Monday, September 10, 2007

Stirring Bulletin (TM) # 4











THE WHAT
Companies need to embrace the latitude to vary brand expression that the current marketing era provides and use it to their advantage.

THE WHY
We live in an age of fragmentation. The domination of a few networks and a limited number of channels has given way to an ever expanding distribution of content through the web, in which narrow-casting when sufficiently precise is substantial enough to be a viable business model (the long-tail).

More than anyone else, Gen Y and Millenials are particularly comfortable in a world of fragmentation; through the explosion of channels and content they see no pervasive homogeneity in a fast-moving world. They live in a world full of contradictions, exceptions and differences that complexity brings and accept it is they who have to put the pieces together and fashion them into a personal understanding.

THE HOW


Middle Ages Thinking


Ensuring consistency in the brand across all points of expression and across product lines delivers clarity of consumer understanding and ensures the company controls what the brand stands for.




Renaissance thinking


Driving effective brand–consumer connections means it is inevitable that the brand will talk to different groups in different ways. People who witness a brand marketing to other groups accept it as a natural reality of marketing practice, not identity crises.




Example:

VW markets its cars to a number of different groups spanning at least three life stages. The communications are vastly different in idea and executional form, yet speak to each specific group authentically and with real insight about their outlook and relationship with driving.


























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