The Brand Man Speaks

What's wrong with the under 35 set? Common courtesies out the window

Normally this blog column focuses on brands, mostly products and services. On occasion I write about individual people as brands. Today, I am compelled to go slightly off-track and write about some of the issues I see with young people (classified here as under 35 years of age).

The issue? A complete lack of common courtesy behavior with their peers and more importantly with older folks like myself.

As part of understanding brands and brand building, one has to also understand human behavior as it impacts consumer decision making. A significant change I see between baby-boomers and their children and grandchildren is how they handle day to day interactions with other people.

These young people who increasingly socialize not in person but through online social media seem to have lost the understanding (and the art form) of how to deal with people one on one. It is so common for a younger person to make commitments (professional and personal) and break them or not live up to them as it is for them to use texting as their main form of communications.

I am astounded how often I personally experience this and how often corporate managers complain about their younger employees. They expect the world to be given to them but seem to also think failing to live up to a responsibility or an agreement as "no big deal". Making an appointment and not showing is not something a baby-boomer would do without (generally) contacting someone in advance to explain why the appointment would be missed. Or, in a extreme case, follow up immediately afterward to explain. Young people very often do neither. They expect their elders to respond to them quickly give them immediate feedback and answers but they see no reason to do the same in return.

For a group facing lives that likely for the first time since World War II will not be better than their parents, they are contributing in my opinion to this situation beyond just the economics of the world. A lack of reliability and dependabilty does not bode well for anyone in a world where jobs are increasingly harder to find and keep. It is no surprise that many employers would now rather hire retired "older" people than younger ones because of this behavioral situation.

I am not sure what has caused such a notable change in behavior but one thing I am sure is this seems to be another example of the decline of society as we know it.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

The Brand Man Speaks gets some nice praise from the press-by Eli

Wall Street Journal reporter Gary McWilliams is a new reader of The Brand Man Speaks and offered up this very nice compliment.

"I love your blog.  The insights into Paris Hilton and how she uses negative publicity to continue to brand are amazing. Keep up the great work." Gary McWilliams, Wall St. Journal.

Thanks Gary, appreciate the feedback!

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

Experiential Branding on the rise-by Eli

Consumers have been complaining about the commoditization of retailing around the US in the past number of years. Let's face it, retailing has become mostly blah and vanilla. There is more overlap in products and services than distinct differentiated elements these days and consumers have not only become bored but also have reduced their brand loyalty.

Some retailers are getting the message this has to change for them to survive and prosper. I am a big fan of brand building that truly addresses consumer interests and authentically enhances their lives.

With the rise of social media and other interactive consumer activities, brands are getting back on track finding ways to building emotional connections ("Brand Essence") with consumers again in meaningful ways.

Developing a product or service "Brand Essence" is key to great successful branding. Consumers may speak rationally about why they choose the brands they do, however, it is the emotional component that truly drives the positive or negative (or no interest) brand relationship.

In a recent article in the Financial Times, several examples were outlined.

Nike has developed a running club for its patrons that caps off evening runs with in-store receptions in its Portland, Oregon Niketown location.  The store staff keeps tabs on participant performance. Nike has also set up various websites that work in tandem with iPODS allowing runners to upload and compare their performances. Site visitation is very high and frequent. Nike says they have 200,000 members.

Procter & Gamble set up the site Capessa as an online community for women to share inspirational stories and practical tips that enhance their lives (hopefully but not necessarily involving P & G brands).

Starbucks' site designed as a rallying point for the caffeinated set is deemed the "most frequently visited retailer in the world" online, so says Chairman, Howard Schultz.

REI, the outdoor equipment retailer, offers kayaking and mountain biking training and instruction to its customers in store.

PetSmart has a website that encourages the sharing of pet photos with fellow pet owners.

These "experiential" activities do more than build brand loyalty. They also provide retailers with invaluable insights into their customers helping to determine current and future product and service needs.

More companies can learn from these examples and find better more efficient ways to relate to consumers and differentiate themselves from the vast wasteland of sameness.

Do you have an example you wish to share? Click on the comment bottom below and let me know about your favorite "experiential" branding effort.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

Social Media: The most significant shift in brand marketing since the advent of television-by Eli

This communications tool I am using--"blogging"-- and the advent of "Social Media" has had a profound effect on me professionally and personally. Whether we are talking Youtube, Myspace, Facebook, Typepad or any of the other interactive social network and community building "brands", never has information, ideas, and opinions been exchanged globally so quickly, easily and potently as they are today. You can't hide anymore. You can't fall asleep or close your eyes for a minute...or you may be passed by even unknowingly.

I have been involved with branding strategy and brand management for many years and although numerous changes, modifications and improvements have occurred on the marketing landscape....from television through to the Internet......none appear to me to have generated the same paradigm shift as this movement that puts "control" of the consuming world more firmly in the hands of consumers.

Before Social Media most communication platforms were static, one-way or time lapse two-way  exchanges.  Now everything is in "real time" and there is almost no time to digest anything before the idea moves on into other realms. To some this is not a good thing. To others, like myself, this is just not good, it is extraordinary and life changing.

For me "Social Media" Web 2.0 is the humanization of brands.  And, I use "brands" in the very  broad context of everything with which we interact and consume.

Social Media is impacting the way we all communicate on a level that is unprecedented. Politics can never be the same....a quick potent example is the recent "Obama Apple 1984 style" video that surfaced on Youtube and spread like wildfire not by one candidate trying to undermine another, but by a tech savvy consumer wanting to make a point that "anyone" and the "everyman" can make a difference and impact the world instantly today.

Social Media is making us better more responsive and responsible marketers who have an opportunity to engage consumers in the ownership of "brands" potentially creating the most loyal consumers ever as well as the most demanding and hard to satisfy...because they are now in control and have limitless choice and great impact on decision making. No longer will it be company driven or top down to consumer marketing but rather consumer involvement from A to Z, shaping products and services like never before. Companies won't have to wait to get feedback from the marketplace. It is already becoming instantaneous.

Some of my colleagues are putting their heads in the sand and to this point are fighting this Social Media "stuff" as some have called it. These folks will be left behind quickly if they maintain that stance. Instead, I find these new tools, exciting, engaging, challenging and scary. But for the first time in many years I am re-energized about what is possible in the world of branding.

If you want to learn more about Social Media, contact me.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli