Marobella's Branding SoapBox

Schwab Marketing to Generation X

I've always been a big fan of brands creating targeted customer experiences, especially when it is aimed at a generational segment. Oddly enough, it's still a rare strategy for big brands. I was pleasantly surprised to read on Marketing Daily that Schwab has created a new website that's focused on answering the questions of GenX (aged 29-40) about money, investing, debt and saving. Of course, the conversion metric is to get the person to open an account with Schwab, visit a branch or make an appointment. In all candor, I have been considering using Schwab primarily because I dig their new Talk to Chuck campaign and felt they understood where I am at in my life. This website, www.schwabmoneyandmore.com has put me over the edge in becoming a Schwab customer.

The entire site, including the content and feature set are all very insightful. For example, they have a little application that allows people to compare themselves to other people in the generational set. This, of course, plays off the "keeping up with the Pitts" mentality. However, it is very sticky and it leads to a leading question "How much do you think you need to open a brokerage account?" I answered 50k. The answer is "It doesn't matter". I am sure this is based on research that people think you need a ton of dough to get started with financial management people. Once they tell you it doesn't matter, they ask for your zipcode and guide you to the closest branch.

They've also done a nice job of building in a support/community area where people are asking benign questions about money and related issues. One question I liked, "Has anyone used LegalZoom?" It is a question I have been pondering myself - a couple of people answered the question and helped that person along. This plays into the altruistic sense of humans.

Couple of ideas for the site:

- I would have liked to have had a face with the branch closest to me. I still feel like I want to see the person I would go and talk with. Walking into branch and having the first person that greets me to become my money manager is a little sketchy to me. They could humanize the closing process of the conversion.

- I think they are going down the right path with pre-populated questions, but they seem light to me. I am GenX, have already owned a few homes, have 2 kids and am getting ready to put my 20-yr plan in place. I think that the questions were aimed at people younger than 37. Some more depth to the content would be great.

- There is no opportunity to scrape content or take anything from the site to share with my friends. I have many friends that could or would use Schwab. The viral, pass-along component of the site seems to be missing.

Overall, I love the strategy of taking the overall brand positioning of Talking to Chuck, making money more down to earth and conversational. The idea of creating a community that opens a conversation about money and makes it safe for GenX'ers to start the process is very cool.

Nicely done, Chuck.

Web 2.0 Overload.

On Epicenter via Web Strategist, comes the article about Web 2.0 Overload in advance of the Web 2.0 conference. The article raises some interesting thoughts about about the tipping point of information consumption. How much can one person handle? I guess it is like anything else, running, eating, work etc. Each person has their own threshold for capacity. With the right training, tools and discipline, one can consume more. Since I instituted Google Reader, I have bothered my friends and colleagues repeatedly with articles and posts they just have to read. With Twitter and Facebook, I have made my wife endlessly mad at me for having my face in my computer or iPhone seeing what the world is up to and not paying attention to my family.

Well, I imagine that only the most relevant and strong survive. It is like Darwin's theory only for Web 2.0.

How To Deal With New Yorkers.

This is a story about a City that has worked so hard to re-position their brand, but just can't seem to bring along one important piece of the equation - the people.

This past week I had the chance to spend some much needed time in the Big Apple. What was once home to me, ever so briefly, it has always had a special place in my heart. It had been a little while since I'd been there, so with the weather beautiful, the Red Sox and the Pope in town - it was juuust right.

I walked the streets and breathed in the energy, intelligence and buzz happening all around me. I had experienced the new credit card payment systems in taxi's, the gridlock seemed less because of the new traffic rules in mid-town, had a chance to see a good friend do stand-up at the New York Comedy club and had some great fare.

All was right with the world until I had to go back to LaGuardia to fly home. The energy of NY quickly turned violent and evil. It's like crossing into that area of town where you can just feel the negative energy. Well, that is LaGuardia - most especially when the weather is a little sour and they are about to close the air space so the Pope can land at JFK.

Well, when we finally boarded the United flight to Chicago, I took my seat in Economy Plus along with the other Premier Executives that couldn't get an upgrade. There were many foreign travelers on the flight it seemed and they were forcing the boarding process to be a little slower than normal.

