Twelve Ways to Create Barriers to Competitors

The only real way to grow sales and profits is to create innovative offerings with some "must haves" that define new categories or subcategories for which competitors are not relevant. The goal is not only to find and successfully introduce such offerings but to create barriers that inhibit or prevent competitors from entering and becoming serious customer options.

The firms that have enjoyed years or even decades of life with no or weak competitors have created such barriers. Here are some twelve routes to real barriers the last six of which involve the brand. I would be interested in examples of others.

• Proprietary technology. Diamond's (formerly P&G's) Pringles, Prius' Hybrid Synergy Drive, and Dreyer's Slow Churned Ice Cream all have technologies not easily copied.
• Ongoing innovation. Becoming a moving target as Apple did by following the iPod with products like the nano, shuffle, and iTouch, and Gillette did with razors from the Trac II to the Fusion ProGlide. Chrysler went for 18 years without a serious competitor in the minivan category it created in part with innovations like sliding driver side doors, swivel seats and removable back seats.
• Scale. IKEA, Starbucks, eBay, and Apple's iPod all have scale economies often based on first moverstatus that provide ongoing competitive advantages.
• Investment. A high investment protected brands like CNN, ESPN, and Kirin's Ichiban for many years.
• Execution. Zappos.com with its Wow! experience, its culture celebrating weirdness, and its 24/7 call center that will even find an open pizza shop presents a high bar.
• Brand networks. Supporting networks such as the Apple App suppliers and the Pampers' links to organizations involved in raising babies and keeping them healthy can be hard to duplicate.
• Customer involvement. Some brands can organize a community around the brand as Harley-Davidson has done with their Trip Planner and General Mills has done with the Betty Crocker Kitchen. Others can associate with a common interest such breast cancer research (Avon), creativity (Sharpie), or outdoor hiking (Columbia).
• Self-expressive benefits. Functional benefits are often quickly copied; it is much harder to copy self-expressive benefit such as those offered by Prius. A driver of a Focus may or may not be driving ahybrid but there is no such doubt about a Prius driver
• Brand equity. Muji, Zipcar, PowerBar, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car all have strong brands with visibility, associations, and a sense of authenticity.
• Brand loyalty. If a brand can capture the customers most likely to value the "must haves" and can keep them involved and happy, competitors will be faced with less appealing segments on which to build a business.
• Branded differentiators. A branded feature, service, program, or ingredient that will define a "must have" such as the EarthGrains Eco-Grain, Aquos' quad pixel, Weston's Heavenly Bed, Oral B's Action Cup, or Amazon's OneClick can be owned by the firm.
• Exemplar status. If the brand represents the category such as Fiber One, iPhone, Whole Foods Market, Geek Squad, or Jeep then other brands will have a difficult time getting considered.

These barriers can inhibit competitors from getting traction, becoming visible, and being perceived as authentic or credibility. As a result, they may be weak players for a long time. Even better, they may be discouraged from entering in the first place. To paraphrase Bruce Henderson, the founder of BCG, "the essence of strategy is to convince competitors not to invest in areas of strategic importance to you." It really is a different way to look at strategy. Don't try to beat competition but, rather, make them irrelevant and discourage them from even competing.

David Aaker is the Vice-Chairman of Prophet and the author of Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant and the davidaaker.com blog on branding.

30 Brilliant Logos With Hidden Messages

Presbyterian Church

Done by Malcolm Grear and Associates, it’s a true masterpiece of simplifying complexity. It appears a simple Cross shape but hidden inside are a dove, a clerical robe, a pulpit with bible, flames, and a fish. The below image will give you a better idea.

Eighty20

The Eighty20 logo is a bit of a geeky one to figure out. The two lines of squares represent a binary sequence with the blue squares being 1’s and the grey squares being 0’s. This makes 1010000 which represents eighty and 0010100 which represents 20.

London Symphony Orchestra

The logo looks like a single flowing line creating three initials L.S.O in air. But, the harmonious graphic of this logo marks the unbreaking rhythm of an Orchestra.

