Compared to the Leaf, which will also be sold in the US by the end of this year, the Volt has a lower capacity battery (40 miles vs. 100 miles) and is more expensive ($41,000 vs. $33,000 – although each qualifies for tax breaks). So, unfortunately for GM, consumers are forced to trade better electric milage and significantly more more money for the peace of mind afforded by the gas engine. It won’t be an easy sell, although it’s possible.

The Volt’s price, though, presents GM with a much bigger sales problem because of Chevy’s brand positioning. Chevy has always been GM’s lower cost, every man’s car (separate from the iconic Corvette). Virtually all of its car models have starting prices of between $10,000 and $20,000. People expect Chevy’s to be less expensive. So the Volt’s price will be its albatross – it doesn’t fit Chevy’s brand positioning. Moreover, people don’t associate the Chevrolet brand with leading edge technology and innovations, which clearly GM is trying to do with the Volt.

GM would have been much better off if they had launched the Volt under the Buick or Cadillac brand. In addition to better lining up the car with the brand’s established position in people’s minds, GM could even have raised the price a little to include a larger electric engine. It would then have a car that beats the competition on all fronts.

The time is coming soon, though, when we’ll see how well GM’s strategy worked. By the end of this year the Volt will be on the market, along with competitors like the Nissan Leaf. As an early indicator, though, consider a few interesting statistics. The Nissan Leaf is significantly ahead of the Chevy Volt in terms of internet search volume (Google Trends) and Facebook fans (Nissan Leaf Facebook page vs. Chevy Volt Facebook page).

Domus is a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

First VW started their “Fun Theory” campaign. This includes a number of experiential locations that entice people to choose a fun option that also coincides with useful behavior (walking stairs instead of an escalator, throwing trash in receptacles instead of littering, etc.). These locations have, in turn, become the basis of much local and worldwide PR. Moreover, videos of people experiencing the VW locations have been the basis of viral internet videos and other social media sites.

Finally, VW has complemented its “Fun Theory” campaign with its ubiquitous “Punch Dub” television advertising. Look at one of those commercials and one of the first words that comes to one’s mind is “fun”.

VW is successfully marrying a broad array of communication outlets with its one common brand positioning goal. They’re a textbook case study for how it should be done.

Domus is a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.

Similarly, last month, Comcast decided to rebrand itself “Xfinity”. (“Simply put, XFINITY is about offering our customers more — more HD, more speed, more choice and more control over their services…”) Or, alternately simply put, Comcast is feeling the pinch of Verizon Fios’ competition and wants to try something else to retain and gain customers.

Interestingly, in both situations a company who has faltered in delivering upon the promise of its stated brand position decides to fix the problem by rebranding itself to a new position instead of improving upon its original promise. And just as interestingly, in both situations, the faltering company is being aggresively challenged in the marketplace by a company who dedicates more resources and commitment to delivering its brand promise better and better – and correspondingly communicating its success.

It doesn’t take a marketing genius to determine the better strategy for companies to mimic – especially in this age when consumers communicate with each other faster and more effectively than any one company can do on its own. Continue to invest in your brand promise – improve your product, improve your service, improve your delivery – and then your marketing communication efforts have legitimacy. On the other hand, no matter how many times you rebrand, if you don’t have the commitment to invest in your brand promise (whatever that may be), you’ll continue to come up short.

Domus is a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia offering advertising, public relations, digital, and social media marketing expertise in an integrated approach based on sound, classic principles of marketing. For more information, visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

Although brands often offer short-term promotions, this time Burger King is intentionally making a point to compare themselves to McDonald’s, and using price as the only comparison point. In fact, they try to imply that it’s the same offering (hence, stealing the recipe), just cheaper. When did Burger King go from claiming that they offer a better product and service to being cheaper?

Domus is an integrated advertising, public relations, digital, and social media marketing agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

First, Verizon marginalized AT&T’s brand position with their “they have a map for it” campaign, visually hammering their spotty coverage. In response, AT&T has tried to regain the word “fastest” in people’s minds with their own huge advertising campaign.

However, while they’ve been busy insisting that they’re the fastest 3G network, Sprint is starting to make that claim as meaningless as a horse-and-buggy manufacturer claiming they have the fastest buggy. Sprint is now rolling out its nationwide 4G network (in partnership with Clearwire), beating both AT&T and Verizon to the punch.

Sprint’s coverage is still spotty, as it tries to roll out its service in more and more cities, but it’s already available in almost 30 cities with more promised by the end of the year.

As such, Verizon’s brand position has not been damaged much – as far as they are concerned, Sprint occupies the same competitive position as AT&T – faster but with spottier coverage, and especially spotty in the high speed arena. On the other hand, AT&T’s position is significantly damaged. First Verizon made its “fastest” claim less significant by pointing out that its 3G availability was limited. And now Sprint has a fast, but spotty network; however, Sprint’s network is 4G – much faster than AT&T’s.

