Objective and opinionated insights on current trends in corporate branding, advertising, marketing, sales, and PR communication strategies; all colored with pithy punditry and comments on the current events of the day.
The headline says it all. Feel free to retweet. Ok to hit “like”..Forward this link.. Westport Ct consulting firm JLC Group is offering its public relations services as a professional courtesy (aka free of charge) to corporate brands who wish to publicly demonstrate their protest of new laws that violate all presumed norms of human society imposed this week by by the Sultan of Brunei , the de facto leader of the world’s 5th richest country. According to the reincarnated view of Sharia law, the new edicts on this Islamic-led monarchy imposes corporal punishment on any accused homosexual, dismemberment for those found guilty of petty theft, and let’s not forget : death by stoning of any woman determined (by a court of religious zealots) to have committed adultery. Did we forget to add, according to this law, their definition of adultery (which could easily be a copyright violation from a Game of Thrones episode), does not accept an act of rape as a defense against the charge of adultery. It doesn’t matter how; if you got screwed, you are screwed. You could be gang-raped by Islamic militants with bombs strapped to their backs and pointing AK-47s at your child’s head, but you’d still be guilty of adultery. And, your punishment will have you stoned to death. How’s that for modern civilization?
There are a variety of reasons why aspiring and accomplished brand leaders across the spectrum of industries (well, maybe not all industries or companies..) should want to further define your corporate ethos, if only to your stakeholders, by taking a public stance in protest of the Brunei madness. Presumably, you’ll want your message to be more impactful than simply announcing your boycott of private and corporate events taking place at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Financial Services Brand Marketing 101: For those who aspire to be considered thought-leaders within the financial industry, this interview clip courtesy of CNBC is a perfect example of thought-leadership..and underscores the [obvious] need for aspiring 'experts' to be fluent in the subject matter and to frame your thesis in a crisp and clear manner. Kudos to Neil Azous of Rareview Macro re his 'CNBC debut appearance' (fast forward to the 2-minute market on the video for his presentation)
Kudos to NYT John Grossman re today’s front page (business section) story profiling companies that have embraced risque words within corporate name.
And, hats off to the disruptive entrepreneurs who have successfully pushed the envelope and proven that shock and awe within their brand promotion schemes can push them to the top of mindshare. Best case in point: Richard Branson use of “virgin” within each of all of his corporate brands
Per article (link below), when the artisian maker of non-allergenic, high-fiber breakfast cereal changed the name from the bland tasting name “Hapi Cereal” to “Holy Crap”, sales rose 10x (that’s TEN-FOLD!)….One example doesn’t make a story, but the number of examples cited by the NYT reporter strikes at the heart of why risque is not only tongue-in-cheek-fun, but can prove very rewarding to those who focus on connecting the tag line to the bottom line.. And yes, that last phrase happens to be The JLC Group corporate slogan.
Fat Bastard and SassyBitch wines, Kickass Cupcakes, Big Ass Fans (formerly known as “HVLS Fan Company”), “Master Bait & Tackle Co. (a fishing supply firm), a construction company that changed its name to “Mammoth Erection” from “David Hall Construction” and “HelloFlo” (a feminine hygiene brand) are all cited in the article for having enjoyed spiked sales subsequent to migrating from plain jane monikers to shock and awe approaches.
Caveat: if your email domain emulates the risque phrase, you’re at risk of corporate emails winding up in recipient spam folders. Another caveat: if you market to global audience, the name you select could insult a local culture and incite a riot..and not the laughing kind…
What will push-advertisers think of next? The latest strategy: inserting ads into your email calendar!”
Courtesy of NY Times April 22 by Andrew Adam Newman “For a New Burt’s Bees Line, Check Your Calendar”
“..WHILE it may seem that advertising is everywhere, one place marketers have not infiltrated is the popular calendar software on computers, smartphones and tablets. But now, in what Burt’s Bees says is a marketing first, the natural personal care brand is introducing promotional messages that will appear as appointments in electronic calendars like those by Microsoft, Apple, Google and Yahoo…
The calendar promotion is by Baldwin& in Raleigh, N.C., the agency of record for Burt’s Bees, with interactive development by RecCenter, a digital agency in New York. Burt’s Bees, which was founded in Maine in 1984, is now based in Durham, N.C., and owned by the Clorox Company.
Katharine Belloir, a Baldwin& account supervisor, said she believed this was the first time a brand was interacting with consumers via their online datebooks, and that it could prove more intimate than social media.
The JLC Group is pleased to announce that Rareview Macro LLC, the Stamford, CT-based advisory and publisher of “Sight Beyond Sight”, a daily macro-strategy newsletter subscribed to by leading investment managers and hedge funds focused on global events and related investment strategy ideas and insights, has engaged JLC to advise the firm and implement a menu of brand awareness, business development, corporate public relations and marcom-centric initiatives.
