Beyond Urban Branding

Anyone who travels a lot may have heard these words "Flight ABC is overbooked. We are offering a $$$ for anyone willing to give up their flight and book on a later flight". Typically this announcement is done while we are all waiting to board our flight, usually people just either look at the ground and ignore the request or others look around at each other to see who is going to jump at the offer. Usually there is someone who can afford to miss their flight, but it is rare to see someone jump up and take the first offer. The airlines often have to sweeten the pot to get someone to accept being bumped and flying out later. So I guess my opening helps point out what the first mistake made by United Airlines was on the ill-fated day when a paying customer was beaten and drag off the plane . For those of you who do not know what happened, let me sum it up. The week of April 10th United Airlines employees assisted passengers as they boarded the plane. Passengers played the ove...

I know a lot about this trend. I was a teenager when it was unfolding. This was an amazing time. The cross-cultural dynamic of football and Hip-Hop has never been the same.

John Travolta in a Brazilian rum ad.

Resse's has been sticking with the urban feel for their commercials for a few years now. It must be working. The interesting thing is that they do small things to attract parents and kids to the brand. Its very subtle, but effective. They are sure to use kids of various races, so nobody feels left out. They always use an uptempo rap that chants the letters of the brand in creative ways. These guys pay attention. This one has a bit of a reto feel. All the haircuts are from the 80's. I suspect thats done to attract parents while the music and the editing and the cuts are meant for kids. Well played, Mr. Reese....well played.

One of the many songs where Nas mentions Hennessy. His shout outs to the brand go back to songs like Memory Lane which dropped on Illmatic on April 19th 1994. The connection between Hennessy and Hip-Hop is so old its hard to say what rap record shouted it out first (I will look into that). But since it did, man, nobody ever looked back. I feel deeply conlficted because on one hand alcohol abuse is so rapant in urban communities. On the other it is impressive to see somone like Nas, who truly started from the bottom get the attention of brands like Hennessy and see them acknowledge his role in the growth of their brand. Keep in mind, many MANY brands have gotten huge jumps in brand awareness, positioning, penetration, retention etc. from rappers loving their products they they NEVER batted an eye. I know this sounds silly, but, I'm happy for both of them.

Episode 13: Jay Z and Samsung Take Everything to the Next Level, 2 Chainz Gets Jacked, A Pimps Redeption and Mark Weinstein Talks Internet Privacy LISTEN: www.bishopchronicles.com 

This is really great. Its an interview I did with David Frazee of K&L Gates. Very insightful stuff here. If you are trying to make something happen in business (especially if it deals with tech) give this a listen LISTEN: www.bishopchronicles.com 

On recovering from failure. Please listen to all of it.

I remember when this was "not art"...now look.

I did not expect the response from the people taking the order.

Well played Holiday Inn- well played...

Easily Nicki Minaj is arguably the biggest thing in urban branding for women possibly ever. This is proof. I can't say I love her music, but I do love her ads and respect her business mind and team.

I love this ad. I've been seeing this trend lately. Brands use old soul songs, what served as the foundation for classic rap hits from the late 80's and early 90's. Doing this helps you in several ways: 1) You wont be explicitly binding your brand to a rap demographic, but STILL get the benefits of getting a deeper resonation in those that do know it. 2) You introduce younger potential customers to old soul and get them to identify YOUR brand with that classic. 3) Older techies won't see it as connected to rap at all. Thats a 3'fer!! I bet Bill Gates is hitting switches right now in his 64... This song was used in one of the biggest rap albums of all time... I can almost promise you, the folks in this video are almost ALL parents....LOL