Put a Face to Your Brand

You know what Axel? Good point, most of us did not answer the question. Realistically the answer is both. Cindi is clearly an asset to her company in terms of branding but not all company heads are. Dan Hesse and Sprint are getting diddly squat out of his attempt to be part of the brand. In some cases it can be a huge negative. Especially when a brilliant business man or women is not an out going or warm personality. What it takes to run a successful business and what it takes to be the face of a brand are two different things, and not everyone has both qualities. John Paul DiJoria of Paul Mitchell is a HUGE personality in the industry and carefully leveraged the name of his now deceased partner Paul Mitchell so that it is unclear who the original brand face was... and nobody really cares. What we are talking about here is a cult of personality... and they last as long as the personality does... and as long as nobody gets bored or offended. So is it a risk? Yes. Can it work well for some? Yes. Most of the time though... leave it to folks who are good at that sort of thing. The reason it is so nice to see this video is we seem to have a rare combination of a savvy business person who is willing and able to portray warmth and personality and openness. It is rare, but when you've got it , why not take advantage of it?

Oh my--I will never look at Bigelow again as just another tea! i will see Cindy Bigelow and I will think of those 330 families she keeps employed!

Chris, isn't it fascinating to watch the dynamic of this post?
You asked a valid question and only Danny Brown tried to answer. The following comments ignored him and kept just pushing out their impression. :-)

Anyway. A few years back Dell hired a young actor for an add campaign in Germany - it was the most successful ad campaign for Dell - ever. The actor wanted more money - couldn't agree - actor out - advertising flopped - sales went down. Boom.
Another example is Chuck Schwab. Company depressed, Chuck came back (like Dany's example with Apple) - business up again. Or: We all know the young fellow "can you hear me - can you hear me now".
Risk and reward are certainly much greater than keeping it "normal" - but normal is sooooo boring - so hey, take the risk - and know what the risk is.

@AxelS

Brilliant and so simple. I drink tea- now Bigelow has not only a face but a personality. Cindi made the connection and it is a great idea. Thanks for finding this Chris. Cindi made Bigelow real and I made the connection to her and the produce and grandma Bigelow. I loved the idea that they did not make it slick or edit out the folks that either don't drink tea or who never heard of Bigelow. I think I'll have a cup of tea.

Here's a bunch of fun faces on the IBEX brand. Employees with 'staches. Good or bad?

http://www.ibexwear.com/shop/The_Great_Ibex_Mus...

Cindi's doing a great job putting herself out there, even with the somewhat awkward exchanges she can get. When a construction worker says, "I've never heard of Bigelow Tea," that's a great starting point for this sort of brand conversation.

Cindi's videos are a great example of businesses reaching out to their customers, and definitely needs more taking it up.

The only thing I'd be wary of is if the face *becomes* the company/brand and that's what people associate with it. As the stock drops in Apple when it was announced Steve Jobs was ill show, when a face *is* the company, it can be a little counter-productive if something happens to that person.

By all means, offer the personal touch and become one with your customers. Just don't make it at the expense of the business itself.

Chris, thanks so much for your comments about the Bigelow Tea Video. We have truly enjoyed working with our client Bigelow Tea in sharing their brand through online videos (yes, there are more Justin creations out there and they are great!), the Bigelow Tea blog, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and more! It has been easy for us to create a community among Bigelow Tea drinkers because Bigelow not only has a high quality product but the tea drinkers are loyal and passionate...a perfect combination for a social media success story.

Would love to hear from everyone on the Bigelow Tea Blog, www.bigelowteablog.com.

Valorie Luther
Founder
Creative Concepts

Interesting video- I had no idea tabout he family behind the company and I have been drinking Bigelow for YEARS! My Grandmother's favorite was Constant Comment... I regularly buy numerous types and flavors of this brand.

I think this sort of advertising today is definitely good for the brand. I think it helps set it above the others, say like "Twinings". C.B. is a very personable representative for her family's business. ( Which is how I will now think of it instead of impersonal corporate)

Going to put the kettle on. :)

Thank you for sharing this fantastic example of social media marketing. It's a good example of something that is reasonably simple to do. I'm not a big tea drinker and I bet I will never forget Bigelow brand now. I can already tell I'll notice them in the store more now. Very powerful.

As a tea drinker I loved this video. It was great to see how much pride Cindi Bigelow has in her company. I had no idea there actually was a real person named Bigelow behind this tea. The video was fun, informative and definitely left you feeling good about the product and company. Love New Yorkers.

Love this. She is real and is having conversations with people. The video feels honest and real. Reminded me how much I like this tea... and gave me warm fuzzies at the thought of support ing a 3rd generation family business. I think it hit all the right notes. The truth is that this would not work... as noted above with your run of the mill CEO. She is open, fun and shows alot of emotion... not something that the average CEO is usually rewarded for being. So kudos, to the team that did this. Good work.

Chris - thanks for mentioning our video on your blog! (And thanks to everyone else for the feedback!) We weren't quite sure how the video would turn out when we first started, but we knew it was important to NOT imply that *everyone* knew what Bigelow Tea was. (In a city the size of New York, that would never be accurate.) Instead, it made more sense for us to show the way Cindi is able to interact with everyone and put a face to the brand, which I think helps support Bigelow's history as a family company that's achieved their success without losing sight of who they are as individuals.

By the way, if you're on Twitter, feel free to follow Bigelow Tea for more tea-related tweets, recipes and videos.

And yes, Alex, that *is* the same camerawork -- and camera -- I use on Something to Be Desired. Thanks for noticing. :)

Love this, she has a dynamic personality and it was great they showed both sides.

I have to say, this video actually makes me feel guilty for no longer drinking Bigelow Tea (I get loose-leaf stuff from Adagio.com). That said, if I did have a need to grab a brand of bagged tea, I would be more likely to grab theirs. It's good to know it's still a family company, and she's someone I'd personally like to see stay in business for the long haul.

With the boom in social media, the companies and the people in those companies that actually get up and just do something are on to a winner.

There are so many companies that have been brain washed in to fearing being themselves. That they need to approve and polish any piece of communication so many times over, that by the time it is released 1. it's doesn't reflect the company and 2. it's out of date.

Great video, and a great company.

So should you brand yourself? To build a successful company...?

Chris, Thanks for sharing this as I had not seen it. I absolutely agree that people make connections with people, not brands. I would caution to make sure it's the right person representing your brand! Cindi's candid interviews makes me a fan! I agree with Chuck when he says she comes across down to earth and passionate about her company, it makes you want to support her.

This is a fantastic example and I love how Bigelow isn't overtly trying to make themselves out to be a super brand, but in the process does. We've just recently come out from hiding by adding a portrait at twitter.scraplesspress.com. Now need to get a video...

What a fantastic (and simple) video! That's great that they were transparent and showed that some people did not know the brand. But the CEO definitely showed her appreciation to the customers who did. She comes across so down to earth and anyone could tell how much her company meant to her.

MediaTile is starting to use more videos and I'm going to use this as a template for how we should move forward.

What I love about this video even more then the fact that SHE is in it, is the fact that there are some "nope never heard of it" moments in there. Many brands would have had this edited down so it was full of "yes I love it" type of interviews, but because this faces the fact that not everyone knows any brand it makes it much more engaging and truthful.

It is amazing how adding even a little bit of reality to something make it much more effective then straight up marketing. Brands need to pay attention and embrace the fact that there will always be multiple voices and opinions of your brands.

And on a personal note, I had never heard of Bigelow until I met Justin and he mentioned he was doing some work for them. I was in a store and saw it and realized that was the brand he was talking about so I bought some. Oh wait, isn't that a trust economy?? *laugh*

Hmm, Sprint has a face on their brand too. Dan Hesse, riding in taxis and talking about people, rather than to people. I don't think this has helped Sprint very much, they took a pounding in Q4. Dan's face is front and center on Sprint's TV ads.

Perhaps the key isn't the face, it's what the face is doing. Cindi's face is talking with people, joking with them, asking them questions and telling them stories. Dan's face is removed from people, he's speaking down, from his CEO bubble, rather than connecting.

The question for the brand might be: are customers getting face time or not?

chris,

i caught that a while back -- some vids shot with the green monster mascot of Fenway park in Boston. I hadn't realized it was her company! A job well done I have to say!

Perhaps we could get some Wall St ex-CEOs to drop into an airshow w/ their golden parachutes and take some questions from the audience...

I love Bigelow tea... Earl Grey is my fav! I've always thought of the brand as classy and high shelf, and Seeing Cindi Bigelow re-enforces that belief.

I think putting a face on your company always works, even if the face is annoying... remember Crazy Eddie? LOL

Funny... those camera angles look familiar... Could they be somehow related to the net's favorite Pittsburgh web-com, Something to Be Desired?

Oh man this is good. Now her personality is permanently attached to the packaging. I think I'd rather her telling cool stories and discussing the fun of tea (instead of pitching her product). But it's smart.