Until 10 years ago none. The marketing department of a fertilizer producer could hardly find a connection with chess to increase its sales. No one Marketing plan can support a satisfactory ROI (Return On Investment). After all, customers, companies, or farmers do not play chess, as various studies show!
Fortunately, however, there is a Branding Office, where some pioneers can see a connection to TRIBES. Groups of people who love an activity are obsessed, they are aware of every detail, and they act accordingly. That is where the people of PhosAgro AG targeted since the Chess Tribe and Culture is huge in Russia and has risen rapidly worldwide in the last two years with the contribution “The Queen’s Gambit” series.
The reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and the winner of the Candidates Tournament in 2020/21 Ian Nepomniashchii (Russia) where PhosAgro is a strategic partner of the Russian grandmaster are currently competing for the world title in Dubai (the score up to now is 5–3 to Carlsen).
Who is PhosAgro?
PhosAgro is a vertically integrated Russian company and one of the world’s leading phosphate-based fertilizer producers The company has been a permanent strategic partner of the Russian Chess Federation since 2010. Over the years, young chess players of Russia have won more than 100 medals in international children’s competitions. Russian grandmasters became world champions in blitz, rapid chess (twice), vice-champions of the world (twice), and three times — winners of the World Cup and won two online Olympiads.
The company is a strategic partner of International Chess Federation (FIDE) and has already sponsored matches for the world chess crown in 2014 in Sochi, in 2016 in New York, and in 2018 in London.
Of course, in Branding, you must SERVE the Tribe before you start asking for something.
“PhosAgro has been helping the development of chess in Russia for many years and has set itself the goal of returning the chess crown to its homeland. Consequently, it is important for us to create the most comfortable conditions for Ian in order to prepare for the final match. Either way, we will see a great competition between the brightest minds on the planet,” said Andrey Guryev, vice-president of the Chess Federation of Russia and PhosAgro AG CEO.
Finally, sponsorship is not a matter of Marketing but BRANDING and HERITAGE!
Ο Κίλιαν Jornet είναι μια προσωπικότητα στο χώρο των αθλημάτων βουνού. Από σκιέρ έως δρομέας κι από ορειβάτης έως αναρριχητής έχει αφήσει ήδη στα 34 του χρόνια το στίγμα του.
Πολλοί προσπάθησσν (και προσπαθούν) να του μοιάσουν, αλλά εστιάζονται στις επιδόσεις και μόνο.
Ιδού όμως πως “διδάσκει” ένα brand την Κοινότητα.
Η σωστή σειρά προτεραιότητας ευχαριστιών 1. Ευχαριστίες στους εθελοντές των σταθμών, στους υπευθύνους διοργάνωσης, στις οικογένειες και φίλους των αθλητών , στους αθλητές 2. Ευχαριστίες τον μεγάλο αντίπαλό σου που έδωσε αξία στη νίκη σου 3. Ευχαριστίες και ενθάρρυνση σε νέους αθλητές που θα συνεχίσουν το άθλημα, μέσω της σύνδεσή τους και μεταλαμπάδευσης του αγωνιστικού πνεύματος του αγώνα με παλιούς νικητές του αγώνα που χάραξαν την πορεία. 4. Ευχαριστίες στη Μητέρα Φύση για το καταπληκτικό σκηνικό 5. Επανάληψη ευχαριστιών στους εθελοντές 6. Ευχαριστίες στην οικογένεια για την υποστήριξη 7. Ευχαριστίες στον χορηγό
—- to original post εδώ:
To all the volunteers in the aid stations, in Silverton, to the organizers, to the families and crew members, to the pacers, to the runners: THANK YOU! Thanks to make @hardrock100run , above an incredible run, a great community of good people. With the emotions of the run still fresh in my skin I wanted to share some thoughts with all you: 1. It’s been an honor to run alongside @francois_dhaene, one of -if not the-best ultrarunners of all times. It was a pleasure to share so many miles with you 💪
2) I’m so happy for @thatdakotajones for the race you did! Man, you’re a incredible runner and a great person. And for the story you know that Dakota get introduced to ultrarunning when volunteering at Hardrock the year Kyle Skaggs broke the record and today Kyle was pacing him! Isn’t that cool?!👊
3) Wilderness and landscapes of San Juan mountains are so breathtaking. I feel so fortunate to know this part of the world.😍
4) Races couldn’t exist without a group of organizers and volunteers that give their time and efforts, I wanted to thank all of you. You’re great. In the picture you can see Dale, the race director waiting for all the runners to kiss the rock!🙌
5) to my family, my wife @tinaemelie , thanks for all the support during the preparation to such a event. To the @nnormal_official team, thanks for being there, for the vision and work to make it possible 🙏 📷 @nickmdanielson
KYIV, Ukraine — Sergei Karjakin had only one game of chess left, and he had to win it.
