Why do brands resonate with people and how are they conflated with culture? This recent Times article PC Fights Back takes a closer look at how Microsoft is battling Apple after the past few years of Apple Ads laying a smack down on the Evil Empire.Faris talks about how Brands are like myths and Ducksworth points out that “brands enable us to make sense and create meaning for ourselves in the social world of consumption in which we participate.”
Lee Clow and Jobs have done things less conventionally and they have manufactured a brand that is based on both innovation and great story telling. But how does perceived power vs. real power play into the equation? What I mean is that Microsoft has a commanding 90% market share of the computing industry and they have stayed out of the marketing game. So much so that some say they feel bad for the poor geeky PC guy who get's tossed around in all the Apple ads. So even though Apple seems like such a dominant brand, history will tell a different story.
The fact is Apple is currently innovative, Microsoft was, but it certainly doesn't have a brand presence anymore. The story we tell and the brand we manufacture as advertisers is only as strong as the product it is supports. McCann's “The Wow Starts Now” could have been a great story had Vista actually wowed people. Now Crispin's strategy is that a PC is for everyone and it's reasonably priced. Great, the problem is that Apple is innovating and we're not seeing anything new from Microsoft. It doesn't matter how creative Crispin gets, their story is still going to have trouble packing a punch.
Good brands incite aspiration. All I'm asking is that Microsoft step up to the plate and get back into the innovation game. Is that too much to ask?
GE's new Smart Grid campaign produced by Sosia over at Goodby is moving interactive creative in the right direction. You interact with the branded content by printing out a "key" that is used to activate a 3D world that is produced in your webcam. You can blow into your microphone to engage the wind turbines.
Ultimately it's a fancy gimmick (as opposed to an interactive learning experience) that creates brand engagement, but I applaud the effort. It's great to see creatives moving the interactive space in the right direction. I'm still surprised that new episodes of online TV shows like LOST and The Office (if you haven't seen Stress Relief, watch it now; the first 15 minutes are ridiculous) are still using :30 spots. They're missing a huge opportunity to engage viewers with their brand by implementing interactive content. Hopefully ad shops are still playing catch-up and we'll start to see new content start to emerge.
Americans don't know how to spend or maybe they know too well; and it's about time for our behavior to change. Here's the problem, we're tempted to spend every chance we get which has resulted in a large portion of us living from pay check to pay check. We are a nation of instant gratification because it's tough to delay what we can have now. The good thing is we've realized it. We're going through the process of figuring out how we can ween ourselves off our addiction to buying. For the purposes of qualifying this I've broken purchasing behaviors into four categories:
1. Impulsive consumption - I got this b/c it was a good deal, or it would make for a hilarious gift for someone. 2. Excessive consumption - I bought a third pair of sunglasses to match my back up purse. 3. Consumption for perceived happiness - This flatscreen is going to be so much more aesthetically pleasing in my living room, plus I watch so much TV this is actually a great investment. 4. Shopping as a hobby - My mom is coming to visit. We'll spend Saturday shopping and then hit the Moma or see a movie on Sunday if we're not making returns.
Ironically, I think this is a great idea for a brand campaign. In fact it's a plan that might even catch the attention of Elizabeth Anne Moore. Why? Because it aims to fundamentally change the way we sell and purchase goods. If the paradox of temptation tells us we shouldn't simply eliminate behavior with undesired results then we should take an approach that embraces what we'd like to change. Businesses are branding themselves as good for the environment, well what if they brand themselves as good for the long term economy.
The premise could be the root of a campaign for a tourism board or luxury good; "We're in a recession dummy, we're gonna be here for a while, you probably shouldn't be booking a trip to Austrailia right now..." More importantly the campaign would focus on smart shopping. Explaining how or if the product falls in line with an established budget, even encouraging the creation of one. Maybe they even facilitate the use of a phone application that enables consumers to prioritize purchases based on need and the consumers finances. This approach has the ability for a brand to transcend normal perceptions: "We're a brand that seeks to make your life better, whether it helps our bottom line or not." Ultimately we have to correct our habit of over-spending and under-saving and it seems advantageous if brands can align themselves with this philosophy.
Do you have a budget? If you do email it to me. I'd love to see what people think is a budget and how they think they should consume (and save.)
Wonder why we're such a consumer culture? Maybe marketers have been one step ahead of consumers in understanding the science of marketing. This study has a few good insights into how brands permeate our subconscious.
"Brand choice turns out to be a largely unconscious process," says Tjaco Walvis, who led the one-and-a-half-year study. "But in that process, the brain behaves much like Google. It seems to use a set of rules called an algorithm to pick the brand from our memory that best and most reliably fits our functional and emotional needs at that particular moment. It behaves rationally, but in an unconscious way." Based on the study, Mr. Walvis concludes that the brain's "algorithm" for brand choice has three elements.
Firstly, the brain selects the brand it has learned is best able to satisfy our biological and cultural goals. We unconsciously select the brand that is the most uniquely rewarding, based on its associations with our goals and the brain's reward centers (e.g. the dopamine system).
Secondly, the brain selects the brand that has shown most frequently in the past that it is able to fulfill these needs. Coherent brands that repeat their promise are more likely to be chosen. Volvo, Coca-Cola and Disney are examples of coherent brands.
Thirdly, the brain selects the brand it has interacted with most intensely in the past. Brand participation creates numerous new connections in our brain, facilitating that brand's retrieval. Nike Plus is an example of strong participation concept. Brain Works Like Google, New Study Finds - Metals News.com
Things exist that are greater than brand; this is an example of one of them.
Comedy, culture, human interaction; they all get associated with brands because writers use comical copy to embed their client's products into our culture. I think this short might be an example of something that is greater than the brand it was conceived from.
When this spot first came out "Wazzup" was my new favorite buzzword. It became my default phone answer for the 3 months following its release and I still start emails with it. Sequels are usually annoying but this one has been timed well and I love that it's genuinely transcended brand and product.
We expect more from brands these days. Our generation has evolved into a culture of Free Love where we want experiences to function on different levels and expect a full bodied experience where things are given to us for Free. Companies have raised the bar and we've come to expect more than just a product or service, we expect a full experience from a brand.
The Sound of Color is a great example of just this. We think of color and we associate the artistic and entertaining experience with which we are engaged with the company who produced it. Experience THE SOUND OF COLOR for yourself. One of the biggest flaws is it's not made to be viral; but does it resonate with you? Watch the 'making of' on their site for a brief 3 minute explanation.
Two things: - Good brand communication requires strategy and creative. Together they are a powerful combination. - Good presentation communication must be simple, concise & captivating. I recently wrote a blog on this discussing the impact of Powerpoint.
Why do brands resonate with people and how are they conflated with culture? This recent Times article PC Fights Back takes a closer look at how Microsoft is battling Apple after the past few years of Apple Ads laying a smack down on the Evil Empire. Faris talks about how Brands are like myths and Ducksworth points out that “brands enable us to make sense and create meaning for ourselves in the social world of consumption in which we participate.”
