The New Advertising Outlet: Your Life

We've read this story many times before: Brand not happy with traditional advertising, moving money into digital marketing and social media. But I was surprised about the bluntness of Trevor Edwards, Nike's corporate VP for Global Brand and Category Management, as quoted in yesterday's NY Times story:

“We’re not in the business of keeping the media companies alive,” Mr. Edwards says he tells many media executives. “We’re in the business of connecting with consumers.”

I'm sure yesterday's morning coffee didn't taste that good for publishing executives after reading this sharp comment.

The human condition

At heart, humans are communicative. And lonely. We try to escape our loneliness by communicating. With friends. Strangers. Our own mind.

Traveling by yourself on a redeye is a very lonely experience. It almost feels like going to prison: You're being searched by strangers, your food options are limited to pizza (see above) and the rest of the time you dream about escaping this lunacy.

10 years ago we had a phone to connect with people while traveling. We wrote postcards. Now, we have Twitter, IM, Email, SMS, Video Messages, etc. to stay connected.


When I flew last night, I started a little photo diary of my travel experience. Just a few shots with a word/line. The iPhone makes it so easy to take a quick shot and email it out.
It made me feel less alienated and better connected to my home. As an individual you have to find the best ways to connect with your friends and family. I'm not a phone person, rather have a real 1-on-1 conversation. Or a quick email. Call me weird.

Brands have to understand better how people want to connect with them. There are multitudes of channels to start a conversation. Some work for you, some work for me. A good mix of planned connections will ensure that conversations will begin.

Remember: Humans are communicative. And lonely.

You say you want a revolution

When brands are just nicely wrapped sales enzymes, as many are, they often just become another nice package that screams "I'm beautiful inside."

Life beyond the package
Quite a few brands get the packaging right, become cold icons and then go into retirement. And soon after generic brands compete with and pass them by without any effort.

When you build brands, you have to look beyond the packaging. Brands own an endless space. In this endless space we try to connect with customers in new and surprising ways. Yes, the packaging is important, but it's just a small part of the brand. The main focus is to find out where the brands directs the consumer in this infinite space.

A real brand causes a revolution.
A brand is part of a bigger idea. And you need the consumers to advance your brand. They need a mission, a vision, oppportunities to connect and some direction. They don't need anything else from you. They just want you to be the leader. Not the manager. And definitely not the micro-manager.
When you build a brand, your ultimate goal should be to lead a revolution. A change, an emotion, an idea that connects and expresses the consumer through your brand. The consumer energy drives the revolution and brand forward.

The revolution wins.
Leading a revolution should be your ultimate goal. Real brands care about the packaging. But they are passionate about how to revolutionize products. Markets. And, ultimately, the world.