It should have been an easy task. The opponent was the lowest-ranked player in the tournament. Karjakin was one of the rising talents in chess, a poised and accomplished boy of 12 years 7 months who was, at that moment, one victory from becoming the game’s youngest grandmaster.
The title would change his life. In chess, only the top 30 players can expect to build a proper career from the game. Becoming the youngest grandmaster in history offered Karjakin a direct path to that world, a door to global acclaim and corporate sponsorships and invitations to the biggest tournaments — to the life that he and every prodigy, and, perhaps most of all, their parents dream about.
But first Karjakin had to win one last game.
For once, though, his skill did not appear to be enough. For nearly 60 moves, Karjakin posed subtle and challenging problems to Irina Semyonova, his opponent. Each time, she had an answer, a counter. Karjakin kept pressing, but the game ended in a draw.
Suddenly, all of what had been close enough to touch — the label, the fame, the history — was slipping away.
But the aspiring grandmaster and his team still had one audacious move left.
Fathers, Sons and Points
Street chess players in central Kyiv, Ukraine.Credit…Misha Friedman for The New York Times
Chess grandmasters are not made in a day. Even the brightest talents need years to earn the highest and most coveted title in the game. To achieve it, a player must gain a high rating through strong tournament play and by collecting a series of benchmarks, called norms, in games at qualified events.
For the three decades after the title was formally introduced in 1950, the grandmaster was a rare species. Other players knew not only their names but their playing styles, too. They were treated like stars at tournaments and appearances.
That all changed in the 1980s, when FIDE, the governing body for chess, started expanding into countries that did not have established chess cultures. To pursue its goal of having at least one grandmaster in each country, FIDE relaxed its requirements.
That change made the label more accessible, but also less exclusive: Nearly 2,000 players have become grandmasters since 1950. Gradually, the label ceased being a ticket to a great future in chess. Young players — and their often obsessive parents — needed something to set them apart. The title of the youngest grandmaster turned into one such springboard.
For Karjakin and his father, Aleksandr, the label held almost infinite promise. By becoming the youngest grandmaster, Karjakin would, in an instant, assume a title once held by Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer, one that even world champions like Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen had never earned. The achievement would make the 12-year-old Sergei Karjakin a household name in chess. It would open doors.
Karjakin had worked his whole life toward this goal. Born in Simferopol, Crimea, in 1990, he was playing chess for six hours every day by the time he was 5 years old. Through talent and devotion he quickly developed into one of the most promising young players in Ukraine.
The Momot Chess Club, the country’s most prestigious chess school at the time, took notice. It invited Karjakin to join its ranks in the town of Kramatorsk, a rusty industrial wreck in Ukraine’s east. With little to keep them in Crimea — Karjakin’s parents had become street vendors to make ends meet in the ruins of the post-Soviet Union economy — the entire family moved with its chess-playing son.
A young chess player looking at scores and tournament standings at a tournament in Ukraine.Credit…Misha Friedman for The New York Times
For the Karjakins, the Momot club was an island of opportunity in a country terrorized by economic transformation and gang wars. By the time they arrived with Sergei it had started producing champions and grandmasters at the speed of an assembly line. At one point, Momot counted three of the 10 youngest grandmasters in the world among its members. Ruslan Ponomaryov, the club’s first star, was the world knockout champion from 2002 to 2004.
Karjakin quickly rose to become one of the stars of the school. His success, and the strong bonds his father was forging with coaches, meant Karjakin got the school’s backing in tournaments. Those appearances, and his success, propelled his preteen reputation.
But for some players, securing a prestigious title meant more than just playing well. It is an open secret in chess that many players cut side deals with tournament organizers and other top competitors that help them achieve norms they might have struggled to get legitimately.
This culture touched the Momot club. Many of its members acquired their grandmaster credentials in Crimea, at tournaments in places like Sudak and Alushta that were known as “norm factories” — where, for as little as $1,000, organizers would make sure players accumulated enough points for a norm.
