I attended the PMDA Educational Series “How Google and Apple Mange Their Brands” on Wednesday. This was the second of the PMDA education events planned for this year. The panelists were Andy Berndt – Managing Director of Google Creative Lab and Tom Carroll – President and CEO of TBWA Advertising. Moderating the panel was Jerry Grossman from Photo Industry Reporter and President of PMDA. The event took place at the Yale Club in New York City.
Google and Apple are probably the two hottest brands in the United States. It was interesting to hear how the brands are managed. Much of the event centered on Apple as Mr. Berndt also used to work at Chiai/Day that used to be Apple’s advertising agency before it was acquired by TBWA.
Mr. Berndt described Google as a bunch of “entrepreneurs stuffed into the same building.” He said that much of his role as doing “a lot of saying no.” to ideas that could damage the brand. Google is described as an engineering based company.
Mr. Carroll said that TBWA is now the 5th largest advertising company in the world while last year it was 18th. The company has grown by acquiring the best creative agencies in the world. Two of its largest clients are Apple and Adidas.
One of the key successes in Apple brands, Mr. Carroll stated was that Steven Jobs scrutinizes the Apple advertising in a weekly meeting. For every 25 ad concepts or ideas, Mr. Jobs kills 24. At these meeting Mr. Jobs is very blunt. Time is not wasted to get to the point. The meeting usually last 2 hours with one hour discussing Apple products and second discussing what the agency invented.
Mr. Carroll said that Apple is a very secretive company. The 200+ Apple team is housed in a separate building from other TBWA employees. The building is only accessible by a thumb scanner and Mr. Carroll said that they were contemplating adding rental scanners.
Apple doesn’t believe in social marketing. All their advertising is focused on their products. Mr. Carroll said that Apple has been helped by Microsoft being so “clumsy” in their advertising. He said he doubts the “I am PC” campaign has made any difference in the market.
Mr. Carroll said that no one quits from Apple team at TBWA. An added perk was that he doesn’t have to give raises as the team is so devoted. J
Mr. Carroll said that Adidas put the account up for review because the company wanted to go digital. TBWA had to pitch the account again against companies like Razorfish, Digitas and other interactive focused agencies. TBWA won the account again because Adidas realized that they really understood branding compared to the other agencies.
Mr. Berndt said that Google is still under control of its two founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who follow their beliefs. The founders have the unique ability to look at things like a user would for the first time. They believe in designing intuitive and beneficial products that pass the “common sense factor.”
Apple does not conduct any consumer research according to Mr. Carroll. He mentioned an executive (did not catch name) at P&G who was famous for going into peoples homes and watching how they use products. Apple follows the same philosophy that the “answer is in the market, not in the research.”
Mr. Berndt stated that it is a challenge to get advertising funding at Google. “If something is just invented, it is hard to search for.”
Mr. Carroll said that rotating CMOs at companies don’t help in building a brand. He said that TBWA doesn’t want to take on clients that can’t answer; what is the brand belief? It is critical that senior management know what the company stands for. A company must stay focused and the CEO must be directly involved in the brand management.
An example of a successful brand building campaign, Mr. Carroll thought was Hyundai’s 10 year warranty messaging. He said it was successful in “creating utility for people” beyond the product. People buy brands instead of just buying products.
Mr. Carroll said that a strong focus in his agencies is on shopper marketing. This is managing the last 3 feet of the store before the consumer reaches the product. He said that every aspect of the Apple Stores are thought out too death.
Mr. Carroll said that not all brand are digital. There are certain countries that are more digital than others. He brought up that Japan is more heavily involved in mobile communication than other countries.
Mr. Berndt said that companies should not buy into anything closed and stay with open source. Also, he said that it is important to find some 20-30 years old & bring them up to play with products to get fresh perspectives.
Mr. Carroll described Millennials as hard working, green, tech savvy and collaborative.
Apple’s advertising has been in TV, print and outdoor. They have just started online campaigns. Goal is to find a mix that works. This is critical for any company.
Mr. Berndt said that it is crucial in brand building to find “what are the 5 things people are most interested in.” Then have the messaging intersect with one of the 5 important things.
Mr. Carroll stated that he used to make ads. Now he makes brand behavior. Everything must be scrutinized how it affects the brand. Brand behavior is how the consumer relates to the brand. There must be constant communication to keep the brand fresh.
Mr. Berndt said the Nikon has a challenge in “brand elasticity” by extending its brand from compact cameras to professional DSLRs.
I found the event very informative. The major benefit that Apple and Google both share in brand management is that their founders are still alive and deeply involved in the companies. The founders will always have a passion above and beyond what any following managers will have no matter how committed or driven. One of the challenges in most companies have is that the decision process is by committee and no one will risk their careers on their beliefs. Only a founder or the rare business leader will do so.
The next PMDA Education Series is scheduled for November 19th. The topic has not been announced yet. I plan to attend as the events are very educational.
