There’s a difference between design and branding, and it’s as important as the difference between your girlfriend and your mother. Yeah, that important. Really.

Design is defined as this: “To plan and fashion artistically or skillfully.” What something looks like. Important, yes, but the most important thing? Think of this like a woman in a night club. It’s important that she look a certain way (she needs to be attractive to you if you’re going to ask her to dance), but if you want do more than dance, it’s REQUIRED that she be interesting in a way that’s deeper, that has to do with who she is as a person, how funny or smart she is, etc. All of this is NECESSARY if you want to engage her.

What I’m saying is this. If the design is good, I’ll look at her. But there needs to be more to her, something interesting to me specifically — something that connects me to her in a meaningful way — before I will do more than look at her. Your casino advertising and marketing messaging is the exact same thing.

Branding is the meaning behind the design. The purpose and reason. Without meaning, purpose and reason — it’s nothing more than shining wrapping, like a kid’s candies. Your brand is the IDEA that represents your product/company in the minds of the people in your market. Your brand is how they think of you IN COMPARISON TO your competitors. Are you the same, better, worse, too far away, too smokey, full of machines that are too tight, staffed with friendly employees, or not. Your brand is what they think of you.

Let me repeat that: Your brand is WHAT THEY THINK OF YOU. It’s not your logo. It’s not the design of your billboards, your brochures, your website or your tv ads (those CAN support or not support your brand position), but they are only the wrapping around the candy, the clothes and make-up on the girl in the night club. They are the purpose and the meaning. That’s deeper. And much, much, much more important.

If you want your players to take you home from the night club, if you want to “go steady” — then your brand must have depth and meaning. A loud and brightly colored ad campaign can get you looked at — but you want more than that. You want to be considered, to be thought of — and thought well of, even. That’s what a strong brand helps accomplish.
Your brand is like your mother — she gives you meaning and purpose and character. Your mother guides your choices in life and helps you become the person you are. She can help you — and often will (like it or not) help you find the right girlfriend to date. Your brand should, likewise, guide your advertising and your design choices, which, in the end, can be sexy and gorgeous — but only if the meaning and purpose under the sexy/gorgeous is in-line with what Mom says is right for your casino.

Check out some of our case studies. I think you’ll see right away how we marry meaning and purpose to our client’s work. This is how we help our clients get more bang for their advertising spend. A good brand connects with the audience in a way that’s real and true and emotional — and that’s how you get them to do more than dance with you.

posted by Chad Germann No Comments »

Just because your ads include pictures of casino “things” — chips, cards, cash and young blonde women jumping up and down at a slot machine — doesn’t mean you are “branding” your casino.  In fact, a brand is defined as: “what people think of you in comparison to your competitors” — and if your ads look no different than the casino down the road, then you are NOT branding anything. You are making casino ads with your little logo in the bottom right corner. But that’s not branding. Branding, by definition, requires the creation of difference.

Look at your casino’s advertising. Different or the same? And I’m not taking about the color of the type or whether your logo is in the bottom right corner. Those are easy. Beyond that, the next step, and the part that will make a difference is this. 1.) Create only ads that SAY SOMETHING SPECIAL AND UNIQUE ABOUT YOUR CASINO, something that’s very specifically different from what other casinos say about themselves. That’s a start. The next step, then, is: 2.) Find a way to talk about your special difference in a way that up-sells what’s special about you.  Better. Now, here’s the Master’s level class: 3.) Craft a message that sells what’s special in a way that actually matters to your audience. Emotional connections matter. Make advertising that engages your audience, asks them to care about the choice of which casino to visit. Do that and success will follow.

This is hard to do. Especially difficult for Indian casinos where politics are thick and jobs are difficult to hold on to. Your casino managers are human beings, and for human beings it’s always more difficult to break from the herd than to follow along. There is great comfort and safety in doing what others do. It’s human nature. But it’s also the most fundamentally primary reason that most advertising in the world (casinos and all others) is visual garbage and a complete waste of money.

So if you want your advertising to be more than visual garbage and a complete waste of money, follow this rule: The primary job of any ad is two-fold, which are: 1.) Draw attention to the message (get eyeballs and ears to pay attention to the ad), and 2.) show difference between our product and the others in a way that’s compelling (make the audience care about — even love — you). That’s the job, period.

Again, look at your ads. Do they call out difference and sell your special uniqueness, or do they sell sameness? Is there anything in your ads that would make someone care, or do the ads serve as a tool for the casino to brag about itself? Avoid bragging about yourself. Find a way to connect with your guests thru your messaging. Find a way to make them feel special. Your ads need to work for your casino like small-talk works for a single guy chatting up a girl at a club. No successful single guy walks up to a girl at a club and starts talking about himself and pointing at his cool clothes and expensive shoes. And if he looks like every other douche-bag in the club, then he’s striking out. That guy’s a loser and will grow old as a very, very single and lonely bachelor. Better to look/dress uniquely — but in a way that’s not weird or threatening but original and interesting — and rather than talk about yourself, instead act friendly and helpful and ask the girl questions about herself. And when possible, create connections: “Hey, that’s my favorite song, too. Let’s go dance to it…?” Your casino ads need to make the same sort of play.

The non-nightclub/dance floor version of this advice is this. Good branding showcases how your product is different and better than your competitors. Great branding does the same but finds a way to also emotionally connect with its audience. Create difference, up-sell value, and make an emotional connection. These are the keys to branding success.

posted by Chad Germann 1 Comment »

The article below is one I wrote for the most recent issue of the Raving Consulting Newsletter. Needless to say, I feel strongly about this topic, so I’ve decided to publish it here on our blog as well.

Two days ago my creative director and I were discussing ideas for a potential client, and we were arguing. We had a great business idea for the client, but the business idea didn’t match up with the advertising solution I was convinced the client wanted to buy from us. The client was looking for a new brand solution, and they very much liked our Grand Casino “What’s Your Grand Casino Story?” campaign. And so I thought the answer was to find a Guest-centric testimonial-like branding idea, but Cathy felt her idea — which was not a Guest-centric testimonial branding idea — she felt her idea was something better, something bigger, and something that could reposition the client and drive huge business. I said, “The client wants a brand campaign that looks like this.” And she said, “No, our job is to help our client use their marketing dollars to drive more business. And this idea is bigger than advertising. It’s a positioning idea that is something more. Remember, an ad is only as big as the billboard, but an idea can be much, much bigger.”  Read more...

posted by Chad Germann 13 Comments »