Churnmore – A true taste of brand management
By Richard Murray (author) and Laura Holden (illustrator). Published by Williams Murray Hamm, March 2007. Hard cover, 60 pages. £6.60 on Amazon UK. ISBN-10: 0954415620;
ISBN-13: 978-0954415624.
See our competition to win a copy of this book
Richard Murray, a partner in the British design firm Williams Murray Hamm, has skewered the foibles of FMCG marketing in this little book (its pages are only 10 cm x 14.5 cm).
It’s a tale about Nicky Green, a brand manager at Amalgamated Brands (Ambrands), who is promoted to manage the Churnmore brand, which is languishing somewhat in the ‘yellow fat’ category. Her first act is to employ the Open Minds consultancy for a brand-away workshop for her team from the ad agency, the PR company and the design consultancy (“This is going to be £15,000 well spent”).
“Hi guys, we’re going to revolutionise Churnmore … and everything’s up for grabs!”
So starts the process to revolutionise the brand. New product ideas flow thick and fast at the workshop … Churnmore in a tube … a Churnmore breakfast bar … or an energy drink?
After the workshop, and settling on a new positioning (spreadability and edibility), Nicky briefs the incumbent ad agency, Taylor Tott Tompkins, although she secretly wants to use another agency, Dada, whose work is more ‘edgy’. “My challenge to you is to be more arresting. Force a re-appraisal of Churnmore.”
The agency comes up with the line ‘Make life taste good’ and a proposed TV commercial that shows “a series of calamitous situations that Churnmore helped make good”. But could it really do things like prevent a vet putting the wrong dog to sleep, pondered Nicky. And all in black and white?
Of course her boss, the marketing controller, sees the storyboard and promptly cans it – “where’s the buttery toast moment? All yellow fats have a buttery toast moment!”
The new pack designs, one like a pair of lips and another a structure with a bite mark out of the logo, go the same way. The whole thing spirals downward until the ‘re-launch’ product looks dangerously like the one it replaces and the ad campaign is postponed because a competitor has re-launched ahead of Churnmore – “but we’ll put £1.5 million into a price promotion to prop the brand up until next year”.
Nicky gets another job, senior brand manager on Pasteria, the ambient sauce “Like Italians might make”, which goes with a BMW, rather than the Astra or Focus she had to be content with at Churnmore.
So 18 months later a new brand manager finds herself at a briefing at Open Minds. “Return to the beginning.”
The book is full of wicked observations and archetypal characters, with little illustrations on the left-facing pages and text on the right. At the conclusion of the story Murray helpfully includes a ‘Glossary of Really Useful Marketing Terms’, such as:
Evolution not revolution. Opt for an easy life
Low hanging fruit. Let’s do what the competition does.
My challenge to you. I doubt it can be done.
Building on that. But my idea’s better.
Going forward. Can we forget about what’s just happened?
Win a copy of 'Churnmore'
Let me (Roger James) know the new name you would give to Churnmore to re-brand it in the yellow fat category. The 10 best names will be awarded a copy of the book. Send your suggestions, together with a postal address, to lin.windram@ami.org.au and Lin will send me the entries only, so the judging will be anonymous. Winners will be announced in the next issue of Marketing Update. (You must be an AMI member to enter this competition.) |
