I am a Brand Ambassador -- How about YOU?

I have been a Brand Ambassador for more than a decade. It is thanks hugely to the impact of the internet and digital, social media which has brought Brand Ambassadorship to the forefront. My previous blog post, I love my brands and love brands in public - neat project, introduced my readers to Brands in Public -- brands that I support. It also discussed how I have been a BzzAgent for many years and that the Brands in Public project is a co-project between BzzAgent and Squidoo. Since that blog post, I followed up with Brands in Public on Twitter to spotlight the buzz on Twitter about this project.

That article is a Twitter List of what people are saying on Twitter -- about brands, branding, brands in public -- and where people are openly debating whether this new project is brand ambassadorship or a form of brand jacking or brand hijacking. When I caught that stream of consciousness, I must admit that I was bewildered to say the least. I wondered if maybe it was sour grapes or someone having an axe to grind with this project or with Seth Godin, Squidoo and/or BzzAgent. It seems that there are always going to be naysayers when there is a 'good' thing or something new or another way of 'looking at something.' And, from my years of online brand ambassadorship, I have seen that many people just HAVE to take the other side of the argument, to agree to disagree!

After another sleepless in Jacksonville night, I was up early to make some coffee, feed the plethora of cats, and then pen a new article, Brand Ambassador. I celebrate the brands; I celebrate what I do; I celebrate BzzAgent; I celebrate Squidoo; and I celebrate brands in public!

Amazon in Public | Crate & Barrel in Public | The Gap, Inc. in Public
Hermes in Public | KitchenAid in Public | L'Oreal in Public
Oracle in Public | Reality Check in Public | Wikipedia in Public

I love my brands and love brands in public - neat project!

Something new for me would be Brands in Public -- I Support. You see, recently BzzAgent and Squidoo launched the project of Brands in Public whereas certain Squidoo lensmasters were invited to create brand pages for brands they love. It was a first come, first served basis, limited to 15 lensmasters. Thankfully, I got the go-ahead to participate late on Friday, September 18, 2009. Initially I selected 3 brands, from what was left on the availability list, on which to create an unofficial brand page:

• Amazon in Public
• L'Oreal in Public
• Wikipedia in Public

I have a few more pages to add to the project and hope to get those produced before this Friday! I'm working on Crate and Barrel, Gap, Hermes, Intel, KitchenAid, Oracle, and Guy Kawasaki's Reality Check. A great selection of cool brands!

Have you participated in this project and created your own brand page? Well, you are cordially invited to add it to the special brand plexo list.

For more information on the Launching of Brands in Public, be sure to check out Seth Godin's blog post. There's a lot of great information there about brands in public! And, I would think that there is a pretty cool incentive to participate!

The first 100 brands that sign up will benefit from a share of the $500,000 in house ads Squidoo will run across the site promoting the service and the first partnering brands. Sales are handled by BzzAgent, so you'll be in good hands--please give them a call if you have any questions about the service.

P.S. I happened to see some source code which is interesting! target="_new" -- I've heard all the chit chat about the topicability of target="_blank" and no follow stuff too! But, now "new" -- this is interesting!

Victoria's Secret - Brand is ON TARGET

Victoria's Secret - Brand is ON TARGET - Sexy, Red Hot Fashion! I personally love to check out Victoria's Secret stores, catalogs, and online offerings on a regular basis. And, no surprise, so does my husband! I also wear many of their items, love those intimates, and I am a reseller of their fashions. Well, it was no surprise to read in a latest Brand Channel e-newsletter that VS gets high marks for their branding efforts.

The following is from a recent article in Brand Channel.

"Want (her) to be sexy? Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and brands are offering up a plethora of "in your face" material to wake the dead. Among those brands, Victoria's Secret catalog returns each year to remind one of the coming date with a scream. (Gentlemen, it's February 14.) This year, the scream is a pants' bursting bright-red lacy double D push up bra.

With three distribution channels-stores, catalog and e-shop-and marketing communication to match, Victoria's Secret has consistently delivered its brand message at each contact point with the customer. In particular, a visit to VictoriasSecret.com shows an attention to details that has been hitting the right balance between branding and usability for years.

Not only is the first impression on target, with the screen dominated by a picture of a voluptuous model, but all the elements of a branded e-commerce are present: From color-palette, to thumbnail pictures to promotions.

In sum, Victoria's Secret has developed a superb customer-focused marketing tool-at both strategic and operational levels-that is undoubtedly a benchmark for its lingerie category. Its brand focuses on a lifestyle that teases, shocks, and woos our deepest feelings. Far from lagging behind the stores and catalogs, the e-shop is nicely integrated with the other distribution channels and reinforces the brand presence in a sizable fashion."