Unbutton Your Beast: Levi's Lets it Out

There's a beast in my jeans and it wants to talk to you! Yeah, that's the basic premise behind Levi's new "Unbutton Your Beast" viral campaign. Unbutton Your Beast is simple, bold, funny and exposes you (pun intended) to the brand and the product being pitched in an unmistakable way. I give Levi's a big thumb's up for stepping up, and "going there" with this viral campaign.

Seinfeld + Gates + Windows = Seinfeld * 0.5

Well, the first Microsoft ad featuring Jerry Seinfeld has been released. It's featuring Bill Gates and doesn't mention Microsoft or Windows at all. That's fine by me. There's a ton of debate about whether the ad was good or not. Debate is fine by me as well. Here's the ad:



I'll weigh in with this opinion, either Jerry is very rusty in his delivery, or this combination is just too awkward. This doesn't capture the magic of either Seinfeld's standup or the old show (even though it tries to mimic the "much about nothing" style). I'll reserve final judgement until I see the next installments of the campaign, but if this is their answer to Apple's "Mac vs. PC" ads, I don't expect a monumental shift in public opinion.

Chrome Browser from Google: How Shiny Will it Be?

Google is developing its own web browser, called Chrome. I guess it was only a matter of time. Google owns the search industry, and has been developing boatloads of other applications and information services, some of which are hits and some of which sit largely unused. Now we come to the next step in Google's evolution, where it works to tie everything together into a true platform.

Will the Chrome browser be the thing that does it? How heavily will it integrate Google's also-ran services such as Google Finance and Froogle? I have no doubts that compelling and intelligently designed new features will appear in this browser at a ridiculous pace. After all, that has become a key element of Google's brand of innovation with services such as Google Maps and Google Docs.

Will that be enough to overcome the obvious privacy questions that will accompany Chrome? Whether real or imagined, there will be a veritable chorus of concerns voiced (many of them being seeded by Google's frightened competitors) about where your private information could end up. Ironically, that has also become a key element of Google's brand.

Chrome could be a turning point, or just another stone on top of the fortifications. Since nobody actually has their hands on it yet, we'll have to wait and see!

For more, see: Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser

Endurance Training - Building a Faster Tomorrow

Endurance sports and branding... what do they have in common? We recently launched FasterTomorrow.com, a site dedicated to the science of endurance training and featuring the innovative muscle recovery product ARX and it gave me the opportunity to contemplate this question.

An endurance race, whether it's running, cycling, swimming or a full triathalon doesn't begin with the starter's pistol. It begins long before that when each athlete makes the decision to enter the race. From the moment the athlete sets that goal, everything they do and every decision they make will take them a step closer or a step further away from reaching that goal.

This is a perfect analogy to branding. To run the strongest race and build the strongest brand, you have to continually reinforce the things that will carry you to victory. The logo, the messaging, the visual branding, compelling ads, diverse channels and a strong, happy customer base that spreads the gospel of your brand. Training and strengthening each of these areas will help create a stronger, faster brand that has real market endurance.