It’s actually quite odd how and why we reward certain behavioral traits in people and brands. In grade school, the kid who talked back to teachers usually received the most attention and admiration from his or her peers. From high school on through our mid- to late-twenties, the edgy “bad boy” was able to command respect – sincere or not – from others. Truth be told, I usually played the part of the straight-laced kid watching these characters with both disapproval and jealousy. When would traits like being positive, nice, or funny interest other people?

In no way am I attempting to draw a parallel between myself and The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, however, I would like to point out that of all the directions Portland-based ad agency Wieden + Kennedy could have taken this innovative “personalized response” campaign, they opted to keep it positive. For three days (July 12 – 14), the Old Spice guy engaged directly with his fans and consumers of Old Spice, sending those who responded to the work a personalized message.

While the T.V. commercials, which first introduced us to The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, had a hint of arrogance, the videos from personalized response campaign always sought to compliment the person for whom the video was created. Even the individuals or companies looking to self-promote or poke fun at Old Spice / the Old Spice guy were met with jovial, positive replies.

The  decision to always be positive is the impetus for the campaign’s success. Sure, every now and then we may find some pleasure in a pithy tweet, revolutionary technology, or even occasional public rant or beat down, but at the end of the day we love things that are honest, simple, and make us smile. In terms of ROI, being positive seems to be working for Old Spice; Nielsen reported that sales of the Old Spice Body Wash range as a whole rose by 55% over the last three months, and by 107% in the last month. In addition, independent third-party measurement firm Visible Measures recently shared that Old Spice’s video response campaign is one of the fastest-growing online video campaigns of all time. Check out their graph below and you’ll see what I mean:

I was recently at an event where Pet Holdings CEO Ben Huh (company behind FAIL Blog, Lolcats, etc.) shared, ”Human nature has a tendency to admire complexity but reward simplicity.” Similar to Ben’s quote is the thought, ”The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.” from none other than Warren Buffet.

The point? We are smarter, more well-informed consumers than we were 10 years ago – mostly thanks to the Internet. We, as well as the companies whose goods and services we purchase, have the ability to be heard by the world through the various social media networks and platforms. Thus, if you, as a company, are going to use social media, please do not leverage it as a glorified news feed for your traditional press releases and propaganda. Rather than talk to everyone, companies need to talk with consumers. Having genuine conversations – some may have nothing to do with company at all – allows the consumers who are passionate about your topics to engage with you and champion your product or service.

As for the Old Spice responses, here are a few of my favorite examples of the “choosing to be positive” concept:

[No video? Click here to view on YouTube.]

[No video? Click here to view on YouTube.]

[No video? Click here to view on YouTube.]

Now get out there and create some luxury-style hot tubs!!!… Not laughing? Well, if you didn’t watch the first video from above then you won’t get the joke!

– Ryan

The article makes note that just over 3 million of the 100+ million iOS devices are iPads. So what? It’s a nice data point to quote, but I fail to see the vale of judging a new computing platform in its infancy. Furthermore, we already know that Windows and Android will eventually follow suit with their own tablet operating systems or maybe even take another swing at building their own devices.

The absence of iPad apps from non-media brands has less to do with their waiting to see if the tablet form-factor will become widely adopted – it will – and more to do with their desire to deliver a meaningful experience to users. Thankfully, it appears that many brands and their agencies are taking hold of the opportunity to build a thoughtful app for this new, albeit familiar, computing platform rather than produce more “me-too” or novelty apps, of which the App Store already has enough.

Building iPad apps that consumers actually want to use simply takes more time than the typical two- to four-week effort needed to create one of the many uninspired “app version of our web site” apps (e.g. store locator, catalogs lacking e-commerce, etc.) circa 2008 and 2009. Case in point, we are currently working on iPad app initiatives for a number of brands, each with time requirements spanning between three to six months to deliver a “version 1.0″ app. If anything, it’s refreshing to see these brands consider what pain their app will alleviate for its intended end users.