But there were other, more subtle, ways to succeed, too. Far from prying eyes, secret agreements and cash exchanges to arrange results were not uncommon, according to interviews with chess players and FIDE officials. In a sport so wholly obsessed with status, title and rank, even selling a game could be accomplished for the right price.
Mikhail Zaitsev, who achieved the rank of International Master and is now a chess coach, estimated that of the world’s roughly 1,900 living grandmasters, at least 10 percent have cheated one way or another to acquire the title. Shohreh Bayat, one of the leading arbiters in chess, describes such arrangements in the plainest terms. “Match fixing,” she said, “is cheating.” Some hopefuls didn’t even have to play a game of chess to get the points they needed: Some tournaments, she said, took place only on paper.
None of this is lost on the sport’s frustrated leaders.
“We have a dog called Pasquales,” said Nigel Short, the vice president of FIDE. “I believe it is possible that if I went to the effort, I think I could get my dog a grandmaster’s title.”
Games Sold
A Ukrainian team championship in Lviv.Credit…Misha Friedman for The New York Times
The Great Silk Road tournament, where Karjakin became the world’s youngest grandmaster in 2002, was held in the picturesque town of Sudak on the Black Sea. It was a mess, according to interviews with five people who were there.
The winner was Vasily Malinin. How he won was another matter. Aleksandr Areshchenko, a young player at the time, said Malinin paid Areshchenko’s mother in exchange for a victory in their match. Another player, Nazar Firman, said he was also paid.
Malinin, who died in November, always denied paying for results. But in a letter published in Russian on an obscure chess website, he acknowledged playing an unusual role in the Sudak tournament.
The most notable game, he said, was one he agreed to lose.
Malinin told the story this way in his letter:
With Karjakin’s title as the world’s youngest grandmaster slipping away after his unexpected draw with Semyonova, Karjakin’s father, Aleksandr, approached several players to whom his son had lost points and offered them money to replay their games. Firman said he was among those to receive an offer of cash for an arranged draw.
Malinin, who had points to spare, agreed to replay his game with Karjakin. He said he did so for free and therefore did not consider it cheating. The two replayed a game that normally would have taken up to six hours; in the replay, Malinin said, it was played “in a blitz” — a high-speed variant of chess. Karjakin won.
Minutes later, the newly crowned grandmaster ran into the tournament’s main hall, radiant and proud as “a peacock,” according to Areshchenko, who was present.
Asked about the episode in an interview with The New York Times, Karjakin said he would ask his father about it. He later said that he is not in touch with his father and had no further information about the tournament. Phone calls and text messages sent to Karjakin’s parents were not answered.
The fruits of Karjakin’s victory, though, came quickly. The next year, he played at the tournament in Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands, a town known as the Wimbledon of chess. In Paris, he joined the prestigious NAO chess club. Only a few months earlier, Karjakin had traveled to tournaments in Europe by bus. Now, as the world’s youngest grandmaster, he was greeted by the president of Mexico.
“I was just swarmed with invitations,” Karjakin said in an interview, talking about the aftermath. “I became widely popular.”
Competing against the world’s best players, Karjakin progressed rapidly. By October 2005, when he was 15, he was already ranked among the top 50 players in the world. In 2016, at the World Chess Championship in New York, he was on the cusp of becoming world champion before losing to Norway’s Carlsen, considered the world’s best player then and now, in a tiebreaker. And for more than 18 years, Karjakin, now 31, held a title no one could match: the world’s youngest grandmaster.
Sergei Karjakin during the World Chess Championship in November 2016.Credit…Misha Friedman for The New York Times
The stain of what had happened in the Sudak tournament, however, has lingered. There were rumors about the event in the chess world, but no one seemed interested in pursuing them. Several participants in the tournament said that Karjakin had not achieved his grandmaster’s title by the book, but that, for them, it was just a fact of chess life.
Areshchenko, a stronger player than Karjakin at the time and his classmate in a chess club, said that his coaches had told him to play a draw with Karjakin to make sure he got the youngest-grandmaster title on time.
“He could not do it honestly,” Areshchenko said of Karjakin. “I played better than him at the time, and it was tough for me to become a grandmaster then.”
In an interview, Karjakin denied offering payoffs or making side deals. He said it was Malinin who had tried to extort money from his family for simply playing a game that they had agreed to postpone, not replay. After Karjakin’s father refused to pay, Malinin got mad and “made up all that mess,” he said.