Yoga Australia

At first glance the logo is a simple picture of a young girl doing her yoga but if you watch it carefully the body posture is creating the Australia Map.

The Brand Union

Brand Union is a global leader in creative design consultancy, and the Union’s logo is a vivid example. The carefully chosen and placed black and blue shapes not only make the brand name but also enables the negative space do the same.

Northwest Airlines

The old Northwest Airlines logo may look like a simple logo but if you take a closer look at the symbol on the left, it actually represent both N and W and because it is enclosed within the circle it also represents a compass pointing northwest.

Rehabilitation Hospital Corporation of America

The highly symbolic logo of the Rehabilitation Hospital Corporation of America logo communicates a complex message with just a simple design. The globally renowned cross symbol represents help and medical attention and the steps reflects on the steps taken back to normal life.

Carrefour

Carrefour in French means “Crossroads” and the logo shows two opposite arrows inside a diamond shaping the C letter with the negative space between them.

Piano Forest

The Piano Forest logo may look like a simple text logo with trees above it, but if you take another look you will see that the trees actually represent keys on a piano.

The Guild of Food Writers

The Guild of Food Writers (GFW) is an established organisation dedicated to excellence in food writing and culinary education. Mark closely and you can see a spoon inside the nib.

Schizophrenic

Another logo that plays in representational symbols while relating heavily to the brand name is the Schizonphrenic logo. Being a medical disorder that often depicts split personalities, the logo characterises this with simple shapes that depict a happy and sad face.

Museum of London

The Museum of London logo may look like a modern logo design but it actually represents the geographic area of london as it grew over time.

GreenLabs

This logo is just not a simple green tree, but if you look at the tree crown, you’ll see that it can also be interpreted as a brain. The logo lays emphasis on the strong intellectual capabilities of the company’s staff and also reflects ‘green’ and ‘labs’ parts of their name.

Big Ten

The Big Ten collegiate conference has eleven schools but they didn’t want to change their name. However, they used their logo to hide the numerical “11” in the name.

Toblerone

The Toblerone logo contains the image of a bear hidden in the Matterhorn mountain, which is where Toblerone originally came from.

Treacy Shoes

The Treacy Shoes logo is very cute logo with a shoe hidden between the t and s.

Milwaukee Brewers

The old Milwaukee Brewers logo may look like a simple catchers mitt holding a ball, but if you take a second you will see the team’s initials M and B.

Elle Hive Tractor

It is a company which designs compact tractors. The letters “E” and “H” make up the symbolic image of a tractor.

Sun

The Sun logo is one of the most famous ambigrams in the world. You can read the brand name in every direction; both horizontally and vertically. This logo was designed by professor Vaughan Pratt of the Stanford University.

FedEx

The FedEx logo looks like a plain text based logo but if you take a second look between the E and the x, you will see an arrow which represents the speed and accuracy of the company’s deliveries.

Amazon

The Amazon logo is an extremely simple logo and while the arrow may just look like a smile, it actually points from a to z. This represents that Amazon sells everything from a to z and the smile on the customers face when they buy a product.

Newman

The reversible Newman logo is simple yet classy.

A.G. Low Construction

In this logo, the name of the company is written in thin, square letters that hold a great purpose; they are designed to look like the floor plan of the house, which happens to be the company’s specialty.

Cattleyard

Being music related business; the creator of this logo has used various graphics of musical instruments to form the overall shape of a cow. Clever example of combining the graphical elements to express a company’s name.

Baskin Robbins

The Baskin Robbins logo may look like including a simple BR above the name but if you take another look you will notice that it includes a pink number 31. This is a reference to the original 31 flavors.

Formula 1

At first, this logo might not make much sense. But if you look closely, you’ll see the number 1 in the negative space between the F and the red stripes.This logo also communicates a feeling of speed.

Egg n Spoon

In this logo, the negative space cleverly show egg and spoon which is the brand’s name.

Sony Vaio

Sony Vaio is a well known brand of laptops. But did you know that the name Vaio logo also had a hidden meaning? Well, the first two letters represent the basic analogue signal. The last two letters look like a 1 and 0, representing the digital signal.