In addition to the larger scope and complexity of today’s mobile apps, iPad apps offer a unique (though potential similar to the up-coming Android devices will be here for the 2010 holiday season) experience unlike that of any other touch device – yes, even iPhone or iPod touch. iPad offers a “flat” user experience, allowing most of an app’s functionality to be accessible from one screen, versus the iPhone’s or iPod touch’s user experience where a more hierarchical approach is required.

Here’s a fun exercise, try using a “Universal” app (app that takes full advantage of the technologies on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch with a single binary) such as Evernote on iPad, and then on iPhone; now consider which experience you found to be more enjoyable. For me, apps built for iPad offer a stickier experience and more utility… Well, unless a camera is involved, but let’s not go there.

As for Chris Cunningham’s (CEO and co-founder of Appssavv) remark of the brand app era being over, I just don’t see it. Given the significant number of early adopters and the consumer groups who eventually follow suit, why would non-media brands (especially the ones who profess to be concerned with “engagement”) not want to reach out and engage with these premium consumers (assuming these consumers are part of their target market of course)?

I’d love to hear which brands would you like to see extend their products or services to an app for iPad.

– Ryan

We are fortunate to have incredibly thoughtful readers who love to ask great questions! In the past, we would dialogue with readers and respond to their questions over email, but it recently dawned on us that readers’ questions, and our subsequent answers, are definitely worth sharing with the entire Über-blog community, hence the new “Ask an Übie!” section on the right side of your screen. Go ahead, give it a look.

One of the most frequently asked questions from our reader/developer community is how we manage to publish so many popular apps. That’s a tough question because the answer is, in all actuality, one heck of a moving target! But, I can say that one of the most crucial elements of the app publishing/marketing process is writing a great App Store description. Oddly enough, many fantastic apps have terrible App Store descriptions – in spite of the importance – and are not capturing the maximum amount of potential downloads.

A good app with a bad App Store description is like having a Ferrari with worn out tires – sure, your app may be doing okay in terms of downloads and ratings, but why not take every opportunity to inform potential users of your app’s capabilities and strengths? Even worse, when users do not understand what your app does (and doesn’t do), but download it anyway, they often give poor ratings or reviews because the app did not do what they expected. We’ve learned these lessons the hard way; trust us when we say there are enough challenges trying to make your app standout among the other +230,000 apps on the App Store. If you’re a developer, please, repeat after me, “I solemnly swear that I will never again write a weak-sauce App Store description that could jeopardize my app’s well-being or potential success!”

Great! With that behind us, we can now explore how to write a description that produces downloads. Whether your app is a pragmatic solution to a simple problem or a deeply-engaging user experience, I’m going to give you a framework for writing effective App Store copy. But, before we even go there, first we will understand the psyche and browsing habits of app users while shopping on the App Store.

[click image to enlarge or here to view on Flickr]

Now that you can see what App Store marketers are dealing with, we can move on to copy writing for utility- or experience-focused apps, which are the two most common types of apps on the app store.

“Utility” Apps

We’ll start with the easy stuff. Apps aimed at accomplishing one specific task or feat are some of the most popular iPad and iPhone apps; my personal favorites – I’ll use non-Übermind apps so that you can be sure this post isn’t marketing propaganda – are Evernote (for iPad, iPhone, and Mac), Reeder (for iPad and iPhone), and Convertbot (for iPhone). Evernote is my multi-platform notetaking solution, Reeder is the phenomenal Google Reader-reader, and Convertbot is an easy tool for calculating unit conversions. Though each app also boasts a wonderful user experience, each is focused on solving a true need, just like any other tool.

Here at Übermind, we developed a super-simple, free golf course search and scorecard app named Golfr (view on the App Store), which allows golfers to, well, search for golf courses and score their rounds. Even though Golfr design offers a beautiful user interface, it is a utility app at heart, made evident thanks to its laser-like focus towards accomplishing only a few golf-related tasks with the utmost excellence and the least amount of user input.

Golfr’s App Store description:

Golfr is the best scorecard and course search app. And yes, Golfr is free.

Whether you’re keeping your score or looking for a new golf course to play, you’ll love the beauty and simplicity of Golfr for iPhone or iPod touch. Spend more time focusing on your golf game and less time looking at your phone.