“My father came to him and told him that he has to go and play with me,” Karjakin said of Malinin. “In any case, nobody would engage in negotiations with young children.”
A Visit With Putin
Nazar Firman playing for his hometown of Lviv.Credit…Misha Friedman for The New York Times
Many chess players say making side deals in chess is essentially harmless. But to others, Karjakin’s career has demonstrated that is not the case.
Players who fulfill their norms honestly, other players said, would not get their grandmaster’s title for years, and thus never get the chance to join the top echelon. Firman, for instance, has quit professional chess several times because of his inability to make a living at it. At least one of Karjakin’s former peers at the Momot Chess Club now earns money giving Skype lessons. Others compete for small prizes in sweaty halls at low-level tournaments.
Karjakin, however, has thrived. In 2009, President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia granted him citizenship. In 2014, Karjakin sided with Russia against his native Ukraine by openly supporting its annexation of Crimea. In Crimea, he posed in a T-shirt bearing the face of Vladimir V. Putin, of whom he was by then a prominent and vocal supporter.
In 2016, Putin said that “the country has always given high priority to chess, and chess has always helped the country.” The chess crown, however, has been away from Russia since 2007, when Vladimir Kramnik lost it to Viswanathan Anand of India. Karjakin has promised to “bring the chess crown back to Russia.”
He received full support for that effort. Lucrative contracts with Russian corporations have bankrolled Karjakin, including one with a bank that brought him around $300,000. His face appeared on billboards around Moscow, and he was invited to the most popular talk shows, turning into a celebrity. He received a manager and an apartment. Soon, he had a country house, too, in the most prestigious area outside Moscow, as well as a Mercedes with a driver.
In 2017, Putin even invited Karjakin to his residence. In his office, Putin’s first question was: “You became a grandmaster at 12, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” Karjakin said. “I was the youngest.”
A Worthy Successor
Abhimanyu Mishra, at the age of 12 years 4 months 25 days, broke the record for youngest grandmaster.Credit…International Chess Federation
On the last day of June, 18 years after he had claimed it, Karjakin surrendered the title that had launched his career.
His successor as the youngest grandmaster in history, a young boy from New Jersey named Abhimanyu Mishra, broke the record by two months, gaining the title at the age of 12 years 4 months 25 days. Mishra and his father are hoping the achievement will do for him what it did for Karjakin.
Like Karjakin’s parents more than two decades ago, Mishra’s father, Hemant, had a lot at stake in seeing his son claim the title. He said he spent more than $270,000 on making his son the world’s youngest grandmaster, and he had been collecting donations online to make their chess dream come true. The small advantages that the money could buy — in scheduling, in opposition, in timing — began to add up as he closed in on his final norm.
Mishra, who described Karjakin as his idol, played in five so-called norm tournaments in Charlotte, N.C., in the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021 but did not achieve a single norm. With the deadline to beat Karjakin’s record bearing down, he and his father next traveled to Budapest, where Abhimanyu Mishra played eight tournaments in a row.
At these tournaments, norm-seekers paid the organizers, who in turn paid grandmasters to show up, a legal and common arrangement in professional chess. But the quality was not the same; the average rating of Mishra’s opponents in the Budapest events was nearly 50 points lower than it had been in Charlotte.
In an interview, Arkady Dvorkovich, the president of FIDE, said that there is little sportsmanship at such tournaments. That is partly because the grandmasters, often aging players long past their prime, often lack the motivation to work hard to beat their opponents. “The motivation was quite low for me,” said Vojtech Plat, one of the grandmasters who played.
At the Budapest tournaments, Mishra had the added advantage of playing against the same group of grandmasters again and again, which allowed him to learn their tactics and styles.
Gabor Nagy, a Hungarian grandmaster, played against Mishra in six of the tournaments in Budapest. (In Charlotte, no grandmaster played in more than three tournaments.) In one match, they agreed on a draw after 13 moves, and in another, after only six. To chess experts, this was an indication that the matches were not seriously contested. But in playing them, Mishra accumulated a precious half-point toward his goal in a matter of minutes.
In another tournament, Mishra played three games in a day, his father said. FIDE rules, which seek to protect players from overexertion in the grueling sport, set a limit of two games a day. By the time Mishra had usurped Karjakin’s throne, he had played 70 games of chess in only 78 days.
“It begins to smell,” Bruce Pandolfini, an accomplished American coach, said of the effort to chase the youngest grandmaster title using those methods.
