Last Friday, while watching Rafael Nadal play Roger Federer for the Miami Masters semi-finals, I couldn’t help but to reflect on the enduring nature of brand names.

The Miami Masters, now called Sony Ericsson Open, was initially sponsored by Lipton and called Lipton International Players Championship (or simply, The Lipton). It carried that name until 1999. Since then, it’s changed sponsors and names several times: the Ericsson Open from 2000 to 2002, the NASDAQ-100 Open from 2003 to 2006, and finally the Sony Ericsson Open from 2006 until now.

The interesting thing is that people old enough to remember still commonly refer to it as The Lipton, as in: “are you going to The Lipton this year?” The tournament’s original moniker endures more than 10 years after it was changed!

Something similar happens to Sun Life Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins. Originally named Joe Robbie Stadium in 1987, it has subsequently been called Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Land Shark Stadium and now Sun Life Stadium. Not surprisingly, many people still refer to it as Joe Robbie or Pro Player.

Finally, in yet another example of the enduring power of brand names-taken also from the world of sports, South America’s Copa Santander Libertadores, the oldest and most traditional soccer championship in the region, is still widely called Copa Libertadores (its name from the pre-sponsorship era) or, more affectionately: La Libertadores. The only ones who go to great lengths to squeeze in the sponsor’s name (Spain’s Banco de Santander) are sports announcers-for obvious reasons.

The lesson for companies, big and small, is this: if you have an established brand name and want to change it, make sure you have a very good reason, since it is most likely already embedded in your customers’ minds and won’t be replaced easily (or cheaply!). And, if you’re about to create a new brand, the best advice is this: choose carefully.

One of the most difficult feats in marketing is to pull off a successful re-branding. It is difficult enough when you’re talking about products, but it’s even harder when the subject of the re-branding is a city.

For the longest time, Detroit has been all about cars. Unfortunately, the financial crisis that started in 2008 and the near-collapse of the American automobile industry have turned the city of Detroit into a shell of its former self, and have left her grappling with high unemployment, crime and a dilapidated infrastructure.

And yet, when most can only see uncertainty and despair, a growing number of local artists and entrepreneurs see opportunity. Instead of dwelling on the negatives, these remarkable individuals are making lemonade out of the proverbial lemons, bringing much needed energy, creativity and optimism to the city, and starting the businesses that will shape its future.

And they are doing it by themselves. They are not waiting for the government, the unions, or corporate America to come to their rescue. They are standing up, taking initiative and just starting something.

Enter Lemonade Detroit

Erik Proulx, a 15-year vetaran of the advertising industry, independent filmaker and author of the popular blog Please Feed the Animals, is putting together a documentary about this rebirth of sorts, aptly titled: Lemonade Detroit.

To fund the film, Erik is reaching out to the community and giving everybody the opportunity to pitch in. He has created a microfunding site where for just $1 a frame (24 frames make one second of film) you can become a co-producer of the film. For your contribution, you also get a color strip with your name in the progress bar featured in the film’s website, and will also receive credit as a producer in the film and in the IMDB.

I just sent Lemonade Detroit a small contribution. You too can do the same: Watch the trailer and if you feel inspired and inclined to donate just head to the microfunding site and become a producer yourself.

Part inspirational, part how-to manual, Hugh McLeod‘s new book: Evil Plans: Having Fun on the Road to World Domination is a personal testimony on how to live a life that matters.

The premise of the book is that life is too short to do something you hate, and that we must hatch a plan to change that.

That Evil Plan, as he calls it, starts by nurturing our passions. McLeod speaks from experience, as he was able to transform his passion (drawing existential cartoons on the back of business cards) into a thriving online business that has given him the freedom to live life on his own terms.

But as his own story (an “overnight success” 15 years in the making) exemplifies, achieving success by following your passion is not simple, easy or fast-but it’s definitely worth the effort. An Evil Plan, McLeod says, requires hard work, a keen understanding of niche marketing, and leveraging the Internet to create our own global microbrand.

Although the ideas in this book are not necessarily new (if you’ve read Linchpin, by Seth Godin, Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields or Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk, you’ll be able to find many common themes) what makes this book different is McLeod’s unmistakable in-your-face voice, the personal stories told from the heart that give life to his account, and the dozens of thought-provoking cartoons that illustrate it’s pages.

If you are new to the entrepreneurship/personal branding online space, or if you’ve already taken steps in your journey toward entrepreneurship, this book will provide you with valuable insights that will make a profound impact in your professional (and personal) life.

Other reviews from around the web:

• Pam Slim
• Jonathan Fields
• Amazon User Reviews

American Airlines has decided to celebrate arrivals, so they’ve created this cute video story for the holidays:

Customers, however, have been telling a different story for quite some time. One about a miserable flying experience, complete with delays, overcrowded flights, surly flight attendants, untidy planes, ever-shrinking legroom, and seats that (almost) don’t recline.

Here’s the disconnect: the company is talking about the destination, while for its customers it’s all about the journey (and they’re not happy).

The objective of this short post is not to pick on American Airlines or the airline industry but simply to show how we can sometimes become out of touch with the people we’re supposed to serve. This pattern is common among big, bureaucratic companies, government entities and Washington politicians.

How can we avoid this? First, we have to care. Then, we can simply follow our customers’ journey through all our brand’s touchpoints, taking notes and fixing what needs to be fixed.

We can also use social media tools to get feedback on how to create a better customer experience. All we have to do to start is to monitor a few Twitter searches, set up some Google Alerts, create a Facebook fan page, and then start listening, engaging and addressing our customers’ pain points.

After some time, the result should be increased trust, customer loyalty and the emergence of a story that is relevant, sounds authentic and resonates with customers.