SCORECARD

● Rotate iPhone to landscape to see “Scorecard” view
● Slide finger up or down to adjust your score
● Works for 9- and 18-hole courses
● Saves all your rounds

PERSONALIZED SUMMARY & STATS

● Stats for a specific course or all courses played
● Stats by hole type – par 3, par 4, or par 5
● Track number of birdies, eagles, bogeys, and double-bogeys
● Automatically created from saved scorecards

COURSE SEARCH

● Over 19,000 courses
● Search by golf course name, city, or state
● Search for golf courses near your current location
● Save your favorite courses for easy access

COURSE DETAILS

● Green fees (standard, weekday, twilight, etc.)
● Phone number, web site, etc.
● Distance and par for every hole
● Rating and slope for each tee
● Map directions to every course

OFFERS

● Free service allowing courses to create promotions exclusively for Golfr users
● Courses using Offers show up first in user searches
● Free service to both courses and users
● Email info@golfrapp.com if you are a golf facility looking to create a promotion

Have a great idea or suggestion for Golfr? Send to feedback@golfrapp.com – your feedback helps drive the features that we will add to Golfr.

Thanks for checking out Golfr!

In terms of App Store copy, there is nothing more important than the first line or two of a description, which happens to be text that potential users will see when they land on your app’s App Store page. There is no time for run-on sentences or verbose diction.

Be concise. Be simple. Be honest. A well-know philosopher once said, “It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like ‘What about lunch?’” Oh Pooh, you silly old bear.

“Golfr is the best scorecard and course search app. And yes, Golfr is free.” Notice how the opening line of Golfr’s description adheres to our the “concise-simple-honest” rule. Sure, you can debate “best,” but I’ll bet you a new iPhone 4 that you cannot find a better free scorecard and search app on the App Store (and soon to be Android Market).

Again, we developed Golfr to be simple and useful, thus, its copy should reflect its utilitarian nature. The App Store – fortunately – does not afford us marketers much in the way of creative expression through font. Can you imagine what it would look like if it did? It would be the MySpace of the app market world… oh man, I think I just threw up a little.

“Experience” Apps

So, you built an app that provides users with fun, innovative, or unique experience; perhaps your app has a spiffy user interface or turns a difficult task into a enjoyable one. Either way, your App Store copy needs to convey the essence of your app’s user experience.

If the your app’s experience would predominantly be described as fun, then use fun language to interest potential users. If your app appeals to a niche set of users, then employ their jargon. Here’s a personal example: I happen to be obsessed with the “Getting Things Done“ (GTD) methodology, and when it was time to download a productivity app for iPhone and Mac, I bought OmniFocus – easily one of my top three favorite apps – because its developer was able to tell my just how great this app worked with the GTD methodology by using terminology that a GTD user would understand. Now, if they would just get the iPad version out, I would be a happier man!

Here’s how we decided to convey the fun, approachable photo editing experience of Masque (view on the App Store), our photo “enhancing” (instead of a over-featured Photoshop wannabe) app for iPad:

Add one or many striking effects to your Facebook, Flickr, or iPad Photo Library photos through fun touch interactions!

“The app is an amazing photography tool for iPad”
– TUAW.com

“It works intuitively and looks great”
– Engadget.com

“Masque is the ‘fun’ one”
– AppCraver.com

Make your photos pop with Masque for iPad!

Key Features:

● One-touch importing from your Facebook, Flickr, or Photo Library
● Paint effects on with your finger and unleash your creativity
● Layer multiple effects on top of each other to achieve stunning results
● Share photos to Facebook, Flickr, Photo Library, or email to your friends
● Automatically saves so that you can always continue from where you left off

Advanced Features:

● Use gradients to apply and fade effects across the entire photo – just like real camera filters!
● Adjust the size, opacity and softness of your brush or eraser
● Invert tool magically removes an effect from where it is and applies it to where it’s not

A fun and revolutionary photo app at an amazing price!

● Watch video demos of Masque at www.MasqueApp.com
● Send your feedback, ideas, etc. to feedback@masqueapp.com
● Send your support or help emails to support@masqueapp.com

We owe a huge “Thank you!” to all the users who have sent feedback – we’re working hard to bring your ideas to future versions of Masque as soon as possible!