Lafayette

If you’ve ever visited one of the famous stores in Paris – Galeries Lafayette, you will notice that it’s logo represents Paris with its joined letters “t” to form Eiffel Tower.

Forkwire

Being an Online Food Delivery service, its logo shows a fork formed into an @ symbol.

Konad Cosmetics Flobu Waterproof: We broke up, I’m pregnant, He’s married

Advertising Agency: Grey, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Executive Creative Directors: Pablo Gil, Sebastian Garin
Creative Directors: Daniel Fierro, Gonzalo Ricca
Copywriters: Hernan Kritzer, Rodrigo Greco
Art Directors: Lisandro Cardozo, Tomas Duhalde
Agency Producer: Sergio Bonavia
Retoucher: Juan Carlos Erasmo

"The garbage thrown on the sea returns someday. For everybody."

Script has created an action for Surfrider Foundation Brasil, called "Return". The action has as purpose to raise awareness and alert people about the consequences of the garbage left on Rio's beaches.

From a mailing list of surf shops and accredited NGOs, 10,000 boxes containing objects thrown on the sand were sent to people's houses.

Besides plastic cups, ice-cream packages, cans and water bottles, each box also contained a label with the following message:

"The garbage thrown on the sea returns someday. For everybody." -- leaving it clear that, even who never threw garbage on the beach, one day, may suffer the consequences of such act.

The action was also performed in bars in the city of Rio de Janeiro.



Technical profile:
Agency: Script
Creative Director: Ricardo Real e Marcello Mendes
Copywriter: Felipe Machado
Art Directors: Thiago Manhães & João Paulo Medeiros
Production Company: TCO Filmes
Executive Production: JP Braga
Director: JP Braga
DP: Nando Azevedo & Fernando Fernandez
Edit: JP Braga
Color Grading: Nando Azevedo
Soundtrack: Buena Musica (Daniel Medeiros, Leo Cruz, Marcelo Frota)

Playboy Interview Garage Tour

Advertising Agency: Grey, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Executive Creative Directors: Pablo Gil, Sebastian Garin

Creative Directors: Daniel Fierro, Gonzalo Ricca
Copywriter: Hernan Kritzer, Rodrigo Greco
Art Director: Lisandro Cardozo, Tomas Duhalde
Btl Creative Director: Esteban Lorenzut
Production Company: Rebolucion
Director: Nicolas Nubile
Producer: Jorge Larrain
Agency Producer: Topo Barrios, Sergio Bonavia
Web Designer: Martin Bekerman

Celebrate Mother's Day

British retailer Debenhams this year ran a Mother’s Day promotion, calling on viewers to make their mums feel special on Mother’s Day, celebrated on April 3 in the UK. A television commercial presents children and adults calling out to their mothers in their time of need. The ad finishes with the line, “Make whats-her-name feel special this Mother’s Day”, and takes viewers to a Feel Special microsite where they can send the film as a personalised movie e-card. Debenhams donated 5% of the price of online orders to the charity Breast Cancer Campaign when purchases were placed via the e-card page.




Click on the image below to play the Mothers Day video in YouTube (HD)

Credits

The Debenhams Mothers Day campaign was developed at JWT, London, by executive creative director Russell Ramsey, creative director Nicholla Longley, art director Simon Horton, copywriter Hannah Ford, agency producer Roy Swansborough, account director Alex Clarke. Media was handled at Carat.
Filming was shot by director Joanna Bailey via The Bare Film Company. Editors were Melanie Oliver and Colin Hannan. Sound was designed by James Forbear.

China bans ad words

Advertising in China? Beware a new mandate that bans headlines which include "supreme", "royal", "luxury", "high class" and other copy "promoting hedonistic lifestyle." An official interviewed by China Daily said the legislation was enacted because many advertisers use words to make their products sound better than they are. But even if products live up to the promise, banned words can't be used in promotions. Why? Because doing so upsets low-income residents who can't afford the products. Offenders risk fines up to $4500.

Hoping bureaucrats in Washington pick up on the trend and impose fines for "Revolutionary" and "100% Free."

