney's increased 2.6% vs. 1.4% last Nov).

Things take awhile to build, but the initial report of slow sales makes me ponder the role of consumer love with retail brands and, after I get through Gossage, Lovemarks is next on the book list. The questions I'll be asking as I read and ponder and drink coffee are: Should a Lovemarks approach be the lead horse for a brand, and how does retail and product benefit messaging fit in?

Of course it's imperative to bring love into a brand, but I think one needs to be careful not to do it at the expense of conveying the product benefit. I think the Penney's stuff, while beautiful and uplifting and heart-touching, may have done just that.

History has proven that retail brands who balance love/desire and product benefit together, in nearly all their executions, fair best: Target, IKEA and John Lewis come to mind.
   
I have a hunch there's a middle ground to articulate here.

Sometimes It Takes Several Steps

Engaging in a massive rebranding effort seems so glamorous. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s it was almost normal for companies to change the whole look & feel of their brand, literally overnight, on an annual basis. (Actually, some very good companies continue to operate this way today.) But I believe great campaigns are often eased in to, rather than appearing one day in perfect form.

It's not often discussed, but making small refinements versus one massive effort is often the best way to go. As humans, this is how we process things anyway. Quick shifts can be jarring... they can make us categorically reject things without proper consideration. But if we ease into something, we're much more willing to accept change. Then before we know it, we've fully embraced something new.

The same is true for brands. And so many of today's great brands took several steps to get to brilliance. Nike did great stuff in the 80's--but they've done brilliant stuff since then. It's a process.

It appears the team at Moncler recently went through this process. Brief background: Moncler is an outerwear company based in Italy. Very nice stuff. Originally established in 1952 as a premier outdoor product for climbers and explorers, the brand has since refined itself into a fashion house, without losing focus on extreme weather protection.

I think their most recent campaign is great. But we'll get to that in a second. First, it's interesting to take a glance at Moncler's Fall/Winter advertising for the last several seasons. The brand took small steps each time--all without any copy--refining itself each step of the way to capture the essence of who they are: stylish, warm, able to withstand severe weather.

'04/'05 winter

Product as hero. The message is about warmth with hints of fashion.

'05/'06 winter

Product as hero...becomes more "life-like." Warmth messaging continues, but added to it is an added sense of ruggedness. More fashionable colors/cuts. 

'06/'07 winter

Moncler brings fashion to forefront. Models introduced. Warmth has been lessened and ruggedness all but removed.

'07/'08 winter

Nice. We have arrived. Fashion stays but the true authenticity of the brand rears back. Equal parts of warmth, ruggedness and style--all still expressed only through visuals. Brand identity is very prominent.

Seems simple on the surface, but it took several steps to arrive at, what I feel to be, a great fashion piece. For Moncler the product treatment had to evolve, and the move into fashion had to co-exist with product benefit. I don't believe the '07/'08 ad could have followed the '04/'05 ad. Very hard to approve internally. Jarring for consumers and retailers to process.

Patience and learning. Sometimes it takes multiple steps for a brand to arrive at the right place.