A brand always has internal problems. It's how they deal with those problems in relation to the customer that determines success. And if that problem is made the customer's problem, there's a good chance that it will lose a potentially longterm customer.
Advertising existentialism? Really? Isn't that equal parts highbrow and stupid? No. Because if you understand the need for meaning, it prevents you from creating meaningless advertising. Understanding the need for a message helps your advertising matter--and helps you bring customers to your business.
What will happen when Slow Burn marketing appears live and presents a new brand to 45 employees--changing the business's name and giving it a newly defined mission after 38 years? The results might surprise you.
There may be no better category whose branding and advertising better shows us how to NOT brand and advertise than this one. Blather and ad-speak abound. But it's really not that hard for a small business to do it well--and we see an easy-to-understand example of how it can be done easily and simply with little effort.
The Pepsi Cola and Kendall Jenner fiasco has been dramatically upstaged by Heineken's "Worlds Apart" video, where strangers with opposing world views are forced to cooperate and have a conversation. So, what does this big-brand throw-down have to offer the small-business marketer? Quite a lot actually--especially when it comes to cashing in on emotional content.