On a recent trip to the college town of Chapel Hill, NC, I ventured into a small coffee shop and couldn’t help but noticing this coffee-making machine:

I was instantly mesmerized by its vintage looks, to the point that I decided to do some research on the brand. The machine was made by La Marzocco, a famed Italian manufacturer of ultra high-end commercial coffee machines, with a long history and tradition in the business.

After checking the Products section of their website, it turned out that the machine I saw was not a vintage model, but part of the company’s current lineup.

Here are two pictures taken from La Marzocco’s website, which show the front and the back of the particular model I saw:

The back (the part not immediately visible to customers) exudes a modern, high-tech feel: dials, buttons and knobs neatly organized over a stainless steel surface give access to functions like electronically controlled brewing temperature, digital shot timing, a dual-boiler system, and other impressive features that I can’t possibly begin to describe here.

The front, however, is the antithesis of tech: bulky, rounded edges, vintage color, old style logo and a top tray to place real coffee cups and plates; all of them important visual cues leading to the mental image of a small Italian coffee bar from times gone by.

I decided to walk into that coffee shop instead of the Starbucks across the street because I was not just looking for good coffee. I was looking for quaint, independent, artsy, traditional and unique. While the high-tech, state-of-the-art inner mechanics of the machine delivered a superb cup of coffee, it was its vintage looks that helped deliver the experience I was looking for.

Now more than ever, great brands depend on their products’ ability to tell a story, just like this coffee making machine does.

Seven years after the Cayenne SUV was supposed to kill the Porsche brand, the German marque is not only alive and well but thriving. In an announcement that may cause brand purists to run for cover, Porsche reported last week an 86.4% increase in unit sales and an 80% increase in revenue for the first fiscal quarter of 2010 vs. 2009, with 76% of total unit sales coming from two models: the Cayenne and another “impostor”: the 4-door, front-engined Panamera.

The story doesn’t end there: before we dismiss these numbers as the result of a trade off between short term profits and long term brand equity, let’s take a quick look at the results of the 2010 Kelley Blue Book brand image survey: according to the car buying public, Porsche is the brand that best represents Performance (the fact that Porsche was also voted the Coolest Brand and the Best Exterior Design of a Luxury Brand doesn’t hurt either).

So, years of Cayenne and Panamera have only not weakened the Porsche brand, but have made it stronger. Go figure…

How could this happen?

It’s actually quite simple, once we remove from our eyes the blinders of dogma.

Great brands are not defined by specific products, but by specific qualities. Porsche didn’t define itself as a two-door, rear-engined sports car company. Instead, it defined itself around the attributes of performance, luxury and drivers enjoyment.

When Porsche built the Cayenne, they gave it a 300+ HP engine and the look and feel of its famed 911 sibling. Similarly, a 4-door Panamera Turbo sedan can go from 0-60mph in roughly 4 breathtaking seconds (around 1 second faster than a base 911, in fact).

Porsche’s latest line extensions may look different and appeal to a different demographics but their pedigree is undeniable, and their existence is probably the only reason why the company is still able to produce cars like the 911 and the smaller, more affordable Boxster.

The moral of the story: line extensions are not inherently bad. Some line extensions are poor while others are good. As the Porsche case shows, good line extensions are not easy to pull off, but they are possible, and in some cases necessary.

Photo Credits: LaMenta3

BIG disclaimer:  This is not a political post. This is a branding post about our political parties.

Today the Democrats elected Nancy Pelosi as the House minority leader. This decision surprised many, since she (and the political positions she represents) has been widely blamed for the Democratic Party’s electoral debacle two weeks ago.

While I don’t agree with her and her positions, speaking strictly from the branding perspective it was the right decision. I’ll explain.

Brands have to stand for something, including political brands like the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.

After neglecting its core values for nearly a decade and almost losing its identity, the Republican Party finally seems to have gotten its groove back. Helped undoubtedly by the Tea Party, they are once again rallying around its core believes: fiscal discipline, free market and conservative values.

By reelecting Pelosi, the Democratic Party has responded in kind. In spite of the electoral collapse, they are firmly standing their ground for bigger government, entitlements and liberal views.

While you may not agree 100% with this characterization of our two major political parties, or find it overly simplistic, it nevertheless reflects the prevalent perception most people have of them.

During presidential elections, parties may elect a candidate with enough charisma and skill to tactically move to the center when conditions demand it, and who’s able to work with the other side to get things done. The parties themselves, however, cannot afford to move too much to the center or water down their message in an effort to appeal to everybody. When brands do that, they die.

Of course, these are just my two cents. What do you think?

If you care about the environment would you by a hybrid vehicle? According to CNW Marketing Research, you shouldn’t. In their Dust to Dust report, which ranks cars based on their total energy consumption throughout their useful life (from concept to disposal), they reveal that hybrids waste more energy and cost the environment more in terms of dollars per mile than many large SUVs.

But, of course, those are just the facts. We don’t buy brands based on facts. We choose them for what they say about ourselves.

Conventional wisdom says that hybrids are better for the environment (facts be damn!) and driving one is the politically correct thing to do. We buy a Prius because what we really want is to be perceived as somebody who cares about the environment. Want to be part of the green crowd? A Prius will give you instant cred.

Similarly, you don’t pay three times more for Starbucks because it is three times better than your average cup of joe. You do it because you hope that some of the caché of that white cup of Grande Latte will rub off on you as you walk into your office.

Likewise, you don’t spend $11 bucks on sea salt because it tastes better than plain jane salt. You do it because, deep down, you want to be a little bit like that funny guy with an accent on Food TV.

The world’s best brands have high aspirational value. Rather than chasing customers, they have customers chasing after them because they make it easy for customers to make a statement about themselves. Not easy to achieve, but one thing’s for sure: just focusing on features and benefits is not going to take you there.

Photo Credits: Pascal Lagarde