So what brand position does AT&T still hold? They’re the brand with not the fastest nor slowest network that is not the broadest nor spottiest in its coverage. This isn’t exactly a powerful position to hold. If I were a stock trader…

Domus is an advertising, public relations, and social media marketing agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

There might be some similarities between their two situations, but there is also a fundamental difference – while Heineken has been relatively quiet in the US, Corona has been consistently advertising. So Corona’s problems are not related to its lack of advertising.

That leaves a few other possibilities – the effectiveness of the ads and the product itself being two prominent ones. Focusing on advertising, we already discussed how effective Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man in the World” ads are, but how about Corona’s “beach” ads? From a product positioning perspective, Corona positioned themselves to own the “cold beer at the beach” imagery in consumers’ minds, and for a while also mostly owned the “Mexican beer” position in the US. However, given that Dos Equis has been advertising strongly for several years now, the “Mexican beer” brand position is more evenly split between the two. Moreover, for the ten months out of the year when most people don’t think of the ideal beer to drink on a hot summer’s day, they’re not thinking Corona. So, although Corona might have been successful in owning the beach imagery, that also pigeon-holed them into a smaller place in consumers’ minds. Dos Equis, on the other hand, remains prominent in any season. Moreover, because of the “Most Interesting Man” ads, Dos Equis holds a more premium image, which is the segment of the beer market that is climbing.

Interestingly, in Mexico, Femsa (make of Dos Equis) has not aggressively run its “Most Interesting Man in the World” ads. Coincidentally – or not – Dos Equis’ market share has fallen significantly compared to Corona.

We’ll have to see what happens next, given that Heineken is now in the process of buying Femsa. Will they be smart enough to expand the successful Dos Equis campaign to Mexico or will they pull back on it in the US?

Domus is an advertising, PR, and internet marketing agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

VW is trying to address that by investing in new dealerships, a new US production plant (VW has not had a manufacturing presence in the US since 1988), and a new set of advertising campaigns. But other than increasing brand awareness, are VW’s marketing efforts coordinated to solidify a brand position in people’s minds? VW used to stand for inexpensive, solidly built and engineered automobiles, but what does it stand for now?

Let’s take a look at two of its higher profile advertising efforts, one on-line and one in traditional media. In traditional media, they have their “Punch Dub” commercials introduced at the Super Bowl. I like them – they are catchy, funny, and memorable – but I’m not sure what message I’m supposed to remember, other than to just be aware of VW cars. That would be OK, but it would be more powerful if they provided a reason – other than a fun game – to be more aware of them. And the tag line at the end of the spot is “That’s das Auto” (“That’s the car”). I’m not sure what that means.

On-line and in real locations, VW has been running a series of concepts and viral videos called “The Fun Theory”. This is their “experiment” showing the easiest way to get people to change their behavior (in good ways) is to make the new behavior fun. As such, they’ve created a piano staircase leading to/from a subway station, a pinball exercise machine at a bus stop, and others. Again, these are enjoyable spots, but what is the message? That VW is a responsible company? I’m not sure.

About the only commonality I find between the two sets of spots is a sense of “fun”. Is that their new brand position? I’m not quite sure. But I do think they would be better served if they knew and made it a little clearer to their intended audience(s).

Domus is an integrated advertising agency, public relations firm, social media agency, and internet marketing agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

VW is trying to address that by investing in new dealerships, a new US production plant (VW has not had a manufacturing presence in the US since 1988), and a new set of advertising campaigns. But other than increasing brand awareness, are VW’s marketing efforts coordinated to solidify a brand position in people’s minds? VW used to stand for inexpensive, solidly built and engineered automobiles, but what does it stand for now?

Let’s take a look at two of its higher profile advertising efforts, one on-line and one in traditional media. In traditional media, they have their “Punch Dub” commercials introduced at the Super Bowl. I like them – they are catchy, funny, and memorable – but I’m not sure what message I’m supposed to remember, other than to just be aware of VW cars. That would be OK, but it would be more powerful if they provided a reason – other than a fun game – to be more aware of them. And the tag line at the end of the spot is “That’s das Auto” (“That’s the car”). I’m not sure what that means.

On-line and in real locations, VW has been running a series of concepts and viral videos called “The Fun Theory”. This is their “experiment” showing the easiest way to get people to change their behavior (in good ways) is to make the new behavior fun. As such, they’ve created a piano staircase leading to/from a subway station, a pinball exercise machine at a bus stop, and others. Again, these are enjoyable spots, but what is the message? That VW is a responsible company? I’m not sure.

