Feel good branding

The other day I received a letter from my storage company. I rent a box there where I keep all sorts of stuff that I have no room for a home. I was so delighted to get this letter. Not only was it not the annual invoice, it was one of their newsletters which they send to all their customers a few times a year.

This newsletter always delights me. It's a paper newsletter, two pages stapled together, 'designed' with a basic dtp program, not particularly well written, full of little stories about the team, new services, free ice cream, their flower pots, the colour of the gate, with corny pictures and illustrations (Easter chickens at Easter, xmas stuff at xmas), almost naïve in its look and content. So why does this newsletter delight me?

Because it makes me feel good. I get a smile on my face when I read this newsletter. Here's a local office of this fairly big storage company chain who really wants to do a good a job for its local customers. They are only 2 or 3 people but boy, do they make an effort to give personal, friendly service and surprise and delight their customers. And what's more, they're proud of their trade and their work and it comes through in this newsletter.

In all its old school-ness, this newsletter makes me feel warm and fuzzy. It's excellent branding and they don't even know it.

Today's links

• Wired's take on Google's (past-present-future) approach to music.

Today's links

• The 10 most addictive sounds in the world, non-branded and branded (acc to Martin Lindstrom, anyway).
• On the idiocy of sharing your whereabouts info.

Free your mind and your assets will follow

Jon Bains has written an insightful and entertaining post on his blog about media-neutral marketing. Well, actually it's about looking for inspiration beyond the immediate, un-terming familiar terms, and breaking the habits while retaining the DNA of the brand. He titles it Analog to Digital Conversion and here it is.

Jon co-founded digital creative agency Lateral in the mid 90s and I had the pleasure of working with him and his crew for several years when I was at Levi's.

Wu Tang Clan vs The Beatles

"Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers" is a remix album incorporating Wu Tang Clan a capellas and Beatles songs, and produced by Tom Caruana.

So, not unlike the Dangermouse Grey Album which of course mixed Jay-Z's Black Album and The Beatles' White Album.

But - unlike the Grey Album - this one features remixes/covers of Beatles songs, not originals. I love The Beatles and this is a really cool combo, with great vocals by Kelis to boot. The album can be downloaded for free at the record company's website.

Honesty, passion, competence

Honesty, passion, and competence. These were the three values that underpinned the Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page tells us in the documentary It Might Get Loud about the three guitarists Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White. To me, it sounds like many corporations and organisations could learn something.

Will it do or die?

Tell me what you think: Is this old hat and will Octone vanish when the sales do the same or is it a different approach that will survive in the industry? The Plan To Save the Music Biz.