Still, Mishra’s rise to grandmaster will mark the start of a new life for him. He was recently featured on the websites of ESPN and People magazine and was invited to the upcoming Chess World Cup, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the sport with a purse of nearly $1.9 million.
Hemant Mishra said his son achieved the title legitimately and that suggesting otherwise would be “utter nonsense.” But top players are publicly questioning Mishra’s title and criticizing the system that helped him get it.
Short, a grandmaster himself and the FIDE vice president, said that he had attempted to reform that system. But the fact that so many players had already acquired questionable grandmaster titles made it all but impossible.
“The horse has bolted; you cannot close the stable doors,” he said. “The best thing to do is to abolish the title altogether.”
Misha Friedman for The New York Times
Ivan Nechepurenko has been a reporter with the Moscow bureau since 2015, covering politics, economics, sports, and culture in Russia and the former Soviet republics. He was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia. @INechepurenko • FacebookREAD 147 COMMENTS
Πριν λίγα χρόνια είχαμε βρεθεί μπροστά στην αρχή ενός νέου κοινωνικού φαινομένου.
Να μοιραζόμαστε τις ιδιοκτησίες μας κάνοντάς τες «πιο αποδοτικές» με οικονομικούς όρους.
Το αυτοκίνητό μας μπορούσε να γίνει Uber. Το σπίτι μας AirBNB Το μηχανάκι μας e-Food / Wolt courier
Και μετά τι; Αυτό ήταν το μεγάλο ερώτημα. Ποιο θα ήταν το επόμενο στη σειρά να το μοιραστούμε “αποδοτικά”; Ποιά θα ήταν νέα καταπληκτική εφαρμογή που θα μας έκανε πιο «αποδοτικούς» μέσω του μοιράσματος της ιδιοκτησία μας;
Κι εκεί που περιμέναμε την εφαρμογή έφτασε ο …κορωνοιός! Και όχι δεν μας έκανε πιο αποδοτικούς, αλλά μάλιστα μας οδήγησε να μοιραστούμε πολλά περισσότερα. Έτσι
– Το σπίτι μας πλέον το μοιραζόμαστε δωρεάν με τον γυμναστή μας
– Το σπίτι μας πλέον το μοιραζόμαστε δωρεάν με το κράτος μετατρέποντάς το σε αίθουσα σχολείου
– Το σπίτι μας πλέον το μοιραζόμαστε δωρεάν με τον εργοδότη μας μετατρέποντάς το σε γραφείο
– Το σπίτι μας πλέον το μοιραζόμαστε δωρεάν με το κράτος μετατρέποντάς το σε αίθουσα ανάνηψης ασθενών νοσοκομείου
– Το σπίτι μας πλέον το μοιραζόμαστε δωρεάν με τη θεατρική μας ομάδα μετατρέποντάς το σε σκηνή
– Το σπίτι μας πλέον το μοιραζόμαστε δωρεάν με το ωδείο μετατρέποντάς το σε αίθουσα παραστάσεων
Επιπλέον το σπίτι μας μετατράπηκε σε κουζίνα εστιατορίου με μαγειρικές gourmet αναζητήσεις!!!
Γιατί τα αναφέρω όλα αυτά θα ρωτήσει κανείς;
Απλά γιατί στις καθημερινές συζητήσεις μας, η μόνη διαφορά μεταξύ μας βρίσκεται σε ποια λέξη θα εστιάσει κανείς. Στο «Δωρεάν» ή στο «Μοιραζόμαστε»..
Γιατί μια λέξη αλλάζει τα πάντα στα συναισθήματά μας.
Γιατί αν εστιάσουμε στο πρώτο, οδεύουμε προς την κατάθλιψή
Αν όμως εστιάσουμε στο δεύτερο, τότε φλερτάρουμε με την έμπνευση, την καινοτομία και εν τέλει με το come back στη ζωή μας σε μια διαφορετική πραγματικότητα.
Στο βίντεο που επισυνάπτεται (που είναι άκρως promotional) ο εστιασμός δεν είναι στον καλλιτέχνη influencer Kokayi, αλλά στον σκηνοθέτη που το έστησε τόσο όμορφα που μπορεί ο καθένας μας να βάλει τον εαυτό του ως πρωταγωνιστή
Καλό μοίρασμα να κάνουμε!!!
