Powerful Branding: Death Cigarettes
Powerful Branding: Death Cigarettes
How can you create a powerful brand? Follow the advice of UK entrepreneur BJ Cunningham. This is so good.
BJ created a company called The Enlightened Tobacco Company in 1991, selling a cigarette called “Death Cigarettes”. It was presented in a black package emblazoned with a white skull-and-crossbones logo. Just imagine how this might appeal to the rebels.
His premise was to take a position that none of the other cigarette companies was taking. Great advice - and at the time all the tobacco companies were denying any ill effects of smoking tobacco. The branding in the cigarette business was all about life style - cowboy, sophisticate, artist, debutante - imaginary stuff, and all lies.
So why not be different from the crowd and admit the truth. Come on - smokers today know that tobacco smoking is bad for you. Tell a smoker that cigarettes can kill you and they will tell you, “Hey, it's my life.”
So here are the words of 'branding brilliance' that resonated with me.
There are two ways you can create a brand - either with oodles of money or creative positioning.
Nike does it with oodles of money.
Death Cigarettes did it with creative positioning as Cunningham explained in his three rules:
1. Take a polarized position.
2. Make enemies.
3. Create tension.
Examine your position. How creative is it? If you have oodles of money like Nike then spend it on your brand. Otherwise, the only way you will build your brand is by creative positioning.
Take a position away from the crowd. Stand where no one else is standing.
Be bold. Be prepared to disagree with the status quo and make enemies along the way. Pick your market and be willing to annoy others.
Create tension. Make people choose. Create a controversy. Coke or Pepsi . Windows or Mac.
Who else can you think of that has created their brand by following these three rules of creative brand positioning?
Harley Davidson jumps to mind immediately. People love them or hate them. That is powerful branding. Remember, branding is about creating powerful emotions.
Are you ready to create your brand?
If so, follow these three rules for creative brand positioning:
1. Take a polarized position.
2. Make enemies.
3. Create tension.
You will need to be bold. You will upset some - mainly your competition and those who never buy from you. Can you live with that?
Have you noticed that the strongest brands have lots of enemies? Pick your friends and enemies and watch your brand soar.
Powerful Branding Death Cigarettes - To learn more about this author, visit George Torok's Website.
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Branding: Death Cigarettes
How can you create a powerful brand? Follow the advice of UK entrepreneur BJ Cunningham. This is so good.
BJ created a company called The Enlightened Tobacco Company in 1991, selling a cigarette called “Death Cigarettes”. It was presented in a black package emblazoned with a white skull-and-crossbones logo. Just imagine how this might appeal to the rebels.
His premise was to take a position that none of the other cigarette companies was taking. Great advice - and at the time all the tobacco companies were denying any ill effects of smoking tobacco. The branding in the cigarette business was all about life style - cowboy, sophisticate, artist, debutante - imaginary stuff, and all lies.
So why not be different from the crowd and admit the truth. Come on - smokers today know that tobacco smoking is bad for you. Tell a smoker that cigarettes can kill you and they will tell you, “Hey, it's my life.”
So here are the words of 'branding brilliance' that resonated with me.
There are two ways you can create a brand - either with oodles of money or creative positioning.
Nike does it with oodles of money.
Death Cigarettes did it with creative positioning as Cunningham explained in his three rules:
1. Take a polarized position.
2. Make enemies.
3. Create tension.
Examine your position. How creative is it? If you have oodles of money like Nike then spend it on your brand. Otherwise, the only way you will build your brand is by creative positioning.
Take a position away from the crowd. Stand where no one else is standing.
Be bold. Be prepared to disagree with the status quo and make enemies along the way. Pick your market and be willing to annoy others.
Create tension. Make people choose. Create a controversy. Coke or Pepsi . Windows or Mac.
Who else can you think of that has created their brand by following these three rules of creative brand positioning?
Harley Davidson jumps to mind immediately. People love them or hate them. That is powerful branding. Remember, branding is about creating powerful emotions.
Are you ready to create your brand?
If so, follow these three rules for creative brand positioning:
1. Take a polarized position.
2. Make enemies.
3. Create tension.
You will need to be bold. You will upset some - mainly your competition and those who never buy from you. Can you live with that?
Have you noticed that the strongest brands have lots of enemies? Pick your friends and enemies and watch your brand soar.
Powerful Branding Death Cigarettes - To learn more about this author, visit George Torok's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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