نعي الشيخ المجاهد أسامه بن لادن

اللهم ابدله دارا خيرا من داره واهلا خيرا من اهله وادخله الجنة واعذه من عذاب القبر ومن عذاب النار .
اللـهـم عاملة بما انت اهله ولا تعامله بما هو اهله .
اللـهـم اجزه عن الاحسان إحسانا وعن الأساءة عفواً وغفراناً.
اللـهـم إن كان محسناً فزد من حسناته , وإن كان مسيئاً فتجاوز عن سيئاته .
اللـهـم ادخله الجنة من غير مناقشة حساب ولا سابقة عذاب .
اللـهـم اّنسه في وحدته وفي وحشته وفي غربته.
اللـهـم انزله منزلاً مباركا وانت خير المنزلين .
اللـهـم انزله منازل الصديقين والشهداء والصالحين وحسن اولئك رفيقا .
اللـهـم اجعل قبره روضة من رياض الجنة ,ولا تجعله حفرة من حفر النار .
اللـهـم افسح له في قبره مد بصره وافرش قبره من فراش الجنة .
اللـهـم اعذه من عذاب القبر ,وجاف ِالارض عن جنبيها .
اللـهـم املأ قبره بالرضا والنور والفسحة والسرور.
اللـهـم إنه فى ذمتك وحبل جوارك فقه فتنة الفبر وعذاب النار , وانت أهل الوفاء والحق فاغفر له وارحمه انك انت الغفور الرحيم.
اللـهـم انه عبدك وابن عبدك خرج من الدنيا وسعته ومحبوبيه وأحبائه إلي ظلمة القبر وماهو لاقته .
اللـهـم انه كان يشهد أنك لا إله الا انت وأن محمداً عبدك ورسولك وانت اعلم به.
اللهم ثبته عند السؤال
اللهم انا نتوسل بك اليك ونقسم بك عليك ان ترحمه ولا تعذبه
اللـهـم انه نَزَل بك وأنت خير منزول به واصبح فقير الي رحمتك وأنت غني عن عذابه .
اللـهـم اّته برحمتك ورضاك وقه فتنه القبر وعذابه و أّته برحمتك الامن من عذابك حتي تبعثه إلي جنتك يا أرحم الراحمين .
اللـهـم انقله من مواطن الدود وضيق اللحود إلي جنات الخلود .
اللـهـم إحمه تحت الارض واستره يوم العرض ولا تخزه يوم يبعثون "يوم لا ينفع مال ولا بنون إالا من أتي الله بقلب سليم"
اللـهـم يمن كتابه ويسر حسابه وثقل بالحسنات ميزانه وثبت علي الصراط اقدامه واسكنه في اعلي الجنات بجوار حبيبك ومصطفاك (صلي الله عليه وسلم) .
اللـهـم اّمنه من فزع يوم القيامة ومن هول يوم القيامة وأجعل نفسه أّمنة مطمئنة ولقنه حجته .
اللـهـم اجعله في بطن القبر مطمئن وعند قيام الاشهاد أمن وبجود رضوانك واثق وإلي أعلي درجاتك سابق .
اللـهـم اجعل عن يمينه نوراً حتي تبعثه اّمنً مطمئن في نور من نورك .
اللـهـم انظر اليه نظرة رضا فإن من تنظر إليه نظرة رضا لا تعذبه ابداً
اللـهـم أسكنه فسيح الجنان واغفر له يارحمن وارحم يارحيم وتجاوز عما تعلم ياعليم .
اللـهـم اعفو عنه فإنك القائل "ويعفو عن كثير"
اللـهـم انه جاء ببابك وأناخ بجنابك فَجْد عليه بعفوك وإكرامك وجود إحسانك .
اللـهـم إن رحمتك وسعت كل شيء فارحمه رحمة تطمئن بها نفسه وتقر به عينه .
اللـهـم احشره مع المتقين إلي الرحمن وفداً .
اللـهـم احشره مع اصحاب اليمين واجعل تحيته سلام لك من أصحاب اليمين .
اللـهـم بشره بقولك "كلوا واشربوا هنئياً بما أسلفتم في الايام الخالية" .
اللـهـم اجعله من الذين سعدوا في الجنة خالدين فيها مادامت السموات والارض .
اللـهـم لا نزكيه عليك ولكنا نحسبه انه اّمن وعمل صالحاً فاجعل له جنتين ذواتي أفنان بحق قولك:
"ولمن خاف مقام ربه جنتان"
اللـهـم شفع فيه نبينا ومصطفاك واحشره تحت لوائه واسقه من يده الشريفة شربة هنيئة لا يظمأ بعدها ابداُُ .
اللـهـم اجعله في جنة الخلد التي وعد المتقون كانت جزاءً ومصيراُ لهم ما يشاءون وكان علي ربك وعداُ ومسئولاً .
اللـهـم إنه صبر علي البلاء فلم يجزع فامنحه درجة الصابرين الذين يوفون اجورهم بغير حساب
فإنك القائل " إنما يوفي الصابرون أجرهم بغير حساب "
اللـهـم انه كان مصلي لك ,فثبنه علي الصراط يوم تزل الاقدام .
اللـهـم انه كان صائم لك , فأدخله الجنة من باب الريان.
اللـهـم انه كان لكتابك تالي وسامع فشفع فيه القراّن وارحمه من النيران ,واجعله يارحمن
يرتقي في الجنة إلي اّخر اّية قرأها أو سمعها وأخر حرف تلاه
اللـهـم ارزقه بكل حرف في القراّن حلاوة , وبكل كلمة كرامة وبكل اّية سعادة وبكل سورة سلامة وبكل جْزءٍ جَزاءً .
اللـهـم ارحمه فانه كان مسلم واغفر له فانه كان مؤمنً.
وادخله الجنه فانه كان بنبيك مصدقً وسامحه فانه كان لكتابك مرتل.
اللـهـم اغفر لحينا وميتنا وشاهدنا وغائبنا وصغيرنا وكبيرنا وذَكّرنَا وأنثانا .
اللـهـم من أحييته منا فأحيه علي الاسلام ومن توفيته منا فتوفه علي الايمان .
اللـهـم لا تحرمنا أجره ولا تضللنا بعده .
اللـهـم ارحمنا اذا اتانا اليقين ,وعرق منا الجبين ,كشر الانين والحنين
اللـهـم ارحمنا اذا يئس منا الطبيب ,وبكي علينا الحبيب وتخلي عنا القريب والغريب
وارتفع النشيج والنحيب .
اللـهـم ارحمنا اذا اشتدت الكربات وتوالت الحسرات واطبقت الروعات وفاضت العبرات ,
وتكشفت العورات وتعطلت القوي والقدرات .
اللـهـم ارحمنا اذا بلغت التراقي وقيل من راق وتأكدت فجيعة الفراق للأهل والفراق
وقد حَمً القضاء فليس من واق
اللـهـم ارحمنا اذا حملنا علي الاعناق ألي ربك يومئذ المساق وداعا ابديا للدور الاسواق والاقلام
والاوراق الي من تذل له الجباه والاعناق .
اللـهـم ارحمنا اذا ورينا التراب وغلقت القبور والابواب وانقض الاهل والاحباب فإذا الوحشة والوحدة وهول الحساب .
اللـهـم ارحمنا اذا فارقنا النعيم وانقطع النسيم وقيل ماغرك بربك الكريم
اللـهـم ارحمنا اذا أقمنا للسؤال وخاننا المقال ولم ينفع جاه ولامال ولا عيال وقد حال الحال وليس الا فضل الكبير المتعال .
اللـهـم ارحمنا اذا نَسي اسمنا ودَرس رسمنا وأحاط بنا قسمنا ووسعنا .
اللـهـم ارحما اذا اَهملنا فلم يزرنا زائر ولم يذكرنا ذاكر ومالنا من قوة ولا ناصر فلا امل الا في القاهر القادر الغافر يامن اذا وعد وفي , واذا توعد عفا , وشفع يارب فينا حبيبنا المصطفي واجعلنا ممن صفا ووفا وبالله إكتفي يا ارحم الراحمين ياحي يا قيوم يا بديع السموات والارض ياذا الجلال والاكرام .
اللـهـم انه عبدك و ابن عبدك و ابن امتك مات و هو يشهد لك بالوحدانية و لرسولك بالشهادة فأغفر له إنك انت الغفار.
اللـهـم لا تحرمنا اجره ولا تفتنا بعده و اغفر لنا و له و اجمعنا معه في جنات النعيم يا رب العالمين .
اللـهـم انزل علي اهله الصبر والسلوان و ارضهم بقضائك.
اللـهـم ثبتهم علي القول الثابت في الحياه الدنيا وفي الاخره ويوم يقوم الاشهاد.
اللـهـم صلي وسلم وبارك علي سيدنا محمد وعلي اّله وصحبه وسلم إلي يوم الدين