Rapper Kokayi performs his way out of pandemic blues
Ο τρόπος που την εκτελεί κανείς, μπορεί να έχει σχέση με τη δημιουργία, την καινοτομία, την παραγωγικότητα και εν τέλει μέρος μιας ισορροπίας προσωπικής, οικογενειακής και κατ επέκταση κοινωνικής.
Την περίοδο αυτή έχουμε δυο προσεγγίσεις όσον αφορά την κρίση που έχει προκαλέσει ο Κορωνοιός.
Την παθητική:
“Μένουμε σπίτι” ( και πολύ καλά κάνουμε)
“Μένουμε γραφείο” ( λίγοι και καλά κάνουμε)
και την ενεργητική:
“Μένουμε Σπίτι και κάνουμε Εργασία”
“Μένουμε Γραφείο και κάνουμε Εργασία”
Για όσους όμως από εμάς βρισκόμαστε στην “τελευταία γραμμή άμυνας” των επιχειρήσεων (ιδιοκτήτες, μέτοχοι, διαχειριστές, entrepreneurs) οι οποίοι αποτελούμε τους φυσικούς leaders των επιχειρήσεων και που κουβαλάμε στις πλάτες μας εκτός απ τη δική μας οικογένεια και τις οικογένειες των εργαζομένων μας ( που κατ επέκταση είναι συνδεδεμένες και με τις οικογένειες των συνεργατών μας)
πέραν των παραπάνω αναφερόμενων,
έχουμε την υποχρέωση την από κοινού σύσταση ομάδων εργασίας πάνω στα ζητήματα που εξελίσσονται καθημερινά.
Οπότε, εμείς απ΄την πλευρά μας, και όσο ακόμα τα μέτρα Προστασίας επιτρέπουν τις συναντήσεις one -to-one, θα συνεχίσουμε να το κάνουμε μιας και πιστεύουμε ότι
οι λύσεις είναι προϊόν συνεργασίας καθαρών μυαλών!
Ο ΠΑΤΣΑΣ ας είναι και κοιλιά δεν είναι κοιλοδουλισμός. Είναι ΙΔΕΑ, είναι άποψη και βάλσαμο!!!
Δε έχω ιδέα πόσοι έχετε υπόψιν την τηλεοπτική σειρά «Τα Στέκια – Ιστορίες Αγοραίου Πολιτισμού» αλλά το «Το Πατσατζίδικο» είναι το αγαπημένο μου επεισόδιο. Νομίζω ότι θα αγγίζει πολλούς. Καλή θέαση!
Υ.Γ. Αναμένω σχόλια και για τα υπόλοιπα επεισόδια (είναι διαθέσιμα στο youtube).
Σύμφωνα με τη φιλοσοφία του SensoReality Branding, όσες περισσότερες αισθήσεις συμμετέχουν σε μια δοκιμή ενός προϊόντος, τόσο ολοκληρώνουν την εμπειρία του χρήστη και τον συνδέουν με την μάρκα.
Στην πλειονότητα των οίνων η εμπειρία του χρήστη προέρχεται απ την όραση (χρώμα), την όσφρηση (αρώματα) και τη γεύση (όγκος, σώμα, πολυπλοκότητα, επίγευση) .
Για την αύξηση της έντασης της εμπειρίας (με σκοπό να μείνει αξέχαστη!) είναι απαραίτητο να συμμετέχουν επίσης, τόσο η αφή όσο και η ακοή όπως προτείνεται απ τα τα εξέχοντα οινοποιεία και τους ειδικούς Κι αυτό πως επιτυγχάνεται; Μέχρι στιγμής μέσω της ποιότητας της φιάλης και του ποτηριού!!
Μπορεί όμως η εμπειρία να προχωρήσει ένα επίπεδο παραπάνω;
Ναι γιατί στις ημέρες μας έχουμε βοηθό την τεχνολογία, που μπορεί να ενισχύει την εμπειρία απόλαυσης του οίνου μέσου της ενεργοποίησης της ΦΑΝΤΑΣΙΑΣ!
Κι αυτό πως μπορεί να γίνει;
Μα με την επιλογή μιας συναρπαστικής ιστορίας που αποκαλύπτεται μέσω μιας ειδικής εφαρμογής (Living Wine Labels (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details… κι ενός απλού σκαναρίσματος), όπου ο ίδιος ο πρωταγωνιστής της ιστορίας, σου την αφηγείται …προσωπικά!!!
