Reclaiming A Brand: The PR Story of Velcro

Xerox did it. Kleenex did it. Post-its did it. Now Twinkies, among others, are working to do it. The “it” here is reclaiming a brand from potential generic usage and, in the process, losing a valuable business trademark. Now VELCRO is working to do it. We all know what “velcro” is—that incredibly handy fastening device used to seal and unseal everything from shoes, bags, backpacks, briefcases, coats, swimsuits, scuba wear, household devices, and even disposable diapers.

Velcro-style hook and hoop fastener

Well, what many may not be aware is that VELCRO is a company and a brand, not just a fastening material—categorically known as ‘hook and loop’ fasteners. So now, in case you missed the previous rebranding campaigns cited above, here’s another opportunity to watch a global company as it embarks on a rebranding effort  to “snatch back” its singular identity in the public mind. It’s a fascinating public relations and marketing case study, not to be missed.

For starters, here’s a few things to know:

VELCRO kicked off its rebranding initiative in March, 2012 with a public announcement and the unveiling of its Brand website:

http://www.velcro.com/About-Us/Press-and-News/Velcro-Website-Launch.aspx

As the larger campaign unfolds, it is perhaps just now just coming into public awareness, with online advertising and stronger social media presence.

As we said, this will be a very interesting campaign to watch. See if it changes your own understanding and behavior.

Also, for the fun of it, here’s a list of other companies who’ve had to travel down this same rebranding path, albeit, perhaps not so successfully. Keep in mind, for us it might seem like the game of “Trivial Pursuit”; for these companies, it’s big and serious business!

Note: We’re riding a trend! Shortly after we published this post, we found these  write-ups on similar campaigns underway with Xerox (http://bit.ly/1b4OSsR) and Twinkies (http://bit.ly/18cvGt1), also mentioned in our story. All are worth checking out for the hows & whys and lessons learned.

 

Business Wire Markets Integrated Marketing/PR Platform Analogous to PRDoctorChicago App Concept

On May 1, we were pleased to announce our visionary new mobile app concept for  companies/organizations that integrates PR, social media and marketing platforms. On May 8, Business Wire, one of the leading business news wire services, announced a “powerful new integrated marketing and public relations platform for press release and marketing content.” As with our proposed 360̊  public relations, or Immersion Public Relations app, the Business Wire platform allows companies to “truly show off their news, photos, videos and provide an interactive experience to a larger online audience,” as well as to engage in other forms of popular social interaction (blog, post, comment, etc.).

While our small boutique PR firm doesn’t have the resources to compete with a global business brand such as Business Week [one of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway companies], we’re proud that our proprietary ideas and marketing savvy rival those of industry leaders. We’re happy to bring that expertise to work for your organization.

In the meantime, we invite you to read the entire Business Wire product announcement here, as well as once again share in our May 1 post on PR 2.0 & Beyond. As always, we also welcome your thoughts, comments and ideas as we press forward.

PR 2.0 & Beyond

What’s Next in Interactive PR?

Lately the online media buzz has begun to shift from social media to mobility. Even talk of the emerging juggernaut Pinterest has begun to wane. Yet, in some ways social media and mobility go hand-in-hand:  Both enable users to interact and engage creatively and directly in unprecedented ways. Whether mobility will overshadow social networking in coming months remains to be seen, but it’s clear mobility is offering new challenges and opportunities for PR practice.

New Technology Creates New PR Opportunity

In recent weeks, we’ve been engaged in a number of conversations with colleagues examining media and digital technology trends. Consequently, we’ve spent a lot of time lately talking about our vision of where, and how, PR 2.0 & mobility converge. Our take on the point of intersection is a concept we alternately call “immersion public relations,” and 360̊ public relations.*

 Immersion PR

 In our view, mobility, and its ever-growing stable of related user applications (apps), provides companies with an unparalleled opportunity to showcase the best of who they are as a brand, seamlessly integrating all platforms. This means customers/users can immerse themselves in key aspects of all company-related marketing content–including proprietary Web sites, product showcases, social networking, corporate video, electronic newsrooms (e.g., press releases, advisories & annual reports), traditional media coverage, blogs, etc.— in one-stop-shop fashion, creating the most complete marketing experience the company can provide. Moreover, companies are able to control this changing mix of content , updating it periodically, as dynamics change within the organization or brand.

We also think of this new PR “app” concept as 360̊  public relations,* referring not only to the broad showcase of content, but to the experience of the user being enveloped in the digital space by every conceivable conception of a company the user can imagine. We envision this as a singular experience, more dynamic, and therefore more compelling for customers/users than experiencing the same content on separately accessed platforms.

At MediaWorks, we are embracing and moving into mobile technology to better serve PR clients, so we’ll be actively engaged on “R&D” for “immersion public relations” over the upcoming months. We invite you to join us in creating, sampling and developing this promising new technology. If you’re interested in immersion public relations* or 360̊ PR,* please feel free to let us know how you like the concept, what you find useful or appealing about it, and what steps you may be taking to develop this new technology.

As always, you can reach us with a comment below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

*Trade names adopted by MediaWorks, Inc. directly related digital applications incorporating multiple aspects of traditional marketing & PR.