I quit my job at Oracle in 1999 because I couldn’t stop thinking about a simple question: “Why isn’t all enterprise software like Amazon.com?”

More than a decade after Benioff asked himself this question, it is still timely. Why is so much enterprise software ugly and difficult to use?

Benioff had a point and Salesforce.com has been a firebrand for Software as a Service since 1999 – and still is.

Benioff’s phrase sounds like a mission statement for Brand Capital: Software that makes Brand Asset Management as easy and painless to use as Amazon.com.

Regardless of what one thinks of politics, the Conservatives have been running a very successful rebranding campaign since David Cameron took the helm in late 2005. He even changed the logo to a tree when going green was still ahead of the curve.

It will be interesting to follow the general election here in the UK from a “branding” perspective and to see how Labour will react to the tree hugging conservatives.

Of course, in politics, an overzealous emphasis on branding has a name: Spin.

Let’s hope no party’s position of “brand communication manager” will evolve into the position of “spin manager”.

If you watched the whole thing you might have noticed a question in the end: “What’s your fave store to get lost in?”.

I immediately thought that this could be a great slogan for an Ikea commercial. The song fits perfectly. I visualize a couple or roommates picking up everything they need to furnish their apartment and getting lost in the process and discovering the wonders of Ikea!

Judging by the reaction from the Ikea employees however, this campaign will probably never be made.

The video is below and we highly recommend it for anyone who’s building a start-up.

Mint CEO Aaron Patzer on Startups from Techcrunch on Vimeo.

But how does a celebrity regain his former status as a valuable brand, you might ask? Well I am glad you did. I have sent an idea to his people and I am waiting for a call from them as we speak. Here is my plan:

Nike, Tigers biggest sponsor, should start a contest called “Christmas with Tiger” where you can win all sorts of Nike golf products, but the grand prize would be to spend Christmas with the golf legend himself! Thousands of families will enter the competition for the once in a lifetime chance! Tiger will go along with it to keep Nike happy and besides his wife left him so he has nothing better to do. The media will tear this campaign apart and calling it a pathetic attempt to buy him some goodwill.

But wait, there is a twist! On Christmas Eve they announce the winner of the competition and guess what? It is his wife Elin that comes forward and says she entered the competition and claiming she can’t spend Christmas without him. This will be the beginning of Nikes new campaign “Nike, family first” or “Nike, bringing families closer together”. The campaign will feature families playing golf together and enjoying each other’s company.

Families will buy golf clubs in bulk to be like the happy family in the commercial. Nike will make millions and the public will forgive and forget all about Tigers’ infidelity.

On second thought, maybe he should just wait this one out.

Their list of top 10 viral campaigns includes the classic Budweiser “WASSUP” ad which found its way into popular culture, popping up in a Friends episode amongst other places (without anyone paying for it presumably). As sushi lovers we also recommend the Wasabi version: “WASSAAAABI“.

Of course, we don’t agree with every item on their list and are perplexed as to why their Top 10 worst celebrity ads would include Alice Cooper throwing TVs from his hotel room. Who doesn’t like Alice Cooper?

• 93% of Icelanders are connected to the internet.
• Around 80% of those connected to the internet are on Facebook.
• Around 72% of Icelanders less than 54 years old turn to search engines before making a purchase.
• 90% of internet users trust the advice from people connected to the internet that they know.
• 70% trust the advice from strangers and companies on the internet.

Since Transmit has been developing software that monitors and helps its clients increase the efficiency of their online banners, the authors contacted us about our software, Smelltu (e. Click Capital), and the collaboration resulted in a section in the book on how to use Smelltu to maximize return on investment with online advertisements.

I flipped through the book and I must say it is very accessible to the reader and practical as well. It’s an essential addition to the library of marketing enthusiasts.

From a branding point of view, the book will definitely help you increase the visibility of your brand and that alone justifies the purchase. Check out the books website on www.online.is , It is in Icelandic, so I suggest you learn the language … or not.

This brought our attention to one thing they are doing very well. Below is a screenshot of their security page:

The message doesn’t get much clearer: Adidas, Kelllogs and Sun trust us, so can you.

It’s a nice example of “association branding”, i.e. conveying trustworthyness by associating your own brand with brands people are already familiar with.

As soon as Barack Obama starts using Brand Capital, we will certainly make sure that as many as people as possible will find out.