Walking from a restaurant this afternoon, I ran into an old schoolmate (loosely put). I hadn’t seen her for almost 20 years and barely recognized her; but she yelled out my name like I’d forgotten to pay back some lunch money in 1986.

“Andy Clark!” Yes, I used to and still occasionally go by that. “What the hell are you up to?” she blurted across the parking lot.

I’d forgotten how loud she was. “Uh, hi Trish.”

“I heard you were living in Boston ‘er sumthin’. What the f—‘s up with that?”

Redirecting my pace toward her – simply to shorten the distance sound waves would have to carry – I looked around the parking lot to see if anyone I knew was around…

“No,” I calmly responded, “That was just a year of college. I moved back to Des Moines in ’91.”

“Huh.” She grunted. “Have you talked to Jimmy or Darryl lately? These were two “mutual friends” from the good ol’ days.

“No, I haven’t talked to those guys since high school. Anyway, I think Darryl is in jail…”

And without pause, she rolled into, “I hear Stephanie is getting divorced again, too! What the…”

…and the conversation went on like that for about ten minutes. Eventually, the conversation waned down to a bunch of “sighs” and “humph” sounds… I even found myself looking around and kicking rocks into a near by gutter opening… We’d both realized that we no longer had anything in common, and were better off just moseying on our own ways.

Sad? Frustrating? More like revealing.

So, why the short peek into my (somewhat) bizarre lunch hour? Proof that growth isn’t always universal.

Face it. Your business is going to grow – if anything, it’s bound to evolve. We all have “those clients” that we hold on to for one reason or another – whether it’s because they’ve simply been around since the “good ‘ol days,” or, they’re just really nice folks. But as your company transitions, your clients should do the same.

Look at your client list. If they all don’t fit your profile of a perfect client – an integral part of your company brand – then you may have to consider moving on (without them).

I can guarantee that you don’t do business the same way you did 20, 10, or even 5 years ago. Brands evolve (for good or bad), and your client list should as well.

If there are clients that make you (or anyone in the company) roll your eyes, do you think it’s time to evaluate that relationship? You may have evolved. The client may have evolved. Maybe not.

And a side note to Trish – sorry about Puckey and ZoZo… I’m sure the dawgs will survive.

Keep Cooking
Andrew B. Clark
– The Brand Chef

… Or Are You Just Glad To Be Seen?

Brand extensions, they’re like bad hair weaves on The Flavor of Love – (usually) obvious and irritatingly pointless. You know ‘em – everything from the innocuously sponsored video games and branded energy drinks; to the (extremely) disturbing, outer limits of brand extension, flaming meat-scented cologne (I kid you not).

Then there’s the other side of the coin… Added awareness and exposure… Building a brand culture…

In today’s marketplace, being category leader or even in the top three isn’t always enough. Brand extension is sometimes a necessity for survival and growth for many companies.

Brand extension can:

1. Broaden the appeal of a single product by adding features to it. For example, if your product is a phone, you might add a nifty video screen feature to it (novel idea?).

2. Leverage the success of your existing brand name by attaching it to a new products. For example, if you produce a popular motorcycle brand called “The Knuckle”. It’s success leads to extensions of the brand (e.g. – “The Knuckle” products: “The Knuckle” cycling gloves, helmet, and leather gear).

Win, place or show… when is the brand “Over extended?” How do we discern merchandising of products for the benefit of the brand versus sheer greed and stupidity?

Let’s stir up some conversation…

In the meantime, take this poll of (conceptual) extended brands. Which would be your favorite?
(feed readers, click through to take the poll)

Until next time…

Keep Cooking! (Some fun)
Andrew B. Clark
-The Brand Chef

There’s a question I like to ask of myself (and others) on a regular basis:

“Is there more to the story?”

It’s never given to me immediately, but through focused observation, reading, research, discovery, and a few more questions; the answer about knocks me out of my socks, every time…

“Of course there’s more!” (You just have to reach a little…)

So below, are Resources for your story – a Baker’s Dozen from the Brand Chef:

1. Wikipedia
2. Facebook
3. Twitter
4. YouTube
5. EventBrite
6. Digg
7. Flickr
8. Ustream
9. del.icio.us
10. Last.FM
11. Google (virtually unlimited resources)
12. Yahoo Pipes (build your own feeds / mashups, etc.)
13. RSS Feeds (subscribe and update often)

I call them resources. Call them social media extensions. Call them whatever you want. But never under estimate the power of Social Media to find the answers to the questions you have. With that, you have control over the growth and reach of your personal and professional brand.

Extend your brand.

Keep Cooking – always!
Andrew B. Clark
–The Brand Chef

P.S. There’ are SO MANY MORE out there, but it wouldn’t have fit into my “Baker’s Dozen” theme… Go find ‘em and extend your brand – come back and list ‘em here!

(Here’s a little insight on The Brand Chef’s personal brand)

In person, I thank people profusely – almost annoyingly, for the littlest things (that extra roll on my tray at Panera – thank you). But in my blog, through Twitter, and FriendFeed, I tend to talk too much without stopping to say, “Wow, thanks for the inspiration, trust, hope, friendship, faith… whatever.”

