Author Archives: Julian Stubbs

Well, not exactly with Lloyd George, but certainly bathed in his presence. Stayed in north Wales at the ex British Prime Ministers former country house, Ty Newydd, in Llanystumdwy. Try saying that after a glass of wine – it actually helps. Had two very interesting days and nights working with John Simmons, ex head of verbal identity at Interbrand, considering the main issues in bringing a brand to life. Too many brands struggle to express any form of character or personality – and then wonder why they fail to differentiate themselves from competitors and stand out. It’s really about not being afraid to bring personality to the brand. Just creating templates that are all the same as each other is not the answer. Can highly recommend a trip to Ty Newydd and Llanystumdwy, where you can visit the Lloyd George museum, designed and built by Sir Clough Williams Ellis (he of Portmeirion fame), and his grave. Information about Ty Newydd can be found on their website. http://www.tynewydd.org/english/home.html Buy Windows 7 Ultimate Buy Windows 7 Ultimate Order Windows 7 Ultimate Discount Order Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Order Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Buy Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Discount Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus

Now, my wife is American. Like many colonials, she can tell you in astonishing detail about who her great great great uncle twice removed was, where he came from and his occupation etc. She has pretty much memorised – sorry – memorized – the names of family members stretching back for the last four hundred years. Now most Brits on the other hand, me included, have a fairly vague idea about where they actually come from and their roots. Some struggle, in even having a really clear picture of who their Grandparents really were. So over the summer I decided to rectify this genealogical inequality and trace my own family tree. Shock horror! Turns out the ‘Stubbs’ name originates from County Durham and I’m descended from a long line of northerners. Came as a bit of a surprise actually. But maybe that’s where I get my craving to eat fish and chips once a week from – it’s in my genes. Anyway, less surprisingly, our family name derives from our having been ‘woodsmen’ – literally the men who cut the tree to a ‘stub’. Which all brings me neatly to the focus of this entry – the name Stub. Stub just happens to be the brand name in Singapore of a very neat little packet one keeps one’s cigarette stubs in instead of ‘tossing’ them onto the street. At least if you live in Singapore, where tossing in public, so to speak, is pretty much illegal. Anyway the advertising campaign,‘Don’t be a tosser’ is a fantastic idea that fits with my four maxims of what makes great advertising – it’s immediate, relevant, simple and witty. Any brand that can make you smile, is generally on the right track. If only I smoked I’d buy some! Order Windows 7 Ultimate Order Windows 7 Ultimate Sale Windows 7 Ultimate Cheap Windows 7 Ultimate Discount Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Cheap Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Sale Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Discount Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Discount Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus

People have a few misperceptions about Sweden. One of them is that it’s so cold we spend our lives dodging polar bears in the streets of Stockholm. Happily this week the weather has been spectacular, well above 25C/80F all week, and not a polar bear in sight. However there have been some spectacular yachts parked in Stockholm harbor. The Volvo Ocean Race is in town, on one of it’s scheduled stop-overs. The race circumnavigates the world during its 10 months and is truly one of the worlds great endurance events. The ‘Race Village’ in Stockholm has been extremely busy during the last few days with over a million visitors attending the daily activities. It’s also been a great opportunity for Stockholm, as The Capital of Scandinavia, to promote itself and I’ve been fortunate enough to have been keynote speaker at some of the official events. The brand strategy we put in place for Stockholm has received enormous publicity and generated plenty of discussion. Being invited to give these presentations has also given me a chance to listen to some of the other speakers. The Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson has two boats in the event and the Ericsson team captain gave a fascinating insight into the business dynamics behind their sponsorship in the event. Interestingly the race is the major vehicle in their marketing program. Ericsson spend a cool 100 million dollars using the event to meet and entertain their corporate clients around the world. When it comes to getting quality time with your key customers, what better place than on-board a boat with the eleven stopover ports giving them a global opportunity to do it. I’ve always said brand building and marketing is about so much more than just advertising – especially in the B2B arena. Ericsson are doing exactly that – now that’s smart marketing. Sale Windows 7 Ultimate Cheap Windows 7 Ultimate Buy Windows 7 Ultimate Buy Windows 7 Ultimate Discount Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Sale Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Cheap Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Order Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Buy Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus

This campaign has been running for a while now using the ‘aircraft’ analogy. My biggest problem with it is that Saab actually did this far better back in the 1970s and 80s in the UK. An old mate of mine, Nigel Fordham, was the agency account director on it, and he actually succeeded in converting me to driving Saab Turbo’s for a while. At least until GM bought them and totally messed them up and destroyed what was a great car brand. Overall Saab had more justification for the aircraft theme, as Saab was originally an aviation company. Hope Saab survive – the brand deserves to. Anyway, overall I like the Beemer campaign. You have to admire brands who stick to their knitting and BMW stick to their brand with their Ultimate Driving Machine message – devised by London WCRS in the 1970’s and an example of great positioning if ever there was one. I ask myself ‘is it selling cars’ though – well I ask myself is anything selling cars just now? I suspect they are doing better though than most (certainly better than most US) car manufacturers. I give it a 6/10 Discount Cheap Windows 7 Ultimate Order Windows 7 Ultimate Order Windows 7 Ultimate Sale Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Cheap Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Cheap Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Discount Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Cheap Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus

Loris Diner, San Francisco Airport I think I’ve said before San Francisco happens to be one of my very favorite places in the world. I’ve been here for a few days now running web workshops and just have to pass on a relevant brand related story, about one of the worst but actually best experiences I’ve had in a long time. I was due to fly to Denver out of SFO, I was on an 8.45 morning departure and arrived two hours prior, knowing what US security can be like. I was booked with one of the major US Airlines and made my way to the check in area. The lines (when in America I never use the term queue for American political correctness) were horrendous, stretching way back. I smiled knowing that with my my Star Alliance Gold card check-in would give me a speedy passage. I showed my reservation to one of the attendants and asked where my particular check-in was, and he replied ‘ right here buddy, with everyone else’. There must have been over 100 people in the ‘elite’ check-in, and this particular airline had only 3 check in staff that day. 30 minutes later I’d fought my way to the front of the line and handed over the print out of my reservation. The lady behind the desk, who bore a striking resemblance to an American version of Margaret Thatcher in her prime, told me ‘You’re at the wrong airline desk, next please’. ‘But I can’t be’ I replied, ‘Look at the Airline reservation it’s your airline’. Now with a just a hint of a smile she replied ‘Code share. It’s our route but operated by our partner airline. You better get over there – you’re gonna be late’. I ran to the next terminal and found the check in. The queue (forget political correctness) despite my gold card was even worse. Another 45 minutes go by and I’m finally checked in and now in the line (line actually doesn’t do it justice – it was a herd of miserable, sweaty humanity). Get through and now have just 5 minutes to dash to the gate (starving but forget breakfast), which is a fair distance through the terminal. I arrive and discover the flight has been overbooked by 20 people and due to the fact that I’m late (I’m late!) I’ve been bumped. I stood at the desk, simmering, ready to explode. I tried to tell them the torture I’d been put through at their hands. I was ready to unleash all sorts of threats on them – anything I could think of. I’d never fly with them again. I’d write a letter to their President. In fact I’d write a letter to THE President. He seems like he wants to sort out America’s problems – well this is a problem. Then it happened. One of the airline ladies behind the desk came over and appeared genuinely sorry for what I’d been through and the way I’d been treated. ‘I’m personally going to do whatever I can to sort this out’, she said. For the next 15 minutes she checked every possible departure until she found really great connections, made phone calls, fixed ticketing issues. She finally booked me onto another flight. In the process she upgraded me for my trouble. To round it out she even gave me vouchers for breakfast. I made for the diner to write this blog. The point is this. More than ever today companies need brands to deliver really great experiences and a huge part of that is genuine customer service. That one lady changed my view of her airline and convinced me that at least some of their people were trying. It’s people that make the difference you see. Most brands, and certainly in the business to business sector nearly all brands, rely on their people as the primary brand carriers. Companies need to invest and commit to their people like never before. It’s something we help our clients with at Dowell Stubbs and Gyro through our Brand Engagement program and it’s something I’m seeing the value of even more in these dark economic times. If you’re own people aren’t fully on brand – forget the advertising campaigns. It isn’t going to work. Discount Discount Order Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 7 Ultimate Order Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Discount Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection Order Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus Cheap Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus