You Can’t Have It All: Embracing the Conflict in Food
I heard a sharp intake of breath, quickly stifled. It’s the kind of thing that being a parent has taught me not to ignore…but also
I heard a sharp intake of breath, quickly stifled. It’s the kind of thing that being a parent has taught me not to ignore…but also
Can you capture the essence of a brand in a single word? A couple of days ago, a friend in Dallas raised this question, citing
Over the holidays, my partner Jim heard a story likely to disturb the sleep of a lot of food marketers: A friend of mine told
Sometime back, when we were working on the story framework for Target, then CMO Michael Francis explained the magic of retail to me: At its
We did a blog post a couple of months back about the explosion of characters in the car-insurance category. This morning I heard that Flo,
Being story guys, we’re always looking for examples of brands that seem to be using story really well. It’s pretty self-serving. We hope that these
There was a funny article in AdAge this past week about Nissan and Renault airing essentially the same commercial for two competing electric cars. (In
Does the recent commotion about the shortcomings of the new iPhone seem out of proportion to both the problem and the newsworthiness of the whole
I just saw the one-year follow-up to the Give Me Back that Filet O’ Fish commercial from McDonald’s and I was disappointed by the effort.
A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a senior marketer at a major global food company and he described the current environment as
“Character gets to the heart of what good storytelling is all about. They’ve helped Wendy’s focus on what makes us unique, different and special and that’s helped us to get people’s attention, keep their interest and keep the business growing. We compete with much larger brands, but by being overt about how we want to attack those differences, we’ve been able to have a lot of tension and conflict in the story that we are telling. That allows us to keep the story fresh and to fuel it. The more we do that the more positive attention we get as a brand and the more the brand continues to grow, which, in turn, builds our confidence in our storytelling and keeps the courage level high.”
—Kurt Kane, President U.S. & Chief Commercial Officer, Wendy’s Corporation
“I’ve been through Character’s story framework process four times in my career, and it has always added extraordinary value. It was a central piece of Walmart’s rebranding effort in 2006, as we sought a new articulation of our brand narrative and our purpose. It’s an equally powerful tool for us now, as Walmart defines its place in a rapidly transforming retail environment. And we are currently using it to do the same for Sam’s Club.”
—Tony Rogers, Chief Marketing Officer, Walmart
“Character’s approach to brand building is unlike any other in the business. Jim and his team use the timeless truths of human storytelling to unlock story potential and connect deeply with brand audiences. I’ve worked with Character throughout my career, and my experience with Tabasco was as fascinating, inspiring, and productive as ever.
Character worked with our team not only to help us re-examine and re-articulate the elemental truths of our iconic global brand but also to develop and apply practical tools that make the brand story framework user-friendly for our entire organization.
I whole-heartedly recommend Character to any brand marketer who is looking to make intuitive and durable connections with their consumer.”
Lee Susen, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Tabasco / McIlhenny Company