A whole half-page story in tonight’s Evening Standard about a firm who have been creating poor imitations of Disney blockbuster films.
Brightspark Productions Ltd (not to be confused with Brightspark Studios who have updated their homepage with the message below) have been forced by the courts to destroy their infringing films.
The law of passing off prevents one person from misrepresenting his or her goods or services as being the goods and services of the claimant, and also prevents one person from holding out his or her goods or services as having some association or connection with the plaintiff when this is not true.
In this case parents were buying DVDs such as Tangled Up and Braver below, and finding their children were disappointed with the films inside the cases. They didn’t come close to the Disney level of quality of storyline or animation.
Brightspark’s managing director Jeremy Davis seemed relatively unrepentant when he said: “I really believed no one in their right mind would buy Braver thinking it was Brave. It was on sale for £2-something in Tesco. You’ve never seen a Disney title for anything near that. I obviously wouldn’t want any kids upset, but the feedback we get is our titles are cheap and cheerful.”
Although his collapsible bottle was becoming a great success in the UK under the brand Aquitina, Guy was advised he should change its name before taking on the United States market.
Unfortunately Aquatina is quite similar to Aquafina, a brand of bottled water owned by PepsiCo. Naturally Guy’s advisor was concerned that the cost of going through the courts would bankrupt the business, even though he would win the case.
So a new name was needed for the brand, and the advice was to use a made-up word. By definition, no one would be able to claim ‘prior-art‘ with a newly invented name. After much experimenting Guy and his team came up with the name ohyo (pronounced yoyo).
We had a chat about the importance of the Ronseal (says what it does on the tin) approach to a name, versus the advantages of using anonymous name like ohyo. My feeling is that a descriptive name is great when you are starting out, such as Man and Transit Van. But you never really know where your business will go, or how diversified it will become. In which case your expressive name can become unhelpful. For instance Carphone Warehouse, is no longer a warehouse and doesn’t sell phones for cars.
In the case of Apple Computer, the name was effectively pulled out of a hat the day before it was needed for company registration. Its generic nature meant that once the Computer bit was dropped, the company was free to make anything they liked and stick an Apple logo on it.
According to Walter Isaacson’s recent biography of Steve Jobs, “I was on one of my fruitarian diets,” he explained. “I had just come back from the apple farm. It sounded fun, spirited, and not intimidating. Apple took the edge off the word ‘computer.’ Plus, it would get us ahead of Atari in the phone book.” He told Wozniak that if a better name did not hit them by the next afternoon, they would just stick with Apple. And they did.
You may notice a similar looking collapsible bottle at the checkout of you local Marks & Spencer branch, as ohyo have licensed their product to M&S.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I think the Yamasaki YM125 may well be the ultimate expression of that in the biking world. Yes, I’m back on my favourite topic of motorbikes again, but this story is all about trademarks and branding.
This rather unexpected brand name takes me back to my early youth, when the British Bike industry still ruled the world, but Japanese imports to the UK were just beginning. Needless to say the old British Bikers would have nothing to do with these young upstarts from Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Honda. Their short-sighted criticisms would often be expressed in dismissive pithy phrases such as ‘I wouldn’t be seen dead on one of those Jap-crap Yamasakis’.
So it is something of an irony that China is beginning its inroad to the established Japanese market hegemony with this portmanteau word based on two of the biggest Nipponese brands. Even more so, the bike spearheading the attack is a copy of the best-selling Honda CG 125. You can make your up own mind how much of a facsimile the YM125 is, by looking at the photos below.
Although not yet available in the UK, Bike Magazine recently imported one in ready-to-build crated form. After two hours putting it together they weren’t entirely impressed by the build quality, but they were by the on the road price of £896, and the 95 miles a gallon fuel consumption.
Certainly Richy1986, who posted this critical review on Review Centre listing 25 faults, was not impressed with his bike. Yamasaki YM125-3 – Cheap Rubbish!!!
According to Wikipedia Argan oil is a plant oil produced from the kernels of the Argan tree. It is found in Morocco, and is valued for its nutritive, cosmetic and numerous medicinal properties.
Argan oil is one of the healthiest and rarest oils in the world coming from the UNESCO protected argan tree. Often nicknamed ‘liquid gold’ this oil was the Berber people’s secret for centuries
It takes approximately 15 hours and 30kg of fruit to produce just 1 litre of argan oil. This lengthy process involves skilled handwork that has been passed down from generations.
In late summer the argan fruit ripens and falls to the ground where it is gathered. It is then laid out in the sun to dry. To make the oil, the dried outer fruit is first removed, then, using traditional artisanal techniques involving stones, the seeds are extracted from the hard inner shell.
Up to this point everything is done by hand, furthermore it is only women involved and this employment provides not only a good source of income in a poor region but an opportunity for them to gain independence. The process is governed by cooperatives who also give these women access to free education, and use some of the profits of the argan oil trade to benefit the local tribes and communities.
The seeds are then cold pressed to extract the oil. Nothing is wasted in the process, the fruit pulp is fed to cattle and the leftover seed pulp is used as fuel. At Arganic we have strict controls at every stage of production.
Dana had attended a couple of events and courses at the Business & IP Centre, but is still relatively new to the library. But it sounds like we have already been of help.
‘I trademarked my name only after being aware of it through the free IP seminar at the British Library and it was one of the best things I could have done at the start of my business as I have come across and won IP issues since.’
Here is her story:
Dana had heard about argan oil through relatives that were raving about it but found it difficult to get hold of in the UK. It was then that she decided to leave her mathematical and corporate background behind and the idea for Arganic came about. Luckily Dana had friends living in Morocco who put her through to the right people and the more she learned about this oil the more she fell in love with it and the important social impact it plays for women in Morocco.
Update
I’ve just received this exciting update from Dana:
What a lovely post, thank you so much. There have been so many things happen since we last met, details on my last newsletter here, including TV appearances. Also last week my argan oil won a gold award from The Guild of Fine Foods, and today I found out that I won a Shell Livewire Grand Ideas award which gives me £1000 and free PR. They said I achieved the highest points in my category, and am now in the run for Young Entrepreneur of the Year which is announced in November. So I am extremely pleased right now.
I am still visiting the library and recommending the business centre constantly.
Yesterday I attended another of Kimberly Davies‘ Marketing Masters days. This time the topic was Effective Writing And Communications and featured guest speaker Steve Trister the creator of Performance Dynamite.
I not sure if Kimberly is a geographer at heart, but the four days I have attended have been located in south, east, north and now west London. I’m not sure where she will go next now we have covered all four compass points.
One of the consequences of moving to a new location each time, is that the rooms often have technical glitches with the sound or vision, or in yesterdays case, both.
Kimberly copes with these challenging starts to the day with an impressive level of professionalism and humour.
Kimberly spoke for most of the day and was excellent, however the highlight of the day for me was actor and business coach Steve Trister the from Performance Dynamite..
He walked to front of the room wearing a doctors mask and mumbled something to. That got our attention. He then asked us to name the number one disease in business. We came up with a range of suggestions, but failed to give the correct answer; Vomiticus Contentinaatum – otherwise known as puking content, or verbal diarrhoea.
I have to admit that working in one of the largest libraries in the world with over 150 million items in our collection, this is a disease I am all too well aware of falling prey to.
The cure to this disease is to make an emotional connection with your audience (of one or more). This of course is much easier to say than to do. So you need to prepare, by building the right mindset.
You need to tell yourself every day that you are already connected to your audience, then you need to mentally rehearse by visualising the event in advance (some of which will be scripted, and some not). This is similar to the way professional athletes prepare for a competition.
You need to be clear on the emotion you want to conjure up, be in state (or in the moment with no distractions), and to commit 100% to the performance.
Steve had investigated the famous research by Albert Mehrabian on non-verbal communication. He found the commonly quoted result, that clues from spoken words, from the voice tone, and from the facial expression, contribute 7 %, 38 %, and 55 % respectively to the total meaning, is wrong, as it it relates only to the communication of positive versus negative emotions.
Our voice is critical to how we communicate to our audience, changes in vocal emphasis (the stress we put on specific words) can completely change the meaning of what we saying. He asked how often do we take note of how we are actually speaking. He explained that our tongues are muscles, so we should exercise them using tongue twisters.
He also covered body language and the use of gestures, and how these can be used to reinforce or undermine our verbal messages. He said we should practice expressing our business activity in the form of charades. This made my mind boggle at how I could show the British Library through mime.
Steve illustrated each of these points with victims (sorry volunteers) from the audience, and guided them through. For the final example he had a professional photographer give an excellent and clear mime of his business.
Finally he said we should find an emotional story that will relate to your audience.
Needless to say Steve used all of these techniques during one of the most engaging and memorable presentations I have ever seen.
Here are my notes from the rest of the excellent day:
Learn the 20 rules of communication that should never be broken
Kimberly’s no. 1 life lesson;
“You can reach anyone in the world with, seven phone calls or less, saying the right thing.”
Statistics show that 50% of marketing spend is wasted.
Led to the idea for Sarsaparilla – to detox your marketing – Marketing Purification
Definition of marketing
Anything that affects the perception of your company. From logos to staff behaviour.
You are exposed to 4,000 brands every day. So how does your business stand out?
Know your audience
- Who is your target market?
- Who is your idea client / decision maker?
- What motivates them?
- Profile (gender, age, health, wealth, culture, interests, position, salary, budget, etc)
Then put yourself into their shoes.
- How can you make their life easier?
- What is in it for them?
Then find your voice (written language).
- Who would narrate your content?
- Think of a character of personality best suited – perhaps Steven Fry for the British Library
- Who would your audience relate to and want to hear? Admire? Look up to? Believe
- Imagine their voice each time you create marketing content
Keywords
- Ten words that best describe your business – For the Business & IP Centre: innovation, inventions, information, support, advice, help, entrepreneurs, business-startup,
- One word that best describe your business – knowledge
Unique Selling Point
- What truly makes your business unique – For the Business & IP Centre: The largest free collection of free market research and business information in the world, with expert guidance.
USP
- You need to be the only…
- Everyone says, great staff, customer service etc. That is not unique
- Sarsaparilla – the only marketing purification agency
- Try to be everything to everyone and you will be nothing to no one.
Misconceptions
- Write down misconceptions about your company and industry
o The British Library is a only accessible to senior academics and authors.
o The British Library is a very big public library.
o The British Library only has books.
Testimonials
- Stronger to have others say it for you
- One to address each misconception – a maximum of five
- Keep them really short
- Use white papers and case studies
Focus on the benefits for your customers
- List them – information, advice, contacts, training
- What problem can you solve?
- How can you make their life easier? – a clearer view of what they need to do to start their business
Key Messages
- What are the three key things you want people to remember about your business?
o Business & IP Centre at the British Library at St Pancras central London
o Free workshops and advice
o Free access to market research and business information.
Branding
- The trust people have in your company
- Consistency – with the rest of your business
- People will judge you from how you look
Professional photos
- Stock photos are too common – better to use your own commissioned ones
KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid
- You have two seconds to make an impression
- 8 year old level reading age for printed materials
- Get straight to the point
- Bulleted lists are good, with verbs to start
- Every word competes
Formula for success and to avoid writers block
- I’ve got all this information, now how do I organise it?
- Reverse pyramid order – most important to least important
- Start with the ‘lead’ – who, what, where, when, how
Navigate
- Map out where you want them to go
- Tell them what you want them to do
Call to Action
- Create urgency
- Why should I stop what I’m doing and buy NOW?
- Now or lose your audience
Ask questions – keep the dialogue going
- Show a sincere interest
- Surveys, feedback, phone
- What questions would you want to know for market research?
Relevance
- How can you connect your business to current news?
- Have an opinion
- Share your views – become an expert
The Elevator Pitch
- What is it?
- The most important tool
- People decide whether to file or forget you
- Get everyone in the company to memorise
- Use it everywhere – keep it consistent – brochures, home page, flyers etc
The who, what, where, when and how of your business
I still think Sarsaparilla’s elevator pitch is the best I have come across;
50% of marketing is wasted. Sarsaparilla is a marketing consulting and training agency that specialises in marketing purification – the process of detoxing your marketing, protecting you from The Flash, Fluff, and Fakers, and helping you make more money with less.
Fashion graduates Emma-Jayne Parkes and Viviane Jaeger founded SquidLondon after being inspired by Jackson Pollock. They thought it would be cool to walk down the street, it starts to rain and your clothes turn into a walking Jackson Pollock.
Their first product, the Squidarella, is an umbrella that changes colour as it rains. Developing such an innovative product meant that intellectual property – protecting their ideas – was an essential topic to crack. The pair visited the Business & IP Centre to learn more about how intellectual property applied to them.
On the way home from a recent road trip to Scotland, I made a ‘pit-stop’ at a McDonalds restaurant near Birmingham.
I’m not a regular customer at the ‘golden arches’, so was very surprised to discover a waterless urinal
with a sticker on it saying it saved 100,000 litres of water a year.
McDonalds have created a website to allow you to Make up your own mind, which currently contains 24,000 questions and answers:
Your Questions A dedicated Make Up Your Own Mind team from across McDonald’s is working hard to answer your questions. You can ask whatever you want, and we aim to answer even the toughest question within two weeks in an honest and straight-talking fashion. The ‘Questions & Answers’ can be searched either by keyword or by sub-sections – this should help you find the information you’re looking for.
The website also includes reports from their Quality Scouts.
What is a Quality Scout? Quality Scouts are members of the general public from around the UK who are curious about McDonald’s business. They are not paid, and have no ties to the company. All they do is take an honest, behind the scenes look at McDonald’s and report back. And they’ll tell you exactly what they hear and see.
I have to say I am impressed by their efforts, but wonder what it will take to change public opinion.
Two examples spring to mind:
Fiat cars of the 1970’s, which became notorious for their rust problems.
In response they built the Tipo in the 1980’s (a car I owned), and gave it a fully galvanised body, giving it better rust protection than almost any other car on the market. However, it took many years for their ‘rust bucket’ reputation to disappear.
A more recent (if fictitious) example is from The Archers radio show where an outbreak of E. coli, has resulted in regular customers deserting Ambridge Organics, despite having been given the all clear several weeks ago.
Driving to my parents house the other day, I notice an unusual garage by the side of the road in shape of a thatched house (The Thatched Garage). Even more surprising was the extent of the niche of their shiny objects filling the forecourt. Not just off road vehicles, or even just Land Rovers… they only sell the Defender model of Land Rover.
However, they have been doing very well thank you occupying this tiny niche for over twenty years.
Having recently spent two weeks on safari in Tanzania, I have new found admiration for the sturdiness and off-road capability of this particular product of the Land Rover factory. After hours of pummeling on corrugated and rocky roads, I fully expected the vehicle to start shaking itself to pieces. But our driver had spent ten years driving the same car, and explained that all it needed was a thorough service after each adventure to be as good as new.
In most cases the key to really long-term survival is being flexible and changing to match or even lead, public taste and new markets.
For instance while on my recent trip to Tanzania I noticed that although local people still buy bottles of Coca-Cola, many more are drinking Kilimanjaro brand water. On examining the bottle closely I was surprised to see it was produced by the very same Coca-Cola company. This is just one of the many hundreds of brands that they now own.
Another interesting discovery is the high proportion of long lasting companies that are Japanese or German. It may be something to do with how they get passed down through the family to the next generation. The oldest is the Keiunkan hotel, which has been going since 705.