Rareview Macro LLC principal Neil Azous is a 20-year financial industry veteran who, prior to forming Rareview, spent much of his professional career in senior, trading market strategy roles for the world’s leading investment banks. Since launching “Sight Beyond Sight” in late 2013, Mr. Azous has been frequently cited by leading industry news publications for his expert insight to global geo-political and macro-economic events impacting equities, fixed income, commodities and currency markets. In addition to proffering opportunistic, yet objective alpha-generating and risk mitigation ideas to highly-sophisticated investment managers and hedge funds, Mr. Azous also provides consultative portfolio management guidance to clients of Rareview Macro.
Now that Macau has become the gambling capital of the Far East, the Near
East, Western Europe and of course “The West”– all courtesy of the Las
Vegas legacy and Vegas-style, star-studded attractions emulated by every
casino venue on the Planet Earth, more than a few of Wall Street’s top
gaming industry’s analysts, along with the entertainment industry’s
branding gurus, Hollywood talent agents and corporate sponsorship sales
genies think its time to bet big that at least a handful of the major
Macau hotel/casino marketer will want to import Vince Van Patten,
aka World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Spokesman/Star to promote their
venue. For those handicapping celeb spokespeople and Vegas caliber
whale-catchers, Vince is someone with more than a few extra cards up his
sleeve; aside from a 5-star celeb rating and for being the top gun calling the
shots at major poker tourneys broadcast to global viewers, Vince’s CV
includes his being a world-ranked professional tennis ace, a
celeb-pro-level golfer who is close-to-scratch-on-the links, thanks to a mean 9 iron, AND two dozen+
credits as a major film and TV actor.
Let’s not forget, Vince is without a doubt, one of the most
entertaining folks you’d ever want to cross paths with…Now, Vince Van Patten’s
lawyer/talent agent has tapped The JLC Group’s corporate sponsorship practice to
field inquiries from Macau-located major hotel/casino venue EVP marketers and
sponsorship execs who know that your deck needs to be stacked and that it
requires star power to rake in the whales, and in turn, the chips. If you fall
into that category, you’re cordially invited to dial us in; but only the smart
ones who know that American icon celebs are the biggest brand magnets for
high-rolling whales and your 4-star guests.
To Shelly Adelson’s exec team re
Sands Macao: Don’t stand on ceremony, even if your stock price keeps heading
higher; Vince is who you want on your team..sign him up now–before
one of your competitors shoes him in. All you need to do is watch the
sizzle reel below to know this is the safest bet you can make.
Let’s
not forget, Vince is without a doubt, one of the most entertaining
folks you’d ever want to cross paths with…Now, Vince Van Patten’s
lawyer/talent agent has tapped The JLC Group’s corporate sponsorship
practice to field inquiries from Macau-located major hotel/casino venue
EVP marketers and sponsorship execs who know that your deck needs to be
stacked and that it requires star power to rake in the whales, and in
turn, the chips. If you fall into that category, you’re cordially
invited to dial us in; but only the smart ones who know that American
icon celebs are the biggest brand magnets for high-rolling whales and
your 4-star guests. To Shelly Adelson’s exec team re Sands Macao: Don’t
stand on - See more at:
http://thejlcgroup.com/macau-hotel-casino-moguls-go-sign-tennis-ace-wpt-poker-celeb-vince-van-patten/#sthash.4DvIy3kI.dpuf
Let’s
not forget, Vince is without a doubt, one of the most entertaining
folks you’d ever want to cross paths with…Now, Vince Van Patten’s
lawyer/talent agent has tapped The JLC Group’s corporate sponsorship
practice to field inquiries from Macau-located major hotel/casino venue
EVP marketers and sponsorship execs who know that your deck needs to be
stacked and that it requires star power to rake in the whales, and in
turn, the chips. If you fall into that category, you’re cordially
invited to dial us in; but only the smart ones who know that American
icon celebs are the biggest brand magnets for high-rolling whales and
your 4-star guests. To Shelly Adelson’s exec team re Sands Macao: Don’t
stand on ceremony, even if your stock price keeps heading higher; Vince
is who you want on your team..sign him up now–before
one of your competitors shoes him in. All you need to do is watch the
sizzle reel below to know this is the safest bet you can make. - See
more at:
http://thejlcgroup.com/macau-hotel-casino-moguls-go-sign-tennis-ace-wpt-poker-celeb-vince-van-patten/#sthash.4DvIy3kI.dpuf
Let’s
not forget, Vince is without a doubt, one of the most entertaining
folks you’d ever want to cross paths with…Now, Vince Van Patten’s
lawyer/talent agent has tapped The JLC Group’s corporate sponsorship
practice to field inquiries from Macau-located major hotel/casino venue
EVP marketers and sponsorship execs who know that your deck needs to be