After about 2/3's of the plane had boarded the gentleman I am about to speak of, boards the plane. He was a relatively non-descript man in his late 50s/early 60's wearing a nice suit with no tie. He was wearing glasses and was slightly balding with grey hair. He made his way about 2 rows on the opposite ahead of my seat. There was a Chinese female tourist sitting in his seat, I presume by mistake. He sees her and says with a strong NY accent - "YOU. OUT!" while using a hand gesture that motioned her out of the seat. His tone was rude and in full-out bully mode. She seemed confused, checked her boarding pass and left. Seeing this, I felt my blood pressure rise. But, with all the work me and Eckhart Tolle have been doing lately I decided to not let my ego get the best of me. I wish that was the end of the story. He kept barking at her as she exited the row and went to find her seat. He was saying things like "Nice try, stealing my seat." "I can see you wanted a better seat." So, finally I had to say something to him.

"You know, you could have asked her nicely and I bet she would have gotten up." I said.

"What did you say?" As he took two steps closer to me in my seat.

"I said, you don't have to be rude."

"Who do you think you are?" He said.

"I am the guy that is telling you that you don't have to be a dick." I said back in a sterner tone.

I said, "Only In New York."

"That's right only in New York." He said in a wise-ass tone.

"You seem proud of that, that's too bad." I said back.

After that he backed off and sat down into his seat. And from that moment on didn't say a word to anyone or even peeked back at me as he was getting off the plane.  I had to call the guy out for being a dick.  Would have I called him out if he was a 6'5" linebacker? Probably not. But I suspect a guy like that wouldn't have been rude to a lost tourist. This is what's wrong with New York. No matter how hard the city works to create a better experience with a cleaner City, better amenities and tourist-friendly programs - until New Yorkers start practicing some cooth and tact, people will always think of New York and New Yorkers as bullshit, rude and bullies. Too bad, because I love that City. So, the next time a New Yorker is rude to you, call him/her on it - they aren't used to it.

What Orange County Choppers Can Teach Us About Creativity

I've watched OCC on and off since they were first assembling their much sought after hardware on TV. I really enjoyed the show its first couple of years, but always wondered how long they would be able to sustain their brand. First, congratulations to the boys for having survived this long and more importantly they've thrived. They've managed their brand masterfully and have only sharpened their saw as time has gone forth. Beyond that, I have always marveled at the analagous scenario between their creative process and one that goes on inside of an ad/marketing agency. I've attempted to draw some parallels here:

1. Get To Know The Clients: While the OCC boys definitely have their process, they do begin with understanding their client's brand, needs and desires. Their insight process does inform their creative process and that's always a good thing - even if you're getting paid hundreds of thousands to build a motorcycle.

2. Search For Inspiration: We have CA and Archive, these boys search the web and other forms of art for inspiration. They go through a mood board process, like us, and strive to capture the essence of the brand or person's personality through their design.

3. Mental Block: Usually, they go through a period of designers-block. Not unlike people on the agency side, there are moments of "My god, they are going to figure me out on this one!". However, the boys always pull through with a killer design - like most great agencies and creatives.

4. Fight Like Dogs: The creative process and deadline-driven production always has tempers on edge. One of the main reasons people keep tuning in to the show is watching Paul Sr., rip Jr and Mikey a new one. We could put a camera inside of any agency at 6pm on a Friday and you would most likely see the same thing.

5. Last-second Hiccup: Something always goes wrong, whether real or scripted. The pipe isn't the right cut, the seat doesn't fit or the handlebars are on backwards. Kinda like when we find a typo and the boards are already in the mount room.

6. By The Skin Of The Teeth: Somehow the boys always come through. I'd like to think we do as well.

Zappos.com Has A Customer For Life

Today was a good day.

On Twitter, the CEO of Zappos.com, Tony Hsieh, made an announcement that he was going to pick someone from random in his follower list to win a new pair of shoes. And then to sweeten the pot, he then said that 3 people in their friends list will also win a new pair of shoes. Amazingly enough, I won. @rotkapchen won the random drawing and then as part of her friend list I also won.

Now, I am very familiar with zappos.com (remember all those ads in Maxim?) and they are very familiar with my credit card as my wife loves the site. I am also a sneaker-hound and have purchased many-a-pair of Adidas from site. I can guarantee that this little social exercise will pay itself back just in my purchases in the near future.

Kudos to @zappos for offering to conduct this social experiment. I will wear them with pride and health. Thank you Tony.

Who's Sears?

Great "Would You Miss?" series from John Moore and Brand Autopsy. Love the comment that asks "Who's Sears?"

I keep hearing the Cinderella song "You Don't Know What Got, Til It's Gone!"

The answer for me, is yes.