So, below is a list of people I’d like to just simply send a BIG Brand Chef hug out to. Without these people, the TRUE Brand of The Brand Chef (Andrew B. Clark) wouldn’t exist.

• Mike Sansone – “The Blogfather” I had a hard time trying to figure out if this hug went into the professional or personal category. Mike has been a friend and an inspiration. I look forward to learning from him on so many levels – it’s frightening.
• Mark True – “The Brand Warrior” Mark is also a friend and a mentor. He started me on this journey to becoming The Brand Chef. I revel in his success and marvel at his passion.
• Mike Wagner – For opening my eyes with my first book – a journey that will never end, my friend.
• Everyone at Love Scott & Associates – For having faith in me when I didn’t.

Blogs I make sure I visit (almost) daily:

• Terry Starbucker – Ramblings from a Glass Half Full
• Angela Maiers – Angel Maiers Educational Services
• Chris Wilson – Marketing Fresh Peel
• Paul Williams – Idea Sandbox
• Drew McLellan – Drew’s Marketing Minute
• Doug Mitchell – CreateWOWMedia
• Andy Nulman – POW! Right Between They Eyes
• Steve Woodruff – SickyFigure
• Michael Libbie – Insight Cubed Advertising & Communications
• Lyn Chamberlin – The Brand Dame
• Dean Hunt – Dean Hunt .com
• Mitch Mathews – Big Dream Gathering
• the folks at the Can I Sit With You blog
• Derek Semmler – The Man Page

Personal HUGs go to:

• Sharon Clark (my wife) @sharclark36 – for obvious reasons – but most of all for making my heart sing.
• My kids… Duh.
• My Parents – ALL of them. — One Mom, One Dad, One Step-dad, Two Step-moms.
• My brothers and sisters – count the parents and average that x2… yikes. (here’s just two of them: Pat – @pclark66 and Adam – @bigfoottattoo)

Without ALL of you, my personal brand would be nothing.

If you’re not on the list and think you should be (I know I’ve forgotten a BUNCH of people), then let me know… I’m feeling pretty huggie today…

BIG HUGS from The Brand Chef!

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

P.S. — I wrote this post in complete contrast to last week’s post. It may be due to the ample amount of caffeine to lack of sleep ratio that I’m working on right now. Or maybe it’s because I’m streaming Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now” through my last.fm library. Who knows? But I thought today would be a good day to send out a BIG Brand Chef hug to some of those that – simply put – DESERVE it.

God Bless.

Fact: Newspapers can’t survive unless they change the paradigm in which they practice. Customers, including yours truly, are jumping ship for digital media content that is more up-to-date, accessible and relevant. Long lost are the days when newspapers produced engaging content and – in turn – sold ad space to generate revenue to support what (once) was a tremendous source of public information.

Why?

Newsgathering has shifted from being a passive act—tell me a story—to a proactive one—answer my question.

According to journalism.org,

“…Pew Research Center survey. The figures for almost every traditional media platform are now at historic lows. For instance, the number of Americans who said they read a newspaper “yesterday” has fallen by 40% since the 1990s—to 34%. The number of people who watched the nightly network newscasts yesterday has fallen even further—by half—to 29%. Radio news is at 35%. Regular readership of weekly news magazines is down to 12%.”

So, what does that mean for us? Where is that 40% going to get their news?

Blogs, baby. Blogs! Not to mention podcasts, vlogs and heavy-handed translations of traditional media to online, user-driven sites, and micro-sites.

With that, yesterday, I ran across this story: On January 27th, Joshua Karp (follow on Twitter: @theprintedblog) will be launching a twice-daily free print newspaper in Chicago, San Francisco and later in New York City. The content he will be publishing will be solely from BLOGS!

“So what,” you say, “Nothing novel there?” Hold on. Joshua has a little twist for you.

His intent is to aggregate local content from blogs and print them in tabloid form in time for the morning and evening commutes… The advertising – focused to reach targeted, local audiences – supports the newspaper (of course). It will also include classifieds (of course).

From Joshua’s venture, The Printed Blog web site:

“The selection of content in The Printed Blog is based solely on the votes of readers and their geographic location. In such a way, The Printed Blog revolts against the top-down, ‘one size fits all’ model of newsprint, as we know it. Instead of one paper serving hundreds of thousands of people, as is often the case, The Printed Blog publishes hundreds or even thousands of highly-localized editions based on what a community declares is important to them. The papers are distributed to neighborhood pickup points in A.M. and P.M. editions, and will incorporate rapid turnaround reader comments.

… As our society moves towards individualized information, The Printed Blog has the courage to respect our readers. We recognize the value of what individuals have to say, we publish the information they create, and provide them with the information they demand.”

News = information relevant to the people. When traditional news sources become irrelevant, or self-serving, people go to their community for relevance.

I’m interested in Joshua’s new venture. The online community will drive content. Readership will be driven by the local community. Advertising will benefit from a more targeted audience. Hmmmm…Where can this go wrong? Market? Content? Commuters? Advertisers? Classifieds?

Can you combine the past with the present? Why not just keep it all online? Why take it to press?

What do you think? Take a look at his formula and give me your thoughts.

Until Next time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
- The Brand Chef