We’ve covered celebrity brand woes and the impact of personal scandals on [...]]]> Justin Bieber has become the latest celebrity brand spokesman to find himself in brand trouble. Advertising Age wrings its hands at the damage his prank could do to his power as a celebrity endorser for brands such as Best Buy, Proactiv, and Google Chrome.

We’ve covered celebrity brand woes and the impact of personal scandals on national brands at length. Britney Spears shaved her head leading Pepsi to cut her off as a spokesman. Martha Stewart, Tiger Woods and Michael Vick also suffered lost endorsement deals when their immoral or criminal acts dominated the headlines.

Justin Bieber’s prank, trying to return a Wendy’s shake to a Burger King store, hardly rises to the level of scandal that hurts brands. Furthermore Justin Bieber’s brand is that of a cute teenage boy. The prank fits within his brand equity. Advertising Age does point out that being a jerk is part of being a teenage boy. And “teenage boy” is brand equity that sells pre-teen girls.

Note: This prank has gotten very little press mention, further blunting it’s impact on the selling power of Bieber as a pitch boy.

More on celebrities and brands:
When a Brand Is a Person
Nike Endorsement Deal Signals Michael Vick Brand Comeback
Michael Vick’s Potential as a Brand: Lessons from Martha Steward and Tiger Woods
Nancy Pelosi Enlists Steven Spielberg to Fix Her Personal Brand

Not so fast. It was a set up from the beginning—a set up perfect for generating buzz and involving fans. Fabio [...]]]> When Old Spice announced that Fabio would be replacing Mustafa, the outcry was instantaneous. Was Old Spice going to end up like The Gap and quickly backtrack when customers on social media screamed loudly enough?

Not so fast. It was a set up from the beginning—a set up perfect for generating buzz and involving fans. Fabio has issued this challenge on “the internets” for a duel with the “old new Old Spice guy” against him, the “new, new Old Spice guy.”

Fabio or Mustafa? Who will win?  Clearly Old Spice will!

1) Light your shot—dark videos don’t invite eyes 2) Get the best sound you can—your viewers are likely listening through headphones 3) Use a tripod for Pete’s sake!!—You want to make visitors stick, not get [...]]]> Web pundits are predicting continuing growth in Web video. With that in mind, here is a round-up of advice for producing effective video:

1) Light your shot—dark videos don’t invite eyes
2) Get the best sound you can—your viewers are likely listening through headphones
3) Use a tripod for Pete’s sake!!—You want to make visitors stick, not get sick
4) Script and plan your story before you shoot—planning is what makes a video interesting and worth the viewers’ time (which is harder to earn and even harder to keep)
5) Shorter is better—think TV commercial not TV show, 30 seconds is better than 30 minutes
6) Talking heads are boring—get other shots and work them into your story
7) Don’t forget Web video needs the written word—when you post on YouTube, Facebook, even your own site, you will need a title, brief description, and keywords.
8) Post and link and post and link and post and link—get your video in front as many people as possible and link back to your site; it is about maximizing exposure and maximizing traffic

More detailed advice from previous posts:
Good enough video:
http://merriamassociates.com/2010/03/when-%E2%80%9Cgood-enough%E2%80%9D-web-video-is-great/

How Web video differs from TV:
http://merriamassociates.com/2010/02/ten-ways-web-video-is-different-from-tv/

Video scripting:
http://merriamassociates.com/2010/01/web-video-six-keys-to-writing-scripts-for-video/

Ideas for Web video:
http://merriamassociates.com/2010/10/a-dozen-ideas-for-web-video-and-beyond/

And a series from a Fortune 500 corporate executive speech coach:
http://merriamassociates.com/2010/03/web-video-message-prep/
http://merriamassociates.com/2010/03/web-video-preparing-your-delivery/
http://merriamassociates.com/2010/03/web-video-thinking-about-the-visual-presentation/

UPDATE: The auction format [...]]]> The days when Madmen sipped and smoked their way up and down Madison Avenue are long gone, but some brands of that era (and others) are going on sale December 8th at the Waldorf Hotel in New York. A new breed of madmen have collected and will sell 150 brands from yesteryear.

UPDATE: The auction format depressed the sale prices for the brands on auction.  Shearson sold for $45,000, Meister Brau for $32,500, and Handi-Wrap for $30,000 .  A handful of brands sold for $10,000 (including Shower Mate, Sun and Surf  and Continental Illinois). Other brands sold for a pittance. A 20 year old college student bought Colliers for $2000.  The Linen Closet, Colliers, Infoseek, Computer City and the Financial Corp. of America also sold for $2000. General Cinema, Homestake Mining, and Victrola gaveled in at $1000. Some brands sold two for $100o like Allied Signal and American Petrofina.  Many didn’t sell at all.  Total take was less than $132,000. More on Forbes.com.