35 Creative and Effective Public Interest Ads

Advertising, in its non-commercial guise, is a powerful educational tool capable of reaching and motivating large audiences. “Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest – it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes.” Attributed to Howard Gossage by David Ogilvy.

Public service advertising reached its height during World Wars I and II under the direction of more than one government. Here we have collated some of the most creative and effect public interest ads. Can you get the message from those ads too?

It’s Time To Get Your Hands Dirty.

Now that the well has been sealed and the leaking has stopped, do your part. Join A Bird In Hand Project and donate now.

Asphaltisation

The longer you live on the street, the harder it is to get off it.

Different Faces

When a tree falls, it takes other lives with it.

No Career Resists Alcoholism

Self Clean

Unfortunately the beach doesn’t clean itself.

Child Safety

Protect your child’s room from violence.

Don’t Suffer In Silence

Slut. Words hurt. You can’t see them but the scars from verbal abuse are real and can last for years. Don’t suffer in silence.

Animals Suffer Like We Do

Put yourself in a mink’s place.Don’t buy animal skins!

See You On The Road

For more understanding on the roads See You On The Road-> Use reflectors

Affiche Robot

Time to Neuter Your Dog

Biodiversity And Biosafety Awareness

What will it take before we respect the planet?

Don’t Drink and Drives

What’s the price of a bottle of beer?

Help Mother Nature To Fight Back

Nothing We will Ever Bring Them Back

Help Us to Keep The Ocean Clean

When we pollute the sea, we pollute for a long time.Help us to keep the ocean clean.

Smoke Deaths

Terrorism-related deaths since 2001: 11,377. Tobacco-related deaths since 2001: 30,000,000

The Gifts

Anatomy Model Woman

Vegetables are all your body needs.

Sleepiness is Stronger Than You

Sleepiness is stronger than you.ThaiHealth. Don’t Drive Sleepy Project

Poor Boy

You can lose more than your patience.

15th Annual Chief of Police Dinner Gala

Would You Care More If I Was A Rhino

Would you care more if I was a rhino?

When They Speak

When they speak, we listen. Conservação Internacional

Bossy Boot

When he controls your life, it’s no longer your life.

Feed on Milk

If you don’t help feed them, who will? Please call Concordia Children’s.

Polar bear

The earth is heating up.

Shark Tattoo

Set harm, get harm.

As Big As Its Benefits

Rodoanel, the biggest road work in Brazil, is ready. As big as its benefits. That’s the only thing people talk about: Rodoamel facilitates the draining of the national production to the biggest post in the country.

Talk to Someone Else

Talk. To someone else. Don’t encourage domestic violence.

The Tuna

Only a tenth of the catch in long line tuna fishing is actually tuna.

Regenerate Horse

Help neglected animals leave their old lives behind.

Saving a National Treasure

The Crayfish had pharmaceuticals for breakfast and a Catfish had him for lunch and you had the Catfish for dinner. The Susquehanna runs through you. Protect it. Protect yourself. Dispose of chemicals and pharmaceuticals responsibly. And limit fertilizer use.

Close Stool

Due to the lack of toilets that are specifically designated for their needs, our disabled friends run into many frustrating moments during the course of their day. Are you aware?

Lungs

Before it’s too late