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Burn Notice is one of the best shows on TV. It’s funny, smart and sophisticated. Sort of like Bond meets The Equalizer, meets MacGyver. Part of their new pre-Emmy promo piece branding includes invisible ink and a quest for information:

The kit is mailed to voting members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, includes 12 episodes of the show on four DVDs, a UV flashlight and a lot of white space. Small print reads: “Steps: 1. Use this flashlight to reveal hidden text. 2. Deny you ever used this flashlight.”

Hat tip to http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/ for the image and info.

If you haven’t seen the show rent season 1 and catch up on season 2. My wife Nicci and I Iove it!

Is it me or have I have just agreed again with Seth Godin? His latest blog “You Get What You Pay For” is right on point. Here’s a snippet:

If you don’t like bait and switch marketing, where promises don’t match the product, don’t buy it.

If you don’t like snarky, angry blogs, don’t read them.

If you deplore the lousy service at big chains or certain airlines, don’t shop there, even if it’s cheaper.

In other words, stop whining about it. You don’t like the way you’re treated on American Airlines don’t freakin buy another ticket with them! If enough people actually follow through guess what happens?

Change!

Obama is about change, right? McCain is about experience, right?

So instead of moving their brand identities forward they both drop the ball big time and react to the market. Reacting is not good.

Obama should have selected Hilary Clinton. She would have helped move Obama’s message forward, that of change. Instead Obama selects an old stodgy democrat that is the OPPOSITE of change.

So McCain has a big chance now. All he has to do is pick Romney, Mr. Business. That seals the deal, right? But McCain reacts and clearly decides to capture the woman vote. Palin is the OPPOSITE of experience.

So we have Obama choosing an over experienced running mate that’s change adverse and McCain who selects an under experienced woman that seems to stand for change.

Think of it this way:

If either Obama or McCain god forbid die in office who do you want to be the next President?

Biden: Change averse with experience (sounds like McCain) or Palin: For Change no experience (sounds like Obama).

Go figure, what say you Kahuna’s? Did Obama and McCain make good branding decisions?

Sometimes I just can’t wait for the daily comics. Today I got a BIG chuckle when I read that Baskin Robbins (a childhood favorite of mine) will be selling chocolate fondue, cheesecake on a stick, caramel ginger apple crisp, and ice cream cake by the slice. Read the full story here.

Wow, I bet the kids can’t wait to dig into that fondue huh? This is in-line with Dunkin Donuts (who owns Baskin) and there recent food strategy that my friend Jonathan Salem Baskin wrote about a few weeks ago. For a very funny read on that click here.

Here’s what the “guru’s” at Baskin had to say:

“It’s part ice cream experience, dessert theater, and test kitchen all rolled into one,” said Ken Kimmel, Baskin-Robbins’ vice president of the Cafe 31 concept. The Cafe 31 launch is the latest effort by executives at the country’s second-largest frozen dessert chain to revitalize the brand.

“The mix-in concept of chains like MaggieMoo’s and Cold Stone really changed the ice cream business, giving customers customization, interaction, and theater,” said Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president of food service strategies at WD Partners in Ohio. “Baskin-Robbins is finally introducing theater to its brand. Baskin has needed to create more of an experience in the store, and by offering cake by the slice and sundae stations, it is attempting to leap frog the mix-in shops.”

Wow, dessert theatre, how nice

Look here’s what’s screwy about this. Theses Baskin people have lost serious focus on their brand. I don’t and will never go to Baskin Robbins for a slice of cheesecake. By offering more products they just water down their brand. What’s next, fat free cheesecake? Focus, focus, focus.

Cold Stone offers and engaging experience based on seriously remarkable product. Baskin’s Ice Cream is NO where as good as Cold Stone’s. They sell to different targets (Baskin is more family friendly and Cold Stone is premium). Here’s what Cold Stone had to say:

Cold Stone spokeswoman Anne Christenson said: “We’re flattered that others recognize that these attributes enhance the ice cream experience; however, we feel it is a combination of our interactive and entertaining environment paired with our fresh, made-to-order creations that set us apart.”

So what do you Kahuna’s think? What’s the scoop?

Laura Ries (branding expert) has changed her company name to Ries’ Pieces. Ah, huh?

This is the first thought that came to my mind when I saw the new name:

Here’s a snippet of why she made the name change:

Last week it occurred to me what the perfect name would be. Ries’ Pieces. Pieces is a great triple entendre that describes my blog posts, TV appearances as well as the correct pronunciation of my name.

Now I must say that I’m a big fan of Laura but this name change is weird to me. What’s her brand identity or positioning? Certainly not the fact that she’s a triple threat. And doesn’t it seem juvenile? Help me out here, am I off?