stacked and that it requires star power to rake in the whales, and in
turn, the chips. If you fall into that category, you’re cordially
invited to dial us in; but only the smart ones who know that American
icon celebs are the biggest brand magnets for high-rolling whales and
your 4-star guests. To Shelly Adelson’s exec team re Sands Macao: Don’t
stand on ceremony, even if your stock price keeps heading higher; Vince
is who you want on your team..sign him up now–before
one of your competitors shoes him in. All you need to do is watch the
sizzle reel below to know this is the safest bet you can make. - See
more at:
http://thejlcgroup.com/macau-hotel-casino-moguls-go-sign-tennis-ace-wpt-poker-celeb-vince-van-patten/#sthash.4DvIy3kI.dpuf
Let’s not forget, Vince is without a doubt, one of the most
entertaining folks you’d ever want to cross paths with…Now, Vince Van
Patten’s lawyer/talent agent has tapped The JLC Group’s corporate
sponsorship practice to field inquiries from Macau-located major
hotel/casino venue EVP marketers and sponsorship execs who know that
your deck needs to be stacked and that it requires star power to rake in
the whales, and in turn, the chips. If you fall into that category,
you’re cordially invited to dial us in; but only the smart ones who know
that American icon celebs are the biggest brand magnets for
high-rolling whales and your 4-star guests. To Shelly Adelson’s exec
team re Sands Macao: Don’t stand on ceremony, even if your stock price
keeps heading higher; Vince is who you want on your team..sign him up
now–before one of your competitors shoes him
in. All you need to do is watch the sizzle reel below to know this is
the safest bet you can make.
- See more at:
http://thejlcgroup.com/macau-hotel-casino-moguls-go-sign-tennis-ace-wpt-poker-celeb-vince-van-patten/#sthash.4DvIy3kI.dpuf
Now
that Macau has become the gambling capital of the Far East, the Near
East, Western Europe and of course “The West”– all courtesy of the Las
Vegas legacy and Vegas-style, star-studded attractions emulated by every
casino venue on the Planet Earth, more than a few of Wall Street’s top
gaming industry’s analysts, along with the entertainment industry’s
branding gurus, Hollywood talent agents and corporate sponsorship sales
genies think its time to bet big that at least a handful of the major
Macau hotel/casino marketer will want to import Vince Van Patten,
aka World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Spokesman/Star to promote their
venue. For those handicapping celeb spokespeople and Vegas caliber
whale-catchers, Vince is someone with more than a few extra cards up his
sleeve; aside from a 5-star celeb rating and the top gun calling the
shots at major poker tourneys broadcast to global viewers, Vince’s CV
includes his being a world-ranked professional tennis ace, a
close-to-scratch-on-the links, thanks to a mean 9 iron, AND two dozen+
credits as a major film and TV actor.
Let’s not forget, Vince is without a doubt, one of the most
entertaining folks you’d ever want to cross paths with…Now, Vince Van
Patten’s lawyer/talent agent has tapped The JLC Group’s corporate
sponsorship practice to field inquiries from Macau-located major
hotel/casino venue EVP marketers and sponsorship execs who know that
your deck needs to be stacked and that it requires star power to rake in
the whales, and in turn, the chips. If you fall into that category,
you’re cordially invited to dial us in; but only the smart ones who know
that American icon celebs are the biggest brand magnets for
high-rolling whales and your 4-star guests. To Shelly Adelson’s exec
team re Sands Macao: Don’t stand on ceremony, even if your stock price
keeps heading higher; Vince is who you want on your team..sign him up
now–before one of your competitors shoes him
in. All you need to do is watch the sizzle reel below to know this is
the safest bet you can make.
- See more at:
http://thejlcgroup.com/macau-hotel-casino-moguls-go-sign-tennis-ace-wpt-poker-celeb-vince-van-patten/#sthash.4DvIy3kI.dpuf
Not 1, but 2 of The JLC Group’s clients were recognized for their excellence by a panel of financial industry peers who were assembled by top financial news media platform Pageant Media (which has 11 mastheads in their digital and print portfolio) to weigh ‘best-in-class’ service providers…in a competition that fielded 100 of Wall Street’s best known firms.
Taking home the gold medal in the category “Best Research/Broker-Dealer” the 2014 Wall Street Letter Institutional Trading Awards went to Mischler Financial Group–which also happens to be the industry’s oldest and largest minority firm owned and operated by service-disabled veterans.. ..
WallachBeth Capital LLC Mgn.Dir. Tom Quigley (l) accepts industry award for Best DMA Offerings
In the category “Best DMA (Direct Market Access) Offerings”, which recognizes top gun trading technology capabilities–a category typically over-weighted by firms whose names are ubiquitous across the global trading market landscape, the industry judges gave the gold to boutique execution specialist firm WallachBeth Capital. Runner ups were Bloomberg LP’s Tradebook, among others.
