-michael guthrie

Yeah i believe you're talking about Frito Lay's Net Zero initiative. If you subscribe to the model that brands should be more human like, it's totally ok to demonstrate a few personality traits or occupations. The caveat is, that one traits shouldn't conflict or be in opposition to each other. In this case you can certainly be a prankster and be environmentally conscious (just look at Ashton Kutcher).

Where the danger lies, as past cases have shown (Unilever with Dove vs. Axe), is that if another brand within your companies portfolio strays from that occupation or conflicts with, consumers will call you out on it. Credibility a commodity not often associated with marketing is a key construct of brands today. Without it regardless of what platforms brands are utilizing, their messaging will be seen as advertising and thus ignored.

Yeah i believe you’re talking about Frito Lay’s Net Zero initiative. If you subscribe to the model that brands should be more human like, it’s totally ok to demonstrate a few personality traits or occupations. The caveat is, that one traits shouldn’t conflict or be in opposition to each other. In this case you can certainly be a prankster and be environmentally conscious (just look at Ashton Kutcher).

Where the danger lies, as past cases have shown (Unilever with Dove vs. Axe), is that if another brand within your companies portfolio strays from that occupation or conflicts with, consumers will call you out on it. Credibility a commodity not often associated with marketing is a key construct of brands today. Without it regardless of what platforms brands are utilizing, their messaging will be seen as advertising and thus ignored.

What's changed is that consumers now have a new and different way of letting those brands into their lives. They have new, free, open relationship to content, media and to each other and that lets them not only participate but define, or at least influence, the brand experience. The best get it. Harley Davidson has united its consumers and let them be a big part of the dialog. Yet the product hasn't really changed. Ernst and Young is still in the business of grooming future leaders. They've just made it far more interactive. Even WalMart with its Moms is responding. All of these brands believe in what I call “return on generosity.” They not only give of their products and service and technology, they give consumers a chance to be part of it.

My favorite quote that I use to open all my presentations comes from a young college student I met on Twitter. It's this: “If you don't create a community for us we will create one ourselves.” This goes for Moms, runners, gadget enthusiasts. It's a simple way of saying “your brand belongs to us, too.” If a company understands that basic sentiment they'll figure out what to do.

Edward Boches

as usual i thought this was a very clear and concise point of view. as you've said before companies can't hide behind advertising anymore because so much information is available and people can share and discuss freely – and now than can, they do.

i do think that brands still need to develop relationships and i think the concept of relationships is even more valuable than ever. what's changed is that the way for brands to develop and sustain a relationship has changed. i must admit though that i still love a good ad, it's just that i rarely see one. :-)

In terms of binary – I know what you mean. Typically I don't like doing the black v. white thing but in this case I do believe that the way you build modern brands is so completely opposite from the way you build traditional or classic brands that it's justified. I'm not sure that advising people to blend these does them a service – I think there's a lot of traditional branding thinking that absolutely needs to be jettisoned because it's worse than unhelpful, it's actually damaging.