Posts Tagged ‘branding’
“If I could explain it to the average person, I wouldn’t have been worth the Nobel Prize”*…
Alex Murrell on the surge of sameness all around us…
The interiors of our homes, coffee shops and restaurants all look the same. The buildings where we live and work all look the same. The cars we drive, their colours and their logos all look the same. The way we look and the way we dress all looks the same. Our movies, books and video games all look the same. And the brands we buy, their adverts, identities and taglines all look the same.
But it doesn’t end there. In the age of average, homogeneity can be found in an almost indefinite number of domains.
The Instagram pictures we post, the tweets we read, the TV we watch, the app icons we click, the skylines we see, the websites we visit and the illustrations which adorn them all look the same. The list goes on, and on, and on…
Perhaps when times are turbulent, people seek the safety of the familiar. Perhaps it’s our obsession with quantification and optimisation. Or maybe it’s the inevitable result of inspiration becoming globalised…
But it’s not all bad news.
I believe that the age of average is the age of opportunity…
Lots more mesmerizing examples: “The age of average,” from @alexjmurrell.
* Richard Feynman
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As we think different, we might recall that it was on this date in 1976 that Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne signed a partnership agreement that established the company that would become Apple Computer, Inc.– a company that was all about trumping sameness– on January 3, 1977.
Wayne left the partnership eleven days later, relinquishing his ten percent share for $2,300.
“My favorite food from my homeland is Guinness. My second choice is Guinness. My third choice – would have to be Guinness.”*…
As Will O’Brien explains, Ireland’s most famous brewery has been ahead of the curve for 250 years…
Taken over its entire history, Guinness may just be the most successful company Ireland has ever produced. In 1930, it was the seventh largest company in Britain or Ireland. It is one of our oldest companies of note. Considering that it predates the Bank of Ireland and the State itself, it could even be said that Guinness is the longest-running successful large institution in Ireland.
The key to Guinness’ robustness has been innovation. Through a series of key innovations, Guinness was able to stay on top despite (among other things) a famine, mass emigration, two World Wars, a civil war, and the changeover from British to sovereign rule. Guinness is responsible for changes in workplace relations, several foundational advances in the physics of brewing, and even the famous Student’s t-test in statistics. Indeed, Guinness has been one of the key drivers of innovation in Ireland.
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A determined founder began Guinness with a vision and took a bold decision with a 9000-year lease. The company then started a brewery which defied nearly every norm in workplace relations. They used the scientific method to radically rethink how beer is brewed and served, and created a world-class brand & marketing operation.
When Guinness released a subtly different pint glass several years ago, traditionalists decried it as blasphemous. The irony is that the brewery that creates this drink has eschewed tradition for over 250 years…
Lessons are where one finds them: “No Great Stagnation in Guinness,” from @willobri.
* Peter O’Toole
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As we contemplate continuity, we might recall that it was on this date in 1903 that the first U.S. patent for instant coffee (No. 735,777) was issued to Satori Kato of Chicago, Illinois. The application was filed in April of 1901, when his Kato Coffee Company introduced the product at the Pam-American Exposition in Buffalo.
“All men know the use of the useful, but nobody knows the use of the useless!”*…
Chindōgu is the art of inventing seemingly practical but ultimately useless gadgets to enhance everyday life. Popularised in Japan in the 90s by its creator, Kenji Kawakami, it was originally just a comical section that appeared in his monthly magazine, Mail Order Life. From fans attached to your chopsticks that cool your food before you eat it, to a Pritt Stick of butter that allows for easy application onto your toast, chindōgu is the perfect balance between ingenuity and absurdity.
As such, it instantly grabbed the attention of Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek…
To date, there are over 1000 official chindōgu items in existence. Poetic and political in nature, they are comments on the state of consumerist culture and the materialism of modern life. They poke at fun at our reliance on technology and inability to carry out basic tasks like administering eye drops. Though humorous, chindōgu has a set of rules – a list of ten commandments, in fact – that must be adhered to. They are as follows: Chindōgu must be (almost) completely useless; must exist (they should be real, useable objects); must represent freedom of thought and action; must be understood by all (its function should not be obscure); must not be sold (they are not tradable commodities); must not be made purely for the sake of humour (it should also be an earnest attempt to solve a problem); must not be used as propaganda; must not be taboo (cheap sexual humour etc.); must not be patented; and must not be made with prejudice (they must be useable by everyone, young and old, rich and poor).
A perfect fit with the other tongue-in-cheek projects that make up his portfolio, including his Make Alpaca Great Again series… Daniel knew he had to find a way to shoot this phenomenon…
More at: “Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek recreates the ingenious yet useless inventions of Chindōgu.”
The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu
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As we investigate intention, we might recall that it was on this date in 1985 that the Coca-Cola Company, concerned that it had been loosing share to the sweeter offerings of competitors like Pepsi, introduced Coke II (or “New Coke, ” as it was widely known). Consumer reaction was swift– and profoundly negative. Three months later, Coke caved, reintroducing the original formula (rebranded as Coca-Cola Classic)– and enjoyed a boost in sales… leading some charitably to suggest that New Coke was just a ploy. But the company maintained that it was absolutely for real… and the episode has become a cautionary example of the dangers in tampering with an established product/brand.
Happy Shakespeare’s Birthday!
“I wouldn’t want to belong to a club that would have me as a member”*…
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Our Motto, 1883
For all of their esoteric ways, America’s early secrets societies were remarkable branding machines. They had their own slogans, their own fashions, and their own symbols and colors. They even had their own manufacturing industry that produced and sold all of these items for mass consumption.
“The secrets function less for the concealing of information than as a bonding mechanism for members,” write the authors of As Above, So Below Art of the American Fraternal Society, 1850-1930, a new book about the golden age of secret societies in America. These groups functioned not unlike street fashion or indie music—in which secret societies have contemporary corollaries—by offering experiences cloaked in hierarchy and mystery, designed to bond members together and transform their lives…
More at “The Bizarre Branding Of America’s Many, Many Secret Societies.”
* Groucho Marx
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As we chant our oaths, we might pause to celebrate National Multiple Personality Day, celebrated on this date each year. While NMPD is an occasion to raise awareness of Multiple Personality Disorder, now more commonly known as Dissociative Identity Disorder, it is also an opportunity for the exploration of one’s own– not always consistent– personality traits.
“People who enjoy waving flags don’t deserve to have one”*…
Every self-respecting country has a unique name, a national flag, an anthem, a coat of arms, banknotes, passports, letterhead, and stationery. Newly formed countries have to design them.
From Anne Quito, the story of South Sudan’s development of an “identity package”: “Branding the World’s Newest Country.”
* Banksy, Wall and Piece
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As we salute, we might recall that it was on this date in 1325 (according to legend) that Tenochtitlan was founded. Located on an island in Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico, it became the capital of the expanding Aztec Empire in the 15th century, until captured by the Spanish in in the early 16th century. At its peak, it was the largest city in the Pre-Columbian Americas. Today the ruins of Tenochtitlan are located in central Mexico City.
Reconstruction of Tenochtitlan. (National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico City)
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