Αν ρωτήσεις 10 ανθρώπους τι είναι branding, ακόμη και σήμερα οι 9 απ΄ αυτούς θα απαντήσουν ότι είναι Logos, taglines, slogans, χρώματα,design κλπ κάτι δηλαδή σαν φολκλόρ πανηγύρι!
Η ύπαρξη πληθώρας εργαλείων και πλατφορμών επικοινωνίας δυσκολεύει ακόμη περισσότερο κάποιον να πάει ένα βήμα πιο βαθιά απ΄την επιφάνεια.
Ας προσπαθήσουμε να βοηθήσουμε το διάλογο, εισάγοντας το διαχωρισμό μεταξύ του Branding με Β κεφαλαίο και του branding με b μικρό.
Το μεγάλο B είναι στην ουσία η Αξία του Προϊόντος/Υπηρεσίας. Είναι τα χαρακτηριστικά του, σε συνδυασμό με την καινοτομία του και σε άμεση σχέση με τις Αξίες του. Το μεγάλο B εργάζεται πάνω στο τι κάνει το προϊόν/υπηρεσία ξεχωριστό, τι ωφέλειες προσφέρει στον αγοραστή, τι ανάγκες του καλύπτει.
Πως χτίζεται το μεγάλο B;
Μα παρατηρώντας την Αγορά , ψάχνοντας να βρούμε την Προστιθέμενη Αξία στην Κατηγορία που μας ενδιαφέρει και που με το προϊόν μας/υπηρεσία μας ΔΕΝ το προσφέρει κανείς άλλος. Βέβαια υπάρχει μια ακόμη μικρή λεπτομέρεια. Το προϊόν/υπηρεσία μας εκτός του ότι θα είναι ξεχωριστό θα πρέπει να το χρειάζεται/θέλει και ο πελάτης. Δεν φτάνει απλά το ΞΕΧΩΡΙΣΤΟ, θα πρέπει να συνδυάζεται και με το ΧΡΗΣΙΜΟ!! Ακριβώς στο σταυροδρόμι αυτό χτίζεται η αξία του προϊόντος/υπηρεσίας ( ή της επιχείρησης) , με βάση το μεγάλο B.
Αυτό ασχολείται με το brand communication. Δηλαδή την επικοινωνία όλων αυτών των χαρακτηριστικών, αξιών, καινοτομιών και χρησιμοτήτων που χτίζονται με βάση το μεγάλο B. Και φυσικά το μικρό b είναι σημαντικό μιας και προσπαθεί το επόμενο μεγάλο στοίχημα ενός brand. Την επικοινωνία και το διάλογο με τους πελάτες, τους συνεργάτεςκαι, τα διάφορα tribes.
Να βοηθήσουμε ακόμη περισσότερο; Εντάξει. Η Διαφήμιση ανήκει στο μικρό b. H διαφήμιση, η προώθηση εν γένει, φέρνει στο φως της Αγοράς την ξεχωριστή αξία που περικλείει το προϊόν/ υπηρεσία. Γι αυτό όταν σε μια διαφημιστή καμπάνια (όσο έξυπνη και αν είναι) ο πελάτης δεν αντιλαμβάνεται την προστιθέμενη αξία του προϊόντος/υπηρεσίας/ιδέας τότε δεν υπάρχει λόγος ύπαρξής της!
Όταν οι Γάλλοι δανείζονταν τη λέξη commoditatem απ΄ τα Λατινικά, δε φανταζόταν ότι θα έφτανε μέσω της αντίπαλης αγγλικής γλώσσας να παίξει τόσο σημαντικό ρόλο στο Νέο Κόσμο -τον καθ’ αυτού χώρο του Marketing- και μάλιστα ότι θα γινόταν στην ουσία η αντίθετη λέξη του brand.
Ο όρος Commodities αναφέρεται σε εκείνα τα προιόντα (σήμερα και τις υπηρεσίες) που έρχονται να καλύψουν τις βασικές ανάγκες των καταναλωτών, χρηστών (π.χ. το αλάτι, η ζάχαρη, το πετρέλαιο, ο καφές, το σιτάρι κοκ).
Ε και; Όλα τα προιόντα αυτό δεν κάνουν; Ναι αυτό κάνουν, και μάλιστα το έκαναν για πάρα πολλά χρόνια μέσω ανταλλαγών π.χ. 1 κιλό καλαμπόκι για 2 κιλά σιτάρι και 3 λίτρα κρασί για ένα λίτρο λάδι κλπ κλπ.
