Somehow, someway Coca-Cola continues to delight us with their "Coke Side of Life" campaign. We all can recall the wonderment we felt when watching the Happiness Factory spot for the first time. I know I felt like I found the freaking Narnia wardrobe! And while their new "Bird's Nest" spot for the Olympics isn't quite as magical, it's endearing nonetheless:
It's amazing to me how much I love the Coke brand, considering I hate the taste of colas. Spots like these make me wish I had not tried my first sip of the stuff out of a near-boiling can from my dad's car in the summer, forever ruining the possibility of affection for such a drink. Bleh.
But, even if the vile beverage is not on my grocery list, I still love the warm and fuzzy feeling the brand gives me.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
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5 comments:
love the point that you bring up -- you love the coke brand even though you don't drink coke. now that's powerful branding.
i wish with all my little heart that you ladies could have joined us for nsac 2007 when coke was the client. sighhhhhhh...
Saw you on scrabble tonight...
You seemed nice enough.
Your blog portal here, though, is disgusting.
Here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo
There is simply more to life than 'brands' and carrying water for people that would just as soon see you starve to death if you stop producing for them.
Marketing is bullshit.
Advertising is bullshit.
If you buy into it, you are bullshit.
hey buddy,
while i appreciate your right to an opinion, i hate to break it to you that without us "evil doers," you would have to pay for a lot of content that you enjoy free-of-charge. (HELLO- TELEVISION!) advertising and marketing is crucial for businesses to sell products, and considering you're still alive, and you're using modern technology, i'm guessing you live in a world in which you consume a lot of such products. we don't fill the landfills as workers... we all do as consumers. so don't blame us. if you wanna buy less, grow a spine and just don't buy shit. don't try to blame us.
It has taken me a while to decide how I want to respond to this comment. As advertisers, we're pretty much used to being hated on. That's fine; I understand that most people don't want to feel sold to or like they're being misled. But here's the thing: we're not in the business of brainwashing. We're not forcing ideas into people's heads. We're giving brands personalities, showing our audiences options as to which brands match their own values best. Nobody likes to think that ads affect them, and a lot of ads won't affect them. But answer me this: what kind of mp3 player do you have? If you own an iPod, I guarantee it is because of the brand. I guarantee that there is a cheaper off-brand out there that does the same thing, but you didn't buy it because you like the look and feel and personality of the Apple product. You think it fits who you are as a person. And if you don’t have an iPod, that says something about you, too: that you disagree with the Apple hype and you want something that expresses that you aren’t in the majority. That's branding. That's what we do.
There's definitely "more to life than brands." I agree. Advertisers are passionate people, whether it's for causes (nearly every employee at my company donates $5 out of each paycheck to our cause of choice), the environment, politics, or simply a hobby. By nature, we have obsessive personalities. We obsess about our brands and our work, yes, but we are equally obsessed with the non-advertising parts of our lives.
As far as "carrying water for people that would just as soon see you starve," I couldn't disagree more. Our clients treat us exceptionally well. If they go to another agency, it's because that agency can do a better job for what they need. "If you stop producing for them," you say—well, I would expect a client to move if we stopped producing for them. That’s how business works. If you stopped doing your job, I assume your boss would fire you, as well.
No Logo by Naomi Klein emphasizes your points. I’ve read it, and there are parts I definitely agree with. But I’ve also read Sameena Ahmad’s and Steve Hilton’s thoughts in Brands and Branding, and I agree with them more. Brands are good because they give consumers reliability, make companies accountable, drive competitive innovation, minimize price gouging, etc.
Nobody is “buying into” anything. We are smart, creative, passionate people, and we think for ourselves. We don’t try to mislead or twist our messages—I don’t deny that some brands do that, but I promise you that it’s not reputable agencies that are behind those messages. We know that our consumers can think for themselves, too. So don’t assume that because the latest VitaminWater ad doesn’t scream about the sugar and calorie content in the drink, that we’re trying to hide it from you. We assume you can read and are perfectly capable of making that decision for yourself.
YAYbia!
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