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So here’s where policies and procedures can effect your branding. Facebook is banning breastfeeding pictures because it deems them in bad taste and not in line with their policies.

First and foremost Facebook can do whatever it wants with it’s website. If you don’t like their policies then head over to Myspace or some other social site. Period. They have rules and their sticking to them and I actually applaud them for it.

It’s not a matter of whether or not it’s natural to breastfeed. Facebook doesn’t want 14 year olds downloading pictures they deem inappropriate to them. Here’s what they had to say:

Facebook spokeswoman Meredith Chin said Facebook - which has more than 200,000 Australian members and 31 million users worldwide - did not prevent mothers from uploading photos of themselves breastfeeding their babies, but it did remove content that was reported as violating Facebook’s terms of use.

“Photos containing an exposed breast do violate our Terms and are removed,” she said.

Here’s what I find interesting. Mothers aren’t boycotting Facebook but instead have started new groups to voice their concern. Why not just quit Facebook? If you go out to a pizza place and the pizza is not good you don’t go back do you? This is an interesting branding problem don’t you think?

What do you think of the Facebook breastfeeding controversy?

Seriously…is your 2009 marketing plan written? Don’t lie, fib or fool yourself. If you don’t have a marketing plan then you don’t have a way to determine whether you’re spending wisely.

Get a plan. Read about our process here.

The BIGpicture

I was watching TV today when I saw a commercial for a product called Heat Surge. It’s some kind of electrical heater/fireplace. But here’s the kicker….they’re branding it as Amish built.

Now I’m certainly no Amish expert but isn’t electricity against their code?  Here’s an excerpt from a site as it pertains to technology:

The Amish are averse to any technology which they feel weakens the family structure. The conveniences that the rest of us take for granted such as electricity, television, automobiles, telephones and tractors are considered to be a temptation that could cause vanity, create inequality, or lead the Amish away from their close-knit community and, as such, are not encouraged or accepted in most orders. Most Amish cultivate their fields with horse-drawn machinery, live in houses without electricity, and get around in horse-drawn buggies. It is common for Amish communities to allow the use of telephones, but not in the home. Instead, several Amish families will share a telephone in a wooden shanty between farms.

Read more here

If you’re going to focus your brand built by the Amish and tie it to quality why open the door for questions? And is quality associated with the Amish? Does this brand identity makes sense to you?

In the face of a glooming recession, much of the business world has adopted a hang on mentality when it comes to their employees. Rather then having to go through the process of loosing and later replacing productive, experienced workers, many companies are doing whatever they can to keep their workforces intact. Currently, the most popular cost-cutting tactics include: establishing four-day workweeks, unpaid vacations, and flexible work schedules along with wage freezes and cuts in pensions and health care coverage.

But for many smaller businesses even these tactics are not enough to keep them from letting go of their workers, and that can put a tremendous amount of strain on the small business owner.

In a small business where connections to employees naturally tend to run deeper and are more personal, having to lay off workers can be a painful blow- both emotionally and psychologically. Moreover, having to loose employees can often signal the end of a small business (After all, wearing multiple hats can only happen when their are enough heads to wear them.)

If laying-off employees in your small business seems inevitable, then here are a few tips to help make the process less stressful- for you and your workers.

• Be open with employees about the status of your business and their job security. It goes without saying that letting go of workers is not an easy situation, and you can expect that your employees may not take the news so well. But the openness will ultimately be appreciated because it gives everyone time to absorb the message and make other plans.

• Create a game plan. By creating a strategy with clear cut goals and a process of reevaluation you will be left with a greater sense of control and well-being. Basically, you need to determine how your business will operate with a reduced workforce, including how you will spread out the responsibilities among the remaining workers, if your output change or be reduced, and how you plan on using the freed capital to cover expenses?

• Improve cash flow to spread out or delay layoffs. In some cases, it may be a good idea to try to “comfortably” spread out your employee layoffs or even delay them outright. You could do this by altering your cash flow. If, for example, your business deals with receivables, you may be able access tied up capital by factoring your outstanding bills of sale or applying for a merchant cash advance.