Κάποια στιγμή όμως (κατά τα μέσα του προηγούμενου αιώνα) στις δυτικές κοινωνίες ικανοποιήθηκαν οι βασικές ανάγκες των καταναλωτών και τότε προέκυψαν …τα «Θέλω!!!». Και εκεί περάσαμε από τις γενικότητες και τα Commodities στις εξειδικεύσεις και τα… Brands!!!Με την ευμάρεια, τα προιόντα περίσσεψαν και με την εφεύρεση του χρήματος έγινε προσπάθεια στις συναλλαγές να καθοριστεί η «Αξία» του κάθε προιόντος.
Και τα Commodities συνδέθηκαν αυστηρά με την τιμή (προσφορά/ζήτηση) ενώ τα Brands μέσω της «διαφοροποίησής τους» φλέρταραν με την «Αξία» και την «Υπεραξία» και αφιερώθηκαν στην κάλυψη των «Θέλω»
Έννοιες κατά βάση υποκειμενικές μιας και ο κάθε καταναλωτής ζυγίζει και εκτιμά με διαφορετικά κριτήρια, γι αυτό και τα πολλά ….εισαγωγικά!!
Η μετάβαση έγινε κατευθείαν; Όχι όχι . Ο ενδιάμεσος σταθμός ήταν τα Trademarks (tradenames) μέχρι να φτάσουμε τα τελευταία χρόνια στα λατρεμένα brands που ακούνε στο όνομα Lovemarks!! Γι αυτό θα μιλήσουμε όμως στο κοντινό μέλλον…
Για το ιστορικό του γεγονότος θα πρέπει να σημειωθεί ότι τελικά οι Γάλλοι δεν προδώθηκαν απ΄τους Λατίνους αλλά από κάποιους κατοίκους στη Σκανδιναυία την εποχή των Βίκιγκς, οι οποίοι κι αυτοί δεν θα μπορούσαν να φανταστούν ότι η λέξη brandr που χρησιμοποιούσαν για να περιγράψουν τη διαδικασία της στάμπας (μέσω καυτού σίδερου) πάνω στα προιόντα τους, θα επιβίωνε τόσα χρόνια μετά (έστω και με μια μικρή αλλαγή) και θα γνώριζε τέτοια ανταπόκριση απ΄το χώρο των επιχειρήσεων! !! Αλλά αυτά έχει η ζωή των …προιόντων!!!
CASE STUDY
Όταν η επιχείρηση Sugarillos απ΄τη Θεσσαλονίκη ζήτησε απ΄την Ομάδα της mousegraphics να τη βοηθήσει στο χτίσιμο ενός νέου brand, o ηγέτης της ομάδας Γρηγόρης Τσακνάκης δεν φανταζόταν ότι θα του ζητούνταν να διαφοροποιήσει ένα τόσο κοινό προιόν όσο η ….Ζάχαρη!!!
Τελικά όμως όταν υπάρχει η κατανόηση των «αναγκών» και των «θέλω» του καταναλωτικού κοινού, τότε έρχεται και η έμπνευση!!! Ακολουθώντας τις αρχές του SensoReality Branding κατάφερε μαζί με την ομάδα του να παρουσιάσει “Ένα Κουταλάκι Ζάχαρη” που σε παραπέμπει να μη το χρησιμοποιήσεις αλλά… να το κρατήσεις ως κάτι …συλλεκτικό!!!
Γιατί το branding αδιαφορεί για το γενικό, για το μέτριο και ενδιαφέρεται για το Ξεχωριστό με τη Διαχρονική Αξία!!!
Πρώτο post και ταχυπαλμία!!!Αν κάπνιζα θα είχα τελειώσει τώρα το πρώτο πακέτο…
Γιατί άραγε ;
Μήπως είναι η πρώτη φορά που εκτίθεμαι;
Μήπως φοβάμαι την κριτική;
Όχι, δε νομίζω. Μάλλον γιατί θα παρουσιαστώ σε φίλους και θέλω να δώσω τον καλύτερό μου εαυτό!
Αν και η σκέψη του blog είχε ξεκινήσει πριν 2 χρόνια, ποτέ δεν κατόρθωσα να γράψω το πρώτο post. Ίσως γιατί κατά βάθος γνωρίζω καλά ότι ένα blog είναι μια υπόσχεση και μια δέσμευση. Τόσο προς τον εαυτό μου όσο και προς τους φίλους…
SensoReality Branding 