You’ll notice the diction in Masque’s description is much more animated than in Golfr’s. Yes, Masque is a photo enhancing tool, but it’s the swoopy finger gestures and unique Multi-Touch interaction paradigm which make Masque an smile-conjuring experience.

In addition, I included quotes from popular app review sites to establish credibility. Quotes from non-bias third parties can be invaluable when it comes to marketing your app. For example, Phil Schiller (Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing at Apple) told the NY Times that one of his favorite iPhone apps was our very own Best Camera; as you would imagine, Phil’s endorsement had an huge impact on sales of this already popular app.

Last but not least, I always thank our users and let them know how to contact us. This isn’t a ploy to win their hearts or some Jedi mind game – far from it. At Übermind, we thank our users as much as possible because they have been incredibly good to us and we feel extremely fortunate to be able to roll out of bed (assuming we sleep of course), come to the Über-offices in Fremont, and spend time working on exciting technology with such enjoyable people.

Oh, and thanks for the great question – this may have been the longest Über-blog post yet!

– Ryan

I think not.

The deck was for a lecture I gave this past weekend at the University of Washington’s downtown campus. My lecture covered mobile marketing as it relates to next generation mobile platforms, including the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. Obviously Hopefully attending my lecture provided some additional value beyond what you will gain from the deck below. Either way, there is some good stuff in there, which I hope you’ll find helpful!

If you would like a PDF of the presentation, click here to download a copy from SlideShare.

Happy Monday!

– RP

The frequency and manner of your marketing is usually the tricky part. Fortunately, it’s art; there’s no one “right” method and anyone can do it. Having said that, I would like to propose a cavet to my “it’s art” comment – there can be too much of a good thing for your friends and social media circles. Trust your gut, use your best judgement, listen to feedback from the people you trust, refine your process. In other words, if you feel like you’re being a d-bag, you probably are.

What are your talents? What are you passionate about?

I believe the answers to those questions are more than mere chance, thus, I would say that you have an obligation to pursue those things. Here’s the best part – when you follow your passions, not only will it bring more joy to your life, but I can assure you that pursuing whatever it is that drives you will certainly bring joy/hope/inspiration/etc. to others as well. But you have to let them know about it.

Today is Monday, I’d love to hear a success story of someone identifying their passion/talent by Friday.

You can do it. I know you can.

– RP

Marty Neumeier‘s ZAG is my kind of book. Diagrams, large font, well-designed page layout. Though I am notorious for starting books and never finishing them, ZAG is digestible enough to knock out in a single sitting (okay, maybe two).

ZAG takes a “whiteboard overview” approach to explaining the process of creating a successful (or, at the very least, impactful) brand for your company and/or product(s) through identifying opportunities to differentiate. Or, as Neumeier would put it:

When focus is paired with differentiation, supported by a trend, and surrounded by compelling communications, you have the basic ingredients of a ZAG.

Simple, right?

In an attempt to lure you into reading the book, below you’ll find the 17-step process for “zagging” with a few of my own notes that I am in the process of using to better define my company’s brand, as well as the brand of a few of our offerings.

There are a lot of steps, so I’ll be signing off here. Happy reading!

– RP

ZAG BRAND DESIGN: 17-STEP PROCESS

I’ll take this opportune moment to declare that I have totally plagiarized the vast majority of the following content. Ahhh… I feel so much better.

1/ WHO ARE YOU?

Questions:

• Where do you have the most credibility?
• Where do you have the most experience?
• Where does your passion lie?

Action Items:

• Write a future obituary for your brand

Notes:

• The first step in building a brand is to look inside and see where the raw energy will come from
• “White space has little value without the experience, credibility, and passion needed to fuel success…”

2/ WHAT DO YOU DO?

Questions:

• What business are you in?

Action Items:

• Decide what your purpose is, beyond selling a product / service
• State your purpose in 12 words or less (e.g. Coca-Cola: “To refresh the world.”)

Notes:

• Core purpose is the fundamental reason your company exists beyond making money

3/ WHAT’S YOUR VISION?