• Talk to other small business owners. Speaking to others who have experienced what you are going through or who are currently experiencing a similar situation can bring you fresh motivation, insight, and ideas. Either you can speak to any friends and family who own a small business, look up your local SCORE chapter, or join your local chamber of commerce to connect to other business owners. You could also join an online small business community, such as those moderated by the Bank of America, entrepreneur.com, or Cybershmooze.

Image credit: Notions Capital

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In the spirit of Christmas I ask is your company a misfit?

being different ain’t so bad. Leading, not following is where it’s at.

All our Kahunas are busy spending time with their families this week. We wish you all a very happy holidays!

With holiday sales slumping across the board and consumer confidence holding at all-time lows, some small businesses are finding creative ways to keep customers coming and buying. If you are looking for ways to revamp your marketing strategy without straining your budget here are five techniques that work. And as you can see from the examples that follow, for those who are prepared to be creative and maybe even a little off-beat, there could be a big pay off at the end.

1. Will It Blend. Create a viral marketing campaign consisting of catchy articles, blog posts, or videos.

Blendtec has been promoting the power and versatility of its line of blenders in a popular series of infomercials featuring Blentec founder Tom Dickson blending a host of unlikely items including: golf balls, an iPhone, the Wii remote, credit cards, and the McDonald’s Extra Value Meal. There are also videos featuring attempts to “blend” the writers strike or the political parties.

2. Heart Attack Grill. Find a way to use even bad publicity to your advantage.

The Heart Attack Grill was founded in 2005 by “Dr.” Jon Basso who unabashedly promotes his restaurant’s unhealthy menu. The Heart Attack Grill offers burgers called single, double, triple, or even quadruple bypass (depending on the number of beef patties), beer, hard liquor, regular soda, unfiltered cigarettes and french fries cooked in pure lard all served by a scantily clad staff of “nurses.” What could be better?

3. The Million Dollar Homepage . Find creative, low cost ways to to use widely available material and mediums to advertise your business: think body art (logo hair cuts, hand-stampers, fake tattoos), logo projectors, or…

Check out what one clever entrepreneur did. He created a page with a 1,000,000 pixels, and charged people a dollar per pixel to advertise. Not a bad way to earn a quick million!

4. Bottled Water Marketing Campaigns. Create a brand distinction even when the differences are small or nonexistent.

With high profile endorsements and grandiose claims about their product’s purity and contribution to good health, bottled water producers have successfully created a distinction between natural mineral water versus tap water in the minds of many consumers. And this image has persisted even as several bottled water producers were exposed for fraudulent claims.

Today, bottled water producers are further buffing up their brand distinction by supporting a variety of green initiatives even differentiating themselves from soft drinks.

5. The Mentos/Coke Geyser Video Contest. Get your customers involved in promoting your business. Request personal videos from your customers that show them using your products, giving them as a gift, or shopping at your store. Run contests for the best logo or T-shirt design or the best commercial.

A recent Mentos/Coke geyser video contest in conjunction with YouTube brought 150 contestants. Now there are about 10,000 videos with this theme. The contest also set off a viral frenzy as the videos were shared among countless people.

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Not too long ago I wrote an article on using CrowdSpring for a design project. Here are the arguments:

Pro:

You get a lot of options both good and bad and It’s very cheap ($150-$500 for a logo)

Con:

Artists work for free hoping to win the project to get paid and lack of real strategy

As a client of CrowdSpring what are you concerned with? Nothing? As a designer why do you work for free? Give me your thoughts.

I stand firm on the subject. We get paid for our work. We never work for free. When asked to do spec work from any prospect I thank them for their time and nicely let them know we’re not a good fit. It’s not a relationship that is worth having if you have to work for free, in my opinion.

As our economy sputters along, the issue of health care has become a real headache. With the cost of health insurance on the rise amid a general push towards bootstrapping and business restructuring, businesses big and small are struggling to provide a decent plan for their employees, and those who have recently lost their jobs are coming to terms with the fact that they have lost their health benefits as well.