Both of above-noted firms were also “in the medal” and short-listed nominees for perhaps the most important of the WSL 2014 award 20 categories: “Best Client-Service/Broker-Dealer.” The winners were awarded their honors during a gala event attended by 250+ of Wall Street’s finest in NYC on Feb 24.
It seems the flavor of the week for marketing wonks is story-telling, which is necessarily the art of using metaphors to articulate what sets you apart from the rest. Enough can’t be said about the impact of using metaphors within a business setting, whether in the course of internal discussions to relay the importance of a new product or initiative, in a ‘client-facing’ mode, or my favorite: when making a large audience presentation.
Once you accept the above premise, here are some pointers:
The metaphor should necessarily be one that will resonate with your recipient.
Reminding us of the “know your customer/prospect rule.”
i.Before engaging in a dialogue,you either already posses, or you will research and capture as much intel (business as well as personal interests) that will enable you to make an educated guess when selecting appropriate metaphors that illustrate your value proposition.
ii.Even if you believe you know your customer, be deferential and solicit your target to share what his/her ‘hot buttons’ are.
iii.Present yourself as being objectively informed, not presumptuous as to the intentions/motivations and goals of your target.
7 Signs You Need A Metaphor
Your listener is confused.
Your client is stuck on an objection.
Your client sees no difference between you and your competition.
You want to drive home a point vividly and memorably.
If you’re outsourcing B2B and IR-related brand management services, you obviously want to use a firm (or expert consultant) that “gets it” when it comes to you, your business and what you want to accomplish, even before you do. Someone that is fluent in your industry, what you do within that industry, your competitors, your customer base, and most important: the most innovative ways to influence how your enterprise is perceived. You want someone that is both a corporate-level sales guru and marketing madman, and also sensitive to your cost/benefit concerns. And of course, someone you can trust to manage your expectations properly, which means they under-promise and over-deliver more often than not.
If you find yourself switching ‘agencies’ too often, or if you have ongoing frustration with what you expect vs. what you are getting from your ‘consultant’, its likely those vendors were (are) missing 3 of the most critical qualifications noted above.
Will somebody tell me why major news media outlets are hosting ‘experts’ to continuously debate the “rights” of Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson??
I’ll tell you why-or rather, if only because nobody at CNBC knew how to put the issue into real perspective: its because Duck Dynasty has in just one year, become a $400 million annual revenue business. That’s right, the real story, not the reality TV version, is that the brouhaha that has since taken over any remaining intellect on the part of CNN’s programming team, is about money. Do-Re-Me. $400 million a year’s worth.
It is not about any so-called debate as to whether Phil Robertson’s constitutional rights have been violated; A&E, the network that airs this modern version of Beverly Hills Hillbillies, is a corporation whose business is business. Like any other entertainment company, they pay for content that entertains, but they reserve the right to cancel those payment agreements if they, in their sole determination, determine it is not in their best business interest to continue to broadcast said content. This happens when too many members of the audience voice their displeasure and protest, and in turn, causes sponsors/advertisers to cancel their agreements in conformance with standard clauses.
Let’s put this into perspective. The Ducksters attract the world’s biggest retailer’s audience. We’re talking about Walmart. Walmart is the store du jour every day of the week for a vast majority of our country’s underemployed, “economically-disenfranchised” and financially-challenged. This includes a vast population of rednecks such as the personas the Robertson family works hard at emulating. Along the way, their raking in $400 million a year (or at least their ‘brand’ is courtesy of multiple licensing, advertising and sponsorship deals on top of merchandising deals).
Which brings me back to the opening rhetorical: why are seemingly intelligent news organizations dedicating so much air time to this issue, and more important, why are they framing it as if A&E’s corporate decision should be misconstrued for being anything more than a corporate decision?
Is it because programming execs are focused on maintaining the highest standards of journalism, and reporting stories that have a meaningful impact on society? Do these media czars really and truly believe that this issue even deserves consideration for being a ‘constitutional rights’ debate? Help me by emailing me and telling me this can’t be true.
Or, have the lunatics taken over the asylum and we can attribute this latest insert into the news cycle for the latest rendition of an industry that is merely focused on serving up crap that advertisers are happy to underwrite, simply because the diners are zombies who happen to like eating crap and the other low-priced items those advertisers happen to sell?
By the way, the Ducksters and the folks at A&E are salivating because this ‘incident’ has just added a 2x factor to the value of the Duck Dynasty franchise. The major news networks will simply be remembered for their irresponsibility for profiling this most current example of human stupidity, while the Ducksters laugh all the way to the bank.
