Moving Brands

What would Don Draper do?

As Season 4 of Mad Men gets ready to premiere on US tv later this month, the anarchic buzz that shot through the advertising industry of the 1960s doesn’t feel so far from removed from what is going on today, in 2010.

Last week Old Spice broke new ground with a tweet-led-real-time-viral-film-production campaign. Brands and agencies worldwide watched open-mouthed as the runt of the male scent litter became the most talked about brand across platforms, while Wieden+Kennedy became the hottest guys on the block overnight. Wieden+Kennedy saw a golden moment – a universal adoration for the man your man could smell like – and elevated it using the real-time efficiency of Twitter and the power of ad hoc film making.

Not for a while had a serendipitous opportunity been so confidently capitalized upon simply for the pure enjoyment of an audience. What this campaign proved once and for all, was that the CEO’s who sit in their corner offices proclaiming “social media’s all well and good (for the kids) but where are the figures?” have their days numbered. Like the VW ‘Lemon’ campaign of the 1960s, today’s market are looking for something that cuts through the noise – the Buy one get one free/click to sign up to our newsletter/”Inspired by the science of genes” onslaught that dominates our world. The audience of 2010 want to be engaged, talked to and, above all, listened to.

The Old Spice campaign also launched in the same week Double Rainbow went global. A crazy guy enjoying the beauties of mother nature caught the collective imagination and sparked a multitude of parodies, songs and spin offs. It seems that the consuming public are hungry for examples of organic, heart-felt responses to the world. Reactions that are timely and real. Billboards, TVCs and print advertising are just too slow and steady for today’s fast moving world. And so we must ask, what would today’s Don Draper do? If he’s living like there’s no tomorrow, because there isn’t one. It’s because it’s what’s happening right now, in this instant, that we must focus on and respond to.

Brand War : Final

ウェブマガジンハニカム(http://www.honeyee.com/index.html)
の 清永浩文さんのブログ(http://blog.honeyee.com/hk/) でこんなチャートを発見。ワールドカップをブランドの視点から見てみるのも、確かにおもしろいですね。ナイキのシューズ(http://www.nike.com/nikefootball/bootroom/?locale=en_US) の オレンジが緑色のフィールドに対してとっても目立って見えるって思っているのは私だけじゃないと思いますが。さて優勝はオランダかス ペインか。ナイキかアディダスか。

I found this from Hirofumi Kiyonaga’s blog post on honeyee.com. It’s quite an interesting way to see the World Cup from a brand point of view. I also noticed that the orange color on the Nike’s shoes really stands out against the green grass field and they are everywhere! Who will win for 2010? Netherlands or Spain? Nike or Adidas?

Experts in brand “me”

As part of some research on “yoof” trends this week, I re-encountered Kesh. Kesh is a fashion designer/magazine editor/stylist/DJ/presenter/art director/photographer. Not bad for a 23 year old. The only job title missing from the extensive list, however, is accomplished an self-promoter. Kesh is the mistress of cultivating fans and supporters – employing a range of social media platforms to reach people. Harnessing free applications online has allowed Kesh to enter and compete in markets that were previously impenetrable. She has a MySpace page, which links to her retail store. She’s recently moved from a Blogspot blog to the more popular Tumblr. She tweets and maintains a Facebook page. Whereever her target audience is, she is too. And it has worked. Starting out as a backing dancer for M.I.A, in 2007 she launched a line in collaboration with Topman, has been featured in a fairly unwatchable documentary by BBC Switch and now she’s in L.A conquering Stateside. No matter what you feel the sum of the parts add up to, it is impossible to deny that Kesh represents the dangerously savvy generation who are unashamedly adapt at promoting themselves. These are the brand managers of the future – cultivating a range of platforms to convey a unified message and develop a following. Watch and learn.

New NIKE Store Harajuku, Tokyo

Just had a chance to visit a new NIKE flagship store in Harajuku – one of the most popular shopping districts in Tokyo. It’s surprisingly the first flagship store for Japan and unlike other NIKE flagships, this was designed by Japanese designer Masamichi Katayama (Wonderwall).

Interesting things about this store are not only that they put large spaces dedicated to NIKEiD studio and football gear (Bootroom) but also included many art-like objects made from their products throughout the store – hundreds of white NIKE sneakers suspended from the roof of the second floor, a chandelier made of racing tags, one of the walls was made with black rubber soles cut into square tiles, and a “Just Do It” sign made from foot molds.

I believe the flagship store is the “living brand” – it has products, graphics, messaging, people and their voice. All the elements of the brand are in one place, just as everything in the store is also a reflection of the brand. People in the store might not see them, but they will feel the brand from all the details and elements.

In that perspective, I have to say I really liked a feeling of the store. It was simple but playful. Only thing that felt strange was that there were men in dark suits greeting at the both entrances to the store. They might be there because of the store opening but they didn’t go with image of NIKE or sports at all…

原宿に新しくオープンしたばかりのNIKE フラッグシップストア原宿に行ってきた。
東京にいままでフラッグシップがなかったことに気がついてちょっと驚いたのだけれど、 他の都市にあるフラッグシップとは違い、Wonderwall 片山正通氏がインテリアデザインを担当している。

この店のユニークな所は、店内に国内最大のNIKEiD STUDIOを入れたり、サッカーにフォーカスしたNIKE BOOTROOM（ナイキ ブーツルーム）を三階に設置しただけでなく、プロダクトを使ったアートのようなオブジェが店内にちりばめられている事。例えば、白いスニーカーを何百個も天井から吊るしてあったり（この下を通って２階への階段を上る）、マラソンのゼッケンをシャンデリアのようにデザインしたインスタレーションがあったり、シューズソールをタイルのように組み合わせてできた壁や、”Just Do It”のサインがスニーカーの型でつくってあったり。

フラッグシップはそのブランドそのものといっても過言ではないと、私は思っている。プロダクトやグラフィック、メッセージ、そこで働いている人々と彼らのサービスや言葉遣い。ブランドを作っているすべての要素が集結する場所。そして店の中にあるすべてが、その細部にいたるまでブランドを反映している。それはすべての人にはっきりとは見えないかもしれないけれど、細部や様々なところから受ける何かを感じているはずである。それがその人たちにとって、そのブランドへのイメージをつくるのだから。

その観点からしても、この店から受けた感じはとてもよかった。シンプルだけれど遊び心にあふれている。一つだけ気になったのは、入り口で出迎えてくれた黒いスーツに身を包んだ男性達。オープニングの時だからなのかわからないけれど、どうしてスーツなんだろう。NIKEともスポーツといういメージともまるっきり合っていないのだけれど。