Questions:

• What do you want to accomplish in 5, 10, and 20 years?
• How can you make this vision palpable and exciting?

Action Items:

• Paint a vivid picture of your future
• Test it on a real piece of communication
• Go back and refine it further
• Use it repeatedly to illustrate the direction of your business

Notes:

• True vision leads to commitment rather than compliance, confidence rather than caution
• Without a clearly drawn vision, it’s dangerous to empower people

4/ WHAT WAVE ARE YOU RIDING?

Questions:

• What trend is powering your business?
• How powerful is it?
• Can you ride more than one trend at a time?

Action Items:

• Make a list of trends that will power your success

Notes:

• When you look under the hood of a high-performance brand, you almost always find it’s powered by a trend
• Trends are the tides that lift all boats

5/ WHO SHARES THE BRANDSCAPE?

Questions:

• Who else competes in your category?
• Who comes first, second and third in customers’ minds?

Action Items:

• Find out how your brand ranks with customers
• Design a strategy to become number one or two
• Or, become the first mover in a new category

Notes:

• “ZAGGING” requires that a company define itself by what makes it unique, not what makes it admirable.”

6/ WHAT MAKES YOU THE “ONLY”?

Questions:

• What’s the one thing that make your brand different and compelling?

Action Items:

• Complete a simple “onliness” statement
• Add detail and pinpoint your “onliness” by answering “What, How, Who, Where, When, Why”

Notes:

• Our brand is the ONLY [category; e.g. frozen pizza] that [describe your ZAG; e.g. tastes like Naples]
• If you can’t say you’re the “only,” go back and start over
• “Notice the detail yielded by this format. You not only get the category (WHAT) and the pinpoint (HOW), but you also get the segment of audience (WHO), narrow your market geography (WHERE), focus on a need state (WHY), and define the underlying trend (WHEN).”

7/ WHAT SHOULD YOU ADD OR SUBTRACT?

Questions:

• What existing brand elements are undermining your onliness?
• What new brand elements could strengthen your onliness?
• How do the remaining elements align with your vision?

Action Items:

• Make a list of all current and planned offering and brand elements
• Decide which offerings to keep, sacrifice, or add
• Be brutal – it’s better to err on the side of sacrifice

Notes:

• Brand alignment is the practice of linking your business strategy to customer experience, aligning all your company behaviors behind a clearly articulated ZAG
• Prune back the brand to its core meaning by removing unaligned elements
• If adding an element to your brand brings you into competition with a stronger competitor, think twice

8/ WHO LOVES YOU?

Questions:

• Who makes up your brand community?
• How can you manage the “gives and gets” so everyone’s happy?

Action Items:

• Diagram your brand’s ecosystem
• Decide how each participant will contribute and benefit

9/ WHO’S THE ENEMY?

Questions:

• Which competitor can you paint as the bad guy?

Action Items:

• Tell your customers what your not, in no uncertain terms

Notes:

• Sometimes the enemy is the old way of doing things

10/ WHAT DO THEY CALL YOU?

Questions:

• Is your name helping or hurting your brand?
• If it is hurting, is there an opportunity to change it?
• If it is too late to change it, is there a way to work around it?
• Is it suitable for brandplay? Does it have creative “legs”?

Action Items:

• Choose a name that is different, brief, appropriate
• Make sure it is easy to spell and pronounce
• Find out if the name can be used as a URL
• Determine how easy or difficult it will be to legally defend

Notes:

• View ZAG naming tips here

11/ HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN YOURSELF?

Questions:

• What is the one true statement you can make about your brand?

Action Items:

• Craft a trueline that tells why your brand is compelling
• Avoid commas or “ands”
• Turn your trueline into a tagline to use with customers

Notes:

• Citibank example…
  • Trueline: “Citibank knows that money is only a means to happiness.”
  • Tagline: “Live Richly.”

12/ HOW DO YOU SPREAD THE WORD?

Questions:

• How can you unpack your name, trueline, and tagline?
• How can you enroll brand advocates through messaging?
• How can you align all your communications with your ZAG?

Action Items:

• Make sure your messaging is as different as your brand
• Only compete at the touchpoints where you can win

13/ HOW DO PEOPLE ENGAGE WITH YOU?

