How much should we push brand personification
I've seen this whole brand personification evolve in a way that first got me very interested and now - curious along with a dash of skepticism, sprinkled with a lot of ARE YOU SERIOUS?
Brands started of as just an emblem or a mark to becoming actual people and it's been happening for a while now.
We've infused life into these abstract things and it's this intrinsic human quest to make everything about itself that has led to brands being people.
I started off in advertising knowing that every brand is a living being that has a life of its own. A birth and childhood time, a mature and more experiential time and then, an older and time of wisdom. But I barely saw that happening. Most brands are looking for, like us humans, for that elixir of life, that keeps them young forever. The amrut. Only - there are no gods churning it out but desperate brand managers and advertising professionals who work like unprofessional doctors trying to medicate a brand into living on for eternity while they themselves work on the brand not more than 2 years.
As a strategist - I've often been on the side of the work where we've been tasked to describe the brand as though it were a person. What are its values, personality, tonality. We have given brands a purpose for life, a mission for its existence. WHAT THE HELL. If we did that for ourselves - we'd not be doing this nor in the profession we are in.
What fascinates me in all of this is that there's a certain lifestyle that the West has been living that was different from the East. West was consumerism, capitalism, right brained logical scientific thinking that drove economies. The East on the other hand had a more Philosophical approach to things. The way of life was built more on a faith, a system of beliefs that are centuries old.
Over time - the 2 worlds seems to be crossing. Things like Yoga, the Japanese philosophy into work and art are being implemented by the West and made popular. They are embracing it with more open arms and love than the new generation in the East.
In India - we believe that bodies have a physical, vital and psychic being present in them. We believe in the concept of a soul and karma. We are told that we need to be TRUE to our SOUL. Let it do its work as we are mere instruments for its work. We need to find our PURPOSE on this planet and put our life towards it.
And when I see and hear advertising professionals claim that brands need to have a purpose to differentiate themselves - I see irony. We suddenly have become the priest for these mortals that we have created. We are giving them the 10 commandments, holding out a Bible, the Quran and the pamphlets of a good life for them. We are coaxing them into a way of life that makes them stand out, outlive others. But is it really necessary?
It seems we care more about the brand's life than we do to our own. We invest time, money, and ourselves to our kids. We see them grow, teach them all that we can, parent them in ways that we know and learn. We understand as we grow that there are no PERFECT parents - just ones that are true and constantly trying and learning everyday.
Why can't we translate that to the way we look at brands? While the intent is to make brands immortal - I think deep down it's a way to keep ourselves alive after we are gone. A building of a legacy. Instead - if we were true to ourselves and worked to keep ourselves immortal in the work we do and truly believed in - advertising life would be more pure and not a sham that it feels like today.
We are consumed with ourselves and that little world we have created for ourselves. We have built categories, made an entire industry famous and popular while we wallow in our own merciful and mutually respectful world that has a strong desire to be appreciated and known.
If we push this agenda of brands being people - why are we selling ourselves short?
Let's learn from our own life and really push the boundaries shall we.
Let there be a brand hospital where brands are born, a brand education system where brands learn off one another, a tinder for brands where brands can date one another (would be great to see detergent brands date fashion brands, or a love affair between Land Rover and the mattress brand Casper).
Let's actually have a democracy for the brands. Let them choose a leader - oh, who am I kidding - WE ARE THEIR SUPREME LEADER.
But can brands have a religion? Can brands imbibe a culture? Can they be Black, Hispanic, Chinese or Indian?
I hate to personify brands because the debate really gets me. How should the brand talk, which ARCHETYPE is the brand, how would a brand BEHAVE, what are the core values of the brand and personality? And this is so superficially subjective that it's a great device to get brand managers to feel a part of the advertising world and spending hours and days that really lead to jack shit.
I know that brands have a certain tonality that's embedded in them that makes them unique but that's just communication guys. We take ourselves and our craft WAY too seriously.
In closing - I'd love to go to a brand funeral and look at what other brands have come for the funeral.
Brands started of as just an emblem or a mark to becoming actual people and it's been happening for a while now.
We've infused life into these abstract things and it's this intrinsic human quest to make everything about itself that has led to brands being people.
I started off in advertising knowing that every brand is a living being that has a life of its own. A birth and childhood time, a mature and more experiential time and then, an older and time of wisdom. But I barely saw that happening. Most brands are looking for, like us humans, for that elixir of life, that keeps them young forever. The amrut. Only - there are no gods churning it out but desperate brand managers and advertising professionals who work like unprofessional doctors trying to medicate a brand into living on for eternity while they themselves work on the brand not more than 2 years.
As a strategist - I've often been on the side of the work where we've been tasked to describe the brand as though it were a person. What are its values, personality, tonality. We have given brands a purpose for life, a mission for its existence. WHAT THE HELL. If we did that for ourselves - we'd not be doing this nor in the profession we are in.
What fascinates me in all of this is that there's a certain lifestyle that the West has been living that was different from the East. West was consumerism, capitalism, right brained logical scientific thinking that drove economies. The East on the other hand had a more Philosophical approach to things. The way of life was built more on a faith, a system of beliefs that are centuries old.
Over time - the 2 worlds seems to be crossing. Things like Yoga, the Japanese philosophy into work and art are being implemented by the West and made popular. They are embracing it with more open arms and love than the new generation in the East.
In India - we believe that bodies have a physical, vital and psychic being present in them. We believe in the concept of a soul and karma. We are told that we need to be TRUE to our SOUL. Let it do its work as we are mere instruments for its work. We need to find our PURPOSE on this planet and put our life towards it.
And when I see and hear advertising professionals claim that brands need to have a purpose to differentiate themselves - I see irony. We suddenly have become the priest for these mortals that we have created. We are giving them the 10 commandments, holding out a Bible, the Quran and the pamphlets of a good life for them. We are coaxing them into a way of life that makes them stand out, outlive others. But is it really necessary?
It seems we care more about the brand's life than we do to our own. We invest time, money, and ourselves to our kids. We see them grow, teach them all that we can, parent them in ways that we know and learn. We understand as we grow that there are no PERFECT parents - just ones that are true and constantly trying and learning everyday.
Why can't we translate that to the way we look at brands? While the intent is to make brands immortal - I think deep down it's a way to keep ourselves alive after we are gone. A building of a legacy. Instead - if we were true to ourselves and worked to keep ourselves immortal in the work we do and truly believed in - advertising life would be more pure and not a sham that it feels like today.
We are consumed with ourselves and that little world we have created for ourselves. We have built categories, made an entire industry famous and popular while we wallow in our own merciful and mutually respectful world that has a strong desire to be appreciated and known.
If we push this agenda of brands being people - why are we selling ourselves short?
Let's learn from our own life and really push the boundaries shall we.
Let there be a brand hospital where brands are born, a brand education system where brands learn off one another, a tinder for brands where brands can date one another (would be great to see detergent brands date fashion brands, or a love affair between Land Rover and the mattress brand Casper).
Let's actually have a democracy for the brands. Let them choose a leader - oh, who am I kidding - WE ARE THEIR SUPREME LEADER.
But can brands have a religion? Can brands imbibe a culture? Can they be Black, Hispanic, Chinese or Indian?
I hate to personify brands because the debate really gets me. How should the brand talk, which ARCHETYPE is the brand, how would a brand BEHAVE, what are the core values of the brand and personality? And this is so superficially subjective that it's a great device to get brand managers to feel a part of the advertising world and spending hours and days that really lead to jack shit.
I know that brands have a certain tonality that's embedded in them that makes them unique but that's just communication guys. We take ourselves and our craft WAY too seriously.
In closing - I'd love to go to a brand funeral and look at what other brands have come for the funeral.
Comments