There's a lot that's been said about Prince in the past few
weeks since his untimely death. But from a marketer's point of
view, there are few musicians who have been able to capture the
imagination of the public, or who have imprinted themselves so
strongly on the American Mind.
In this week's episode of Monday Morning Marketing, Ilyce Glink
and John Byrne discuss how Prince may have been the ultimate
marketing maven, someone who wasn't afraid to let go of the his
logo and brand, and reinvent himself numerous times - even
reclaiming a discarded brand.
 
SINCE PRINCE DIED....
Since his death last week, there has been so much focus on
Prince and where he came from. But other brands are trying to
connect/leverage/profit from death. Is that right? How do you feel
about it?
Prince was the ultimate control freak when it came to his brand.
He controlled his songs and intellectual property. Everyone (and by
that Ilyce and John mean companies) seems to feel free to use his
song catalogue, knowing that his estate probably won’t come after
them.
This led into a discussion about old brands and new brands.
Prince took a stand by tossing what was arguably one of the best
brands in music to become a symbol that didn't even have a name.
Other brands have tried to relaunch with a new name and identity,
and perhaps the most successful one was Accenture
Using Content Marketing to Power Brand Shifting
Ilyce was out in San Francisco this week, talking to some
prospective clients about brand marketing. And, it's interesting to
see how some companies want to use content to for a brand shift or
brand extension, but don't understand that they have to have a
framework or it's just hanging in space. 
How do you take a company that's about image and design and make
it about the numbers? You have to build a bridge that links
where they are to where they want to go and make sure that the
brand is fully supported. 
What happens if the brand isn't fully supported? You can
lose the trust factor. Consumers get confused. They don't know what
you or your brand stands for. 
How do you implement the strategy? Carefully. Companies often
jump willy-nilly from one brand strategy to another. You want to
develop the strategy so that it goes pretty far out and considers
outliner and money-making opportunities that pop up along the way.
Ilyce calls it Tier 4 strategy because you really need to go down
at least 4 levels, and 6 months to several years out to imagine how
the strategy will work.
AND NOW: POLITICS - BACK TO THE FUTURE
What is Trump’s brand? Is he trying to figure out how to be more
presidential but that isn’t worrying? And what is Hillary
thinking about her brand.
When you're Prince, content marketing is an art form and he
certainly mastered it. 
Find John Byrne on Twitter @john_m_byrne and at TheByrneBlog.com.
Find Ilyce Glink on Twitter @Glink or at ThinkGlinkMedia.com.