Questions:

• What are you selling and how are you selling it?
• Which touchpoints will let you compete in white space?

Action Items:

• Map you value proposition against those of your competitors
• See which competitive areas you can avoid entirely
• Discover customer touchpoints where you’ll be unopposed

Notes:

• “Best Practices” are usually common practices; common practices never add up to a ZAG

14/ WHAT DO THEY EXPERIENCE?

Questions:

• How will customers learn about you?
• How can you “enroll” them in your brand?
• Who will be your competition at each touch point?
• Where should you put your marketing resources?

Action Items:

• Map the customer journey from non-awareness to full enjoyment
• Bet your resources on the experiences that ZAG

15/ HOW DO YOU EARN THEIR LOYALTY?

Questions:

• How can you help customers build barriers to competition?
• How can you avoid creating a “disloyalty program”?

Action Items:

• Start by being loyal to customers
• Don’t make new customers feel punished or excluded
• Give loyal customers the tools to introduce new customers

16/ HOW DO YOU EXTEND YOUR SUCCESS?

Questions:

• How do you keep growing the brand year after year?

Action Items:

• Choose between a house of brands or a branded house
• Add extensions that reinforce the brand’s meaning
• Avoid extensions that unfocus the brand’s meaning
• Avoid extensions that bring you into competition with leaders

17/ HOW DO YOU PROTECT YOUR PORTFOLIO?

Questions:

• How can the whole be worth more than the parts?
• How can you stay focused under short-term profit pressure?

Action Items:

• Avoid C-Sickness – contagion, confusion, contradiction, and complexity
• Understand the longterm effects of brand extensions

Notes:

• Brand confusion can be avoided by understanding the trade-off between stickiness and stretchiness
• Stickiness: is a brand’s ability to own a distinct meaning in peoples’ minds
• Stretchiness: is a brands ability to extend its meaning without breaking

You want to read it now, don’t you? Order ZAG here.

Happy Tuesday!

– RP

As I happily snacked on bite-sized chocolate after chocolate, I noticed that the wrappers had what first appeared to be some kind of inspirational quote / thought printed on the inside. Always looking for a little inspiration, I investigated further.

To my stomach’s dismay, I ceased my chocolate-infused bender after reading one of the “inspirational” quotes that was printed so proudly on the shiny silver wrapper. This “fail” was too good to pass up, so I grabbed my iPhone and got a shot (via Best Camera, of course) to share with all of you.

Do you see anything wrong with this quote?

Some of the most rewarding moments in my life have stemmed from instances when I forced myself to venture outside of my comfort zone. Even though I may not always achieve this “gratifying discomfort” on a daily basis, I will tell you with certainty that it is something I think about every morning. Dove’s use of mediocrity in the “once a week” request neither inspires nor entices me; it actually leaves me feeling somewhat bothered.

Simply put, I do not want to be marketed to in this manner.

But, before I go off on some rant about why this is Dove’s problem, I would do well to remember (thanks, Mom) that the problem most likely does not simply fall on the other party’s shoulders, in this case, on Dove. Plato is attributed to having said, “The life which is unexamined is not worth living.” With that, what have we (consumers) done to allow brands / companies to feel that these lukewarm attempts to inspire us are acceptable?

If a company is going to brand itself as “the _____ for mediocre people,” well, count me out – I’m not interested in your halfhearted attitude towards your product, your target audience, and so on. I want a company / brand that challenges me to go barreling down a snowy mountain at breakneck speeds, to run 6 miles while the rest of my timezone is hitting the snooze button, or even something as simple as looking someone in the eye and saying “hi” as we walk the familiar streets around our homes / places of work.

I want to feel as though I am being called to engage as much as possible – not once a week – in whatever activity or product is being recommended. Though Dove was calling for consumers to do something totally unrelated to its chocolate, the brand interaction left me feeling very uninspired, which then transcends to its chocolate.

Please, make companies / brands earn your respect before they get access to your time, money, and loyalty.

I’m sure that was not my last run-in with Dove (well, Mars Inc. really) chocolate, but I will most definitely reach for the other options when given the choice.

– RP