David (my co-author) and I are doing interviews right and left for the launch of Visual Marketing. One of the joys of a book that features 99 marketing examples of real live businesses is that we can point out those examples.
In the interview at Forbes earlier this week, written by my friend Dan Schawbel, publisher of Personal Branding magazine, we highlight several examples from the book:
- First there’s Lunchology — a line of children’s lunch bags that “educate, entertain and inspire” (pictured right). Who would have imagined that a mom could create a new product niche just from drawing inspiring pictures and messages on her daughter’s lunch bags? Entrepreneur Kristi Thomas did just that.
- Traverse Traveler’s mobile app is cool from a consumer’s perspective. It helps visitors to Traverse, Michigan learn about local sights and restaurants. It also is an example of how to use mobile to expand an existing product. No longer is the company held hostage to the logistical limitations of print. Now it can reach out to people without the visitor having to be physically in the same place as the company’s line of cards featuring Traverse businesses.
- Two Leaves and a Bud tea company’s stunning website background is another example. The company uses its own photography featuring lush tea fields from far off places. This design element helps answer the age-old question of how you differentiate one commodity product from another. Simple – don’t treat it like any old commodity. Visual elements help highlight “… its freshness, its high quality (they go to the tea fields to choose the tea by hand), and its company values as a fair trade company offering a fair price to tea farmers.”
Read the whole interview on Forbes — there’s lots more there. Even Richard Branson is mentioned. 
