The Power of Facebook

A quick status update on facebook and low and behold more input than I could cope with:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=155013527858053&v=app_2373072738#!/topic.php?uid=155013527858053&topic=238

The Power of Webcams and the iPhone

So after opening the flood gates to my contacts I decided to have a chat with 4 people - my wife, my step father, my mum and a close Czech friend... Now I know your going to say cheat (after all the task was to get out of the comfort zone) and I wouldn't blame you! But bear in mind that I had input via facebook from an analyst at Nielsen, a graphic designer, two finance directors, a journalist, a teacher, a marketing director, an innovation manager, 2 students, a retired housewife and a retired politician...

So my videos are:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=155013527858053&v=app_2392950137#!/video/video.php?v=431168574271&oid=155013527858053

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=155013527858053&v=app_2392950137#!/video/video.php?v=470012880148&oid=155013527858053

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=155013527858053&v=app_2392950137#!/video/video.php?v=469981445148&oid=155013527858053

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=155013527858053&v=app_2392950137#!/video/video.php?v=430704514271&oid=155013527858053

So what did I learn?

So I have 4 videos covering Nespresso (http://www.nespresso.com/); Hunter Wellies (http://hunterwellies.net/); BMW (http://www.bmw.com/); Dyson Vacuum (http://www.dyson.co.uk/); Weleda Cosmetics (http://www.weleda.com/); and DD Fashion (http://www2.didi.be/)

The question is what can be learnt from a rag tag collection of a coffee maker, wellington boots, a car, a vacuum cleaner, a cosmetics brand and a fashion label?

Well here we go...

They all play to real needs - be it the need for stimulation, the need to keep your feet dry and warm, the need to get you from A to B in comfort, the need to hoover the dog hair, the need to make sure your safe from chemicals or the need for one stop shopping for the family... These aren't needs dreamt up by an expensive agency or a well paid brand manager... They are the needs of normal people

The brands go to great lengths to create an experience - Be it the boutique, the online store, the post sales after care, or a range of different products all under one brand... These brands offer a perceived experience for each individual that makes the purchasing and using a joy.

All the brands offer Quality - Call it quality... call it value... call it whatever you want... But for the people I talked to they know what they mean - even if they can't express the definition! The common theme however is the balance between a price paid vs what each individual actually gets from the product... Of course with so many individual themes - what do they want?

People buy into the product - yes... But they also want image - Either a projection of the sort of people that would use the brand; the memories that brands bring up from the past; or an acknowledgement that a brands creative style is "for me"

So what will be my WOW brand of choosing? Read the next post and find out...

So what is my WOW brand?

From clothes to tech; to toys and alcoholic drinks; drinks that are good for you and some that aren't; brands that are food and brands you put on food; places that sell food - eat in or take out; from bras to cosmetics to fragrances; brands that make and play music; cars, jeans and all sorts of other things...

How do you take a list of about 68 brands and whittle it down to one WOW brand? Welcome to the "Tim WOW brand sieve" consisting of 5 simple steps:

• Step 1 - Does the brand play to a real need? To make it easier - it has to be easily seen by me!
• Step 2 - Does the brand go to great lengths to create an experience? Again to simplify the experience has to be recognisable and multifaceted
• Step 3 - Does the brand offer quality and value? To make this call (given that people can't define what they mean) I'm going to assume the following - is the price clear and are the benefits clear?
• Step 4 - Does the brand give access to a personal and positive image? Basically anything that looks like it isn't a brand is out
• Step 5 - And this is the clincher... If a WOW brand is there to excite, delight and inspire... Then by definition it has to be creating a buzz... I'm therefore going to take the liberty to say "any brand I have never heard of is off the list"... A bit dramatic, given my demographic and needs based profile, but an elegant solution (!!!!! WARNING!!!! By making this simple step I have of course biased the whole selection process as I'm a 35 year old English man, with a private education, a great family etc etc etc)

So... The brands that make it via this 5 step process?

Facebook, Hunter Boots, Ikea, Innocent, Guinness, Lego and Apple

From a list of 68 to 7... Not bad... But what am I going to choose?

"A small brick that can connect to other small bricks to make cool things"

On balance Lego topped it - not only does it meet a need, create an experience, provide real quality at a great price, and provide image... A brand that was launched in 1946 and is still going strong has to be a WOW brand!

A little footnote... It was a real hard choice between Lego and Facebook... Lego won as Facebook is still young and we have no idea what technology could be round the corner that will usurp Facebook from its dominant place... Imagine a world without lego!

And one final thought...

How come almost all the brands that made my first list, the short list and Lego itself are actually company names rather than brands? Must be a learning in there...