Do you think the DA lost more support than they gained with their recent controversial poster?

I believe they may have. The biggest failing is that their campaign incited the wrong debate. Our country is facing so many social, economic and political challenges that they would have been better served to have focused on presenting a solution or approach to these.

Although I believe it was conceptualised and designed with honourable intentions, it has shown that the DA is out of touch with what South Africans want to hear from their politicians. It seems that the strategic and creative brief was more focused on creating controversy to turn heads and stimulate PR than it was on demonstrating a political stand point or strategy that South Africans can relate to and hold on to.

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To all writers; words are weapons of mass construction (the opposite is also true).

If you’re reading this, I assume you understand English (or a reasonable facsimile thereof). I also assume you can read.

Amazed by my powers of assumption? Allow me to impress you further.

Because you’re perusing this blog I assume that when the Beatles parted ways, your parents, although perhaps coming together, had not yet fertilised the fact; and that it was probably your parents or, God forbid, your grandparents who were tripping in the Woodstock-induced free mud and sludge of 60s and 70s love.

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Problem: A stubborn, lazy ass needs to be motivated into action.

Solution: Tie a carrot to the end of a stick; dangle it above and just out of reach of the ass you are trying to mobilise.

Key success factors: The ass must like carrots and the ass must be stupid.

Outcome: A blinkered stupid ass moving forward trying to reach an unattainable goal.

Hmmm, I wonder who the real ass is in the above situation.

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5pm Thursday 9 Dec 2010

Adele* kicks off her heels, steps precariously onto the edge of the chair and hoists herself up on the table. Peter* loosens the knot of his tie and slides it over his wine induced ruddy face to tighten it, pirate-style across his forehead.

His whoop-whoops of encouragement can be heard above the 80′s karaoke soundtrack and Adele responds by shaking what her mama gave her.

Debbie’s* PA, Alice* decides to take over the PA system and declare her undying loyalty to Debbie (the bestest boss in the world) even if it means keeping mum about Debbie’s office romance with the guy in accounts.

Thankfully the ‘guy in accounts’ left early, his wife had him on a strict curfew of one meal only this year; no turning the company luncheon into a meal marathon and staying for ‘supper’ too!

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You’re at a party, the music is pumping, the dance floor is rocking, the guys / gals are looking fine, you’re confident and ready to cross the great divide and engage in intellectual, meaningful dialogue with the hottest, happening crowd in the place; hoping to make lifelong friends and maybe more.

But as you stand plastered to the wall, you see connections being made around you; people requesting, accepting, sharing, engaging and commenting. You also notice that although you can see them, they don’t seem to see you. Why? You’re put together; designed to attract, you’ve got a mindful of useful information to share, you can be funny and you want nothing in return, just an opportunity to introduce yourself.

You tap shoulders, ask people to dance, offer to buy drinks, the come-on lines roll off your tongue; compliments, jokes, invitations…. why don’t they see you, why don’t they hear you?

Social media can make you feel like the desperate loser trying to infiltrate the in-crowd at a party; you feel like a rubber ball hitting a brick wall; each time getting bounced back further than you were before.

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I have compiled a list of the five tools I believe are essential for managing brand integrity and gauging client perception of your brand.

1. Corporate identity (CI) manual and Pantone colour guide (or other printed reference)

CI manual
Unless you are a multi-national giant, you don’t need a 300 page CI bible, a simple easy-to-use guide will do. At the very least it should cover basics such as:

• Brand background and tonality. This should give some insight into the big idea behind the development of your brand as well as introduce its personality;
• Logo application and usage. Rules such as how the logo should be used on various media, when to use the strap line, minimum size, logo placement in relation to other images, text and colours etc;
• Colour breakdown and usage. This should detail the makeup of all your brand colours in all the various formats: CMYK, RGB, Hexcode, Pantones etc. (See A guide to choosing the correct colours for your brand for a more in-depth look at the various colour formats);
• Font usage. What fonts to use in your corporate communication. It should include size, styles, colours and formats for headings, body copy, etc;

Pantone guide (or other printed samples)
Every printing firm operates differently to some degree, therefore when printing full colour CMYK jobs or simple once-off digital banners, it is essential to have a printed sample of your brand colours as reference. Purchase a Pantone Colour Guide if your brand colours have Pantone references, this will make the colour matching job easier  (See A guide to choosing the correct colours for your brand for a more in-depth look at the various colour formats).

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You’ve chosen fluorescent orange and it sums up your brand perfectly; it’s energetic, bright and fun. No one could possibly miss such a vibrant colour logo.

The problem is that many colours are very difficult to manage over the various printing and production processes. This post will hopefully serve as a practical guide to choosing a managable colour for your brand.

Take into account your budget and on what kinds of media your brand will be represented. Ask yourself:

• Will I be doing mainly paper based printing such as brochures and leaflets?
• Will I be printing things like banners, pens, coffee mugs or doing embroidered shirts and caps?
• Will my brand only appear online?

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Does the concept of spring cleaning make you wish for the winter months and their guiltless lazy hours spent in full view of rooms bursting at the seams or are you like I am; unaccustomed to the cluttering instinct of hibernation with cupboards almost as minimally stocked as old Mother Hubbard’s?

Although I am the antithesis of a hoarder and Shakers would be well pleased by my almost religious abhorrence of wasted storage on useless and emotionally burdened knickknacks and what-nots; I accept that we all need the annual housekeeping ritual of spring cleaning to press the refresh button on our lives.

And whilst I know there is nothing fresh about using the onset of spring as a metaphor for anything from a new diet to a new career, I am going to fall knowingly into the cliché trap and use this rather desperate analogy to tell you why your brand needs as much good housekeeping as your home does.

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Brand strategy – check
New logo – check
CI manual – check
Photo shoot, ad campaign – check, check
Brochures, website, signage – check, check, check
Cheque – check!

Developing and building a brand is no shy investment of intellect, time and money. Breaking down a brand doesn’t demand the same amount of brain power (quite the opposite actually), doesn’t take long (sometimes a few seconds will do) but it costs more than you can imagine.

Why then do so many organisations neglect the most important aspect of branding; the internalisation of the brand strategy; turning brand values into brand behaviours?

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The internet and bookshop shelves are littered with advice on the how-to of sales; everyone from Dale Carnegie (yes I am that old); to Richard Branson, Jim Collins and Stephen Covey has the secret to sales success. But I think the real deal can be found on the street.

Image credit

Stop at a street light or robot anywhere in South Africa and you are swarmed upon like bees on honey by flag waving patriots of every soccer-playing nation.  These guys have mastered the fundamentals of salesmanship and remind us (or teach us) that by getting the basics right we are more than halfway to scoring.

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