About the only commonality I find between the two sets of spots is a sense of “fun”. Is that their new brand position? I’m not quite sure. But I do think they would be better served if they knew and made it a little clearer to their intended audience(s).

Domus is an integrated advertising agency, public relations firm, social media agency, and internet marketing agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

As an example, Advertising Age has an article on Caribou Coffee’s new TV ad, taking aim at Starbucks. The ad has marionettes sitting in a mall, acting like fake, snobbish people. When they see someone with a Caribou coffee, one asks, “Why don’t we ever get Caribou Coffee?” and the other responds, “Because we’re not real.” According to the ad’s creator, in addition to emphasizing that Caribou Coffee uses real ingredients, the ad conveys the message that they have a “real genuine vibe – it’s what separates them from their competitors” (i.e., the snobs at Starbucks).

Of the pool of people who think of Starbucks afficionados as snobbish, “unreal” people, how many of them would get the implied dig at Starbucks? And if they really did have something against Starbucks, might not they be more interested in turning towards McDonald’s or Dunkin’ Donuts instead instead of towards another “specialty coffee and espresso retailer” (as Caribou writes about themselves in their Wikipedia entry)? So, the audience who actually gets the intended message is a tiny fraction of the overall viewing audience.

Moreover, with that dig at Starbucks undelivered, what message remains in the head of the viewers – that this gourmet coffee shop uses real ingredients? (Like the other specialty coffee shop doesn’t?) If Caribou truly decided to stake out their brand position as the down-to-earth shop that sells gourmet coffees, they might not have effectively delivered that message.

That’s not to say that the spot is a failure. It might become successful if there are enough messages out there that clearly emphasize their brand position. That would allow the subtlety of this message to be more easily inferred by larger audiences.

Domus is a full-service marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. We define sound brand positions and effectively communicate them using the available mixes of media, technology, and social trends, as appropriate. For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.

Often, brand management’s marketing intentions are hidden on the internet because there are so many things going on at once and so many of them are outside of the control of them. However, in the offline world, where marketers have total control over their message and its distribution, their strategies and tactics become much more transparent.

And that’s where we see Microsoft’s strengths and weaknesses. Let’s look at three of their current campaigns.

• Bing – I actually like this campaign a lot. It stakes out a brand position for Bing vs. Google – Bing is a “Decision Engine”, not a search engine. And it tries to make the claim that there is too much clutter in results pages with search as we know it, but not so with Bing. Microsoft has a number of hurdles to overcome with their product vs. Google and with Google’s overall presence, but at least they have focused their product design and their marketing effort around a grounded brand position.
• Windows 7 – I don’t know what to say about this. What is their brand position? What is their message? People are PCs? People designed Windows 7 while showering? (And of course, who can forget those memorable Windows 7 launch parties that they promoted?) Contrast their ads to Apple’s. Enough said.
• Xbox – For a company locked in a major battle for supremacy in the gaming console business, Microsoft has been relatively quiet on this front. Their gaming division is finally profitable and they have a great product, especially with their Xbox Live service. I would think that now’s the time to ramp up their efforts. No effort is sometimes worse than bad effort.

Domus is a classically trained marketing agency with an innovative and technological focus. For more information, visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.

First, the commercial starts with a picture of the SRX – a nice car, but it’s a crossover. If Cadillac is trying to reclaim the luxury automobile market top brand position, it’s hard to do so with a car segment that evokes imagery of sport, utility, and fun. These are areas that fit more with Chevy’s brand position (or GMC’s) than Cadillac’s. (That’s not to say that a luxury brand can’t have a crossover – Lexus has one – but it’s easier when you’re at the top.)

Next, the music, imagery, and wording (re-envisioned, reorganized, reactivated, reignite) are all more evocative of upbeat fun and styling. This would seem to be a brand position that Buick should occupy.

Finally, the ad ends with the line, “The Cadillac of crossovers.” So, at the end of the ad, GM finally tries to position the car at the top of the luxury market. But by this point, it has spread its message across three brand positions.

GM has a great opportunity to turn itself around. It finally has an excellent line-up of cars. It just needs to solidify its brands in their correct positions in consumers’ minds.

Domus is a full-service marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more, please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.

One possible problem with this introduction, though, is how it impacts the Starbucks brand position. Starbucks became successful by selling an experience and an image. Otherwise, why pay so much money for a product that can be gotten elsewhere for much less? Now, though, Starbucks is starting a huge campaign to convince people that they can’t taste the difference between a fresh-brewed coffee in one of their cafes and some powder added to hot water. The more successful the campaign, the more Starbucks will convince people that there is no need to return to their cafes.

Domus, Inc. is a marketing consulting firm based in Philadelphia. Please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com for more.