While the outcry hasn’t reached the angry Motrin Mom level, Target has still made a mistake putting down a costume made by Mom to hawk [...]]]> Target’s mom-bashing ad makes you wonder: Don’t advertisers test their ads before broadcasting them–even in “broadcasting” is “just” YouTube and in-store media? This ad would never have passed the mom test:

While the outcry hasn’t reached the angry Motrin Mom level, Target has still made a mistake putting down a costume made by Mom to hawk cheap, store-bought, made-in-China costumes.  Here is a smattering of the angry comments:

PixieRobot: “Target thinks your mom sucks.”

Fshfacegurl: “Homemade costume > storebought costume. No amount of money will buy a mom’s unconditional love. (Unless you’re Candy Spelling)”

Magog1138:Like “Seriously- That mom made him one hella BAD-ASS costume from stuff around the house. WTF, Target?”

Alex4T3Hwin: “First the gays, now moms. Who will Target alienate next? Shame on you Target. I’d rather have a light velcroed to my chest by mom who loves me than 20 dollars worth of ugly.”

And that’s just the YouTube commentary. The mommy blogs are lit up disgusted. Says one, “NOT Latina Mom Approved.” Even a Dad weighed in with “Go Suck It, Target!” and he doesn’t stop there.

Just because an ad is “only” for the Web or “just” viral doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be put through the same rigorous approval process used for broadcast ads. In fact, ads on YouTube need MORE screening. You can always “pull” a broadcast ad, but once your communication is on the Web, it is “out there” forever.

The fact is the name problem is [...]]]> Media insiders are buzzing about a potential name change for MSNBC.com. NBC Universal and Microsoft want to distance their co-owned Web site from the cable channel. MSNBC.com president Charlie Tinllinghast is quoted in the New York Times complaining the MSNBC “Lean Forward” repositioning “only exacerbates the brand misaligment problem.”

The fact is the name problem is bigger than just the Web site; the entire portfolio of brands with “NBC” in their names has a brand identity problem.

Different Brands with the Same Name
NBC Universal owns a number of “NBC” brands. While the uniqueness of each media property might be clear insiders, to the average viewer, they all are inextricably tied to the NBC  television network. Thus the MSNBC cable channel brand impacts the MSNBC.com brand as well as NBC News and CNBC.

NBC Needs Many New Brands
As individual NBC media properties evolve to serve different purposes and to appeal to different audiences, each needs its own name—names that differentiate and that work to support the intended market position of each property.

Recommendation for Renaming Key NBC Properties

NBC Television Network and NBC News: These brands date from the birth of television and have decades of equity. The “Peacock Network” should never rebrand.

MSNBC.com: This property continues as a joint venture of NBC and Microsoft and is meant to supply news content to Microsoft’s fading MSN property. MSNBC.com also serves as the online presence for NBC news. The question is: How important is Microsoft to NBC News viewers and Web site visitors?  If the answer is “not very”, the Web site should be renamed NBCNews.com. Microsoft, as a brand, brings some negative baggage of its own.

MSNBC Cable: Microsoft has minority ownership of the channel and has zero relevance to the  “Lean Forward” positioning. MSNBC needs a totally new name with a matching Web site that supports its political positioning. The channel would thus join other distinctive NBC Universal television brands including Bravo, Oxygen, and Syfi. Renaming the MSNBC creates a big opportunity to emphasize the channel’s bold new positioning.

CNBC: Originally the name meant “Consumer News and Business Channel”. With that meaning dropped, the name no longer makes sense. To compete against Bloomberg News and Fox Business, CNBC needs a vivid and distinctive name of its own.

The peacock cannot be a chameleon showing different colors in different situations. NBC in the eyes of viewers is one singular brand idea, whether expressed within MSNBC, MSNBC.com or CNBC.  To stand out in the market, each brand needs a new name and identity.

More on Naming:
Six Factors for a Memorable, Motivating Brand Name
History of Great Brand Names: How Best Known Brands Were Named
Styles and Types of Company and Product Names
How to Choose a Name
Naming in Our Web 2.0 World
Does Your Approach to Naming Your Company Products and Services Support Your Business Strategy?
How Different Companies Have Approached Naming Products and Services
Case Study: Rebranding Proxios
Selected Name Portfolio