I know...sometimes I get "preachy..."

...but everyday, my homily rings true on the big stage of branding.

First off, a personal story (quickly, I promise!). Back in the mid '90's, I was the host of the "Z Morning Zoo" on WHZZ, Lansing, MI. We called the radio station "The All New Z101.7" everytime we talked on the air. It was a really great slogan for about the first 10 months...when I left 5 years into the run, we were still calling it "The All New Z101.7" and we sounded like a bunch of tools. We're not new...don't claim to be something everyone knows you're not.

Just up the street from our new office is a strip mall being put in. On the corner of it is what will be a new burger joint. It's name includes the term "Famous Burgers"...and that's killin' me everytime I go past. They CAN'T be famous if I've never heard of them! They're claiming to be something we know they aren't. The burger may be great. It may even be famous someday, but right now, they're the new kids on the block...they're not famous to anyone...except perhaps the lender who's backing their construction loan.

Here's the point: we're a terribly cynical group, us consumers. We don't belive the hype...rather (see it coming?!), we'd prefer you to Say Something Important!