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ENTERING THE THIRD AGE OF BRANDINGBY TIM HILL
May 23, 2013
Today, we are living and working in what many are deeming a
third age of branding; one defined not by
how a brand carries itself through external communications, but
by how people experience the brandsaround them. Its an age shaped
and formed by the ever advancing and emerging influence of
technology, along with the empowerment of us as humans.
When the first companies sprung up, they were inseparable from
the product. There was no distinction
between the brand and what was being sold; the values and merits
of each were one and the same.
Purchasing decisions were based upon pure objectivity (and, of
course, the sales pitch). That was the
first age of branding.
But soon, with status such an integral part of the fabric and
structure of society, the merits of a product
or service were affected by who was buying. If celebrities and
trendsetters deemed a product worthy,
then it must have been more valuable. The brand began to
distinguish itself and, today, we see how
powerful the brand has truly becomea far greater entity than the
product. Marketers took great pride
in constructing brands that resonated with consumers,
influencing them to act with teasers of aspiration
and a certain lifestyle (which would be promoted heavily through
advertising and celebrity
endorsements).
But this approach to branding was soon rejected. A growing
number of consumers began to realize that
the marketing hyperbole surrounding many brands did not actually
match the experience they had.
Clearly, Naomi Kleins book, No Logo, and the beginnings of
social media chatter sent many brand
marketers into a tail spin, leaving consumers more cynical and
inquisitive about where brands originate,
how they behave and how they perform.
Today, as much as traditional brand experts may flinch at the
prospect, the truly great brands are no
longer being built on the 35th floor boardroom of an agencys
ivory tower, nor do they come from in-
house marketing departments pushing one-directional messages
built upon the singular goal of sales.
This third age of brandingputs the human firmly front and centre
in determining a brands real -time
equity. We are the people that enable those global superbrands
to shine, and we allow those who fail to
deliver to fall into irrelevance.
Brands in the third age are experienced in the roundat every
moment, at every interaction and every
day. They are set free from the straight jacket of traditional
analogue thinking and given the space to
share information openly and freely with anyone. The words we
hear used more often to describe
brands in this new era are authentic, transparent and real. Can
we imagine buying into any brand today
without going through reviews, recommendations, likes and
everything in between? Once upon a time,
Mars told us in all seriousness that a chocolate bar would help
us work, rest and play. Today, we would
laugh and turn our attentions elsewhere. Now, we let brands know
whether we deem them worthy of
our time, whether they meet our standards.
The path towards great experiences is paved by a brand excelling
at what it excels at. That may sound
like an awkward concept, but what is important is that it
requires a brand to discover (or rediscover)
why it exists and what difference it is trying to make in the
world. Only then can the brand deliver
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consistent experiences with a well-centered and meaningful
purpose.
With a clear sense of self, brands can buck category trends and
be more disruptive. Look at how Virgin
has delivered its brand experience through multiple services and
products with its distinct, defiant
attitude towards the dominant category leader and convention.
Look at how Nokia, once the envy of all
handset manufacturers, teeters on the brink of utter irrelevance
in front of todays design savvy
consumer.
But to look at individual brands alone neglects the larger
picture. What about the current predicament
the retail industry finds itself in? We are speaking
specifically of those retailers which are struggling to
see how a physical presence on the high street adds real value
to their consumers, consumers who can
now browse and purchase in clicks rather than visit bricks. If
(as I imagine) the future of branded
experiences will be far more specific and tailored to the
individual, what role is there for mass retailing
when technology drives and shapes the experience?
There too lies a paradox to this new found state of greater
liberationa world that creates its own set
of unique challenges and consequences. While social media has
generated some wonderful stories of
communities mobilising and galvanizing around a positive cause,
there also lies countless more
occasions where that opportunity has been exploited to incite
social disruption.
It is big thinking, but we need to play out potential,
far-reaching consequences in order to understand
what might be possible (although unthinkable) in the long run
and the responsibilities we hold in this
new branding age. We often speak of Big Brother, 1984, Minority
Report and other dystopian visions of
a futuristic society, but the data question remains unanswered.
Therefore, with such an uncertain
future, brands now have to show greater purpose and moral
imperative. If not, they will be found out
and shut down in the blink of an eye. Every moment of
interaction between brand and user must feel
like a real relationship and not contrived. Some brands may be
able to fend off negative headlines
around tax evasion, morally-suspect production chains and
unethical practices, but accountability still
lies at the hands of the consumers. A back-to-basics approach
for many brands would merely consist of
halting the customer-centric talk and actually starting to walk
it
This third age of branding requires a different set of skills
and thinking from those within the industry. In
response to a new age of brand challenges, agencies must craft
strategically robust and creative answers
by defining, creating and curating moments of interaction to
deliver
