Information User

I just finished Rob Walker’s Buying In and I found some valuable lessons in the book.  It dealt with the meaning of brands in today’s consumer goods landscape.  With the rise of the “Pretty Good Problem” (all goods are relatively the same, when you go to buy a stove top you are faced with selecting from 50 different products, yet they will all funtion extremely simlarly), companies and brands need to stand out in order have people purchase them and to, ultimately, reach their goal of profit.  Combine this with the basic psycological desire for a single human wanting to be an individual yet part of something bigger and the undeniable fact that the modern day multinational corporation has emerged as a faceless and, decidely, not individualistic entity and what emerges is a need for marketing change; a transition away from the top-down, speak-at, dictation that brand marketing has been for the past 50 years.  Once the corporate product has reached that level of functional parity, marketing is the one operation that can offer the product, and really the brand, the thing it needs to stand out: meaning via thoughtful and value-add marketing.  For proof of this, see the recent resurgence of artisan, hand made goods and do-it-yourself communities; people love to be a part of something that is unique.  For further proof see the emergence of niche fashion brands like A Bathing Ape that are selling one of the world’s most well known commoditites, T-Shirts, yet doing so at an extremely high premiums.  Why is this happening?  Because the design on the T-Shirt means something more than just wearing a T-Shirt.  The Polo logo represents high-class leisure and Mark Ecko’s rhinoceraus represents urban flavor.  Communities have hi jacked functional brands to have their own meaning too: the Hip Hop community completely took over Timberland which was designed as a working-class, blue collar functional work boot for factory workers.  How and why does this happen?  Because it shows that the people who wear it are part of something larger than they are.  The ability for the consumer to be able to project what the brand means to them individually is important too.  See the success of Hello Kitty and the Lance Armstrong Livestrong bracelet, two phenomally successful products because of their indescriptness.  Those products meant something different to everyone. 

In a life where all human’s really_need is food, clothing and shelter yet have the ability and luxury to buy things for reasons other than the most basic need of survival, marketing is the one answer that can provide brands with the ability to give their products the chance to shine in a highly evolved, modern market place that is cluttered with the pretty good problem.  The niche communities on the Internet are the meaningful places that can create meaning for the big, corporate brands which during the baby boom generation it was fine to be faceless.  Although, a transition is occurring; the faceless trend is over now and the marketplace and products have evolved to a state where brands should be more than just a funtional product, rather brands should be providing their patrons with a functional object that helps personify their unique identity and supports who they are as a person.  Put your brand in a community and have it mean something to your target audience.  Communitize your brand.