Read about it here

One of my very loyal readers (there’s him, my wife and loving mother) asked me to post his experience with HP.

Here’s David Howse’s wonderful adventure and opinions with HP:

Yesterday I bought a HP 3600N color laser printer which comes with a full 4-color toner set. It cost me $380 (in Canada). I ran a job that day of 1900 copies. This morning I ran out of black. To buy a toner set will cost $520us or over $600 in Canada.

So, who’s good at math? Should I buy the toner set or a new printer? I called HP Canada to help me with the math and they confirmed that $380 was less than $520 and that buying a new printer was cheaper than buying more toner.

With those facts confirmed, I called HP headquarters in Palo Alto to get a response from someone in PR about conflicting messages between Sales and Marketing.http://www.hp.com/sbso/busproducts_printing.html (be resourceful and help save the environment)

Marketing Message:

Sales Message: Chuck that thing in the garbage and get a new one (the printer is one-day old!) I am only inferring that this is the message.

As I navigated my way around the phone system I found the Marketing Support Center. I tried every option and the best was Special Events. Here’s the message,”We are only interested in special events that occur in the year 2005.”

Now I know that this is a marketing discussion, but does this mean that HP has time travel technology? (yeah, I know).

Marketing 2.0: If this is the customer experience at HP, how far is HP from Marketing 2.0? I felt somewhat embarrassed for them. I spent most of my time with tech support because the phone system pushes you in that direction (”let tech support handle it”). The manager truly understood my reasoning but said that she wasn’t allowed to comment on these sorts of things, nor did she have the authority to transfer me out of the department.

I’m more bothered because HP makes great products, it’s a great technology company. Who’s running the marketing?

There you have it. Thank you David for sharing your story on the branding blog. And anyone else that has a good article send it on over.

I mean BIG! Here’s your chance to show some love for the BIG Kahuna (s). Just click and vote for us.

As you know we’ve been a virtual business since 2002 and we all love the fact that we have no formal office. We get more done and can enjoy the things in life we love most. For me it’s the beach and sun and for April it’s taking her son to ball games. We all have our unique reasons for working from home but we all share one thing in common…we’re all very happy.

So vote for us today!

As Yoda would say “hmmm, ruining brand I am”. I’m a HUGE JetBlue fan but lately they’re screwing up…bad. I’ve been reading My JetBlue Lawsuitfrom afar and it’s starting to really get some traction. JetBlue screwed with Bill Baker a witty, funny, smart blogger. Read his saga here.

Anyway, Bill has been really turning the screws to JetBlue so they invited him to a dress rehearsal of their new terminal at JFK airport on August 23. Here’s what one gets by taking part in JetBlue’s gig:

Click to enlarge

Here’s what JetBlue is “giving” you for attending (check out the RSVP date and the party date for a great chuckle):

1. A test Itinerary (to nowhere)

2. Check In at the counter (lines included)

3. Pass through security (lines and possible full body cavity search)

4. Wait (they actual write the word wait) at the assigned gate and board your “flight”

Special note: “Flight” means there is no real flight. You never get to board the plane. You just get to drive to the airport, pay for parking, and then do all the things we most hate when arriving at an airport.

Doesn’t this just sound like a grand time?

JetBlue, what are you thinking?

I wrote several blog articles on Magellan GPS. None of them were flattering based on my personal experience with them.

In this article (written in September 2007):

Nelson Chan - Magellan GPS Navigation - Not A CEO Concerned With Branding we had 836 visits to the page and counting and 39 comments. Just do a search in Google for “Nelson Chan - Magellan GPS Navigation”.

Here is the quick Google result: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2006-18,GGLG:en&q=Nelson+Chan+%2d+Magellan+GPS+Navigation

As you can see if you put the CEOs name and company name our article comes up #1 and #2 in Google (even ahead of Magellan). That’s pretty powerful word of mouth-NEGATIVE.

So you would think that someone at Magellan would be concerned with this and reach out. Nothing. Not even a whisper. They stay silent hoping it will go away. But it won’t go away, ever.

When will companies learn that blogs are here to stay and people now have a voice. A voice that will never go away because of search engines. This article is still ranked #1 and it’s been almost a year.

Blogs can be a brand killer to a company that does not live up to their brand promise, like Magellan. Instead of remaining quite why not reach out and try to communicate with customers? If they had emailed me and asked what they could do to resolve the problem maybe I wouldn’t have continued writing on them.

If you find someone is writing about you in a negative way reach out to them and try to resolve the issues. Comment on their blog and see what you can do to resolve the concerns.

Look at a negative review or blog post as an opportunity to win over a new friend. Don’t let your silence become deafening.