While health care reform is desperately needed, the appropriate change will have to be drastic and extensive involving many players such as the Federal Government, the health insurance industry, health care providers, and major hospitals. And the painful truth is that such change may be very far off.

In the mean time, there are several ways that you can cut your health insurance costs for yourself and your employees without giving up your coverage. Here are a few tips:

1. Be an informed consumer. Whether shopping for the lowest health insurance rates or looking up medical and hospital information, doing your research before making decisions can increase your chances of lowering your health care costs. To get several quotes online, check out eHealthInsurance.

2. Rely on the coverage of your employed spouse. An independent small business owner may have the option of employing his or her spouse. Certain medical expenses, such as premium costs, co-pays, and prescription drugs, can then be claimed as tax deductible under a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA).

3. Lower your level of health insurance coverage. By increasing your plan’s deductible amount, your monthly premiums will be lower, and the savings in monthly premiums could end up being more than what you spend out of your pocket. But keep in mind that for this option to work you should be basically healthy, and be careful that the out-of-pocket expenses are small enough for you and your employees to handle.

4. Set up a health savings account (HSA). An HSA is tax-free savings accounts for medical expenses. Both employees and employers can contribute to the account, and it must be coupled with a high-deductible health plan. With this method, the policy holder gets the necessary insurance coverage, while the HSA provides the means to fund the additional out-of-pocket costs on a pretax basis. The money in HSA can be carried over from year to year, and it is portable.

5. Offer a flexible spending account (FSA). A FSA allows you and your employees to set aside pretax dollars through payroll deduction to pay for eligible medical expenses. Unlike the HSA, however, the funds in this account do not carry over.

6. Live a healthy lifestyle. Seek free or low-cost advice on maintaining a healthy diet and following an exercise plan. Encourage your employees to attend wellness seminars and to avoid or reduce unhealthy habits, such as smoking. Take advantage of free health screenings at local clinics, hospitals or health fairs. In the end you will feel better, and that could mean fewer trips to the doctor.

7. Join a discount health benefits program. For a small fee these programs offer savings on prescription drugs, dental visits and other health services by connecting members with affiliated doctors, dentists, and health centers. In this way, a health benefits program can fill in any gaps in coverage from your existing health insurance policy.

8. Enroll in a group health plan. Small group health insurance plans cover between two and 50 employees, and the larger your group, the lower your premiums will be. Small businesses with only a few employees and self-employed individuals have the option of creating a group purchasing alliance with other small businesses and individuals. You can locate a purchasing coalition on your state Department of Insurance (DOI) website. (A list of state DOI websites can be found here.)

 9. Find a Subsidy. Low-income individuals and households or those with a disability, may qualify for low-cost health insurance through a state or federal program such as Medicaid or Medicare. Households that have children under the age of 19 should further look into the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP. Families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid may still qualify for SCHIP. For little or no cost, SCHIP covers doctor visits, immunizations, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits. For more information, check out the Insure Kids Now web site.

Image credit: RogueSun Media 

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Sprint has the best deal in town for unlimited calling at $99/month. But here’s what they’re giving up for it.

Voice Command, that went bye bye about 6 months ago. Read my post about that here. Now they’re giving up a branding element that you will be shocked to learn.

Sprint has given up their email. That’s right on December 30th 2008 Sprint will no longer have email for their customers. So I can kiss my brandidentityguru@sprintpcs.com email goodbye.

Can you imagine the millions of emails that are sent everyday through Sprint? Each email that is sent with @sprintpcs.com is another brand building element. Some companies like Blackberry use it as a signature:

Sent by Blackberry Wireless

I guess Blackberry sees it differently.

Sprint’s thinking is our price is lower so we’ll win. Yea, we’ll see how that works out for ya. When my Sprint contract is up I’ll be switching to another provider. I’ve been with Sprint for about 10 years.

Gosh, I wish I had a way for my clients to say my name millions of times a day….

@brandidentityguru.com sounds nice!