What is a vision when attached to a corporation? On the surface, it is a long-term statement of what that company hopes to achieve, sometimes using strategic language, other times they are packed with fluffy adjectives and unspecific aims.  Having analysed around 50 of these visions, I have chosen two I think are particularly similar. Your challenge is to work out which vision belongs to which company:

Vision A:
“The greatest challenge in business today is to renew a successful company — positioning it for long-term growth and profitability while performing in the current marketplace. This is a challenge we embrace. The …..…… has always been our beloved, iconic brands that drive our sustainable derive from the consumer appeal of our brands and position us to perform in a world that is rapidly changing.”

Vision B:
“[Our vision is] to be most highly valued by the customers we serve, the communities in which we operate, our loyal and committed staff and our shareholders; to be a growth company; a modern and innovative company and winning locally, applying our skills globally.”

Although these visions can be distinguished on some levels, how meaningful are they to the company that uses them, if most other companies are using the same key words in theirs?

If everyone is talking about international growth, being No. 1 and staying committed to innovation of exciting, sustainable products, then it seems everyone is converging on the same point.

I was struck when walking through Heathrow by the great use that brands make of this type of space – and of a captive audience.

Jack Daniels currently has an area dedicated to experiencing whisky, which really brings to life the brand’s values, time, care, quality ingredients and American heritage – a great way to make the link to its new ‘Gentleman Jack’ launch, which I doubt I would have noticed otherwise, and certainly would have been unlikely to link back to Jack Daniels.

I recently discovered a new product brand that stands out for me as one of the most innovative launches of its type that I’ve seen in quite some time. The brand? tap™, from Australian utilities company Sydney Water.

The story behind the product is simple, straightforward and compelling. Faced with the proliferation of  expensive, environmentally unfriendly, bottled mineral waters in cafés, bars and restaurants, Sydney Water created a competitive product of its own – tap water.

“tap™ is a product of Sydney Water and is readily available across the Sydney region. It’s the most sustainable choice when it comes to quenching your thirst and is piped directly to just about everywhere for your convenience.

tap™ was launched by Sydney Water to help reverse the current trend of paying way too much for drinking water – not only with our money – but also with our environment.

Because tap™ comes directly from the source right to your tap it doesn’t require any packaging or shipping – so is much better for the environment.  And in terms of quality, our water is world-class.”

It’s a brilliant case study of a business that really has out-thought, rather than out-spent, its competitors – and one to which we at The Value Engineers would be delighted to raise a glass.

Bottoms up!

SHE SAYS…

Ah, the poor lambs. With their traditional sanctums invaded by rabid female hordes, and their manhood mocked by brands from Maltesers to Tesco, it’s small wonder that men are finding consolation in a new era of products positioned squarely at owners of the ‘Y’ chromosome.

Equally, those of us working in the relevant industries were unsurprised to hear the vociferous complaints of the small female contingent offended by what apparently constitutes yet more evidence of sexism in marketing.

The concept itself is nothing new: Nestlé’s Yorkie famously made headlines with its ‘Not for girls’ packaging and ads in 2002. So what lies behind the recent increase in the number of male-branded products?

The answer has little to do with any male movement to reclaim their somewhat scuffed leather armchairs. We can summarise in two words: pink and blue. The sad fact is that it’s almost impossible to persuade little boys to wear pink – however much their parents may wish to fight gender stereotypes.  In contrast, while most little girls may go through a ‘princess’ stage, few will want all traces of blue expunged from their wardrobes. As any self-respecting kids’ marketer knows, boys won’t buy girls’ products, but girls will buy boys’ products.

The same holds true for their older brothers and sisters – and it’s here that we find the justification for ‘men-only’ products. Want guys to drink alcopops? Show them it’s one over on the missus. Struggling to persuade men that it’s okay to go low-calorie? Tell them it’s the drink women won’t ‘get’. By positioning a product under a veneer of gender-led exclusivity, marketers know they can tap that famous male pride – without ruling out the opposite sex.

Because the simple fact is, it won’t stop us from helping ourselves to your WKD or your Dr Pepper Ten. In fact, it might just make us keener. In the end, it comes down to that basic relationship principle: what’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is mine too. Bad luck, boys!

Last night saw celebrations taking place across the globe, as people everywhere celebrated Chinese New Year and welcomed in the Year of the Dragon.

So what could that mean for brands? Aside from the usual plethora of promotional activities, targeted advertising and tourism campaigns, there are some interesting lessons for brand managers everywhere.

According to the Chinese zodiac, those born in the Year of the Dragon share certain characteristics. Take a look, and see how many of these four key elements you recognise in a brand around you.

• Dragons are the free spirits of the zodiac;  irrepressibly energetic and happy to ignore the rules and regulations that those around them try to impose.
• Everything a Dragon does is writ large:  flamboyant gestures, revolutionary ideas, prodigious ambitions.
• Dragons are innovative and highly adaptable. Where others stumble around the obstacles, they’ll find new paths to their end goal.
• Given all of the above, it’s no surprise that Dragons are brave, enterprising, and confident in their vision – but it’s anchored in a real passion for what they believe in.

I asked some of my colleagues to identify brands they felt were Dragons: brands that may not have been born under its sign, but certainly should have been. Some of the answers were predictable (Richard Branson, we salute you!) while others are more surprising…

Our nominations for the top 10 brands of the Dragon: 

• Virgin
• Innocent
• Red Bull
• Apple
• Dyson
• HSBC
• Google
• Facebook
• Jamie Oliver
• Absolut

But how do you go about turning your brand into a Dragon? Here are our top five tips for greatness:

1.  Write your messages large

In today’s world of multiplicity, even the most compelling brands can struggle to fit themselves into a single box. As long as your brand philosophy remains consistent, you can vary your propositions by audience, product or service. Let’s return to Virgin: from gyms to financial services to space flight, each sub-brand has a very different proposition – yet each is recognisably part of the Virgin DNA.

2.  Have the confidence to say ‘No’

Too many brands are wary of shutting down avenues or audiences, so find themselves falling prey to the old saw: ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’. Marmite does it brilliantly: it’s unashamedly proud of the divisive taste of its product, and takes every opportunity to celebrate it. The end result? Even those of us who hate the taste can’t help but love the brand.

3.  Don’t let your customer make the rules

Of course, the customer’s needs and wants are hugely important – no-one’s denying it. But it’s easy to spend so much time listening to customer feedback that you forget your core purpose. Remember: insights drive marketing; visions drive brands. Where would Body Shop be today without Anita Roddick’s passion for change? Or Disney without Walt’s mission to make people happy?

4.  Adapt, adapt – and adapt again

Easy to say, much harder to do. If you keep running into a brick wall with a particular issue, it’s time to switch tracks. What’s the problem behind the problem? What’s the elephant in the room – the big issue everyone knows and no-one talks about? What can you steal from your competition? Or from another industry?

5.  Be a free spirit

Your mother always told you it was wrong, but when it comes to brands, a little bit of deviancy can be a very good thing.  Take the practice of market research as an example. Over the past decade, insight gathering has become established as a core tenet of good marketing practice, with new methodologies providing smarter, faster and deeper results. The unfortunate effect is that most brands are asking the same sorts of questions of the same sorts of consumers in the same sorts of ways – and getting to the same answers.  It’s a recipe for blanding, not branding. If that’s something you’re guilty of, it’s time to get deviant.

So as we go forward into the Year of the Dragon, why not take the time to stop and think about how your brand could breathe a bit more fire? And while you’re at it, feel free to share your nominations for the new brands of the Dragon with us, either here or on Twitter.

Gong Xi Fa Cai, one and all!