Gary kicked off the discussion by addressing the recent issues that have been in the press. He said that it was definitely not the right thing to do and that it won’t happen again.
He outlined 3 paths of brand change:
- Radical upheaval
- Reinvention
- Continuous change
The underlying platform of these three paths is that brands need to remain fresh.
What happens when a brand stops being fresh? Poor business results, consumer dissatisfaction and employee confusion.
Gary’s recipe for freshness:
- Stay genuine - Gary showed several TV spots by Goodby, Silverstein that illustrate how HP is keeping their brand fresh in a genuine way.
- Engage employees – HP launched a “One Voice” campaign to align its associates to a single message across all touchpoints.
- Use media your customers value – HP has shifted its online media spend from 10% to 30%. They have also merged content and media in various fresh and compelling ways that Gary illustrated. One example was HP’s Hype gallery.
- Design and innovate – Gary showed us several innovative design-savvy new products and systems that HP is developing. Some examples are the new 967 Photosmart digital camera and the digital entertainment Media Smart TV remote control.
- Partner well – Partnerships can aid your brand in keeping it fresh. He showed us how via a viral marketing campaign, they communicated that Dreamworks has cut its animated film development time in half by using HP products. A partnership that HP has struck with the Mercedes museum was incredible.
- Be flexible to take advantage – HP created USPS stamps using their proprietary technology. They mailed these stamps to employees the day these stamps became available and placed the HP logo on them.
- Connect with your communities – HP used its technology to restore and repair 13th century screens from Kyoto. In partnership with Extreme Home Makeover, HP restored water-damaged photos from Hurricane Katrina and posted all the images on Snapfish.
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