The police - the good guys

When I speak about branding at seminars, I usually let people associate to different brands by showing some logotypes. It is an interesting exercise. Last week I asked 400 persons to associate to “Polisen”, the Swedish Policeforce. The words were quite critical and hard. Someone associated to “law and order”, but mainly there were negative associations.

We have incidents in Sweden now where some specific persons in the policeforce have behaved badly. It wears off on the whole brand. Although we know that most policemen and policewomen do their job in a fantastic way, those incidents are really devastating to their rumour and their brand.

20 000 Swedish policemen and women have voted for values which they think are important to the policeforce. It has resulted in three keywords: engaged, effective and available. These words are supposed to pervade everything that is done by the police. However, they need to fill these words with a meaning in order to make them valuable and visible to the Swedish citizens.

Values in the Policeforce

A doctor and a loveletter-receiver

Torsten Olbers, a surgeon at the hospital Carlandska in Gothenburg, has been elected ”most popular doctor ” in Sweden. He works with overweight-surgeries, which means that many of his patients can start living in a completely new way after the surgery.

This surgeon seems to put an honor in doing his best and he also enjoys the contacts with his patients. Torsten Olbers is building his personal brand in a successful way – probably without thinking about it. Being elected as “most popular doctor” should be quite an honor. I wouldn´t be surprised if there will be a docu-soap about him soon.

We have one more winner today: When Swedes vote for who they would prefer to send a loveletter to, they choose Mikael Persbrandt, the actor. This is according to a survey made by the Swedish Postoffice. Well, if they want to send him a loveletter, they probably will. This guy will drown in loveletters on Valentine´s Day. Good for him.

Celebrities may strengthen a brand

Sometimes brandowners ask celebrities to support their brand through PR and marketing-activities. They bring some kind of starquality and trustworthyness to the brand that they support.

Sportspeople are probably the most common faces in commercials. However, even personalities from the world of culture are becoming more common. Insurancecompanies and banks are starting to choose celebrities as frontfigures in their marketing. Clothing- and cosmetic-companies have already been active in this area for quite a while.

While it may be successful to work with celebrities, it may also take away the attention from the actual product or service. People may remember the celebrity but forget the product... There has to be a good manuscript which focuses more on the product than on the celebrity.

Another important aspect to consider, is the risk of soiling the brand if the chosen celebrity makes some kind of mistake which is hard for the buyers to forgive and forget.

As long as I find the celebrities trustworthy when they speak about the brands I like, it´s alright. If I can associate to both the brand and the celebrity, I´ll probably become a loyal customer.

Brandname as part of the design

I have a favorite among American brands when it comes to leisureclothes. Abercrombie & Fitch. Actually I don´t think that I belong to their targetgroup - I am a few years too old. However, I always find great things when I visit their stores. It is admirable that such a complicated name can build such a successful brand. It stands out. The name is often used as an important part of their design.

Now I read that Abercrombie & Fitch are looking for storelocations in Sweden. One reason is that Swedes are considered to be sensitive to trends.

Abercrombie & Fitch

The Pharmacy reform

The monpoly of the Swedish Pharmacy will turn into a competitive branch of trade in a few months. Anyone will be able to start a pharmacy, as long as there are certified pharmacists working there. Today there are about 900 pharmacies in Sweden. Half of them will be sold to other parties. We can probably expect players like Boots on our market in times to come.



The Swedish Pharmacy will move into this new competitive situation with their heads held high. They are modernising their visual identity - although they keep the basics so that people will feel secure and can trust their longterm thinking. There will be more private label as part of their branding- and differentiationprocess. They spend time, money and energy on education, so that every single co-worker will be a natural part of the new Apoteket. The storeconcept will be more modern than before.

I am looking forward to this change, although I guess I will feel a bit confused in the beginning. Who shall I choose when I need special bandaid for my sore trekkingfeet in the future? More choices, more possibilities.

Time

Unlike other resources, time can not be bought or sold, borrowed or stolen, stocked up or saved, manufactured, reproduced or modified. All we can do is make use of it.

Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber

Brand Extension part II

One of the insurance-companies in Sweden has opened up stores where they sell some trendy products for our kitchens. They say that they want to meet their clients before there is an accident and get a chance to teach them how to avoid accidents.

I am not yet convinced about this type of brand extension. It seems like a giant step away from their core business. I may be wrong - and I hope so, since I am one of their clients - but why would I choose to buy my kitchen-stuff in their stores? They are specialists when it comes to insurances, but not when it comes to trendy products for my kitchen. At least that is what I believe. They need to convince me. I don´t need that kind of excuse to get advice about my insurances. Or do I?

When we extend our brand, we need to balance between being brave and being logic. Our customers will wonder what is going on if they can´t associate the brand with the new businessarea. At the same time, they will enjoy positive surprises.

In this case, I can´t really tell if this will be a flip or a flop. We´ll see - and let´s hope for a flip.