Category: marketing

Duck Dynasty and A&E’s rebranding failure

A&E unveiled its new tagline, "be original," last fall and used "Duck Dynasty" stars to help convey that brand. Has it backfired?
A&E unveiled its new tagline, “be original,” last fall and used “Duck Dynasty” stars to help convey that brand. Has it backfired?

Back in October, when A&E unveiled a new tagline as part of its rebranding campaign, the cable network was riding a wave of popularity, thanks to hit shows like Duck Dynasty. The “be original” tagline seemed to work well with A&E’s lineup of quirky programming.

As A&E marketing exec Guy Slattery told The Hollywood Reporter at the time:

We felt like we could really own “originals” the way USA has managed to own “characters” and TNT owns “drama.”

Well. What a difference a couple of months makes, eh?

As has been widely reported over the past week, Duck Dynasty‘s bull goose, Phil Robertson, in an interview with GQ Magazine, shared some of his thoughts about gays and African Americans in the pre-civil rights south, among other things. His comments sparked strong reactions among gay rights and civil rights groups, and (of course) on the Internet. A&E suspended Robertson, a move that caused a powerful counter-backlash from Duck Dynasty fans, conservative Christians and alleged First Amendment advocates who took to Twitter to #StandWithPhil.

It now appears that A&E wasn’t too serious about the suspension. The Duck Dynasty patriarch will return to the show in January (source). So, maybe the GQ interview was all a publicity ploy cooked up by A&E’s publicists? (Although this report — and this one — would suggest otherwise. It appears that Phil Robertson went rogue on A&E.)

But my subject here today isn’t about Duck Dynasty or Phil Robertson and his comments. It’s about A&E’s brand identity.

I wonder if this entire controversy will strengthen A&E’s “be original” brand or weaken it?

Let’s examine this issue in branding terms:

Phil Robertson is a de facto brand ambassador for the network. As a star of A&E’s franchise program, he is among the most widely recognized personas of the A&E brand (along with the rest of the Robertson clan), and A&E features the family heavily in its branding and marketing. These days, it’s difficult to separate the A&E brand from the program.

But do the stars of Duck Dynasty represent the brand A&E desires? They’re not mainstream America — not by a long shot. They’re rednecks, bearded, white, conservative — the stereotypical Red State “God and guns” demographic. But their show has managed to appeal to a broad audience, if the ratings are to be believed.

But does all this equate to original?

The visual cues may indicate that. But with any brand, the messaging is also important.

And whether A&E likes it or not, the words of Phil Robertson, as a brand ambassador for A&E, reflect on the network.

Phil spoke his mind. I’ll grant him that. But what he said was not very original. In fact, and unfortunately, his views have been around for a long, long time. For too long.

If A&E really wants to “be original,” it should pluck Duck Dynasty from its lineup. But that won’t happen. That golden goose is probably more valuable than ever.

If there’s a branding lesson to be learned from any of this, it is this: Make sure your brand ambassadors are on message. In other words, get your ducks in a row.

Rebranding Santa

Even the most established global brands need an occasional refresh. So in the spirit of the season, the UK-based branding firm Quietroom took it upon themselves to give one of the most venerable and well-known brands in the world a new approach.

*Santa* is a Concept, not an Idea: The cover of a new brand identity book for one of the world's most established brands.
*Santa* is a Concept, not an idea: The cover of a new brand identity book for one of the world’s most established brands.

The result is the *Santa* Brand Book, a brand identity manual for that brand we know as Santa Claus, St. Nick, Kris Kringle, the Jolly Old Elf, etc. (Hmm. With so many variants of the brand name, perhaps this brand refresh came none too soon.)

The online manual is a tongue-in-cheek introduction to *Santa* — a brand identity which subtly differs from the more traditional Santa. (The bookend asterisks are symbolic reminders to customers of “a snowflake alighting on the eyelash of a fawn” and “the polar star, and hence the birth of dreams.”)

It’s also a clever look at how branding agencies and in-house brand managers work to flesh out the intangibles of our respective organizations. It offers guidance on a range of brand issues, including:

  • Logo usage. The *Santa* logo is never to be “altered, adjusted, changed, adapted, modified, varied, reformed, revamped, refined, reorientated, transmuted, metamorphosised, customised or tailored in any way.” (Note to self: Adapt this language to my university’s brand identity guidelines.)
  • Color palette. Red and white are the official colors. But for guidance on which specific red and white to use, the book provides a handy Pantone reference chart.
  • The brand “house” or how the brand is build from the ground up. Similar to the brand pillar concept used by many organizations, the *Santa* brand house is built from the ground up. It is constructed on “a foundation of deceit, which is sunk deep within a bedrock of gullibility.”
  • Brand language, complete with admonitions to use approved vocabulary that is “convivial, festivious and jollificatory” when describing the brand. For example, *Santa* is “round and jolly,” not “morbidly obese,” and “fond of children” rather than “a bit creepy.”

While this brand book is a satirical look at the branding business, it also offers some valuable insight into the work of brand management. They begin by looking at the idea of Santa Claus as a metaphor for branding, and there is a lot of truth to that line of thinking.

There’s also a lot of truth to this phrase from the manual:

A brand is a sack on a sleigh of belief

Thank you, people of Quietroom, for giving brand managers the world over this little gift at Christmastime.

P.S. – Thanks also to Robert French for sharing the brand book via Twitter.