Our pledge of allegiance mentions something about being “One Nation,” and being, “Indivisible,” right?  Unfortunately, it’s been so long since I’ve heard it, I may have to check my facts on that.

After watching the State of the Union address, I had to reflect on how, with ironic timing, President Obama’s points called out the divisiveness and partisan wrangling that has burdened our government.  Opening his speech, he offered a basic testimony to the past struggles our nation faced and how solutions were made:

“And despite all our divisions and disagreements, our hesitations and our fears, America prevailed because we chose to move forward as one nation, as one people.”

One Nation… Right?

I sensed his frustration. His pleas to each side of the isle were compelling.

“To Democrats, I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve problems, not run for the hills. And if the Republican leadership is going to insist that 60 votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town — a supermajority — then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership. We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions. So let’s show the American people that we can do it together.”

(You can read the full State of the Union address here.)

And here’s how I turn this into a post about marketing…

As I listened to Obama, I almost felt as if he’d read my last blog post about good branding being in the eye of the beholder. (President Obama, if you’d like to comment, that’d be great!)

My underlying plea from that post was about being stronger as a marketing communications community.  It was about stopping the finger pointing and accusations of inadequacy.  It was about stopping the abuse of those trying to do good for their clients and being more aware and supporting the community we all try to make a living in.

Whether you consider them a competitor, a colleague, an associate or even an enemy; solely pointing out what’s wrong with a campaign, plan or design does nothing productive.  Does it offer benefit to your clients?  Does it offer benefit for their clients?

How does it reflect on your own brand?

So, for those of you working in, for, around, or on behalf of a client – ANY client, maybe this will help:

“I pledge allegiance to the Brand and the value proposition of our Client; and for the return for which we aim, one agency (or Nation), under God, caffeine crazed, with creativity and reward for all.”

Say that every morning, with your hand over your heart, as you stare at the coffee maker.  Maybe it will help remind you that we’re all in this to support the clients and our community. We’re all in this to make a better world for our children.  But most of all, we’re all in this together.

One Nation…

Keep Cooking (TRUE benefit for all)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

You don’t have the option for dialogue.  You don’t have the time for ad copy.  You need to get people to understand your brand and the concept behind it in the blink of an eye…  You need to tell a story that is so unique and dramatic that words alone just won’t work.

What do you do? Hire a photographer (and a creative production team to tell the brand’s story).

Brands, especially media-driven brands need to be visual.  Movie posters and the promotional collateral that comes out to create pre-buzz about the show MUST dynamic.  They MUST, in a split-second, tell you the brand story.

The new season of Mad Men starts tomorrow night.  I’ve never seen more than 10 minutes of the shows from previous seasons, but with the passion and excitement I’ve seen / experienced around the coming of the third season, you can rest assured that I will be camped out on the couch with my beverage-of-choice at 10:00pm. But in my fanboy-to-be research for season three, I came across a pretty cool ‘making of’ video for this year’s promotional poster.
(feed readers and Facebookers, click here to see the video)

Visual Branding Gold!

It’s the perfect marriage.  Branding, story-telling, and creating excitement for the brand with one, simple (so-to-speak) image.

Don Draper would be proud.

I hope you join me, AMC and Mr. Draper Sunday night for what looks to be a pretty freakin’ cool season premere!

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef