Future branding = Religion?

Ok so it might be because its half four in the morning and lack of sleep is inducing paranoid psycosis, but the more i think about the future of branding the more it seems like i'm almost tasked with promting a religion.

The idea of brands not only becoming accepted into a social network but intergrating themselves, or creating thier own social networks by being an immerisve part of the consumers life sounds like cultism, especially when the consumer agrees with the authenticity of what brand stands for and pledges thier loyalty to said brand. It happens to a certain degree now, just look at brands such as Muji or Apple.

This gets even scarier when the brand recruits from within its own social networks perpetuating the fevor.

In fact i can think of brands that i'm loyal too, firefly music promotions and hobnobs for example... i'm offically a comsumer whore! Its only a matter of time before i bow down before the great oat biscuit as a willing supplicant... n'shuggruthmc'vitiesot'ep.

tj -x-

Topic

I found this 300 odd page document on google books


The Global Technology Revolution 2020, In-depth Analyses By Richard S. Silberglitt

Its a taxing read I can't even begin to be bothered to skim given the time frame, but appendix G does have some interesting ideas for what kind of innovitive technologies might be present in 2020.

Products that could be branded in my project could be...

• Ikea virtual funiture
  
• Honda Cybernetics - Sponsors of the bionic olympics
  
• The O2 Eye phone - With improved spamfilter, popup blocker and selective contact list for the real world!
  
• Bupa Organ harvesting - where hearts grow on trees!
  
• Addicting clothing - Wear something that makes you feel good!
  
• Selective memory drugs - live that dream!

tj -x-

Future Of branding in Mass Media

I've used this project as an excuse to watch a few scifi flicks, minority report and Robocop have some, if not very tongue in cheek examples, I don't think it was really necessary to watch the straight to DVD 3rd installment of starship troopers. would you like to know more?

Ack You tube is down, will post videos later...

The Robocop adverts are a bit dated to be honest but i do like their tongue in cheek vision of a dystopian future.

The minority report branding examples are very inspirational and re-enforce my previous research. The idea that the brand has is part of the immersive world, a pier within the society that the consumer interacts with. On a side note, Phillip K dick (who wrote the short story the film was based on and other cult scifi fiction; such as do androids dream of electric sheep [Bladerunner] and scanner darkly) was a very imaginative writer, and came up with some very scary visions of the future (if not alittle narcotically paranoid), of global corporations. I'd love to re-read some of his work for this project, but I think i've done waaaay to much research already and really need to get down to some visuals.

I think i'm at the stage where i understand branding to a certain degree, enough to start drawing up some designs. All I need now is a brand...

tj -x-

The future of design within branding and the future of branding (summerised)

With the obligatory google search i came across an article on TheSlogan magazine's site TheSlogan magazine's site that goes onto predictions of branding and marketing within 2020. How convent.

Theirs a nice prediction on design specifically,

Procter & Gamble North America's Ted Woehrle, marketing VP, conveyed his excitement about mobile's potential to reach consumers on a more intimate level. Woehrle's also jazzed about design. P&G, he said, is "trying to create a culture of design beyond just packaging." It's moving design into the entire scope of user experience with the company's products, from in-store displays to how products and packages perform when they're actually used.

and this idea tickled me somewhat and isn't to far out considering i saw a self service point at a service station last week where you could order your burger king from a machine and pick it up after you've been to the loo and browsed the over priced newsagent and camping chair stand.

Notably, Vernon Irvin, XM Satellite Radio's CMO, said his company is starting to play with the idea of recommending choices to the consumer. As an example, he cited the radios (which in the future will boast graphical color displays) could become devices that will point out the nearest Starbucks and perhaps even preorder your latte so it would be ready for you to pick up during your commute.

I've also been mulling over the idea of branding in virtual worlds, it seems old hat already.

Although there's nothing inherently wrong with the move, it's hardly forward-thinking to be the umpteenth brand to launch a presence in Second Life.

I'm still not convinced that we'll all be living in the bastard child of the matrix and the Sims in ten years time, but i do think that with vast amounts of global social networking and a brand savvy public, means brands will have to use a different strategy to reach their consumers.

The point the article makes about "addicting" brands that feed directly into neuro implant is very scary, but what if a brand could evoke a feeling? "I wear these clothes because they make me feel good... no they really do" What if it could work the other way and the brands you wear could evoke feelings in other people essentially getting them hooked.

I also found two articles on the Blake project blog.

One summarises how a successful brand should work in bullet point, knowing very little about branding this will be a very useful resource for me!

The Future of branding<>

The Other Article goes into what NOT to do

12 Causes of Bad Brand Advertising

You know the more i look into all these idea for branding in the future the more i think i'll absolutely hate it. The invasion of privacy the constant pestering, the manipulation. Hand in hand with this do you think someone could create a real life spam filter and popup blocker?

With all the scare mongering about the BBC seems to be at the forefront.
Autonomous technology, transparent privacy, Eco terrorism, and an apathetic society detached from the realities of real life!
OH MY!

tj -x-

credible authenticity, loyalty and the immersive branding enviroment

::EDIT 21/10/2008 02:09::

This video not only gives a good insight into how virtual worlds can potentially be used as a method to promote a brand and get it into the public eye, but also the future of branding principles.

Text 100 states the one way communication of the past mass-media communication channels such as print and television are being superseded by pier media technology where the public can communicate with the media, dubbing it just another pier. Where this is the case the client risks losing their message if they are not authentic. The speaker references Walmart who fell through when they put their authenticity on the line by getting others to blog for them and were seen right through by their piers (the online community) and therefore lost credibility.

To Text 100, branding within secondlife is an experiment in communication within an immersive environment.

Another very important point the speaker makes is that of the brand (Text 100) needs to earn the right to speak within these communities, they need to be credible (note how the speaker admits that admitting there is a marketing element to their presence is part of being authentic). Upon earning this right (through authenticity), they can assume that they have earned the respect and trust of their piers (the public), and hopefully develop loyalty to the brand within the community.

All this sounds very bad for a typical brand. But the speaker goes on to say that the bonus in integrating within an immersive environment is that you have a brilliant way to track what the public really thinks about your brand. I think that this model could not only be applied to virtual worlds and online communities, but this model could be applied in the future to brands in a real world social network.

tj -x-

First look at second life and 3D vitual social networking

Whilst i was working the bar a few months ago a seminar was going on in the back room, where a lady was trying to convince an audience of would be entrepreneurs that the next dot com business boom would be through 3D virtual worlds, specifically a network called secondlife. She gave first hand experience on how businesses can make 'real money' and expand by using a virtual world, it works so well even religions are getting involved...hmm

It seems that people are making real money in virtual spaces to alter egos of actual people, of transcending the boundaries of digital space and promoting their brand across all media.

I've done a bit of research and found an article called Second Life: Take Your Brand Virtually Everywhere on branding in second life and virtual worlds. It's good to know that big name brands such as Adidas, Dell and Sony are all ready taking steps into this kind of user created communities.
A quick glimpse at the article highlights some important points i should consider from the start of my project;

Many brand initiatives in Second Life focus on the brand itself and not the consumer (see rule four on page three). Yet, creating social experiences will make your investment sustainable and keep people coming back. If you prompt consumers to engage with each other in addition to your brand, you will create a richer experience. By opening a forum for conversation you may also glean useful consumer insights.

Maybe this kind of engagement with the brand will be the norm for branding of 2020?

During your early stages as a Second Life resident your brand will probably be seen as a visitor in a world that has been established for many years. Do not for a second think that this community can simply be bought then pushed aside. The Second Life community is Second Life.
You must remember that the long-term residents of Second Life built the community and made it what it is today.
It behooves your brand to befriend other members of the community and become a part of the community.

So it seems that real life can infiltrate the virtual (and somewhat fantastical) world.

It just gets messy when The virtual world sneaks into real life.



Now just to think of a brand to re-brand for the virtual environment, perhaps I'll also consider the other sensations i mentioned such as sound which lends its self to a virtual space. (smell not so much.. but who knows its the future Marty!)

tj -x-

Day one...

The brief is up.

Ok so now my scifi background is going crazy, my first thought was "2020? we'll all be blatantly sporting mohawks and one sleeved leather jackets, driving the last of the V8s through a Zombie infested wasteland, with Chernobyl in the background and the only brands around would be throwback 1950s colas... either that or the machines would have gently sung us into extinction with Daisy Bell" (how many cult references did you and Burt the turtle get kids?).
But I must be less pessimistic (and paranoid) and assume that the human race and its ancestors is going to do what it's done for the last 6 million years and that is fumble though the next ten years despite our own best efforts to: Shoot. Starve. Suffocate. Poison. Mutate. Explode. Drown. & suck ourselves into a Swiss black hole.

...What was that idea about uploading your consciousness after death onto the Internet to have it downloaded into the latest Toyota model?...

So the brief raises a few questions I've got to answer. That's a good place to start seeing as i know NOTHING about branding theory to speak of, hopefully this project will be a learning curve for me.

• How will today’s brands evolve and adapt to a changing world in he future?
  
• What trends, technologies and factors will influence them?
  
• How will they behave and communicate?
  
• Where will they stretch to in terms of their offer?
  
• How will they remain leaders at what they do and will retaining leadership mean becoming leader at something else?

I also need to come up with a scenario of the future, even with the exponential growth of technological advancement i doubt it'll be that different, Teleporting postal services come to mind or perhaps whole worlds in virtual space? I mean who would Ikea sell its furniture board units too if we all lived in secondlife? The brand would really have to radicalise its way of thinking to operate in a user created community. I think I'm onto something here I'll definitely return to it.

I also think brands could be more. Obviously the visual aspect comes into play, the logo for example, but what about sound as with the Intel Inside Chime? or perhaps smell or the feel of a brand? The postal service could smell of brown paper as part of its branding and the new fall collection could feel like rain just before a storm on an autumns evening. What if Rowntrees could provoke the emotion you felt at your 5th In birthday as the jelly was brought to the table?

In the future branding might have to take on a personality as it interacts within social networks.

Which brings me nicely too...

tj -x-